Shadowguard

by Gama Ray Martinez

  Jez had to lean heavily on Besis, but he nodded. They started toward the building the demon had come from, but Master Besis sighed and shook his head.

  “No, I don’t suppose that will work. I really should maintain an office outside of the practice house. Come, some of the classrooms should be available.”

  They made their way through protection district to a long, one story building. The story of what had happened apparently rushed out in front of them because everywhere, people stared at Jez in wide-eyed shock. They all stopped at the master’s glare, however. Besis pulled open a door. The building was dark, but Besis waved a hand and uttered a word and lanterns all along the hall sprang to life. Unlike the exterior, the hall was white stone and was polished to the point of gleaming in the lantern light. They entered the first room they came to, which had half a dozen wooden chairs arranged in a circle with a small window looking out into the street. Besis helped Jez into one of the chairs and sat in the one next to him.

  “Tell me what happened.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You chose an emotional binding followed by a physical one. Why?”

  “I did?”

  “That was a fear demon, a phobos.” Jez nodded slowly. Master Besis didn’t look surprised he knew the name. “If you hadn’t done the emotional binding, it would’ve still been radiating fear even from the prison you put it in, but why not bind it physically first to deal with the immediate threat?”

  “The gossamer web locks the creature away entirely, but it also prevents any conscious magic from penetrating it. The emotional binding wouldn’t have been able to get through.”

  Jez’s jaw dropped. He had no idea where the words had come from. He wasn’t even entirely sure what they meant. Master Besis, however, nodded.

  “Why did you choose that binding? There are others that would’ve been quicker, though admittedly not as effective.”

  Jez shook his head and his hand went to his forehead. His head was pounding, and it was a struggle to think straight. Master Besis put a hand on his shoulder. He seemed to be fond of that particular gesture.

  “You knew it was there before it came out of the building, didn’t you?” Jez hesitated for a second before nodding. Besis let out a low whistle. “If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it. I’ve never seen instinctual magic of this level.”

  “Instinctual magic?”

  “Magic is just what we call the primal forces of the universe. It’s a living, breathing thing. Certain people have a natural gift in one area or another, but to a blessed few, magic...” he paused for a second as if looking for the right word. He began tapping his foot on the ground, and the sound made Jez’s headache throb. Besis met his gaze, and apparently realizing what he was doing, stopped. “Speaks to them. We don’t entirely understand it, and it hasn’t happened on this level for almost a hundred years. You performed a mid-level binding by instinct. You obviously haven’t trained for it or it wouldn’t have taken so much out of you.”

  “A mid-level?” Jez said. “You mean that thing wasn’t...”

  “Oh it was powerful,” Besis said, “but a few well-placed arrows could’ve taken it down. Most of the big ones are like that. They seem worse than they actually are. The truly dangerous ones don’t need to be so flashy.”

  Jez nodded. It all seemed so familiar. He’d known all of this, and he felt that if he concentrated, he could come up with a lot more information, but it was like trying to remember a dream. The knowledge was there, but it kept slipping through his grasp. He tried to stand up, but his legs shook and he fell back into his seat, groaning at the hard wood. He looked at Besis. “How long will I be like this?”

  “You should be better by the end of the day. You didn’t lose consciousness, so you’re not in any danger. Jezreel, I want you to study binding.” Jez glanced at him, but Besis smiled. “Your natural talent is nothing short of extraordinary. If you could develop that, you might be the greatest binder the Carceri Academy has ever seen.”

  “But Baron Dusan has already picked my first term classes.”

  “The term hasn’t started yet. Those classes can still be changed, provided the baron approves, of course. We’ll contact him right now if you’re willing.”

  “It’s not exactly a noble’s area of study, is it?”

  “It’s not generally considered such, no, but practically every noble has dipped their fingers in one improper area of study or another. Even Dusan did that.”

  “He did?”

