[The Elustria Chronicles 03.0] Magic Betrayed

by Caethes Faron

  “Good. You’re supposed to be resting. You already know everything you need. Practicing more will only wear you out when you need to be sharp.”

  “Like father, like daughter, apparently. I thought it was important that I feel prepared and confident. Right now I’m nothing but nerves. And there’s no reason for him to pick on Kellan. The guy was just being nice sparring with me this morning, and now Thaddeus is probably beating him to a pulp for his trouble.”

  Lilibet smiled. “I promise you, he’s doing nothing of the kind.”

  “Whether he is or not, I doubt Kellan will be able to tell the difference once he’s done.”

  “I’ll give you that. Don’t let my father get to you. He’s worried about you, that’s all. We’ve been getting reports. The Directorate is upset you escaped them. You’re their number one target right now from what we can tell. We all have a duty to keep you safe.”

  “And as a CCS agent, it’ll be my duty to protect the mages of Elustria. I can’t do that if I don’t pass the trials.”

  “If I were you, I wouldn’t be seen anywhere near here until after your trials are over. Thaddeus does not appreciate people disobeying orders. To be honest, I don’t appreciate it either.” Irritation pinched Lilibet’s face.

  “I’m sorry. Really. I didn’t mean to disrespect you. I just need to be at the top of my game.”

  “You’ve taken several books from the library. Try reading those. Rest your body and your magic and try studying. You’re ready for the trials, but there’s still a lot about our history you can learn.”

  “You’re right. Thanks.” I nodded and made my way down the hall to the rings. I meant it. Lilibet was right. There was more to do to prepare without sparring. The answers and preparation I wanted couldn’t be found in a book, but maybe they could be found with an imp.

  Five

  A tree with a low hanging branch that formed a comfortable place to sit had become a habitual meeting place for me and Millhook. It stood in a part of the gardens that was rarely trafficked, even by people who strolled down to the Citadel gate instead of using teleportation rings. Whenever Millhook was at the Citadel for Council business, we got together to share a meal or just to chat. But on the occasions when I felt the need to talk to him and he wasn’t around, I came to this tree and carved his name into the trunk.

  “Ah, and what cannot wait until the next time I’m here on business?” Millhook appeared before me a few minutes after I completed his name.

  “Let’s go to my room to talk.”

  Millhook nodded, and we walked in silence. In my room, he scanned for listening devices. I didn’t know if the CCS made a habit of eavesdropping on their agents, but I didn’t want to take any chances.

  “So what’s going on?” Millhook asked when he was satisfied that we spoke in private. “You’re more tense than an abila fly about to strike.” He sat in my only chair, and I took the bed.

  I’d have to look up what an abila fly was later. “Lilibet says I’m ready for my trials.”

  “That’s great news, isn’t it? It’s what we’ve been working toward.”

  “Yeah, I’m just not sure I’m really ready. Thaddeus has banned me from training. I’m convinced he wants me dead.”

  “Nah, Thaddeus makes everyone feel that way, but underneath all that, you know, nastiness on the outside, he’s a good enough man.”

  “I’m not so sure.” I sighed. “It baffles me that he raised someone like Lilibet. I’m not about to trust him, not with a traitor on the loose. I need to make sure I pass my trials. That’s why I summoned you. If I’m the daughter of a sorcerer, shouldn’t that mean I can do more kinds of magic?”

  Millhook stroked his chin. “I’m not sure. Pidges are a rare breed. Whenever one does pop up, they’re ostracized pretty quickly. I’ve never met one myself, until you.”

  “Take teleporting for instance. Do you think it’s possible I could do that? And what does it feel like? What is it you do? How do you end up over there from here?” My voice quickened as I got going.

  “It’s pretty basic stuff.” He shrugged. “You think about being somewhere else and then poof, there you are. Nothing to it.”

  I was afraid of that, but I refused to believe there was no benefit to my paternal sorcererhood. “It might be like that for you now, but think back to when you first learned how.”

