The Trial of Clay

Chapter 3

The blankets were a bit rough but not that bad, as was the bed. Kade had to admit that in some ways it was better than the one at home, since the ropes were nice and tight, making it more comfortable for him alone. His whole family had shared one bed back home, especially during winter, so everyone could share the warmth. The ropes were tightened only four times a year, so towards the end it wasn’t the best. In all honesty, Kade would have been pleased to just have a warm place to lay his bed roll, but his own bed? No one from his little village would ever believe this, since shared sleeping was common given how expensive beds could be. He had been here at the Aerie for over a month so far, and it had been pretty much the same routine each day. They stretched, they ran, they lifted heavy things, they ran, they stretched, they worked with weapons, they ate, and they ran. He ached everywhere, even in places he didn’t know he had. Playing was one thing, but this was not play.

The other boys here with him all were extra sons who had been given over to Witchers to have the hope of a career. A few seemed to resent it but what could they do. All of them were here in the castle several days from civilization. There were no girls that he saw either except for adult Witchers, which seemed strange to him. If girls were allowed to be Witchers, wouldn’t there be some here? And he was the youngest of the group though not by much, as the oldest was nearly seven. Varnir watched the group like a hawk at all times, seeming to sense what they were up to even if he was looking a different direction. They weren’t able to get into even a little bit of mischief with his hawk eyes seeing everything.

Just before bed, Varnir came into the dorm and looked over all the boys, when all of them were tired and just wanting sleep after another grueling day of training. They stood in a line, like he had taught them to do, waiting for what he had to say. “I know you all want to sleep, but you need to know that in a week’s time you will be undergoing your first Trial to become a Witcher of this school, the Trial of Clay. This Trial is to prepare you with the next Trial you will face, which is the Trial of Grasses. Our school does this so you have the best chance of success possible. To that effect, each night before bed you will drink a potion designed to help your body with the Trial of Clay. It works to help define what would be best for you. However, making it through the Trial of Clay is no guarantee that you will survive the Trial of Grasses, it just increases your odds.”

The oldest boy, Jurgen, nervously asked, “What is the Trial of Clay?”

Varnir gave a wry smile and replied, “It is what makes our school different from most. There have never been many Witchers because the Trial of Grasses is so harsh that less than three of ten survive it on a good day. One of the mages who works with us came up with the Trial of Clay to help with that problem. The alchemical tonic you will drink nightly, prepares your body for the magic and formulae that will reshape your body. Each transformation a candidate goes through is different, as the Clay shapes you into what of you will survive the best. Some will grow taller, some shorter, things like that and the only thing we all have at the end of it is the black hair we all share. The Trial gives us our distinctive hair color.”

“So we drink something and we change?” asked Darbin, a very wise six year old.

“Yes, that’s it. Whatever happens doesn’t matter in the long run. The Trial of Grasses is what makes you stronger, faster, enhances your magic and senses. It mutates our bodies and is where we get our eyes from. If you make it through the Grasses strong enough you might be given additional formulae to strengthen you further. That’s up to the mages. The Grasses is what makes us Witchers, what gives us the best chance to fight monsters and win where many men fail. Once you have survived the Grasses, then, then your training begins. The Clay hopefully helps you survive.”

And Varnir had not been lying. Added to their daily routine was this green potion that smelled of sour feet that they were each given. Despite gagging on it each and every time, Kade was able to choke it down. One of the boys, Yevgeny, grew dizzy and passed out after his third dose, which alarmed the others. Varnir simply pulled him out of the group and told the others that he would be sent home once he recovered. The day before the Trial there was only light training and after a light lunch of a hearty broth there were taken to the upper bailey where the other Witchers and the mages lived.

Stepping into the main hall of the Aerie was intimidating for all of the boys as none of them had been in a building this size before. The stone walls rose over twenty feet high and the interior was lit by narrow windows and lamplight. There were tapestries on the walls, and several tables about the room. A few of the elder Witchers were sitting there watching them approach. They walked in and stopped in a line, as they had been taught. All eyes were inspecting them carefully. A thin man in very fine clothes, with his light brown hair slicked back a bit and a thin mustache that did little to make him look appealing, walked up from another room and looked them over, “Are these them?”

“Yes Trimaeus,” rumbled Varnir.

The man moved down the line, brushing a hand down their cheeks, or lifting their heads to look into their eyes, all while muttering something under his breath. When the man reached Kade he stroked his cheek with a cold and clammy hand before lifting his face and gazing into his eyes, a faint smile on his lips, clearly pleased. “Yes, this lot should do. The potions have done their work. The tonics will be ready for moonrise.”

Once the mage left, Varnir took the boys back down to the inner bailey to await the Trial. He led them over to the dining hall and had them sit, before the cook brought out mugs of warm broth and a pitcher of cold well water.

