“Transformation is failing, isn’t it?”
Horgar sighed, and Jez thought he wasn’t going to answer, but after a few seconds, the beasts master nodded. “I can’t tell for sure when it started happening. Thinking back, there were a thousand tiny signs that I dismissed. I never should’ve taken Barash to be tested.” He managed a weak smile. “That’s how it is, isn’t it? We look back at all the decisions we should have made, as if we could’ve known better then. I’m sorry. I’m rambling. Yes, transformation is failing, as is the magic we use to talk to beasts.”
“Aniel’s presence would disrupt or enhance beast magic. With people getting beast mind and with you having trouble...” Horgar glanced at him with raised eyebrow and Jez cleared his throat. “With everything else that’s been going on around here, I thought he might be imprisoned under the tower, but Besis said you might have other ideas.”
Horgar rose and walked to the small window. He looked out and didn’t say anything. There were a few spots of grain dust on his robe, but Horgar seemed not to notice. Seconds stretched to minutes, and Jez wondered if he should say something. Finally, Horgar turned around.
“I suspect Besis is right. I doubt someone could imprison a high lord of the pharim under the tower without us knowing. You should still check just to be sure.”
“Where do you think he could be?”
Horgar shook his head. “I’ll handle it.”
“But...”
The master lifted a hand to silence Jez. “I know you’ve dealt with difficult situations before, but you were thrust into those and had no chance to avoid them. I’m not about to deliberately send you into something like this. You are only an adept, and a new one at that. I’m not going to force you into a situation properly handled by a master.”
“I can—”
“I’m sure you can, but I’m not going to send a child into something like this. Thank you for the information. I’ll see to it this matter is dealt with.”
“But, Master...
“I’ll handle it, Jezreel. Check the rooms beneath the tower. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Horgar stared down at him. It was clearly a dismissal. Jez considered arguing, but the look on the master’s face told him it would do no good. He nodded and walked out of the grain house. Just before the door closed behind him, he looked over his shoulder at Horgar who was once again looking through the window. Jez just hoped the master knew what he was doing.
CHAPTER 11
“You have to admit,” Osmund said, “It makes sense.”
“I know it makes sense,” Jez said. “It’s also wrong.”
Lina drummed her fingers on Jez’s table. They were in Jez’s room. Lina and Osmund had been waiting at his door when he had gotten back. He’d invited them in and told them about his meeting with Horgar.
“Jez, are you sure that you’re not too sure of yourself?” Lina asked. “I mean you’re not really anything more than an exceptionally powerful mage. You’ve done some amazing things, but up until a few years ago, you were a fisherman’s son. Even now, you don’t know beast magic. Horgar is probably the best one to deal with this. Maybe telling him is all Sariel wanted you to do.”
Jez shook his head. “If that were the case, Sariel could’ve just gone to Horgar directly.”
Lina pursed her lips. “Are you sure?”
“Why wouldn’t he?”
“You said he’s bound by certain rules.”
“Yes.”
“Well, Horgar isn’t a Shadowguard.”
Jez opened his mouth to respond, but closed it after a second. He inclined his head. “That could be it, but do you remember how Shamarion treated Osmund?”
They both nodded. Shamarion had been a Shadowguard they’d encountered during the ordeal in Rumar. He hadn’t been rude, exactly. He simply hadn’t considered anyone but Jez worth noticing. Sariel might care for humanity as a whole, but Jez doubted he would regard an individual mortal, any mortal, highly enough to entrust with something like this. Jez might only be fourteen, but to a being that had existed since the creation of the universe, fourteen years wasn’t really that different from forty, or four hundred for that matter. Sariel wouldn’t have even batted an eye at his youth.
“You know,” Osmund said, “just because Sariel brought it to you doesn’t mean he was right. Have you ever considered it might be a good idea to let others handle this sort of thing?”
Sariel had given this task to him. It didn’t seem right to just let someone else do it. Jez’s hands curled around empty air, and he realized he was on the verge of summoning Luntayary’s crystal sword. His skin was tingling, and he forced himself to calm down. Maybe his friends were right.
“I’m just not sure.”
“Are you still going to check the lower levels?” Osmund asked
“I might as well. Besis is going to come by in an hour to take me down there, but I’m starting to think the masters are right. I’m not going to find anything down there, but maybe I can convince Besis to talk to Horgar.”
Lina smiled. “You’re just not going to let this go, are you?”
“When a pharim lord comes to you and gives you a mission, you don’t turn away from it.”
Lina sighed and stood. “I’ll call my father.”
“Why?”
“I was going to go home over the next term, but I’m not going to miss this.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Jez said.
“Yes,” Osmund said with a grin. “Please don’t. I was really looking forward to some peace and quiet.”
She glared at him and flicked a finger at him. A ball of violet light shot toward his face. He cried out and threw up his hands, but the ball passed right through him and vanished behind his head. Jez tried to hold in a chuckle, but he could only manage to keep a straight face for a few seconds before laughter erupted. Osmund scowled at them both, but he couldn’t maintain it for long and soon joined the rest of them in laughter. All too soon, though, the reality of the situation settled on them, and their laughter died.
