by RJ Crayton
“You do massive magic,” he said. “No one thinks you’re an idiot.”
“I only do massive magic with you,” I retorted. I looked up at the sun, a big ball of flame in the sky. “Akilah’s helped me figure out how to realize when I’m delving into someone’s mind, so I promise, I won’t do it again.”
He nodded and his expression tightened. He opened his mouth to say something, then shut it, then opened it again. “I know you didn’t mean to, but that was a private moment.”
“Yes,” I said, “I’m sorry. I won’t do anything like that again.”
“I know,” he said, biting his lower lip. “I just don’t want to be viewed like that, okay?”
I stared at him, confused. “Viewed like what? Someone who was sad that his parents were leaving? Anyone would be sad about that.”
He shrugged. “Listen, I need to go. I promised Master Safiya I’d help her.”
I nodded, and he started to walk away. “Jasper,” I called. He turned back to me. “I think you’re brave,” I said. “You stood strong for them even though you didn’t want them to go, and you’ve worked hard to make them proud of you. I hope you know that they would be proud of you and the way you’ve turned out.”
He didn’t say anything, but the worried look on his face seemed to melt away as he turned and left.
* * *
I decided to once more search out Pylum. The prophecy was not something that can easily be forgotten, especially now that Jasper and I were friends again.
I walked through the temple, this time watching the images painted on the walls. Not all of them moved, but some did. Master Safiya said that the images move when they think you should know something. The temple, much like everything else, had its own life force. It could feel the mood of those within its walls and react to it.
While I’d seen the cloud mural in my bedroom move, those in the common areas hadn’t really moved since I’d been here. In fact, I’d only seen those images moving the first night I’d come, the night when I was all a bundle of emotions. I remembered the wonder of the moving images. But ever since, I’d seen little, until now.
I stopped at a simple painting of a man in a white robe beneath a warm day sun in a desert land. He stood while his camel walked around him in a circle. The man did not move, but the camel continued its lazy circles. The man patted the camel on its rear hump, and the beast scampered away faster than I would have expected. The man was alone now, and he wiped sweat from his brow.
There was nothing else immediately in this painting. Just the seemingly endless sea of sand and dunes. After a few moments, the sun lowered in the sky, the painting darkened, and the stars came out. They twinkled a few moments, and then the sky lightened, the stars disappeared, and it was day again. Finally, the camel returned, and it was not alone. There was a girl sitting atop it. A pretty little girl with black hair and olive skin. She couldn’t be more than four or five. She smiled when she saw the man, and then lifted something that had been hidden behind the camel’s hump. She lifted a jewel dangling from a necklace and offered it to the man. He smiled.
I startled when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Pylum, who had reached up and tapped me. He looked at the painting. “Why did you stop here?” he asked.
“It was moving,” I told him.
He looked at the image and frowned. “You should probably go back to your room.”
I shook my head “I want to talk to you. I need to ask you a question.”
Pylum nodded. “Very well. Come to my office.”
Chapter 16 - The Seas of Time
Pylum had ushered me into the office. I closed the door behind me and he took a seat in a chair. I didn’t bother. I could take my answers standing.
“Akilah told me that we’re related,” I said without preamble. “Is that true?”
He smiled and nodded.
I frowned. I had been positive Akilah was mistaken about this. It didn’t make any sense. Why wouldn’t auntie tell me Pylum was my relative? Even if I wanted to search for him, I wouldn’t have pressed the issue if she’d said it was dangerous. And it was odd that she felt comfortable mentioning him by name and saying he was a mage, but not mentioning our family connection. Why not say he’s my cousin and that’s why I believed him, if she was willing to tell me so many other things about him? And why wouldn’t Pylum tell me?
“You want to know why I didn’t say something earlier,” Pylum said from his chair.
I nodded.
“Come sit, I’ll explain.”
I remained where I was. I didn’t want to sit. “I’m fine right here.”
