A Song of Snow and Ashes

table. He was heading to his coach's gym when Blake caught up to him.

  "Dwyer wants to see you. I think he's found an Arcana tutor for you," he said, with a bit of a smirk.

  "That's good. What's with the stupid grin?" he asked as they turned toward the temple.

  "Nothing. Nothing at all."

  "You're up to somethin'."

  "So, how's the new place?" Blake asked.

  "You're changin' the subject."

  "I guess you must not like it very much, given that you've spent at least three nights at the temple this week," he continued, his smirk growing.

  "What do you know about that?"

  "What, you don't think we don't gossip about our own members? Rumor has it you've suddenly gotten very friendly with some of the female acolytes."

  "Oh, well," he replied, with his own smirk. "They got friendly with me. I just took them up on their offer."

  "Indeed. You are aware, of course, they're doing this because of who you are."

  "Yeah, I know."

  "They'll want something from you later."

  "Yeah, well, I know that too. And I don't care. I don't owe them nothin', and they're foolin' themselves if they think I do."

  Blake cleaned his glasses. "Be careful. No Dark cleric should be so lightly dismissed."

  "Hey, I told them flat out I wasn't promisin' nothin' to them."

  "Oh, well, when you put it that way, I guess I can't object. I knew you understood us."

  "Yeah, and look at the trouble it's gotten me into," Donnan replied dryly.

  They reached the temple and immediately went to Dwyer's study. He gestured at the chairs, and they both sat down.

  "Good morning. I'm sure Blake has told you that we've found a tutor for you."

  He nodded.

  "Good. Before I go into detail about that, I have a request of you."

  He narrowed his eyes. "Request?" he repeated suspiciously.

  "You have the ability to travel around the world much faster than we do, correct?"

  "I do?"

  "Yes. You can use the Shadow Realm."

  "How do you know that?" he asked.

  "I asked the Dark One. Perhaps you should do the same sometime," he suggested.

  Donnan gave him a black look.

  "You can travel through the Shadow Realm without the use of arcane portals. You just go where you want. We have need of that ability. We would like you to carry messages for us."

  "What kind of messages?"

  "Please, my Lord, this is our business. It's not polite to pry," the priest scolded gently.

  "I don't like it."

  "I didn't expect you would. But we have been quite generous, and this is but a small task."

  "And if I don't do it?"

  "Then we seek other means."

  "And stop bein' so generous?"

  The priest smiled. "Not exactly."

  "I don't believe that," Donnan replied. "But I'll do it, I guess. What do you need me to do?"

  Dwyer pulled out a small pack. "There is a city map and several scrolls. Each scroll has an address on it. Deliver them to the addresses, and place the scrolls in the drop slots. No need to talk to anyone. Although I do suggest you exit the Shadow Realm in an alleyway rather than an open street. No need to cause panic."

  "When do you need this done?"

  "By tomorrow will be sufficient. We're still working on getting you some sort of political position. Now, about your tutor. This took us a little effort to set up. You will be meeting her tomorrow at the library, after your fighting coach releases you."

  Donnan noticed Blake was smirking again.

  "The young lady's name is Aolani. She teaches at the secondary school, but apparently does tutoring in her spare time. I hope this meets with your approval."

  His jaw dropped and he turned to Blake. "You did this?"

  "I thought there might be an off-chance she'd know Arcana. And I was right."

  He turned back to the priest, who was also smiling in amusement. "How much do I owe you for this one?"

  "No charge for this, my Lord. She is a lovely young lady."

  "Anythin' else?" he asked, not entirely comfortable with the turn of events.

  "No. Just please deliver these messages for us by tomorrow."

  Donnan picked up the sack. "Come on, Blake." Then he left. "What did you go and do that for?"

  "Do what? Give you a chance to spend some quality time with Aolani?"

  "Well, yeah. What am I supposed to tell her? I can't afford tutorin' on a dishwasher's salary, or Alain's guard salary either."

  "Well, assuming she asks, just tell her you're doing work for the temple."

  "That's a damn stupid idea," he snapped. "No one likes you guys. I don't want to scare her off."

  "Well, how about you tell her your working as a messenger? That's legitimate, and nearly the truth," Blake suggested.

