White Hall (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 10)

by Donald Wigboldy

  A more controlled version of the first mage like cast of her magic created nearly four inches of fire before it settled back onto the wick as the lamp was intended to do.

  Frowning at the sight, Gregor glanced to Ylena looking distrustful of what he had seen.

  Surprising them both, Cheleya said gently, “Katya’s brother is a battle mage. Perhaps since she was around him before coming here, she has simply adapted more to his style of casting?

  “In Mar’kal, most of our wizards start with typical elemental casting like you are trying here, but there are styles we have which use the simpler style like a battle mage. Maybe if you keep working with her on both ways, she will be able to do the larger magic cues later, while the lesser magic will be aided by a mage style spell?”

  Ylena shrugged at Gregor and said, “She does have a point. It is early in her studies, being her first day and first spell after all. Maybe just getting her in touch with her magic is more important for now. The more intricate spells are a long way off and we can continue to work on the basics of casting as we go.”

  Nodding, the man stated, “Continue lighting the lamp. Ylena, teach her how to extinguish it as well. If the girl can both light and dampen fire by the end of class, I think that we can consider it a success.”

  Noticing Lyssa sigh as she dropped her eyes, Katya wondered why the girl was upset. She was the one who couldn’t do the spell correctly after all. “What’s wrong, Lyssa?”

  “At least you managed to find your magic to make the flame. Even if it isn’t the way they wanted, you did it.”

  Ylena placed a hand on the other girl’s shoulder trying to comfort her and said, “Well, your natural magic isn’t fire. Neither is Piotr's, but just remember to see the flame and keep trying. Eventually it will come.”

  Looking thoughtful, Katya said to her mentor, “My brother once told me, that magic is almost like wishing for things to happen. With enough will power, and some magic, almost anything can happen.”

  The elder wizard opened her mouth looking like she wanted to argue the point, but her eyes looked thoughtful as the idea sunk in and she shrugged. “I suppose to a point that is correct. Most spells involve setting one’s mind to achieving what they are thinking. Magic moves to respond and with your will, as your brother put it, makes the idea reality.

  “If that helps you all, then I guess set your minds to making the flame real. Wish for it to happen and see it. With the right mindset, the wick will light for you, I am certain.”

  The other two looked less convinced, but as Ylena worked to teach Katya the spell to put out fire, Piotr and Lyssa worked on creating what they wished to happen.

  Chapter 14- A Helping Hand

  The sound of a stool being dragged across the floor brought Niklaus’ eyes to the muscular cadet who had arrived at the orientation only due to a large falcon’s insistence. He was taller and looked older to Niklaus, though some boys simply were born with older looks. Krevahs even had some stubble on his cheeks making him look like he might be old enough to grow a beard, though maybe not a thick one.

  “Well, I guess you are the class brain,” the larger boy said drolly. “So tell us how you make fire, so we can stop lookin’ bad.”

  He shoved the girl, who had been sitting beside Niklaus. The girl was an attractive blonde and a little taller than the other girl. Xara was also a year older than the red haired, Uliya. Niklaus thought both were quite attractive and had become his cheerleaders after achieving the fire spell with his first try.

  “Hey, I was sitting there,” Xara complained as Krevahs slid her on her stool to the edge of the table inserting himself between the two.

  “”Yeah, you were. Now you’re not, so stop complainin’,” the elder cadet stated without even bothering to look at her.

  Niklaus frowned slightly and said, “I might tell my new friends, but why should I tell you? I actually think I like them.”

  “Ha!” Krevahs barked a laugh bringing looks from novices and mentors both.

  Falcon Eyrk looked ready to leave his place where the man tried to appear nonchalant as he sat against the edge of an unoccupied table in the back of the room. The battle mage had been keeping an eye on the unruly cadet and didn’t seem to trust him. The feeling had extended to his classmates as well.

