Their final lesson that morning was with master Elias and he regarded them keenly as they filed in and sat down nursing their bumps and bruises.
“I see that you have been preparing for today’s lesson.” He announced with a quirky smile whilst they all looked at each other, except Valentina who looked bored.
“Diagnosis and treatment of injury.” Master Elias said to their mystified faces. “For this lesson you will need to be in pairs.”
Freder’s heart sank when he realised what that meant.
“Adams, you will pair up with Oldbridge.”
Her cold blue eyes were already upon him as he turned towards her, this was not going to be a comfortable exercise.
“Now one of you will first be the patient, the other the healer.”
There was a light chattering and laughter as the other pairs sorted out who would be the patient but Freder had the icy Valentina beside him and she wasn’t indulging in chatter.
“You will be the patient.” She told him in an uncompromising tone.
“Okay.” Freder agreed, it had a certain logic with all his bruises.
“Patients on the floor.” Master Elias directed and with a certain amount of giggling the novices complied.
“Good. Now the first step in any attempt to render aid to the injured or sick is to establish where the injury lies. This can be done by simple observation but there are many injuries and nearly all sicknesses that do not show any externally visible signs. We must use our sight to uncover these, not by looking at the body but at the aura. Most injuries can be detected as a near scarlet blotching, sickness will manifest itself in a number of colours and patterns but we will come back to that later. Healers, observe your patients aura.”
There was quiet in the room as the ‘healers’ used the chant to open their mindseye and look through their patient to their aura in the ether beyond the physical body.
“Do you see the scarlet ?”
“Yes.” Came back in chorus.
“Good, now notice where in the aura the scarlet lies, at the edges indicates a surface injury, the deeper within the aura the deeper within the body. Todays patients are all demonstrating surface injuries to perfection.”
There was a ripple of laughter from most of the prone bodies but Freder did not join in as Valentina’s gaze continued to sear through his being and into the dark aura beyond. He felt as naked to her as he had to her mother and it was an intensely uncomfortable feeling.
“Having established the peripheral or buried nature of the wound the next step is to locate it on the actual body. Your body is permeated by your aura therefore we can use your aura to locate the injury even when you are fully clothed. Healers. With your left hand trace the outline of your patient and feel the flow of their aura. This is not easy for the changes will be small, take it slowly.”
The brows of the healers were furrowed in concentration and most of them closed their eyes to better block out the other external stimuli, not Valentina, she continued to stare beyond Freder. Her hand began its slow passage over his body, tracking the shape unerringly and her face showed little twinges like pain as her hand passed over the many bruises he bore. Suddenly she snatched her hand away and turned around.
“Is there a problem ?” Master Elias enquired quietly as he knelt down beside her.
“I can’t do this.” She whispered in a distressed tone.
“You cannot ‘see’ his injuries ?”
“No, I see them master, but…” She faltered and stopped speaking. “It’s too much for me.”
Master Elias waved a hand casually over Freder and his brow creased, this was indeed severe bruising.
“How are you feeling Adams ?” He asked him. “Are you in pain ?”
“It does hurt some.” Freder answered him.
“Little wonder. Come to the Infirmary after the lesson, I will treat the bruising.” Then he turned back to Valentina. “If young Adams can bear the injuries I do not think it too much that you find them, all of them.” He told her in a firm voice.
Reluctantly she shifted her position and lifted her hand to continue her examination of him.
“Properly.” Master Elias stated sotto voce as he detected that she was faking it.
Her face screwed up and she looked through him and his livid injuries, taking in every single blow he had taken in the boulderfear game. Clearly this was an ordeal for her and Freder wished he could think of something to say but her stare cowered him into silence even though it was fixed on his aura.

After ten minutes master Elias called a halt to their examinations and asked each healer for a quick rundown of the most affected areas, Valentina correctly identified Freders thighs and chest as being the most bruised areas.
“Now that you have diagnosed an injury we can consider treatments.” Master Elias told them. “For shallow cuts and grazes this is most effectively done with a medicament to clean the wound, for today’s bruises the most efficacious treatment is to bolster the bodies own self healing. This is a subtle thing and easily overdone. I shall demonstrate first, and as young Adams seems to have more than his fair share of bruises, he shall benefit from my care.” He said kneeling down beside Freder. “Everyone look at my aura and that of my patient. At the point where I touch him I will contact his aura with mine and pass a simple pulse of healing energy, this will appear as a small green glow and will be very fleeting. Watch carefully now. First I touch.”
