The Cost of Magic

by S T G Hill

  She noticed the tinge of jealousy in his voice. It reminded her of when Sybil thought that she was with Thorn.

  Why does everyone think that?

  "He's okay. And thanks. I'll explain things to you later," Ellie said, already turning around. She hoped she could explain later.

  She stuffed her hands into her pockets and went to meet Thorn.

  He nodded in approval when she approached, "Good. Let's go; the others are waiting."

  "What others?" Ellie asked.

  "You'll see," he replied.

  She smiled at this, and he frowned in question at her. "I see you're still trying to be as mysterious as possible."

  Thorn sighed and turned back to the sidewalk.

  "Hey. Spare some change?"

  The hobo emerged from the alley, a tattered blanket thrown over his shoulders and one dirty palm outstretched.

  Ellie shoved her hand into her pocket to root for the two quarters and the dime she had as change from buying lunch at school.

  "Ellie—" Thorn started to admonish her for wasting time. Then he shouted, "Look out!"

  Ellie, hand still in pocket, looked up in time to see the hobo shrug out of his blanket. The rest of the illusion dropped along with it.

  He looked like a professional, Ellie thought. The suit and the shiny shoes.

  Except his hands glowed like a kinesist's. He grabbed Ellie and yanked her down into the alley.

  She went flying through the air, arms raised around her head.

  Her body hit a pile of shiny black garbage bags. The contents within crunched and squelched beneath her. The smell smacked into her next.

  But she hadn't struck the brick wall behind them, at least.

  She pushed to her feet in time to see the unknown sorcerer advancing on her, his fists crackling with power.

  "Ellie! Stop him!" Thorn rushed in, casting bands of restraining power at her attacker.

  They wrapped around him. He looked down, annoyance on his sharp face.

  Then he cut through the bonds with the edge of one hand. "Don't interfere and you won't get hurt, kid," the professional said to Thorn.

  Thorn stopped and took a wide stance. "I'm not a kid."

  The professional's eyes narrowed, then went suddenly wide. Thorn reached out, his teeth gritted in concentration.

  Ellie hid behind a nearby dumpster, crouching down with one hand against the cold, rusty steel.

  A vortex of air whipped up around her attacker, conjured by Thorn. It ripped the man off his feet and slammed him against the wall.

  Ellie winced at the impact even as she shielded her eyes against all the flying debris.

  The professional grabbed at his shoulder, mouth twisted in a snarl of pain. "I told you to stay back!"

  He stomped on the cracked paving of the alley. Lines of magical energy raced from his foot. When they reached Thorn, they burst up and blasted him backwards, almost all the way to the street.

  When Thorn hit the pavement he slid. Coming to a stop, he didn't move.

  "Thorn!" Ellie leapt from her hiding place.

  Their attacker winced, still gripping his shoulder. His hand glowed for a moment, followed by a low popping sound. He sucked in a breath. "Not perfect, but it'll do. Now as for you: you're coming with me."

  "You better hope he's not hurt!" Ellie stabbed an accusing finger at him.

  She also tried to not think about the sound of him popping his shoulder back into its socket.

  Here the man paused. He glanced back at Thorn, who shifted over onto his side. "I'll hurt him as much as he tries to get in the way. Why? What are you going to do about it?"

  Ellie's nostrils flared. Hot anger built up in her chest, and her fingers bit into her palms when she made them into fists. "If you're watching me, I'll bet you already know."

  Come on, come on. Just a little! Just enough to blast this guy! Ellie urged herself.

  The anger was there. But the power, her power, wasn't. She could feel something, but it was foreign somehow. Not of her.

  And it ignored her.

  The sorcerer rubbed at his chin, regarding her. "You know, I think if you were going to do something, you would have. I've had my eye on you since you got back, and I've come to one conclusion."

  Ellie didn't say anything. Her eyes kept flicking between Thorn and the sorcerer.

  She wondered if she turned and ran now if she might get away. She didn't think so.

  "I don't think you have any magic," the man said, "Which is strange. Why would he have me watch you if you didn't have any magic?"

