The Uncanny Raven Winston

by Tammie Painter

"Olivia is quite strong. You don’t get to her position without having supreme control over your magic." I didn’t miss the admiration in his voice.

  "And Rafi?"

  "He’s an elf. Their magic is a little different than ours, which means they have a unique ability to be around Magics like you. They’re usually the ones we employ to teach and train young absorbers. Plus, with these," he handed me one of the vests, "it will be even safer. For everyone."

  The vests, similar to the Kevlar vests worn by police, were able to absorb the majority of an impact from a spell. Unfortunately, just like its Kevlar comrade, it did nothing if a spell was aimed at your head, your arms, your throat, or your legs.

  "That’s why they’re really only good in sparring where you will be directing your spells at the chest only," Busby told me. "Any spells aimed otherwise would be cause for immediate dismissal."

  "But what if I aim for the chest and my opponent ducks and I end up hitting their head?"

  Mr. T tapped the center of my vest. His fingers made a hollow thunk.

  "This vest has sensors that detect where a spell has been aimed. It then pulls the spell to that point. If you aim at the chest, it will always hit the chest."

  "So why not just make it so the vests pull every spell to the chest?"

  "The technology is being developed. You know," he said, again with admiration brightening his words, "you come up with some ridiculous ideas, but also some brilliant ones. You might look into magical engineering if, well, if the test is a success."

  Before I could ask him to elaborate on that hesitant little "if", Mr. Tenpenny was describing a Shield Spell, a Binding Spell, a Throwing Spell, a Stunning Spell, and what seemed like an entire year’s worth of self-defense classes all rolled into a single exhausting morning.

  Each hour on the hour, a cake with two spongey layers and a center filled with strawberry jam appeared. This hunk of deliciousness, called a Victoria sandwich, was the only thing that kept me on my feet as I moved over and over through the spells until they became almost a dance. They reminded me of the graceful forms I once learned when I took Tae Kwon Do for my P.E. credit during my stint at community college. Graceful, yes, but the moves in those forms were meant to give you the muscle memory to fight in a sequence of punches, kicks, and turns with wicked efficiency.

  A series of bells finally tolled the noon hour.

  "We’ll stop there," said Mr. T. The sky, while still bright, had slowly filled with high, thin clouds, making the air warm and humid. I felt like a disheveled mess from my exertions, but Busby still looked as fresh as he had at the start. His steel grey hair hadn’t even moved a millimeter out of place. The only concession to our physical efforts had been when he rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt. Maybe being dead wasn’t all that bad. "You did quite well, Cassie."

  I’d been hunched over, hands on knees as sweat dribbled down my forehead, but at his compliment I glanced up. "Well enough for you to tell me what this test is really about?"

  "Not that well, no," he replied with a rueful grin. "Olivia will be here after lunch, and don’t be shy about filling up. Wait, why am I telling you this? Food is one aspect where you are never shy."

  "A girl’s gotta eat." And when you’ve missed as many meals as I have, you don’t turn down free food. To prove the point, I popped the remaining piece of Victoria sandwich into my mouth.

  A whole new cake appeared on the platter.

  "Whoa!"

  "Yes, quite a convenient amenity of the Tower."

  "It only works here?" I asked, full of disappointment.

  "And only if you’re Magic. Otherwise the tourists would never leave. Now, while I’m glad we’ve discovered an aspect of magic you actually approve of, you do need something more nutritious." He picked up the cake platter and a new plate appeared on the table with a mound of fries and a thick sandwich that was practically overflowing with chicken, tomatoes, and lettuce.

  Test prep training was hard, but it did have its benefits.

  26 - BUTTING HEADS

  AFTER MR. TENPENNY left — taking the cake with him, much to my disappointment — I finished my sandwich then began testing out the food replenishing thing to see how quickly more fries would appear once I’d eaten the last one. My experiment was disturbed when the door to the rec area opened.

  "Cassie, there you are."

  "Hey, Tobey," I said through a mouthful of fries. Tobey’s interruption was probably for the best since I’d already eaten so many, I was at risk of turning into a potato.

  Tobey sat beside me on the bench and took the last fry for himself. Without even asking! Oh well, there was more where that came from, I thought as another mound popped onto the plate.

  "Look, while you were keeping my grandad occupied, I made a little progress."

  "You went to the file room without me?"

  "Well yeah, I didn’t think you’d mind. You can help more tonight. Anyway, I may have found something."

  I sat up straighter, ready to run to the file room right that very second.

  "No, don’t get all keyed up. It’s just a lead pointing me to another file. Kilbride’s file."

  "We should have started there."

  "Maybe, but I still think it’s better to go through all the files. I mean, they’ve got plenty of stuff on Kilbride, but since they didn’t know he was the Mauvais until just recently, there may not be much of importance in there. But it’s still worth a look, right?"

  "Sure," I said and pushed the plate away.

