by Mirren Hogan
The well, it wasn’t really a well at all. The heart of magic was more like a lake. It went too far back for him to see what fed it. Perhaps it fed itself, drawing unused magic back to replenish.
It greeted him like an old friend, little tendrils popping up here and there to wave to him.
He grinned. He’d been a fool to deny it, but he’d been scared. He wasn’t scared now, he was euphoric.
He twisted around and faced the stone. He could see where the previous attempt had tried and failed. The wall was fragile near the base, but there was a section higher up that could be forced open without too much damage being done.
“Don’t want the magic escaping,” he muttered to himself. It was silly. He couldn’t imagine anyone containing magic if it didn’t want to be contained. All they needed right now was a big enough hole for the magula to enter. Once they’d bathed in the magic, they’d be back to normal. He might even be a hero. Would people write songs about him?
He snorted at his own arrogance.
“All right then.” He put his palms almost to the wall, mindful he might pass right though. and pressed lightly, bringing the magic to bear against the stone. He saw it crumble , chunks breaking off. Hopefully no one outside got hit.
A moment later he burst through the stone and saw daylight. It was only a pinprick at first, but as he scrabbled at the rock, it widened quickly. He put his hand though the hole, then both of them. Another few moments and his upper body fit through. It was large enough for a magula to slide through, but not for them to remove people afterward.
He kept working, although he was getting tired. No, he corrected himself, they were all getting weary and he was getting less magic for his task. Still, it was enough for now.
A large chunk of rock broke off and crashed onto the ledge. Thankfully no one was standing on it. It was enough though, to widen the hole so he could have fit through if he was in his body, and just far enough down that people could climb out, albeit with a little help. Perhaps they could be levitated out. Either way, that wasn’t his concern.
He felt a sharp tug and found himself back in his body. Obviously that was going to be something he’d need to work on. For now though, he was content in the knowledge that he could. He didn’t trust the guild, but he could work with them, if it meant mastering the use of magic.
He smiled, but it was gone a minute later when he felt his magic being sucked away. He held onto it, but the force pulling it was stronger than him. The moment it left his body, he felt bereft, angry.
He turned to Tabia, whose hand was still on his arm. He assumed it was her until he realised she was as shocked as he was. Her eyes were wide.
“You didn’t do that?” she asked, her voice strongly hoarse.
“No.”
“Then what?”
He heard Afruen laugh and swivelled around to see the odd sorcerer. His hands rested on Ezeji and Kwame, and both men were trembling.
“Thank you!” Afruen called out. “You have set us free!”
Darai didn’t understand, until the man he knew as Afruen started to change. His features blurred, becoming strangely fluid and darker.
Darker than midnight.
***
Tabia stared.
The moment she saw his change, she understood. Afruen must have been absent from the guild during the Outpouring. There had been much speculation about what might happen to a sorcerer who got caught up in so much magic. The assumption had been that they would simply channel it off.
That assumption was wrong.
He’d obviously absorbed magic and become a magula, but regained enough of himself to appear normal. He’d even fooled Ezeji. She could see as much from the devastated look on the other sorcerer’s face.
How much of all of this had been Afruen’s plan? He’d managed to get them all here, away from the guild, and for what? So he could be sure he was cured?
No, there was more.
Yikara evaporated into shadow form and snaked out over their heads. Where she touched Afruen, their darkness became one, the child and the sorcerer indiscernible from each other. Several more forms passed overhead and blended themselves, creating a huge shadow of nothingness.
Of course, she knew there must have been other magula out there. Apparently they’d been watching and waiting. Until now.
The darkness hung before them, then it started to converge. Whispers of magic were drawn away from Ezeji and Kwame, their bodies writhing as every last drop was siphoned off.
Isobel cried out. Kwame’s hand was still on her arm. Where they joined, the magic in her blood was being drawn, drained from her as Tabia watched in horror.
“No!” she screamed. She tried to move toward her lover, but her body was frozen, locked in place by the cloud of hungry magula who fed off her too. She felt every last, minute drop of magic drain away from her until she felt empty and spent.
In a moment, the magula were gone, leaving her to slump on the ground.