“What will happen if Aniel doesn’t return?” Lina asked.
Jez shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s not like this has ever happened before.”
“Beast magic will continue to fail,” Osmund said. “That might be the least destructive thing to happen. Aniel doesn’t just preside over beast magic. He rules over the beasts themselves. Without his influence, they’ll go insane. Even domestic animals like horses will be affected and could even become a danger to us.”
Jez stared at him, but of course it made sense that Osmund would have a better idea about these things than the rest of them. Though an adept of destruction, Osmund had spent a great deal of time studying theology, hoping to understand more about where he’d come from. They’d met an afur in Rumar, and Osmund had maintained contact with her, but he still kept up with his studies.
“Are you sure?” Jez asked.
“Not really. Like you said, this has never happened before, but people have theorized about the importance of each of pharim lords. None, except perhaps Apalel, would be a more devastating loss than Aniel.”
Jez shuddered at the thought of the pharim lord of healing going missing, but he pushed the thought out of his mind. Aniel’s loss would be bad enough. Much of the world’s trade required the use of horses, and cities like Tarcai depended on that trade to survive. Aniel’s loss could very well end the Academy itself. Lina pursed her lips.
“If it’s that bad, I’m not leaving,” Lina said. “You might need my help.”
“I think we could do without you,” Osmund said.
Lina raised an eyebrow. “You do remember Rumar, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember the time you would’ve died without my help?”
Osmund narrowed his eyes at her, and she met his gaze without flinching. Jez let out a breath.
“Lina, go call your parents. Meet me back here in three hours. We’ll talk about what to do then.
”
CHAPTER 12
Jez picked the silk doll off a shelf. It was completely white and looked to be little more than a bundle of silk forced into a vaguely human form. He closed his eyes and tried to sense the creature banished by the binding, but there was nothing. It wasn’t really surprising. The phobos wasn’t truly inside the doll. The doll was just a talisman bound to the demon, a thing left behind when demons of a certain power were banished. It prevented the creature from coming into the world, but the demon itself was still in the abyss with the rest of its kind. He replaced the talisman among other, similar artifacts. There were hundreds of talismans used for that purpose. He himself had brought many with him when he’d returned from Rumar, but as far as he could tell, everything here served to bind a demon. He saw no sign that any of them held Aniel.
“Not that I would recognize it if it were,” he said under his breath.
“What was that?” Besis asked.
The protection master stayed within a few feet of Jez at all times. He’d identified anything Jez had asked about, though there were some artifacts he hadn’t allowed Jez to touch. Even with the master’s help, however, they hadn’t found anything.
“Nothing,” Jez said. “You were right. There’s nothing down here.” A shiver ran down Jez’s spine, and he eyed the demons’ prisons. “At least, there’s nothing good down here.”
Besis nodded and led Jez back up. It took a while since Besis had to pause to disable the wards protecting these levels. The stairs spiraled down around the inner wall of the tower. Each floor was warded with workings that became increasingly deadly the lower you went. In the upper levels, they would provide no more than an unpleasant shock, but the ones three levels down were lethal. The masters took no chances in protecting the things kept here.
Lina was waiting when they came up into the chamber that took up the entire first floor of the tower. As soon as she saw them, she rushed to Jez’s side. Besis raised an eyebrow.
“Jez, it’s worse than we thought. Beast magic is failing everywhere.”
“What do you mean?” Besis asked. “What have you heard?” Lina took a step back at his tone. Besis took a deep breath and inclined his head. “I’m sorry. Please, tell me what happened.”
“I called my parents. My father told me about attacks in Quintiar by mages who turned into animals. As soon as I closed the link between him, the speaking stone received another communication.” She glanced up at Besis and blushed. “There was no one else there, so I answered it. There were other attacks in half a dozen cities in Nakior too.”
Jez grabbed Besis’s arm. “Master, you have to talk to Master Horgar. Get him to tell me what he knows.”
Besis shook his head. “Jezreel, you know I can’t do that. This is in his dominion. I have no authority over him.”
“But you have influence. Look at it this way. If people everywhere are suffering from beast mind, who better would there be to help them than Horgar? Anybody can go looking for the cause, but not everyone can do what he can.”
“Beast mind can’t be cured,” Besis said.
“But he can do something, more than anyone else could do. Let me go look for Aniel.”
“He won’t like it.”
Jez threw his arms up in frustration. “I know he thinks I’m just a child—”
“That’s not it at all,” Besis said softly.
“It’s not?”
Besis sighed. “For all intents and purposes, he’s just lost three students, one to the testing and two to beast mind. It’s almost unheard of for a master to lose even one student in a term. To lose three so quickly is a terrible loss, and the guilt is crushing him. He won’t lightly send another student into danger.”
Jez met the master’s gaze. “Master Besis, there’s no one else who can do this.”
Besis smirked. “Well, aren’t you sure of yourself?”
“Sariel is.”
Besis bit back whatever reply he was about to make and looked Jez in the eye. Lina stepped up next to him, as if her presence would help convince the master. Jez tried to pour all his confidence into his gaze, though he wasn’t sure if he succeeded. Finally, Besis nodded.
