It wasn’t just a matter of keeping himself alive. With every passing moment, Tess’s ethereal form seemed to lose a little more of its presence. He needed to win the fight quickly and decisively and pull her back into his mystic stream before she faded away. He still didn’t know what he was going to do, but he decided that he needed to do it anyway.
“Kukachuk!” shouted Lee. “Is that really the best you can do?”
The frost troll snarled, locking its eyes onto Lee’s for a moment, just as he’d been hoping it would. Lee brought his hands up to either side of his face, assuming the illusion casting stance, and focused his will and Tess’s spirit essence into an illumination spell.
A ball of dazzlingly bright light shot directly forward, almost colliding with Kukachuk’s face. More importantly, it blinded the lumbering creature long enough for Lee to capitalize on the advantage. He sprinted forward, falling into a forward roll that carried him between the troll’s legs.
Lee was already grasping his right hand with his left as he rose, and just as Harper had taught him, he focused on the rushing force of runaway trains and speeding cars as he cast his spell. A blast of powerful, invisible force slammed into Kukachuk’s leg just behind the knee. The troll stumbled, falling backward. Lee had to throw himself aside to keep from being pinned and squished at the last instant.
He pulled out his kris knife and rushed forward, preparing to deliver the finishing slash to the frost troll chieftain’s neck. A wall of ethereal green magical energy appeared in front of him faster than he could stop himself. Lee bounced off it, wincing at how the motion exacerbated the various pains in his body.
“Enough,” called Mattis. “The fight is over. Let’s retreat back to Primhaven.”
Lee glanced around, noticing that the other instructors had gathered around her. There were snowmobiles, too, and Lee felt a little annoyed at Harper for being so insistent on having them travel on foot originally.
“We’re just going to leave them?” asked Lee. Most of the frost trolls were locked within green magical alteration cubes that served as temporary prisons. The ones that weren’t confined were injured to the point of submission, either from animal wounds or spells, but none of them appeared to have actually been killed.
“We don’t want a war between Primhaven and a frost troll army,” said Mattis. “Harper also explained that this all seems to be a misunderstanding.”
Mattis shot Lee a serious look, and it was then that he realized how the situation appeared to them. The frost troll chieftain’s behavior during Harper’s meeting with him must have seemed erratic, but Lee had been the one who’d started shouting first, even though his words had been directed at the specter.
“It’s okay,” called Harper. “You can ride on the back of my snowmobile, Initiate Amaranth. We’re just glad that we found you safe.”
Lee nodded and moved to join her. She was smiling, and there was none of Lead Instructor Mattis’s harsh judgment in her expression.
He squeezed in behind Harper, pulling against her tight enough for Tess, who he’d pulled back into his mystic stream, to also fit on back.
“Hold on tight,” said Harper. “Oh, and Lee?”
“Yeah?”
“Nice work,” she said. “You handled yourself well.”
A small amount of praise goes a long way. Despite the cold, despite his injuries, and despite how close he’d come to disaster, Lee was smiling on the way back to Primhaven.
CHAPTER 45
The next few hours went by in a blur of questions, exhaustion, and medical treatment. Upon arriving back at Primhaven, Harper and Mattis immediately brought Lee to the infirmary in the Seruna Center, despite his objections. Nurse Susie’s reaction to having Lee back under her care went about as well as expected.
“Oh, you poor thing!” said Nurse Susie. “You’re bruised all over and, is that dried blood under your nose?”
“I’m fine, really,” said Lee. He tried to keep his reaction from showing, as Susie pulled his shirt off and began running a hand across his chest with tender, caring movements.
“You are not fine,” said Nurse Susie. “A head injury, too. You’ll need to follow up with me with, oh, at least several very... in-depth... checkups.”
Tess was sitting in the corner, and her giggling echoed in Lee’s ear. Mattis and Harper were whispering to each other and not paying much attention. The pink-haired nurse leaned in closer, ostensibly to examine Lee’s forehead, all but pressing her generous breasts into his face.
“I’ll need to give you a close examination, young man,” she purred. “After your last one, I think you’re long overdue.”
He felt her succubus aura pressing on him with each word and could sense the depth of her hunger. Part of him, most of him, even, was open to and even a little excited by the prospect, despite the protests of his rational mind.
The sound of an argument outside the infirmary broke the spell, and Susie quickly and somewhat guiltily pulled back from him. Harper raised an eyebrow at the nurse as she came to join them, but that was the full extent of her scrutiny.
“Eldon,” she said. “Some of your friends have arrived to visit. Mattis and I think it would be prudent, for the sake of not giving fuel to rumors, if you left the frost trolls out of your explanation of what happened.”
“You want me to lie to them?” asked Lee.
“Just tell them that you fell into an ice fissure and were found by your instructors,” said Harper. “It is a lie, but one of omission. I’m sure you’re familiar enough with those.”
She gave him a look that had too much knowing in it for Lee’s liking. Before either of them could say anything else, Toma and Eliza burst into the room. Eliza pulled Lee into a tight hug that made his aching body groan. Toma grinned at him and shook his head.