He looked as if he was about to protest, but then he nodded and said, “Very well.” He looked me in the eye, a hint of embarrassment playing on his face. “Truthfully, I didn’t say anything because I hoped you would remember.”
I stared at him. That was pretty weak, as far explanations went. “You know my mind is locked.”
“I know, but I hoped some memories, things about your mother’s family, would return to you, that Talitha had fashioned things that way when she crafted the lock. Though it doesn’t seem to be working that way,” he said, raising a hand to his chin. “Your powers are emerging, which is good. Master Shanzu tells me you’re doing well with your glyphs. I think partnering with Jasper has helped.”
I didn’t want to talk about partnering with Jasper, and wasn’t sure I liked it that he’d changed the subject. “How are we related?”
“Your grandfather was my favorite uncle. He was so funny and charming. He married my aunt, who was dwarf, but he was a full sized man. Still, he never made anyone feel small. He never treated dwarves as different. I think that’s why I liked him. It seemed to me that anyone who could love all as they were was worth admiring.”
“So my grandmother was a dwarf?”
He nodded. “Our family has a long history in Bathesh, the dwarf land about a week’s journey from Halcyon. It’s beautiful there.” His voice went dreamy and his eyes looked misty in remembrance of this place. “My father was a highly respected dwarf, but he didn’t have the gift of the mage. My mother’s side of the family was imbued with magic. As was your father and his family. I left Bathesh when I was nine to train here at the temple, and I learned alongside your mother and Talitha.”
His face was open and clearly caught up in memories of his past. I wondered why he’d not told me such. I believed in family one hundred percent, and if he’d told me he was family, I would’ve trusted him more. “So, you were more advanced than my mother and Talitha? Is that why you’re in charge here?”
He chuckled. “Being in charge isn’t always about being more advanced. I’m sure there are mages who are better than I am at many things.”
I crinkled my brows, not sure what he was getting at.
“If I’m not powerful, why am I in charge?” It was clearly a rhetorical question, because he cleared his throat and launched into his answer. “Because I don’t mind it. Being in charge means you hold the lives of many in your hands. It is a huge responsibility, and many people want only to be responsible for themselves. Not the teachers, not the students, not the mages who live here in peace. They don’t want to be responsible for the day-to-day running of things or the management of problems, of things gone wrong. Things like Talitha.”
“My aunt is not a thing,” I said.
“No, my cousin is not a thing, but her abduction by Zygam is something that has gone horribly awry, and it is something I must decide how best to fix.”
“You seem to be doing nothing. Is that because you haven’t decided?”
Pylum’s nostrils flared, and I could tell I’d angered him with my last remark. “I am not doing nothing. One of my gifts is prophecy. I search the Seas of Time often, looking for the best options for us to get her. It is dangerous now, Kadirah. I will not risk your safety for Talitha. And you know, if you look in your heart, she wouldn’t want me to.”
“We must sometimes do what is best for pe
ople, not what they want,” I said, my voice iron hard, my eyes lasered in on him. “That is what Auntie used to say to me when I wanted something she thought was bad for me. What Talitha wants is not best for her. You need to do more. She is your cousin.”
“I love her, but I love you, too, and we must wait,” he said.
I opened my mouth to say something more, and he held up a hand to silence me. And not a simple gesture of be silent, but some type of magical silence. My voice was gone. He’d stolen it from me. I wondered if Auntie had learned that trick from him.
“Sometimes it’s best,” he said, warning in his tone, “to think on our words before we speak them. I will give you an opportunity to consider your words carefully.”
He waved his arm again, and I could tell my voice was back.
“What is the prophecy of light?”
He closed his eyes and shook his head, as if defeated by the notion that I chose not to consider my words carefully. “It is not a matter that concerns you.”
“It does concern me, because Zygam wants me because he thinks I can help him with it. Akilah said it has something to do with the talisman and power. But she didn’t know any more. Tell me what it is. Maybe if I knew it, I could help you figure out a way to get Auntie.”