They could see the intersection of the dark and the bright blue green, a strange sort of rippling and almost a bleeding of one aura into the other.
“Now the pulse.” Master Elias said softly.
It was the merest moment in duration, a soft green glow that permeated the darkness and seemed to ripple back and forth around the contact point even when master Elias had removed his hand.
“How do you feel ?” He asked Freder.
“It doesn’t feel so sore master.”
“That is a little local deadening of the pain I added for good measure.” He smiled. “Now, is everyone still observing the injury point ?”
“Yes.”
“What do you see, Ariadne ?”
“There’s a green ripple, it keeps moving but always around the same point, the scarlet is fading.”
“Excellent. This is Adams body repairing itself, drawing in healing energies of its own accord. Our intervention is just a catalyst, a way of speeding things up.” He got to his feet. “Now much as I would like you to repeat what I have done for your own patient, they will have to suffer a little longer until you have all mastered the art of the healing pulse. You patients may get up now.”
With everyone sitting at their desks master Elias proceeded to hand out a green tomato to each of them.
“This is your new patient.” He said with a grin. “The healing pulse also triggers ripening in fruit, and as I’m sure we will see, is easier to deal with when you get it wrong.”
There was a nervous ripple of laughter at that, just what would happen ?
“So first you must observe your patients aura.”
Freder was surprised to see that his tomato did indeed have an aura, albeit a faint yellowy brown one.
“Now selecting a spot on your patient as the injury site I want you all to try to deliver a healing pulse. Remember, gentle and very short. Begin.”
A little hesitantly each of them laid a finger on their tomato and thought about the soft green pulse that they wanted to summon.
“Uurghh !” Harley exclaimed as his tomato burst open splattering him with pulp.
“I have plenty more patients.” Master Elias chortled placing another ‘victim’ before Harley. “Come on everyone, a prize for the first successful healing pulse.”
There were plenty more little explosions and Freder caused most and the more spectacular of them, he just seemed to have too much energy at his disposal and he was on his tenth tomato when he caught a sensation from Valentina. He saw her aura cease its jittering and settle just before she laid her long first finger upon the tomato and deliver a perfect little pulse into it. He watched as the green fruit slowly began to yellow where her finger had lain, she had done it and a small smile quirked the corners of her mouth.
“Nice one.” Freder said to her with a smile of his own but he got the same hard stare back in response.
“Ahh, we have a winner.” Master Elias announced picking up the tomato and turning it around so that everyone could see the small reddening within the spreading yellow.
“So novice Oldbridge get’s her prize.” He beamed.
The class didn’t seem to be entirely enthusiastic about this and their faces remained deadpan.
“You will give your patient a healing pulse.”

That got everyone’s attention. Freder looked at Valentina and she at him, neither knew who looked the more frightened. He didn’t like to think what the equivalent effect of her blowing up a tomato would be on his leg and plainly the same thought terrified her.
“On the floor Adams.” Master Elias said cheerfully. “Healer Oldbridge, beside him. Good. Now before we begin I am going to be right here and I will stop you if I think that you will deliver anything harmful. Take your time.”
Valentina looked up at him imploring him silently not to make her do this but his head merely nodded towards her equally scared patient.
Unfortunately Freder was not just another novice and his fright was manifesting itself in other ways, his normally quiescent aura began to swell and darken but master Elias’ attention was upon Valentina as she tried to compose herself. She closed her eyes and slowly began to extend her arm towards Freder.
“Look out!” Master Elias shouted suddenly and pulled her backwards as a snake of electrical discharge flashed out of the air above Freder and through where she had been moments earlier.
Looking very flustered master Elias helped Valentina to her feet and then looked down at Freder, his sight taking in the newly active aura that writhed dark and menacing about him. The rest of the class were silently edging away from him as their own sight revealed this menacing vision to them.
“Freder.” Master Elias said very softly, dropping his formal mode of address to calm him. “Valentina will not be giving you a healing pulse. Do you hear me Freder ?”
Freder’s attention locked onto the master, he knew his aura had reacted and struggled to calm it but only succeeded in getting more agitated.
“Freder, do nothing. Use the chant to calm yourself, just the chant.”
For what seemed an age Freder just recited the chant over and over in his head, his pulse steadied and he felt his aura calm and diminish until he knew it was safe again.
