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[color=ec008c]"Mistuh Yawen?"[/color] Yalen felt a hand tug on his sleeve and turned away from Ayla and Jocasta. Little Rita was waiting there behind him, and this time she wasn’t smiling. [color=ec008c]"That wasn't juss a show, was it?"[/color] The color drained from his face as the young priest understood the subtext hidden within the girl’s question. Before he could come up with another half baked excuse to conceal the deception, Rita pressed him further. [color=ec008c]"Caretaker Manazes nevuh does shows fow us."[/color] She said while shaking her head. 

Yalen was speechless. He wasn’t ready to explain the concept of life and death to a child, but perhaps she already understood it to some extent. That was just the kind of place a refuge was. It would only hurt her more if he didn’t tell the truth. 

[color=#FD5E53]”...Yeah, you’re right. Manazes wasn’t playing with you. He was a bad man. Me and my friends came here to get rid of the bad men, okay? We’ll protect you no matter what, I promise.”[/color] Yalen wrapped his arms around Rita and gave her a big hug. When she began to cry, he held her head against his chest and rubbed her back. The clouds were becoming thicker, and the light drizzle was slowly becoming a downpour. Yalen took Rita into his arms and carried her somewhere more sheltered from the rain. Even if the game was up, he knew better than to reveal the full picture. He could feel the signs of life fading here and there as some of the tethered took the ultimate revenge on their tormentors. Perhaps some of the residents had also fallen during the coup. What would Rita say if she knew the cost of her freedom?

[color=#FD5E53][i]Dami forgive us.[/i][/color]

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[h3]Post Coup - Day One[/h3]
[b]Location: Caretaker's Quarters[/b]

The coup was over, but there was still a tough road ahead for the sanctuary and its residents. The maddened wyrm was still out there somewhere swimming through the sand, invisible to anyone except those with the sensing range of the tethered. A handful of Biros would not be enough to stop the dragon’s rampage. The tethered had to stand up for themselves if there was to be any hope of survival, but they had been repressed for years. Not a single one of them could use magic intentionally, save for the “special” few like Jocasta and Marci. Though they weren’t Zenos, some of those from Ersand’Enise had to become teachers to these people. Yalen had been surprised to see more of his fellow students arrive through Hugo’s portal. They were basically strangers but he did recognize their faces, and some of them he’d even spoken to briefly in class. Since there was so much work to do though, the opportunity to socialize didn’t present itself. 

It was around 4 HO in the afternoon and the priest in training was presently standing inside an empty bedroom, one that used to belong to a caretaker that now sat in jail. The space had been cleared of furniture so that about two dozen chairs could be lined up in two rows. Yalen paced back and forth nervously in anticipation of those who would soon be arriving. Around the half hour mark, the bedroom door opened and a small gathering of tethered residents shuffled inside. Some of them could walk like Yalen and Marci. Some rode wheelchairs like Jocasta. All of them were younger than 18 years old. 

The introductions could be skipped - the residents would have been briefed on the situation before coming here. After exchanging a few polite “hellos” and “good afternoons”, everyone took their seats and settled in. Yalen looked appraisingly at his ‘class’, and they looked at him. He felt like he was about to proselytize in front of a church gathering. 

[color=#FD5E53][i]Goodness, where should I even begin?[/i][/color] The blonde youth cleared his throat and took a deep abdominal breath. [color=#FD5E53]”Well, you probably already know, but my name is Yalen Castel. I wish I could conduct this lesson more casually, but we are already on borrowed time. If you’re here then you know what’s at stake.”[/color] Some murmurs of acknowledgement filled the room. [color=#FD5E53]”In order to become an effective militia you will need to learn magic, and though I am unworthy of teaching you the task has fallen to me nonetheless.”[/color]

Yalen walked between the rows of chairs and passed out handwritten memos detailing the process of spellcasting. The section labeled “Reading” was clearly circled. The teenagers silently read the document for a couple minutes. One of them occasionally had to ask their neighbor how to read a word or two. Another said every word out loud as if they couldn’t hold the letters in their head. 