***
Adina felt herself being drawn down with Tabia. She’d felt the magic pull through Tabia’s blood and out of her, but there was nothing she could do to stop it. She tried to cry out, but no words would come. It was as though she was reliving the Outpouring all over again, but this time the cloud was black, not red. Then, her family had been near. Now, she had her new family, but they might all be dead.
She felt Tabia’s skin turn cold before her hand slipped away. The ground under her was colder still. She felt numb.
Her eyes sought out Darai and found him, looking shocked, lying near her. She thought he was dead, until he blinked. It was slow and forced, but it was movement that showed her he wasn’t gone yet. She saw Kwame’s arm twitch, and Ezeji give a feeble kick.
The magula hovered above them and she tried to shout out a warning, but still couldn’t form the words. It seemed to brush Kwame’s cheek, sending a faint shudder through his body.
Adina felt tears on her eyelids, a hot counterpoint to the cold of the ground. It trickled down her cheek and onto her nose. She wriggled it until the drop slid free. She’d cried when the magic had bound her too, and when Darai had left.
Her eyes went back to him. Why had he come? He’d been safer away from here. He’d come to—she remembered now. Afruen had brought him. The sorcerer—the magula—had needed him to open the hole to the well. And he’d done that.
Her eyes travelled up the rock wall. The well. How were they supposed to keep it safe now?
She watched the magula rise as one, toward the hole. Their departure lifted the weight from her body, but lowered one onto her heart.
Magula ate magic.
And they had the whole well to feed from.
CHAPTER 45
Tabia watched the shadow of midnight rise toward the well. She was exhausted, but she forced herself to her feet. She tried to draw magic to her. A trickle came, then a little more. A flutter of hope rose inside her that maybe they could stop the magula.
She saw Harshal rise, then slowly Darai and Adina as well. Ezeji and Kwame moved a little, but that was all. She couldn’t bring herself to look toward Isobel, not yet.
She felt the two men’s eyes on her and saw them draw. She knew they wanted her to come up with a way to fix this, but her mind was blank.
Even from where she stood, she could hear the magula begin to feed, slapping at the magic like a giant sponge.
“Can we close the well again?” Harshal asked. She didn’t miss the accusing look he shot at Darai. It hadn’t been the boy’s fault. Afruen had manipulated him. He’d probably thought he was sweeping in to save the day, when in truth they might have been better off if he hadn’t. They’d be dead, having fallen down the side of the mountain, but the well would be safe.
No, it would only have been safe until Afruen found a way to convince Sevele to send others to open it. And he would have found a way, she was sure of it.
“I think it’s too late for that,” she replied.
Darai sagged. Of cou
rse he’d blame himself, but there wasn’t time for that now.
“I’m going to try to levitate us up, inside the well,” she said. She didn’t wait for a response. She drew more magic and wound enough around the four of them. It was rough, and wouldn’t be comfortable, but it would have to do.
If they were planning to argue, it wouldn’t matter, she’d already raised them, and herself, to the level of the hole and deposited them just inside.
She was unprepared for the sight. The magula shadow had grown to several times its original size. It hovered just over the vast pool, but the magic was already dwindling.
“We’re too late,” Adina groaned.
“Maybe we could try to suck it back?” Harshal sounded desperate, but it was worth a try.
Tabia nodded. “Adina. Watch the magula, see if there’s any change. Anything at all. All right?”
Adina nodded and stepped aside a little. She looked scared, but determined. She exchanged a glance with Darai, but then focused on the magula.
Tabia took a breath and drew a little more magic. It was becoming more and more difficult. If they didn’t act quickly, there would be no more magic to use.
She formed a tendril and sent it toward the magula. The other two did the same thing, although Darai’s was wobbly and took a little longer to make. It shot out faster than the other two, though, slamming into the magula cloud.
Tabia’s reached it a heartbeat later. The moment it did, she knew they’d made a mistake.
The magic was immediately absorbed and that left in the well disappeared more quickly. It In a matter of moments it was gone, leaving a swollen cloud of magula, heavy with the power it had absorbed.
“How is it holding all of that?” Harshal asked.
A quiver went through the cloud.
“I think we should get out of here,” Tabia said. She tried to draw, but found nothing. Even when she’d been locked on a copper room in the hall of the incanti, cut off from magic, she knew it was there, somewhere, just out of reach. But now, there wasn’t even that. It was as though magic had never existed.
