Shaman Millow sat on the far left, her black face sweaty and shoulders broad with enough strength to break him. Beside her sat Monk Syt, hiding beneath dark purple robes, her long yellow fangs shining dully in the candlelight. Cleric Dyes was the definition of stern, from his tight brown beard to his crisp gray robes. Priest Muane sat in the center. He had to be 200 years old, with a long, long white beard and a skullcap that covered his baldness. Wizard Pyle sat to the right of Muane. Everything about the man appeared gentle, from his long, soft, white beard to his tired blue eyes. There was an empty seat beside Pyle. Next to that empty seat was a woman who made Clod blush. Caine the Magician had big, blond hair that poured over a lot of tanned skin. She was beautiful in a sultry way that made his mother nudge him any time he stared. Hetomancer Styff could’ve been the librarian in his school, and he felt shushed every time he looked at her.
It wasn’t just the elders that made this council so frightening. The Great Chamber was an enormous, empty room that could’ve held three of his houses. It was round, with a domed ceiling that had people painted on it—all of them glaring down in judgment. Everything was white stone, from ceiling to floor and high bench to stairs. It was a cold, stark place filled with staring eyes. In all his life, he’d never felt so small. Ada must have felt like this all the time, and he mentally kicked himself for not making her taller. For a moment, he wondered if he was tiny enough in this great place to scurry away, like a mouse, but the moment passed quickly. They would notice, all of them.
His mother and Yugen were the only other people in the room beside the council. There was no need for guards. The seven seated at the high bench held enough power to decimate armies. Despite this, his mother looked fierce. Every time she glanced at him, her eyes were filled with love and understanding. Those eyes would then glare at the seven with a stern defiance that shook him to his core.
Yugen, on the other hand, rubbed his hands together hungrily, as if his due was finally coming. “As I’ve told the council, the clutch of dark magic has grasped more of my students than I’ve ever seen,” he said. “Too many have been lured by its power.”
“Too many of your students, Yugen,” Caine agreed. “And do you believe it is this teenager who draws them into the dark?”
“Clod?” he said with a laugh. “No. I’m surprised this fool can put on his own shoes. This is exactly why he’s a threat, because he is dense and holds dangerous, dark power that even I cannot sense. As I have promised the council, I will bring purveyors of any dark magic I find to justice, and—”
“Ms. Eidy,” Priest Muane interrupted, his voice low and calm. “How long have you known your son could bring back the dead?”
“I didn’t realize…” she said, looking distraught. “He creates a clay figure that he plays with. His magic makes her talk and move.”
“I see.” The old priest lowered his head, looking at Principal Yugen with a concerned gaze. “You fear a student who makes a homunculus?”
“An aberration,” Yugen spat.
“How long has he been able to create this creature?” Millow, the Shaman of Ester, asked.
“Her name is Ada,” Clod muttered. “And she’s my friend, not a creature.”
Nine heads all turned to him as if suddenly struck with the realization that, not only was he in the room, he could speak words.
“So, you call your homunculus Ada?” Wizard Pyle said, his tone as gentle as the expression on his face.
“She told me that’s her name,” he said.
“She…told…you?” the old wizard said as if the words didn’t go together.
His mother looked at him with eyes pleading for him to stop, but something about the wizard made him relax, and trust. Pyle seemed to care, albeit a little.
“Yes, during her first visit,” Clod said.
“I don’t understand,” Shaman Millow said. “You said she comes to visit, but I thought you made her out of clay.”
“I do make her out of clay,” Clod said. “And then she visits.”
“It sounds like a homunculus to me,” Cleric Dyes said sternly.
“Except that homunculi don’t give themselves names,” Wizard Pyle said, pinching at his short, dark beard.
“Could this be demonology?” Millow asked and was immediately answered with shrugs. “Clod. Has Ada ever done anything to harm you? Has she ever caused mischief?”
Principal Yugen clucked his tongue loudly. He stood tall and took a deep breath of pride before glaring down at Clod long enough to make the teenager gulp. “They are always causing mischief.”
