by Lisa Cassidy
When she and the twins turned to begin making their way to their usual table on the periphery of the room, several apprentices sitting at the table closest to Galien’s suddenly shot to their feet. Lifting trays and mugs, they pushed chairs back and carried their things to a different table.
“Is that for us?” Finn asked in a stunned tone.
“It is.” Tarrick’s voice was tight.
“I’m not sitting there.” Alyx pushed past Tarrick and headed towards their usual table. To do that, she had to walk close by the centre table, where Galien, Oscar and Tarran lounged. Fengel—still in the healing ward—was a noticeable absence, but Cario sat there too. He looked amused.
“Good.” Galien’s voice rang out as Alyx and her friends bypassed the table that had been cleared for them. “You don’t belong there. Your place will always be at the bottom, Egalion.”
Alyx spun, dumped her tray on the nearest table and strode straight towards him. He rose from his chair to meet her, mouth curled in a snarl. She stopped before him and raised her right hand into the air, palm facing outwards. A whoosh sounded as her arm lit up in a pearly green glow. The silence of the room thickened, everyone turning to watch with rapt attention.
“Alyx—” Tarrick’s voice held a warning note.
“I belong here as much as you do.” She looked Galien straight in the eyes, ignoring Tarrick. “Don’t push me, Galien.”
He stepped closer to her. “You don’t scare me. Beating Fengel in a sparring bout doesn’t mean you can come close to matching my power. I can still destroy you.”
The magic in Alyx surged, wanting to be let free. He saw it on her face but he didn’t back down.
“What is going on here?” Master Dirrion’s voice snapped from the doorway.
With an effort, Alyx let go of her power and stepped back. Conversation resumed as if by tacit agreement, and chairs creaked as students returned to their meals. By the time Dirrion made it over to Galien and Alyx, she’d picked up her tray and Galien had resumed his seat. The master gave them a hard look.
“You know the rules, Apprentices.”
“Yes, sir,” Alyx acknowledged.
“Go and eat your dinner.”
Without another word, Alyx re-joined Tarrick and the twins and they continued on to their table.
“What was that all about?” Tarrick demanded.
Alyx smiled at one of the initiates on a nearby table who was staring at her in fascination. “I’m not backing down anymore.”
Chapter 20
When Alyx rose from the breakfast table the next morning, the initiate she’d smiled at the previous night approached.
“Apprentice Egalion, I was hoping I could ask you a question about Master Prajana’s class.”
Stunned, it took Alyx a moment to reply. He took her initial lack of response for anger and apologised profusely, going red in the face.
“I don’t mind you asking me questions.” She tried to relax him with a smile. “I’m just not very good at languages. Finn would be able to help you though.”
“Sure,” Finn piped up. “I’d be happy to help if I can.”
“Thank you.” The young man beamed at them. “I’m Randen, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you.” She gave him a wry smile. “I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one who struggled in Prajana’s class as an initiate.”
“What’s your question?” Finn pulled out a seat for the boy. “I don’t have to leave for class yet.”
Dawn left with Alyx, both planning to spend some time in the library before sparring class.
“That’s a new development,” Dawn said as they walked outside.
“That, and the whole clearing a table for us last night.” Alyx shook her head. “All because I beat Fengel in a fight?”
“I think it’s more because they found out you’re a mage of the higher order.” Dawn smiled. “Do you think any student has ever been brave enough to ask Galien for help in one of their classes?”
Alyx nodded thoughtfully. “I think it’s a good idea that the students here, initiates particularly, are shown an example of mage power that isn’t about harshness and cruelty.”
“I agree.”
Alyx sat on a wooden chair, leaning forward slightly, eyes locked on Cario’s. In direct contrast, he sat slouched and relaxed opposite her, a tiny smile on his face. A yellow ball zoomed through the air above their heads, chased by a similarly-sized green ball. She frowned in concentration as Cario’s green ball zoomed closer to her own yellow one. Using a spurt of telekinetic power, she pushed her ball sideways, but Cario had read her intentions and with precise control, he sent his green ball to intersect with hers. They crashed together with a soft pop, then fell to the floor.
