The council - part 1

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

It's been three weeks now. Three weeks of none stop intensive training and teaching. Laius and Arcanum were getting along just fine with the skills but I could tell they hated having to practice them. The way in which I have taught them is not a very enjoyable way. It seems that to be able to push someone passed the boundaries of their own magical strength can sometimes be quite painful and discomforting. Well, tough luck!
"Good morning, Lord Lorian." Said a passer-by in the corridor.
"Hello, Lord Lorian." Said another.
"How are you, Lord Lorian?" Someone asked.
This seems to happen now regularly, everyone seems to know who I am. I continued walking towards the practice rooms that I have been using during Laius's and Arcanum's training. I had at last got the hang of a small portion of The Council's stronghold although only a small portion. I walked into the practice room.
"Hello, Lord Lorian." Spoke a voice.
"Hello, Lord Odin. May I ask where my students are?" I replied to the man sitting in the wicker chair.
"They have completed their training with you, Lord Lorian. And you fully well know that yourself, if you think about it?"
"To be quite honest I thought they were ready a week ago, but I thought it would be better to be safe than sorry." I said, grinning.
"Humph. Well, in that case you won't mind taking on another student, will you." It wasn't a question it was a statement.
"How old is he?" I asked.
"Sixteen years. And who said it was a boy?" He replied, just as brusque.
"Oh great! I hope he's not an insubordinate little-"I said, angrily.
"I think you'll find this student a little different from what you would expect." Spoke Lord Odin, Loudly to cover whatever profanity I was going to use. Next moment he turns around and opens’s the door behind him. "Lord Lorian. May I introduce to you your newest student, Artemis." The boy walked forward. He was roughly the same height as me and he had a short crop of sandy white hair. He stood with the posture of one of the household cavalry's of Buckingham Palace. (Y'know, the ones with the big furry hats.) He looked at me with interest for only a moment; his mind seemed to be analyzing everything he saw. The next moment his expression changes to that of boredom.
I'll change that. I thought to myself, thinking about all the training exercises this boy would have to go through. He won't be smiling by the end of today. Oh, how wrong I was.

Three hours later, I'm standing in The Steward's sorry, Lord Odin's seventeenth century office.
"How is Artemis settling in to your training, Lord Lorien?" Asked Odin.
"Well he's fast I can tell you that." I replied. "Whatever I throw at him he seems to handle quite easily. He's very different than either Laius or Arcanum."
"Yes, I expected that would be the case." I stared at him quizzically. "He has not been through the same training that Laius and Arcanum have been through. His is a very unique case." He muttered the last bit to himself.
"Why is he such a unique case?" I asked, intrigued.
"Normally members join when they are ready, most of the time this is around the age of sixteen, in Artemis's case, he joined when...well." Lord Odin paused. "He has been with us since the day he was born. To him what you are teaching him is perfectly normal he does not know that there are people out there who do not have the ability that we have. He cannot understand that because, he has never been a part of that world." He looked into my eyes. "You must act differently for now, but there will be a time when he must join you in the outside world. He will also be one of your allies in the fight against The Society. I hope your training goes well Lord Lorian. Goodnight." He finished.
I walked out and headed back towards my room.

"Lord Lorian, this is very basic don't you think?" Asked Artemis.
"Not if it saves your life. Now do it again." I thought back.
It seemed like a year ago that I meet Artemis, but it had only been three days ago. After hearing about my fight with Lord Bel his attitude did change slightly, and when he heard the rumor's that I would fry anyone's brain if they disagreed with me he did seem to become less arrogant and more interested in what I had to say. And by this time I realized that he wasn't a child at all. I mean he may have the body of a thirteen year old but he has the brain of a very older and wiser person than he is. At the moment I am trying to teach him how to send mind to mind communication. He can do it find it's just that as soon as your further than one hundred meters away he can't reach you. It is true that the further away you are the harder it is. But I want all my people to be able to communicate within a five kilometer range at the moment were stuck on one hundred meters.
"How far can you communicate?" He asked.
"The furthest I've ever tried was eight hundred and ninety six miles. I was in Scotland at the time trying to get a message to Lord Odin." I said. I knew however that I could do exceptionally more than that if I wanted to.
"Now try it again."
He tried but again the message went out of range just as I passed the one hundred meter mark. I transported back.
"It's been a long day, Artemis go and get some rest." I said. I could see that he would do more if I asked, but I was tired of transporting back and forth. And I knew we'd get no further today.
"Yes, Lord Lorian. Goodnight." Just as he was about to leave we heard a thought.
'ALL MEMBERS IN THE LOWER HOUSE PLEASE GO TO BRIEFING ROOM ONE. COULD LORD LORIAN TRANSPORT TO LORD ODIN'S OFFICE IMMEDIATLY.'
"What's the lower house?" I asked Artemis as I had never come across the term before.
"Anyone who's not in The Council." He replied. I realized that included him.
"You best get off. Artemis." I said, and with that, I vanished.