Forgotten Mage

by D. W. Jackson

  Phena led Bren to her room. “My roommate is out and shouldn’t return until after supper, so we will have plenty of time to talk, though I hope this does not take long. Believe it or not, I do have other things to attend to,” She said, offering Bren a seat. “What do you want to know brother?” Phena asked again, with the same mocking tone she had used in the hallway.

  “I don’t know, everything I guess,” Bren answered honestly, still unsure of the situation and what it meant.

  “My mother’s name is Bahai, she is a vathari priestess. My other brother and sister, I don’t know. I met them once when we were younger during the testing, but neither of them showed enough promise, so they were absorbed back into the shadows. Our race isn’t defined by bloodlines, but by skill and power. I showed potential, so I was elevated. Much to my mother’s pleasure, as she is now honored for giving birth to me…. Anything else?”

  “What was it like growing up?” Bren asked, more than a little captivated by what she had said.

  “It is much different than here. From an early age, we begin training with weapons and at the first sign of magical skill, we are tested and taught how to wield magic. Everything we do is geared around battle. Those that show no skill, or are deformed are given jobs as farmers and other tasks that still benefit the whole. I spent most of my youth with a wooden sword in my hand, and my instructors were not kind. I remember one time, I had fell asleep during a lecture and my instructor made me pick up rocks and pile them until my hands were bleeding.”

  “Doesn’t sound too much different than my life,” Bren said smiling. “One time, I fell asleep, and my instructor made me cut the grass in the front of the palace with a dagger.”

  After that, Phena and Bren continued to swap stories of their youth, each trying to outdo the other in how bad it had been. Time passed quickly, and it wasn’t until Bren’s stomach began to growl that he decided it was time to leave.

  “It was great talking to you, I hope we can do this again,” Bren said, as he opened the door back to the hallway.

  “It was not near as bad as I thought it would be,” Phena answered in her normal cold tone, but Bren could see the hint of a smile on her face.

  Stepping out into the hall, Bren shut the door behind him and turned, running straight into Faye. “Did you make a new friend?’ She asked in a harsh tone.

  “No, I was just talking with Phena,” Bren answered cheerfully.

  “Hope it was fun,” she said before storming off, leaving Bren standing confused in the middle of the hall. Shaking his head, Bren continued to the dining hall to feed his gnawing hunger.

  CHAPTER XII

  Time passed by quickly for Bren as he continued his routine of training with Cass in the morning, and then studying with Phena and Sae-Thae in the evening. He had tried to talk to Faye a couple times in the past few days, but each time, she had left quickly. Other than his troubles with Faye, his mother had tried to pull him into her dreams. Once, when he was exhausted, he had nearly let her.

  Even with his daily training with Sae-Thae, Bren had been unable to use his magic once with any real success. The night before, Sae-Thae had hinted that they would try something different, which Bren had to admit, had him more than a little excited. So much so, that he found himself humming as he made his way to the training compound on the other end of town.

  The first few times that Bren had to make it to the compound himself in the dark, he had gotten lost, and once had been late. Since that lesson, he had learned to leave early, just in case something outside his control happened. He was sure that even if a dragon were to land in the middle of town, Jacob would still expect that he show up on time and with his uniform looking perfect.

  As he walked through the dark streets, Bren ran his hand over the small emblem of a sword on his chest. He had earned it within his first week, and though he was not the only one, he still took pride in it. Morus had also earned his as well, but it was a spear on his chest instead of a sword. The other trainee still held a great deal of contempt for Bren, and took any chance he had to get Bren in trouble, or to cause him grief. For his part, Bren had tried to ignore the other boy, but it was getting harder by the day.

  When Bren arrived, no one else was awake, so he went into the storeroom and started cleaning. The first thing he did every morning was a quick check of all the weapons and armor to see which ones were in the worst shape. Worst shape meaning, with the most numerous specks of rust. It was hard to find any that were in dire need of care.