“In what way?” Millow asked. “Are they drinking the blood of hens? Have they sacrificed any small rodents in circles of fire?”
“Ewww,” Clod said. That was disgusting. The Shaman had to be making it up.
She arched an eyebrow at him, her face contorted in surprise. “Apparently not,” Millow said. “Well, Yugen?”
Yugen coughed into a hand, blushing slightly before he explained some of the more creative pranks Clod and Ada had pulled, including the time Ada had walked in front of his horse.
His mother’s eyes were wide, her face torn between shock and anger. The more pranks Yugen described, the more idiotic Clod appeared and the more heated her expression became. He blurted out a nervous chuckle that made heads turn once again. For the briefest of moments, it looked like Shaman Millow smiled.
“This doesn’t sound like demonology,” Muane said. “It sounds a bit more like pranks. This can’t be the first lark you have experienced in the classroom, Yugen.”
“My students respect me,” Yugen said, his face stoic.
“We do?” Clod asked, looking at him in disbelief. He was going to say more until his mother placed a hand on his shoulder.
Several of the elders laughed, and Yugen’s cheeks flushed a darker shade of red.
“Child,” the wizard said, “have you brought anything else back to life?”
“No, sir,” Clod said. “I sort of didn’t want to bring the puppy back because I thought it would make Ada go away, but she insisted.”
“Oh?” Millow asked.
“I didn’t want to. I was afraid if I woke the boy’s pup, she would go away. I only get to see her once every two weeks, but she was right,” Clod said. “I was being selfish. So, I helped the puppy so that boy could say goodbye. That’s why Ada isn’t here.”
“You can only animate one at a time?” Wizard Pyle asked.
“I guess,” Clod said. He felt helpless. It was impossible to explain something he just did. How could one explain breathing or listening?
“Do you think you could bring back something larger?” Muane asked.
Clod shrugged. “I can only make Ada this tall,” he said, holding his hand up to approximate Ada’s height.
The council members looked at each other, matching nods and smiles.
“Have you ever taken a life?” Styff asked coldly.
“I chased a mouse out of our home one winter,” Clod said, reeling from guilt. “I felt bad because it was cold out, but mum wouldn’t get off the chair until it was gone.”
Eidy looked down, blushing furiously, while the council chuckled once more.
“Yugen,” Wizard Pyle said. “What have you done to cultivate this gift?”
“What?” Yugen asked, his tone sharp. “I’ve been trying to suppress it. I couldn’t sense his magic, which means it has to be evil.”
“There is nothing evil with infusing your life into something or someone else,” Cleric Dyes said. “Clod may not understand, but there is a cost in doing so. Even if it merely tires him, it’s a selfless act.”
“Very selfless,” Monk Syt said. “He gave up time with his friend to help another.”
Shaman Millow stood and walked down the stone steps to approached Clod and his mum. “You did a good thing, helping that boy, Clod. Please be careful whom you help. There are some who would take advantage of what you can do. Do you understand?”
He didn’t, comple
tely, but nodded anyway.
“I would like to visit you at your home one day,” she said to his mum. “To meet Ada, and talk about Clod.”
“You would be most welcome,” Eidy said, with a respectful bow of her head.
“Thank you for your time,” Wizard Pyle said. “You are free to leave while we discuss teaching methods with Learn-ed Yugen.”
“Headmaster,” Yugen corrected with a polite cough.
“No,” Millow said. “I believe Learn-ed is a more appropriate title.”
Yugen shot a glare at Clod that almost knocked him over. Even though he’d wanted his teacher to be in trouble, something about that look scared him.
“Let’s go,” his mum said, pulling him out by his arm.
“Am I in trouble?” he whispered.
“You probably should be,” she said. “You’ve caused a lot of mischief, but I’m proud of what you did for that boy.”
“But what about the evil?” he asked.
His mum stopped before they’d exited the hall and turned to face him. Her eyes were as serious and determined as he’d ever seen. “Everyone has power, Clod. Everyone. Most cast spells, some use muscle, others use words. The difference between good and evil is what you decide to do with that power.”
