The Cost of Magic

by S T G Hill

  But after the Williamsons, after Cassiodorian and his private lessons, it stung.

  Then something rustled up in the branches overhead.

  Ellie craned her head back, blinking against the splotches of color still floating around in her eyes.

  A tiny brown sparrow hopped from branch to branch, twittering down at her.

  And it glittered in the shadows cast by the leaves. At first Ellie thought it was just the afterimage of a color smudge, but they'd all vanished.

  "Hello there," she said, smiling.

  The sparrow hopped down from the branch and winged its way to Ellie's shoulder. Then it held out one tiny, stick-like leg and Ellie saw the little canister attached to it.

  "For me?" she said.

  The sparrow nodded, its tiny little eyes twinkling at her. She removed the canister and opened it, revealing the tiny folded paper within.

  She took this out and unfolded it. The little sparrow watched her the whole time.

  Called back to the Council on emergency business. My apologies.

  We will resume the ritual when I return tomorrow.

  Yours,

  A. Cassiodorian

  "Thank you," she said to the sparrow.

  It sidled back and forth across her shoulder, its tiny little feet tickling as it went. Then it launched away, disappearing in a shimmer of magic before it could return to the branches of the oak.

  The message disappeared as well.

  Ellie slumped back against the tree trunk. "Well what am I supposed to do until tomorrow?"

  She knew that the proper answer would be to return to the library and the training room to see if she could jumpstart her power on her own.

  But instead she decided to go see Sybil.

  The white-haired man watched from a distance, leaning against an ivy-covered wall while he enhanced his senses with a simple spell.

  Now was his time, he knew.

  He followed her.

  Chapter 23

  Ellie decided that she needed to talk to Thorn, even though the crawling sensation in her stomach objected.

  When they weren't training or out on a mission, Thorn liked to keep his squadron honed for their next task.

  So Ellie went to their training area, which happened to be the kinesinomy workshop.

  As soon as she saw the large hall she couldn't stop thinking about Arabella. About their parting, about how her final lesson to Ellie had helped her beat the Minotaur in Belt's stupid Trial.

  She wished desperately that Arabella was there with her right at that moment. She got the sense that Arabella would know what to do, what to say.

  But she didn't know where Arabella was, or if she'd ever even see her again.

  Ellie mounted the couple of steps up to the front door and went inside. As with many of the other buildings at Sourcewell, the Kinesinomy Hall was populated largely by ghosts and memories.

  Her footfalls on the polished marble echoed.

  She made her way to Arabella's workshop, and heard some small commotion within. But it sounded off somehow.

  As soon as she opened the door she found out why.

  Ira stood beside a workbench, the curly-haired boy in his gray trench coat stared intently at an old boot while he passed his hands over it.

  The air between his palms and the worn leather vibrated and shifted as he frowned.

  The sound she'd heard was the crackle of the air itself.

  Ellie's skin prickled when she recalled how it felt when he'd tried to read her like that.

  Ellie coughed politely. Ira didn't look up from his examination.

  "I know you're there," he said.

  "Is Thorn around?" Ellie stepped into the workshop. A red robe hung on a hook over in the far corner, and her stomach twisted when she wondered if it belonged to Arabella.

  This time Ira did look at her. She recognized his expression. Curiosity mingled with a vague sense of distrust. "No."

  He held out his hands, ready to examine that old boot again.

  Part of her wanted to tell him that there was a plan to get her magic back, that he didn't have to look at her like she'd betrayed their cause. Like she was deliberately holding herself back to hold them back.

  Though she also understood it.

  "It's not just a problem someone can snap their fingers at and make it go away," Ellie said, her own irritation flaring. Didn't these guys know how hard she was trying with Magister Cassiodorian?

  "Right," Ira said, the air vibrating again.

  "Where is Thorn?" Ellie said.

  "I don't think I should tell you."

  "Why? Because you don't trust me?" Ellie said, "I'm here, aren't I? I'm trying, aren't I?"