  “Oh yes. He was quite gifted at binding, from what I’ve been told. There was even talk of him becoming protection master. Of course, they also said the same about destruction, secrets, and knowledge. He could’ve easily been chancellor if he hadn’t decided to commit himself to King Haziel’s court. He was gifted in almost every branch of magic he studied. He’s one of the few who could easily grasp magics in multiple dominions. Didn’t you know?” Jez shook his head. “Well, what do you say? Do you want to ask him? Given what I saw, I wouldn’t be surprised if you surpassed your patron, in binding at least.”

  Jez thought back to his confrontation with the phobos. That creature had not belonged in this world. It had been alien and wrong. Such things had no place among mortals. His eyes wandered down to the prison in Master Besis’s hand. What had he called it? A gossamer web. Somehow, he knew that the demon wasn’t truly contained in the doll. Rather, the doll was a doorway to some dark and terrible realm, the only place where such creatures belonged. Such creatures couldn’t be killed, at least not while in the mortal world. It felt right that he had bound it away even if the effort had left him so weak from exhaustion he could barely stand.

  “All right,” he said. “I’ll do it.”

  CHAPTER 7

  They entered the bottom level of the central spire, a single room with a vaulted ceiling. Colored light shone through the stained-glass windows casting rainbow patterns on the marble ground. Two guards stood at the entrance to a corridor. Besis instructed him to wait while he deposited the phobos’s prison in a secure location. The protection master was only gone for a few minutes before returning and leading Jez up the stairs on the opposite side of the room.

  The Academy’s speaking stone was in a room at the top of the central spire, and Besis started up, but Jez hesitated. After spending all day climbing the mountain and being drained by his efforts against the phobos, Jez looked at the stairs with an almost primal dread. Besis looked over his shoulder and cleared his throat. Jez sighed and started following. The stairs wound up on the inside of the spire’s outer wall, and he and Besis climbed the stairs slowly, stopping often for Jez to catch his breath. Every once in a while, they would pass a door on one side and window on the other. The black city below almost seemed to swallow the light of the setting sun. The first time he looked down on the protection district¸ the damage caused by his confrontation with the phobos had been obvious, but every time they circled around, the damage had lessened. By the time they reached the top, his legs felt like jelly, and he was covered in sweat. The city had been completely repaired.

  Besis said the Academy preferred its students to keep their concentration on their studies, so access to the speaking stone was restricted and deliberately made difficult. Master Besis spoke to the two men standing guard for a few seconds before they stepped aside. Unlike the stone in Dusan’s manor, this one was deep blue, and if Jez stared into it, he could almost hear the sounds of waves crashing against the shore. Besis nodded at Jez who felt his face redden. He shifted his weight from one foot to another and didn’t look up.

  “What is it?” Besis asked.

  “I’ve never actually used one of those things.”

  Besis raised an eyebrow. “Oh come on. Everyone has used...” His features softened. “Oh, I see. I suppose that would make sense, wouldn’t it?”

  “I only lived with Baron Dusan for six months. The only person I really talked to was my father and the other people I grew up with. None of them ha
ve speaking stones.”

  One of the guards snorted, but Master Besis shot him a glare that could’ve cut stone. The guard paled and suddenly found the wall to be most interesting as he studied it. Besis turned to Jez and gave him a smile that melted away his embarrassment.

  “Well, that’s a problem that’s easily enough resolved. Do you have a stone keyed to it?” Jez shrugged, and Besis frowned. “Likely, the baron thought you’d taken an impression of it.”

  Jez stared at the master, the meaning of the words lost on him. Besis opened a drawer and pulled out a milky white stone on a gold chain. He pressed it against the speaking stone for a second and closed his eyes. Both stones flickered for an instant, and Besis handed the smaller one to Jez.

  “This is now sender-keyed to the school’s stone so you’ll be able to contact it more easily. All you need to do is touch it to another stone in range and think of the Academy. It won’t help connect to the Baron’s though, so put it away. Now, I assume you’ve seen the baron’s stone.”

