Shadow of a Slave (The Blood Mage Chronicles Book 1)

by Saffron Bryant

Ash looked back from the window. “Ash. From… uh… Ironmeadow.”

  “Ash. That’s a real name. You won’t believe some of the things they’re called down here. There’s a girl in my class called Raindrop!”

  Ash nodded. “I can’t stay. I’ve got to find a way to get all this.” He waved Archibald’s list in the air. “Which may take some creativity seeing as that delightful woman downstairs took all my money.”

  Loren grinned. “Don’t worry too much about Professor Hardy. She pretends to be angry all the time but she’s all right.” A line creased his forehead. “But hang on, why are you only getting supplies now?”

  “Late enrollment.”

  “They let you in?” Loren’s eyebrows rose. “How’d you manage that?”

  Ash shrugged.

  “Not much of a talker, are you? Don’t worry, neither am I usually but I’ve had no one except Southerners to talk to since I got here, and a couple of decent Northerners I managed to hunt down.”

  Ash nodded and stepped toward the door, holding up his list again as way of excuse.

  “Slow down. What are you taking? Maybe I can help.”

  Ash’s fingers clenched around the list. He wasn’t in the mood for making friends, but then he wasn’t in the mood for trying to steal school supplies in a city full of wizards either.

  “History and basic magic.”

  “You’re in luck then! I’m in both of them. You can just share my textbooks, and I’m sure I’ve got spare parchment and quills if you want.”

  Ash studied Loren’s face, eyes narrowed and body tense. His knife lay hidden at his waist, within easy reach if things went badly. “Why are you being so nice?”

  “It’s just a few pages. It’s not like I’m giving you my arm.”

  Ash’s expression didn’t change. In the back of his mind he measured the distance between him and the door. He just had to get there before—

  “Wow, where have you been?” Loren asked. “I’m not sure I want to know if an offer of parchment makes you this worried. This other stuff, like a heating bowl and channeling rune, are optional. They have a bunch that people can borrow. Plus Professor Thimble said we probably won’t be using them until next semester anyway.”

  Ash studied Loren but there was no sign of danger. He forced his shoulders to relax. It had been a long time since he found someone who was nice just for the sake of it, not since Sim. He took a deep breath and softened his expression; although, inside he remained taut and ready to spring.

  “There, you’re all sorted.”

  “Thank you.”

  Loren grinned. “I’m just glad you arrived. Gives me an excuse not to study.”

  Ash glanced down at the floor where books and pages spread in a disordered array around Loren’s bed. His gaze caught on a thick book covered in symbols.

  “That’s the book for basic magic,” Loren said, watching him.

  Ash bent and picked it up; a tingle ran through his fingers. In his hand could be the secret to saving Rae.

  “In our first class Professor Thimble said that channeling is how the Institute gets hot water but we haven’t covered anything like that, we’re still in the first chapter,” Loren said. “I’ll be honest. I don’t think I’ll ever get much past that. But I’ve got to stay in the class because… well, just because.”

  Ash caught the pause and looked up.

  Loren cleared his throat and hurried on. “Anyway, metal work is my favorite class. I never knew there was so much to it!”

  Ash turned his attention back to the book of magic and Loren fell silent.

  “Do you have any notes for this class?” Ash said.

  Loren sifted through the loose sheets of paper on the floor. “It’s here somewhere.”

  Loren crawled under his bed. “Ah ha!” He came back with several pages scrunched in his hand and cobwebs in his hair. “Here they are.”

  “Thanks.” Ash took the pages with a nod and carried them back to his own bed.

  “I guess you don’t want to go for a welcome drink then?” Loren said.

  Ash glanced up. “I promised Professor Archibald I’d catch up. If I don’t, they’ll cancel my enrollment.”

  Loren winced. “That’s tough. In that case, for history you just have to know the summary pages from the first two chapters of this.” He kicked a thick tomb across the floor toward Ash. Embossed letters across the front read A History of the Known Kingdoms. “If you want my advice, just read the summaries. That book is the most boring thing I’ve ever read.”