“Damn,” Alyx muttered, sitting back in her chair. They’d been doing this for most of Howell’s class and Cario had beaten her every time. It was still a new sensation, being able to access her magic at will. She now found it absurdly easy to summon enough magic to push the little yellow ball across the table with her mind, or practice controlling energy balls with Tarrick. She couldn’t deny that she enjoyed it—she liked the small rush that using magic gave her.
“One more round,” Howell said. “This time, Alyx tries to catch Cario’s ball.”
“Ready for this?” Cario raised an eyebrow at her.
Alyx nodded and loosened her uninjured shoulder before sitting forward again, locking her gaze on his. “Let’s go.”
With a flick of her finger, Alyx lifted the yellow ball off the ground and sent it zooming towards the ceiling. Cario was only a second behind her, and as soon as his green ball began moving, she sent her yellow ball diving after it. The green ball jerked aside, and her yellow almost crashed into the floor before recovering. Alyx clenched her jaw and sent her ball zooming after the green one again.
Cario’s control over his telekinetic magic was exquisite, and he could move an object in ways Alyx was desperately trying to emulate. Her yellow ball chased his around the room for a good while, but he always managed to manoeuvre out of her way at the last second.
Frustration began to burn through Alyx as he evaded her time and time again, that little green ball hovering, tantalizing, just out of her reach. Cario’s control was simply better than hers and he was going to win, unless… Alyx sent her yellow ball diving after Cario’s again, this time deliberately forcing him in a particular direction. Her left hand, resting in the sling, twitched in anticipation.
When the green ball zoomed sharply away from the floor towards the ceiling, Alyx’s yellow ball turned in pursuit. When she got too close, Cario made the yellow ball jerk to the side and then dive back towards the floor. Alyx felt a spark of triumph as the green ball came zooming downwards, her yellow ball right behind. She waited for the exact right moment, then gestured sharply with her left hand. Finn’s languages book rose suddenly off the table, flew across the room, then…
Bam!
With a loud thudding sound, the book squashed the green ball to the floor. Alyx let out a loud whoop and sat back in her chair, exhausted but triumphant. Dawn loudly applauded her efforts while Finn cast a mournful glance towards his book on the floor. Cario smiled widely, a graceful loser.
“Well done, Egalion.”
“Creative thinking, Alyx, very good,” Howell said approvingly.
“Of course, I can make more than one thing fly through the air, too,” Cario challenged.
“Next time,” Howell said. “I’d like to spend some time working with Dawn for the remainder of the class. The rest of you work on the individual exercises I’ve set you, please.”
As soon as Alyx’s shoulder and ribs had healed enough to return to morning sparring, Rothai partnered her with one of the initiates, remarking with an almost-smile that she might like to pass along her new skills.
“You can continue to make further improvement in this class, so I expect you to focus and pay attention,” he added, then raised an eyebrow. “And whatever practice
you’ve been doing outside of class… I expect that to continue also. Display any regression in skill and you won’t find me at all understanding. Clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
Keera, the initiate, was a friend of Randen’s. The boy had become almost a regular at their breakfast table—his love of learning equalled Finn’s, and he took any opportunity he could to pick Finn’s brain.
“I hope you don’t mind being stuck with me.” Keera looked a little awestruck at facing off across from Alyx.
“Not at all. Anything is better than being partnered with Fengel.”
The girl smiled. “I’ll do my best not to waste your time.”
It was the first occasion Alyx actually enjoyed sparring class. Without fear and intimidation blocking her, Dashan’s training quickly came to the fore. Keera didn’t have the skill level of either Dashan or Fengel, but she was more advanced than Alyx had been as an initiate.
“That was wrong.” Keera winced as she tried to block a thrust from Alyx and caught her finger instead.
