The Channeler

by William Kline

  The young man snorted as well. Tommy was beginning to think these people all had nasal problems. “We’ll ask the questions around here, thank you very much. Your way may be smoother, but dropping the extra stone away is how it is done,” the emphasis on the last four words seemed to indicate to Tommy like it was some sort of immutable rule.

  The questions went on and on for quite some time. Some of them seemed to stem from genuine interest in Tommy’s spell – Tommy found himself discoursing back and forth with an elderly gentleman for quite some time on the specific mechanics of the spell, and the man’s questions gave Tommy some ideas about how he could change the spell, perhaps to make much larger objects. Other questions were less friendly, however – there were a lot of questions that began with “What were you thinking?”, and usually centered around Tommy’s gross breach of tradition, rules, or protocol.

  It felt like several hours passed before the barrage of questions and criticism was interrupted by a knock at the door; it was the student Nick who had escorted Tommy previously. All eyes in the classroom turned to regard the newcomer, but Nick didn’t seem fazed at all. He simply bowed and said, “Beg your pardon, Great Masters, but I’ve been sent to fetch your guest. It is time for him to return.” There was a good deal of muttering and grumbling in the room, but Tommy felt like a rag run repeatedly through a wringer, and the words were like salvation to him. Tommy turned to leave, but was stopped short when one of the instructors cleared his throat quite loudly, giving him pause. As a group, the entire assemblage rose and bowed slightly at the waist to Tommy. The man who had cleared his throat intoned, “We thank you for your instruction, honored guest. Depart as you came, in peace.”

  Not knowing what to say, but feeling like he should probably say something, Tommy bowed back and gave his best formal reply. “Thank you, It was my pleasure.”

  It seemed to be enough to satisfy the group, because they left their places and began to form small groups, speaking softly to one another, and Nick motioned for Tommy to join him. Gratefully, Tommy did so. “Come on,” Nick said hurriedly, “We have to go.”

  “Let’s do it,” Tommy replied gratefully, and they were off.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Nick led Tommy through more hallways that were all the same pressed-looking dirt and polished to a bright sheen. They could have been the same hallways that they’d gone through before, or perhaps they were different; Tommy still couldn’t tell one from another. Nick kept glancing back at Tommy as they walked, and after the fourth or fifth time, it started to make Tommy nervous.

  “What? What’s wrong?” he finally asked.

  Nick stopped walking and looked abashed. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I talked to Nancy a little bit - she sat near you at lunch. She told me some things about your school. You must really be dreading going back, after seeing how things work here.”

  Tommy couldn’t stop himself from barking a laugh at that. “No, Nick, it’s… it’s really good, at my school. It’s… free. I wouldn’t leave for anything.“

  Nick stared at Tommy for a long moment before shaking his head, shrugging, and setting off down the hallway again. “It just seems so… hard. Stressful. How do you deal with it?”

  Tommy didn’t know how to answer. It was clear Nick couldn’t understand, so he just shook his head and kept walking. Finally, with no further words spoken, they arrived at the door to the cloak room where Tommy had changed earlier. Standing next to the door was the instructor that had escorted Tommy and the class to lunch, an anxious, furtive look on his face. As they approached, the man spoke.

  “Mister… Thomas, is it?” he asked, and then continued without waiting for a response. “A brief word, if you please?”

  Nick bowed to the man. “Beg pardon, Great Master, but Master Duffington is waiting for us. We need to hurry.”

  The instructor scoffed. “The mute can wait. I’ll only be a moment. Mister Thomas?”

  Tommy shrugged and joined the man, who guided him a dozen steps down the hallway – not far, but enough that Nick would no longer be able to hear them if they whispered, which is exactly what the man did.

  “You are quite the impressive young man, “ he began. “You could do very well under our instruction. You know that our founder is the greatest earth mage who has ever lived, right?”

