The Cost of Magic

by S T G Hill

  The muscles that had tightened themselves into rocks in the small of Ellie's back relaxed. A little. She finally took a full breath.

  Caspian stalked over to her and then knelt beside her. He grabbed a handful of her hair and wrenched her head back until her neck ached and she could see nothing but his pale face and gray eyes.

  "You do anything, anything, that I don't tell you to and I'll make certain that every last Resistance member we round up suffers. Got that?"

  "Yes," Ellie said.

  "Ellie..." Sybil groaned, wincing and gasping as she tried to sit up.

  Caspian stood up, his smirk returning. "Stay down. Ellie just saved your life. For now."

  Sybil drew in a tortured breath and then lifted one arm.

  "Don't," Ellie said, "Just don't. I can't take it anymore. I can't do this anymore."

  "Ellie," Sybil said, lowering her arm.

  "It's okay," Ellie said.

  "Touching," Caspian sneered. He leaned over and touched the ball at the end of Ellie's chain.

  The magical bonds glowed as they changed shape, slipping over Ellie's body in three tight bands that held her upper arms pinned against her chest, her hands pressed hard to her thighs, and her ankles secured.

  She couldn't move.

  "Sorry," Ellie mouthed to Sybil a moment before Caspian winked them both away.

  Chapter 24

  Ellie had never seen before just how anyone got in or out of Sourcewell's campus.

  Despite everything that had happened, and how stiff her body already was from Caspian's bonds, she looked up with curiosity.

  She floated a few feet above the ground, which looked pretty much like every other part of the campus. Thick, fertile green grass. Treed meadows in the distance.

  That stopped just ahead of where Caspian stood. A shimmering wall shifted and waved like a living thing.

  On the other side of the wall, the world was completely different. A small town in the throes of fall waited on the other side. Ellie saw a standpipe, but couldn't read the words on it through the barrier. A church steeple was the highest building.

  A downtown street nestled in among the trees, which had lost many of their leaves.

  Caspian saw her inquisitive peering. He shook his head. "No one ever showed you how to get in or out, did they?"

  She frowned at him, "What do you want me to say?"

  His smirk widened, "Nothing right now. Hey, I'll bet you they also never even told you where Sourcewell even is."

  He waited, but she didn't answer. The last thing she wanted to do was to have a conversation with him.

  "This town?" Caspian said, nodding at it, "Is Sourcewell Academy. Well, sort of. Just a little place in Upstate New York. It and Sourcewell occupy the same space. Sourcewell is beneath it. Not literally, that is. Just on a slightly lower plane of existence. Master Belt helped create it."

  Ellie peered out at the town again. It was better than looking at Caspian's dumb smirk. She wondered how two things could occupy the same physical space.

  It made her think of radio waves. Tuning up and down in a band. Or how they just seemed to pass right on through everything.

  "Aren't you taking me to Belt?" Ellie said. She wrinkled her nose trying to get some relief from an itch that started there.

  She wondered about Sybil, hoped she was okay.

  Sybil's confused expression kept popping into her head. The expression that asked why are you giving up?

  "I am, but we have to leave the campus first. Only a breach portal can skip the entry and exit process."

  "And you can't make one of those," Ellie finished for him.

  Caspian squinted at her. The bands of energy that held her tightened, squishing her hands against her thighs and grinding her ankles together. Her ribs groaned, and she couldn't breathe.

  He held her like that until her vision narrowed to two little dots, then loosened the bands.

  Ellie took a deep and shuddering breath, blinking against the fuzziness in her eyes as perception returned.

  "Remember our deal. You only say what I tell you to say," Caspian told her.

  Ellie kept her defiance quiet this time, but inside she enjoyed getting to him like that.

  Caspian went back over to the shifting barrier that held reality at bay. He touched it with one hand. The strange, glittering surface rippled.

  Then it steadied. Caspian drew a door on the wall, complete with a latch. When he pulled his hand back, it all solidified, the latch poking out.