“Zuleso,” she muttered. She gestured for the others to climb out through the hole and headed toward it herself. Before she’d taken more than a step, she heard a growl and a rumble, like an upset stomach.
She turned to see another quiver pass through the cloud. Then a more violent one. Bit by bit, it seemed to be coming apart, like wind blowing smoke in several directions. She raised her hand against any potential explosion, but the cloud gave a whoosh, as if expelling air.
She’d half-hoped the magic would drain out of it, but as she watched, it became more evident that it wouldn’t happen. Like smoke, the cloud dispersed, toward the walls of the well, disappearing into it like it had never existed.
She tried yet again to draw, to search for a hint of magic, but found nothing.
The magic was gone.
***
Isobel was dead.
Whatever the magula had done, sucking the magic from them, they’d taken too much from her. A drop of blood shone on her fair skin, which Tabia wiped away after she closed her blue eyes.
She didn’t blame the magula. In the end they’d been turned into little more than animals, who had given into the instinct to survive. She didn’t blame Darai for having been manipulated and arriving in time for all of this. She didn’t blame Sevele for sending them in the first place.
She blamed herself. She should have insisted that Isobel stay behind at the guild. She knew her lover had never felt fully comfortable there, but she’d have been safe, and alive.
She wiped tears from her eyes and looked over to where Harshal, Darai, and Adina were helping Kwame and Ezeji to their feet.
“What do we do now?” Adina was asking.
“We go home,” Harshal replied, as if the answer was obvious.
“Home?” Tabia rose to her feet. “Where in the god’s name is home?”
“The guild,” he replied, frowning.
“What guild?’ she demanded. “There’s no magic. Without magic, there’s no guild.”
Silence fell while the others absorbed her words.
Eventually, Ezeji shook his head. “There will always be a guild. I don’t know about you, but that’s where I plan to go.”
Darai looked stricken and glanced at Adina. He’d finally embraced magic and now it was gone. He looked more lost than Tabia had ever seen him.
“We’ll go where Tabia goes,” Adina said.
“Same here,” Harshal said. “Um, where is that?”
Tabia hesitated. “There might be more magic out there. Maybe we can bring it back somehow.” It seemed unlikely, but it was the only answer she could think of.
“Then let’s do that,” Harshal said cheerfully. “Returning magic to Isskasala. How hard can that be?” He knelt to pick up Isobel and started down the way they’d come.
It could be impossible, Tabia thought, but she followed him down the mountain.
PRONOUNCIATION KEY
Adan (ay-Dun) Iljoskan farmer.
Addo (add-Oh) Tabia’s father.
Adhiamba (ad-E-am-buh) cook and slave.
Adina (Ad-ee-nuh) harvested one.
Afruen (aff-RU-en) sorcerer.
Amara (am-Ar-uh) Efea’s sister.
Akello (ah-Kello) Efea’s friend.
Auder (or-Der) capital of Serain.
Ayra (Ay-ruh) potent illegal drug
Azlim (Az-lim) country on the continent of Isskasala.
Basel (Baz-ul) Tabia’s magic teachers in Malij
Bekela (Bek-ella) Darai’s grandmother.
Benassi (ben-Ass-e) sorcerer.
Cahia (Ca-Hee-uh) Chaqian sailor.
Caso (Kay-so) commander in the Kalili army.
Chakbwan Swamp. (Chak-bwaan) swamp in Iljosk.
Chakleti (Chak-lett-ee) chocolate.
Chanya (Chan-yuh) Efea’s sister and queen of Iljosk.
Chaq (Ch-ak) country on the continent of Isskasala.
Dafil (Daff-ill) sorcerer.
Darai (Dar-eye) harvested one.
Dassane (Dass-ah-nee) capital of Mindossa.
Dhati- kingu (daa-Tee Kin-goo) true king.
Dobi (doh-Bee)
Efea (ef-Euh) Kibibi (senior princess) of Kalil.
Essien (Efea’s son and heir of Kalil.)
Ezeji (ez-eh-Ee) sorcerer.
Fanashil (Fah-na-shill) sea captain.
Feko (Fee-koh) sorcerer.
Ferez (fair-Ez) first king of Kalil.