  The older boy clapped his arm over Niklaus’ shoulders and acted like he was sharing a secret, though his voice remained loud enough for the other cadets to hear his words. “Well, we all are gonna be here for a long time together apparently, so it might be wise to start creating friendships that will last a lifetime!”

  After his brief speech that felt insincere to the others even if it was potentially true enough, he lowered his voice enough that just the immediate table of cadets could hear. “That and you need to remember that magic isn’t the only thing we’re gonna learn. If you don’t make me look good here, I can always beat the pulp out of you when we start weapons’ training.”

  The girls looked worried at the reminder. Each of them had been given a battle mage orientation by a mentor when they had arrived to get their bearings. While being shown their rooms and the important places like bathrooms and the dining hall, some of what their schedule would look like was also told to them.

  Magic was part of their training, but going through training for weapons was said to be more than half of what they would be doing until they were promoted to falcon in a few years or so. Getting on Krevahs’ wrong side appeared to come with a lot of unneeded pain in practices and sparring in the future. While Niklaus didn’t feel afraid of the larger boy, he didn’t want the others to get caught in the crossfire, if things were to escalate between them.

  “I was shown the fireball spell on the way here. What they’ve already told you is all that needs to be done. See the flame in your mind. Concentrate and call it to the wick,” the boy replied feeling the corded muscle of the older boy’s arm on his shoulders.

  “Flame,” he called the magic feeling the spell work as his mind made the fire light the wick inside of the lamp. The extinguishing of the fire had been shown to him as well after his demonstration brought his mentor to him immediately. Nearly as easy for Niklaus, the boy merely closed his hand saying, “Extinguish.”

  The word seemed too unwieldy to him, but it worked as well.

  “Now, go back to your table and lamp. You don’t smell nearly as nice as Xara, frankly, so my nose would appreciate it, if you moved.”

  The girl looked slightly hopeful, but the larger Krevahs glanced to the pretty blonde and seemed to dismiss her equally as fast.

  “Maybe I just need you to cast a flame on my lamp from here to get them off my back. You do that and maybe I’ll let you snuggle up to your new girlfriend for awhile.”

  Frowning at the boy breathing into his face as he invaded Niklaus’ personal space, the smaller cadet thought he wouldn’t mind Xara doing the same thing or Uliya either, but he could smell the scent of what the other boy had for breakfast and something had onions in it besides.

  “Even if I wanted to, do you really think that they won’t see me cheating for you? We’re beginners. They know magic. We don’t. You’ll have to figure it out for yourself, so time to move back to your table, Krevahs. Besides I think your friend is about ready to drag you back again,” he stated gesturing with his head towards the large man who had first dragged the boy into the classroom.

  Glancing to the big man, Krevahs sniffed, “He ain’t so tough. I could take him.”

  “Yeah, it looked like you had him all right,” the other male cadet retorted named Jeraan.

  Glaring at the young mage, who was slightly smaller than Piotr if Niklaus was any judge, Krevahs looked like he was willing to hit him without remorse. If the bigger boy decided to punch the smaller cadet, Niklaus wasn’t sure Jeraan could take the hit without crumpling to the floor.

  Falcon Eyrk had pushed away from the desk and casually stepped closer running his fingers along the next table in front of him as if checking for
dust. With a little frown after apparently discovering some, the falcon looked like he was giving Krevahs a moment to think things through before he stepped in.

  If Krevahs could destroy Jeraan in a fight, Falcon Eyrk looked dangerous enough to kill the cadet without much thought.

  Finally taking the hint, the older boy said, “This isn’t over. We’ll talk about this later.”

  As Krevahs made sure to drag the stool back to his place making a screeching noise with each inch, Niklaus in turn reached over to Xara’s stool and pulled the girl closer to him.

  “Yep, you definitely smell much nicer than that idiot,” the boy assured her getting Xara to blush with his attention.

  She turned her head to make sure that the bully was back in his place before smiling at Niklaus.