He sat up slowly and looked at Valentina.
“I’m sorry.” He said to her frightened face.
“I should apologise to you both.” Master Elias said. “I was forgetting how sensitive you are to potential threats to your person Freder. Here let me help you up.”
He reached down with his left arm to a collective intake of breath from the rest of the class, but nothing untoward happened and he got Freder to his feet.
“I think that we have had enough excitement for the day, you may all go.” He announced but kept his hand upon Freder to prevent him leaving.
“You have an appointment in the infirmary.” He told him as Winston cleared the threshold at the rear of the class. “That was a near thing. You panicked didn’t you ?”
“Yes master.” Freder said miserably.
“No shame in that, it was a pretty scary thing I was asking of both of you, but it’s always scary the first time. I would not have allowed you to be hurt.”
“One part of me knows that master, but the bit that’s in control…” He gave a resigned shrug.
“Then we must work upon wresting that control from the instinctive side of you. That’s going to be a challenging exercise for us all.” He concluded with a tight smile. “Now let’s go get those bruises sorted out eh ?”
It took the best part of half an hour for master Elias to locate and treat all the bruising that Freder had sustained and he looked very perplexed when his patient sat up on the couch.
“You should have withdrawn from the game, or at least asked for some respite, you were badly battered.” He said in a concerned tone. “And think what might have happened if you had received a particularly bad blow, your self defence response would have been very dangerous.”
“I was having fun master.” Freder answered him. “I gave some good shots too.”
“Yes. Well that game is supposed to be about controlling the squirl, not bruising your opposition into submission. Just bear that in mind when you play again.”
“Yes master.”
“Off you go, the other novices will be having their meal by now.”
“Thank you master.” Freder said with a smile and hurried away to find his friends in the refectory, and after a few wrong turns, succeeded.

He came in as the senior novices were getting their food and he joined the end of the queue. A familiar face turned around and glared at him from further up in the line but the senior just in front of him moved to block any confrontation.
“Thanks.” Freder said.
The senior turned round and smiled down at him then offered his left arm.
“Arthur Small.” He introduced himself.
“Freder Adams.”
“Don’t worry about Norbert, we’re all under strict orders to give you some peace, he won’t do anything. He’s just sore, he’ll get over it.”
“Thanks all the same, it’s all pretty strange to me and I don’t need to be making enemies on my first few days here.”
“I think Norbert was just a bit angry about you getting escorted by Stannous while his brother got no special treatment, the Hand re-captured him after three days.”
“Oh, sorry to hear that. Did many get away ?”
“As far as I know most of the masters have reached a safe haven but a lot of the novices were not so lucky. I hear that the Master Supreme is mad at the masters for abandoning the novices, she holds to the old tenets very strongly.”
Freder wondered how many other novices had lost friends or relatives back to the Hand after the breakout from the Stone, maybe they held grudges against him too.
“Will they go back for them ?”
Arthur looked surprised at the question.
“I wouldn’t think so, the Master Supreme was trying not to inflame the Hand, the breakout, well it didn’t exactly help that policy did it ?”
The manner of Arthur’s answer told Freder that he didn’t agree with the appeasement policy at all.
“But maybe now you’re here things will change.”
“Me ?” Freder croaked.
“Don’t be so modest, the dark aura who broke the Stone. There’s plenty of masters coming round to Stannous viewpoint, we should give the Hand more than just a bloody nose.”
Freder wanted to protest that he had very little to do with the breakout, he had spent most of the time in terror of the lightning that had hunted him. It had been Stannous and Mikal who had engineered the destruction of the Stones thick walls.
“I…I.” Freder stammered but Arthur had turned away to select his food and then given him a wink and gone to join his fellows.
Rather numbly Freder pointed out the dishes he wanted and then carried them over to the other juniors who were boisterously showing off their bruises.
“Hi Fred.” Winston said as he sat down. “What did Arthur say to you ?”
“He told me that most of the senior novices who had escaped from the Stone had been recaptured.”
“Oh.”
It was a bit of a conversation killer but Winston was not to be silent for long.
“What are you on this afternoon ?”
“Eh ? How do you mean ?”
“Well we all have jobs to attend to, have you been told yours yet ?”
“I haven’t heard anything yet.”

At that moment a small rotund woman swept into the refectory and made a beeline for Freder.
“I think you’re about to find out.” Harley said in a low voice.