“Very well. I’ll do what I can. I only hope you’re right.”
CHAPTER 13
There was an unusual quiet over the Academy over the next two days. There were fewer people out than normal, even for the time between terms. The town itself became still almost the instant the sun set, and students from the Academy were viewed with suspicion, and few chose to venture into Tarcai. If anyone else suffered from beast mind, Jez didn’t hear of it.
Finally, one evening a week later, a heavy knock sounded at Jez’s door. He opened it to find Master Horgar. For a second, he just stared. Then, the master cleared his throat. Jez let him in, and they sat at his table.
“I would’ve come to you if you’d called, Master,” Jez said.
“It’s of little consequence. Besis regards you highly. He’s been speaking on your behalf practically nonstop since the trial.”
“I really think I can help.”
Horgar spoke softly. “I don’t want your death on my head, Jezreel.”
“It won’t be.”
“You seem so sure of yourself.”
Jez smiled. “That’s not what I mean, Master. I learned a long time ago how important choices are. I make my own. If those choices lead me down a dark road, my death won’t be on your head. It’ll be on mine.”
“You’re not making it any easier for me to tell you.”
“A high lord of the pharim is missing. This isn’t an easy time.”
Horgar snorted. “Wisdom beyond your years.” He walked to Jez’s window and he stared out onto the city. A hawk was circling, and Horgar watched it. Jez shifted his weight, unsure of what to do. Finally, Horgar turned to face him.
“There is a valley in the mountains, fifty miles to the south, where I perform some of my examinations. It is a wild place, ideal for the practice of beast magic. It is almost completely inaccessible. It’s where Barash’s magic failed, and where I first struggled to transform.” Horgar narrowed his eyes. “That is privileged information.”
Jez inclined his head. “I understand, Master.”
Horgar nodded and pulled out a rolled piece a parchment. He spread it out on Jez’s table, revealing a map of the Kelag Mountains. He pointed to an unmarked spot far from any city. “I’ve been there the past couple of days, but I’ve found nothing. Maybe you can succeed where I failed.”
“If it’s inaccessible, how do I get to it?”
“I normally fly,” Horgar said. “I’m not sure that’s the best solution though. If you transformed, you might not be able to change back.”
“I don’t know how to transform, so that doesn’t really matter.” Jez pointed to the large river that flowed through the Kelag mountains. The river’s source was near the spot Horgar had pointed to. “It’s watered by run off from the mountains?”
Horgar looked at him blankly. “I have no idea. That’s not the sort of things I normally pay attention to.”
Jez nodded. His study of terra and aqua magic had included learning how the two elements behaved naturally, and that gave him a fair idea of how the land affected the flow of rivers. “It almost has to be. The snow probably melts to create a tributary that feeds the Kuna.”
“The Kuna is unnavigable in the mountains. Even if it wasn’t, the valley is well above the level of the river. You’d have no way to get up there.”
Jez smiled. “Let me worry about that. I’ll let Osmund and Lina know. We’ll leave by the end of the day.”
Horgar started when he heard the names. He looked like he was going to argue, but instead sighed and nodded.
“You may want to stay a day or two. Besis will probably want your help.”
“Why?”
The beasts master took a deep breath. “I’m going to make a request of him. I want everybody who’s studied beast magic to have their power bound.”
CHAPTER 14
Binding a mage’s power was difficult work. It involved crafting a ward between a mage and that power. That part was easy enough. Many mages, even those who didn’t study protection extensively, learned how to do that to one extent or another. The hard part came with linking that ward to the mage’s power so it fed off of it and gave it a measure of permanence. As each mage’s power was unique, so the binding of each mage differed from all others. It could take an hour or more to get it right, but once the binding was in place, the mage wouldn’t be able to touch their power. That power had become so much a part of Jez’s life that even the thought of being cut off from it made him shudder.
Everyone who had the slightest ability in warding was conscripted into helping. There were a surprising number of people who could transform, and it wasn’t just those who wore the green robes. Cross dominion studies were common, and nearly a third of the Academy’s seven hundred students had to be bound. Most looked at Jez as if he was an executioner, though a couple, mainly those who studied something other than beasts, thanked him. He could see fear in their eyes. They didn’t want to lose themselves.
A few people talked of binding Osmund, but Rael convinced Horgar that Osmund’s transformation into Ziary was different and that the scion wasn’t subject to the same rules. To Jez’s surprise, Osmund didn’t seem entirely relieved at being exempt. The entire ordeal took three days. Besis bound Horgar last. When they were done, Jez couldn’t help but feel like they had crippled the Academy.
Jez fell into a chair at the Quarter Horse. He stared blankly forward. Osmund and Lina sat across from him, but he barely noticed them. The innkeeper brought him a bowl of hot lamb soup. Jez blinked at him and wondered how the man had known what he wanted, but then he remembered that he’d ordered the same thing the past two nights. The days had started to blur together. He thanked Lufka and started shoveling food into his mouth. He barely noticed the taste as he chewed and swallowed. He was halfway through before he spoke.
Beastwalker (Pharim War Book 3) Page 4
