I Will Be the Greatest Knight

Irene knew she was being tested but she couldn't yet pull out her dagger in case they further didn't believe her intentions. Even if she wanted to defend herself, she needed to remain level headed. 

"My grandmother had a healer put a protective spell in this mana stone when the dagger was forged," she defended herself. "See for yourself if that's what you require." 

However, the very real issue of someone threatening her life was making the thrill of battle rush through her veins, further spurred by her heart's rapid beating. She had only just gotten her life back, she was unwilling to give it up so easily.

Since she had already done the job of undoing the leather strap that kept her dagger in the sheath, all the mage had to do was let down his shield and, with a flick of his wrist, the blade was lifted into the air. 

By that point, Sir Gunnar had righted himself and he approached Irene cautiously, not allowing her to face mistrustful mages on her own. He wasn't worried about himself, having dealt with slippery mages many times in the past. 

Her dagger was lifted and turned in front of the old mage's face and he brought the handle to eye level where he squinted at it and his bushy white eyebrows lowered. 

"The magic is quite strong," he admitted. "Where did you get such a stone?"

"From the north," Irene responded quickly. "That is where my paternal bloodline is from."

"Keep your weapons sheathed," the mage ordered. "Follow me into the house. I will prove to you that the echo stone is not something regular humans ought to be involved with." 

Her composure was broken as she glanced at Sir Gunnar, seeking an answer for what they would do next. Mages were still out of her realm of knowledge from her brief few encounters. All she knew was people's opposition towards them and not much more than that. 

"We will keep our weapons sheathed as long as you don't use magic for cheap attacks," Sir Gunnar responded. 

"Very well," the mage responded stiffly.

As he turned to go back into the dilapidated structure, he tossed Irene's dagger towards her. 

Sir Gunnar intercepted the small blade, managing to catch it on its flat side rather than the sharp edge. He wasn't sure if Irene was wearing gloves and unwilling to risk it. He knew that the blade she held wasn't dull even if it was small. The child of Sir Arthur would never walk around with a dulled weapon. 

"Lead the way," Sir Gunnar answered as he handed the apprentice her weapon. 

Once the dagger was in her possession, it didn't stay far from her hand. Even if she wouldn't pull it out to alarm the mages, she kept her hand—which was gloved—close by. 

They walked forward and the smell of moisture and mold struck Irene's nose as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the space. It was a large old mill but the windows were towards the ceiling. The other light sources they had were holes in the wall from years of abandonment. She felt a bit bad that it seemed the mages used that place as a safe haven of sorts. 

Are the townships really so unaccepting of magicians? 

She knew it was bad further south, but it seemed that she had underestimated it. After they helped get her father out of a cave, she knew her heart had softened. 

"This way," the mage continued.

Sure enough, there was a walled-off area where two mages stood on either side of the door. They looked suspiciously at the apparent knight and apprentice. Their expressions wordlessly communicated that they didn't like the fact that people unlike them were around. 

"Move." 

An order from the old mage was as good as law there and the two stepped to the side, allowing the three access to the room. 

"What is it you would like us to see in this place?" Gunnar asked, suspicious of their actions based on what had happened to him before. 

He didn't particularly like being suffocated by magic, but it wasn't the first time he had been confined by mages. 

"You'll understand once you see the relic," the mage explained. "Then you can tell the old bat that something of this sort doesn't belong in the hands of humans." 

The two stepped inside the room and Irene was suspicious until the old mage himself went into the room but stood back. She was worried it was another strange trap despite them having done nothing to earn their mistrust. Although she imagined if she was constantly berated by people, she would be a bit suspicious as well. It seemed that having a mana stone on her was a positive trait in their eyes. 

The room was dark but Irene could see that along the walls there were shelves of items she had never seen before in her life. There were glass bottles of unexplainable concoctions. Some were glowing while others were dull. There were also metal objects that made no sense to her but she had a feeling they had something to do with the mages. 

However, what she gravitated towards was a wooden post towards the back center wall that faintly glowed. It was an imperfect stone with one smooth blue side while the back was rough and natural. As she got even closer, it began to glow like a few of the other items on the shelves. 

"Shamet klevu skors fe quia…"

Irene placed her hands over her ears as alarming whispers filled her head. It was more along the lines of thought than actually hearing what the stone seemed to be saying.

"Aluv me stuna omssha alo…"

"What on Earth is that noise?" Gunnar asked, turning towards the mage who seemed amused at the events unfolding before him. 

His hand was on his sword and his eyebrows were lowered as he stared at the mage.

How could whispering be so loud? 

Irene was crouched next to the stone and her hands remained over her ears. The strange words continued and, while they didn't make any sense to her, they didn't cease.

"Tell me, does that seem like something that belongs in a church?" 

Gunnar had enough by that point, he turned to the mage and unsheathed his sword. Even though Irene felt like her thoughts weren't her own, she pulled out her sword as well and stood up. 

As an apprentice, it was her job to follow the knight's lead after all.