“Freder, you are to be formally accepted as a novice in the Brotherhood this afternoon, then we will start your intensive training. Lewis, please bring Freder to my rooms at the top of the hour.” Master Catherine announced.
“Yes master.”
She paused in the refectory long enough to sweep her penetrating gaze over the senior novices table, Norbert flinched visibly, then she was leaving and the chatter started up again.
“Norbert got a really thick ear this morning.” Lewis told his fellows with some satisfaction. “Master Catherine has put the fear into him, might have threatened him with expulsion.”
“Serves him right if she did throw him out.” Stella said vehemently from beside Lewis. “He’s always bullying us, well almost all of us.” She said looking at Freder with a grin.
Freder turned a bright red shade at all the attention, but within a few moments the talk had moved onto who had the most dull or yukky job to do that afternoon.
Lewis kept one eye on the big clock in the refectory and extricated Freder from the happy throng to deliver him to master Catherine’s rooms and placed his hand on the door plate. The door swung open to reveal the master sitting at her table.
“Come in Freder, thank you Lewis.”
The room was a lot emptier than on his last visit with many of the shelves empty of the sparkling clutter of devices.
“Oh.” He uttered in his surprise and shame.
Catherine looked at him and shrugged.
“Well it was about time I had a clean out, it was just a bit more radical than I had anticipated. Don’t worry about it Freder. Please sit down.” She waved him to the chair opposite her. “Miranda has agreed that you should be accepted as a novice this afternoon. Stannous is to be your sponsor.”
Freder smiled at the mention of his friend, he hadn’t seen him since the conclave of the masters.
“Now you should understand some of the rules that you will be bound to.” Catherine told him in a more serious tone. “You should also be aware that your sponsor will be responsible for your good behaviour and will have to administer any discipline for minor infractions. If you prove to be a disruptive or bad novice it will reflect on Stannous.” She told him. “It would also reflect poorly on me for pushing so hard to have you admitted as much more than a normal novice.”
“Oh.” Freder said softly as he realised that this was a very serious matter.
“So now I will ask you, did you purposefully use the good arm on Norbert or was it purely instinctive ?” Catherine demanded of him and her eyes took on that other worldly look that told Freder that she was looking at his aura.
“I…I did make contact with an energy stream.” Freder said very quietly. “I was angry that he had hurt Lewis and was picking on me, calling me a snark.” He went on more forcefully.
Catherine’s eyes focussed upon his face once more and she was frowning, then she sighed.
“It is hard Freder but even when you are provoked and I appreciate that you had seen Lewis roughed up.” She said with a placating hand when he looked about to object. “But you, more than any of us must not rise to such petty baiting. Freder you are dangerous when you are angry. You can harness energy in lethal quantities, you could have killed Norbert even if you didn’t intend to.”
Freder hung his head, he understood that he had been foolish in the extreme but he hadn’t been able to control the urge to strike back, he had been the butt of bullying for too long and now he could defend himself.

“Freder.”
He looked up into Catherine’s blue eyes.
“Promise me that you will do your utmost to control your anger, come to me if someone is causing you problems. It takes true strength to walk away from insults, do not become the bully over such trivial things as words.”
“But Lewis….”
“Was not badly hurt, I know it looked bad to you, but we have rules and we do discipline those who bully others. Now promise me Freder.”
He was silent while he thought through everything. He badly wanted to learn how to control his magical powers but he also didn’t think it fair that he couldn’t give as good as he got.
“If we are going to train you to become a master then we demand that you live by our rules Freder. We will not help you become a self centred bully who will abuse your talents to hurt and suppress others less fortunate than you. That is the choice Freder, black or white, there is no middle path.” She told him in a tone that chilled him to the core. He looked through her to her terrifying dark blue aura and knew that she would enforce those rules if she had to.
“It’s so hard.” He said to that disembodied aura. “I want to learn, I want to do the right thing but this is the first time that I have been able to fight back.”
A gentle hand upon his cheek brought his vision back into the real world.
“I suspected as much Freder. But you recognise the peril don’t you ?”
He nodded.
“Then promise me to curb your anger and I promise that I will do anything I can to help you.”
“I promise to try to keep my anger in check master.” He told her truthfully.
“And I promise you Freder that you will never be left alone in that struggle, I will help you.”
She smiled at him.
“You will be our best Freder, in all things.” She told him warmly and stroked his cheek much to his embarrassment.
