The Fire Master - Prologue

As the abbot walks along the walls of the temple chatting to one of the monks the faint reedy sound of a child in distress reaches his sharp ears. Turning towards the sound he can see a thick plume of black smoke near the horizon.

Turning towards the other monk he says “Quickly, gather the monks the village is on fire” before rushing off towards a door.

A short time later all the monks that don't have urgent duties are gathered and they set off down the mountain towards the village. When they get there they find that the whole village has been burned to ash. Even the stone fireplaces have cracked to rubble. The abbot quickly organises the monks to look for survivors and joins them in the search.

A short way outside the village they find a young boy wandering alone and crying. Summoning the abbot they try to comfort the young boy as best they can. Once the boy has calmed down the abbot kneels down next to the boy and asks,

“What is your name young man?”

“Th..Th...Theo sir” comes the reply.

“Well Theo, would you like to come with us and have a warm bath, and a mug of milk?”

“Y..Y..Yes”.

“Well come on then, and if one of the monks finds your parents they'll tell them that we've taken you up to the temple”

******

Five years later

Six cowled figures stand before a large iron bound wooden door in the wall of a temple deep in the mountains the only visible light coming from the lantern that one of them holds. After a moment one of the group steps forward and raising his staff raps sharply on the door several times before stepping back with the others. After a few moments a shutter in the door can be heard to open and a voice from the darkness calls out.

“What business have you here fair travellers?”

The one that knocked on the door steps forward again and says.

“It has been 5 years since the last testing. We are here to test those inside for signs of magic. May we enter and have shelter for the night”

The shutter closes and the lock can be heard on the other side of the door, as after a moment the door starts to open into a dark entry way.

“Please follow me and I'll take you to a room you can rest in, the Abbot will see you in the morning”

With that he scurries off into the darkness leaving the group to follow as best as they can.

As the group passes by his room Theo stirs slightly in his sleep, and his dreams turn to Magic and flight.

******

Just before dawn, as if to some unheard signal, Theo wakes with the rest of the Temple after a night of the most vivid dreams he can remember. Stretching he goes through his morning routine before heading to the main hall for morning prayers and meditation. During meditation instead of finding the calm that he normally seeks he instead finds a ball of brilliant energy somewhere behind him. This ball seems to illuminate all the people around him and to be emitting a sound just beyond that of human hearing.

Struggling to ignore the ball Theo unsuccessfully tries to sink deeper into the meditative trance and to block out the bright ghostly blue light from behind him. Sooner than he thought possible the sound of the temple gong rings out, seeping into his trance and signalling that the period for meditation was over. Rising, he looks around to find the abbot, and seeing him talking to another monk heads over.

As he gets into earshot he hears the Monk saying “... will be gone by the afternoon”
“Good, last time they took one of our most promising monks and got her killed six months later” Says the abbot, who then looks round and spots Theo coming towards them.

“Ah, Theo my son, you look troubled, how can I help you?”
“Master, I wouldn't usually bring something like this to you, but after the dreams I had last night I fear that my teachings are deserting me. During meditation I could see a brilliant light illuminating everyone in the hall, and it seemed to be coming from somewhere behind me.”
The abbots face turns grave as he hears this.
“Ah, my son I think it may be best for you to have an extra lesson this morning instead of your morning chores, there are some techniques I can teach that may help you find peace while there are such distractions around”
“But master what about my chores?, they won't get done by themselves”
The abbot smiles at this, “My son, those chores needed to be done before you arrived and I'm sure they will still need to be done long after you have left this temple, you are but one of the many monks that have taken them on themselves, and I'm sure one of the others will see they need doing and do it themselves. Is this not what we taught you, and what you did when Brother John broke his ankle last year?”
Looking suitably chastised Theo replies “Yes master”

With that the abbot leads Theo off to his study.

******

Once in the study the Abbot start talking.

“You were five when we brought you here and as you know our teachings teach that all things are connected to each other and that only by being at peace with ourselves can we also be at peace with the world around us. To achieve this we learn to meditate and find our centre, and in that stillness find the world.

Once we have reached a certain level of proficiency with these teachings we find our spirit, that part of us that is reborn with each cycle. As our spirits awaken to our senses so does our perception of the world around us, and then we need to learn new ways to achieve the stillness that we trained so long to achieve, for again it is with stillness that we can truly see the world. And so the techniques I am about to teach you that were taught to me by my Abbot, and taught to him by his back as long as our history records. They will teach you to acknowledge the things around you, and to receive acknowledgement in return, and so achieve stillness with perception”

With this the Abbot sinks to the floor in a cross legged position and indicates the floor in front of him with is hand.

“Sit”

Theo sits facing the Abbot in a similar position.

“Enter a meditative state but remain aware of my voice and I will instruct you from there”

As Theo again sinks into a trance he becomes aware of the light and sound again, illuminating the room and beyond it the temple. Strangely the Abbot seems to be glowing with his own light this time unlike during the morning prayers.