  “Okay.”

  “And for basic magic, you definitely have to know the three rules of magic. Professor Thimble expected us to know those before we even entered the classroom!”

  Ash frowned and glanced down at Loren’s notes. Huge letters scrawled across the first page, each word underlined.

  “Energy cannot be created or destroyed,” Loren said, without looking at the page. “That’s the most important one because the other two are just common sense if you ask me.”

  Ash read over the words, lodging them in his mind. “What does it mean?” he said.

  Loren ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sure Professor Thimble could explain it better than I can, but it basically means that if you use magic for something, the energy for it has to come from somewhere. So if you try to heat something but the only source of energy you have is your own body, then that’s where it will come from. And if you use too much of your own energy…”

  “You die,” Ash said.

  Loren nodded. “She made that very clear. But she also pointed out that the other side is just as dangerous.”

  “How?”

  “It’s like this—” Loren slumped onto his bed and cobwebs drifted from his hair. “If you tried to channel all the energy from a house fire, but you didn’t put it anywhere, then your body would take it in.”

  Ash’s eyes glazed at the thought of controlling so much power.

  “Your body can only handle so much before it starts overheating. According to Professor Thimble, you basically burn from the inside out and all your innards turn to jelly. She said it’s happened to a couple of students.”

  “Got it,” Ash said. “Energy can’t be created or destroyed.”

  “The second rule,” Loren said, again without looking at his notes. “Don’t take energy from another living thing.”

  “Like using someone else’s energy?”

  Loren nodded. “Professor Thimble said it’s dark magic. You could kill someone or badly injure them. She said anyone who’s caught doing it will be killed.”

  “But surely animals…”

  Loren shook his head once, sharply. “No. She made it very clear. No living things.”

  Ash shrugged and hid his face by reading the next rule. If it was a choice between saving Rae and using up the energy of some animal… he knew which one he’d choose.

  “Finally,” Loren said. “Don’t use magic to reanimate the dead.”

  Ash’s stomach lurched. The possibility of magic being able to revive the dead hadn’t even occurred to him. But if it could… and the worst happened to Rae. A faint flicker of hope kindled in his chest.

  “Make sure you’ve got them,” Loren said. “I can guarantee Thimble will test you on them tomorrow and if you haven’t memorized them…”

  “I’ve got them,” Ash said. “What else do I need to know?”

  “The first chapter. We’re working on the exercise at the end.”

  “Thanks,” Ash said. “Maybe we’ll get that drink tomorrow.”

  Loren’s face lightened and he snatched another book from the floor. “It’s a deal. We study today, drink tomorrow.”

  39

  “Come on!” Loren said. He pushed open a heavy door of dark wood.

  Ash followed him into the classroom. Wooden benches made a semicircle around a smooth table where a small fire flickered orange. Ash counted twenty other students, and since many of the seats were already taken, he and Loren slipped into a
bench at the back.

  Ash shifted on the hard, wooden bench and laid out the parchment and pen Loren had given him. Many students turned to look at him, frowning. He hunched his shoulders and pretended to study Loren’s textbook.

  “Ignore them,” Loren said. “Most of them are idiots. Him especially.” Loren nodded to a broad-shouldered boy sitting near the front. Many students seemed to be leaning toward him, hanging onto his every word.

  “Who is he?”

  “Braydon. He thinks he’s the greatest magician and far too talented for this class.” Loren let out a long sigh. “The trouble is he’s usually right.”

  A door at the front of the room swung open, and a woman with frizzy, red hair entered carrying a box of small stones.

  At Ash’s side, Loren slumped. “Not heating the stones again. I swear I’ll never be able to do it.”

  Ash’s heart lurched and he reached into his pocket where Rae’s stone gave off a gentle warmth. He squeezed it once.

  Professor Thimble placed the box next to the fire and put her hands on her hips. “All right class, you know the drill. Make a line.”

  The students jumped to obey, forming a ragged queue from the middle of the room up to the back benches where Loren slumped into line. Ash took a place behind him.