“Now these are the rules to which you will have to agree to.”
She read out a list of five rules.
“You shall not kill or maliciously cause injury knowingly by the good arm.
You shall not oppress any with the good arm.
You shall not seek profit by the good arm.
You shall render aid to all.
You shall show due respect to your fellow brothers and sisters.
The Master Supreme will ask you to swear to abide by these rules, you will answer her ‘I solemnly swear to obey the rules of the Brotherhood of the Good Arm in word, in thought and in deed.’ got that ?”
“I solemnly swear to obey the rules of the Brotherhood of the Good Arm in deed.”
“In word, in thought and in deed.” Catherine interrupted him quietly.
It took several attempts for him to memorise it correctly but this was the least of his concerns as Catherine described the rest of the ceremony. He would be led into the chamber with a hood over his head which symbolised his wandering in darkness. Then when he was accepted by the Master Supreme the hood would be pulled back and both Stannous and Catherine would luminate two spheres of light over his outstretched hands.
“Luminate ?” He asked her.
“It’s what we refer to summoning the spheres of light Freder, we luminate.”
Again this was symbolic of being passed the light of knowledge and the Master Supreme would bring the ceremony to a close.
“It is normal for other masters to be present and bearing in mind your special talent I think it will be a full house today.” Catherine told him with a smile, that news made him even more nervous. “They will all offer you the good arm as they leave, that could take some time.”
“Oh.” Was all he could utter.
“It’s a great honour Freder, the other novices will be quite envious of your celebrity. Don’t play up to it Freder.” She warned him.
Freder would have happily dispensed with much of the ceremony, especially as it involved a big audience.

“Now we must hurry along and get changed.” She said in a business like manner.
“Changed ?” This was getting worse by the minute.
“Of course, you can’t be accepted in those clothes. Stannous and I will be dressed in white and black, you will be in light blue, symbolic of your aura.” She paused to shrug. “Admittedly not very appropriate for you, but it is our traditional colour for the noviate. Come on Freder cheer up, I think you’ll cut quite a dashing figure. The other novices will have polished your belt especially well.”
That sounded more promising and Freder hurried along beside her through the rabbit warren of corridors and stairways to a small room near to the meeting chamber, threading their way through ever more masters and at odd intersections the other junior novices who waved and called out encouragement. Rounding one corner he almost ran into Valentina who offered him a quiet ‘Good luck’ as he swept by. Entering the room they found Stannous already taking off his jacket.
“Cat, Freder.” He said affably and continued disrobing.
“These are your robes and shoes.” Catherine said pointing to the neatly folded blue robe on the single low shelf.
He picked it up and found that there were no other garments.
“Umm, is this all ?” He asked nervously, noting that Stannous was now absolutely naked.
“Of course.” Stannous laughed. “It symbolises your aura, what more would you wear ?”
He now saw with growing embarrassment that Catherine was also stripping completely. She caught the change in his aura as she shed her blouse.
“Are you upset by this ?” She asked him. “We’ll turn away and promise not to peek.” She chuckled.
That hardly comforted him but he set about taking his own clothes off as quickly as possible and pulling the blue robe over his head and smoothing it down. It hung almost to the ground and fitted him nicely, even the voluminous arms were the right length. He pulled on the slipper like shoes and looked around for the belt he had been promised.
“Ah, a handsome sight.” Stannous said approvingly and brought over a slim box and opened it. Within lay a belt of linked copper plates, each intricately worked with abstract designs and shining like a newly risen sun.
“Ah-ah.” Stannous waved an admonishing finger at him as he reached for it. “We put this on for you.”
Catherine joined them in a simple black robe her hair now unbound and cascading in a brown torrent over her shoulders. She fixed a brooch to his robe holding the top closed and then took the bindings of the belt at one end while Stannous picked up the others.
“Arms up.” She ordered him.
The belt was secured about his midriff and he admired the way it flashed as he moved, this was pretty flash.
Stannous then opened a second box and removed an even more magnificent silver belt that he tied at the back on Catherine, she looked truly regal. Finally Catherine opened the last box and lifted out a belt of pure gold with a single massive sapphire set into the middle panel and set it in place around Stannous ample stomach. They checked each others robes and tweaked out any little snags or folds and when they were satisfied turned back to Freder.

“It is a short walk to the chamber.” Catherine said. “You must have the hood over your face for it.”