  Bren started with a suit of plate armor that had an old backing to it, which had been soaked in sweat the day before. The stench was still acidic and burned his nose. First, Bren took out the padding and began washing it in a large tub. After hanging the padding up to dry, Bren started on the task of removing the stains that it had left behind on the metal of the armor.

  It wasn’t until he started on his second piece of armor that the other boys began to arrive. The first through the door being Morus, who gave a disgusted sneer. “Did the mages finally get tired of you and force you to sleep in here?” The boy asked hatefully.

  Bren brushed off the statement, having found that any response he might make, would just prompt Morus to continue. Setting down the armor he had just finished, Bren went to check on the padding to see if it had dried. As he grabbed the thick wool between his fingers, he found it still a little damp. As he turned around, something hit his leg tripping him, and making him fall to the ground, striking his head against the armor sitting on the ground.

  His anger flared as he got to his feet to see Morus laughing. “Should watch where you walk magic boy,” The kid said tauntingly.

  Before Bren knew what was happening, large sparks of white and blue energy filled the room. All the boys, including Morus backed toward the far wall and the few who were within range, ran from the storehouse. “You just won’t leave me alone,” Bren said between clinched teeth, each word accented with a pulsing of the energy strands.

  Bren took a small step toward Morus. The boy tried to retreat, but there was nowhere to go. Wide eyed and near crying, Morus dropped to the ground.

  Before Bren had a chance to do anything, the door to the storeroom burst open and Weapons Master Jacob ran up behind him, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck. “Enough,” Jacob said, shaking Bren hard.

  Seeming to snap out of his trance, Bren lowered his hand and the lines of magical energy disappeared. “He tried to kill us Weapons Master,” Morus said, pointing at Bren, his hand still shaking.

  “Morus…Bren, to my office now,” the large Warmaster said, pushing Bren toward the door and giving the boy on the ground a hard look. “Move it, now!”

  Bren didn’t stop to see what Jacob was yelling about, he didn’t care. All he could think about, was that he was going to get kicked out of the academy. At first, the extra strain from morning training had been hard, more than hard, and he would have given anything to be able to stay in bed for even one extra hour, but now he had come to enjoy it in part. He had made a few friends, including Cass, and he didn’t want to lose them.

  Bren got to Jacob’s office first, where one of the other instructors were waiting on him. He was a tall man with beady eyes and a thin build. Bren had not had to train with him yet as he was in charge of archery and some of the more in depth classroom work, but he had seen the man fight, and knew that even on his best day, he would be beaten soundly before his sword left it’s scabbard.

  Bren ducked his head a little as the instructor gave him a scathing look. Bren took a seat in one of the uncomfortable wooden chairs in front of the Weapons Master’s desk and waited. Morus was not far behind him and Bren could easily see the hate in the boy’s eyes as he took the seat next to him, going so far as scooting his chair as far as he dared, in an attempt to get away from Bren.

  Bren didn’t have to worry about how long it would take Jacob to enter the room, he could clearly hear the Weapons Master’s footsteps coming down the hall. Both Bren and Morus jumped
, as the heavy door to the office slammed behind them. “This has gone on too long. I had hoped that the two of you would start to work together, but I see that was just too much to dream for.”

  “Weapons master…” Morus started to say, but his words cut off as soon as Jacob looked at him.

  “Bren, you have shown great promise, but your temper is still out of control. For the next two weeks, you will come back to the academy after your training at the Tower is done. I will do everything I can think of to beat that rage out of you.”

  Bren let out a deep gulp as he nodded his head. “Yes Weapons Master.” From the corner of his eye, Bren could see the swarthy look on Morus’s face.

  “As for you Morus, when you first arrived, I had thought you would be the head of your class. You are smart and talented, but to put it frankly you use violence and intimidation instead of trying to work with others. Bren has not been the only one who has complained about your treatment of them, and I fear that nothing I can do will change that.”

