As I sat there waiting to jump, I wondered how my baby sister was doing. Last I heard from my parents, she had been pushed up to an accelerated program. I was proud of her and scared for her at the same time. I knew the path she was heading down would be dangerous, just as my service with the Navy was. Her battlefield and weapons might be different, but the cost of failure was the same. As I was thinking about her the blue of jump space washed over me, and the battle was on.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
One morning about halfway through the semester, I arrived for my daily lesson with Master Mathorn. It started out just like any other day. When I arrived the entrance was empty, as it always was, and he was in his customary spot looking down at me.
“Shadow, I have a light day planned for you, so we have time to sit and have a drink first. In this room is a table with refreshments on it. Find it, and I will join you at it,” he said.
I looked around the room and saw his trap. “Master, you have gone soft on me,” I said.
“How so?” he asked.
“Master, in the center of the room there is a large concealment spell about the right size and shape for a table, but instead of hiding a table it conceals a trap of creatures that will come out and attack when I remove the spell. Directly above it, almost lost in the glare, is the real table with a very minor spell that merely bends the light around it to make it appear invisible,” I replied.
“Excellent observation; your awareness is growing. Do me a favor and clear out the trap and lower the table,” he said.
I decided it was time to try something that might be unwise. Instead of unweaving everything in a safe manner, I intentionally set off the trap by unweaving the concealment spell. I took the power from the spell and wove it into a shield around me. Then I waited for the stone creatures to reach me. Instead of fighting them I let them hit my shield, and as they did they were absorbed into the shield, making it stronger. I had to constantly reweave parts of it that were damaged in the process, but soon all the creatures were absorbed into my shield and it was far stronger than when I had started. Once they were all gone, I reached out and used my powers to lower the table.
“Well done, Shadow! Where did you learn that spell?” he asked.
“A book I recently reread, Master,” I said, “on the events of the battle for Terrathan XV.”
“Ah, yes, most excellent. Studying the methods of those who have gone before you, such as Grandmaster Vydor in this case, is a great way to learn. All the same, that was an extremely advanced spell and you need to be careful with it. You only barely kept it going while under attack from those weak and almost mindless creatures. A competent sorcerer would have overwhelmed you. Practice it as much as you can, but be careful how much you trust it while you are still learning,” he advised.
We sat at the table and relaxed for a while; it seemed he was serious about it being a light day. Then he asked a question that I had never expected.
“I hear you and Flame spend several hours a week in the practice chambers. What do you do in there?” he asked.
I was completely unprepared for that question. I thought of a dozen ways to dodge it, but then reminded myself that there was nothing wrong about what we did and we did it with the blessing of the headmaster. “Master, I help her practice her spells.”
“I hear that she has stopped taking classes. You must be a great teacher,” he said.
“No, Master; she studies hard all week, and I only offer her some tips. She is far beyond the material they are covering in her classes, so she dropped out of them. The headmaster hopes to have advanced classes soon for her and other students like her,” I said.
“Interesting. How do you help her?” he asked.
“Master, when she casts her spells if I concentrate and watch carefully I can see her hands and words shaping the energy, and most times that she makes mistakes I can provide educated guesses on how to fix them,” I said.
“Well, that is one mystery solved, then,” he said.
“What do you mean, Master?” I asked.
“I have been wondering why you have been able to expand your awareness at a greater rate than you have expanded your knowledge. Now I see that it is because you are working very hard on your awareness by helping Flame.” He paused there to take a drink and then said, “How would you rate her progress?”
“Master, I am sure that my evaluation is prejudiced, but I think she is pushing too hard and I am sure it is my fault,” I said.
“How so?” he asked.
“Master, I told her after our last break that I intend to petition to visit her family in the upcoming vacation. I said that if I was successful she would need to be as far along in her studies as possible, as it seems inevitable that a sorcerer will attack us there and she must be able to put up a good defense. Since then, she has pushed herself extremely hard,” I said.
“I see, and what in your opinion is her main motivation?” he asked.
“Master, I believe it is probably fear for her family’s safety or a wish to see them again, but whatever it is I know that it is a pure motivation. She just has a tendency at times to completely disregard risk or the consequences of her actions,” I said.
“I have heard from others about how advanced she is, so I think it is time I checked on her progress personally. I will come to your session this coming rest day,” he said.
My mind scrambled for some way out of this. I knew that Flame would not be happy at all if anyone joined us; she treasured that time we had. “Master, thank you for your concern, but Flame is likely to be very nervous and not at her prime if you are present.”
“Even better; she needs to learn to overcome that. Shadow, do not worry. From what you told me I fully support your sessions with her. I think they are very beneficial to both of you. Should anyone ever try to stop you, tell them to see me personally and I will handle it. However, it would be best if I checked to be sure everything is working out in the best possible way for you both,” he said.
