by B. T. Narro
“Is that the only limitation?” Alex asked. “Can you make a portal to somewhere you’ve never been?”
“I’ve practiced in Alex’s room many times,” Effie said. “Try to make a portal there even though you’ve never been there.”
Basen lifted his left arm, only to let it fall to his side. “I can’t. I have to see where the portal leads before I can make it.”
“Just imagine your room but with Alex’s belongings in it.”
He tried, but it didn’t work. “I have to be able to see it or remember what it looks like. Maybe I could get it to work if I knew there was a familiar object or person within the space. That way I could just think of them when I make the portal, but there’s something else I want to test first. I’m wondering if I need to have visited the place first before making a portal there.”
“Why would that be necessary?” Alex asked.
“Hopefully it’s not, but I’m getting the sense it might be. Let me explain what I’m thinking. It seems to me that manipulating BE causes effects that we can’t see but are important to portals. There’s a place in Tenred that I’ve seen many times, but I’ve never stood there. Once a year, there was a competition for mages in a stadium not too different from Redfield. I would watch from the audience, probably a hundred yards from the actual arena. Countless fireballs have been cast within the arena, so there shouldn’t be a limitation on creating a portal there. But because I’ve never been inside, the BE my body creates has never been within the arena. This might prevent me from making a portal that leads there. Let’s find out.”
Basen tried to cast the spell but could not open the portal. It felt like trying to unlock a door with the wrong key. He shook his head.
Alex paced as he stroked his chin, a slight smile of excitement never leaving his face. “So you can only make a portal leading to where bastial energy has been used frequently before, and you must’ve been there before.”
Basen lifted his right arm. “But with the akorell stone, who knows how those rules might be bent.”
An ominous silence followed as they stared at it.
“I fear what might happen if we try,” Alex said.
“You’re not alone in this thought.”
Effie folded her arms, taunting them with a disappointed look. “Don’t be cowards.”
“Eff! What if the portal leads to another akorell stone in the possession of the murderer?” Alex argued. “What if Basen cannot close the portal? What if it’s so enormous it sucks us in? We might not survive a trip through it!”
“Wait, shhh.” Effie gestured frantically for quiet. “I think I hear something,” she whispered.
Basen felt something then, an added pressure on his mind like a hand on his head, though weightless.
Alex gritted his teeth. “Psyche,” he whispered.
CHAPTER THIRTY
So this is what it feels like to have a psychic latch onto my mind. I know he can’t hear my thoughts, but can he read my emotions well enough to know I want to run?
Their only exit was the absence of a fourth wall ahead of them. Basen drew his sword, holding it with his less skilled right hand so he could keep his wand in his left. Alex, with his own weapon in hand, snuck forward toward the exit. As Effie and Basen followed, their footsteps crunched loudly against the sand.
“He’s somewhere nearby,” Alex whispered, “sensing our presence.”
“I’m going to scream,” Effie whispered, “then we run.”
“I agree with that plan,” Basen said.
Alex halted and grasped the throwing dagger from his belt as he now stood halfway to the opening in the training area. “But he might know who we are now. If we run, he’ll come kill us while we sleep.”
“He probably doesn’t know!” Effie spoke in a hurried murmur. “Even Reela has trouble figuring out who she’s sensing unless it’s someone she’s spent a lot of time with.”
“I say we run,” Basen whispered. “We go to the headmaster’s apartment and figure out what to do from there.”
“I agree,” Effie said. “Ready?”
At that moment, a figure shrouded in black darted around the corner ahead of them, a dagger of pure silver in his right hand, just like the one that had killed Nick. A hood shrouded his face, two holes in it for eyes and one to let in air at the bottom. The three of them didn’t have time to make a sound before he lifted his arm, striking them with a psychic spell of pain.
