A Scholar Without Magic

by Guy Antibes

  After Sam left the dining room to fetch his sword, he sat down on the couch in his flat. Of all people he hadn’t expected to run into, he now had to deal with Banna Plunk at the Order of Ren. Even Plantian was to arrive soon. What an odd reunion this was turning out to be, especially since Sam had been totally honest with Pilkis Sorenon about Banna’s activities in Toraltia.

  ~

  “Harder, try harder,” Pilkis said.

  Sam sat in a chair, trying to collect pollen from the air into a basket sitting in his lap. It was the fourth image that Pilkis had given him, and each time Sam had failed. What did they expect? Sam thought.

  Sorenon sighed. “It is of no use, is it?” he said to Sam.

  “None at all. Burned out.”

  “We have determined that you can degrade pollen five times faster than gold, and with gold in your hand, the rate triples. Something is going on in that youthful body of yours, or you wouldn’t be destroying pollen at such a fast rate.”

  “But what?” Sam asked.

  Pilkis shook his head. “I have an idea, but it will take more pollen magicians. I will talk to Plantian about it. Perhaps Banna and he can assist in a different kind of examination. Have you any problems with modesty?”

  Sam sat up straight. “You want me to be naked?”

  Pilkis cocked his head, “Nearly,” he said, smiling.

  Sam leaned back and covered his eyes. “Another joke!”

  “Nearly is no joke; totally is,” Pilkis said playfully. “We are going to create a sheath of pollen over you. I need magicians in order to make it cling to your body quickly.”

  “Oh, I see. You are going to map where the pollen degrades the fastest?” Sam said. He could see that as being useful to Pilkis, but Sam worried about where all this analysis could lead.

  “You are as perceptive as ever, Sam.” Pilkis wrote a few notes in his notebook and stood up. We can walk over to your flat together. I believe it is time for dinner, and we will use the occasion to recruit Plantian and Banna to join in our experiment.”

  “To find out where you are going to cut into me?” Sam asked.

  “There will be no cutting, indiscriminately. If we find a locus for your disability, just what do you expect us to do with whatever we find? What if your issue is what you have thought all along, that your capability is burned out? No, we have other work to do if we do find an anomaly.”

  That sounded ominous to Sam, but Pilkis was silent about it on their way to the boarding house.

  Plantian joined them on the way. “I know Banna is at the house. I’m to meet her for dinner in town.”

  “Why don’t I ever get to leave the Order?” Sam asked.

  “You can join us if you wish,” Plantian said. “Be prepared to be bored.”

  “I will.” Sam looked at Pilkis. “I need some perspective after our session today.”

  Plantian looked quizzically at Pilkis. “A breakthrough?”

  “Just the opposite, actually,” the proctor said. “We need to do some other testing, and I thought of an interesting way to do it. As long as Sam can put up with a little immodesty.” He looked across Plantian at Sam and chuckled. “We will need Banna, as well. I think three magicians will work.”

  “What is it?”

  Pilkis smiled. “I will wait to reveal all,” he grinned at Sam, “until we talk to Banna.”

  ~

  As it turned out, Pilkis joined Banna, Plantian, and Sam as they walked out of the Order grounds and into Alloren. Sam was surprised to see a Vaarek restaurant in the town.

  “An outpost of culinary sanity,” Plantian said. “I hope you don’t mind, Pilkis, but I think they rinse and boil the good food to serve to the locals.”

  The Zogazin laughed.

  “I’m serious.” Plantian said as they entered the small place.

  Sam could smell Vaarekian spices in the air. Banna smiled as she took a whiff, too. They sat down, and after their order was taken and Pilkis was assured his dinner would have a little taste, the proctor set out his idea.

  “We will produce a layer of clinging pollen that will fall over Sam’s body and observe where the pollen degrades the quickest. Something, someplace within Sam is rejecting the pollen. If we can find it—”

  “You aren’t going to cut it out of me,” Sam said. “Even if I can’t make pollen, at least I have some defense against others who can use it. I have used it to solve problems and save lives.”

  Banna nodded. “I have seen Sam in action. He does indeed use his unique capabilities in ways no one else on Mariopa can. There shouldn’t be an effort to destroy what makes Sam different. I will participate, so we can understand it better, but he shouldn’t be forced into some ill-advised operation just because you want to play around with pollen, Pilkis.”

  “I must agree with my daughter. However, I also know that Sam is a pollen magician. I am sure of it. We can take this step-by-step without being hasty or having a pre-determined goal in mind to remove something that may or may not exist in Sam’s body. Right, Sam? I hate talking about this with you listening.”

  “I can take it as long as I’m not completely naked,” he said, smiling at Pilkis. “With my two Vaarekian friends restraining the knife you want to use, I feel more comfortable about my fate.”

