The Undying Illusionist

by Candy Crum

  Arryn smiled and nodded. "Of course. I do need to get back. I just needed to talk to her, but I guess that since she’s not here, I'll try to catch her again tomorrow."

  Arryn walked forward, making her way back down the hall toward her own classroom as she listened for his footsteps to head downstairs. As soon as she heard the click of his steps descending to the first floor, she slowly turned to risk a look.

  Satisfied that he wasn't standing right there, she quickly made her way back to the corner, slowly peeking over the railing to see that he had made it all the way downstairs. Jackson was completely out of sight before she turned to look back down the hall toward Talia's office.

  Taking a deep breath, Arryn quickly walked back down the hall, up the stairs, and rushed into the Dean’s office before closing the door behind her.

  Arryn sighed in relief as she leaned against the door, catching her breath. Once she felt more comfortable, she turned her attention to Talia's desk. On it, she found an envelope that she couldn't help but investigate.

  She quietly crossed the room, looking toward the door before picking up the envelope. It wasn't sealed, though it was tucked closed. Flipping it open, she pulled the contents free and read them. It was from Jackson, and he'd written her a note of some sort.

  Talia,

  I've done as you asked. I start Fundamentals of Nature Magic tomorrow. I'll get close to her and find out why she's here. I don’t know if you plan to see the druid again or not, but let me know if you find out anything else that can help from him. Just don't get too close. You mean a lot to me. You won't have anything to worry about with me around. You’re taking care of all of us, and it's time we take care of you.

  Jackson

  As Arryn reread the letter for the third time, certain that the she Jackson was referring to was Arryn herself, she could sense someone coming down the hall. Jumping into action, Arryn quickly tucked the letter back into the envelope and laid it on the desk where she had found it.

  Arryn spun around in a circle several times, looking for good place to hide but coming up empty. She knew damn good and well that whoever was coming would certainly find her.

  Finally, her eyes landed on the window. She took a deep breath as she opened it and mentally prepared herself to drop two stories to the ground.

  It was scary, but she had done it when she was a child, so she knew she could do it again, especially now that she had nature magic to heal herself if she were to break anything on the way down.

  Arryn sat on the ledge and swung her legs out, making sure to look around to see if anyone noticed her. She pulled the curtains closed to prevent someone from seeing her from the office.

  Taking another deep breath, Arryn dropped, fighting the instinct to scream on the way down.

  The ground was coming very quickly, and her fear grabbed her, hands shooting out in front of her as she prepared for the collision with the earth below. But it never came.

  Vines shot out of the ground, wrapping around her and catching her before lowering her safely the rest of the way. Arryn felt like crying for joy, but knew she had to be quiet. She silently thanked the Matriarch and Patriarch before running around the side of the building and flattening herself against the cold stone wall to catch her breath.

  She needed to get home, to get to Cathillian. More than anything, she wanted to tell him about the letter she had found. He had to believe her then. Didn't he?

  ***

  It was just past the middle of the day when Cathillian finally made his way into the kitchen. His strength was back and he felt fine, though he was still heavily fatigued. Jenna had done quite a lot, much more than he had believed her capable of.

  "Aren't ye supposed ta be in bed?" Samuel asked.

  Cathillian turned and saw the rearick standing a few feet behind him, having come over from the couch. Cathillian smiled, happy to see his friend.

  "Samuel! You're still here. I wasn't expecting that. Then again, I guess I should have. Today's the first day I've woken up on my own, and I still slept most of it."

  "Aye." Samuel nodded. "We figured ye should still have someone with ye while Arryn's in class. Lemme guess, hungry?"

  Cathillian looked over his shoulder at the kitchen before turning back to Samuel. "I haven't eaten in three days. I'm starving."

  Samuel was about to respond, but was interrupted by Arryn busting through the front door, quickly slamming it behind her before making her way across the living room.

  She pointed at Cathillian, her brows furrowed. "Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?"

