Mira

Mira emerged from the classroom with a mixture of elation and sadness. She was elated because magic was probably the most interesting subject she had ever been taught about, but sad because she was barred from it by something she had no control over.

"Why couldn't I have been different?" she mumbled. It took a moment to notice that it wasn't Michael but Eydis waiting for her in front of the room.

The woman smiled and waved at her. "Michael got caught up with work. He wants me to tell you sorry, but he has to clear up some things with Rayakan before she just does what she wants."

"Oh, well, that can't be helped then," Mira replied, trying to hide her disappointment. She still had some difficulty understanding Eydis's signs due to a lack of practice, but she managed well enough. "Are you going to finish off the tour then?"

Eydis scratched her burn scars above her chest a little while thinking. "There isn't that much left except for the military parts, and they are still rather empty and boring. We could visit Sola. She did say that she would love for you to visit her in the temple."

"Good idea. Let's do that."

The temple was in the old parts of the city, as it had been built close to the beginning of civilized settlement here. It, as many things in the city, was up for a replacement, and Mira had seen the large space that had been left open for the new temple in the middle of the city's civilian districts.

Mira had visited the temple before in her visits, but it had been partially remodeled on the inside and had gained some small expansions on the outside as well.

The most prominent change Mira could see was that Idas, while still in a prominent position, wasn't the only deity present in carvings, paintings, and other forms of depictions. Most of the temple had been rearranged to allow a multitude of little altars to be placed against the walls and into small indentations.

Including Idas, Mira counted twelve different gods being depicted, even if two of them resembled each other so closely that she could only tell that they were different people because one was a woman while the other had the body of a man.

Those two had caught her attention the most as she looked back and forth between the stone statues. They both shared rather hard facial features. Their faces were narrow, with strong lines and piercing eyes. Both of their hair fell down to their hips, but while the statues couldn't tell her the colors, she found a painting that told her that the man had silvery hair, while the woman's was gold-blond.

"Serenya and Thalyon. The Goddess of Order and Justice and her twin brother, the God of the Moon and the Sea," Sola's voice appeared next to Mira. She hadn't even noticed the priestess approach, so engrossed had she been with the depictions of old gods.

"The twins were generally considered to be the leading figures in the old remurian pantheon, even if they always held to a policy of all twelve being equal," the priestess continued her explanation.

Mira looked back up at the stern woman, and even though they shared the same face, Thalyon looked kinder than his sister.

"You are worshipping the dead gods?" Mira asked.

"We try to remember their teachings, which have nearly been forgotten. The mages often still keep to the old pantheon, which motivated Father Gustave and me to turn to the older scriptures," Sola replied with a smile.

"Is that allowed? Archbishop Patheros said that Idas is the only one a faithful should pray to."

Sola shook her head. "We do not pray to the old pantheon, at least not the same way as we do to Lord Idas. They are dead, so those prayers would fall on deaf ears. Don't worry, we are not doing anything strange here. The scriptures we turned to are still official parts of the church, and remembering the gods that we have lost and what they stood for is something Lord Idas can agree with, that I am sure of."

Mira nodded; that made sense to her. She was just used to a more strict adherence to the one god doctrine than was done here in the South. "So who were they. It is a little bit embarrassing, but I don't even know the names of the Lost Ones."

"Nothing to be embarrassed about, my dear. The church doesn't tend to teach much about the time before the betrayal, and certainly not on any other gods but Idas. Come, I will show you around and introduce you to the Lost Ones."

Sola started walking slowly, one hand placed on her enlarged belly, and Mira quickly followed.

"You already know Serenya and Thalyon, as well as Lord Idas, God of Light and the one who remained, of course," Sola started, while stopping in front of a pair of strines that had been purposefully placed together.

One depicted a thin athletic man crouching while staring in the distance. His body was covered in a long cloak, and a bow rested in his hand. The most striking part was his eyes, which had a much larger pupil and barely any while around the iris. They honestly reminded Mira more of the eyes of a hawk, as many nobles liked to keep rather than human.

The other was a woman in simple armor and armed with a deadly-looking glaive. Both were covered in the scars of a hundred battles, as was the woman. She looked down on whoever stood in front of her altar with a smile that Mira couldn't say whether it was confident or threatening.

"Kaelor and Vers. The God of the Hunt and the Goddess of War. It is said that they met so often in the prayers of their worshipers that they started to see the other as an extension of themselves," Sola explained.