Varnir sat with the boys to reduce their anxiety. “Okay lads, I know this is scary but it’s not too bad. When the moon rises in a few hours we’ll begin the Trial. I’ll come and take you to the Upper Bailey where the Trial takes place. Only one person at a time goes through this so, it may take a while to get through everyone. The room can be scary but I’ll be there to keep you safe. Rest if you can and drink water. It can help. Remember, we all want you to succeed.”

After finishing their broth, Varnir headed off to help with preparations. The hours weighed on them like heavy stones, growing worse over time. After what felt like an eternity, Jurgen, the oldest was the first taken and didn’t return to them when Varnir came to get the second. Then the third. Only Kade remained and it was growing late, so he laid his head down and slept, not knowing what else he could do.

A hand shook him roughly awake, and he blearily looked up into Varnir’s face. “Come lad, you’re the last.”

They returned to the upper bailey and up several flights of stairs to a large room with a rough looking table in the middle of it, the wood looked wet somehow and Kade wasn’t sure why, and he held back a little. There were tubes and jars and vials and all sorts of smells he had never encountered, most of which made him long for the tannery. As he got closer to the table, he noticed the restraints on there and Kade balked, fear uncoiling in his stomach, eyes growing wide. Varnir’s hand rested on his shoulder and urged him forward. Kade stammered, “I… I… I…”

Varnir smiled weakly, eyes kind, “It’s okay lad. These are just there to keep you safe if you thrash about. It’s okay. No one here is trying to hurt you.”

Trembling, Kade undressed and was helped onto the table by Varnir. Once he was situated binding his limbs occurred. The young boy’s eyes were wide and his bottom lip trembled but he tried to be brave, even if now it was too late for such bravery. The mage from before strode into the room and glanced at Kade, the oily smile returned and only served to make Kade’s fear grow. He… he really did not want to be here.

Varnir walked over to another table and picked up a wooden chalice which was smoking a little. Carrying it back over, he lifted Kade’s head and help him drink a bitter tasting light blue potion. There was a lot in the chalice and it took a while to get it all down. Before he was finished with the chalice, he started to feel strange, numb, and a bit out of his body, head spinning lightly.

There was a sharp prick and he looked down to see a needle and tube stuck into his left arm. Before he could really grow upset about this, there was another prick on the other side, the tubes hooking him to the same contraption that was attached by his head. Then the mage came over to the table with a large jar and set it down with a clunk. The world was growing more colorful to Kade and the mage felt like an oil stain on his pretty world. This would be so much better if that man were not here.

Trimaeus scooped out some pale clay from the jar and began to coat his feet with it in a thick layer, getting between his toes, then up his calves, knees, and thighs, making sure that there was a good layer of the clay everywhere. Kade shivered when the mage applied the clay to his butt, hips and genitals, the mage taking longer than was really necessary. Then up his belly and back, covering his chest before moving down his arms. Once they were covered, the clay was applied to his neck, face and head, even being rubbed into his hair. The clay was keeping his eyes closed and he was okay with that, but he felt a growing warmth in his body.

The chanting started and the clay began to warm even more, growing ever hotter. There was a rush of cold up one arm and he could taste salt and tarragon, maybe? There was more spinning in his head. Then a rush up his other arm and this one tasted or smelled like some sort of mint and sorrel? It was cloying but he grew dizzier still and the chanting continued, deepened, echoed, pulsed through all of him. Things started to change as Kade felt lots of little hands pushing against him, rubbing his body, molding the clay covering him, or maybe his body, and the heat grew more and more intense, baking into his very bones. Those also felt the work of phantom fingers and he screamed in pain. He was being devoured, converted, changed, pain and pressure over his entire body growing more and more intense. Then there was a flash of greenish light that penetrated his closed clay covered eyes and he knew no more.

*****

Kade slowly swam to consciousness, wisps of light tickling his eyelids. Things felt off, different, and he was so groggy he wasn’t sure why or what. Moaning in discomfort, he opened his eyes and the candlelight seemed piercingly bright, so he winced away from it. After some struggle he got a hand up to cover his eyes, which helped. He lay on a bed that wasn’t the one he had before, and he wasn’t strapped down any longer, which was nice. His bladder ached with need but there was no one in there and he felt too weak to move. He tried to make a noise but only a squeak came out of his very raw feeling throat.

Seeing no other recourse, he let loose. Peeing felt different, which was even weirder. It felt like it was coming out from between his legs not from his thing. The liquid grew more uncomfortable as it cooled and his shame grew. Wetting the bed like a baby, how embarrassing. But he was so tired, eyes started to drift back closed before the door creaked open. Kade cracked his eyes open a little and saw Varnir looking in, carrying a steaming mug. “Ah, you’re awake, good. And by the smell I am too late. I am sorry Kade.”