  Tommy nodded that he knew that; He remembered hearing something about that before. The instructor continued to whisper, while looking around furtively as if to ensure that no one would see them speaking. “You’ve seen our school, you’ve seen how well our students are treated, and how well organized we are. You would do very well here, indeed.”

  Tommy shook his head. “Thank you, sir, but no thank you. I’m happy at my school.”

  The older man made a ‘tsk’ sound. “No one is asking you to decide right now, of course. I’m sure you are probably anxious to get back to a more familiar place, right now, tired as you are. I… er, we, that is, we just wanted to let you know that you are welcome here, and that a young man of your potential always has options. We would even make special consideration based on your previous training.” He looked around one more time before grabbing Tommy’s hand and pressing an object into it. Tommy looked down at the object. It was a small, chipped marble stone with a single exotic rune carved in one side. He studied it a moment before turning a puzzled gaze back to the instructor.

  “Just give it power – fill it with magic, as you would say – and it will call to us, and we will come get you. Someone will hear your call, and we will come save you.” The man closed Tommy’s fist around the stone. “Just hold onto it and… think about it, okay?”

  With that, the instructor turned on his heel and strode confidently down the hall, as if he’d not just been whispering and acting sneakily. Tommy watch him go, almost too stunned to react. Why, he wondered, could these people not see that he was happy with his school? A tug at his sleeve jerked him out of his thoughts; It was the boy Nick.

  “We really need to go. Please. Master Duffington is waiting, and he is not a patient master. You’re going to get me in a lot of trouble!”

  Tommy nodded and headed into the cloak room. His clothes were hanging right where he left them, and he dressed hurriedly. He was pleased to see that the spellbinder was still where he left it, rolled into his shirt and tucked into his jeans, and he quickly shucked the robe and began dressing as fast as he could. The last thing he wanted was to be responsible for getting Nick in trouble, especially after the boy was at least passing nice to him. After dressing, he stuffed the spellbinder into one pocket, and, after a moment’s thought, put the rune-carved stone in another. He didn’t know if the two magical objects could affect each other by rubbing together in his pockets, but he didn’t want to take a chance; when he was much younger, he’d put a match and a stone together in one of his pockets, and he’d gotten quite an unpleasant surprise when the match had suddenly lit itself in his pocket. He didn’t know if magic worked like that, but he was smart enough to admit to himself that he shouldn’t take pointless chances with things he really didn’t understand.

  Emerging from the room, Nick led him off at a pace that had him jogging to keep up, and in short order they were almost running head-first into Sir Duffington, who was coming the other way in the hallway, evidently looking for them. The silent man pointed to Nick and made a gesture of dismissal, then pointed to Tommy, gestured for him to follow, and turned and began walking without bothering to see if Tommy was following. Tommy hurried after him, not wanting to be abandoned, get lost in these identical hallways, and miss his only chance at a ride out of here. The sergeant made an abrupt turn into a room, grabbed Tommy’s arm when he followed, and suddenly Tommy found himself back in the dingy alley in Budapesht. A few moments later and he was back in the coffee shop, where Micah and Lord Nence were just shaking hands and preparing to depart.

  Micah turned to smile at Tommy, and gestured toward the door. “I’ll be you are tired, and that you would enjoy find
ing your bed, eh Tommy?” Micah grinned. Tommy found himself both refreshed and comforted by the man’s manner, and he grinned back. Tommy nodded, and Micah said, “Then let’s go home.”

  As they left the shop and began walking down the street, Chancellor Duvey in the lead and Tommy walking a few paces behind him with Micah, the archmage turned his head to look at Tommy.

  “So… what did you think about Lord Nence’s school?”

  Tommy didn’t really know where to begin. “It’s… okay, I guess,” was all he could reply as he tried to organize his thoughts.

  “What did they offer you to go join them?” Tommy jumped, and Micah laughed at his surprise. “You didn’t think I’d know that they’d try to recruit you? They’d have been stupid not to. So, what did they offer you?”

  “Ummm… they said they’d give me ‘special consideration’. Is that an offer?”