  “Weapons Master, I was just joking,” Morus replied in a pleading voice.

  “That kind of joking cannot be tolerated. It may pass for leadership in other armies, but not in the Katanaga. We do not rule with fear and intimation of our fellow soldiers, we do it with respect and skill. This is your last chance, if I hear so much as a whisper about your behavior, you will be out on the streets. As it is for the next two weeks, you will have mess duty…maybe serving others will help you to understand that you are no better than they are.”

  “Yes Weapons Master,” Morus replied weakly.

  “Now, you two return to training and remember, I will not tolerate this continued behavior…from either of you.”

  “Better watch yourself,” Morus said as soon the office door shut behind them.

  Back in the training yard, Bren found the other students formed up, waiting for their return. As he drew near, everyone’s eyes were on him as if he were some sort of monstrosity. He knew that in many places, magic was still misunderstood and so were mages. Many still believed that mages got their power from being part demon, but Bren had thought that in the town that housed many magical races, as well as the Mage’s Tower, it would be different. From the looks in the eyes of his fellow students, he knew that wasn’t the case.

  The first part of the day was running, a lot of running. By the time they were finally called to a halt, nearly every boy was hunched over, spewing what little contents that were in their stomachs onto the ground, and Bren was no exception.

  Thankfully as the day progressed, everyone seemed to forget about what had happened earlier that morning. He was dreading whatever Jacob had planned for him that night, but as he walked back to the Tower that afternoon, he had hope that he would learn to control himself.

  Bren found Sae-Thae in his office as usual, with Phena right beside him, as they two seemed to pour over old texts. Bren had to clear his throat twice before either of them looked up to notice he had entered the room. “Bren, is it already that late…well nothing for it now. Phena, please have the other masters get the practice room ready while I explain what it is we are going to be doing with our young ward today.”

  Phena didn’t say a word, she just gave a simple bow and left the room, but not before giving Bren an odd look and a wink. “From the look on Phena’s face, this might not be much fun for me,” Bren said jokingly.

  “Ah, that it might not, then again, only time will tell us the answer to that question. Now, to the topic on hand. Isophena and I have been pouring over old texts trying to find any hint of how we might be able to control your power,” Sae-Thae said, waving his hand at the large stack of tombs and scrolls laid out over his desk. “We didn’t find anyone who had the same level of power, but there have been plenty of younger mages who have had stronger power then they could control. In most cases, they used an enchanted item to help control the flow of magic until they could do it on their own, but I don’t think that will work in your case.”

  “Why not?” Bren asked, picking up one of the books only to find that it was written in a language that he didn’t understand.

  “Because your magic would overload it, but I have come up with another idea. We have had enchanters working on this for the past three days and for the most part, is ready, or well enough along for you to try it. There is only one thing you should know,” Sae-Thae added, sounding uncomfortable.

  “Is it dangerous?” Bren asked, looking more than a little worried.

  “Any time you use magic it is dangerous, but that is not it. The materials required were very expensive, and we had to contact your mother in hopes of offsetting some of the costs.”

  Bren didn’t say anything, but he groaned deeply. He knew that the second his mother learned of his whereabouts, she would send a host of guards to drag him back, if not worse.

  His mind only thinking about his mother, Bren didn’t hear anything Sae-Thae was saying. He could tell that the vathari was excited, but somehow it just reach him. After a time, Bren was escorted to a small room that broke his attention away from his thought.

  The room was like any other he had seen before. There was a great wall of glass on everything, including the floor. Large pedestals stood in the corner of the room with another in the center. Each of the pedestal were covered in an assortment of gems, some small and some large. The thought of what would happen to the poor room, should avalanche ever find it, crossed Bren’s mind, making the young mage laugh.

  “Bren, I need you to go to the center Tower and place your hands on it,” Sae-Thae said loudly from the other room, his voice barely audible through the thick glass.