  Then he opened the door and cool fall air rushed in from the other side. He stepped through it, Ellie floating along behind him.

  The scents of fall hit her. The briskness of the air. The earthy smell of the fallen leaves that crunched beneath Caspian's feet.

  They arrived in a small meadow.

  Ellie craned her neck, curious about Sourcewell and the wall that divided the campus from this town.

  She got a quick look as the magical door closed behind them. The edges of it were like slices across a landscape painting, and then they too disappeared.

  "These academies hide too much of magic," Caspian said, pacing back and forth in the little clearing, "I know that you know about winking. That's really only good for line of sight. No one ever told you how sorcerers travel long distances without breach portals though, I bet."

  "On a plane, like everyone else? Or maybe on a broomstick?" Ellie hazarded. She wriggled and scrunched her nose some more. That itch wouldn't go away.

  The longer she went without scratching it, the deeper into her skin it seemed to sink.

  "Cute," Caspian said, "But wrong."

  Then he stepped closer to her. He held both hands out, palms up.

  The air around them shimmered and shivered and hummed. A globe of light surrounded them, expanding out just beyond the reach of Caspian's hands.

  "I hope you don't get motion sickness," Caspian said.

  Before Ellie could respond, they rocketed up into the air. Thousands of feet in an instant. Then they came to a sudden stop.

  They moved, and quickly, but Ellie hadn't sensed any of it. As though inertia and momentum didn't exist for them inside this travel bubble.

  It felt to Ellie like her stomach had refused the trip and waited for her back on the ground.

  And being so high up so suddenly gave her a dizzying sense of vertigo that only amplified when she looked at how small the town below them looked.

  She couldn't help but goggle in wonder. Every time she thought she had the magical world figured out, something new came along.

  A flock of Canada geese winged on by, so close that the trailing edge of their flying V almost collided with Caspian's globe.

  "Are we invisible?" she said, her wonder momentarily outweighing all her other feelings.

  "Mostly," Caspian said, keeping his palms raised. They shot forward so quickly that the world below blurred like runny paint, browns and greens and oranges becoming all Ellie could perceive.

  "You know UFOs?" Caspian said.

  "Is there anyone who doesn't?" Ellie replied, finding it best if she looked either at Caspian or at the sky, which remained a steady, non-blurry blue.

  "All those lights and dots and 'ships' that people see are usually sorcerers traveling at high speed. So nice of the nils to come up with the idea of aliens. Imagination is a poor substitute for magic, but it's something at least."

  Ellie tried closing her eyes. That helped a little. Though that made her hear Caspian's voice all that much clearer.

  And while he was so obviously in love with the sound of himself, she wasn't. "How long is this going to take?"

  "We'll be out of the States and over the Atlantic pretty quick. Then about 20 minutes to cross the ocean. Then we'll be at the Council headquarters in London," he replied. "I'm sure Master Belt already knows that we're on our way."

  Ellie swallowed hard, thinking again of Sybil's shocked expression. She hoped this was the right thing to do.

  ***

 
; They shot over the first spur of England so quickly that Ellie perceived only a brief blur of beach that demarcated the blue of the Atlantic from the green-brown smudge of land.

  They slowed down quite a bit as they approached the city. Enough so that Ellie could pick out landmarks she recognized from movies. The oversized Ferris wheel, the silver strip of river running cutting through town, the palace.

  They still streaked beneath a climbing 747 so quickly that the plane seemed to hold still in the sky.

  The more they slowed, the faster Ellie's heart beat. That awful itch that had started at the tip of her nose now crawled beneath what felt like her whole face.

  Her fingers twitched against her hips in response, but couldn't do much more.

  They zoomed over a neighborhood of brownstones that made Ellie ache with memories of Brooklyn.

  Then they finally came to a sudden, sharp stop above squat, square office building. The afternoon sun glinted off the windows of the unfamiliar cars parked in the lot beside it.

  Ellie frowned. This couldn't be the headquarters of the Council of Magisters.

  It looked more like an unassuming, utilitarian block of government offices.