  "I thought you’d be pleased," he said moodily.

  "I just keep feeling like this is completely pointless. If they knew anything, they’d have acted on it."

  "But they do know something. There’s rumors. There’s got to be information they’ve overlooked. Come on, say you’ll come tonight and we can look it over together."

  "Fine, but I can’t stay up too late." I put up my fists like a cartoon boxer. "I’ve got a fight tomorrow."

  "Don’t worry, it shouldn’t take too long. Still, this test is good for one thing."

  "Which is?" I prodded, hoping Tobey knew something more about the test than Mr. T would tell me.

  "It’s keeping Alastair away from you. I just don’t trust that guy. And neither should you."

  "You’re being ridiculous." Is what I said, but hadn’t I thought the exact same thing about Alastair multiple times? Wasn’t I the one always whining about his true motives? Still, I didn’t need Tobey Tenpenny telling me what to do.

  Tobey eyed me as if he wanted to say more but knew it was best if he held his tongue. He shrugged, then polished off the rest of the fries, all but one to keep the plate from refilling.

  Not long after he left, Olivia showed up as a one o’clock bell chimed in the distance. Where Mr. Tenpenny had been encouraging and offered explanations on how to adjust my actions to better execute a spell and avoid a curse, Olivia put me through my paces.

  I missed deflecting so many of her spells that my sternum under the sparring vest was aching after only an hour. The tolling of the two o’clock bell started a full-on Pavlovian response and my belly rumbled at the thought of cake. My attention went to the side table where desserts had appeared before. Just at that moment of distraction, Olivia hit my legs so fiercely with a Binding Spell I tripped over my own feet and crash landed on the ground.

  "You’re not supposed to go for the legs," I complained as I checked the scrapes on my elbows.

  "And you’re supposed to be able to defend yourself from that." She held out a hand to help me up. Despite my sweating brow, her hand was cool to the touch. "Come on, let’s see what they’ve conjured for your afternoon snack."

  The afternoon snack turned out to be raspberry scones. The scent of them reminded me of Alastair. As I ate, Olivia lectured.

  "You already know you need to find a balance between your two sides. But what you also need to imagine is a membra
ne around you that allows only magic for spells out, and doesn’t allow someone else’s magic to be taken in. Alastair told me he worked with you on this." I nodded and admitted I’d had some trouble with it. "That’s to be expected. We’ll work on that next, but I am worried about your progress. By now, with the training you did previously with Alastair, you should at least be able to hold a Shield Spell throughout any fight. Unless you’ve been seriously cursed, a Shield Spell should be your immediate line of defense."

  "I know that in theory, but it’s just not the first spell that comes to mind."

  "What is?"

  "Shoving," I said, somewhat embarrassed. It was the first spell I’d learned — well, besides bringing back the dead, but that was more accidental mishap than trained skill.

  "Shoving is effective, but perhaps try to picture shoving out a shield instead. You need to take what you’re good at, then put a new spin on it to make other spells work with it. Eventually, you’ll be able to do most any spell without falling back on your stand by, but falling back is a good place to start."

  "Better than falling forward," I said, holding up my elbow to show the scrape.

  "Yes, sorry about that, but you really must learn these things."

  After another couple hours, and another five thousand calories worth of treats, Rafi took over from Olivia, and the afternoon of torture continued.

  Unlike Mr. Tenpenny and Olivia, Rafi seemed not to care one lick about the rules of sparring, and I took blows to my legs and arms. One of his spells — a Flaming Arrow Curse — whizzed past my ear so closely, I could smell my hair singe.

  Sometime after the five o’clock break, I’d had enough of playing by the rules and of getting battered by a cheater. I don’t know what Rafi had been trying to hit me with, but I responded with a sharp nod of my head, using a combination of my giving side and a Shoving Charm to send out a pulse of power as I pictured head butting my elvish opponent.

  Rafi staggered back three paces, then rubbed his forehead. I fought back the urge to cheer my success.

  "What was that?" he asked.

  "Olivia said to use what I know. I’ve head butted a few people in my time." In fact, it was a head butt that taught Foster Dad Number Six not to grab me by the arms and shake me so violently I thought my teeth might fly out. "I sort of pictured the Shoving Charm while doing the action."

  "That’s exactly what you need to do," he said with delight. "And now that I know what to expect, maybe I can defend myself from it. Which is an important lesson not to forget. Magics are quick learners, so don’t get too reliant on any one spell. Your opponent will observe what you use and will quickly adapt to it. You want to always keep them on their toes. It’s sometimes the only way to win against an enemy."

  The temptation to ask about the Mauvais, about what people had used against him, about his signature spell all churned inside me, but Rafi had already assumed his fighting stance, signaling it was time for more work.

  "For the next hour, neither of us will use the same spell more than once. Are you ready?"

  "No, but I don’t think that’s going to get me out of this, is it?"

