Morning light soaked the room when he awoke the next day. He rose quickly and clothed himself. “I can't waste any time today.” Downstairs, he grabbed a biscuit from the counter and shoved it in his mouth. Laren took an egg from the platter as Filadrena offered it. “Lae's going to help me with my spells today.”
“Really, now?” his mother asked, a sharp look in her eye. “Why the sudden change of heart?”
“I’ve seen the need to help her,” Laedron said, trying to keep his composure. “Besides, I wanted to spend some time with her before I leave, and it’s not as if I’ll have another day to do so.”
“Leaving?” Laren asked. “When did you decide this? I thought it was a week out.”
“Ismerelda is summoning him early,” Filadrena said before Laedron could speak.
“Maybe you'll get it over with quicker, then,” Laren said.
“Mage training is nothing to be gotten over quickly.” Filadrena pointed a wooden spoon at her. “You'd be best to remember that, Laren.”
“It does carry some appeal.” Laedron shrugged. “Maybe I can get out sooner.”
His mother tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling. “If your father could hear you now. I never thought my children would be the ones wanting the quick way out of something so important as this.”
“Sorry, Ma,” Laedron said. “We didn't mean anything by it.”
Her head dropped. “I know, my boy. Give it your all, and listen to Ismerelda. That's all I ask.”
“Yes, Ma.”
Filadrena turned to Laren. “And you, you listen to your instructor wherever you go, too.”
“Yes, Ma.”
They each gobbled down their breakfast. “Slow down lest you give yourself a bellyache, girl,” Filadrena said.
Laren swallowed the mouthful of eggs and sausages. “Sorry. I'm starving this morning.”
“Wouldn't have that problem if you liked redfish,” Laedron said.
“Now, now, Lae,” Filadrena said.
“What? It's true. Only girl in town who doesn't know a good fish fillet when she sees one.”
“I've never liked it,” Laren said. “The flavor’s too bold.”
“Too bold?” Laedron laughed. “I've heard it all now.”
“Well, I don't like it,” Laren said, her hands on her hips. “Say what you want, but I'll stick to the vegetables.”
“Now that you're finished, I suppose you should get your things,” Laedron said. Laren ran upstairs faster than he’d seen in quite a while.
“Grab my wand, too!” Laedron yelled to the second floor.
“I'm glad to see you two getting along,” Filadrena said. “She's feared you like a father over the past years, instead of loving you as a brother.”
“It's not easy,” Laedron said. “She needs someone to look out for her. To guide her.”
“And I don't do that?”
Shaking his head, he said, “I didn't mean that, Ma. You've done a fine job with us. I mean to say, it would have been easier with Da here.” He never felt comfortable referring to his father as ‘Da,’ but he knew his mother preferred it.
“I know it would have been, and I wish I could have kept him here. I wish it more than you could ever know.”
“It's all right, Ma.”
Filadrena covered her face with her hands as a tear followed the contours down the side of her face. “I wished different for you. I wished you wouldn't have had to be the man of the house at such a young age.”
Walking around the counter, Laedron wrapped his arm around her. “Don't blame yourself. Besides, I took well to the responsibilities.”
Filadrena patted his hand as a smile took to her lips. “That you did, Lae. That you did.”
Her belongings in hand, Laren arrived from upstairs and passed Laedron his wand as she caught her breath. “Ready?”
With a bow of his head, Laedron kissed Filadrena on the cheek. “Let me gather something for lunch.” He wrapped a loaf of bread, some cheese, and a pair of ripe apples in a cloth and led the way out the door.
“Be careful,” Filadrena said before they crossed the threshold.
After jogging around the house and to the fence beyond, they slowed their pace on the trail. It wasn't uncommon for the careless to receive a lash across the forehead from a low branch while running through the thickets. When they arrived in the clearing by the creek, Laedron dropped the cloth ball containing their lunch near the trunk of the old tree draping the water.
“We'll start from the very beginning.” Laedron drew his wand. “And no lightning bolts or fireballs, either. Nothing dangerous.”
“Yes, brother,” she said.
“The first one we shall cover is the vibrancy illusion.” He raised his wand.
“Vibrancy illusions?” She sighed. “Those are boring.”
“Boring or not, it forms the basis of the whole illusion aspect,” Laedron said. “And no backtalk.” He waved his wand through the air and chanted, drawing a glimmer of light into being. With the energy manifested, he wrote his name across the air. Each letter remained for a few moments before fading from sight.
Releasing the spell, he said, “Now, you try.”
Her hand flicked from side to side, and she spoke the words. Magic sputtered from the end of her wand as she drew a circle, but it dispersed before she finished.
“I don't see why we need illusion magic.” She shook her head. “I'm not even interested in it.”
“Because,” Laedron said, waving his wand over the nearby brush, “we can use it for all kinds of things.” Chanting a spell, he was encompassed in a flash of light and a puff of smoke.