  "Belt..." Ellie whispered. Her stomach went cold.

  "I'm supposed to test you," the man advanced on her, one glowing hand held out, "Care to tell me why?"

  Behind him, Thorn rolled over onto his stomach. Come on! Any time, now, Ellie thought.

  "Not a clue," she held her ground even though every nerve screamed at her to run.

  "I have almost no aptitude for prognostication," he said, almost to her, "But I know that's a lie. So, girl, show me what you've got."

  His hand darted out. Ellie dropped back, but not fast enough.

  He snatched a thick handful of her hair, grinning all the while, and lifted her off her feet. Ellie' mouth dropped open, but it hurt too much to scream.

  She grabbed his wrist and pulled, taking some of the weight off her scalp.

  She urged the magic to come. Then she begged it. Nothing happened.

  "No? Maybe something more to persuade you..." he said. His hand glowed until Ellie felt the heat of the power on her face.

  Some of it raced down his hand and into her hair. Then down into her body.

  Electric pulses of pain ran through her, making her go rigid.

  "Why does he want you?" he said, pausing the shocks. His breath smelled like stale coffee.

  Ellie blinked at the tears building in her eyes. "I don't know!"

  "More lies." His hand pulsed with power as he readied another round of shocks.

  "Put her down." Ellie recognized that voice.

  Though the pain kept her from putting a name or face to it.

  The sorcerer didn't release her. He looked around, his grin souring. Three other people in trench coats had joined Thorn.

  They stood in a broad circle around Ellie and the man holding her.

  He winced, then shot a look at someone Ellie couldn't see. "Get out of my head."

  "You've got nowhere to go," Thorn took a step forward. His slide down the alley had torn the right sleeve of his coat.

  The sorcerer growled as he considered his situation. "You think I don't?"

  "I know you don't. So put her down," Thorn took another step forward. One or two more and he'd be in arm's reach.

  The sorcerer looked at Ellie, "Are you sure you won't tell me?"

  "Put me down!" Ellie yelled, renewing her struggles.

  "Suit yourself," he said.

  Ellie felt the warmth of the magic as it enveloped her. Before she could react, he hurtled her through the air, straight at Thorn.

  "Watch out!" that familiar voice called.

  "I've got you!" Thorn said. He pulled together a pillow of air that caught her before she could hit him.

  "He's getting away!" someone else said.

  Ellie turned in time to watch the sorcerer scramble his way up the alley wall, hands and feet glowing, before he disappeared over the rooftop.

  "Let him go, he's not important," Thorn said. He lowered Ellie to the ground.

  Her scalp prickled and burned. She reached up to touch her hair, wondering if she might find a bald patch.

  It was all still there.

  "You're safe now," Thorn knelt beside her.

  "Why didn't you run? You should've run," that familiar voice said.

  Ellie's mind, free of the pain, put a face and a name to that voice. She turned and looked over her shoulder.

  "Matilda?"

  Matilda crossed her arms. She wore a deep blue trench coat like Thorn's. She also looked thin
ner than Ellie remembered.

  And also older. Much older. Just like Thorn.

  What happened to them? Ellie thought.

  "What? Prettier than you remember?" Matilda said.

  Of all the people that Ellie didn't want to see again, Matilda ranked high up there on the list.

  Although she did just help save me, Ellie thought.

  "You can't still be mad about the Trial. That was, like, months and months ago!" Matilda gave her a familiar smile. The one all bullies had.

  The one that said, What? It was all a joke! I was serious!

  "You guys don't know," Ellie said. They didn’t know about her missing time. How could they?

  Matilda's little smile dropped. When it did, Ellie saw a crosshatch of small, white scars on Matilda's right cheek. And more on her neck, looking like they continued down beneath her shirt.

  "That's right," Matilda said, "We don't know anything. Big things like where you've been the last half a year. Why you left. What you took from Belt."

  Thorn stepped forward. Now that the fight was over, she could see the same questions in the hard look in his eyes.

  That, and something like hurt.

  Because of me? Ellie thought.