“Yes, Master,” I said. I knew better than to try to argue the point further.
“Now then, come with me. I have something to show you,” he said. This was different than his almost ritualistic remark, “Now come, we have much work to do,” so I knew something special was happening.
I followed him up to the balcony and then to one of the rear study areas in the library. In this room was a desk with a feather, an inkwell, a pile of sticks, a stack of paper, a fireplace with a fire burning in it and what looked like two blank staves. A little further across the room were a big easy chair and a table with some books on it.
He walked over and picked up the two staves. “I purchased these very recently from Buckerty’s Lumberyard on Aleeryon. When I told them they were for Flame and yourself, he made sure I got the very best they had. Those blank wands there,” he said gesturing at the pile of sticks, “are from the same place. One day you will possess the skill to craft your own personal staff. The other one is for Flame when she can do the same. I will give you these blank staves on that day, and I know that the fact that they come from Aleeryon will mean much more to her than it does to you. These other blanks will be what you use when it is time for you to practice crafting wands. That is some time off yet, but not nearly as far ahead as staff crafting,” he told me.
“Master, I know that will touch Flame greatly. Thank you,” was my reply.
He put back the staves and gestured towards the pile of paper. “This is also from Buckerty’s, and today you will be learning how to scribe a scroll. Do not be put off by the feather and ink. I know you are used to more modern means of writing, but they will not work for this. You will be channeling your power through the feather and ink into the paper, and only living material, or material that was once alive, can do that. The desk is pure wood, and that is also important; every part of the process must be made from living matter. Scribing a scroll is a simple process for a spellweaver: you merely weave the
power into the paper via the feather. Now, many times in our lessons you have fallen from a great height and cast a spell to slow down your fall to a safe speed. Wizards call that spell Feather Fall, for the obvious reason. I want you to scribe that spell on these scrolls. Do not worry about making mistakes and starting over. There is plenty of paper,” he said. Moving over to the big chair, he started to read from one of the books there.
His instructions were frustratingly vague, but I knew he expected me to figure out the details. There was nothing to do but try and work through this. First of all, I took some paper and practiced writing with the feather. It was easier than I had expected, once I learned how to get the proper amount of ink on it. Once I had mastered that, I made my first attempt to do what he asked. As I was writing, however, the paper started to float up and I could not keep it down. Master Mathorn came over, took the scroll and tossed it in the fire.
“I said weave the magic into the paper, not cast the spell on it,” he said and then returned to his chair.
For most of the rest of the day I worked on this problem. I have no idea how many scrolls were tossed in the fire before I succeeded, but I feared that I might have deforested all of Aleeryon in the process. Eventually I managed to craft one that he was happy with.
“Good work, now come with me,” he said. I followed him out to the balcony. He stopped there and said, “Use the scroll and jump.”
I walked up to the edge and began reading the scroll. As I read it burst into flames and was completely consumed just as I finished reading it. I looked over the edge and hesitated, but Master Mathorn pushed me off and I drifted slowly and safely to the ground.
“Good; the scroll worked. That is enough for today. Have a good evening,” he said and went back into his office.
At first I was annoyed that he had pushed me, but as I walked back towards the dining hall I realized I would probably not have jumped had he not done so and the spell would have been wasted. I knew he could tell that the scroll worked before he had pushed me so I had never been in any danger, as I had been in many of his morning lessons.
As I walked through the halls of the school, I could not shake the feeling that something was not right. There seemed to be shadow over every light. I concluded that it must be my overactive imagination. If there was a problem, surely someone else would have noticed it by now.
When I arrived at the mess hall there was no one around other than the kitchen staff. I was fairly early so this was understandable in a way, but since I was usually late getting there it felt a bit strange. I collected my food and sat in my usual seat. Eventually other students started filing in, and finally Flame appeared.
“Wow, you’re awfully early. Everything okay?” she asked as she sat down.
“Yes, we just had a light day. We worked on scribing scrolls,” I said.
“Shadow, you’re holding something back. Spit it out,” she said. I have no idea how she learned to read me so well.
“Master Mathorn plans to join us during our practice session this week to evaluate our progress,” I said.
“WHAT? No way! I’ll just have to skip this week,” she said.
“Flame, that would be a bad idea. He has come out strongly in defense of us having that privilege, and even said that if anyone tries to take it from us he will deal with that himself. Now, where do you think all that support will go if you avoid him?” I asked.
She did not reply, so I insisted, “Flame, I want you to be there to meet him.”
“Oh, Shadow, what if he sees what a blundering fool I am and revokes our right to use that room?” she asked.
“He will not, and you are not a fool. He has already assured me that he wants us to continue. We must cooperate with him,” I said. “By the way, do you know of a place in Aleeryon called Buckerty’s Lumberyard?”
“Yes, my uncle owns it. Why do you ask?” she responded.