“You really are cracked, Lee Amaranth,” said Toma. “We’re only a few weeks into the semester and you’re already trying to get yourself killed.”
“I was so worried,” said Eliza. “Instructor Harper wouldn’t tell us what happened.”
Eliza shot Harper a venomous glare. Lee patted her shoulder, smiling a little at the fierceness of her reaction.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I just fell into one of the ice caves and hit my head. When I woke up, Harper and the other Instructors had already basically found me. Other than a few bumps and scrapes, I’m fine.”
“I told you he’d be okay,” Toma said to Eliza. He turned and grinned at Lee, gesturing to her with his thumb. “She started bawling when Instructor Harper came back without you.”
“Hey! That’s not fair, you were upset, too.” Eliza grabbed Lee’s hand and squeezed it. “I just… I thought I’d lost you. I never even got a chance to... to…”
Lee set his own hand over hers and nodded. “I know. I still have a ton of studying to do. You’ve been trying so hard to help me learn, and here I am running off and nearly getting myself killed.”
Eliza let out a small laugh and a larger sniffle.
“Alright, I said you could see him, not that you could hold a party,” called Instructor Mattis. “Initiate Amaranth needs his rest now. You can speak with him once he’s more recovered.”
She shuffled Toma and Eliza out of the infirmary, with Nurse Susie following behind them and shutting the door as all four of them left. Harper crossed her arms and moved to lean against the wall next to Lee’s bed, one hand toying with the end of her golden braid.
“I caution you against seeing this as a happy ending,” she said. “Even though we managed to rescue you without killing any of the frost trolls, they’ll still see the skirmish as a provocation.”
“I know,” he said. “It’s like what you said about considering the consequences. I did what I thought was best, and I’m responsible for how this all played out.”
Harper nodded slowly, watching him with her intense blue eyes.
“When we were talking terms with the frost troll chieftain, you said ‘it doesn’t have to be like this
’,” said Harper. “What did you mean by that? It was almost as though you sensed what was about to happen. Eldon, tell me the truth.”
Lee closed his eyes, feeling the surprisingly heavy weight of his guilt on his shoulders. She’d risked her life to save him, along with the other instructors. She’d taken him as her apprentice and promised to help uncover what had happened to Zoe. What more did he need to trust her?
“It isn’t time yet,” Tess whispered from the other side of the bed. “Lee, telling her your secret won’t change what happened. It won’t do anything more than clear your conscience and force her to lie for you. Your secret is worth more than that… Isn’t it?”
Tess was worth more than that. Even though his life at Primhaven as an initiate was more fiction than fact, the relationships he’d built with his friends and with Harper were real and meaningful. Was the truth really that important?
“I had a gut feeling,” Lee lied. “I just knew, somehow, that the frost troll chieftain wasn’t being straight with us. Almost like there was some kind of specter of evil lingering behind him.”
Tess rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm. Harper nodded and patted him on the shoulder.
“Fair enough,” she said. “I trust you. With that said, there will be serious consequences for the stunt you pulled with the sled during that initial fight. Never try something like that without running it by me first.”
“I know, I know,” said Lee.
“Come to my office immediately after your class tomorrow,” said Harper.
“I might still be recovering tomorrow.”
Harper set a hand on her hip and glared down at him, her eyes cold and chastising.
“Fine,” he said, smiling. “You win.”
Harper nodded and her expression softened a bit. She looked tired, but a small smile crept onto her face. After a couple of seconds that stretched out to make the silence feel ever so slightly awkward, she turned and left.
“Well, at least you have today off,” said Tess. “That’s still plenty of time for us to have fun.”
Lee extended his mystic stream as she bounded over to his bed and climbed onto it, stretching out to lie next to him. He turned sideways and put his arm around her as the two of them shared several soft, intimate kisses.
“What’s my reward?” asked Tess.
“What?”
“I saved you.” Tess grinned and tapped a finger against the tip of his nose. “There should be some kind of reward, right?”
“I already made a pact with you,” he said. “That should be enough.”
“That was for me helping you stay at Primhaven,” said Tess. “I need a new reward, and I’m going to pout until you give it to me.”
She folded her arms and did her best to pout, but a cute, dimpled smile stole onto her face in place of what she wanted.
“Thanks,” he said. “I know how much you risked by doing what you did. Really, I do.”
Tess’s smile blossomed to its full width. She hugged herself against him and sighed.
“I’m just so glad that you’re okay,” she whispered.
“How long will it take before our pact is strong enough for you to travel with me?”
She lifted her head up, raising an eyebrow at him.
“It depends on a few different things,” she said. “How much essence I siphon to build my strength. How many spells I help you cast. It’s a complicated question.”
“A few months?” asked Lee.
“Somewhere around there,” said Tess. “Why ever do you ask?”
“I want you to come with me when I do eventually leave this school.”
Tess let out a tiny gasp. She blinked a couple of times, looking as though she was about to tear up, and then suddenly smiled again.
“Isn’t a man supposed to get down on one knee before asking a question like that?” she asked. “Especially when you’re proposing to a proper lady such as myself.”
“That’s not what I was asking.” Lee felt his cheeks heat up. “You know what I meant, and it wasn’t that.”