  “Yes, a couple of times.”

  “Good, what color is it?”

  “Clear.”

  “Really? Those are incredibly rare and have nearly limitless range. I don’t suppose you’ve touched it.” Jez shook his head. “Well, no matter. Picture the stone in your mind.”

  “I don’t really remember exactly what it looks like. I never saw it for more than a few seconds.”

  “That doesn’t matter. Just imagine it, and be sure you associate it with the baron in your mind. When that’s done, touch the stone.”

  Jez concentrated until he could see the stone in his head. The crystal in front of him hummed, and the image in his mind began to change. It wasn’t just a stone. It was Dusan’s stone. Lights in the speaking stone began to swirl, and Jez could almost see figures inside. He reached out and lay a finger on it. It gave him a small shock and he drew back. The stone was pulsing, intermittently giving off blue and white light. He looked at Besis.

  “The baron’s stone is doing the same thing right now as is any stone that’s receiver-keyed to it, if it’s close enough. If he’s able, he’ll answer soon.”

  Sure enough, after a few minutes, the pulsing vanished, and the swirling resolved into the image of a face. Distorted by the crystal, at first, Jez thought it was his own reflection, but the face was more wrinkled, and the nose more pointed, just like Baron Dusan’s.

  “Jezreel,” he said. “This is a pleasant surprise. Most boys don’t call home nearly so soon after leaving it.”

  The way he said ‘home’ made it sound like Jez belonged with him instead of with his father. Jez glanced at Besis who nodded. “Master Besis thought I should call.”

  “Besis?” The face in the stone glanced at the master. “Besis, I don’t believe I know you.”

  “I’ve never had the pleasure, Baron,” Besis said, inclining his head. “I’m the Academy’s protection master.”

  Dusan’s lip twitched, though Jez couldn’t be sure if it had actually happened or if it was just some trick of the light. “Ah yes. That would explain it. I didn’t concern myself much with that field after I graduated.” He turned back to Jez. “So to what do I owe this pleasure?”

  Besis cleared his throat, and the baron gave him an annoyed look, but his attention quickly returned to Jez. Jez looked at Besis for support, and the protection master shrugged and motioned for him to go on. Slowly, Jez recounted the story of the phobos coming out of the building and how he’d bound it. He left out the part about how the effort had exhausted him, but even so, when he was done, Dusan’s eyes narrowed at the story, and he glared at Besis.

  “Security around the Academy has become rather lax since I attended. Isn’t taking care of a minor fear demon something better suited for the protection master than a student who hasn’t even begun his studies yet?”

  “Normally yes,” Besis said, “but the boy reacted before I did. He’s amazingly fast. Once I saw he had the situation under control, I decided to let it play out. I was prepared in case he faltered. Rest assured, Baron, he was in no danger.”

  “You’ll excuse me if I don’t take your word for it,” he said. “I’ll be wanting to speak with the chancellor as soon as he is able.”

  “Of course,” Besis said, though is expression said he was anything but happy about it. “There is one other thing I wanted to discuss with you. As the situation demonstrated, young Jezreel has a rare gift for binding. I would like your permission to replace one of his classes with binding, or I could arrange to tutor him privately, if you prefer.”

  “Absolutely not,” Dusan said. “The classes I enrolled him in are essential for his education, though I am beginning to wonder if the Academy is the proper place for him. I’m not sure you’re capable of dealing with instinctual magic on this level. I think that perhaps I should handle that.”

  Besis raised his hands toward the crystal. “There’s no need to be hasty.”

  “Jezreel was not on campus for an hour before he was attacked by one of your demons.”

  “Please, at least speak with the chancellor first. Jezreel has a great deal of potential, and it would be a shame for that to go to waste.”

  Besis nodded. “I will speak with him, but I won’t promise I’ll change my mind. No binding, though.”

