Jodeens Judgement

[Essy]

Jodeen sat quietly in his dorm.  Several years of his life he had spent here, quiet and brooding.  He stirred not once unless called upon, he said not a word unless told to.  But today he would forgo the subtle behavior he had to endure, and he would be himself once more; serving the Great Lord.

 

 

 

Thom, who had been his mentor since he had arrived, walked down the cold corridor.  The fortress was chilly this time of night, and he was worried that Jodeen, who had been but a son to him, wouldn’t make it past his final testing.  He remembered his Judgement, and it was brutal; the most painful and exhausting experience that he had ever endured.

 

 

 

The door opened, and Thom stepped in.  He was tall and came to the brim of the door.  He looked down at Jodeen, and Jodeen looked back.  They said not a word, for they both knew what today was.  Jodeen stood up, and refrained from seizing saidin.  Thom left and began briskly walking down the corridor once again.  Clank clank clank, his boots made a ringing sound throughout the hallway.

 

 

 

Several minutes of twists and turns, through hallway and alley.  They stood infront of a large wooden door, and Jodeen could sense Saidin being channeled through the door, only one though.  He had heard the stories, but he knew not the details.  His hair was on end, and he knew that there was atleast one woman channeling Saidar.

 

 

 

Thom opened the door, and Jodeen walked in.  He stared up at five Mae’shadar, veteran channelers of the Great Lords ranks, and four other channelers; Mae'shadar or Dreadladys he did not know.  They stood on a podium, maybe three or four feet above Jodeen.  Thom turned to Jodeen and quickly bowed his head, hoping not to make it too obvious that he was compassionate.  Jodeen returned the gaze, fighting not to show weakness within him.

 

 

 

Thom left the room, and slumped against the side of the wall outside the large room.  He closed his eyes, and could feel that they were about to start.

 

 

 

Jodeen seized Saidin, for he knew it was coming any minute here.  Finally, the Male Mae’shadar said with a rough, gruff voice; “Begin.”  Two of the women began channeling strands of air and water, attempting to bind him; the male channeled fire to incinerate him on the spot.  One of the women threw a air weave at him, Jodeen rolled to the side, and before he knew it another weave of air from the other female slashed him across the cheek. 

 

 

 

He stood as fast as he could, and another weave of air and water came flying at him. He slashed at it, breaking it but not obliterating it like he normally could; the Dreadladys were stronger than he was.  The wave broke in half and split to the sides of him.

 

 

 

The taller Dreadlady sent several threads of air at him, to try and cut him apart.  Jodeen returned the favor and channeled air and fire to try and halt the deadly weave.  One of the females threw a seemingly ball of fire towards his direction; Jodeen attempted to channel his own fire to absorb it.  While it hit the wall that Jodeen had spun, a trickle of the flame came through and hit him thoroughly in the chest.  He was knocked back, and quickly spun a small amount of water to put it out.

 

 

 

They stopped for a moment, but he could feel that they were still channeling.  He didn’t know what was about to happen, so he prepared as best as he could and made the origin of a small protective sphere of fire, earth, and air.  He breathed in slowly, felt himself blink and relax for a moment.  The Dreadlords above him all seemingly struck at out once, air and fire from one; water and fire from another; straight air from the center female, fire and earth from the male, and on the end straight air aswell.  They came at him, and he managed to absorb the majority of the shock through the shield he had weaved.  The two who weaved the air sent it late; possibly on purpose, after the shield was down.  It hit him, one cutting him across the face, the other pushing him in the center of his belly.  It blew him back, against the back wall, and he lost his breath.

 

 

 

He stood, and channeled a weaker shield.  The air flew to him like daggers, and he managed to deflect two of the weaves.  The two females on the end seemed to stop, but the three center continued the onslaught.  A gush of water and fire came at him, as if they had all weaved together, he threw himself to the floor and managed to get out of the direct path of it.  A stream of water came from the taller Dreadlady, and Jodeen drew a sword-like material out of air and cut the stream through the center, stopping it completely and on spot.