Gagee (guh-Jee) river.
Gele desert (Gel-E) desert.
Genari (Jen-are-EE) hall staff.
Ghedi (Ged-ee) slave.
Gowah (Gow-uh) sorcerer.
Hafta (Haff-tuh) traveller.
Hajspray (haj-Spray) waterfall in Vanmala.
Hanisi (Haan-ee-see) king of Kalil.
Haria (Har-ee-uh) town in Iljosk.
Harshal (Har-shull) incanti student.
Hassan (Hass-aan) cabin boy aboard the Bumbora.
Hinja (Hin-juh) Kalolak slaver.
Iljosk (Ill-josk) country on the continent of Isskasala.
Incanta (In-can-tuh) female Vamalan sorcerer.
Incanti (In-can-tee) Vanmalan sorcerer.
Incanto (In-can-toe) male Vanmalan sorcerer.
Isobel (Iss-oh-bell) slave.
Issodor (Iss-uh-door) the world.
Isskasala (Iss-kah-saal-uh)
Iyangura (E-yan-goo-ruh) first queen of Kalil to rule in her own right.
Jahi (Jaa-hee) heir to Iljosk.
Jaila (Jay-luh) Adan’s daughter.
Jali (Jay-lee) child.
Jaya (Jye-uh(Satsuko’s teacher.
Juba (Joo-buh) slave.
Kalil (Kal-ill) country on the continent of Isskasala.
Kalolak (kal-Oh-lak) capital of Iljosk.
Katash (Kat-ash) Prime Incanto.
Kawaha (ka-Wah-ha) coffee.
Kenzi (Ken-zee) Adan’s daughter.
Kibibi (ki-Bib-ee) senior p
rincess.
Kola (Ko-la) Tanatu’s sister.
Kwame (Kwa-may) sorcerer.
Lake Cabase (cuh-Bah-see) lake in Mindossa on which Dassane was built.
Lakik (La-kik) wyrm.
Larafa (Lar-uh-fa) town.
Lokesh (Low-kesh) capital of Vanmala.
Lukta (Luk-tuh) pipe.
Madhur bandam doodh (mad-ur ban-dam dood) spiced milk.
Magula (Mag-you-lah) victims of the outpouring.
Makda (Mak-duh) Efea’s sister.
Malij (Mal-eej) capital of Kalil.
Mishtu (Mish-tu) Capital of Azlim.
Mhari (muh-Har-e) ceremony.
Mindossa (Min-doss-uh) country on the content of Isskasala.
Monifa (Mon-ee-fuh) slave.
Mtaa a Ndoto (Muh-taa uh Nuh-doh-toe) street of dreams.
Nadef (Nad-eff) king of Mindossa.
Nageso (Nah-guess-oh) village.
Ngadru (Nuh-gad-roo) small monkey-like mammal from Kalil.
Nikari (nik-Ahr-e) Adan’s wife.
Ojas (Oh-jaass) student at the Hall of the Incanti.
Osk (oss-k) river.
Pakle (Pak-lee) sorcerer.
Paleli (pal-Ay-lee) servant.
Pathak (Path-ak) student incanti.
Phanishwa (Fan-ish-wuh) farmer.
Qiva (kwee-vuh) Vanmalan god.
Rahid (Raa-heed) Makda’s son.
Ranish (Ran-ish) port in Vanmala.
Ramatulai (ram-Uh-tew-lie) Darai’s mother.
Revati (Rev-aa-tee) Tabia’s teacher.
Sakik (Suh-kik) wyrm.
Samika (Sam-ee-kuh) Kalili noblewoman.
Sasi Mountains (Sass-ee) mountains in Kalil.
Satsuko (Sat-soo-koh) student incanti.
Serain (sur-Ayn) country on the continent of Isskasla.
Serainin (sur-Ayn-in) person from Serain.
Sevele (sev-el- Ee) head of the sorcerer’s guild.
Shabene flowers (Sha-ben-E) flowers.
Suryn (soo-rin) Kalili nobleman.
Tabia (Tab-eye-uh) sorceress.
Tanatu (Tan-ah-too) Tabia’s friend.
Tarang (Tar-ang) senior incanti.
Vanmala (van-Maa-luh) country.
Waman (Wam-un) student incanti.