  Cathillian sighed and rolled his eyes, throwing his hands in the air before dropping them. "I'm hungry! Damn. Slip into a coma for three days, and everybody acts like you're dying."

  Arryn looked at him incredulously before turning to Samuel. "You're a terrible babysitter, but it doesn't matter." She turned back to Cathillian before Samuel could respond. "This will save me time. I needed to talk to you. Like, now!"

  It was obvious just how jumpy she was, maybe even scared or nervous. Cathillian put his sense of humor aside and nodded. "What is it? What's wrong?"

  Arryn shifted her weight, nervously debating her words as she looked back and forth between Samuel and Cathillian. "I'm just gonna come out and say it. I know no one believes me, but Talia is up to something."

  Cathillian exhaled a heavy sigh. "This again? Arryn, I was really worried about you when you came blowing in here like that."

  "Talia…" Samuel began, confusion on his face as though he was trying to recall something. "Who is that?"

  Arryn gave a sarcastic laugh. "Oh, I'll tell you who it is."

  Cathillian threw his hands up in defeat again. "Great. Here we go. Good job, Samuel."

  Arryn shook her head, clearly choosing to ignore Cathillian as she kept her focus on Samuel. "She's the Dean of the Academy, and she's up to something. Since the moment I met her, she's been giving me bad vibes, but no one listens! Well, today that changes."

  Samuel clapped his hands together once before pointing a finger in the air in excitement. "There! I knew I knew that name. Ye ain't wrong, lass. That lady Dean has somethin’ wicked in her. I don't trust her as far as I can throw her."

  Arryn studied him with shock on her face. "Wait, you believe me?"

  Cathillian took a few steps forward, also unable to take in what he just heard. "Yeah, you believe her? I mean, it's not that I don't, but it's more that she’s had a vendetta against the Dean since she arrived, and the woman has done nothing to her. I've met her, and she seemed like a very nice woman."

  Samuel snorted. "And I met that bastard Adrien, too. He seemed like a goodhearted, charismatic Chancellor with nothin’ but the safety of the city in mind, but we all know how that turned out, now don't we? Just because someone ain't never done anythin’ directly to ye don't mean they're good. After all, those remnant never did anything to Andrew before that night, right? But he still took ’em down with the best of us."

  Cathillian had never thought of it in those terms before. Just then, he felt terrible for having dismissed Arryn's worries quite so harshly. Even if he didn't quite understand where they were coming from, he knew from personal experience that people weren’t always what they seemed. It hadn’t been fair of him to judge her.

  "You're right. I hadn't really thought about it that way. Arryn, I'm sorry. Why is today different? What did you find out?" Cathillian asked, changing his expression from sarcastic to something sincerer.

  Arryn took a step forward. "I went to Talia's office. Long story short, Amelia promised if I talked to her and tried to make another judgment, whether it be the same or not, she would show me how to guard my mind because someone is still looking at my thoughts. Anyway, I went there, and I ran into Jackson on the way."

  "Jackson," Cathillian repeated. "Is that the kid that you told me is always attached to her at the hip?"

  Arryn shook her head. "It's not that I see them together a lot. It's just when I do see them together, there's t
his look on his face. He's enamored with her, and it's not like she does anything to deter it. They stand way too close to each other, and she smiles at him in the most… I don't know how to explain it. It just creeps me out. But yes, that's Jackson."

  Samuel shivered. "I saw ‘er in the bar one night. That ain't weird, except why she goes. She either sits at the bar or in the corner and stares. She just watches. Even with that cloak of hers, I know ‘er when I see ‘er. That's a woman who stands out."

  Arryn sighed, smile spreading on her face. "It feels so good to finally have someone listen. Anyway, when I ran into Jackson, he was acting weird. Kind of defensive over her office. He told me that she was gone to help her mom or something like that, but then he made sure I walked away before he went downstairs. What he didn't realize was that I waited for him to get all the way down before I went to the office anyway. He left her a note. That's why I'm freaking out."

