ONE

… Cahti

This was the ‘promising recruit’ who was supposed to be my apprentice? Inside the cell was a small, skinny girl, face covered in sand. I wrinkled my nose. Just my luck.

“Taelynn, female, 19 years, Outskirt resident, parents unknown,” Yuun rambled on a list of facts about the recruit.

“That’s fine, but what about her reading?” I interjected.

“Upper nineties,” Yuun said. “Three of our Seekers picked her up the other day. They started to follow her, and she noticed and was able to lose two of them.” 

I regarded the girl- Taelynn- again, who was standing just inside the cell door, observing me the same way I had been watching her. She dropped her gaze immediately once she noticed I was looking at her. 

Upper nineties reading? Seekers were Magicians who had the Essence of Seeking, meaning they could tell other Magicians apart from normal people. Most people were magicians, just very low on the scale, which ran from zero to one hundred. I, of course, had a reading of a hundred. My magic was very strong, and paired with my Essence of Memory, I could recall pectahlz with ease and to the exact detail.

“Very well,” I said. “I will train her.”

Yuun nodded, turning to the girl. “Listen to Cahti, and you will stay alive. Escape is pointless this time.”

“You are no longer needed.” I dismissed him with a wave of my hand. Yuun bowed curtly and stalked off. I would probably need to deal with him soon- he didn’t agree with a lot of my methods.

I turned to Taelynn, who was still standing uncertainly in the cell’s doorway. “You can trust me,” I said in what I thought was a reassuring, motherly tone. It must not have been very convincing, because the girl only narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Look, it’s a great honor to be my apprentice. You are very fortunate.”

I could tell she still didn’t believe me. With a sigh, I drew on the Essence of Emotion. Magicians each had a special skill that could be used without casting pectahlz, called their Essence. I had been born with Essence of Memory, granting me perfect recollection. But when I was chosen as the Honored ONE, I was given a thousand lives by the Magicians. Each of those lives came with a new Essence, the same as the Magician’s who gave me the life. Some of them were not as useful, but others had helped in the battles against Aeshen. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t defeated her yet- but I would. The stars proclaimed ONE would defeat evil.

I directed the Essence of Emotion at Taelynn, and I was able to sense her emotions. I’d never had this Essence before, as it was incredibly rare. But I’d talked to Hayek and watched him use it, so I had a decent idea of what to do. I remembered something he’d said: Control someone’s emotions well, and you might as well be controlling their mind. 

The emotions I felt from Taelynn were confusion, anger, hatred, distrust, and sadness. They stormed around inside the girl, and I wondered how she could be feeling all those at once. “You can trust me,” I repeated, but this time I smothered her negative emotions. I felt nothing from her, then a tiny sliver of calm. I pulled on this calm, growing it larger, and pulling other emotions along with it. Trust, safety, and awe.

By the time I was finished, Taelynn was much more relaxed. I let go of her emotions, but kept a close eye on them. I didn’t need her running off like my other apprentices.

I started drawing a pectahlz on the floor. It was one of the more complex transportation ones, and it had to be specific because it led to a specific place. I finished the pectahlz and it started glowing warmly. “Come,” I said to Taelynn.

She hesitantly stepped into the pectahlz beside me, and then I pushed to activate it. Walls of light flared brilliantly around us, then faded out. We were no longer in the Establishment, but my base.

Taelynn looked around curiously. I grinned because the awe coming from her was genuine, not put there by me.

I sat down at the table and waited for her to sit next to me.

“I will start your training with the basic knowledge, then we will go practice. 

First of all, you may be wondering why you are not dead. You are a Magician, and a very powerful one at that. But I assume you already knew that because you tried to avoid us. It is required by law that all Magicians over thirty percent join and serve the Establishment. 

However, the public believes that magical talent is hereditary, when it is in fact random. Thus, the executions. It is a simple way to remove you from the main population with no questions asked. The Enforcers that perform the executions are given a mock weapon, one that will only knock you out instead of causing harm. From there, you are taken to the Establishment and assigned a mentor.

As your mentor, it is my job to teach you the pectahlz, those patterns you watched me draw earlier. There are two powers in this world, Chaos and Order. Drawing a pectahlz creates a gateway for the power of Order to flow through. However, if you don’t outline the pectahlz exactly, it will bring Chaos and will have a different effect than its intended purpose.” 

I stopped so Taelynn could have a chance to process the information. I gave her an extra boost of positive emotions.

 “Let’s start with a simple pectahlz,” I said, starting to sketch on the table. I drew an x-shape, then connected the top and bottom points with lines, creating two triangles touching in the center. The completed pectahlz started to glow.

Taelynn copied the pectahlz on the table. I sighed and shook my head. “It’s crooked. The lines need to be straight, or it won’t work. Copy it again, and fill up the table. Then come get me and I’ll tell you what to do next.” She nodded and dutifully began to write the pectahlz again. I’d forgotten how long it took to gain a Magician’s steady hand.

I left her sitting there and opened the curtains. It was far too dark in here. Taelynn glanced up at the sudden light and gasped in surprise. “We’re in the forest?” She exclaimed.