  “Professor,” Braydon said. He hadn’t moved from his chair. “If we can already do it, do we have to stand in line?”

  Professor Thimble rolled her eyes. “Haven’t you ever heard that practice makes perfect, Braydon?”

  “I think heating a stone can only get so perfect. Maybe if we were doing something more impressive…”

  “Fine,” Thimble said. “If you don’t want to do it, you can read chapter two. Maybe that will be impressive enough for you.”

  Braydon smiled, although it didn’t reach his eyes, and opened his textbook.

  Thimble shook her head as she looked away and gestured for the first student in line. The thin girl strode forward and stood in front of the fire, the light danced in her eyes.

  “Go ahead, Raindrop.”

  Loren elbowed Ash in the ribs and rolled his eyes. Ash nodded and allowed the corner of his mouth to flicker but most of his attention stayed on the fire.

  The girl took a stone from the box and held it in her right hand. She lifted her left hand, held it a few centimeters from the flames, and closed her eyes. A moment later she opened them and held the stone out to Professor Thimble.

  Thimble brushed her fingers across the stone and nodded. “Good.”

  Raindrop put her stone beside the box and turned, slipping back into her seat.

  The next person in line repeated the process.

  Loren groaned. “I bet everyone can do it except me.”

  But as the line shrunk, the students became less confident. Around halfway through, the students had to try two or three times to heat the stone. The number of people in front of Ash shrank. He had no idea what to expect. He’d tried to heat a stone before… but that was before he’d had any idea what he was doing. The textbook had given some information, but it was one thing to read about magic and another thing to do it.

  A thin boy with black hair, three ahead of Loren in the line, trembled as he approached the table. His hands shook so much that he fumbled and dropped his stone to the floor.

  Braydon snorted.

  “Poor Henderson,” Loren whispered. “He told me he can do it when he’s by himself. But when there are so many people watching he just gets too nervous.”

  Ash wiped sweaty hands on his pants; he could relate to how Henderson felt.

  Henderson closed his eyes and reached his left hand toward the flames. He frowned and his face turned red.

  After five minutes, Thimble sighed and laid a hand on his shoulder. “That will do, Henderson.”

  His shoulders slumped and he put his stone with the rest, shuffling back to his seat.

  “Professor,” Braydon said. “Don’t you think there should be a basic basic magic class? So people like Henderson don’t feel so bad?”

  “That’s enough, Braydon,” Thimble said. “Just because you can heat a stone doesn’t mean I won’t throw you out for bad behavior.”

  Braydon scowled but said nothing more.

  The girl behind Henderson also didn’t heat the stone but the next in line, a tall boy, managed it just as Thimble was about to interrupt.

  His eyes flew open and a sudden grin split his face. “I did it! I actually did it!”

  He thrust the stone toward Thimble who brushed her hand over it and nodded. “Good work, Oliver.”

  Oliver danced back to his seat, his face glowing.

  Loren shuffled toward the fire, his shoulders hunched.

  Ash tried to wish him the best but most of his focus was on keeping calm for his own turn.

  “Professor,” Loren whispered, quiet enough that only Professor Thimble and Ash could hear. “Do I have to do this? I don’t think I can.”

  “Heat transference is the simplest form of channeling. If you can’t master this then you definitely won’t master any of the others.”

  “But—”

  Thimble held up her hand. “I hope you don’t expect special treatment because—”

  Loren jerked his head up and held up his hands. “No! No.”

  “Good,” Thimble said. “Then get to it. You never know, this might be the day.”

  Loren sighed and took a stone from the box. He clutched it so tight his knuckles turned white, and reached for the fire. He closed his eyes.

  Ash tensed, hoping that Loren made it.

  One minute passed, and then another with nothing happening.

  After five minutes, Thimble laid a hand on Loren’s shoulder. “Sorry, Loren, not today.”

  Loren’s shoulders slumped even farther. “I thought I felt a bit of warmth.”

  Thimble took the stone from him and shook her head. “Sorry.”

  He nodded and slinked back toward their seats, giving Ash a forlorn expression as he went past.