Varnir came in, set the mug down on the floor, and helped Kade sit up. Groaning was all he could do, muscles protesting the whole time. Varnir smiled at him, “Come now, drink this. It will help.”

There was warm broth in the mug with some other taste he could not identify. It was soothing and he felt stronger the more of it he drank. He asked weakly, “I passed?”

“You did. Your body is different now, changed quite a bit by the Clay but you should have no issues with the Grasses now.”

Kade squinted at him, confused, not sure what he was saying. Varnir smirked, remembering that feeling all too well. “The way you transformed by the Clay. Everyone who transformed like you has passed the Grasses, so there is no doubt you’ll be fine.”

“What… what changed?” Kade felt a bit better and some of the aches were fading. That broth was just what he needed apparently.

“You’re a girl now Kade.”

Kade stopped drinking the broth, blinked at Varnir a few times, trying to make sense of what he had just heard. “Pardon?”

“You are now female. The Clay reshaped your body into a female, but you’re also a little taller than before and healthier overall. The Clay got you to the best you can and for you, that’s a girl. And in a month, when you have recovered from this Trial, you begin the Grasses.” Varnir helped Kade have some more broth.

“Others?” He felt strong enough to take the mug in his own hands and drink. The warmth on his hands felt nice, and the more he had the better he felt.

“Jurgen died, which happens, though rare. Apparently, his body tried to change too much. One other was changed like you and the other is just taller.”

None of this made sense to Kade. How could that Clay have done this? Sure, it was magic, but this? “Girl?”

“Yes, girl. We’ll get into that later, well Margarethe will. She always ensures that the new ones learn all about being a girl. And just so you know, we have had girls become boys as well, so you never know with the Clay. It just happens. Now, finish the broth.”

Kade drank it down, feeling stronger by the moment. He sighed as he or rather she, since she was a girl now, lowered the mug. She was worried, because her world had been stood on its head with all this crazy magic. “What happens now?”

“If you can walk, do that. It’ll work out more of the potions. You can bathe if you want. There is sure to be hot water. The other two are still out, but through the worst bits of the transformation. Just resting now. You’ll do fine in the Grasses, just fine. Maybe talk to Margarethe in the common room. When your gone I’ll change out your bed.”

Shakily, Kade got up and did just that.

*****

“Clay… Kade… He?” stammered Jaskier, eyes wide and arms a bit flailly. This was followed by a loud OW as a pine cone slammed into his chest, thrown from Geralt.

The Witcher just glared at the bard, “That was rude.”

“Uhm… right… sorry Keira, it’s just that… well, it’s hard to believe.” Jaskier stammered, which was sure to be a rarity. His cheeks were dark and he had trouble meeting her eyes. “I mean I know magic is real and that mages use magic to pretty themselves up but this… this is shocking.”

“It certainly was at the time. Its one thing to know magic is real. It’s another to have it effect you so completely.” Keira commented, having little issue sharing her past, being decades removed from those events. “Try not to spread that part about. Most people deal poorly with that notion. It freaks out regular people.”

Jaskier looked solemn, which was an odd look for him. “I swear on my honor as a bard. What about the others?”

Keira though back to the past, “The remaining boy did not make it through the Trial of Grasses. He made it most of the way but died toward the end of day six. So out of the starting five, only two of us made it.”

“Forty percent? Those are better odds,” mentioned Geralt. “Our success is one, maybe two out of ten. No group can easily sustain that kind of attrition rate. That additional Trial of your school is impressive,” commented Geralt.

“I once saw a group of five make it through the Clay and the Grasses one time. It was stunning. That Trial really did shift the odds. Because I made it through the Grasses easily, I was subjected to a few extra formulae as well. Not much fun as some of them were worse than the Grasses.” Keira remembered the pain of the formulae that altered her eyesight a great deal. Sure, being able to see comfortably in the dark was nice, with vision that could spot a fly at fifty yards but the pain had been the greatest thing she had ever experienced.

“Yes, some of those are terrible,” commiserated Geralt in a low grumble, clearly remembering his own Trials.

“Wait!” Jaskier put his hands out as if calling for a stop. Turning to face the Witcher more directly, Jaskier looked at Geralt in an odd manner, almost as if he were seeing him for the first time. “Geralt, you were given extra formulae as well?”

“I was never a girl Jaskier,” growled Geralt, rolling his eyes.

“That’s not what I mean,” snapped Jaskier. “You mean to tell me, that you are exceptional amongst the exceptional? That you are more Witcher than most other Witchers? Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

Geralt dropped his head, his white hair covering his face. It was clear that he could see where Jaskier was unfortunately taking this, and all he could do was sigh out, “Fuck.”