Pylum breathed out as he hopped down from his chair. Exasperation coated his face. “The prophecy is dangerous. Many who hear it simply lust for the power involved. It is best to not discuss it. Now, as to the matter of Talitha — if you want to help your aunt, master your magic. I can’t see everything, but I know we shouldn’t face Zygam unless you understand your magic fully. You don’t now.”
“I’m trying,” I said. “But I’m doing so much better. I can do so many more things. I figured out how to read minds. Surely that must help.”
He forced a smile, but it didn’t quite touch his eyes. “That’s good. Keep working, and I will search the Seas of Time. As soon as you are ready, I will see it.”
He was endlessly frustrating. “How can you be so sure the Seas of Time have all the answers?”
“The Seas of Time are everything,” he said, awe in his voice. “They are past present and future, a bit like a river. If you look back, you can see where it’s been. If you look forward, you can see where it’s headed.”
“And Auntie? What is in store for her?”
“The Seas of Time aren’t exact. They are like any other stream. Add a rock or dig a trench, and the path the water takes will change. By immersing my mind in the Seas of Time, I can see the many streams of possibility, but if someone does something, it can change the direction of how things go. Every possible outcome, if we were to act now, ends with Zygam capturing you. But waiting until you’re stronger, waiting until you’re confident in your power, brings us success.”
“And my aunt?”
He breathed out, irritated. “Success will come when you are ready. You are on the cusp, I can tell. Have you mastered portal magic and improved your glyphs?”
“I’ve made a portal,” I said, even though I didn’t think I’d done it right and refused to go through it. “And I’m getting better with glyphs.”
“Then soon, Kady. We will seek out Talitha soon.”
I squinted at him in disbelief. Soon. That wasn’t good enough. I didn’t care about the Seas of Time, and I didn’t care what Pylum said. My aunt needed help, and I was going to give it.
I nodded to Pylum, though I tried to look appropriately annoyed. “Fine. Soon,” I said, turning to leave. Yes, it would be soon. But it would be my timetable, not his.
Chapter 17 - A Warning
Akilah was exiting a practice room on the lower level when she saw Jasper come out of one of the light rooms. He seemed cheerful enough, but was deep in thought and didn’t seem to notice Akilah until he almost bumped into her.
“Akilah,” he said, stopping an inch or two from her. “I didn’t see you.”
“I noticed,” she said, and raised an eyebrow. “What’s got you so deep in thought?”
He shrugged. “Nothing important.”
She sighed, realizing he wouldn’t tell her. They weren’t close anymore. Not that they’d ever been super close. Akilah had trouble trusting new people, but Jasper was as close as she’d come. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”
He shrugged again.
“Are you really angry at Kady?”
He gave her an uncertain look, and bit his lower lip. “What are you talking about?”
“She said you were upset with her,” Akilah admitted. “She said she’d accidentally invaded one of your memories, that she hadn’t meant to.”
He blew out and his nostrils flared. “Don’t worry about it, Akilah. It’s not your business. It’s private.”
She felt a twinge of guilt, as he’d used the same words she’d said to him a couple of years ago. Back when they were almost close. Back when she was less likely than now to trust. She tried not to regret, but part of her regretted not trusting Jasper then.
“I’m sorry,” Jasper said. “I shouldn’t have said that. It was kind of you to be concerned.”
Akilah nodded. Jasper followed suit and appeared to be ready to walk away, but she reached out and touched his bicep. “Jasper,” she said. “A while ago, you said I should trust more people. I’m doing that now. Kady is a good person. She’s worth trusting.”
Jasper smiled. “I know she is. And you’re a good person, too, Akilah. I’m glad you’re trusting more.”
* * *
Akilah was surprised that Master Pylum had summoned her to his office, saying he needed to talk to her urgently. Well, she wasn’t surprised about the summoning as much as she was surprised by the sense that he really did need to talk to her, and that he actually planned to seek her advice on an important matter. It was something she’d longed for for a while. It was also a sign. Whatever upset he had over their excursion to the marketplace was behind them.