  “But Baron Dusan,” Jez said.

  The image in the crystal turned to him, and for a moment, it seemed to glow brighter as the baron’s brow wrinkled in barely controlled anger. Jez had only seen that expression once, when the king’s tax collector had demanded to see Dusan’s books. At the time, Jez had wondered if Dusan was hiding something from the king, but nothing had ever come of it.

  “No, Jezreel,” the baron said. “The world is dangerous enough without you meddling with binding, especially without proper supervision. I don’t want you to have anything to do with it.”

  Jez barely noticed Besis scowling at the insult. “But...”

  “I’ve made my decision. Now, Master Besis, I’ll expect to be hearing from the chancellor before the end of the day. I’ll make sure he keeps you away from Jezreel.”

  “That’s not necessary. I’ll abide by your wishes.”

  “So you say.” His voice was flat and emotionless. He turned back to Jez and his features softened. He showed none of the anger that had been present a moment ago. “It’s good to hear from you. I hope the rest of your term is more pleasant than your first day. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  The image of the baron faded before Jez had a chance to reply. The stone went still, but Jez stared at it until Master Besis cleared his throat. Jez looked up.

  “Well he didn’t take that very well, did he?”

  Jez looked from the crystal to Master Besis and back again. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it before he said anything. He opened it again, but no words came out.

  “Out with it.”

  “Master Besis, it just felt so right. Maybe I could...”

  “No.”

  “You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

  “You were going to suggest studying binding without the baron knowing. No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Aside from the fact that your patron has forbidden it, binding isn’t something you can study in backrooms hidden away from everyone, not if you want to live long. We have an entire building devoted to it covered in protective magic. Even that’s not always enough as you well know.”

  Jez glanced out the window. Though from this height, he couldn’t tell one building from another, he imagined the building the phobos had come out of. He nodded.

  “It’s too dangerous to study away from those protections,” Besis said, “and the building is too public for me to teach you in secret.”

  “But...”

  “Don’t worry. I’m not about to give up on you. The baron may change his mind once he calms down, but for now the matter is closed.”

  CHAPTER 8

  Jez was assigned quarters on the second level of th
e central spire. His rooms were bigger than his father’s house, nearly as big as the rooms he’d had in Baron Dusan’s manor. The bed was soft and every time Jez lay down in it, he thought it was going to swallow him. In a drawer by the bed, he found several silver buttons, the sign of the upper tier at the Academy. Additionally, a number of brown acolyte robes had been added to his clothing chest. He wouldn’t be issued colored robes until was promoted to adept and picked an area of study. A dream tapestry hung on one wall, though one of the servants promised to remove it if Jez wished. He also had a sitting room containing two cushioned chairs and a small table. A fireplace big enough for him to stand in sat in one wall. It all seemed so wasteful, and he thought the idea would keep him awake, but as soon as he got into bed, the exhaustion from the day settled on him, and he fell asleep.

  Early the first morning, there was a heavy knock. Jez rolled out of bed and threw on the same shirt from the day before. He stumbled into his sitting room and opened the door to find a tall man with dark skin. He wore a blade on his belt.

  “Jezreel Bartinson?” Jez nodded. “I am Murus. Baron Dusan has hired me to teach you the blade.”

  Jez glanced out the window. The sky had just begun to redden in the light of the rising sun, and Jez’s eyelids felt heavy.

  “Do we have to do it so early?”

  Murus rolled his eyes. “What else were you going to do with the beginning of the day? Come. Change into some fighting clothes. Leave your weapon. You won’t be needing it today.”

  Jez had no idea what “fighting clothes” were so he put on some of the clothes the baron had given him. As soon as he came out of his room, Murus sent him back in and told him that his clothes, a silk shirt and trousers, were too fine and likely to be ruined by their training. Jez changed into a homespun shirt with plain brown pants, one of the few outfits he still had from living with his father. Murus approved of this.