The Mage Chronicles- The Complete Series

by Lisa Cassidy

  “Did you see where Fengel is sitting now that Galien is back?” Dawn asked quietly.

  Alyx hadn’t, and looked now to see the Zandian seated at the far end of the popular table, a scowl plastered firmly on his face. None of the others at the table appeared to be including him in their conversation.

  “Galien isn’t the only one you need to be careful of,” Tarrick added. “If Fengel hated you before, that hatred has deepened tenfold. You shamed him and took away his standing.”

  “It’s nothing more than he deserves.”

  “Maybe.”

  Both Randen and Keera waved a greeting as Alyx and the others sat down with their food, and not a few other initiates and apprentices passing their table greeted them with a friendly hello or smile.

  “I find this unsettling.” Finn shook his head. “From complete obscurity to almost-popularity.”

  “If people weren’t so afraid of Galien, we’d be more than almost-popular,” Dawn said. “I’ve caught so many thoughts in that vein I’ve lost count.”

  “And all because of Alyx.” Tarrick’s smile flashed. “It’s just like being back in Alistriem.”

  “It’s not only because of me,” Alyx disagreed, raising her hand when Finn opened his mouth to speak. “I mean it. Students here are as terrified of Galien’s friends as they are of him. Now they’re seeing for the first time a powerful mage who doesn’t make it their mission to hurt and bully them—but my friends are just like me and they see that too.”

  “You’re right,” Dawn said firmly.

  A comfortable silence fell between them as they ate. Alyx finished first and pushed her bowl away before relaxing back in her chair. Her thoughts wandered idly, falling eventually on Dashan. It had been surprisingly disappointing that he’d been unable to spend time with them on their day off. She hoped he was well.

  “Penny for your thoughts?”

  Alyx started at Finn’s voice. “Sorry?”

  He grinned. “You drifted off there. Don’t tell me you’re too tired to get in some studying before bed.”

  Alyx groaned. She wasn’t sure she felt alert enough for proper study, but it was about time she wrote another letter to Cayr. She’d had a second letter from him a few weeks earlier, but hadn’t had time to reply to it yet. “No. I’ll come with you.”

  “We’ve got watch duty in two days.” Dawn sighed. “So I’ll come too, make sure I’m all caught up before we miss more classes.”

  Chapter 21

  As winter deepened, Alyx’s days grew even busier. She’d finally caught up on her classes, and while she would probably always struggle at languages and mathematics, she now regularly passed all the tests she was set. An equal amount of effort was required to keep up, however, and now that Alyx was set exercises and homework from Howell’s class as well, her spare time dropped markedly.

  One morning coming down to breakfast with Dawn, Alyx was surprised to note the sombre mood of the dining hall. The initiates who’d awoken on time were huddled together looking scared, and conversation was muted at best.

  A lot of eyes flicked towards Alyx as she walked in, but they all slid away when she looked directly at them. Unease trickled down her spine. The unusual silence persisted as she and Dawn lined up for food, and the greetings they’d become accustomed to from other students were non-existent.

  Tarrick and Finn were already at their table, but they weren’t talking. Finn picked at his food while Tarrick, jaw clenched, merely stared at his bowl.

  “What happened?” Alyx asked them.

  “It’s nothing,” Tarrick said quickly. “An incident with one of the initiates, that’s all.”

  Finn looked up sharply, giving Tarrick a hard look. “Keera was found in the woods late last night. She had a broken leg and was almost dead from exposure. She told the masters she’d taken a bad fall while exercising her mare.”

  “That’s awful.” Horrified, Alyx immediately looked over at the table where Randen and Keera normally sat. The initiate was pale, and he avoided her eyes. Her heart sank. “There’s more. What is it, Finn?”

  “She left DarkSkull before dawn this morning. Apparently she asked to be taken home immediately.”

  Alyx’s gaze turned back to Tarrick, who was still glaring down at his bowl. A growing dread made her voice sharp. “Why?”