When she arrived in his office, Pylum was pacing the room. He turned and smiled at her. “Thank you for coming so quickly,” he said.
Akilah walked over and took a seat. Pylum grimaced as he sat down. “I’m concerned about Dirah,” he said.
Akilah said nothing.
“She left here not long ago, and I sensed a great deal of turmoil. The Seas of Time suggest this is a volatile time for her, that she could act rashly. I’d like you to talk to her. Try to reassure her that we here want to help her and that we’ll get Talitha back.”
Akilah nodded. He must be really worried if he thinks I’m the rational one between the two of us. She paused, as Pylum had often reminded her, to think before she spoke. Then she said, “I have told Kady these things, Master Pylum. I have reminded her that you are her cousin and you only want good things for her, yet I’m not sure anything can make her feel better except rescuing her aunt.”
He shook his head. “She feels that way because she loves her aunt, but also because her mind yearns to be free. A locked mind is happy so long as it doesn’t realize it’s locked. But once it does, it wants the key, and Talitha is it.” He heaved a sigh and looked at the glyph on his arm for patience. Then he turned his arm over and glanced at one meaning resiliency.
“Perhaps you could speed up the timeline for rescuing her aunt. Give her a set date, a goal she can see and feel less impatient about.”
“She’s not ready,” he said. “I have foreseen that much. Going now spells disaster, but I know disaster will come to pass if she continues her impatience.” Pylum looked Akilah in the eye. “Talk to her. Soothe her in any way you can. She likes you. In fact, you remind me of her father.”
Akilah raised an eyebrow. “Her father?”
Pylum nodded. “Yes,” he said, and his eyes glazed over with some memory and a smile found his lips. “Idris was cocky like you, but friendly, and spirited and when he set his mind to something he could accomplish it. You can convince her to give it more time. She listens to you.”
Akilah shook her head. His flattery was kind,
but misplaced. “She likes me, but she doesn’t listen to me.” She paused and thought for a moment. “She’s a lot like me, in certain ways. She doesn’t trust easily. I lived alone for so long that I trusted no one but myself. She’s lived with her aunt and has been told to trust no one but her. You can’t get rid of that overnight, Pylum. She still only trusts her aunt, and that’s her only allegiance. I’ll do what I can, but you’ve got to give her something to hang her trust on.”
Pylum leaned back in his chair, then smiled. “You’re right,” he said after a moment. “I have always liked how you help me find perspective.”
“You don’t listen to me most of the time,” she said, then regretted speaking her mind instantly.
Pylum raised an eyebrow and said, “Perhaps I should listen more than I do.”
At that, Akilah smiled. “I’ll tell her to be patient, and I’ll promise her that I’ll be there to help when we do get her aunt.”
Pylum’s smile disappeared, and he looked down briefly. “Actually, you won’t be going with us.”
“What?” Akilah asked, standing. She towered over the seated dwarf and she felt the anger surging inside her. “I should go. This is an important mission. I’ve been there before.”
“You’ve been near his temple, just outside, but never inside the border, Akilah.”
“But I deserve to be a part of this.”
Pylum did not stand. He simply looked up at her, offering a hard stare, one that said to calm herself, to behave appropriately.
She took a moment to let the anger seep out and calm her mind. She was sure Pylum would have a reasonable explanation, one that she could counter. She could talk sense to him if she were rational. She just needed to sit back down and see what he said. She eased into the seat.
“Master Pylum, I think I would be a great asset to any mission to the Moon Temple to aid in freeing your cousin.”
Pylum nodded. “I agree with your assessment of your skills,” he said. She did not smile, as she could sense the “but” coming. “But you are one of my best people, and I would prefer you remain here at Hakari Ahet in order to thwart any counterattacks.”