  Ira snorted, "No, I don't trust you. You're only here because Belt turned that nice new life of yours inside out. If he hadn't attacked, you wouldn't be here. You don't want to be here, you have to be here because there's nowhere else for you to go that Belt won't find you."

  His words stung.

  Worse, they made her think about Brenda and Walt.

  And the way they slumped against each other when Belt waved his hand at them. Ellie swallowed against a big lump in her throat and blinked against the pressure that built behind her eyes.

  "What's it to you?" Ellie said.

  Ira stopped. This time he looked at her. And this time, she saw the pain in his eyes. "You're not the only one who's lost people. You ever hear of Corinthus Academy?"

  Ellie shook her head.

  He smiled a small and humorless smile, "Of course not. It is... was... the sorcery school for the whole west coast. Was because Belt started the war by sending his Errant army after it first. They wiped it out completely. Drained everyone dry. My friends... my brother."

  "Brother?" Ellie said, a heavy guilt replacing the irritation in the pit of her stomach.

  Ira stepped back from the shoe. He lifted his left arm out and closed his eyes. After a moment, a young man appeared beside him. Younger than Ira, a bit shorter, his features a little softer. The hologram smiled and lifted a mischievous eyebrow.

  "He's dead now," Ira said, opening his eyes and keeping them on Ellie, "Dead because Belt decided a war was the best way to secure his power in the Council and root you out. Dead because you disappeared and he couldn't find you. I’d be dead now, too, except I was… lucky enough to be away from the campus during the attack."

  Ellie looked down at the floor, unable to bare the stare of the two brothers. "I'm sorry."

  Ira clenched his outstretched fist and the hologram of his brother faded. "Sorry's not good enough! While you're twiddling your thumbs with Cassiodorian in the library basement feeling sorry for yourself people are dying!"

  He looked at the boot and his face contorted with rage. He swiped angrily through the air with one arm and the boot and all the other contents of the workbench slammed against the wall.

  "You want to know where Thorn is?" Ira stepped around the bench, "Cassiodorian told us Belt's had the Council send out raiding parties against Errant positions. That boot belongs to one of them. I'm sitting here trying to find out exactly where they are while Thorn sets up an ambush!

  "He's not here. So go away and find someone else to bother."

  This anger he directed at her Ellie knew well. She couldn't count the number of times that one of her foster parents decided to blame something on her and screamed themselves hoarse.

  She also knew that saying pretty much anything would just set them off even more.

  Those foster parents had always been wrong, of course. She hadn't lost their money gambling, or caused a tire to go flat, or any number of other accusations.

  But what Ira said? She didn't know.

  She turned to go.

  "Wait," Ira said.

  She looked back over her shoulder at him.

  "You know, I'd tell you to turn yourself over to him. To Belt. I'd bet that would stop the war really quick. Actually, there's not much else I'd like from you. Except Thorn and Cassiodorian do
n't know what he wants you for. And if he's willing to start a war to get you, then whatever he needs you for can only be worse.

  "So count yourself lucky that I'm not in charge. And don't come to talk to me again. Got it?"

  Ellie nodded. It was all she could manage.

  As soon as she exited the room the door slammed shut of its own accord behind her, the sharp bang of it echoing up and down the hall.

  ***

  "Is it really all my fault?" Ellie said.

  "No, of course not!" Sybil replied.

  They sat together on a bench beside a path that led between Vine Hall and the library. Ellie had intercepted Sybil on her way to the latter.

  She caught something in her friend's voice. Something that sounded to Ellie a lot like doubt.

  "Because Ira thinks it is. Actually, I think pretty much everyone thinks it is. And you know the worst part? I can't even get my magic back to help stop him!"

  Sybil put her hand over Ellie's, "Don't worry. Magister Cassiodorian will be back soon. He just got called to some emergency Council meeting is all. I'm sure his exorcism spell will work."