Freder didn’t like the idea but he wasn’t about to make an issue of it and nodded silently.
“I suggest that you use the chant, it will help calm you and you may find that you don’t need your eyes for the walk.” She continued with a smile. “But we will be guiding you, have no fear. Ready ?”
“Yes.” He said resolutely even though his insides felt like they were on a roller coaster.
Catherine pulled the hood of his robe up over his head and draped it over his face, then took his right hand while Stannous big warm hand took his left. He began to cycle the chant in his head and realised with delight that he could indeed sense much of his surroundings so that as they made their way through the relatively narrow door he moved surely with them.
“That’s it lad.” Stannous said in a low warm tone and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.
Approaching the ornate double doors with his normal sight blocked was a revelation for the intricate workings behind the embossed lock plate were exposed to his mindseye and he was fascinated to see them move to another’s command, that of the Master Supreme, Miranda Bluesky. He could clearly ‘see’ her blazing blue aura focussing the flux lines within the lock and deftly unlocking the complex series of levers and cams so that the doors would open when she willed them to. Even though he had ‘seen’ the chamber full of masters only one day earlier, today he was even more aware of them, their auras bright and mysterious in his ethereal sight. Ahead of him he could ‘see’ the metal brazier that contained a small hot fire, the only source of light in the chamber but it was a pale poor thing in his other sight. Stannous and Catherine led him to stand before it.
“In the beginning man saw only by the light of the fire.” Miranda Bluesky intoned.
“Then came the man with the good arm and the strong sight and he lit our way forward.” Both Catherine and Stannous replied.
“I present Freder Adams as a candidate for novice in the Brotherhood of the Good Arm.” Stannous announced to the assembled masters.
“Has he a good arm ?” Miranda asked of them.
“He has a good arm.” Stannous replied.
“Has he a good heart ?”
“He has a good heart.” Catherine answered confidently.
“Our Brotherhood lives by the tenets of Adam Stormrider.
You shall not kill or maliciously cause injury knowingly by the good arm.
You shall not oppress any with the good arm.
You shall not seek profit by the good arm.
You shall render aid to all.
You shall show due respect to your fellow brothers and sisters.
These tenets encompass our lives and will now encompass yours.
Freder Adams do you accept these tenets and swear to live by them as our brother ?”
The chant circling within his mind Freder felt completely calm and he did not hesitate or falter in his reply.
“I solemnly swear to obey the rules of the Brotherhood of the Good Arm in word, in thought and in deed.”
“Freder Adams we welcome you into our Brotherhood, may you always see the light.”
At that moment Stannous and Catherine used their free hands to pull back his hood and then extend his arms before him before releasing his hands and luminating balls of blue light over them.
“Receive the light of the Brotherhoods wisdom, may it always guide you and may it never fade.” Miranda spoke the closing line of the ceremony.

At this Stannous and Catherine removed their hands and the balls of light quickly began to fade away. Freder had been watching closely with his mindseye as they had performed the lumination and saw how they had bent the lines of energy round and round to pass through the same volume of air thus generating the light. It was another fabulous sight and he wanted to do it. Completely ignoring the fact that he was at the centre of attention and that the masters would all luminate in a moment he drew in a rich stream of energy and crudely bent it around above his hands. Only a few strands criss-crossed but such was the extravangance of the energy that he summoned the balls of light did not go out but flickered fitfully as he struggled to keep the strands passing through their centres.
There was a collective whisper throughout the chamber as they witnessed not only the hesitant attempt at luminating by the new novice but the sheer power he summoned to the task. Someone began stamping his foot in appreciation of the show and it was rapidly taken up by the whole audience so that the chamber resounded to it. Unfortunately the explosion of sound broke Freder’s concentration and the fragile balls collapsed and died.
“Ho ho !” Stannous boomed and slapped him on the back. “Barely accepted and already luminating, what did I tell you Freder ? Am I not a very good judge of talent ?”
He looked up at his mentor and grinned, looking over at Catherine he saw her give a slight nod forwards and realised that the masters were coming forward. First came the formidable Miranda Bluesky, her aura flickering and coruscating, but today she was looking at him and a slight smile played over her lips as she held out her left arm to him. Freder lost count of the arms he accepted after fortysix and still the line snaked up to him with the occasional familiar face, Elias, Jake, Elena, Simon, but most were unknowns that he had never even seen before. Eventually the last master came forward and offered him the good arm and then nodding to Stannous and Catherine left the chamber.