  Ash did his best to look confident as he walked toward Thimble. He reached for a stone.

  “Ah, our new student,” Professor Thimble said. “I don’t know what you did to get past Professor Archibald, but let me tell you it’s very rare for someone to get into this class this late.”

  Ash let his hand drop and met Thimble’s piercing gaze.

  “However, he assured me that you’d catch up.”

  Ash nodded.

  “What are the three laws of magic?”

  Ash repeated them from memory, silently thanking Loren for his notes because he wouldn’t have bothered to learn the laws otherwise.

  “And what exactly are we doing here today?”

  “We’re channeling a small portion of the fire’s heat into the stone.”

  “And what would happen if you tried to channel all of the fire?”

  Ash turned and studied the small fire. A bed of coals the size of a large dinner plate glowed red in the center. “With that much heat…” He tilted his head to the side. “If I managed to put it all into the stone then the stone might crack and I’d have a blistered palm. If I didn’t channel it… severe burns across both my arms and chest, and probably internal injuries.”

  A smile flickered at the corners of Thimble’s mouth. “I’m glad Archibald wasn’t exaggerating. But let me assure you, memorizing a book is much easier than actually channeling.”

  Ash nodded and reached for a stone. It was cool in his grip, but sturdy. He reached his other hand toward the fire, feeling the play of heat across his fingers. The textbook had said it was best to imagine energy as a physical thing that he could move, so he pictured red tendrils of heat wrapping around his hand. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

  He imagined the red tendrils moving up his arm and across his chest.

  He gasped as something warm brushed across his throat, his eyes flew open. His concentration shattered and the sensation disappeared.

  Thimble studied him wi
th narrow eyes. “It can be disconcerting at first, but you must maintain concentration.”

  Ash nodded and closed his eyes, determined to keep focused. Again he saw the red tendrils on his left hand and imagined them swirling up his arm. A moment later he felt them, like a breath of hot air on his skin. He squeezed his eyes tighter and pushed the tendrils to move across his chest, into his other arm.

  They followed his direction, snaking down his right arm and into his hand where warmth flowered against his palm. Power, unrealized, surged inside him and he kept pushing, channeling more heat into the stone until it burned his palm.

  It felt like only seconds later that Thimble’s hand landed on his shoulder. “Don’t be disappointed. I would have been surprised if you’d done it your first go.”

  Ash’s eyes flew open and he grinned. “I did do it.”

  Thimble frowned and reached for the stone. Ash let it drop into her waiting hand. She gasped and let it fall. It clattered on the stone floor. “Ow!” Blisters dotted her palm.

  Ash frowned and looked down at his own hand. It glowed red and blisters covered most of his palm and fingers so that his hand looked covered in fungus.

  Thimble frowned. “You channeled too much.”

  Ash flexed his hand; pain swelled up from his palm and throbbed in time with his heart beat. “I didn’t realize.”

  “It’s not uncommon. But it should be a warning to all of you,” Thimble said, looking out at the students.

  They muttered amongst themselves and many stared at Ash with mixtures of awe and distrust. Loren’s mouth hung open.

  “I keep something on hand for these occasions,” Thimble said. She rummaged in her pockets with her good hand, coming out with a small vial. She removed the lid and held it out to Ash.

  He scooped some of the white paste out and smeared it on his injured hand. A cold flush took away the pain and some of the smaller blisters faded.

  “Fire-vine paste,” he said, without thinking.

  Thimble raised an eyebrow. “Archibald really was telling the truth.”

  Ash’s mouth snapped shut and he ducked his head. “Thanks for the cream.”

  Thimble nodded, rubbing some of the paste onto her own injured hand. When Ash returned to his seat, she addressed the class. “Good work today, everyone. Most of you have achieved basic heat transfer and so next class we will be moving on to light. I expect you all to have read chapter two and have a good understanding of the equations for energy transfer. Those of you who haven’t yet mastered heat transfer, I suggest you find a private tutor, or perhaps consider a different class. Don’t feel bad, channeling isn’t for everyone and there are still many other worthy classes.”