  Micah laughed again. “I’m sure Lord Nence thinks so. So, are you considering their offer? I won’t stop you if you want to go, of course. You are free to leave at any time.”

  “What? NO!” Tommy was emphatic, shaking his head violently. Micah opened his mouth to speak, but Tommy spoke right over top of him. “I… I hated every single thing about the school! It was awful! I just said it was okay because I didn’t know what else to say. I don’t know how those people live like that!” Tommy ran down as he realized that he was speaking very loudly, and Chancellor Duvey was glaring daggers at him over his shoulder.

  Micah, however, was chuckling. “People can get used to anything, Tommy. But more importantly, turning over control to someone else is the hardest thing to do, and the easiest thing to get accustomed to. Think about it. You have to get yourself up in the morning, get yourself showered, eat breakfast, and make sure you are at your first class on time. How easy would it be to have all of that laid out for you? To just follow the program like a robot? Of course, it comes with a downside, as you saw. Turning over control means turning over your freedom. It also means no opportunity to succeed.”

  Tommy considered that. “The man who spoke to me said that I’d do very well in his school.”

  “I’ll bet he did. But what he meant was that he thought you’d fit into their mold. You see, Lord Nence is terrified of success. I’ve told you that powerful men are always afraid of losing their power. Nence lives in constant fear that one of his students will outstrip him. That’s why all his students progress at the same rate. No one stands out. There are no superstars, there are no failures.”

  “That’s…. terrible,” was all Tommy could say.

  “To people like you and me, it is. You have the will, the drive to be something more. But to people who lack the drive to be something more, it’s comforting. It means they never have to try hard, they never have to work for anything, they just coast through life, expecting everything to be handled for them.”

  Tommy stopped walking for a moment as he considered that. They’d come to the alley that they had arrived in, and Chancellor Duvey turned and walked into it, with Micah a few steps behind him. Tommy stuck his hand into his pocket and dug out the rune carved stone that the man had given him. He regarded it for a long moment, and finally dropped it down into a sewer grate before turning and following Micah into the alley.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  When he’d returned home, it was still fairly early, and James, Ryan, and Sam had a ton of questions for him. Tommy was too exhausted, however. He was even too tired to go to dinner, he just went to his room, laid a soft, dry towel over his eyes, and went straight to sleep.

  He awoke the next morning to the sounds of his roommates scurrying around. “What’s going on?” Tommy asked, sitting up and taking the towel off his head. Glancing at the clock, he realized that he’d slept without moving for almost 14 hours, and was feeling a little muddle-headed for it.

  “It’s testing day!” Sam exclaimed excitedly, bouncing up and down on his bed with an apple in his hand. “They brought us breakfast and told us we can’t leave the room. We’re all to be tested!”

  Tommy leaned back against the wall while sitting on his bed and groaned. “Why’d they have to pick today?”

  Ryan simply laughed and tossed him an orange from a tray. “You’ll be fine, Tommy boy. You know you’ll do great. Besides, you just slept half a day. Must have needed your beauty rest. Looks like he could probably use a little more, eh, James?” he quipped, nudging the bigger boy with his elbow.

  James, however, didn’t laugh. Instead, he looked very pale, almost sickly. “I don’t know. I… I think I need more time to prepare.”

  “Prepare?” Ryan scoffed. “How could you possibly prepare any more? You’ve done the lessons just like the rest of us!”

  “I just… I need… I… *urk*”, James exclaimed, gaining a decidedly green pallor and dashing for the door. He ripped it open and plowed out, ignoring the protests of the older student outside. As the door slammed behind him, Tommy and Ryan met each other’s eyes for a moment, and then began to laugh.

  “He’s got stage fright!” Ryan exclaimed, laughing all the harder.

  Suddenly, Tommy recalled what Micah had told him about Lord Kalish’s suspicions, and his laughter cut off abruptly. What if James was feeling sick because he’d been using dark magic? Or worse, what if the “preparations” he needed to make were some sort of evil ritual, or some other black spell that would increase his power and allow him to cheat enough to pass the tests?