 

 

 

There was no way he could win, he thought to himself.  He just had to stay alive for aslong as he could.  How could they expect him to win in these circumstances?  The woman on the left stopped, and only the center woman and the taller Dreadlady were still channeling.

 

 

 

Rocks seemed to almost be dropped on him, and one hit him squarely in the foot.  He locked him in motion and he couldn’t seen to move from the spot.  The man drew a deep breath, and threw a weave of fire and earth at him. 

 

 

 

Jodeen had to react within a split second, and he didn’t know what to do.  He was exhausted, nearly out of weaves, and trapped.  The fire was nearly infront of him now, and Jodeen quickly threw a final weave of air to lift the rock that was on him.  He threw it infront of him, at the great ball of fire.  He fell to the ground; out of exhaustion and to get out of the way of the reaction.  The ball and rock merged and dissapated into a dust of a greenish cloud.  The male Mae'shadar, sitting in the center of the others, almost looked as if he would smirk, but the emotion faded as fast as it had come.

 

He felt the male let go of Saidin, why he held it Jodeen knew no, but Jodeen held on; afraid there would be a counter attack after he let his guard down.  The Mae’shadars turned and faced eachother, as if reading and conversing with eachother.  They all looked towards the male, he nodded; then numerically the women glanced at each other women, each nodding with a single bob of their heads.  Jodeen felt a coldness within the room that no temperature could be read, and no thread could be spun to solve the problem.

 

The man spoke, "Tomorrow you will be woken and taken to the pit.  Your training is completed, Dreadlord Via."  Jodeen wanted to shout or scream with glee, but his training taught him otherwise.  He nodded meekly, bowed his head and left the room.  Thom was still leaning on the cement wall outside.  He smiled at Jodeen, obviously overhearing the verdict.  He gave Jodeen a clap on the back, "Well done boy.  Well done." With that, he guided him back to his cot through the damp and chilly fortress; for hopefully the last night that he'd have to remain here.  He thought about that for a moment, wondered what would happen to Thom.  Could Thom come with him for his travels, could Jodeen stay?

 

Thom glanced up and shook his head, "My place in the outside world is over, my job for the Great Lord is in here now, training the likes of you.  You're welcome to stay, but I don't know why you'd want to."  He understood, and they walked the rest of the corridors in silence.

 

------

 

Day broke, and one of the females from the previous day stood at his door.  "Get up." She commanded, in a hasty and dominant tone.  Jodeen changed clothes when he got home the previous night.  His face was still fairly bloodied up, the scorched and drenched clothes were flung on the floor.  His chest hair was singed,  he may of had a broken rib or two; but in generaly he was fine.

 

They made their way down the steps until they were out of the fortress.  He looked up for the last time at his old home, and could feel several of the students he taught, Thom, and other various teachers looking through windows.  Well, atleast he could feel Thom.  The woman met with another of the Mae'shadars from the previous night.  He led him to the opposite side of the field and opened a gaping black hole, but this time making no attempt to try and hide it.  Jodeen watched the weaves and tried to memorize it, hoping he would be able to reproduce it another time.

 

He stepped through it, and entered a land of near flame and despair.  Screams were heard throughout the valley of the occasional prisoner; but Jodeen paid no mind to it.  That's not why he was here today.

 

"Channel and you will die." The male Mae'shadar said.  He led him down to a opening in Shayol Ghul.  The opening looked as if it would eat Jodeen, as it seemed to have jaws.  He walked to the center of the "Jaw", looking into an almost wall of fire.

 

"WHAT DO YOU OFFER ME, DREADLORD?" A voice of power reemed through his head.  The sheer amount of energy and evil within the voice made Jodeen drop to his knees in agony.

 

"I give to you my soul, my mind, my body.  I am yours, Great Lord of the Dark!" Jodeen defiantly tried to yell, but it was nothing but a mere whisper compared to the bounding voice within his head.

 

"YOU WILL ALWAYS BE MINE!" The final words lingered as if making Jodeen taste what he was thinking.  He felt the rotten core within him lift, and someone seemed to hold his inner emotions and squeeze.  He was the Great Lords now.

 

He will always be the Great Lords.