  "Not impressed?" Caspian caught her expression. "The less attention we draw on ourselves from the nils, the better. For now, anyway. Besides, you of all people should know about not judging a book by the cover.”

  Then they dropped straight down. Ellie flinched when the roof of the building rushed up to meet them.

  But instead of smashing through it, they slipped past like it was no more than a layer of mist.

  When Ellie opened her eyes again, her breath caught. They descended slowly towards the floor. The entire place looked like something out of a dream. There wasn't a straight line anywhere. It was all sinuous, elegant, impossibly thin staircases that led to various levels.

  Men and women walked, or floated just above the floor, or flew. Many wore robes of blue or red or gray, while others looked like they just stepped in off the street. There were hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe.

  And each glimpse Ellie got into the many floors she saw made her ache. She'd been to Manhattan, seen the art deco architecture, the old gothic buildings.

  They had nothing on this place.

  Beautiful gardens surrounded curving walkways. Fountains with living statues cavorted on every level.

  Somehow the whole place seemed stuffed to the gills with pure, warming sunlight. But there were no light fixtures anywhere. Or any windows, for that matter.

  Though why anyone would want to look outside when they had all this to view Ellie didn't know.

  She couldn't count how many levels they passed by. Dozens at least.

  She realized that unless they were deep underground that this place was like Sourcewell: occupying the same space as the drab office building but on another plane of existence.

  Then they reached the bottom, which was a vast circular space that let the viewer peer upwards through the central cylinder of the massive headquarters.

  Caspian lowered his upturned hands and the travel globe faded. As soon as it did, Caspian dropped to his knees.

  "Master Belt," he said.

  "I am pleased that you are still alive, Caspian."

  Ellie's breath caught in her throat. Her heart squeezed. That voice.

  "No need for these restraints, I think," Darius Belt said. Another fist of magic enveloped Ellie, setting her on her feet. When it disappeared, so did Caspian's bonds.

  She scratched her nose, suppressing a groan of relief. That relief didn't last long.

  Gray-robed, Darius Belt stood before her, the middle of a line of nine men and women. Most of them also wore gray robes, though one wore red and another blue.

  And one of them, Staff of Tiresias in hand, was Aurelius Cassiodorian.

  "This is the girl you told us of, Belt?" a tall, thin man who might have been Master Shaffir's older brother said. "The one who's meant to save us?"

  "She doesn't look so powerful," said a small woman wearing a red robe.

  "I can assure you," Cassiodorian said, "Looks can be deceiving. She won the Trial of Minos."

  "And she bears the omen," another man said, nodding down at Ellie's left hand.

  Immediately, she shoved her hand into her pocket to hide her missing fingertip, the fresh, familiar heat of embarrassment filling her cheeks.

  That quickly subsided when her brain finally registered that Aurelius was here among this group. Aurelius, who aided the resistance.

  Aurelius, who Caspian knew was the mole on the Council.

  "A most fortunate turn of events," Belt said. And Ellie looked at him, really looked. Even though she didn't want to.

  He looked even older than when he'd appeared in her room in Brooklyn. His face stretched thin over his skull, and his gray robe hung from gaunt shoulders.

  His eyes peered out of deep, hollow sockets. And those eyes were the only things about him that appeared healthy and sharp.

  "How did you find her?" Belt turned his attention to Caspian, "Give me your thoughts."

  "They're yours as always, Master," Caspian said, "After Brooklyn..." he swallowed hard and Ellie hoped it hurt him every time he thought about what Chauncy did to him.

  "After that," he continued, "I saw Thorn return. I saw him take Ellie. So I followed him back to Sourcewell Academy. That's where he has his little 'resistance' set up. After that, I simply waited for the right time to strike."

  "Sourcewell?" Belt said, turning to Cassiodorian.

  Caspian stepped forward, "Look into my thoughts, Master. Magister Cassiodorian wasn't aware. They hid themselves. A simple charm that changed how they appeared. Easy enough to see past if you knew where to look."

