Tears of Dusk

Right after walking out of Kewin’s room, Isyd tuned in on a familiar presence within the Spital. First taken aback, he had to make sure that his senses weren’t deceiving him. He went up the stairs and walked the hallway down to what used to be Tekla’s room. The door was closed and nothing looked amiss from the exterior. Isyd entered without knocking.

In the middle of the room, Dmitri Ivanovitch Hidrss stood with unsteady balance on a floating plate. It was levitating a few inches above another plate that rested on the floor. The floating platform wasn’t stable, to say the least; in fact, it was barely kept airborne by constant bursts of air.

“What in the world are you doing?” Isyd exclaimed.

Hidrss startled and looked up. This loss of focus made him slip and fall from the device. The upper plate crashed against the lower one, and the Tutor landed on his ass.

“Damn you, Wybrany! No need to shout!”

Isyd approached and gave him a hand to help him up. “What are those?” he asked, pointing to the two plates.

“I saw this new thing in the Capital; they called it a ‘lift’. You just stand on a platform and someone activates it and it rises smoothly to the desired floor. You don’t need stairs!”

The look Isyd gave him was unimpressed. “I see… That’s cool, I guess. How come you are he—”

“You don’t understand! It didn’t shoot you in the air! It lifted you smoothly. It was so delicate and controlled and the [Arcane] they used simply worked by having someone introducing the correct [Key] for the corresponding floor.”

“And you were trying to emulate that with those plates?”

“I’m trying to find what kind of mechanism was the behind the [Arcane].”

“Couldn’t you just ask them?”

Hidrss rolled his eyes. “I did, but they sent me packing. I suspected they wouldn’t tell me. Those kinds of [Arcanes] are traded secrets; their Balance and inner logic are kept private. Still, I’m considering writing to the Arcanysta who made the lift so that they can install one in the Atelier. It would give me the chance to study it in more detail, but even then, I most likely won’t crack the Balance before a while.”

Isyd looked down at the two plates. It was definitely an [Arcane] as proven by the Commands that were quickly drawn on it with charcoal. The Balance used wasn’t straightforward and the Commands were not neatly drawn which made deciphering them more difficult. He was nonetheless surprised as he picked up one.

“This is made out of stone!” he exclaimed. “Those are heavy! You’d have a hard time trying to lift them a few inches off the ground even with a powerful [Air Spell]!”

“Those in the Capital were made out of metal and they could lift several people without issue…”

Now even Isyd couldn’t help but be intrigued. “Really? Did it require a lot of Grace to activate it? Perhaps the [Hex] they use is of a high Opening.”

“It certainly didn’t look like it. The lift operator didn’t even look to be an Artyst, but a simple guy and yet he could activate it. Plus, I’m sceptical of using [Air Spell]…”

“Wasn’t that what you were attempting?”

“Well, yes, but I’m not convinced. I tried a few other things on my way back and [Air Spells] are quite problematic for what I’m trying to accomplish. For one thing, they become so much weaker and unreliable after even a short distance. Even for a few centimetres, the airflow becomes wobbly and erratic. It’s like trying to stand up on rolling waves. The lift at the Capital was so smooth, it was as if invisible ropes were pulling it upward…”

“That could be the solution…”

“You think?” Hidrss seemed to have already considered it. “They could have used a [Dissimulation Spell] to hide the pulley ropes I suppose. That would be quite the hassle just for a gimmick. Also, it is a boring answer…”

As he watched the stone plates, an idea sparked in Isyd’s mind. “Wait, you said they were metal plates? What if they used magnetic forces between the two plates? Wouldn’t that be more reliable than having air pushing in between?”

Hidrss’s eyes shone with excitement. “Magnets! Oh, yeah! That’d make sense and it would be invisible!”

“But this could be difficult to implement and still require a lot of Grace to operate, right?”

“Yes, magnetic forces quickly become weaker after a certain distance. It follows the inverse-square law. Still, a [Repelling Spell] may be the solution! At least, it is something that I can test.”

Hidrss was all smiles when he turned toward Isyd. “You know what? I’m starting to think that you’re gonna be a valuable addition to the Atelier, after all!”

The Atelier … This suddenly brought everything back into focus. He’d been swiped by Hidrss’s exuberance and haven forgotten the oddity of the situation.

“Wait! Hold on! What are you even doing here? Weren’t you supposed to be at the Academy of Holy Honour? When did you come back?”