  “Keera really wanted to be a mage,” Dawn added. “A fall bad enough to break your leg is nasty, but I don’t really see it making her want to leave so desperately.”

  “Keera was your sparring partner, Alyx,” Tarrick said.

  “And?”

  “And she was a good friend of Randen’s, who’s been joining us a lot for meals recently, but won’t even look this way today.”

  She stiffened, increasingly upset by what he was implying. “You’re suggesting it wasn’t a fall. You think Galien did something to her?”

  “It’s exactly what he tried to do to you multiple times last year, wasn’t it?” Tarrick pushed his bowl away so hard it almost collided with Finn’s.

  “After your defeat of Fengel, then what you did to Galien in mapping class, and standing up to him like you did in the dining hall....” Dawn trailed off, understanding spreading across her face as she looked at Alyx before continuing. “But surely he wouldn’t have…”

  “He did,” Finn said. “And everyone knows it.”

  They were right. Of course they were right. The shock vanished, extinguished by a rapidly rising fury. The emotion was so potent that Alyx’s grip on her spoon turned white-knuckled. Keera was an innocent. She’d done nothing wrong.

  “Alyx... take a breath.” Dawn was clearly picking up something of Alyx’s thoughts. “I know you’re angry, but—”

  “I won’t let him get away with this.” Alyx shot to her feet, sending her chair clattering backwards. “He can’t hurt people because of me.”

  The pearly green glow was already coalescing around both her hands as she turned and took a step away from the table.

  “No you don’t!”

  A vice-like grip closed around her wrist, and Alyx found herself being shoved back down into her chair with enough force to send the breath whooshing out of her. Before she could react, Cario, having appeared out of nowhere, pulled up a chair beside hers, utterly crowding her personal space. His eyes were bright as they locked on hers.

  “Starting a war with Galien is in nobody’s best interests,” he said, his voice low and intense. “You may have bested Fengel, but Galien is a mage of the higher order who is far better trained and more experienced than you. Don’t provoke him further, or someone might die next time, including your friends.”

  “I can’t allow him to—”

  “Yes, you can,” Cario said firmly. “You have no choice. Let him have this one.”

  “Let him have it?” She angrily shook off his hold on her wrist. “He hurt someone for no reason other than that they were my sparring partner.”

  “And if you do something to him now, he’ll hurt more people, maybe worse. Is that what you want?”

  “The masters will—”

  “Do nothing because they can’t afford to see that their pet mage of the higher order is a monster. And Galien is clever enough to feed into that by hiding his tracks.” Cario cut through all her arguments with insulting ease. “Do you really want this to escalate, Alyx?”

  Her jaw clenched in helpless anger. She didn’t want to see the sense in his words but was unable to refute it. Frustration burned, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. “No.”

  “Then leave it.”

  “I didn’t think you cared about anything,” she snapped.

  Cario stared at her for one long moment, then abruptly rose and walked away without responding, heading for Galien’s table. Alyx turned back to her breakfast, still wrestling with herself.

  “He’s right,” Finn said gently.

  “I know,” she ground out.

  “I’m sorry.” Dawn squeezed her hand.

  Alyx shook it off. “T
hat’s not good enough.”

  “I’ve heard good things about you.” Brynn’s voice sounded in the dimness.

  Having picked up a snatch of his thoughts some distance away, Alyx wasn’t startled by his words, even though his form was shrouded in shadow. The message with instructions to meet him had been slipped under her pillow for her to find when she returned to her room after dinner.

  “You’ll start hearing bad things if I get caught out here after curfew,” she grumbled. Despite her complaint, she had been glad to receive his message. After the events of the morning, she didn’t think sleep would be easy to come by. Her helplessness and frustration at the situation hadn’t faded much throughout the day.

  “Nobody comes into the orchards at night.”

  “True enough.” She sat next to him. The air was bitingly cold, and Alyx pulled her cloak more tightly around her. “However, there is that wide expanse of completely open fields I have to cross to get back to the dormitory building.”