  With a little extra coaching from the boy, soon the other three had their lamps lit as well. By the time the class was over, the four cadets were all turning on their lamps and putting out their flames with ease.

  Niklaus noticed Krevahs had barely managed to light the wick by the time the class was dismissed. With the two girls each taking an arm, he led the way out of the class back towards the mage dorms.

  Piotr had watched his twin almost jealously as Niklaus created and extinguished his lamp’s flame with apparent ease. Noticing his looks to the mage table, Katya realized that not every spell would be such an easy fit for each wizard or mage. It was why most wizards specialized in a certain kind of magic until they mastered it. Only then did those wizards consider working on another element. There were exceptions, she was certain; but from what the girl had seen and been told that was the normal way to go.

  Healers and diplomat wizards were different, however. They needed to learn elements to defend themselves, though Katya doubted healers ever achieved much in that way. Her brother’s girlfriend was a healer and seemed against any violence.

  “What’s the matter, Piotr?” the younger girl asked of the novice.

  Making a bit of a face at the question, he admitted with a frown, “Magic has always come easy to me. I figured out some spells of my own, but it’s like I can’t quite feel this kind of magic.

  “Niklaus has it down already.”

  “He did have a hint from Magnus days ago. It isn’t like he just walked in here and lit the lamp without the other practice. You haven’t tried fire yet. I am guessing,” Katya replied trying to make him feel better.

  The boy nodded with a sigh and tried again. After three more tries, he leaned back a little looking at the ceiling as if for inspiration.

  Cheleya stood up. She was so petite that her height on and off the stool was nearly the same. Pulling her hair back, the dragoness bound it back in a tail with a red cord produced from her shorts’ pocket.

  “In Mar’kal, sometimes when wizards try to learn another element, they find that they are blocked on that element. While everyone has their personal preferences in magic, sometimes a wizard fluent in another element can help with a breakthrough of sorts.”

  Katya glanced to her mentor sitting only a table away with the two others watching Lyssa and Piotr. They remained quiet though their eyes followed Cheleya as she moved to the other side of the table to stand beside the boy. She took his hand palm to palm lacing her fingers through his in a hold that looked more intimate to Katya. It was what she had seen young lovers do while walking together.

  Cheleya’s fingers of her other hand reached up to rest on his upper arm just below the shoulder.

  “Concentrate on the wick in the lamp and imagine a flame lighting it.”

  Piotr shook his head at the suggestion. “I’ve been trying that for an hour already.”

  The hand on his arm moved to push his head away as the girl complained, “Just do it.”

  Sighing again, Piotr imagined a flame in the lamp. He noted Cheleya’s off hand didn’t return to his shoulder and instead mimicked the movements of Gregor earlier. The gestures of a Southwall wizard for making flame was followed by the feeling of magic as the girl created the fire. Brow wrinkling at the strange sensation while their hands and arms touched, Piotr wanted to ask Cheleya what had happened.

  She didn't bother to explain and made the gesture and used the words of power to quench the flame making it like it had never been save for a little black smoke which wafted above the wick and out of the glass cover. Dissipating in moments, even that trace was quickly gone.

  “Now concentrate on the magic used as I make another flame,” the little blonde ordered and his eyes fell to their interlocked hands. She shook her head forcing his chin up with her other hand before pointing to the lamp. “Don’t look at our hands. There is nothing to see unless you have trained your senses to a high level, which you have not.

  “Think of how the magic feels while I light the lamp again.”

  Gesturing and using her commands, Piotr tried to feel her magic as the light lit once more. Once it was doused, Cheleya released his hand and gestured from the boy to the lamp. “You try. Just feel for the signature of the magic that I used.”

  Piotr looked uncertain. He had felt something, but the novice wasn’t sure that he could recreate what he had been shown. Missing the feel of the girl’s hand in his helping to focus his mind, the boy swallowed as he gathered his thoughts.