“Lae?” Laren called out, turning about in a circle. “Lae?”
Once her face had taken on a look of fright, Laedron stepped out from behind the nearby tree.
“All right, fine,” she grumbled. “Let me try again.”
While she motioned with her hand and uttered the incantation, a prismatic light sparkled from her wand, and she drew flowers at the tops of the weeds and ferns beside her.
Watching her decorate the clearing, Laedron smiled. “Good.” He flicked his wrist and cast a spray of light at her, and it stained her clothes for a few seconds before fading away.
“Hey!” she said, turning to him. “Trying to play dirty, eh?”
She swished her wand at him and spoke the words, flinging a pink wave of energy. Laedron dropped to the ground, tumbled, and stood up a few feet away, the pink mist missing him completely. He cast another cone of light after rising to his feet, and her clothes changed to a sky blue color.
Laedron laughed as she became frustrated with his dodging. She cast her spells wider and faster until she finally struck him. Coloring his clothes a mixture of pink and purple, the spell sent a warm rush through his body as it passed around him.
Feeling the hair on his neck stand on end, he stopped. “Wait.” He had the distinct feeling of someone watching him, but he couldn’t find the source with a hasty glance at his surroundings.
Laren didn't stop; in fact, she cast more at him as if he presented an opportunity she wasn't going to let slip away.
“No, seriously.” He waved his hand at her. “Something’s not right.”
While he eyed the trees for any sign of movement, Laren stepped up beside him. “What is it?”
“Shh,” he said, scanning the distance. The feeling passed, and his suspicion subsided. Not wanting to look silly, he decided to use it to his advantage.
With a quick motion, he cast, striking Laren in the face with an imaginary flower. Once she recuperated from the surprise attack, they threw spells at one another until Laedron surrendered.
“Seems like you just have to make it fun for yourself.” He took a seat by the tree and unwrapped their lunch.
“Hungry already, brother?” Sitting beside him, she put her wand on the nearby stump.
“Yeah. I didn't eat much at breakfast. The headaches make me nauseous sometimes.”
“I can’t stand the
m.”
He nodded. “Seems I can only keep a spell going for a few minutes before it starts trying to break through my skull.”
“A few minutes? I start to get them after a couple of seconds sometimes.”
“You'll get better as you go along. At least, I hope it works that way.”
“That's what Ma says.”
A smile crept across Laedron's face. “’Keep at it, boy! The pain will pass, and beyond lies greatness!’”
Laren laughed and shook her head. “You sound more like her every time you do it.”
His smile shifted to a quiet look for a while, then he said, “Care to explain about Marac and you, now that Mother isn't here?”
Her grin instantly transformed into a serious expression. “I've said all there really is to say.”
“Have you?”
“Yes, brother.” She sighed. “We'll likely marry someday, but it's too soon now.”
“So long as that's really what you want, I'll support you. I just wanted to know the truth, and it can be hard to get around Ma sometimes.”
“It's fine. Really, it is,” she said. “Let's forget about that for now.”
“All right, sister. You'll hear nothing else of it from me.”
As she tilted her head downward and smiled, a hand reached from the brush and snatched Laren's wand from the tree stump. Laedron sprang to his feet, and his sister shouted furiously to the high grass on the other side.
With his wand held in front of him, he shouted, “Show yourself! Return the wand, and show yourself!” Stepping closer to the brush, he felt his heart race from thoughts of what might be lurking in the tall grass.
From the copse jumped a young boy, who immediately ran toward the trees. With a flick of Laedron’s wrist and his incantation muttered, a blast of energy struck the boy and sent him to the ground. Laedron and Laren ran over to the boy, and Laren grabbed her wand from his hand.
Writhing with pain, the boy turned onto his back with his hands raised in the air. “Please, don't kill me!”
“Oh, I won't kill you, and the pain shall pass.” Laedron pulled the boy to his feet. “What are you thinking stealing my sister's wand?”
“Sorry. I meant nothing by it.”
“You've been watching us for some time, haven't you?” Laedron thrust his wand forward to intimidate the child.
“No, I swear it! I was told to come here and take it!” the boy shouted, cowering from the wand.
Laedron peered at the trees before turning to him again. “Then tell your friends to come out.”
“Come out, boys,” he said, waving his hands at the wood. “Come on, he'll smite me!”
“Then he'll smite the rest of us, too!” a voice said from the thicket.
“I'll blink the whole world out of existence if you don't!” Laedron raised his wand high with the bluff.
Three more boys strolled into the clearing, each of them younger than Laren, their mouths open with shock. “Please don't destroy the world, sir!” one of them said as they approached.
“Oh, I wouldn't do that. If I destroyed the world, I'd die, too.” Turning his head, Laedron hid a smile.
One of the younger boys slapped the older in the arm. “Why didn't you think of that?”