“So, I’m not evil?” he asked.
“Like I said,” she replied. “That’s for you to decide.”
Age 19
“Shaman Millow,” his mum said from the front room. Her voice shook with each word. “How…how can I help you? Is something wrong?”
“Get ready to run for it,” Clod whispered to Ada from behind his hand.
“There will be no running, young man,” the sharp voice of the shaman said. “And no need for it.”
Ada’s wide eyes and dropped jaw mirrored his own, and he carefully peeked around the door frame. The solid figure of old Shaman Millow was already a step past the entrance. She appeared more tired than he remembered, haggard even. Her black hair was the huge windblown mess of someone who didn’t care, or didn’t have time to care. She was much shorter than Clod, and she leaned on a gnarled wooden staff, but her presence was formidable.
It wasn’t just her magic, which was great beyond myths and legends. Millow was broad of shoulder with strong hands that gripped the staff with a fierce strength. She filled her robes, but didn’t appear overweight. Simply put, the woman was built like a wall. Piercing blue eyes, wise as the years were long, peered from her dark face. He didn’t feel fear, merely the respect you would show when crossing paths with a wild bear in the woods.
“Come here, Clod,” she said, waving him over with a meaty hand. “And your friend, too. It took longer than I intended, but I came to see you both.”
Clod took careful steps into the room. Ada grasped two of his thick fingers with a death grip. They stopped, just beyond arm’s reach, as if that was enough space to keep them safe from a force of nature.
“My, you’re much taller than I remember,” she said, reaching out to shake his hand.
He didn’t know what to do, so nervous that his hand was quivering. He looked to his mother, who nodded, her eyes wide. With a deep breath, he took Millow’s work-worn hand and was immediately grateful he didn’t explode.
“Grip harder, son,” Millow said. “You’re a man now, and you won’t hurt me.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, gripping as firmly as he dared. No one had ever told him how to shake hands. Clod always felt it was necessary to be overly gentle. The last thing he wanted was to hurt anyone.
She nodded once before letting go. “Please, call me Shaman Millow, or just shaman.”
“Okay,” he said. The way she said it, shaman sounded kind of like grandma. Something about that made him relax.
Millow leaned slightly to one side, peering around Clod. Ada was now behind him, gripping his sleeve and trembling.
“I don’t want to go,” Ada said, her voice quiet.
“I won’t let her take you,” Clod said. “I promise.”
“I’m scared, Clod,” Ada said.
Clod stood to his full height and faced Shaman Millow. “Are you here to make her go away?”
“I don’t understand?” Millow asked, looking quizzically at Eidy.
“Yugen kicked Clod out of school last year and said one day, someone would make Ada go away forever,” Eidy said. “Because she’s made from evil.”
“I see.” Millow sighed, shaking her head. “Ada, how many live bats have you eaten this month?”
“Ewww,” Ada said. “None.”
“Demons,” Millow snapped. “Tell me now, how many demons have you summoned today?”
“None,” Ada said, stepping out from behind Clod’s leg. “What’s a demon?”
“At dawn’s first light,” Millow said, lowering her face until it was covered in ominous shadow, “did you go naked into the woods, draw your own blood over fire, and swear your soul to Abbrasis the Cursed?”
“I woke up early,” Ada said with wide eyes. “But I couldn’t sleep because of Clod’s snoring, and he’s too big for me to roll over.”
“Sorry,” Clod muttered.
“What did you do?” Millow asked.
“I went outside to pick flowers,” she said, pointing at a wooden cup filled with dandelions.
“You certainly don’t sound like the source of all evil in this land,” Shaman Millow said, winking at Eidy.
“I’m not!” Ada stomped a little foot and crossed her arms.
“Then I’m not going to make you go anywhere you don’t wish to go,” Millow said, clearing her throat to cover a chuckle.
“Promise?” Clod asked.
“By the elements, I swear if Ada is not evil then I shall not banish her,” Millow said sincerely. “As long as I can have some tea.”