  "Not in the least," he said with an infectious grin.

  Even with another pile of scones, I thought I might just lay down on the bench and sleep for a month after that hour. But on the other hand, there was a small sense of pride in me that I hadn’t repeated any spells. Sure, I copied some of the ones Rafi had used on me, but that wasn’t against his rules.

  "You did great. Not perfect, but if you do tomorrow what you did today, you should pass the test. No guarantees, though."

  These Magics really could use a class in the proper ways of giving encouragement. But before I could complain, a plate of pasta tossed with black beans, roasted vegetables, and cheese appeared.

  Rafi then placed his slim hand on my arm. The gesture came as a shock as most Magics avoid touching me because they don’t want to get sucked dry by my super-absorbent brand of magic. "I do hope you’ll do well tomorrow," he said with warm sincerity. "I can see why Alastair won’t stop talking about you. Now, eat up and get some rest."

  27 - CHECKING IN

  OF COURSE, RAFI was already out the door before my gobsmacked mouth could ask what exactly Alastair had been saying about me.

  And as for resting? I had files to sift through. I had parents to find. I figured I could get a quick, carb-induced nap, breeze through the Kilbride file with Tobey, then try to get some sleep before my ordeal the next day.

  Once I’d finished three plates of pasta — leaving a single black bean to keep the plate from refilling — I started down the stairs. And promptly realized I didn’t know how to get back to my room. How many flights had Mr. Tenpenny and I climbed that morning? Which corridors in this maze of a place had we crossed?

  Needing to get my bearings, I emerged from the stairwell. I’d hoped to find a window so I could see how high up and on what side of the building I was on, but the hallway was fully dark. Eerily dark, because I knew it was still light outside and would be for a few more hours. Somewhere beyond the walls a raven cawed.

  "Lost?"

  My entire body tensed as a faint hint of ozone tickled my nostrils. From several yards down the hall, a small point of sea-colored light grew and expanded.

  "Banna? Is that you?" I asked, but I held my arms up, my fingers buzzing with magic and ready to throw out one of the billion defensive spells that were bumping into each other inside my head.

  "Yes, very good."

  The light grew brighter, glowing above the small woman who approached me.

  "Don’t tell me I have another lesson."

  "No, not at all. I just wanted to wish you well. How are you and Tobey getting along? Finding anything interesting?"

  "You know what Tobey and I are doing?" And, I wanted to say, no, I wasn’t finding anything interesting because all the interesting files had gone missing.

  "I do." She said this with a mischievous smile on her face. "I gave him the idea to help you with your research." She began walking back toward the stairwell. I followed her, assuming she would guide me back to my room. Then I remembered what she had told me when we first met.

  "You could speed the process up, you know. You said you knew the history of all Magics. You have to know about my parents."

  "Of course I know about your parents, dear. But that doesn’t mean I know everything. After all, I can’t know events that weren’t witnessed by another Magic, and I can’t know feelings or intentions. Besides, not every piece of paperwork crosses my path." This seemed contrary to what she had implied before when she had said straight out that she knew the histories of all Magics, even the stories they didn’t know themselves.

  As if reading my thoughts, she said, "I know the general histories. I know when things happened such as your parents going missing, supposedly killed, but I don’t know the details of what they did that final day, of where they went, that sort of thing. Is that information somewhere in our files? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But I figure you deserve time to look, which is why I haven’t told Olivia about your little exploits."

  Banna left the stairwell through a side door that would have been easy to miss. The hallway we entered had a hotel’s carpeted blandness and the first room we passed was numbered thirty-nine. And oddly enough, someone had left a garden gnome outside that door. I wondered if the gnomes were sold in the souvenir shop and this was some sort of product-placement advertising.

  "Now, I know you had plans," said Banna when we stopped at my door, "but I don’t think going tonight is the wisest idea."

  "Not tonight? Are you kidding? Do you understand how important this is?" I was tired, I was sore, and if I dared to admit it, I was scared about what was going to happen tomorrow. All this, plus the underlying emotional strain of wanting to find my parents, of wanting to trust Alastair, of wanting to be home, added a quaver to my voice.

  "I
do understand, but they’ve got a watch on you tonight. If you leave your room, they’ll know. Besides, you really do need your rest, dear. You’re practically in tears as it is."

  In truth, the effort of the training had hit me with full force as I’d been speaking with Banna. I was exhausted. Too exhausted to bother questioning why I was under surveillance. And even the hard bed in my room seemed like an island paradise compared to trekking down hallways and stairwells to locate the file room. I nodded my agreement and Banna wished me a good evening as I staggered into my room.

  I collapsed into bed and passed out. When I woke, it was fully dark out and someone was knocking on my door. I groaned a curse. It was probably Tobey mad at me for being late. I’d assumed Banna would have told him I couldn’t come. I bumbled over to the door, pulled it open, and was greeted by a cupcake.