  "Where were you, Ellie? Where did you put the gem?" Thorn said.

  Ellie turned a slow circle, looking at her small group of saviors. Four of them. Matilda, Thorn, another short, red-headed girl about her age and a young guy with a sharp face framed by curly hair.

  Her stomach tightened when she thought of the gem.

  It was warm. And it pulled in the light.

  "What happened to you guys? What's been going on?" Ellie said.

  The curly-haired guy wore a gray coat. A prognosticator, she figured. He shook a lock of that curly hair off his forehead and held out a hand towards her.

  The air around Ellie vibrated. He frowned. "Something is different. I can't feel her thoughts. I can't see her past."

  A car honked back on the street, pulling Thorn's attention. When he looked back at them, he said, "Ira, this isn't the place to talk. Belt's goon might still be lurking around."

  Ira, the curly-haired guy, shifted his hand. That vibrating of the air around her stopped.

  He waved his hand towards the rooftops, turning in a slow circle. He stopped and looked at Thorn, "I think he's gone."

  Thorn shook his head, "Not if he masked himself. Let's get back to our last location."

  He glanced up at the rooftops, clearly hoping his deliberate vagueness kept that guy from attacking again.

  "Meet you there," Matilda said. Then she winked away, one moment a few feet from Ellie, the next at the mouth of the alley, and the one after that gone once more.

  Ira left next, followed quickly by the short red-head Ellie didn't know. They each made slight pops when they winked away.

  Thorn walked up to her. "Let's go."

  Ellie swallowed and looked away, then forced her eyes back to his. "I can't. You know now: I don't have any magic anymore."

  Something kept her from mentioning what happened to those other guys in that first alley. But whatever that had been, it hadn't been her.

  He peered up at the rooftops again. "Not here. Take a deep breath; it helps."

  "With what?" Ellie said, then took the breath as ordered.

  Thorn put his hand on her shoulder. She felt a prickle of static in the air.

  Then they stood at the mouth of the alley. Just for a split second. Then almost all the way down the street.

  Two more winks brought them into a secluded area of Prospect Park. The fall leaves mottled the grounds in oranges and reds and yellows.

  "Oh!" Ellie said, bending forward with her hands on her knees. Dizzy nausea welled up through her body.

  "One second," Thorn said. He waved the palm of his hand in front of her. A cooling sensation dampened some of the dizziness, but not at all it.

  At least she could stand up straight.

  "I don't have the healer's touch," he continued. He turned away and went over to a small storage barn, about the size of a large home garage. When he snapped his fingers, the door rolled upwards.

  Inside, in the dimness, the other three waited. Matilda sat on a green John Deere lawn tractor while the other two leaned against the back wall.

  When Ellie followed Thorn inside, he snapped his fingers again and the door rolled down.

  Some daylight got in through the cracks, but the four of them each cast a small ball of illuminating light.

  Ellie found herself missing Peter. If Thorn hadn't arrived, if that guy hadn't attacked, they'd be sitting on the couch in the Williamsons' den, watching TV.

  "Now can we figure this all out?" Matilda flicked some hair from her forehead.

  Thorn glanced around the storage barn and nodded to himself, "This is safe enough, for now."

  All four of them stared at her. She didn't know if the prickling at the base of her spine meant they looked with their magic, or if she just didn't like being stared at.

  "What happened? What's going on?" Ellie said.

  "We'll get to that," Thorn said, "But first, Ellie, where have you been? You won the Trial and went off to Belt's. Then as near as anyone can tell, you just disappeared. Almost seven months ago."

  "Whatever you did, even Belt couldn't find you. No one could. Not even after he broke the obfuscation spell that kept the non-magical world from looking for you," Ira said, "So why come out now?"

  "I didn't do anything," Ellie started.

  "What a load," Matilda broke in.

  Ellie turned to look at her, her fingernails biting into her palms. "I didn't do anything. I didn't go anywhere. Not that I can remember. Everyone keeps saying it's been almost seven months. Well for me it's only been a bit more than two weeks."

  The blonde girl frowned, "What are you talking about?"