  “You’re asking me to remember something that happened nearly three hundred years ago. I don’t know. You can either do it or you can’t. Doesn’t the library here have books on pidges?”

  “They’d be restricted. Even if they’re not, I won’t risk someone seeing me research pidges. I can’t trust anyone with this secret.” Now that I was in striking distance of being an agent, I had another concern Millhook could help with. “You said you could sense the sorcerer magic in me when we first met. If I run into a sorcerer in the field or a tracker mage, will they notice it?”

  “A sorcerer might, but you’d have to be pretty close. I noticed it only when you were within a foot or so of me. I don’t think you have to worry about mages. Even a tracker won’t be sensitive enough to it to notice.”

  At least that was one less thing to stress about.

  “Quit your worrying. Here, this might help.” Millhook snapped his fingers, and a letter appeared in midair above his hand. He handed it to me, and I felt a little thrill of excitement at seeing Alex’s familiar handwriting.

  “Thanks, Millhook.” He had taken to passing letters between us. We didn’t communicate often, but it was nice to keep in touch. “Where was he?”

  “Down somewhere south of where you’re from. What’s it called? South America, that’s it.”

  That wasn’t helpful. I guess it didn’t matter where he was. He wasn’t here, and I couldn’t get to wherever he was. He hadn’t hung around in Elustria long after he left me. Just as he had told me, he enjoyed being Earthside more where he spent virtually all of his time in his panther form.

  “Council’s got me running back and forth from Earth quite a bit. I’ll stay here tonight and scrounge around for work. If you want to read his letter and write a reply, I’d be happy to wait for it.”

  The Council and the CCS employed Millhook and other imps to go to Earth for them because mages couldn’t create portals between the worlds. We relied on the cooperation of other magical beings. Unfortunately for us, imps were always for hire, and they held no allegiance to one side or the other. Mages with the Directorate could hire imps just as easily, which made our job more difficult.

  Millhook was an exception. He stayed loyal to the Council. One night, when he’d been celebrating a high-paying job, I got him drunk enough to tell me the source of his loyalty. His sister had gotten into some trouble with the elves, and they had taken one of her children. The Council and CCS had intervened on her behalf, saving the child. Ever since then, Millhook had worked exclusively for them. The day after he told me, when he had sobered up, he was particularly gruff. I took the hint, and we hadn’t spoken of it since.

  “Thanks, Millhook, but I’ll just catch you next time you’re here.”

  “What? You should tell him about the trials. He’ll want to know.”

  I shook my head. The thought of telling him released even more nervous butterflies into my stomach. “I can’t, not until I know if I pass. By the time he got the letter, the whole thing might be done.”

  “You forget that, unlike your pidge self, I can teleport. I’m sure he’d be eager to send you a note of encouragement, and from where I’m sitting, that’s what you need right now.”

  “There’s no use dragging him into this. It’s something I have to do on my own.”

  “You know, I can just tell him myself. Having you write it down is a courtesy that lets you put your spin on things.”

  If I told Alex about the trials, he’d worry about me. He might even try to get Millhook to bring him back. That wouldn’t do anyone any good. He couldn’t help me, and I didn’t even want him to try. I’d b
rought enough chaos into his life already. He was enjoying himself, basking in the solitude of being a panther. I had no right to intrude on that. We may have felt something for each other at one time, but we both agreed not to pursue it. Our feelings were nothing but awkward and inconvenient and likely the result of my talisman which he’d worn as he tracked me down to deliver it.

  Then there was the other possibility, the one I didn’t want to think about. Alex might not even care that I was facing the trials. That would be unbearable, and it would make it almost impossible for me to focus on the task at hand.

  “You won’t do that, Millhook. The last thing I need is to worry that you’re off tattling on me. I need to relax. You stirring up things with Alex is not conducive to relaxing. So if you’ll leave me in peace, I’ll read my letter, and maybe that will make me feel better about this entire thing.”

