Wizard's Education

by James Eggebeen

  Lorit just stared at the master. He wondered why he was waving his hand around like that. He must have a good reason, so Lorit just relaxed and waited for the master to explain himself. The Master looked over at Ulera and nodded as Lorit ate his fruit, patiently waiting for the master to continue.

  "Consider this," the master began again. His voice had a singsong quality to it that Lorit found quite pleasant. He tried to listen, but all he could focus on was how relaxing the voice was and how tired his eyes were.

  "Consider this. You are looking for the wizard Zhimosom so that you can learn from him in Amedon. You wish to learn the ways of magic and obtain power.

  "You are eager to learn magic and increase your powers. You don't need to travel to Amedon to do that. You can do that right here. You can learn magic from us. You can reach your goal of learning the ways of the wizards right here.

  "You think you are paired with this woman, Chihon," he explained. "But she is holding you back."

  Lorit considered it. Was Chihon holding him back? He didn't think so, but she had prevented him from taking the magic of the priest back in Veldwaite when they fought in the park and then again in the temple. She was always trying to get him to restrain himself, not use his full power, and keep it hidden.

  "That's it. Consider that you could reach your potential a lot sooner if you worked with us, here at the Academy. We are all students here. We all help one another. You don't need to go to Amedon to become a wizard. You are already a powerful wizard. You can stay right here and learn with us."

  The Master went on, explaining to Lorit why he should remain in Midian and study at the Academy. Chihon was holding him back. Let her go ahead to Amedon and learn from the wizards there. They were stingy with their knowledge. Here at the Academy, he would be free to learn and advance as quickly as he wanted.

  He told Lorit that there was no wizard Zhimosom, there was no sorceress, and there was no Chihon. He had only imagined them in a dream. Here at the Academy was where he was meant to be. Here at the Academy was where he could grow and flourish. Here at the Academy. Here at the Academy.

  Suddenly, there was a wrenching inside him. Lorit felt the spell that the master invoked trying to reach into his mind and extract his memories. He had a hold on Lorit's memory of Chihon and was trying to rip it from his head.

  He fought as it dug at the memories of Chihon as he had first met her. The spark of magic he felt when their hands touched. The way they shared their power. How she had looked in Mistwind when they had dressed her for the funeral. How she had loaned him her power to fight the priests. How she had stopped him from making the biggest mistake of his life when he was about to take the magic from the High Priest.

  He hung on to the memories as they threatened to slip away. Was this what it had been like for her when she had been abducted? The idea of losing her overwhelmed him with grief. He cried out her name, calling to her with his magic.

  Lorit felt Chihon's presence and power push through their connection as he called to her. She was in the Academy of Science, but she responded immediately to him and loaned him her power to help break the spell.

  He grasped at it and combined it with his own, as they had learned to do. It was enough to stop the ebb of memories and reverse the damage. Lorit could feel the images settling back to where they had been, but now they were somehow more vivid. He could see more clearly. Without Chihon, he was just another young man with a long journey ahead. He would be no more than these students who walked the halls of the Academy. He would be nothing and nobody.

  He tried not to let his awakening show as the master droned on. It no longer sounded sensible, but almost laughable. Who had put him up to this? Why was he trying to keep them apart and away from Amedon?

  Lorit fashioned a web similar to the one that had been used to capture him. He tied in some of the spells that had been used on Zhimosom. He recalled one that was of particular use on a wizard. One to dampen his magic and bind it away from his use.

  Lorit wished he had his staff with him. That would have made the task he contemplated a little easier, but he persevered.

  When Lorit had the spell ready, he cast it at the master. The master wizard stopped in mid-utterance. He reached up to his throat and grabbed it in distress. Ulera stepped back from the table, knocking over a stand with a large globe on it.

  Lorit kept his focus on the master, not wanting to let up until the spell had set. Once it was complete, he looked around to see a path of destruction where Ulera had rushed out, careless of knocking over everything in his way.