  Ellie's eyebrows climbed up her forehead, "I'm telling you I was at Belt's... lair or whatever... a few days, then something happened and I woke up in an alley behind a Chinese place six months later. And I don't have my magic anymore. Not even a little."

  Matilda snorted, "Not even an ab, eh?"

  Ira broke in, "That can't be true. If you didn't have any magic I'd be able to read your thoughts like any other nil."

  "Normal people," Thorn said from behind her, "Ones with just the barest touch of magic. They can't defend against a prognosticator's telepathic or augury spells. If you were now Ira could read you."

  "Comes from the Latin word for 'nothing,'" Matilda said.

  She rounded on him, ignoring Matilda, "Are you calling me a liar? You saw what happened in the alley."

  "What happened before we got there?" Ira asked.

  Thorn shook his head, but he kept his eyes on Ellie, "I'll tell you later. And I'm not calling you anything, Ellie. Something had to have happened. People just don't disappear for months. Tell me what happened at Belt's. Did you find the gem?"

  "The Gem of Orlyon..." Ellie whispered, mostly to herself. She didn't know how she knew that name. Belt had never said it.

  But she knew that that was what that black stone was called as surely as she knew her own name.

  "Tell me, Ellie," Thorn said.

  "I... I touched it. I picked it up because Belt attacked me. Then... then..." she squeezed her eyes shut and tried forcing the memory. "Then light surrounded me. Then I woke up behind the Chinese place."

  "Six months later," Matilda said.

  Thorn stepped closer. He put his hands on Ellie's shoulders. "Ellie, listen to me carefully. Where is the Gem of Orlyon now?"

  Ellie swallowed hard. "I don't know."

  Except she thought that she might. A peculiar sensation itched in the back of her mind.

  But she couldn't be certain.

  Again, the air vibrated around her. She looked over her shoulder and saw Ira with his hand out, fingers up, eyes scrunched shut.

  He opened them a moment later. The air stilled. "I can't even tell if she's lying."

 
"I'm not!" Ellie said. Frustration flared hot in her chest. "I'm sorry, okay? I've told you everything that I know. Now I think it's your turn."

  She addressed most of this to Thorn. She emphasized the point with her finger jabbed at his chest, between their bodies.

  He dropped his hold on her shoulders and stepped back. His shoulders sagged, and for just a second there Ellie got the impression of some incredible weight crushing down on him.

  On all of them.

  No wonder they all look older. Or at least, the two of them that she knew.

  Thorn took a steadying breath. "We're at war, Ellie. The magical world is at war with itself, and it's because of you."

  Chapter 8

  Ellie blinked in disbelief. "What?"

  "A bit after you left, I'm guessing around when you disappeared from Belt's manor, the Errants united like never before," Thorn said, "And there were so many more than we ever thought. Armies of them.

  "They seemed to attack everywhere at once, unified and coordinated."

  Cold fingers worked into Ellie's gut, "Is Sourcewell okay?"

  Matilda snorted, but Thorn shot her an admonishing glance. "It is. But it isn't ours anymore," he said.

  Ellie frowned, "I don't understand."

  Thorn's jaw tightened and he glanced away from her for a long time before looking back.

  He can barely look at me. Does he think this is all my fault? Ellie wondered.

  "Belt used the attack as a chance to seize complete control of the Council of Magisters," Thorn started.

  "He's a dictator is what he is!" the blonde said. She shied away when Thorn glared at her for interrupting.

  "He is. He's fed the Council lies about how the Errants are trying to push for total control of the magical world, trying to gather as much magic as they can before it disappears from the world," Thorn continued.

  That cold feeling in her gut didn't go away. "What does this have to do with me?"

  "Everything! It has everything to do with you!" Thorn rounded on her, loomed over her, "He's convinced the Council that the only way to save magic in the world is to fulfill the prophecy of the Omenborn himself before the Errants can win or find the Omenborn themselves."

  Her chest clenched tight when she remembered what Belt told her after he strapped her into that chair in that room.

  We're going to save magic.