  Millhook didn’t buy it. “You need to trust more. You won’t talk to anyone here, and now you won’t even write Furball.”

  “No, I need to stop dragging innocent people into my problems.” I’d already put Alex, Millhook, and my best friend, Nicole, in danger in the past. I couldn’t confide in anyone at the CCS. Being a pidge was just one of many secrets I guarded. If I trusted the wrong person with the knowledge that there was a mole in the Citadel or that my mother had successfully trapped the magic of sorcerers into talismans, the results would be catastrophic. At the very least, I’d be placing an innocent person in danger.

  “All right then, if that’s how you want it, I’ll be on my way. Like I told you, I plan on sticking around the Citadel. If you need me, just use an orb to get a hold of me.”

  “Will do.”

  Millhook walked to the door, but just before he opened it, I stopped him. “And, Millhook?”

  He turned back to look at me.

  “If something happens to me at the trials, I want you to tell Calista that I think it was Thaddeus.”

  Millhook compressed his lips into a tight line, gave a curt nod, and walked out the door.

  I hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but I wasn’t willing to take any chances. I stashed the letter from Alex underneath my mattress. I didn’t have time for it now, and I wouldn’t be able to focus on the words anyway. I took a deep breath, cleared my mind, and with all my might I pictured myself on the other side of the room. Millhook had said it was easy. From where I still sat on the bed, I had to disagree.

  Six

  A presence in my room woke me, but not soon enough for me to do anything other than yelp before I was knocked unconscious.

  The next time I woke, it was to a splitting headache. Darkness surrounded me, but I couldn’t tell if I was blindfolded, the lights were off, or there was a magical explanation.

  I took stock of my situation. My body was upright in a spread-eagle position. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t move. Another strange thing occurred to me: I couldn’t feel anything either. This didn’t make any sense. It was as if I was suspended in air.

  Shit.

  I actually was suspended in air. The first priority was getting my eyesight back. Considering I was floating in air, it seemed likely that my eyesight had been taken by magical means. Six months of training kicked in and I quelled my panic. Eyesight. This was easy. All I had to do was figure out the source of my blindness. There were two main options. Either someone had cast a spell to block my vision or I had ingested magical dust that would make my brain perceive everything as darkness. The second option seemed unlikely, so I set about silently casting a counter-spell.

  My magic reached out and felt around my eyes until I could feel the opposing spell. Mentally reciting repel darkness, I pushed against the spell with all my might. It gave way easily, and I withdrew my magic. Dozens more obstacles could stand between me and freedom. It wouldn’t do to exhaust myself early.

  The room around me was dim, the only light coming from cracks around the door. There wasn’t much space, maybe only a foot of clearance in each direction. A bubble held me aloft. From the tip of both my index fingers I shot tiny, sharp slivers of ice, no bigger than a needle. The key to escaping this kind of force field was to think small. Only something with a miniscule surface area could penetrate. My first attempt wasn’t small enough. On my third try, the bubble gave way, and I fell to the floor with a thud. A smarter mage would’ve thought to cushion the fall, but I’d be sporting bruises if I got out of here alive.

  No sound filtered in through the door, but that didn’t mean I was alone. My magic explored the area. The atmosphere was too quiet, too still. A few feet down the hallway, my magic hit upon a shield. Bingo. In the last few minutes, somehow my instincts had taken over and my magic worked with me in concert before I even consciously commanded it.

  “—so it doesn’t give us much time.”

  “We don’t need much time, not with the device.”

  What device? Time for what? If only I had been quicker. When would I learn?

  “And you’re sure it will work?”

  “Positive. Our intelligence shows that the entrance to the CCS isn’t guarded by anyone. They go for a nonchalant look. It’s their arrogance showing. They don’t think anyone would make it through the Citadel’s security to get close enough. The agent we tagged went into the greenhouse. We’re quite certain that once inside the greenhouse, the door to the actual CCS headquarters is enchanted to only let certain magical signatures through.”