  "I guess. I guess I could tell her I run messages around town. So what do I tell her about learnin' Arcana?"

  "You could tell her you may have to interact with mages someday, depending on how far you're asked to carry messages. How about that?"

  He thought this over. "I guess it will do. Don't know if she'll even ask about those things anyway."

  "How do you like learnin' to fight?"

  "Gods, I hurt. Clancy is relentless, and nothin' I do seems to be good enough."

  "That's to be expected from his type."

  "I guess so. I feel like I'm learnin' a lot though."

  "When are you going to deliver those messages?"

  "After Alain goes to work. Hey, Blake, this is goin' to sound stupid, but can I borrow some nicer clothes?"

  "You can take what you want from the temple. That room is now your permanent guest room. You want to look good for her?" he asked coyly.

  "Why do you make fun of me like this?"

  "Because I can. And because you'd certainly do the same."

  The day passed swiftly. Donnan went to the temple before delivering the messages to pick up the clothes and a paper and a pen from the desk. He dropped the clothes at his new apartment and tucked the pen and paper in his bag. He looked at the map of the city to get his bearings, then he stared at the wall. "Alright, I can do this. No problem," he thought. Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the shadow.

  And found himself in a truly odd place. It was dark, but he could see perfectly fine. There seemed to be no real height or depth, but his mind imposed these dimensions anyway. Then he noticed he was wearing the Armor. "Interestin'," he muttered. Suddenly the place filled with the sound of whispers. "Hello?" he asked.

  "Welcome to our home, Master," came the answer from a darkling.

  He jumped. It was standing next to him. "You-you live here?"

  It nodded. "We all do."

  "How many of you are there?"

  "Many."

  "That's not helpful."

  "Sorry, Master."

  "Never mind. How do I get to where I need to go?"

  "Just start walking, and you will end up there," it answered.

  "But I don't know where I'm goin'. I've just got an address in a city I've never been to," he protested. “I looked at a map, but here’s no roads or landmarks or anythin’ here.”

  "Just start walking, and you will end up there," it repeated.

  He frowned. "Fine, but if I get lost, you're goin' to be in trouble."

  "You will not get lost. Those who stray from the bright paths may get lost, but there are not part of this place. You are."

  Feeling disturbed, he started to walk, and pictured in his mind a shadowy place to come out of. "Now this can't take me days to walk, or else the mages would never use this place. So it must take much less time to get where I'm going," he thought, "but I don't think there is time here. This is too weird."

  After about an hour, he emerged in an alleyway, much to his surprise. He sent the Armor away, and looked f
or the first address. It turned out he was only a few blocks away. He recorded this address and what the place was on his own sheet of paper. Then he returned to the Shadow Realm and repeated the process, keeping careful records of where he was taking messages.

  The next morning, Eliora went to the dining hall for breakfast. She couldn't help but notice how the young men were looking at her in an unfriendly fashion. She ignored them and got her food, determined not to even acknowledge them. She ate quickly, then went to Jomei's cottage for her language lessons.

  "Well, that's enough for today," he said shortly before noon.

  "It's a little early," she replied.

  "I'd like to talk to you."

  "About what? Am I not making enough progress?"

  "No, no. You're doing just fine. In fact, you're picking up the language much faster than I thought you would. Did you pick up Arcana this fast?"

  "No, not quite. But I couldn't devote half a day to it either, nor was I surrounded by people who spoke it," she answered.

  "Well, you are making fine progress. I have no complaints about that. I thought we would use this time for you to talk to me."

  "About what?" she repeated, genuinely puzzled.

  "About whatever you like. For instance, about the trouble you seem to having making friends here," he suggested.

  "Why do you want to hear about that?"

  Confusion flickered across his face. "Why wouldn't I? It's my job."

  "It is?"

  "Eliora, forgive me if this is a rude question, but what exactly does the Order do in your country?" Jomei asked.

  "They commune with the Light One. They seek blessings for our people. They counsel our government about important decisions. I'm even told they use their power to look toward the future, to help the government determine if a decision is a good one."

  "Goodness. The Order here is not quite so involved with the governments."

  "Why not?"

  "Well, the governments don't seem to want the interference. Individual leaders may seek the counsel of the