“Oh, that? Yeah, I went there, but then I came back. In fact, I was done with everything there quite fast so I took that chance to make a detour in the Capital. I was already on my way back to Vilriver when I received a message from the Doyen that an incident had happened. I just arrived this morning.”

“An incident ? That’s one way to put it…” Isyd drawled dryly.

“I dropped by the Doyen and he briefed me on Dumnchory. By the time I made it here, she had already left so I couldn’t ask her for details. I’m curious to know what really happened. How come I leave for a bit and we end up with a Fire Elemental in the middle of the city?”

“It’s kind of a long story…” Isyd said. He explained succinctly everything that had happened since Hidrss had left. He mentioned that the Baron had orchestrated the theft but omitted his gang with Snake and his gang.

When he was done, Hidrss let the silence stretch for a while as he was taking it in.

“You took them back, didn’t you? The Blysht and the [Outgracing Hex], I mean.”

“Yes.”

The Tutor smirked and passed a hand through his long hair. “Well, I won’t ask how you got them back, I’m just glad you did… Also, you managed to make an [Outgracing Hex] in the end! That’s neat, I’m looking forward to seeing it!”

Isyd frowned. “Tekla should have sent you notes of our progress…”

“Did she? I never got any of them,” Hidrss said nonchalantly.

“I guess she never sent them to you, but instead sent them to the Baron…” Isyd said.

“I suppose she did…”

Isyd’s frown only deepened. “You… You don’t look surprised or angry by any of this…”

Hidrss shrugged. “Well, what can you do… it falls in line with Dumnchory’s behaviour!”

Something didn’t sit well with Isyd. There was something about the man’s reaction – or lack thereof. It came to him in a flash of understanding.

“You knew…” Isyd let out in a breath.

“Sorry, what?”

“You knew…” Isyd repeated, but more confidently this time. “You knew about Tekla and her betrayal, didn’t you? That’s why you’re so unfazed by it. Even before you left, you already knew!”

“What? No! I mean…” Colours rose in Hidrss’s cheeks. “Well… Know is a big word! I didn’t know so much as I suspected… Dumnchory has always been ambitious! I suspected she’d attempt something like that someday. After you showed up, she seemed even more shifty…”

“And you didn’t think about telling us before you left?” Isyd exclaimed, not bothering to hide his anger.

“Well, there wasn’t any proof. It was nothing but a gut feeling! You cannot simply accuse people of a crime they may possibly commit!”

“So, instead you decided to put her in charge? To give all the power and authority to continue her betrayal?”

Hidrss’s blush deepened and his eyes darted all over the place. “Alright, in retrospect, it wasn’t the smartest move. In my defence, I knew that Tekla wanted to be the Master of Arcanic Arts. I simply assumed that if I gave her what she wanted, she’d have no reason to continue whatever she was doing in the shadows. It was a miscalculation on my part.”

“A miscalculation ? Hidrss, people got hurt! Someone died, because of your miscalculation !”

To that, Hidrss’s face fell and he looked properly chastened. “Yes, I know… and I took full responsibility for it with the Doyen and I am here to talk with the Ravasz.” He paused, as if uncertain about what to say. “I… Sometimes I forget that others are not motivated by the same thing as I am. I thought that Tekla loved the Arcanic Arts the same way I did and that the moment she got the Title she wanted so much, she’d just go back to work. She had a place here at the Atelier. I don’t get why she would throw it away for such futile motivation…”

“In her eyes, it was nothing futile. Greed and ambition are powerful motivators. Not everyone is in for the love of the game; not all Artyst are motivated by the love of the Arts. I thought you’d have known that by now…”

It was in those moments that Isyd was reminded that Hidrss, despite his status as a Tutor, was still relatively young in the great scheme of things. He may be a prodigy when it came to the Arcanic Arts, but this didn’t mean that he had everything figured out.

Hidrss passed a hand through his hair and sighed. “Yeah… I’ll keep that in mind for the future. I owe you one for dealing with it, Isyd. Here, as a thanks, you can ask anything you want. Hell, I can even repair your palcat for free if you want.”

Isyd shook his head. “No, we already discussed it; I’ll repair t myself. Now, if you truly want to repay me, I have another idea in mind…”

Hidrss rolled his eyes. “Of course, you do… Why am I not surprised?”

Isyd grinned.

Hidrss met his eyes but then looked at something above his shoulder. All colours left the man’s eyes.

“Fancy seeing you here, Dmitri…” a warm woman’s voice said.