“You need to work on that cross-block. It’s weak, and a strong blow could break your arm.” Alyx moved closer, echoing the words Dashan had repeated over and over. “Place your hands here, and here, so that you can move the staff like this.”
The class passed more quickly than Alyx was accustomed to, and she supposed that had to do with not hating every second of it. Keera wished her a good day before leaving to join her friends and go to class. Alyx fell in with Tarrick and the twins as they walked towards mapping.
“Those lessons with Dashan really have paid off,” Tarrick said. “Your fundamentals are excellent.”
She nodded. “Fengel had such a hold over me I couldn’t make any progress in class, but with Dashan I really was learning. When I let go of the fear, I realised I could at least hold my ground against Fengel—he was so surprised to see me fight back that I could take advantage of it. I wouldn’t want to face him outside of a monitored class though.”
“Speaking of, Galien is due back from patrol today,” Finn commented. “I heard some of the apprentices in the dorm talking about it last night.”
Their nemesis had been out riding with First Patrol since the day after Alyx had been released from the healing ward, and they all suspected a distinct correlation between the two events. Master Dirrion had obviously reported the scene he’d witnessed in the dining hall.
Dawn sighed. “I suppose we just keep taking the same precautions.”
A familiar frustration surged and Alyx wanted to dismiss their concern, tell them they didn’t need to fear Galien anymore. But they did. Being half-capable with a staff and having access to her magic didn’t make her his equal, not yet. That would take time and even more hard work. So she nodded, reaffirming the pledge that had kept them all alive so far.
But one day…
The next day was their day off and they slept in late before bundling up for the cold and heading down to the stables. A world of white greeted them after heavy snowfall overnight, and several sets of tracks were imprinted in the snow where others from DarkSkull had already made the journey to Weeping Stead.
“I say after collecting Dash we spend the afternoon indoors somewhere warm,” Finn proposed, shivering.
“We did that on our last day off,” Tarrick said. “I say we go sledding. That will warm you up quickly.”
“I’m with Tarrick,” Alyx said. “If we stay indoors, you’ll end up playing cards all afternoon and that’s boring.”
“Very boring,” Dawn echoed firmly.
“Sorry, Finn, I think you’re outvoted,” Tarrick said.
“Since when do we live in Shivasa?” Finn grumbled.
The others looked at Finn blankly, but Alyx caught on to what he meant. “You mean how they vote for their ruler?” She shrugged. “If we didn’t vote, we’d have to do what our ruler said anyway. Since that’s not you, we’d still be going sledding.”
“And why am I not leader?” Finn asked mock-indignantly.
“Because Tarrick is,” Dawn and Alyx spoke at once, then laughed at the scowl on Finn’s face.
Alyx was in the lead as they passed through the town and headed towards the militia barracks, a sprawling compound stretching out from the east side of Weeping Stead. They dismounted by the tethering posts near the front gates, Alyx shivering despite the relative warmth of her cloak. Two young militia officers nodded politely as she approached the gates.
“Good morning. We’re here for Lieutenant Caverlock?”
Both their stern expressions softened. “You mean Dash? You’re friends of his?”
“Yes. I’m Alyx Egalion,” she said, then gestured to the others. “Dawn, Finn and Tarrick. As you can probably tell, we’re apprentices from DarkSkull Hall.”
The men relaxed completely at her words. “He’s talked about you. Come on in.”
One of them opened the heavy gates while another kept watch on the road.
“Here, I’ll take you through. It’s a bit like a maze in here.” The soldier opening the gate smiled again. While not especially handsome, he had short brown hair and a friendly face that Alyx warmed to. “It’s nice to meet you, Apprentice Egalion.”
She was a bit taken aback by the warmth of their welcome, but pushed it to the back of her mind as they were led through walkways that ran between buildings. It was like a maze. Just behind her, Tarrick and Finn murmured about the outer defences of the barracks.