  "Tell me. Do you know where the wizard Zhimosom is or not?" Lorit looked with his sense into the master Wizard to see if he was telling the truth. He released the spell that had kept him silent, ready to choke him off again if he tried to cast another spell.

  "He was taken by the wizard who opposes you," the master said.

  "And who is that wizard?" Lorit pushed again. He was almost at the limits of what his magic could do. His reserves were dangerously low, but he needed to know.

  "His...name...is..." the master choked on his words. He struggled to get them out but all that came out of his mouth was gray foam. His eyes flew wide open, and he doubled over. Lorit could feel his power dissipate as he died.

  Chihon awoke that morning to find that Lorit had already left, so she decided to break her fast alone. Before she reached the dining room, Yaleu arrived to escort her to the Academy of Science. Since Lorit had not returned, Chihon decided to go with Yaleu. She could find Lorit after her visit.

  "Men do what they will most times," Yaleu said. "We will seek the Master of Science. She is a woman. Who needs men?"

  They made their way to the Academy of Science building. It was a large marble hall adorned with brass fittings on every door post and window. The brass shone brightly in the morning sun, casting reflections everywhere.

  "We're here to see the master," Yaleu informed the young man sitting at a large brass desk just inside the main entrance.

  "Yes Ma'am, right away," he said and scurried away. He returned soon and sat. He looked up at Yaleu. "The Master will be here shortly. She is in the middle of a sensitive experiment that cannot be interrupted."

  He pointed to a comfortable bench along the wall. "You may wait there if you wish. Can I get you some water or perhaps a cup of tea while you wait?"

  "No, thank you." Chihon took a seat on the bench.

  "The Masters of the Academies wait for no one, not even the ruling council. Everyone waits for them," Yaleu said.

  After a while, a woman burst through the doors. Her auburn hair was long and kinky, sticking out from beneath a brown leather helmet that she wore strapped beneath her chin. A pair of rose-colored goggles rode atop her forehead, one lens slipping down, which she pushed up, only to have it fall down again.

  She wore a device that covered one ear. It appeared to be the bottom of a brass mug with a stick protruding out of the top. It was attached to her head by means of a brass band that ran from the cup, across the leather helmet, and down to her free ear.

  "Welcome, welcome," she said breathlessly. "Yaleu has informed me that you seek that which is hidden. We are experts in coaxing the secret knowledge out of the universe. We will certainly be able to provide you the enlightenment you seek."

  Without waiting for an answer, she turned and headed back the way she had come. Chihon was deciding whether to follow her or wait for an invitation when she stopped and looked back.

  "Coming?" the master said. Once again, she turned without waiting for an answer.

  "We'd better hurry," Yaleu said.

  They followed the master down a long hallway and into her laboratory. Benches lined the walls and stood in rough lines throughout the room. On one table, glass bulbs were bubbling over flames, their contents emitting steam which curled through more glass tubes and into waiting beakers. The fluids so created ranged in color from a bright green to muted violet.

  Another bench held machines of unimag
inable function. On one bench, two large wheels spun in opposition to one another. Long brass arms extended from each side and ended in silver balls. The Master walked over to the machine and placed her hand near the silver balls. Her hair frizzed and stood out from beneath the leather helmet, only to fall back into its disorderly place once she removed her hand.

  "Here, try it." She reached for Chihon's hand and pulled it near the silver balls. A strange feeling overtook her as she neared the device. She could feel it tugging at her hair and tingling in her fingers as she held them close.

  Yaleu laughed. She grabbed a silvered tool that could be used as a mirror and held it up so Chihon could see her hair flare out of her head like the master's had.

  "Will this help us in our search?" Chihon asked.

  "Oh, no. This won't help. It is fun, though, isn't it?"

  She led Chihon over to another bench. On it, there was a long box that started out about a span square. It tapered down to about a hand's width on each side. The larger end was connected to a device that had more spinning wheels.