  Bren did as he was told. He was a bit nervous, and suddenly wished he had paid more attention to what Sae-Thae had said during their walk over. His hands felt clammy and his heart was beating fast as his fingers inched ever close to the pedestal. When his hands were fully on the cold stone, nothing happened. Bren looked up and shrugged to Sae-Thae, who had an odd looking smile on his face. Whenever the vathari showed his teeth, Bren found it more than a little distressing.

  Without warning, Bren felt something hot rush through his body. He tried to jerk his hands from the stone, but they wouldn’t budge. Then small sparks of different colors began to fill the air around him, much the way they had earlier when he had confronted Morus, but this time much stronger. Some were so large that he could hear them crackle in the air.

  Focus,” Bren heard Sae-Thae’s muffled voice yell through the glass.

  Closing his eyes, he tried to feel the magic as he had been instructed to do. For a brief moment, he could almost see the waves of magic with his eyes closed. It was everywhere, filling the room and collecting around him, then another wave of heat and pain arched through his body, dropping him to his knees.

  The pain became so strong that Bren couldn’t see anything but multicolored dots swimming in his eyes. He could heard loud pops and bangs as Sae-Thae and Phena shouted something, but he couldn’t tell what it was. Everything quickly grew dark and Bren found himself fighting a losing battle to stay awake. As the pain reached its peak, Bren felt himself fall to the floor below.

  CHAPTER XIII

  As Bren’s mind began to come aware of itself, once again he felt odd. There wasn’t pain, just the sensation that his body had been dipped in cold water.

  “Tell master Sae-Thae that Bren is awake,” Bren heard Phena’s voice say loudly, off to his side.

  After opening his eyes fully, all Bren could see was a blur. Within seconds, the young vathari mage came into view. He gave a light smile as he tried to sit up, but as soon as he started to move his body, his head started to swim and the world around him began to move. After three attempts, Bren was finally able to position himself in a sitting position using his elbows to prop himself up. “Was it a success?” he asked in a lazy tone.

  “In a way,” Phena replied, her voice low and sounding worried. “We were able to draw out your magical ability, but with no place to go, the excess satur
ated the whole room. That was why you passed out.”

  “I just thought I had used too much magical energy,” Bren said, with a small smile.

  “That is what we thought as well…at first, but master Sae-Thae believes otherwise.”

  “Bren…good, you’re awake,” the elder mage said, rushing into the room. “We didn’t know how long you were going to sleep. I was more than a bit worried there for a while.”

  “How long did I sleep?” Bren asked, sounding slightly panicked.

  “Only two hours,” Sae-Thae said with a short laugh. “Nothing to worry about, we will have to make some adjustments to the testing room before your next adventure,” Sae-Thae added, his brow furrowing in thought. “Now that I know your well, I must attend a meeting of the masters,” Sae-Thae added offhandedly before turning and leaving the room in a hurry.

  “Sae-Thae seems a little off today, Bren said, shaking his head.

  “First off, why don’t you call him Master like you’re expected to? Second, I have never seem master Sae-Thae show any fear before in my life, until you unleashed that torrent of magic today. Even through the glass, I could feel it…it was overwhelming,” Phena said, her voice more than a little shaken.

  Bren didn’t know what to say. Looking down, he gripped the thin sheets between his fingers. “When I was a child and my father disappeared, Sae-Thae used to visit often. He would spend hours in my father’s workshop, looking for any hint of what had happened. Then one day, I told him what I had seen, or at least what I could recall of the event. He had never asked even though my mother had told him I had been found in the room encased in vines. I had never told anyone else what had happened that day before…or since.” Bren said, looking down at the thin silvery scar on the back of his hand. “Since then, Sae-Thae still visited, though not as often as before, and many times he would plead with my mother to let him train me…but mother would always get mad. Then three years ago, the two got into a big fight and Sae-Thae was banished from the capital.”