[color=#FD5E53]”If we were in a real classroom I would have started by explaining the origin of magic and all sorts of other things, but this is something of a crash course. The most essential thing to understand is that the organisms responsible for your disease are also a weapon you can utilize, and we need you to learn how starting today. Those organisms are called Manas, and by tapping into the symbiotic relationship between Manas and the human body, you can impose your will on the world and produce magic.”[/color] Yalen accented his words by holding his hand over a candle. The tethered looked in wonder as the wick seemed to ignite on its own. A wheelchaired girl with brown pigtails raised her hand. 

[b]“Mister, how do we know if we’re strong enough to use magic or not?”[/b] 

[color=#FD5E53]”Don’t worry,”[/color] Yalen reassured her, [color=#FD5E53]”we’re reasonably confident in your abilities. If you’re suffering from the illness this much then you should have some kind of aptitude for magic, even if it’s the most basic forms.”[/color] He walked to the back of the room and dragged out a wooden box. Those who were close enough to peer inside would see that it was full of loose cloth and cotton balls. [color=#FD5E53]”Before you can cast a spell, you need to find an energy source to power it. It can be almost anything. Sunlight, the ocean’s waves, and even bolts of lightning are just a handful of examples. The process of locating useable energy with your mind is called ‘reading’, and it is an ability we possess thanks to the existence of mana in our bodies.”[/color]

Yalen passed out the contents of the box so that each resident had a set. [color=#FD5E53]”There are many methods for discovering your third eye, but the one I am following is something that my own father used on me.”[/color] He picked up the lit candle and held it in front of himself. [color=#FD5E53]”To encourage your brain to rely on other senses, you shall block your sight and hearing using what I have given you. If you like you can plug your noses as well. The idea is to lose as many of your senses as possible so that your subconscious is forced to use reading instead. Those who pass the test will move on to the next step.”[/color] Again there were confused murmurs. Another individual raised their hand questioningly.

[color=#FD5E53]”Yes?”[/color] [b]”And what if… what if we fail to sense anything?”[/b] Yalen nodded towards the man. [color=#FD5E53]”Ah, that is a prudent question. It pains me to say it, but if you can’t accomplish this in at least half an hour then I’ll need you to go back to your quarters. I only have a brief time to teach you, and learning the skill of drawing  will be even harder than this. Now, without further delay, please put on your blindfolds and plug your ears. Once you have done that I am going to place this candle somewhere in the room, and you must find it with reading. Focus as hard as you can. When the time is up, I will ask you one by one where you think it is…”[/color]

[hr]

Yalen appeared satisfied with himself as he left the caretaker’s quarters. The tethered had already cleared away, leaving the young priest alone with his own thoughts. Fifteen of the twenty four had been able to pinpoint the candle’s location. Seven washed out honestly. Two tried to peek and were gently scolded. Those who passed would come back tomorrow so that he could explain to them how to draw. Having an army of tethered working together to steal energy out of the wyrm’s body would be a significant asset to the refuge’s defense. In the meantime, Yalen gave them the rest of the day to practice. For his part, he spent the rest of the day making himself useful around the refuge. Despite the danger looming over their heads, life had to go on, and there were a lot of chores to take care of. Yalen found himself keeping one of the staff company cleaning dirty clothes and bed sheets. He received pointers on how to wash laundry until nightfall. 

[hr]

[h3] Night Two [/h3]
[b]Location: Atop the walls[/b]

The first hour of Dami had come, and the sun’s rays were only visible as a faint orange glow over the horizon. As one of the few properly trained tethered on the premises, Yalen had been asked to assist the night watch with surveying the area for signs of the sand wyrm. Jocasta and Marceline would be quite busy taking care of other matters while the residents were looking promising, they needed to focus on their training. So, in spite of his desire to head to bed early the soft hearted cleric reluctantly gave his consent. Realistically he would only be expected to help out for an hour or two. Surely even an aberration mad wyrm had to go dormant at night, right?