“Wasn’t it, though?” asked Tess. “To stay with you, by your side, for now and forever. So romantic!”
Lee grabbed one of his pillows and playfully batted her over the head with it, eliciting a squeal. “Stop putting words in my mouth, woman.”
“Hmmm…” Tess tapped a finger against her lips. “Would it be rude of me to say that I’ll think about it?”
“You brat!” Lee grabbed her and started tickling her, eliciting a flurry of squeals. Tickling became kissing, which became heavy kissing and touching, and then the door opened.
“Lee?” Nurse Susie stepped back into the infirmary. “I heard noises coming from inside. Are you okay? Do you need your devoted nurse to, mhmmhhmmm, check you over?”
Tess grinned at Lee. “She’s going to be so useful. Succubae give off so much lust essence that it’s almost obscene, and as long as you and her are having fun, I can help myself to as much as I want.”
Lee rolled his eyes and leaned back on the bed, wondering if he really knew what he’d gotten himself into.
EPILOGUE
Lucas Tenenbaum had been a cruel man in life. Which would have been fine, if he’d had the proper outlet to express it.
Lucas had worked as an enforcer for an elite access casino with one foot planted in the criminal realm. He’d been a high-class thug, a muscle-head with the mannerisms of a gentleman and the violent tendencies of a sadist.
The incident that led to his drastically shortened lifespan involved a man he was supposed to protect. A man with a very loud mouth and no ‘off switch’. Lucas also had a temper and, in retrospect, the outcome was no different from leaving an overfilled gas can next to a roaring fire. He still remembered what his boss at the time had said to him after he’d been demoted and transferred out of the casino, to a different and far more dangerous criminal endeavor.
“Don’t say anything, don’t shoot anything, and for high heaven and Mary fucking Joseph, shave every hair off your goddamn body.”
Lucas had learned in the time since just how much of that advice was based on paranoid superstition. Mages and sorcerers abhorred using hair. It was barely capable of fueling short-range tracking spells that could follow their targets for a few hundred feet.
Lack of hair had made his death slightly less painful than it otherwise would have been, or at least that’s what he liked to believe. He’d taken a fireball to the face while serving as a bodyguard to a young, inexperienced sorceress recruited by the House of Shadows. He didn’t like to think about what that would have felt like had the sensation began in his hair and crept forward.
As far as Lucas was concerned, that’s where his story should have ended.
***
“The fact that you’re here tells me everything I need to know,” said his master. “You failed.”
Lucas stayed quiet. He knew better than to speak, especially since his voice was already thin in expectation of the pain to come. He stared down at the creaky wooden floor, trying to listen to the sound of the eager patrons in the taproom below. His master had gone to great expense to come all the way to Gillum, and the room they’d rented above the Frostfire Tavern seemed inadequate for their trouble.
“My time is too valuable for you to waste,” said his master. “Out with it, Lucas. How did you bungle the plan this time?”
Lucas reached an arm across his ethereal chest, letting his hand grip his shoulder while his elbow drooped downward.
“It began well,” he said, trying to keep his tone posh. “As you said, master, ambushing the survey team was simple and effective. It drew out the mages in the college like you’d predicted it would.”
“Go on.”
“I... observed them from afar,” said Lucas. “This is when I used the radio left by the survey team to inform you of Harper’s apprentice’s true identity.”
His master didn’t say anything, and Lucas wondered if it was due to her being angry at him, or
something else.
“The frost trolls were unexpected, but also helpful,” said Lucas. “I thought it would be easy to use them to defeat the mages, and then I’d have my pick of which to possess. It almost worked. Harper was too powerful for the trolls to subdue, but we captured Eldon.”
“Why?”
“What? I didn’t have much choice, I just took the one I—”
“No, Lucas,” said his master. “I’m asking why you didn’t bring him to me immediately.”
“That... wasn’t the plan,” said Lucas. “I was to possess one of the mages and infiltrate Primhaven to wait for further commands.”
“If you had just brought him to me…” His master made an annoyed-sounding noise. “He would have listened. He may have even been able to talk to Harper, to convince her, as well.”
“I… I tried to explain some of it to him,” said Lucas.
“You what?” asked his master. “What did you tell him?”
“I merely told him that you had an interest in him,” said Lucas. “That’s true, is it not?”
Lucas felt the extension of his master’s mystic stream and almost cowered in anticipation of what was to come. A telekinesis spell seized him by the arms and legs, splaying his limbs outward and pulling him forward. He watched as his master spun around to face him before gripping his neck with her hand and squeezing, effectively choking him.
“He’s my brother,” said Zoe. “Of course I have an interest in him.”
She held Lucas like that for several long, breathless seconds before releasing her grip and her spell and letting him fall to the floor.
“Maybe this can still work in our favor,” muttered Zoe. “Start packing my bag. We’re leaving.”
“Leaving? To do what?”
Zoe licked her lips.
“To give them some clues to follow.”
THE END
Thanks for reading. Arcane Dropout 2 will be out on July 10th. To get in touch with me directly, send an email to [email protected]. For updates and occasional freebies, sign up for my newsletter.
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