Mira blinked, surprised. "I wouldn't have expected that the Deity of War to be a woman. Women aren't even allowed to fight in our society."

"To be honest, I can't tell you why the respective gods have the genders they have. There may be an explanation somewhere, but I for one couldn't find it in the scriptures. But I can say that many things have changed with the passage of time, and only a few for the better from what I can tell."

The next one was a large man with impressive muscles but also delicate hands. It looked a little strange, but Mira wouldn't badmouth a god, even a dead one.

"This is Orvaik, the God of Creation and patron of all craftsmen. He is said to be a master in everything that connects to creating things. He built the heavens and many of the strongest divine artifacts that the gods used. He also had a strong bond with Calyros, the God of Love and Art."

Calyros was the next and last deity on this side of the temple. He was beautifully carved with flowing hair and only a loose robe to hide his lithe body. He held a rose in one hand and a brush in the other as if he were currently drawing the rose.

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"Calyros encompassed many things. Beauty, art, music, love, but not only romantic love. He was also the patron of the bonds of friendship, brotherly love, and any other kind of strong emotional bond people could share."

Sola looked at the statue with a sadness that Mira only understood after the priestess's next sentence.

"It is also said that the heartbreak of having been betrayed caused his death as the first of the pantheon to fall when the demons invaded the heavens. I think that pain is still present in humanity and has mostly turned into hatred, like an animal snapping at anything resembling the thing that hurt them so badly."

Mira grabbed Sola's arm and linked her own with it. The priestess smiled, and they continued to the other side of the temple. There were only five altars here, due to Idas' being in the prominent center position at the end of the building.

"Athis was the Goddess of Hearth and Home. She blessed families, taverns, and businesses. She also had a hot temper for those who violated the rules of hospitality."

Athis was a small woman with a kind smile. Her statue focused more on her comfort with baggy clothes and messy hair rather than on elegant beauty. Mira thought that she looked happier.

The next goddess was strange. Half of her was a vibrant young woman with flowing hair and a beaming smile, while the other belonged to an old woman with wrinkles and thin hair.

"Syvara, the Goddess of Growth and Decay. She was also the Goddess taking care of the souls of the dead before they returned to nothingness," Sola explained.

"And now they go to Lord Idas," Mira said.

"Yes. He had to take on many duties that the other gods had held previously."

They wandered further toward a goddess who was covered in heavy robes and a thin veil that covered her face. Symbols covered her hands and went up her arms as far as Mira could see.

"This is Njtheria. She was the Goddess of Knowledge and Magic. Many of the mages still consider her their patron goddess. Many of the great magical wonders that the old Remurian Empire had were said to have been influenced or outright created by her."

There were only two gods left now, and they again were depicted on the same altar. Again, it was a goddess and a god, but they weren't simply standing next to each other like with Kaelor and Vers. The sculptor who had made this one had the goddess hold out a playing card toward the male god, who reached for it with a smile.

"The Goddess of Fortune and Fate, Lytharielle, and her soulmate, Khon, the God of Travelers and Exploration. Unsurprisingly, they shared a strong bond. So strong that they even died together as fate would have it. I can't tell if I consider it tragic or mercy."

"I would say that it is both," Mira said while looking at the joyous expressions of the two gods.

Sola turned toward Mira with a smile. "Now you know more about the gods than most."

"I am not sure if I will remember all their names. It was a lot, I am sorry," Mira replied guiltily.

Sola put her arm around Mira's shoulder and led her toward the back of the temple. "Don't worry, you don't have to remember them all right now. It is just important that you hear them and that they sound familiar when I mention them again. They will come more naturally to you once you hear more about them."

"I think I can do that. Can you tell me more stories about them?" Mira asked, and Sola seemed to glow up at the question.

"Certainly, my dear. I can tell you as much as you want."

Pan

Pan tried to breathe slowly and deeply as she went for another lap. She could hear the heavy breathing of the six other recruits next to and behind her.

"Why do we even have to run?" Steffen complained between two breaths. His blond hair jumped with every step, and his head looked like it would explode. "I can electrocute everything in fifty meters. Running seems kind of pointless."

"Shut up, Steffen, and concentrate on your breathing, or you will croak," an earth mage named Diel replied between two controlled breaths. The man was old enough to be Pan's father, with black hair and the scars that indicated a life of hardship. No one doubted that he would be appointed the leader of their little mage unit once they finished training.