And so Yalen ended up on duty atop the walls. The guards went out of their way to accommodate him somewhat since he was just a student. He was given a rather comfortable chair, and one of the troops lent him their lantern for light and warmth. While the normal guards actively patrolled the complex, Yalen’s only job was to reach out with his mind and warn everyone if he detected a giant dragon tunneling towards the walls. 

As usual, the desert was quite cold at night. The wind sent chills down Yalen’s spine every time it brushed his skin, and once in a while he could see his breath turning into crystals. He kept his lantern close at hand and fed it thermal energy every now and again to keep his fingers from going numb. 

The watch was uneventful. The tethered boy felt nothing but wildlife beyond the sanctuary walls. When he really focused, he could find an endless number of creatures hidden underneath the sands. From the largest Froabass to the smallest snake, the deserts of Torragon were full of life. At one point, Yalen spent several minutes following a nocturnal cheetah as it hunted for prey amongst the dunes. Occasionally his concentration was shaken by the clinking of chainmail when a guard walked past him. 

Yalen soon grew tired of sitting and got up to lean forward against the sandstone parapet. As it gradually got darker, four of the five moons revealed themselves in the night sky, all in varying phases of waxing or waning. The Dordian monk was momentarily entranced by the sight of Juni, whose aquamarine fissures glimmered in the distant Alosi sunglow. The comforting presence of his god’s moon filled him with inner peace.

For no particular reason, Yalen reached into one of his pockets and felt for something there. He had forgotten all about Rita’s present! The object felt hard and smooth. He closed his hand around it and pulled it out. What he found was a beautiful white shell, much like the ones grown by large land snails. When he thought about the little Segonese girl, Yalen’s heart quivered with regret. There would be an entire sea separating the two of them when he went back to Ersand’Enise. He never thought he could grow so attached to a kid he’d met only days ago. He quietly promised to find her again if he was still healthy enough to do so in the future. Yalen held the gift to his forehead and closed his eyes. The shell slowly twisted its shape as magic flowed through his body. When the priest was finished, Rita’s snail shell had been transformed into a pair of signet rings, sized just right for a young man’s index fingers. One bore the engraving of a setting sun. On the other, an image of Juni in her full phase. Yalen gingerly placed the rings onto his hands and admired them in the cool lantern light.  

[hr]
[h3] Day Three [/h3]
[b]Location: Bedroom[/b]

Yalen roused himself for his morning prayers at the same time he always did. Last night’s watch took its toll on him as he struggled to open his eyes and crawl out of bed. For a moment he desired nothing more than to drink straight out of Zarina’s coffee gourd until it was empty. He had detected the wyrm several times within his several kilometer radius, but never did it make a move to approach the refuge. Its travel path appeared completely random, maddened as it was by the aberration.

After finishing his worship, Yalen cleansed himself and got dressed like normal. He noticed that there was a small note tucked into his robe pocket that wasn’t there before. Who could have been responsible for putting it there? Despite how odd it was, Yalen felt compelled to unfurl the scrap of paper and read what was on it.

[i]You should have killed him.
[/i]

The note disappeared in a puff of flame as Yalen disposed of it. He already knew who left it there. Why was the Traveler so insistent on disturbing his peace? Weren’t they afraid that he would expose them? Perhaps they had already dealt with such a possibility in the past. Maybe Yalen should have considered himself lucky that the Traveler was content to merely watch events unfold rather than directly intervene. 

In order to set his mind right Yalen went back to praying at his bedside once more. The priest in training was halfway through his silent conversation when a knocking on the door broke his concentration. 

[color=#FD5E53]”Who could it be this early in the morning?”[/color] Yalen wondered out loud. He got up from his seat and limped over to the door, not yet wearing any leg support. When he opened it, he was met by a freckled girl with reddish brown hair. Yalen needed a second to remember her name.

[color=#FD5E53]”Miss… Laelle?”[/color] [color=6ecff6]”1:00 Shune. Great Baths. Get ready as soon as possible.”[/color]

[hider=Short version]
Yalen spends the time leading up to the Duque's arrival training the residents and keeping watch for the sand wyrm. He makes himself some nice bling out of a snail shell.[/hider]