  Cathillian’s brows furrowed as he crossed his arms. A note. He couldn't help but be curious to know what was inside. "What did it say?"

  "It said something about him doing what she told him to. He said that he's enrolled in my class. I didn't know that, but I do remember Amelia mentioning that I was getting another student. It has to be him. He also talked about you."

  "Me?" Cathillian asked. "What about me?"

  "He didn't say your name specifically, but he mentioned the druid. He told her to let him know if she found out anything useful from the druid, and then he was so worried about the two of you that he also warned her not to get too close. As disturbing as that was, for many reasons, what was most disturbing was the end of the letter. He said, ‘you take care of us,’ then said, ’we need to take care of you.'"

  Samuel groaned as he nodded. "Sounds to me like there ain’t just one person to worry about. Seems like there's a lot more. Better watch yer back, lass. She has it out for ye."

  Cathillian swallowed hard, unable to believe what he was hearing. Not only had Arryn been right and he so very wrong, but he'd allowed Arryn to be placed in danger because of his refusal to trust her.

  His own powers had failed him. He hadn’t even sensed anything wrong with her.

  The day Talia had come over she’d used him as an instrument against Arryn. She knew that her very presence would cause conflict between them. At that moment, Cathillian became pissed off. It far surpassed anger or even rage.

  Taking another step forward, his expression revealing just how much hatred he felt, Cathillian said, "How do we take this bitch down?"

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Over the next several days, Samuel and Cathillian set out to find guardsmen who wanted to learn extra skills. They'd started by going into the barracks, taking Arryn with them.

  Amelia had given them free reign, so they wanted to see what they were working with.

  With twenty men in that room alone, they decided to take their point—that the Guard was in no way, shape or form capable of protecting the city the way that it needed to be—and shove it right up their asses.

  But with flair, as was their style.

  They'd snuck in and triggered the magitech lighting, immediately alerting the men in the room that someone was with them.

  It didn’t take long for them to jump up and into action, doing their best to fight off the druids and rearick—but it didn’t go well.

  Arryn was easily able to breeze through them with her staff, tripping them and then hitting them in the stomach hard enough to force them into a ball, but not hard enough to actually hurt them.

  Cathillian was a blur as he ducked and swung, avoiding faces as much as possible, but still finding ways to take them down to the ground.

  Samuel was the funniest of them because he was the shortest. Nearly a foot shorter than most the men in the barracks, Samuel was able to move through with his hammer, using it to shove the men down to the ground while they tried to strategize attacking a man his size.

  Within only moments, they were able to take down all twenty of them, though they were careful not to leave any lasting damage—only minor bumps and bruises.

  Once it was over, Arryn had walked to the front, no fear on her face as she stared down the men who were supposed to be protecting her city.

  Squaring her shoulders, she told them, "You are the ones responsible for keeping the city safe, and we were able to take you down easily. Your training is going slowly, and you’re even slower. If you want real warrior training and the chance to learn how to use real weapons, and not just those magitech pieces of shit, then you'll find us at Lord Girard's house. We'll meet there at dawn before going to the training grounds."

  Cathillian had stepped forward then. "In other words, if you want to be the ass-kickers instead of getting your asses kicked, then you need better training. We have the blessing of the Chancellor, so if you wanna learn, we are here to teach."

  “Well…” Arryn started, “she knows we’re teaching them. She just doesn’t know we’re ripping them out of their first session with their commanding officer to do it.”

  Cathillian turned back to the men on the floor. “Yeah! So, if she comes for us, Arryn here will be happy to take the fall for it.”

  She elbowed him in the side as Samuel stepped forward, taking the lead before they began to argue in front of their new recruits.

  "We have a feelin’ the city ain't done needin’ ta be protected," Samuel had chimed in. “Especially with everythin’ goin’ on. So, get yer asses out there and get some skills actually worth learnin’.”