“Master Mathorn was there recently. He bought paper for my scroll crafting lessons, a lot of it,” I said.
“Did he buy anything else?” she asked.
“Oddly enough, he did. He has a big pile of sticks that he said will be used for my wand crafting lessons when the time comes. What’s the matter, Flame? Why are you crying?”
“My uncle’s lumberyard was nearly broke. The demand for wood has always been low in our area, but normally the trade with neighboring systems more than makes up for it. Recently pirates have interrupted that trade, and it has really hurt his business. But if the school starts ordering from him I’m sure he’ll be able to stay open!”
I realized now that those were tears of joy, but what she reported concerned me. “Pirates? In Imperial space? I do not like the sound of that. Any idea where they came from?”
“No, but Bill said the local navy is still too small to secure all the trade routes. They’re trying to enlarge it, but I guess that takes time.”
“Bah!” I could not help but be angered by that. Pirates would not have dared operate in Imperial space when the Imperial Navy was operational. I wanted to go there and settle the problem myself. Flame must have seen something in me, for she reached out, put a hand on my shoulder and said, “It’s not your fight. You have bigger problems to worry about. In time they’ll have enough forces to secure the route again, I’m sure.”
There was a long and awkward silence after that. I did not know what to say or think. I should have been happy that her uncle’s business might be saved by my blundering scroll practice, but my anger over the pirates daring to operate in Imperial space kept overwhelming that joy. It was as if there was a war inside of me, and I did not know how to deal with it.
“I need to get some air,” I said as I stood and headed towards the school exit. Unusually, Flame did not follow me, and for once I was grateful; I needed time to compose myself. I headed out the door onto my favorite hiking trail. It had been too long since I had been out there.
I came to a wall that I did not remember. No matter; there was enough in the way of handholds for me to climb over. As I scaled it, I took some pleasure in the pure physical nature of the exercise. I knew that Master Mathorn would be cross and tell me to act like a spellweaver and not a mundane, but that did not dampen my pleasure. The challenge of the climb helped to stabilize my inner turmoil, and when I reached the top I saw a stranger sitting there clad in a dark robe.
“Hello, Shadow. I trust you enjoyed my wall?” he said. There was something wrong about him, but I could not define it precisely.
“Your wall? All these lands belong to Alpha Academy,” I responded. I was sure he was not connected to the school, but how then could he be there unchallenged?
“Of course they do, but you did not answer my question,” he said.
“Well, yes; in fact, I did enjoy my climb.”
He turned his back to me, looking out over the bleak landscape, and remarked, “It is a shame they chose to put this school here, when there are so many better planets to choose from: ones with great forests and lakes where a nature-lover like yourself could really be happy. I think everyone here would like that better, do you not agree?”
“Who are you?” I was undecided about this man. There was something not right here, but what I did not know.
“A friend who understands you better than you do yourself, and wants to help you,” he said and simply vanished.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
The rest of the week with Master Mathorn was a clear departure from our normal routine, as I did nothing but work on scroll craft. It was a nice break from the normal, rigorous routine, and at least I knew now that all the scrolls I was messing up were helping Flame’s family.
At the end of that week, it was time for Flame and myself to have our practice session. I could tell she was very nervous about it, and we walked in virtual silence most of the way. When we arrived, we found the room we had taken to calling “ours” open as usual; for whatever reason this particular room was always available.
&
nbsp; “Okay, Flame: how about warming up with some easy fireballs?” I asked.
“Sure,” she said, and suddenly a big ball of fire flew at me. I reached out and unwove it quickly to see her standing there with a look of disappointment on her face. “I’ll get the jump on you yet!”
“Doubtful, but I was thinking that this week I should try throwing them at you.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“I have not yet seen you work on any real defensive magic, and I think it is clear we will need it.”
”That makes sense. So what do I do?” she asked.
“That is a very good question, but I am not sure how to answer it. I was hoping you might have done some studies on defense that we could improve on.” I unwove spells that were tossed at me, but that would not work for her. “Perhaps we should leave that until we can get some guidance.”
“Sure. I wanted to work on the meadow some more, if that’s okay? I really think I’ve got it now.”
The meadow was an illusion she had been struggling with for weeks without making any progress. I really wanted her to move on and come back to it later, but she insisted each week that this time she could do it. “Okay, but I think after this week you should focus on learning some defense and set the meadow aside for a while.”
“Sure,” she said. I watched her weave the magic around her with words and gestures. It was a beautiful sight to see. The power gently flowed around her in an almost caressing way. I knew now that only spellweavers could see the raw energy, and it saddened me that Flame would never know the simple joy of watching a spell being crafted. The room slowly became filled with the sound of running water, and all around us grew a lovely meadow. I watched every move she made, and everything was perfect. The illusion grew into a full scene with many different plants and trees. I knew this to be a fond childhood memory of hers, and I hoped someday to visit this place and see the real thing.
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