  Belt turned back to Caspian and the air thickened between them.

  Ellie could barely breathe. She risked a glance at Aurelius, who remained impassive.

  What is going on? Why isn't he telling Belt about the spy?

  She wanted to feel relieved, but couldn't.

  Then Belt nodded, "I see." Then he nodded at Caspian, indicating his pale appearance. "Perhaps next time you will heed me when I tell you not to provoke a god."

  The tall, brown-skinned man stepped forward, "Enough of this, Belt. She needs to be taken and studied immediately. Before the Errants can strike again."

  Belt's wizened lips smiled. "I will begin immediately. Bring her to the laboratory, Caspian."

  Cassiodorian stepped forward, “Darius, I must protest. She is not a thing to be experimented on, but a child who needs to learn and grow.”

  A couple of the other magisters exchanged glances, but no one agreed with Cassiodorian. Out loud, at least.

  Caspian grabbed Ellie by the upper arm, his fingers digging in so that she winced at the pressure. He didn’t take her anywhere, yet. Belt held up a hand, indicating that he should wait.

  “Yes, Aurelius,” Belt said, “She is a child. But she is also so much more than that. For magic, she is the most dangerous child who ever lived. She could be, at least. But she could also be its savior.

  “I understand your fondness for the girl. She is from your academy, after all. She won the Trial. But consider the greater good. Consider the good of magic.”

  Aurelius gazed at Belt, then looked at Caspian and Ellie. She shook her head as imperceptibly as she could. She didn’t want Cassiodorian to give himself up. Not for her.

  “Perhaps, Darius,” Cassiodorian said, still looking at Ellie, “What is good for magic is not good for the world. And certainly not good for young Miss Ashwood.”

  That set the remaining magisters to whispering among themselves. Ellie could see their fear.

  The fear Belt had stirred up in them. Over her, over the fate of magic. Scared people were willing to do terrible things to get rid of that feelings.

  Belt waved to Caspian, “To my lab with her.”

  Caspian bowed his head a little even though Belt stood with his back to them, “Yes, Master Belt.”


  “Your fears and your thoughts are, as always, well founded, Aurelius,” Belt said, folding his hands together at his waist, “But magic must come first. Always first. What is one girl when set against an entire world? An entire culture and history?”

  “What is that world and culture and history worth, when set against even a single life, Darius? How many single lives has it been so far? How many lives is what you seek worth? Where and when, Darius, does the balance tip?” Aurelius said.

  Belt said nothing else, one corner of his mouth curling ever so slightly, only waving back to Caspian to take Ellie away.

  Cassiodorian sighed, and he directed his gaze once more fully upon Ellie.

  Thorn and the others will know soon that you’re here. Hold fast: help is on the way. The voice was like a whisper in her ear, but from inside her head. The voice was Cassiodorian’s.

  And it was the last time that Ellie would ever hear it.

  Chapter 25

  Belt’s lab was different than that octagonal room he’d brought her to after the trial. It was white and sterile looking, the light harsh on Ellie’s eyes.

  And instead of a chair there was a table. Caspian lashed her to it and left when Belt arrived.

  “You won’t hurt any of them, will you?” Ellie said, still thinking about leaving Sybil back at Sourcewell.

  Belt stood at a table, leafing through the pages of an ancient tome that filled the lab air with the dusty smell of old paper.

  “I have you. There is no need,” Belt said. He looked so pallid an unhealthy, like a walking corpse.

  Yet in spite of that he seemed energized, and Ellie knew why. Her, of course. Rather, her capture. It brought him that much closer to the end of everything. Whatever he intended that to be.

  “The Gem is in your mind,” he told her, “It dampens your powers, which is good. But I want it out.”

  “Why?” Ellie said.

  He didn’t answer.

  Instead he took a strange stone from a box underneath the table with the book on it.

  This he placed on Ellie’s forehead.

  As soon as it touched her a terrible, piercing shriek filled her ears. She struggled against her bonds, lips pulled back from her teeth.