Basen had never felt anything so agonizing as he collapsed, nearly impaling himself with his own weapon as his hands flew to shield his body. He couldn’t even scream, the pain too immense. It felt as if every muscle were being ripped apart. He could feel nothing but the tearing sensation, not even fear as the psychic ran at them without hesitation.
“Fight it!” Alex grunted as he got to a knee and somehow managed to hurl a dagger at the attacker, who rolled to avoid it. The bastard was agile.
Basen felt as if he would pass out from the pain any moment as his vision blurred. No way did he have the fortitude to resist the spell when it took all of his strength just to stay conscious.
Just get one foot up at a time. His left came up first, but it shook so severely when he tried to put weight on it that tremors ran all the way up his body.
He tried to reach for his wand that he’d dropped with his sword, all the while watching Alex fend off the psychic from his knees. Though nearly disabled from the pain, the warrior swung his sword to keep the murderer back.
“Effie! Shoot him!” Alex choked out.
“I’m trying!”
She’d gotten onto her knees, too, and now aimed her wand. Then she let out a shriek as she fought against the pain to gather bastial energy. Basen could feel it moving toward her.
But the psychic turned and stomped a foot toward them, and a massive wave of pain knocked them flat. Basen writhed on the ground, his heart pounding as panic brought on the urge to vomit. If it was only him, he would’ve given up and accepted death. Then he wouldn’t have to endure this another moment. But Effie and Alex needed him.
Shaking and sweating, he grabbed his wand and screamed to focus. Bastial energy obeyed his will, but Alex couldn’t hold back the agile attacker any longer, taking the silver dagger in his shoulder with a shriek.
“Duck, Alex!” Basen screamed, noticing that Effie had her wand pointed in the same direction.
Moving even slower now, Alex rolled away from the psychic. Basen and Effie fired at the same time, the double explosions against the darkness of night almost too bright to watch.
Rather than dodge the fireballs, the psychic waved a hand, bringing it into a fist. As the burst of light faded, there was no fire to be seen, just streams of yellow and orange as if a sun had simply come apart.
Basen smelled the same thing as he had when Nick was killed, and as he tried to gather energy for another fireball, he could feel none around him. This was the destruction of bastial energy he’d suspected. Even the akorell stone no longer produced a glow.
But at least the pain had dulled. The psychic spell was over, though Basen felt worse than he had when he’d finished three laps around Warrior’s Field. He struggled to get to his feet, his heart still pounding.
He and Effie struggled toward Alex, but the gash in the warrior’s shoulder was deeper than Basen first realized, forcing Alex to move his weapon to his left hand. Before he could attempt an attack, the psychic easily maneuvered around behind him.
In one swift motion, the psychic ripped the blade across Alex’s throat as he tried to turn around. Alex dropped his sword as Effie screamed his name and ran toward him. His hands came over his gaping wound as he collapsed onto the ground.
Basen hurried to get in front of Effie, his sword ready. The pain was gone, adrenaline readying him for battle. Basen charged as the psychic took Alex’s sword from the sand. Basen didn’t know how long the disruption of bastial energy would last, but he needed to kill the psychic before he could cast another spell.
H
e was vaguely aware of Effie yelling Alex’s name, screaming for him to hold on for help. Basen’s first attack was narrowly dodged, and he easily blocked the psychic’s counterattack. Already he could tell he was the stronger swordsmen. He just needed to act quickly.
But the psychic backed away as he fought, soon focusing fully on defense as if realizing he wasn’t Basen’s equal.
The psychic made a quick strike at Basen’s stomach, the first sign of offense, but Basen swatted it away hard enough to take the weapon out of his opponent’s hand.
Then the psychic turned and fled.
“He’s here!” Basen yelled as he ran to catch up. “The murderer’s here!”
“Basen!” Effie’s ear-piercing shriek stopped him. “Help me!”
Basen ran back to the training area, realizing then it would’ve been foolish to chase the murderer. Soon the psychic would’ve been able to use bastial energy to disable Basen again.
“Help me get him to the medical building!” Effie screamed.