  Brynn’s smile flashed in the darkness. “You’re a mage of the higher order, I’m sure you’ll work it out.”

  “That doesn’t mean as much as people think it does,” she murmured.

  “It makes you uncomfortable, does it?” he asked, as if reading her thoughts. “Being famous?”

  “I’m used to being treated with respect and deference because of my position in life, because of who my father is.” Alyx tried to explain. “I was used to it because things had been that way my whole life.”

  “But this is different. People are giving you respect and deference because of what you are, not what your parents are.”

  “And I’m not really all that special. I worked that much out after my first year here.” She paused. “Did you hear about the initiate that went home?”

  “Yes.”

  She huddled further into her cloak, shrinking away from his inquisitive green gaze. “It was my fault, indirectly. Me being a mage of the higher order didn’t help her, and it doesn’t help me stop Galien.”

  Brynn smiled slightly. “That’s a depressing outlook.”

  “You’re laughing at me,” she accused, stung out of her melancholy.

  “I’m not,” he said, nonetheless beaming at his success in breaking her mood. It should irritate her, but it didn’t. Brynn certainly had a knack with her. “How is it going, your troubles with Galien aside?”

  “I think I’m beginning to get somewhere,” she said. “But I won’t bore you with talking about myself any longer. What about you? You implied last time I saw you that your family knows you’re alive... does that mean Sarah too?”

  He nodded, face softening. “It was a non-negotiable for me. With everything else Romas was asking me to give up, I wouldn’t do that to her. Even if it meant expulsion.” His little smile widened. “She’s agreed to marry me.”

  “Oh, Brynn, that’s wonderful.” Alyx hugged him impulsively. “I’m so happy for you.”

  “Thanks.”

  “How do you manage things, with what you do?”

  “I see her as often as I can. She knows about my work. Whenever I’m in the area, I’ll visit,” he said. “The council has agreed to give me time away after we’re married. At least a month. For now, she’ll keep living in the village and I’ll visit whenever I can.”

  “I really am happy for you. This is lovely news to hear.”

  “I’m happy too,” he said, then sobered. “Now, for the real reason I’m here.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “I’ve already given this information to Master Romas and the council, but he’s not likely to pass it on to students, and I know you and the others are assigned to watch tower duty this year.”

  “Right.” Alyx glanced around. “So this is another secret meeting. They don’t know you’re talking to me.”

  “No.” He lowered his voice. “I’m sure you’ve noticed there hasn’t been another attack on DarkSkull since last year,” he said. “I think that’s about to change. I’ve been hearing a lot of things, nothing concrete, but my instincts tell me another attack is coming.”

  Alyx frowned. She’d been hoping she’d not have to face another night like that ever again. “For what purpose?”

  “I haven’t been able to figure that out. What advantage do the Shiven get from attacking DarkSkull?”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “You know the Shiven are behind the attacks?”

  “I do, and I know that Romas has told you. I assume that means you’ve also told Tarrick and the twins.” Impatience tinged his voice.

  “I did. But if you know the Shiven were behind the attacks, then you know Shivasa is worrying the council immensely,” Alyx said. “They’re concerned the increased activity along the Rionnan border and the attacks last year could be indicative of invasion plans.”

  “Nobody wants another war,” Brynn said bleakly. “But removing all the future mages in training would be a key strategic goal if I were Shivasa and planning to expand my territories.”

  “As would getting rid of as many powerful mages as you could as discreetly as possible,” Alyx mused. “Do you think they could be behind the disappearing mages?”

  “It’s possible.”

  “What makes you think another attack on DarkSkull is coming?”

  “Instinct, added with a few things I’ve seen and heard. My task isn’t to find out why the attacks on DarkSkull are happening, or who is behind them,” Brynn explained. “The information I do have, I came by incidentally in my other duties.”

  “Which are?”

  “Best not discussed.”

  Alyx caught a flash of his surface thoughts. “You have doubts?”