  Chihon saw flashes of light coming from the apparatus that blinked and shifted color at random. She probed it for any signs of danger but found none.

  "Here it is. This is the one I want you to try. This will help you." The Master patted the device almost lovingly.

  The Master dragged a chair in front of the box. "Sit here and put your head against this." She indicated an oval made of dark black wood that had leather padding on it. It had a groove in it to allow her to place her face in it and achieve a tight seal.

  Chihon settled into the chair and leaned into the machine. At first, it was dark, but her eyes soon adjusted to the dim light revealing a faint glow coming from the interior of the box.

  "Ready?" the master asked.

  "I guess so. I don't see anything."

  "It takes a moment to warm up. Be patient. It also helps if you slow your breathing," the master said.

  "Just relax, let your cares fade away, watch the lights, listen to the sound of my voice," she continued. A door opened in the device, flooding Chihon's vision with a pattern of lights that slowly changed from one color to the next as it shifted.

  "That's it, just relax and listen to the sound of my voice—you're so relaxed—you just want to look at the pretty colors. They're so relaxing. You can feel the cares of the day melt away. You're so relaxed, it's as if you're floating. Floating on the water, the gentle waves caress you and wash away all your cares. You're so relaxed. All the cares of the world are gone, released from your body, and washed away by the gently rolling waves."

  Chihon did feel relaxed. She could hear the sound of the waves rolling in. Soon the voice of the master started to fade into the background. Chihon watched the slowly changing lights and listened to the sound of the surf. It was very soothing. She felt herself fading away, the cares of the journey slipping away. There was just the surf, and somewhere off in the distance someone was speaking softly.

  She was vaguely aware that the person speaking in the distance was asking her questions and she was answering, but she was so relaxed that the effort to pay attention was just too much, so she let it go.

  Softly, the voice told her that she didn't want to go to Amedon. That there was no sorceress, that the wizards were just a dream and that she wanted to stay here. Right where she was. She would be a student of the sciences and eventually become a Master herself. She wondered why the voice was saying such things, but it was far off, and the surf was so relaxing that it was too much bother to pay attention. She let the thought go as she relaxed even further.

  A smell intruded into the surf. Chihon wondered what it was that disturbed her relaxation. It smelled like something burning, like a cross between wax and rope. It grew stronger and stronger, pulling her back from the seashore. She became more aware that the master was whispering in her ear. She was telling Chihon that she wanted to stay there and abandon her quest.

  Suddenly the beautiful colors turned to a bright white light shining directly into Chihon's eyes. The sound of the waves turned into a screeching, and her tranquility burst. Chihon found herself seated at the apparatus that was now emitting a thin thread of black smoke and screeching like an injured animal.

  She pulled back from the device and looked at the master. "What happened?"

  The Master and Yaleu stood there, looking like they'd just been caught sneaking cookies from their mother's kitchen.

  "It appears that the apparatus has malfunctioned. I don't think we will be able to help you locate your missing wizard after all," the master explained. "For this, I am truly sorry. Some days Science is more reliable than others. This must be one of the days when it is less so."

  The Master rushed her out of the room and back to the entryway. "I apologize for the failure of my machine. I had so wished to be able to help you, but I must determine what went wrong. Perhaps I can discover the source of the failure and we can try again...Possibly tomorrow...Definitely tomorrow." She was already looking back toward the doorway.

  Chihon turned to Yaleu. "That was strange. I thought I heard her talking to me, but it was far off in the distance."

  "Many strange things happen with her machines, I am told. I wouldn't let it bother me if I were you."

  "I could swear she was trying to convince me that I wanted to stay here. Isn't that the strangest thing?"

  "I am sure it is nothing to worry about," Yaleu reassured her. "Nothing at all." She grasped Chihon's arm and directed her to the door that led to the street.

  "Are you sure you can trust her?" Chihon asked.