“Oh,” his mother said. “I…I’m sorry, Shaman Millow. I have clean water, but no tea.”
“That’s all right, dear,” Millow said gently, patting Eidy’s hand. “Please bring me a pot of water and four cups.”
His mother took a pot and rushed outside. She returned moments later with a strained expression, water dripping out of the pot, and a wet apron.
“Just place it on the stove,” Millow said, making her way across the small room.
“I can get some wood,” Clod offered.
Millow shook her head as she waved a hand over the stove. Fire, without wood, burned hot within the iron. She reached into a pouch hanging from her belt and sprinkled the contents over the pot, which was boiling by the time she was done. Leaning over it, Millow sniffed deeply and nodded.
“This will be a bit sweeter than the tea you’re used to,” she said.
“Well,” his mother said, biting her lip. “We’re used to water, so I’m sure it will be.”
Millow laughed, and tension seemed to clear like a fog lifting.
“Would you like to sit while I serve the tea?” Eidy asked. Her hands shook as she looked nervously at the magical fire. “I’m sorry, there’s only one chair. We don’t really have much.”
“It looks to me like you have everything you need,” the shaman said, appraising the room with an appreciative smile. “Your home reminds me of my own, more or less.”
“Really?” Clod asked.
“I have two chairs,” she allowed. Millow sat on the floor and crossed her legs, placing her staff on top of them.
Eidy handed her a wooden cup filled with the tea, which she sipped noisily. His mum held the next cup to her nose, sniffed it several times, eyed it suspiciously, and then drank.
“Yum,” she said, and nodded to Clod as she handed it over. “You’ll like this.”
“If you say so,” he said half-heartedly. He took the cup from his mother and sipped the tiniest amount he could. Sugary goodness warmed him, and he sat on the floor before Shaman Millow. This wasn’t the bitter earthy taste of the tea his mother brought home on a rare occasion. That tea reminded him of vegetables. This tea reminded him of Haim’s bakery, and he wondered i
f there would be enough for a second cup even before finishing the first.
Ada eyed the cup she’d been handed with the caution of a puppy walking through snow for the first time. Shaman Millow lowered her tea and watched, one long eyebrow rising curiously. Ada’s little gray tongue dipped carefully into the hot beverage. She mouthed the flavor with a smack and her eyes went wide. Her deep gulp of hot tea was immediately followed by panting. Clod wouldn’t have been surprised to see steam rise from her mouth and ears.
“It’th hot,” she said, waving air at her lolling tongue.
“You drink,” Millow observed.
“When I’m thirsty,” Ada replied with a gentle frown.
“Of course,” Millow said. “But I thought you were made of clay.”
“She’s made from clay,” Clod corrected.
“Please come here…uh…child,” Millow said, waving Ada closer.
Ada looked at Clod nervously and she swallowed hard.
“It’s okay,” Clod said. “I trust shaman.”
“I promise you no harm, Ada,” Millow said, her broad smile wrinkling her cheeks. “A shaman’s magic touches all the elements. We are gifted with a closeness to the land and sea, to fire and air. I want to know if you are made of clay, or from clay, as Clod says. I will sense this.”
“All right,” Ada said, taking a careful sip of tea before setting down her cup as if it were the most precious thing she’d been given. She approached and cautiously took both of Shaman Millow’s outstretched hands.
Millow lowered her head, closed her eyes, and hummed. It wasn’t pretty, sounding more like the drunken singing of beggars on the street. She mouthed something that didn’t sound like actual words; and the hairs on his neck stood. Ada tilted her head to one side as the odd tune crescendoed into a screeching note before dropping so low it was hard to hear. The shaman’s song tapered off to nothing, and Millow gasped.
“You’re quite a lovely girl, Ada,” Millow said appreciatively.
“Thank you, shaman,” she replied with a little curtsy. “May I go have more tea?”
“Yes,” she said with a chuckle.
“Is Ada… Is she…?” his mother said, struggling with words, her eyes wide with concern.
Angst Box Set 2 Page 84