I nodded. “Don't worry, most of the rumors aren’t true.” The people believed evil beasts were living in the forest, part human and part giant insects. While there were giant insects, they would only eat you, not turn you into strange monsters. “And besides,” I said continuing, “This part of the forest has been bordered off. There’s a large protection pectahlz, with this house built in the center. As long as you stay out of the trees you should be fine.”

I turned around to inspect her work on the table. I pointed to two of her pectahlz. “Those two should be acceptable. They’re not too terrible.” I drew another one on a blank space on the table.

“How come they’re different colors?” Taelynn asked.

“The color just depends on the Magician casting it. Mine are this blue-green color, while yours seem to be orange. 

Now, a pectahlz gets its power from three things. The first is how many lines of symmetry are in the pectahlz. This one only has one line of symmetry, so it will be quite weak. If we were to layer two of this same pectahlz at a perpendicular angle, it would be twice as strong. Its power also depends on the Magician casting it. The higher percent you are, the stronger your pectahlz will be by default. And finally, the force you activate it with. You can either gently tap it or give it a forceful shove.”

Taelynn nodded and reached out to touch her pectahlz. “Make sure you activate it from the center,” I said. “Like this.” I tapped mine lightly and the lines faded outward, leaving a mark engraved on the stone table. 

Taelynn’s pectahlz faded away when she touched it, but didn’t leave any mark on the table.

“Keep practicing,” I said. “You’ll get it soon.”

It turns out that Taelynn didn’t get it. Even after a week, her pectahlz wouldn’t have any effect. She couldn’t draw them perfectly, but they should have been close enough to do something. Instead, they only flashed and faded away.

At first, I’d suspected she was purposely hiding her talent, trying to get out of the apprenticeship. So I changed her emotions, making her desperate to please me. And Taelynn still couldn’t do it. 

My second thought was that Yuun had played a nasty trick on me. It made sense. He’d never agreed with me, and clearly, the only reason he listened to me was because I was the Chosen ONE. I knew he suspected something about me. Did he know that I wasn’t immortal after all?

“Useless,” I muttered as Taelynn’s newest attempt faded away under the warm sun.

"I'm not useless!" She snapped. I realized I'd left her emotions for too long and quickly soothed them down. "I'm sorry, Cahti," Taelynn said, regaining her composure. "But just because I can't do magic doesn't mean I'm useless. I did spend 3 years on the Outskirt streets. You learn quickly, or you're dead."

I nodded, accepting her apology. A new thought was forming in my head. "So, you had to steal a lot, I take it. Did you ever have to sneak?"

Taelynn nodded. "Yeah. If you weren't stealthy they caught you and sent you to prison. And if you didn't hide your stealings, other gangs would steal them and beat you."

"Did you ever fight the gangs?"

"You have to. Or else you're dead."

I found a new respect for the small girl. I'd visited the Outskirts once, and the street life was tough. If she had survived three years there, she was indeed not useless. 

"I have just the job for you," I said, smiling. "And if you succeed, I might not send you back after all."

"What is it?" Taelynn asked apprehensively.

"I need you to kill Councillor Yuun. He was the one with me when you were first assigned to me." I paused as I felt Taelynn's emotions. She was horrified by the task. "He is a terrible man, Taelynn. I would never ask you to kill someone innocent." I soothed her aversion and inserted an overwhelming urge to please me, that it would be an honor to kill in my name, and fear of failure and being sent back to the Outskirts.

Reluctantly, Taelynn agreed. "I will do it."

I squeezed her shoulder gently. "Thank you." I was immensely pleased with myself. Yuun had been a problem for a long time. Yuun's apprentice, a young but powerful Magician, would be next in line. I could easily manipulate him into agreeing with me. 

Taelynn hesitated a moment before speaking. "I have a question about the Magicians."

"Go ahead," I said.

"How many of the executions are real?"

"Most of them are real. Strong Magicians are hard to come by."

Taelynn nodded. "It's just, I had a friend…"

"Well, no use dwelling on it. They're either dead or an apprentice, like you. But probably dead." Taelynn went white. "Don't worry, even if they're a Magician, you'll likely never see them. So if it makes you feel better, just tell yourself they're still alive."

"I don't lie to myself." Taelynn whispered, a clouded look in her eyes.

I shrugged. "Anyways, let's go. I can transport us close to the establishment, but you'll have to go in by yourself."

I didn't have permanent transport for where I wanted to go, so I had to draw a new pectahlz. By embedding a pectahlz in an object, you could store its power for later use. 

I finished sketching the transportation pectahlz and tapped it in the center. The walls of light rose up, then faded away. We appeared just within the treeline. I could just barely make out the rock that marked the hidden entrance of the Establishment in the dim light.

“We’ll wait a bit, let it get darker.” I said. “Yuun goes to sleep early.”

Taelynn nodded and I handed her a knife. She took it uncertaintly. “I’ve never killed before,” she whispered.

“Don’t worry, it’s not that hard.”