“Enough,” Laedron said, returning his gaze to them. “What do you need with a wand?”
“We wanted to see it,” the oldest said. “We've never seen a wizard before.”
“Sorcerer,” Laedron corrected. “There aren't any wizards anymore and haven’t been for a long time.”
His eyes filled with curiosity, a younger boy asked, “What happened to them?”
Laedron thought for a moment before answering. He knew the last wizard had been Azura, but he didn't want to speak blasphemy; he had to watch his tongue around Heraldans due to their beliefs differing from his own. Finally, he said, “A long time ago, there were sorcerers who could bring spells without wands or words of power. They were a part of the magic.”
“No wands?” the oldest asked. “Impossible.”
“Never say impossible,” Laedron said. “Anything is possible, and don't you forget that. Go now, off with you.”
Not to be told a second time, the boys scattered, becoming invisible in the undergrowth of the forest after only a few steps past the trees.
“Azura,” Laren said. “You were talking about her, weren't you?”
“In a way,” he replied, turning to her. “I can't tell them that, though. Let's keep practicing.”
They continued her training after lunch, and having been refortified with the meal, they studied some more. He tried to make each lesson fun for her, having seen how well she did when she was enjoying herself and receiving encouragement. Noticing the sun drooping behind the treetops late in the day, a sweaty and tired Laedron said, “Let's go home.”
Smoke puffed out from the chimney as they entered the backyard. “Supper.” Glancing at the windowsill, he added, “And apple pie, too.”
When he opened the back door, Filadrena turned to them. “My goodness! You're filthy!” He looked down at his soiled clothes and then to his sister’s; both of them were spattered with grass stains and dirt. “Go change before supper,” Ma said, pointing to the stairs.
Laren was the first to the bathroom, much to Laedron's disappointment. “I'll be quick,” she said, closing the door in his face.
He turned and went into his bedroom to wait his turn. Sitting on the bed, he clasped his hands and traced the room with his eyes. He thought of how many nights he'd sat and stared at the stars through his window before falling asleep. He'd always felt the warmth and security of his home, never having been separated from it for long. No matter how the outside world treated him, he knew he could come home and be with his family—but not anymore. He had to attend his training, and Westmarch couldn't be put off.
Repeating the message from Ismerelda in his head over and over, he sat contemplating what might be in store for him. Not long into his thoughts, he heard the bathroom door creak open. He rose to his feet, gathered some fresh clothes, and passed Laren in the hall on his way to the bath.
He soaked in the still water and scrubbed his body with soap every once in a while. Though he wished time would stand still, he knew it wouldn't stop for him or his selfish wants. The sun continued under the horizon until that familiar field of stars was clearly visible above. With wrinkles on his fingertips, he climbed out of the tub and dressed just as he heard his ma's voice from below. “Come to dinner, children.”
Laedron joined Laren and his mother at the dining table. Serving as a centerpiece, a golden brown turkey beset the table, and steam drifted off the vegetables and bread stuffing. Laedron stared at the apple pie still on the windowsill with desire.
After a brief prayer from Filadrena, they dug into the meal. Juice dripped down Laedron's lips as he chewed, and the heat from the stuffing warmed his mouth and his heart. Following the fine meal, they relaxed in the living room, each with a slice of apple pie.
Filadrena had only finished half of her portion by the time Laren and Laedron had eaten theirs. Gazing into the blackness within, she sat with her eyes on the hearth of the fireplace.
“Are you well, Ma?” asked Laren.
“Of course,” she said, turning to them. “I worry about Laedron. Ismerelda's message doesn't bode well for us.”
“What do you think it means?” Laedron asked.
“I'm not sure, but it doesn't sound good,” she said. “I hope it's nothing serious. I don't see why she'd call for you early.” She stretched her arms. “I think we should retire for the night. We have an early morning ahead of us.”
He nodded to his mother, a sinking feeling setting into his stomach. Even if only a few more days, he had wanted more time in Reven’s Landing to spend with his friends and enjoy his home for a while longer. As his gaze drifted to his knees, Filadrena stood.
“Get some rest, Lae. We’ll go to Mr. Reven in the morning and see about getting you passage w
ith them to Westmarch.”
Without another word, she extinguished all but one of the lanterns in the lounge. Sitting alone in the dim light, she peered into the fire as he climbed the stairs, apparently deep in her own thoughts.
Once in his room, he packed his clothing into a leather traveling case until nothing else could be forced inside. He changed into his bedclothes and stared at the ceiling for a while before falling asleep. Being summoned so soon piqued his curiosity, but he was able to take solace in the fact he could no longer be apprehensive about leaving home; the day of his departure was tomorrow, as early as they could make it.
Chapter Four
The Journey to Westmarch
The Circle of Sorcerers: A Mages of Bloodmyr Novel: Book #1 Page 3