“How are you feeling ?” Catherine asked as he massaged his left arm.
“Good.” He replied happily. “What happens now ? Do we have a feast or something ?”
“Not quite.” Stannous said with a mischievous glint in his eye. “Cat.”
“You are no ordinary novice Freder and we have arranged for you to have intensive study with a master each week.”
“Not now surely ?” He begged them, but they both nodded back at him. “Guess I better get changed then.”
“Oh no, that bit doesn’t change.” Stannous laughed. “You stay in those robes until you retire for the night.”
“Really ?” Freder enquired, actually feeling good about keeping the belt for a while longer.
“Yes Freder.” Catherine answered him. “Now for your first tutor, come along.”

They led him outside the House to a sizeable amphitheatre fashioned in a natural bowl in the hillside and he was surprised to see a familiar figure down in the central arena performing what looked like ballet. Yet as they sat down in the front row of seats Freder realised that the performer was holding, no suspending, a shining metal sphere over her left hand as she went through her carefully choreographed moves. No matter what she did, be it bending over backwards, spinning on the spot, pirouetting with arms outstretched the sphere remained perfectly poised over her hand. Her final spin that got faster and faster as she brought her arms in and above her head was breathtaking and her smooth halt, perfection. All three of them applauded enthusiastically. In response master Elena Brightwater politely curtsied with a smile and crossed the arena to stand before them, the sphere still holding station over her hand, supported by streamers of energy that were visible to Freders other sight.
“Wow!” He exclaimed. “How do you do that ?”
Elena smiled at him.
“That is what you are here to learn Freder.”
“What me, do all that spinning and stuff ?!”
“Only if you want to.” Elena laughed. “No, I am going to teach you to control fluxing so that you can manipulate objects remotely with great precision and strength. Take the ball.” She held it out to him and he grasped it with both hands.
“Ooof !” He exhaled loudly as she ceased levitating it and the full weight nearly dragged it free of his grasp.
“That is the squirl, the real squirl Freder. It is what we use in the contest of Boule de Fer, ball of iron.” She explained. “You have only played the junior version and need a helping hand if you are to play it well I think.”
Freder considered his many bruises that despite master Elias’ intervention still smarted considerably.
“You can teach me to play it properly.”
“Better than that Freder, I will teach you to play Boule de Fer, a far more subtle game. Come step into the arena with me.” She beckoned.
Taking him into the centre where a mat had been laid upon the gravel surface she sat down cross legged and gestured for him to do the same.
“First you should understand your surroundings, use your sight Freder, what do you see ?”
As his eyes defocused and his other sight peered out about him he quickly saw what master Elena was referring to, the ground beneath the arena was alive with energy streams, some near the surface bearing the unmistakable signature of running water and others glittering deeper down from an unknown source.
“I see many streams, lots of them are close by, easy to tap.”
“Correct, it is said that the founder of our Brotherhood looked for this place and built the house upon it for just this reason. You can tap into many sources but I want you to harness only one Freder, choose.”
A particularly bright and effervescent stream attracted him and he extended his aura into it as easily as putting out his arm.
“Good. Now to lift the sphere stably you will need to create three flux lines into it. This sounds difficult but it is most easily achieved by using both hands. With both hands you can easily create two flux streams, try it.”
Freder summoned the energy and it coursed up through him and spat the sphere skywards in a lopsided arc.
“Oh.” He said disappointed by his clumsy effort.

Elena easily ‘caught’ the sphere as it fell back towards the ground and guided it back to him.
“You made two flux streams but they were not balanced.” She explained. “You also summoned too much energy, master Marcus told me that you need to use a poor source to get better control, choose a weaker stream.”
Remembering his experience that morning Freder cast about and found a deeper stream that was a much less attractive source and much harder to harvest.
“So try to bring the flux streams up gently, cup your hands around the ball.”
Doing as she suggested he tried to ease up the flow, the ball rocked, he thought more about which hand was carrying most flux, unsurprisingly his left. He tried again and again the ball bobbled and flopped out of his hands to one side.
“Better, you are getting control of the strength of the flux. Again.”
He struggled on for long minutes but he could not get the balance right, his left arm was just too strong. The ball flopped onto the ground with a thump and he slapped his hands down onto the ground in frustration. Almost immediately he felt Catherine’s aura reach out to him carrying a soothing essence in its dark blue folds.