“Turn your attention to my desk and see it for what it is, the oak that used to be alive, the nails from the mountains, and the leather from an old cow. Touch each of them with your senses and greet them with your name”

As the Abbot speaks Theo finds himself able do as the Abbot is asking, as he greets each on with his name they each greet him back with their names.

“Now greet each of the stones in the room”

Theo does this.

“Now greet everything illuminated by the light, but not the light yet”

As Theo does this the sound lowers in pitch until finally it sounds like a bell ringing, and the illuminated objects seem to become background scenery, still there but not clammering for his attention any more.

“Now be careful, and greet the light, and then greet me, we won't have much time once you're done”

Some part of Theo thinks that was a strange thing to say, however he does as asked. As he greets the light, the sounds takes on a happy tone and greets him back before fading into the background like the others, and then he greets the Abbot who greets him back and seems to give him a hug before too fading into the background.

As Theo sinks deeper into the trance the Abbot draws back into himself and gingerly gets up off the ground, careful not to touch Theo he moves round to the door and leaves the room, with the sounds of a happy bell reverberating through the temple.

Theo sinks deeper and deeper until he finds a small spark at the centre of his being. Sinking in deeper he greets the spark the same way as he did the other illuminated items, but instead of getting a greeting back the spark explodes into brilliance illuminating the countryside around him and seeming to come from within him. Sighing internally he begins to greet everything illuminated by his light, the mountains grant him a solid foundation before fading, the birds a view of the skies, the trees renewal, and more. Finally all is in the background and there is just him and his spark, as he drifts there he comes to realise that his spark is part of him, and has always been part of him. With this realisation he begins to draw out of the trance and return to the study.

*****

Meanwhile, the Abbot makes his way to the quarters of the guests. As he gets there the sound of the bell begins to die away, fading completely as he knocks on the door.

A flustered individual answers the door still trying to compose his features.

“Yes can I help you?” He says.
“I understand you are here for the testing” Replies the Abbot.
“Yes! I mean yes, we are we would like to test all your monks and leave by nightfall”
“Certainly, would you join us for our morning repast, and you can conduct your testing before the midday prayers”
“Yes, we will need a small room to set up in”
“You can use the antechamber off the main hall, I will have a monk set up a table there shortly”
“Thank you, by the way can all of your monks read?”
“Yes. After all, everyone has to know how to find their own answers in the scriptures”.
“Yes, well...”

With that he closes the door

******

As Theo enters the main hall for lunch time prayers he sees that up by the altar with its customary candle-less candle sticks, there are several men standing with the Abbot. As the last of the monks file in the Abbot begins to speak.

“As those of you that have been here longer already know, every five years the Academy sends out a team of seekers to search for new students both here and in the surrounding areas. Today the seekers have arrived, and will begin testing now, for those that have never been tested they will just ask you a couple of questions and then you will be able to leave. If you pass their tests I'm afraid that the laws of the land dictate that you must go with them to the Academy to study as a mage.”

With that the men leave the platform and enter the side room, and the first of the monks files in, a minute later he comes out with a slightly bemused expression on his face, and the next goes in. Theo walks up to one of them.

“What was it like?”
“Well three of them were sat behind a table with 2 of the others in the corners behind them and the last stood by the door, they then asked me what my name was, where I was born, and how long I'd been at the temple.”
“And?”
“Well that was it, after that I was allowed to go.”
“That doesn't seem much like a test to me”
“Well we've all got to go through it.”

Finally it was Theo's turn to be tested, as he entered the room he saw the room as the monk had described, but on the table was a scroll and a silver bell hanging from a stand with a striking hammer at it's base.

“Greetings, I am Roberto and we need you to follow the instructions written on the scroll in front of you”

As Theo picks up the scroll it tingles in his fingers. The scroll read as follows.

First pick up the striker then read the following striking the bell
at the end of each line

Ooort tree wikl gore ma
Sivle foss ma kore
Qus tré magi

As Theo strikes the bell for the first time a clear silver tone fills the air.
As he strikes the bell for the second time the bell starts to glow.
The last time the bell is struck it explodes in light and shatters into hundreds of pieces. As the giggling laughter of a child is left behind.

Once everyone is able to see again Roberto clears his throat before saying.

“Well... Erm, it looks like you've passed, Er, definitely passed, Erm, What's your name child?”

A slightly stunned Theo replied “Theo”
“And how long have you been here?”
“Five years”
“And where were you born?”
“The village down the mountain”
“There wasn't a village down the mountain”
“I was told it burned down five years ago, and I was found wandering the mountain”
“Ah, Well, erm, it appears we won't be able to do any more testing today”

*****

As Theo is travelling down the mountain with the mage finders the Abbot watches from the wall with the rest of the monks. Once they're out of earshot the Abbot turns to the monk next to him and says “At least this time we managed to teach him something before they got hold of him, I wish him luck with the rest of his journey”