  He looked at the lamp and imagined flame glowing orange and yellow. The heat of the small fire and the feel of Cheleya’s magic all combined in his head as his right hand made the gestures. Using the short words of power, Piotr pointed at the light with his left and felt a brief rush of magic going between him and the lamp.

  Flame puffed to life rising about halfway up the glass cover before resting back down on the wick.

  “I did it!” the novice stated in surprise as the other two novices clapped for him and smiled.

  Cheleya nodded and slid behind him to Lyssa. She looked at the boy as he turned to watch her gratefully with his eyes. “Now put it out and keep doing it like they asked.”

  Piotr focused on the lamp and closed his hand using the quick finger movements to recreate the spell the girl had just walked him through.

  Taking Lyssa’s hand, the pretty blonde looked at the girl with water tendencies and stated, “Water has the hardest time making fire, but we can try to do the same.”

  Gratefully taking the dragoness’ hand like Piotr had a moment before, Lyssa appeared hopeful as Cheleya began to walk her through the spell once more.

  Katya created and extinguished her lamp almost without thought now, but used a single word in common tongue as she could hear echoed from the mages' table. Her eyes would flick to the other girls curiously to see their progress with Lyssa's lamp even as she tried to concentrate on her work.

  Though it took a few more tries than for Piotr, Lyssa soon recreated the spell as well. Making her rounds through the other novices, Cheleya helped those who needed it and soon the entire class had both spells working smoothly and often. They even worked on switching hands for casting their spells, since a wizard needed to be able to use either hand at times.

  When the introductory class was over, Ylena collected Katya to take her to lunch and speak with her about her thoughts so far. Cheleya followed with nothing else in particular to do and followed the crowd in general as the other novices, cadets and mentors all headed towards the dining hall.

  “You could be a teacher,” Ylena said to the dragoness.

  Katya nodded with a smile for her friend. “Yeah, I’m not sure if Piotr and Lyssa would have figured it out this morning without you, Cheleya.”

  Smiling at the compliments, the girl replied, “In Mar’kal, our apprentices and wizards tend to try out all the elemental schools. For some, it would be nearly impossible without a mentor to show them the way. Your school seems to want them to learn more on their own, so I hope that I didn’t interfere too much by helping my way.”

  The wizard in black with silver bands shook her head. Ylena answered instead by saying, “We don’t always help as much during the introductio
n, but as they get further along we step in and share more. While you have helped accelerate a few novices by helping, it is more like opening a window than doing it for them; so Gregor and the others won’t complain.”

  Katya saw something in her answer and asked, “Why would you let them struggle the first class instead of stepping in sooner?”

  Shrugging, the brunette’s hair nearly mirrored her wizard’s robes in color while her gray eyes almost matched the bands marking her as a diplomat wizard, Katya thought. “I think that the teachers who began training this way want the novices to know that it won’t always be easy. Those who are given everything will never advance the art of magic. If the students have to work harder and push themselves, hopefully we will be creating wizards who can think outside of current conventions and help us grow further.”

  “My brother is like that,” Katya interjected. “He started with battle mage magic and has been learning how to make wizard spells into battle mage spells. He’s been able to learn by seeing how a spell is done by a wizard, so does that mean he is being shown too much or is he still creating new things by thinking outside current conventions?”

  Ylena frowned looking unsure of how to answer.

  Luckily for the wizard Cheleya jumped in adding, “He learned a new spell during a duel. While you can say that he saw the spell, so did every other wizard in the tournament and only he developed the two spells that the Gray Hall wizards were using so effectively. Perhaps your brother isn’t the best example, since he seems to be so far outside of current spell casting, especially for battle mages.”

  Letting the dragoness’ explanation stand for her as well, Ylena said, “Sometimes a wizard or mage comes along who is no longer capable of being classified thanks to his brilliance. Some of his new spells have already made it to White Hall. Battle mages in particular have been given new spells that will make the corps more powerful in combat.”