Elena reached forward and touched his arm.
“Let’s try something a little different.”
Freder drew in a few breaths to calm himself, reminding himself of his promise to Catherine.
“Okay.” He said quietly.
“Your good arm is so strong that it biases the flux streams, perhaps you do not need your right hand. Put the ball upon your left hand, spread out your fingers and thumb. Make separate flux lines from them.”
Following her instructions Freder laid the heavy ball in his palm and calmed his thoughts. He was going to be a master, he was going to make Stannous and Catherine proud of him. He drew in a breath and summoned the energy forth. The ball gave a little jump up into the air and then bobbed up and down as he crudely controlled the flux strength. A master, he thought and remembered how he had squeezed the flux to make the little windmill move its blades faster or slower. The bobbing smoothed out and the ball hung just above his hand, the flux lines sparkling in his mindseye. A master; he let more energy flow and the ball rose higher, squeezed the flux and it sank back down. Up and down the ball went in perfect time with his desire.
Applause broke out from in front and behind him and he smiled broadly as he brought the ball slowly down into the palm of his hand.
“Yes !” He shouted exultantly, he had achieved his goal.

“Wonderful.” Elena said warmly as his eyes focussed on her again. “You are a natural Freder.”
“Now that calls for a reward wouldn’t you say ?” Stannous asked of Catherine as they came to a halt on either side of Freder.
She glanced back at him and then at Elena.
“A challenge ?” Elena asked them with a laugh. Then looking to Freder she explained.
“Your reward is to see Boule de Fer played for you alone. I want you to watch very closely, not just how we manipulate the ball with the flux but how we play. In this game we make and break alliances as we play, offering chances to the others and defending against sudden turns of those alliances. The squirl will move very fast, do not use your eyes, use you aura.” She finished with a smile and indicated he should go and sit in the stands.
As he sat down the three contestants spread out into a circle and Elena levitated the squirl into their midst before dropping it. What followed was a dazzling display of fluxing as all three auras swirled and morphed to forge the energy into ever more complex geometries. The squirl flew across the arena but rarely in a straight line as each pushed or pulled at it seeking to make it contact their chosen target. Sometimes Freder saw when two worked together as their auras seemed to flash in unison but mostly he only caught the tiniest hint of a new alliance as the squirl curled in on its target. The hits were not hard despite the heavy mass of iron that was being pushed around at great speed, the feints got past defences by being unexpected whilst the straight forward power shot was easily detected and deflected, often being a part of another feint. It was clear who the best player was, master Elena scored most hits and received the least, despite a determined partnership by Stannous and Catherine who contrived some very artful plays only to find that Elena used their own guile against them. Eventually Catherine held up a hand and the squirl was arrested mid flight.
“We shall be late to the feast if we play much longer. Elena, a humbling pleasure.” She said with a bow, which Elena received with a curtsey.
“Should you ever tire of winning the tournament let me know.” Stannous laughed. “I’d like a real chance of a title one day.”
Elena shook her head in answer setting her long blond tresses shaking. With her pale skin blushed by the activity and a broad smile upon her normally severe face Freder thought that she was beautiful beyond compare. As if she detected his admiration, master Elena looked his way.
“Did you see Freder ?” She asked him with a smile. “The subtle alliances, the feints that worked, those that failed ?”
“Some of them master.” He answered her. “It was all so quick.”
“The speed is illusory Freder, many of the moves are well established and a good player knows them instantly. It is the strategy that wins the game. We will explore these things in our sessions together. Until tomorrow.”
She turned away summoning the squirl to her and walked out of the arena. Catherine beckoned Freder to them.
“Did you enjoy that ?”
“Fantastic.” Freder beamed up at them. “Do you think I’ll be able to do all that ?”
“Given a little time and Elena’s tuition, you can’t fail.” Stannous told him with a grin. “Then we’ll form a team to take the trophy.”
Freder liked that idea, winning the Boule de Fer tournament with Stannous, he had another goal and for the first time in his life, the confidence to go after it.
“I think they should be ready for us by now.” Catherine commented and sent her vision out into the House. “Yes, we should go.”
“Do I have to do anything at the feast ?” Freder enquired a little warily.
“Well, there’s the eating and the drinking.” Stannous said in a mock serious tone. “Nothing you can’t handle eh ?”