Pan was happy to have the man because the remaining recruits were as young as she was and less experienced in both magic and combat. She would have hated having to take up the mantel of leadership just because everyone else was even more unsuited.

Diel, on the other hand, had managed to get a complete apprenticeship just as Pan had with another master and had at least two decades of experience in magecraft and fighting on her. He didn't talk much about whom exactly he had gained that experience against, but everyone knew that the only enemy that wasn't openly talked about was the church. The inquisition might not have any power in these lands, but openly admitting or even bragging about fighting and killing servants of the predominant faith of their new home was strongly advised against by the academy leadership.

"My feet are going to kill me," Steffen said when Pan returned her attention to the group. "Do you think that the sergeant would notice if I use some mana? He isn't an augmenter, so it should be fine, right?"

Pan could hear the annoyed groans from other recruits; they all knew what would happen if even one of them broke the no-mana-in-training rule, but before anyone could say anything, a loud voice traveled across the course.

"Recruits! Line up!"

Everyone scrambled to get over to where their sergeant was waiting for them. He was a bull-faced man with very little in terms of humor and similarly little mercy for slackers. Hard but fair, as the motto went.

"Recruit Steffen, I heard you had complaints?" the man asked as he stopped in front of the red-faced lightning mage.

"No, Sir!" Steffen replied.

"I must be going deaf then, Recruit! Because I quite vividly remember hearing you complain about having to run. And that those daintily little feetsies of yours are hurting." Sergeant Gillroy said while getting into Steffen's face.

"Sorry, Sir!"

Gillroy turned to the rest of their squad and asked, "Can anyone here tell Recruit Steffen why you are running?"

"Because you said so, Sergeant!" a brunette girl named Rena replied stiffly.

"Good fucking answer, Recruit Rena. But that is only half the answer," Sergeant Gillroy said loudly.

"A mage needs to be able to keep up with the rest of the units and also be able to be in position when needed. A mage's power is irrelevant if they are not where they are needed to apply those powers," Diel tried his luck next.

"Exactly. What use is all that fancy handwaving you are going to do if you lie heaving on the ground after having run for half an hour?" Sergeant Gill asked Steffen.

"I would have no use, Sergeant!" Steffen replied smartly.

"Correct again! Now, do you understand why you are running now, Recruit?"

"Yes, Sergeant!"

Sergeant Gillroy nodded sharply and stepped back. "Very good, and just so you don't forget why you are running, the entire unit will run five additional laps. And if I smell just a whiff of mana from any of you, then you will do the whole run again!"

The recruits groaned but immediately began moving. Steffen received a couple of light punches against the arm from his fellow recruits, but no one wasted their energy being angry for long.

A couple of hours later, Pan fell into a chair in the mess. Everything hurt, from her back to her arms to her legs, and even her hoofs hurt.

The rest of the recruits sat down at the same table, some being more dramatic about it than others.

"I hate physical training," Rena complained and let her head sink to the table next to her plate. "Can someone feed me? I am too weak to raise my arms."

"Should have asked for soup. Then you could have just used your magic to make it float into your mouth," Steffen offered helpfully.

"That's not how water magic works," Rena complained, but managed to pick up her head and fork.

"There are definitely more preferable things than physical training," Diel tried to be sympathetic. He was very athletic, so he suffered even less than Pan, who had the fortune that Rayakan had also made her continue her physical training, but not to that extent.

"Don't forget to focus your mana on augmenting your regeneration, or you will be stiff with muscleache tomorrow," the older mage continued.

Pan began to blank on the conversation as she concentrated on her meal consisting of mostly potatoes, chicken, and some vegetable she didn't know the name of.

She thought about why she was here. Joining the military hadn't been in her plans for the future, but somehow she had joined up when Lord Commander Geron had revealed his intention to open up a mage corps in the new Reen Military.

It was necessary, Pan thought. I am doing this for our future.

The seed of the idea had formed after the Battle at Rescar Clearing. It wasn't like she enjoyed the battle or anything remotely like that. To be honest, that day was one of the most terrifying days she had had in her life.

It was the hours and days after the battle that had convinced her that she needed to do something. The knights who had come to her to give their thanks for her support, the stories they told about how battles against mages normally went, and the feeling of camaraderie that that battle had kindled in her.

It is not just me and the mistress anymore, Pan thought as she looked at the other recruits. Steffen was currently telling some joke which Pan had missed most of, but seemed to be quite funny from the others' reactions.

For the first time, I am part of something bigger.

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