  Ellie's jaw went tight. "What if it doesn't? Nothing has so far. Why will this?"

  She wondered then if maybe Ira was somehow right. That maybe she should just turn herself in and let Belt have her.

  She knew he wanted her for a spell to strengthen magic in the world. He'd told her the spell would cost her her life.

  Such a small price, one life. He'd said that to her. Or something like it.

  People are dying, she heard Ira tell her again.

  Why is my life, my one life, more valuable than all these other ones? Ellie thought. It scared her to think, but she couldn't stop herself.

  She couldn't stop herself from calling up that hologram of Ira's brother. One of the first casualties of Belt's magical war.

  Where would he be now if I hadn't escaped from Belt's amplification chamber? If I hadn't touched the Gem?

  Probably still alive, she figured.

  Sybil squeezed her hand, "Hey, you okay? You got kinda distant there for a sec."

  "Not really," Ellie replied, "But I'll manage."

  He came up behind them so quietly that neither of them heard him until he spoke. "Hello, Ellie."

  She knew that voice. Ellie's chest went tight. Her heart pumped ice.

  Sybil reacted first, a testament to the effects of the war on her. She held up her hands, a glittering shield forming in front of them.

  It caught Caspian's glowing fist, iridescent sparks showering from the point of contact.

  Ellie fell off the bench, her jaw dropping open. She didn't register the way the paving of the path scraped against her palms.

  Caspian saw her and grinned. His white hair shifted in the light breeze. His eyebrows had also gone white.

  And, she saw, his eyes had drained of color as well. His irises were gray rings around his pupils.

  Ellie scrambled backwards in an awkward crab walk, her mind jumping from Caspian's current pallid visage to the moment that Chauncy had blasted him out of her bedroom back in Brooklyn.

  "What?" Caspian said, grimacing as he drew his fist back for another punch, "Don't like the way I look anymore?" he grunted the last syllable, slamming his hand forward.

  Sybil put both hands behind her shield and flinched.

  This time when Caspian struck the barrier, it shattered. His glowing knuckles slammed so hard against it that a shockwave blasted through the air.

  Sybil's scream mingled with the crunch of her shield. The shards shimmered and dissolved before they could hit the ground.

  Sybil staggered backwards, the backlash of her broken spell punishing her.

  Caspian had attacked them over the bench. Now it stood between them. He brought both his hands up and pressed them together. They glowed hot as he brought them down.

  He sliced the bench in half, the inner edges of the cut glowing as it fell into two pieces.

  "Ellie! Go!" Sybil said.

  Before she finished with the order, she shot her hand out towards Caspian. A jet of blue flame seared its way through the air.

  Caspian smirked. He caught the leading edge of the flame with one hand.

  The whole length of fire turned into a bar of solid ice. When the ice reached Sybil she hissed and drew back.

  The frozen fire shattered on the ground.

  "Go!" Sybil said.

  Ellie rolled over onto her stomach, intent on pushing up to her feet and making a run for it.

  "Stay," Caspian replied.

  He snapped glowing fingers. A luminescent manacle clamped around Ellie's right ankle. A chain sprouted from the manacle, and a heavy ball coalesced on the opposite end of the chain.

  Ellie tugged at it, but the weight held her fast.

  And when she tugged, the manacle bit into her, its hard inner curve grinding against the protrusion of her ankle so that a hot, sharp pain ran up her leg.

  "You look different too," Caspian said, "At first anyway. Until I saw Cassiodorian's silly charm. You all looked different. But I've been able to see who you all truly are."

  Sybil took advantage of the distraction. She formed a ball in her hands and then hurled it into the air. It sped away in the direction of the Kinesinomy Hall.

  "No help's coming for you," Caspian took aim at the ball, his thumb and forefinger pointed like a child mimicking a gun. "Bang."

  He pressed his thumb down. A much faster ball of red energy shot from the tip of his finger. When it hit Sybil's distress call spell, it exploded in a shower of sparks.