Isyd startled and whirled toward the entrance. Somehow, he had not perceived her approaching!

The woman wasn’t tall or physically imposing but her presence was naturally commending. Her red hair stricken with silver was tied into a single braid that fell above her shoulder. Her green eyes were sharp behind her half-moon glasses and her features were marked with an uncanny mix of age and youthfulness – the manifestation of the agelessness of Great Artyst.

“Dana! It’s been a while!” Hidrss exclaimed.

The smile of the Master of Healing Arts didn’t reach her eyes. “I don’t remember inviting you in my establishment, Dmitri. And yet here you stand in the Spital…”

“I… er… I was searching for you in fact! Yeah, I tried to write you but you know how it is… I thought it’d be simpler and much quicker if I ask directly! I’m so glad I found you!”

“Was that what you had in mind when you sneaked in six hours ago? Were you searching for me when you decided to hide in this room for those six hours? Surely, you weren’t waiting for me to leave the Spital to sneak out…”

Isyd glanced at Hidrss next to him. The man was sweating bullets. More than once, his eyes darted toward the window. Isyd could see that he was sincerely considering it...

“I… er… I got… lost…” Hidrss said, unconvincingly.

Dana Tchepwa sighed and shook her head, disappointed. “You know the rules, Dmitri… I know you used to flaunt them when you were still a Pupil, but now you’re a Tutor.”

“Wait! Wait! Don’t punish me yet! I brought something as an apology.”

Hidrss rummaged in the inner pockets of his travelling coat. He dropped out a few coins, a handful of screws and copper wires, to finally pull out a small vial sealed with an amber liquid inside. Isyd first believed it to be honey, though the absence of viscosity disabused him.

Dana Tchepwa narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “What is this?”

“Remember when you talked to me about this new Alchemykal compound you were curious about?”

“The yintr ? Impossible! There have to be only a handful vials of it that were correctly synthesized!”

Hidrss was triumphant and somewhat cocky. “Well, I got you one when I was in the Capital.”

“How?” Dana said, still wary.

“I have contact from the Empire.”

A long silence stretched between the two Tutors. Isyd just stood there, on the side and observing their confrontation. He hadn’t failed to notice the glint of interest in the Master of Healing Arts. Dana Tchepwa was weighing her options and eventually, she broke the silence.

“Fine, you win this one, Dmitri. I will take the yintr as an apology.”

“I knew you’d be reasonable!”

The Apteyk moved her hand and the vial delicately floated out of Hidrss’s hand to land in her palm. She pocketed the vial wordlessly then turned toward Isyd.

Isyd felt a chill run down his spine and even he was surprised by it.

“As for you, Isyd Wybrany… I hear that you come in and out of my establishment as you please… This won’t do.”

“I apologize, Tutor.”

“I believe my daughter explained the rules. No patient is allowed to leave the Spital unless I or another Apteyk of authority authorize it. You broke that rule, Young Isyd.”

“I apo—”

“In normal circumstances, I would have strapped you on a bunk and made you drink the foulest of my tincture to teach you. But the yintr is enough of a gift for me to overlook it. Once.”

“I… Thank you for your kindness, Tutor Tchepwa!”

She looked him up and down through her half-moon glasses. “Plus, if you are fit enough to walk around and go on adventures at night, it surely means that you have healed enough…”

She made another quick gesture of her hand and summoned a bout of wind that whirled around Isyd’s thigh. The touch of it was cold but a mere second late, the cut inflicted by Snake had healed without a scar and the wind had disappeared. Isyd didn’t say a word, but he couldn’t fully hide how impressed he was.

The Apteyk turned her back to them. “Don’t take too long doing what you have to do here, Hidrss. This yintr can only keep me in a good mood for so long…”

And with those words, she left the two of them. A couple of seconds elapsed before they were sure she wasn’t coming back.

As one, Isyd and Hidrss let out a sigh of relief.

“Now, you could say I saved your skin from Dana…” Hidrss said. “Don’t you think that makes us quits?”

“Oh hell, no! Don’t try to weasel your way out of this one, Hidrss! How shameless, hard to believe you are a Tutor!”

“Oh, don’t give me that! I don’t like to be Tutor, to begin with! The only thing I wished was to be free to do whatever I wanted at the Atelier. I’ve never asked for all those responsibilities that come along with being a Tutor. Anyway… so tell me, what do you want?”

Isyd grinned. “So… talking about Tutor’s responsibilities, you may not like this one…”