But the petite mage wasn’t as strong as Sanya—terrible memories of carrying Nick came flooding back. Alex was heavier than Nick as well. Effie could barely keep hold of his bottom half, giving Basen no good leverage to hold the rest of Alex’s body as his feet dragged.
The warrior was still alive, his hands clasped around his neck. Basen ripped off his shirt and pressed it over the wound, and Alex put his hands over it. Basen took the taller man fully in his arms, carrying him like a bride.
“Stanch the bleeding as much as you can,” he told Effie, who helped Alex hold the shirt over his wound. “You’re going to live, Alex!” Basen screamed as he ran. “The medical building is close.”
His speed was almost too much for Effie to stay with him, so he slowed just enough so she could maintain hold of his shirt. The freezing night air ripped at his skin as Alex gasped and choked and then gurgled.
Basen shifted him to sit him up as much as possible while still running. The warrior was strong and heavy, a boulder in his arms. Basen’s legs started to wobble as he pushed his body to the utmost limit. His arms began to shake. He could see the medical building ahead, though, a blissful sight with lamp light pouring out of the windows.
His vision had begun to blur by the time they made it inside. Someone yelled something unintelligible, and then they were taking Alex from Basen’s arms.
He staggered, feeling as if he couldn’t breathe, suddenly aware that his heart hadn’t slowed since the psychic spell had sent it galloping faster and harder than he’d ever felt in his life. He spotted a chair and tried to fall into it.
*****
He awoke lying flat on his back. People hovered over him he didn’t recognize, third-years by the looks of them. One turned and announced that he was awake.
Steffen came through the small crowd. “How are you feeling, Basen?”
He tried to sit up, but dizziness stopped him halfway and he lay back down. “Fine, is Alex all right?”
“The best healers are helping him right now,” Steffen said. “Many students heard shouts. Some came straight to the medical building, while others went to fetch instructors. I was on my way back from meeting with Jack. After I arrived, Effie told me what happened.”
Basen sat up, closing his eyes to fight against the dizziness. “How is she?”
“Worried. You can see her in a moment. I just need to make sure you’re not going to faint again and crack your skull.”
“I’m fine.” Basen swung his legs over what appeared to be a medical bed, and the third-years got out of his way, a couple holding onto his arms, however. Someone lent him a shirt. He thanked the man as he threw it on.
Students continued to help him unnecessarily as he walked down the hall, where he found Effie seated outside a closed door. She stood and ran forward to hug him.
“Thank you everyone,” Steffen said. “We’ve done everything we can here. Can two of you make sure Terren has been notified? The rest of you should probably go to sleep, if you can.”
A young man and woman volunteered to tell Terren. The rest left after Basen and Effie assured them they didn’t need anything else.
With one arm still around Effie, Basen asked her, “What did the healers say about Alex?”
“They think he was able to drink some caregelow, which is a good sign. But he’s lost a lot of blood and continues to lose more. They’re trying to close the gash in his throat. You weren’t out for long.” Her hold on him tightened. “You got him here so fast. He might live because of you.”
Steffen encourage them to sit down. “We must talk about the incident.”
“Why so soon?” Effie asked.
“Because there might be clues in your memory as to who did this. It must be difficult with Alex in there, possibly dying, but try to ignore that for the moment.”
Effie’s face scrunched in anger. “Steffen, I love you, but you’re the worst person to be here right now. I might have to hit you if you say something else like that about Alex.”
“I’m sorry, Eff. I’ll try to be more sensitive. You know these situations are difficult for me.” He awkwardly touched her arm. “I care about him, too.”
“And so do I,” Basen added, “but Steffen’s right. The murderer revealed a lot tonight.”
“What?” Effie asked. “I can think of nothing.”
“Well for one thing, he might be a she. I believe I was about three or four inches taller. I assume there aren’t more than a hundred men in the Academy that match that lesser height.”