  "Stay away from her!" Sybil said. She took a wide stance and held both hands out palms up towards Caspian.

  "You know, I can see why Thorn doesn't take you along with the rest of his Lost Boys and Girls on missions," Caspian turned to face Sybil, "It's because you're too weak."

  "Oh, just shut up already!" Sybil said.

  Then she hurled the wind at him. It picked up from a breeze to a hurricane in an instant, concentrated in a cone coming from her palms.

  It blasted the two pieces of the destroyed bench away towards the trees and ripped chunks of grass and dirt from the ground.

  Caspian's entire body shimmered with energy, guarding him from the brunt of the spell. His wintry hair moved as though it experienced nothing more than the barest breath of a breeze.

  Ellie watched on in horror, a now familiar feeling of helplessness closing in around her. Why does everyone try and stop them? Why do they keep putting themselves in harm's way for me?

  She didn't want them to do that. Not anymore.

  "Bored," Caspian said, his shoulders heaving with a sigh.

  Then he tapped one foot on the path. The paving bent and cracked as some wave of force passed through it, rushing towards Sybil.

  Sybil saw it a moment too late. She dropped her hands, the windstorm stopping, and tried to step out of the way.

  Her eyes went wide when she realized her mistake.

  But then Caspian's spell struck her. Something crunched.

  "Sybil!" Ellie lunged for her friend, but the manacle bit into her ankle. When she reached the end of the chain her body jerked against the immovable weight.

  It felt like she had almost torn her leg from her hip.

  Sybil's limp body blasted back through the air. She hit the grass with another awful thud.

  Ellie's breath caught. She couldn't look away.

  No. Nonononono...

  Then Sybil groaned and shifted, just a little.

  "She's alive..." Ellie breathed.

  "You know what?" Caspian said, "I didn't really hold back on that one. I guess she's tougher than she looks. I'm sure Master Belt will want to know all about this little conspiracy of yours. I'm sure he'll want to interrogate every one of the Resistance members hiding out at Sourcewell...

  "But you know what? I don't think he'll mind if I take care of just one for him."

  Caspian lifted one hand. The ruby glow of power around it reshaped itse
lf, forming into a long, slender knife blade.

  He advanced on Sybil.

  Ellie squeezed her eyes shut, reached out towards Caspian.

  Please, she thought, Just a little. Just enough to stop him. Please.

  Her chest tightened. She reached as deeply into herself as she could. She thought she felt something. Some of that tingle of power.

  But then the darkness that overshadowed her mind came to the fore. It exerted its pressure, and the tingle of magic vanished.

  Ellie slumped. Terrible, powerless rage gripped into her stomach. Rage that quickly melted into guilt and helplessness.

  "Don't hurt her anymore. Please," Ellie said.

  Caspian stopped. He turned a little to look at her. She found his gray eyes disconcerting, but forced herself to look into them anyway.

  "I know you're still powerless. There's nothing you can do to stop me," Caspian said.

  "If you don't hurt her, I won't resist. I won't try to escape. I won't do anything," Ellie said.

  "Go ahead and try. It's not like you can put up any sort of fight," Caspian turned back towards Sybil.

  Sybil groaned some more and rolled onto her back. Grass stains painted her clothes green.

  Ellie struggled to come up with something, anything, she could say that might make him stop. But he was right, she knew. She couldn't fight against him at all.

  He only cared about what Darius Belt thought.

  Her breath caught in her throat when she realized that.

  "Wait! Please!" Ellie said.

  Caspian turned towards her again, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation, "I'm getting bored of this."

  "If you don't hurt her anymore, I'll tell Belt whatever you want me to say."

  He frowned for a moment. Then his eyebrows climbed up his forehead. He turned towards her fully. "Anything I tell you to tell him?"

  "Anything. So long as you leave Sybil alone," Ellie replied, her heartbeat speeding up.

  The few moments Caspian took considering this offer were some of the longest in Ellie's life.

  "Deal," Caspian said.