  Ryan noticed Tommy’s silence, and his laughed trailed off, as well.

  “It’s not as bad as all that, is it?” Sam asked from where he sat on his bed.

  Tommy was shaking his head. “Nah, it’s really just…”

  “We can’t say anything about it!” Ryan interjected loudly over top of Tommy. Favoring Tommy with a significant glance, he said again, “We are sworn to say nothing about it, remember?”

  Tommy did remember, and flushed scarlet at his near mistake. Sometimes Tommy felt like he was the worst person in the world for keeping secrets. He just wanted to be helpful to his friends! He didn’t get very much time to be embarrassed, however – there was a knock at the door, and two older students entered and told Tommy and Sam that it was their turn to test. Ryan favored him with a encouraging smile as Tommy got to his feet, stretched, sighed, and followed the older student out the door. He’d only been awake for a few minutes, he hadn’t had time to eat any breakfast, and he wasn’t feeling very ready for this, but it was his turn and he certainly wasn’t about give up without at least trying.

  As he followed the older student, they passed James going the other way, obviously returning from the bathroom. James looked… better. His color was back, although his eyes still looked somewhat sunken and red-rimmed. He carried himself taller, not slumped over like he had been in the room, and as they passed, James reached out and gave Tommy a friendly punch on the arm. “Knock em’ dead, Tom-Tom.”

  That puzzled Tommy and left him frowning. James had never called him Tom-Tom before, and the punch on the arm was a little bit hard. Tommy wondered again what was going on with James, and what truth there may be the suspicions that he was using dark magic. He certainly LOOKED better prepared for having gone to the bathroom, but could he have had time to cast a spell in there? Or, was it simply that voiding the contents of his stomach had refreshed him and brought him back into balance?

  “Come on, hurry up!” the student that Tommy was following hissed at him. Startled, Tommy realized that the older boy was now two-dozen steps ahead of him, and he hastened his pace to catch up.

  The two of them wound their way through the extensive halls of the school. It reminded Tommy greatly of the following he’d done in the other school just yesterday, and he wondered if this was going to become a common thing for him, following another student down hallways. The difference, Tommy reflected, was that this felt like home. Although the grey walls were somewhat less interesting to look at than the pressed earth of the other school, the hallways were more spacious, l
ess crowded, and, most importantly, felt more… free.

  Finally, they came to a door, which his guide opened and beckoned for Tommy to enter. The room beyond was identical to the previous testing room he’d been in; dimly lit, with the only furnishing being a table in the center of the room and a darkened hallway stretching off opposite of the door they’d entered through.

  “I assume you are familiar with the testing process?” his guide asked tersely.

  Tommy nodded. “I passed the last test.”

  His guide simply nodded and gestured to the table in the center of the room, where a darkened lantern sat. “I assume you know what to do, then?”

  Tommy wondered If the test was going to be the same as the last one, but he was confident that he knew what to do, so he answered, “Yeah, I got it.”

  The other boy nodded, turned, and vanished back through the doorway through which they’d come. After he’d gone, Tommy approached the table and picked up the lantern. He channeled energy into it, like he had before, and… nothing happened. Puzzled, Tommy turned the thing over in his hands, examining it. It looked to be the same as the one he’d used previously, for the last test, but when he tried to power it, it was almost as if there was no spell there to power; nothing absorbed the energy.

  He cast the short spell to enchant his vision and allow him to see magical energies and looked the thing over again. As before, there seemed to be no spell or magical energy within the thing at all; it was an inert piece of metal. As he turned it over and over in his hands, studying it, Tommy happened to look at the bottom of the lantern, and there he found a series of markings – triangles, lines, and other glyphs that were clearly the directions for a spell. Grinning, Tommy realized that he could cast the spell without any difficulty, and once he did so, the lamp began to glow with a bright and steady light.

  Pleased with himself, Tommy set off down the hallway.