“Do you believe she’s someone in the Academy?” Effie asked.
“I do, because we have too many wall guards for someone to slip by them, and I find it even less likely for someone outside our walls to have felt me making a portal.” A swarm of fear invaded his chest. “Steffen said that you told the people here in the medical building everything already. Did you tell them about the portal?”
She nodded. “Everything I could remember. Basen, whoever it is knows you’re the one making them now. I didn’t see the reason to keep it a secret.”
“She’s right,” Steffen said.
But Effie being right didn’t help relieve his fear. “So now the murderer knows what I can do.”
“We’ll find whoever it is,” Effie assured him.
“Is there anything else you can tell us?” Steffen asked.
“This woman cannot only detect portals,” Basen said, “she’s willing to kill to keep them from opening.”
“Steffen, you and Jack would know better than anyone why someone would do this,” Effie said.
“We’ve been speaking about it, but we’ve yet to come to a theory. Keep going, Basen. What else about this woman can you tell us?”
“She’s obviously a psychic, and she does have the ability to destroy or at least change bastial energy enough so that mages and psychics cannot use it. After she did that, she could no longer hurt us with psyche. Effie, did you smell it?”
“Yes, it was like a stale potion.”
Steffen pulled over a chair and knelt as he rolled out a scroll on it. Then he began to write.
“I don’t think she expected three of us,” Basen continued. “Probably came to the training area ready to kill the caster but then stopped at the sound of our voices. Then she took the time to try to sense who we were, which is when we felt the psyche. What do you think, Effie?”
She stared at the ground, her wavy black hair covering her face. Basen put his hand on her back, and she wiped away a tear as she lifted her head. She looked as if she hadn’t heard him.
“That sounds right to me,” Steffen said, continuing to scribble.
Effie began to breathe loudly, her inhales shaky, her exhales quick. Basen rubbed her back, but it didn’t seem to alleviate her panic. Suddenly she stood up.
“I need to see him. I need to…in case I don’t ever get another chance.”
Steffen jumped up and put both arms around her in an awkward embrace. “You’ll get to see him soon.”
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“After he’s dead!” Effie thrashed, and Steffen let her go.
Basen was confused. Had Effie been exaggerating when she made it seem like Alex would live?
Now crying heavily, she tried the door but found it locked. She began to pound. “Let me see him!”
“Effie…” Basen put his hand on her shoulder. No matter what Alex’s chances were, her bursting into the room wouldn’t help.
She pushed him away and then kicked the door. “Open it!”
“Get away from the door!” someone yelled from inside. “I’m trying to concentrate!”
She kicked even harder. Basen asked Steffen, “Are all of the healers in that room?”
“All three who were on duty.”
Finally the door flew inward. Effie ran in but covered her mouth and sank to her knees at the sight of Alex sprawled out in front of her, bloody and completely still. There were three men in long coats that used to be white but now were stained red. One was hovered over Alex’s neck, blocking the view. Another was leaning in from the other side. The third was handing a tool to the second while screaming over his shoulder, “Get the hell out of here!”
“I want to see him.” Effie reached out for something to help her up, and Basen grabbed her hand. “If he’s going to die, I want to see him first,” she choked out.
“He will die if you distract us, now get out!”
“That means he’s still alive, Eff,” Steffen said.
Basen swept her up, and she didn’t fight him as he carried her out of the room.
Outside, he tried to get her to sit, but she just stood and watched around the edge of the partially open door. Everything the healers said could be heard clearly.
“He’s still losing blood. We have to close the wound better.”
“The caregelow should be working by now.”
“He must’ve swallowed less than we thought. Give him more.”
“Alex, blink if you can hear us.”
Effie stood on her toes, swaying back and forth in hopes of a better glimpse. Basen watched over her head as one of the healers grabbed a vial of silver liquid and held it to Alex’s lips. Basen couldn’t see if Alex drank because too many white-red coats were in the way.