  "Yes, I would trust her with my life, and I have."

  "Why? She seems rather odd."

  "Yes, but I trust her. I always have. She is my sister," Yaleu said.

  As they stepped into the noonday sun, Chihon realized she had been sitting at the device most of the morning. She raised her hand to shield her eyes from the glare and felt a sharp prick in her shoulder. She turned to see the master standing behind her, holding a glass tube with a shiny pointed needle.

  "That should hold you for a while," the master said. "No more magic from you."

  Chihon turned to her and tried to raise a fireball, but nothing happened. Two men emerged from the building with rope and quickly bound Chihon's arms behind her back.

  Before Lorit could get up from his chair, he heard crashing behind him. He turned just in time to see four large men charging through the room. They had a complete disregard for the equipment and books, overturning the tables rather than going around them.

  They were quickly upon him. They tied his arms behind his back pulling the ropes so tight they almost cut off his circulation. They lifted him in the air and carried him out the door. The halls were lined with students who stepped out of the way of the men as they dragged him out.

  Lorit could hear the students murmuring as he was hauled through their midst and out the door. Outside Yaleu sat on her horse. Lorit was hauled up behind her and lashed to the saddle. He had hardly settled in when she snapped the reins and galloped off down the avenue toward the gates.

  As they approached the city gates, Ulera arrived with Chihon bound behind him. He raised his arm in salute and turned toward the gate, galloping side by side with Yaleu. After they passed through the gates, they turned and headed out into the desert, driving the horses faster.

  As they rode, Ulera emptied first Chihon's pack, then Lorit's, leaving the contents spread across the sand. He threw Lorit's staff as far as he could out into the dry desert sand and dropped the packs. They rode on for a while and reined up.

  It was late in the afternoon, and they were in an expanse so wide that Lorit could no longer see the city.

  "Here is where you die." Ulera jumped down from his horse. He pulled Chihon from the saddle and dumped her roughly on the sand. He did the same to Lorit and climbed back on his horse.

  "When one of our own commits a capital crime we leave him out here with a cup of dirty water and a knife. For
you, we have been gracious. There is enough water in there to last a whole day." He threw a sack on the sand next to Chihon and turned without a word. "The rest of your supplies are out here with you. All you have to do is collect them up and you should survive."

  He snapped the reins and galloped off into the setting sun.

  "Are you all right?" Lorit asked Chihon. He could see her facedown in the sand, her hair spread out around her in disarray.

  "I think so. Nothing is broken or injured too badly."

  She was bound as he was with her arms behind her.

  Lorit crawled over to the sack and prodded it with his foot. "I think I can shove this over to your hands, so you can untie the sack. If there really is a knife in there, we should be able to cut these ropes free."

  "And then what? We have little water, no food, no maps, nothing."

  "I'm not just going to lie down and die. We have to get free. After that, we can decide what to do next." Lorit hooked the sack with his foot and pushed it toward her hands. He guided it to her so she could get her fingers on the ropes.

  "There, try it. See if you can get it open."

  Chihon worked at the knots, picking and pulling until she had the cord loosened. She pulled the sack open and tried to reach inside.

  "I can't get my hands far enough inside."

  "Here, let me help." Lorit pushed the sack closer to her with his foot. He could feel her hands digging around for the promised knife.

  "I can feel it," Chihon said. "I'll have to cut the ropes off your wrists first."

  With nothing to do but try, he rolled toward her until he could feel her hands. He scooted down to offer her access to the ropes.

  She sawed at them for what seemed like an eternity but made no progress. "It's no use. The knife is too dull."

  "See if you can untie me instead," Lorit said. "Use the knife to loosen the knots and see if you can work them free with your fingers."

  He readjusted his body so she could reach the knots. She worked them with the knife. At one point, she slipped and the knife stabbed him in the arm. Fortunately, the knife was so dull, all it did was bruise him.