  “But if that device doesn’t perfectly mimic her signature, we’re going into the dragon’s den here.”

  “It’s worth the chance. We wouldn’t try it unless we were sure it’s possible. We won’t waste this opportunity. But make no mistake, this could be a one-way mission. Even if you get through the entrance, you may still be discovered. You could be seen—”

  The other person’s laughter interrupted her. “Yeah, that’s funny. Like those idiots will see me if I don’t want them to. My only concern was the device. If you’re sure, then I have no objections.”

  How could this be happening? If I didn’t stop them, then I would quite literally have led the enemy to our gates.

  Part of me wanted to burst through the door and run at them like a linebacker. Panicking wouldn’t do anything. My talisman sat on my chest, as ready for action as I was, but what action to take? My objective was no longer to simply escape; I had to get whatever device they were talking about. It sounded like one of them had it on them. Two Directorate mages versus a CCS agent-in-training. The odds weren’t great, but I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t at least try.

  With my hands on the rough wooden door, my magic explored the locking mechanism. Picking locks had come easily to me in training, and I popped this one open without much effort. Good, because I would need all my magical energy for the fight ahead.

  I opened the door a crack. Orbs lit the hallway. Excellent. With a gush of wind from my hand, they crashed to the ground, the little balls popping like bubbles and plunging the hallway into darkness. The startled cries of the two mages gave me a bit of satisfaction. The fact that I could hear them meant I’d startled them out of maintaining the shield.

  With two bolts of lightning from my hands, I pushed both mages to the floor. They groaned, but it wouldn’t take them long to retaliate. I didn’t know how I’d get the device. Surprise was the only thing going for me. Now that I’d lost that advantage, I didn’t think I’d last long enough to find the device in the dark.

  If the device mimicked the magical signature of my talisman, then it should, in theory, respond to me. It was a long shot but also the best option I had. Focusing, I reached out my hand and summoned it as I had my talisman back in the cabin with the mage assassin. Something small and hard hit my palm, and I closed my fingers around it. This had to be it. Not knowing where I was going, but certain that anywhere was better than here, I turned and ran in the opposite direction of the mages.

  The door at the end of the hallway opened without the need to pick a lock, and I found myself
in the middle of a dark forest. Trees towered above me in the moonlight, taller than any sequoias on Earth. I had learned basic geography and how to navigate using the seven moons and key stars, but that would have to wait until I was safe. I put the device in my pocket and dashed to my left where the trees were thicker, hoping to make it more difficult for someone to follow me.

  Using a speed enhancement charm, I set off into the woods. After less than fifty feet, vines on the forest floor wrapped themselves around my feet and ankles. Searing pain shot through my right arm as something stabbed it. Shards of ice as sharp as glass fell from the sky. All it would take was one to hit me in just the right spot and I’d be dead. The only nice thing was that they sometimes severed the vines that continued to pull at my ankles. With only one arm in working order, I tried to both free myself from all the vines and avoid a lethal stabbing. Unless I could shrink, there was no way to avoid being cut by the ice.

  Little darts whizzed past my head and released gas into the air. I hit the ground, not wanting to find out what the yellow clouds of gas did. Darts continued to come out of the tree trunks around me. Vines overtook my arms and legs, and I resorted to fire to burn off the ones the ice didn’t cut. It was too much. Steam from a mixture of ice and fire burned my skin. Too late I remembered to put up a shield. It prevented new burns but couldn’t help the damage that had already been done.

  A shard of ice shot into my lower back. Pain enveloped my entire body. I couldn’t control the yell that escaped my lips, too lost in the pain to care if my captors heard me. If I hadn’t gotten my shield up when I did to protect against the steam, that shard of ice would’ve cut clean through me.

  It would only be a matter of time before the mages I had fought found me. With all the strength I had, I crawled forward, not expecting to get away but knowing I had to try.