  “That’s beside the point. I’m carrying out orders. It’s my job as a mage.”

  “It is the point if your orders aren’t right.”

  “Spoken by the girl who decided to come back here and be a mage,” Brynn said. “You’ll be following their orders someday too.”

  She was silent a moment. As happy as she was that Brynn was alive, she missed the old sweetness he used to have about him. This Brynn had an edge, his words dripping a harsh practicality she shied away from.

  “I know,” she said eventually, her voice quiet.

  “I’d better go. I want to visit Sarah before leaving the area.” He squeezed her hand. “It was good to see you.”

  “You too, Brynn.”

  “And don’t be too hard on yourself about Galien. You stood up to him, and that’s a good thing. With time and training you might be able to stop him.”

  “I suppose that’s true.”

  “Night.”

  Alyx watched him go, remaining in the dark shadows of the orchards a while longer. Brynn’s cryptic words about his work worried her, as did his suspicions of renewed attacks on DarkSkull. It didn’t surprise her that Romas hadn’t passed this warning onto the students; he remained a mysterious figure. She had no idea what his true motives were.

  Brynn was right, though—one day she’d have to do as the council ordered. Either that or swear allegiance to Cayr’s father and effectively be forced to follow Lord-Mage Casovar. She hadn’t quite considered that when making her grand and noble decision to come back.

  Alyx shook her head and stood, dousing the mage light. That was a problem for another day, a day still a long time in the future.

  The following morning at breakfast, the mood had almost returned to normal and conversation hummed freely. The initiates remained withdrawn, however, and none acknowledged Alyx and her friends in any way. She understood completely, and made no effort to approach or speak to any of them. Tarrick and Finn had joined Alyx and Dawn at their table when Jayn appeared, placing her bowl beside Alyx’s and swinging into a chair.

  “You mind?”

  “Not at all.” Alyx smiled. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

  Jayn shrugged. “It’s about time someone stood up to Galien. And he and his friends aren’t going to find me as easy to scare as an initiate. You guys don’t min
d if I start sitting with you occasionally?”

  “You’re very welcome.” Dawn smiled at her.

  “Finn! Think you can take me this morning?” Rickin clapped the apprentice on the back as he dropped into the seat beside him.

  “I can try,” Finn said ruefully.

  “That you can.” Rickin chuckled, saying nothing further as he began eating hungrily.

  “They really need to do something about this slop,” Jayn remarked, spooning through her grey-looking oatmeal.

  Alyx chuckled. “Or at least vary the colour of it.”

  “Finn, if you’re looking to beat Rickin this morning, attack to his left with a sweep hook,” Tarrick advised. “He still hasn’t mastered the right block for that one.”

  “You know nothing, Tylender.” Rickin sniffed.

  “Try it, Finn.” Tarrick bit back on a grin.

  “Oh, I will.”

  Rickin rose with a laugh, having finished already. “You still won’t beat me. I look forward to you trying though. See you out there soon.”

  “I should go too.” Jayn picked up her bowl. “Bye.”

  “There are some good people here,” Finn noted as the two apprentices left.

  “Galien had them all under his thumb, but not all of them were there willingly,” Dawn mused. “They needed someone to take the first step.”

  Alyx shifted as the three of them turned to look speculatively at her. “Don’t give me credit I don’t deserve. He’s still a monster and will continue to hurt people, and I can’t stop that.”

  Tarrick shrugged and turned back to his food. “Not yet, anyway.”

  Chapter 22

  “Apprentice Egalion?” Rothai’s voice snapped across the yard as they finished sparring for the morning and students began filing out to their next classes. “A moment please.”

  Reluctant, she crossed to him. “What is it, sir?”

  As hard as she’d tried to keep her voice even, a trace of bitterness leaked into it, and Rothai didn’t fail to notice. “Do you have a problem with me, Apprentice?”

  The gall of the question triggered the impotent anger and frustration that had been building in her all year. It spilled out and she was helpless to stop it.