  When the fallen recruits began looking at one another and whispering amongst themselves, the trio had left them to their thoughts, hoping they would come to them. Because now more than ever, Arryn was certain Talia was the bad person Adrien had planted, and Cathillian and Samuel were right on board.

  Today Arryn, Cathillian, and Samuel all stood outside the city wall on the eastern side near where Cathillian had been training the cadre in his nature magic. It was where he and Arryn trained every morning, and now it was where they would begin training the new Guard.

  Cathillian and Samuel went to work with half the men, pairing them off and teaching them the stricter forms of close-quarter combat. It was obvious that Guard training had focused mostly on running and endurance with a secondary emphasis on magitech weapons.

  The idea that these men couldn't even throw a knife properly didn't set well with Cathillian, while the fact that they couldn't even line their arms up correctly for a proper punch got under Samuel’s skin.

  All in all, it was as if their training was only beginning, when in reality, they had been training for weeks.

  For the past few days Arryn and Cathillian had spent some time in the evening crafting bows. With nature magic on their side, it was quite an easy task, especially with Arryn being able to use her physical magic to heat the wood to curve them. Arryn had just finished passing out the newly crafted bows to her ten students when she heard a familiar voice.

  "Well, good morning!" Amelia called, smiling as she casually strolled up to Arryn. Amelia didn't make eye contact as she scanned the new training ground. "This is quite the turnout."

  Arryn's eyes were wide as she stared at Amelia, wondering just how pissed the Chancellor was that they had yanked the recruits away from their regularly scheduled exercises with the Guard.

  Arryn sighed and decided to fully face her fate, crossing her arms defiantly as she turned. "I'm not sure if I should greet you or run for my life. While I'm pretty confident in my skills, you remind me a lot of Elysia. In other words, you’re not someone I want to piss off."

  Amelia laughed as she turned to face Arryn. "At first, I was a little annoyed, but the moment we finished talking about setting all this in motion, I knew damn good and well that you had no plans to wait—or follow schedules. I figured you’d get your men one way or another. After what happened to Cathillian and how easily those four guards at the gate were taken down, I realized whatever you guys had planned would be a good route to go.” Ameli
a took a deep breath as she looked around again and smiled. "You definitely didn't disappoint."

  That was news to Arryn. Good news, to be sure. It made her happy to know that Amelia now believed in her and wanted to let her help beyond just teaching students how to grow flowers.

  Arryn pointed to Cathillian and Samuel in the distance, who were now sparring. Given there was two feet difference in height between them, it looked comical, but it was also quite impressive. What Samuel lacked in height he more than made up for in skill and fury.

  "They’re training in close-quarter combat. We snuck into the barracks the other night and beat the shit out of the Guard. You should've seen it. It was so easy that it was scary—and kind of hilarious. I don't know what they’re training for down there, but I promise you it isn't fighting. If we train these guys hard enough, they’ll get good really fast. Rotating groups would work best."

  Amelia nodded. "I like that idea. It seems like you have the full barracks here. Give these men two weeks with you and then rotate. Have them go back and train an entirely different group while I send you more. At that rate, I think that we could train quite a lot of people in a short amount of time. What are you in charge of?"

  Arryn smiled and held up the bow that Elysia had crafted for her. "What I do best. I'm teaching these men how to hunt their enemy with deadly accuracy."

  Just at that moment, an arrow cut through the air toward them. Amelia lifted her hand, sending the arrow flying in a different direction when it nearly hit her, but other than that simple movement, neither she nor Arryn flinched.

  The arrow hit the ground a few feet away, and the man responsible screamed his apologies, but Arryn's eyes stayed focused and unblinking on Amelia's, both women’s faces blank as Arryn said, "Some additional training may be required."

  Amelia nodded, clearly fighting back a smile. "May?"

  Arryn shrugged. "I did say they were deadly."