“My name is Rodin, by the way,” the soldier said suddenly. “I’ve worked with Dash and his Bluecoats quite a bit since they arrived. He’s done wonders for us. Your Blue Guard are truly the best of the best.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Alyx smiled.
“We were uneasy when the commander told us a unit of the Bluecoats would be spending several months with us,” Rodin chattered on. “We expected they would be arrogant and superior, but they’ve been the opposite.”
That did please her, and she made a mental note to pass the compliment, along with her own praise, to the Bluecoats when she got a chance.
At that, they all emerged into a rectangular drill yard. A large group of men wearing the dark green militia uniform were gathered in the centre, heavy packs lying at their feet. Alyx picked Dashan out immediately at the head of the group, his height and blue jacket distinctive. Rodin jogged across the yard and spoke to Dashan for a minute.
“I wonder what’s going on?” Finn asked.
“Looks like they’re preparing for an exercise,” Tarrick said.
A moment later Dashan came striding over to them, cheeks flushed from the cold, an easy smile of welcome on his face.
“Hey,” Tarrick greeted him. “Want to come sledding?”
Dashan swore lightly. “Right, it’s your day off today. I completely forgot. Sorry, but I can’t.”
Alyx’s eyes widened; he’d never refused an invitation to skive off work before.
“I’m taking the militia out on a training exercise,” Dashan explained in response to their surprised looks. “They don’t have much experience fighting in strict formation, and they need to learn. My boys are going to stage an attack on them up in the hills.” He glanced back at the gathered group. “Sorry, I really have to go. Next time?”
“Sure.”
“Good luck,” Alyx offered.
“Thanks, mage-girl.” Dashan winked at her. “I’ll try and be free on your next day off.”
“Who’s that, and what have they done with the real Dashan?” Finn chuckled as they left the barracks.
“No idea.” Alyx glanced back, as curious as Finn. “Come on, I’m freezing over. I want a hot drink before we start sledding.”
A familiar prickling of magic skittered across Alyx’s mind. Glancing up, she was unsurprised to see Galien looking through the classroom door at her. Her mouth tightened. It was a familiar trick of his, to show up during class and attempt to torture here without the teacher noticing.
She turned away from the door, refusing to give h
im the satisfaction of her attention. Instead she pretended to concentrate on Alaria’s lecture about scaling distances. Moments later, the quill lying next to her right hand rose off the desk and hovered in the air for a moment. Then, ever so slowly, it drifted over her hand. She tensed instinctively, knowing from experience that at any moment its sharp point would plunge down painfully into her skin.
No more.
The resolution she’d made to herself while lying on the icy ground of the sparring yard came flooding back. This time, when the quill came stabbing down towards her hand, Alyx used a touch of magic to halt its path mid-flight and send it toppling to the floor. Heads around her glanced up as it clattered onto the stone surface.
Alyx looked up and met Galien’s eyes unflinchingly through the glass. His hatred for her burned, the emotion alive in his dark gaze. Balling her right fist, she raised it off the table and then flung it towards the door. A low-energy concussion burst flew from her hand and exploded into the glass before Galien’s face. He jerked backwards as the glass shattered into pieces and a low boom echoed through the room.
“Apprentice Egalion!” Alaria snapped. “What do you think you’re doing?”
She looked back at him, unrepentant. “Defending myself, sir.”
Alaria glanced between her and the doorway before giving a faint nod. “You use magic in my class again, Apprentice, and I’ll fail you. Are we clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Alyx, you need to be more careful,” Tarrick was repeating as they stepped through into the dining hall that night. “He’s still a threat. Not only that, but you don’t want to get yourself expelled.”
“I know that,” she said impatiently, stopping dead as she caught sight of Galien at his usual table. The pale skin of his face was thrown into stark relief by the bright red of two long cuts down his left cheek. Fierce satisfaction burned in her chest.
Finn whistled under his breath. “You did that?”
“I must have.” Reluctantly, Alyx took her eyes off Galien and they went to line up for food.