  Pilkis smiled. “It is settled then. We can do it tomorrow at the hospital. I will arrange an examination room stocked with suitable modesty drapes for Sam.”

  “You won’t need any drapes,” Sam said. “I’ll just make sure I’m wearing clean underwear.”

  The food came, and Sam was pleased to see that Banna and Plantian savored every bite. Sam picked out a few offending peppers but appreciated the spices. Banna rose toward the end of the meal and had a word with the waiter.

  When they left, Plantian, Banna, and Sam were presented with bags of spices.

  “It isn’t a perfect solution, but better is preferred to no spices,” Banna said.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  ~

  S inna Torkin, the Head Proctor of the hospital, stood in the room as an observer at Pilkis’s request. Sam shivered a bit on the examination table. The hospital provided a briefer version of Sam’s underwear.

  “I’m glad this isn’t made out of pollen,” Sam said.

  Pilkis laughed along with Plantian. Banna stood impassively, and Sinna just looked confused.

  “Sam’s body destroys pollen, Sinna.”

  The Head Proctor’s eyes widened before she smiled. “Oh! I forgot for a moment. That is what we are testing today.” She shook her head a bit ruefully.

  “We will begin with a test. Watch me, and then you will have an idea what you will need to do,” Pilkis said. “I will create a clinging panel of pollen.”

  The proctor waved his hand, and a sheet of pollen about a foot square appeared and floated down on Sam’s thigh. It dropped onto his skin. Sam could barely feel it before it disappeared.

  “That is too thin. It barely touched his skin before it began to disintegrate.”

  Sam sighed. “It just has to get close,” he said.

  “Something thicker. It has to last for a minute to make an observation,” Plantian said.

  After what seemed like an eternity of experimentation, Sam finally sat up and grabbed the drape that had served as a pillow during all the experimentation.

  “What did you find?”

  “Somehow, when the lightning hit you, your head became loose and no longer was screwed on straight,” Pilkis said.

  Plantian smiled, but Banna frowned as Pilkis laughed at his own joke. Sam withstood the joke with a smile.

  “There is a nodule beside your spine on the left side midway down your back,” Banna said. “It was clear where the pollen dissipated the fastest. I would have sworn it should have been on your neck or head, but…” She shrugged.

  “I am baffled as well. We have always thought pollen was controlled by the lower brain stem, and this is not what we expected. The question is, what do we do?” Sinna
said.

  “More magic,” Pilkis said, rubbing his palms together. “The three of us need to see into Sam, probably wearing gold-tinted spectacles to see if there is something visible to our senses.”

  “You think it is a ward?” Sam asked. “I don’t think so. Why don’t you put a gold coin on my back and see if that will help sense what is wrong with my back? When I touch gold, I can sense wards much better than when I wear spectacles. Banna knows that.”

  The woman nodded. “I do, and I think Sam’s advice is the one to follow.” She looked at Sam. “Do you have one of those gold tips on you?”

  Sam carefully walked over to his trousers and pulled one out. “Here,” he said handing it to Banna.

  “Back on the rack,” Pilkis said. “Tummy down.”

  Sam did as the proctor said. He felt the gold tip moving down his back until a sharp pain made Sam gasp, and then he couldn’t help screaming. Pain like a huge hot needle bore into his spine. His heart began to beat wildly as he lost his breath and couldn’t regain it. He fought and fought to remain conscious, but his mind began to darken, dim, and then he knew no more.

  ~

  The darkness began to roll back, like clouds parting to show the sun, but it was a very weak sun. Sam blinked his eyes open. He lay on his stomach, and the pain that put him under was now a dull ache.

  He tried to roll over on his back, but there were bolsters on both sides of his body.

  “Hello!” Sam called out.

  He turned his head toward the open door to the room that smelled like a healer’s office to see a white-clad woman walk in. He didn’t know if anyone was teasing him or not, but the woman’s face indicated not.

  “You are awake.”

  “Yes, I am,” Sam said. He tried to twist, but the lower part of his body wasn’t cooperating. In fact, he had no feeling in his legs. He gasped.

  “Are you in pain again?” the woman asked.

  “Quite the opposite,” Sam said, “I can’t feel my legs!”

  “Oh!” She looked surprised, but Sam tried to combat the growing panic. “I will get the Head Proctor.”

  Sam wanted to get up, but couldn’t even manage to upset the two bolsters. He shut his eyes tight. Surely this must be a dream, he thought. He heard footsteps rushing to his room and sighed. It appeared he was already awake.

  Sinna hurried to his side. “No feeling?”

  Sam shook his head. His eyes were filling with tears. “What have you done to me?”

  “The nodule in your back began to swell after you blacked out. We had to remove the sac and sew it up.”

  “Not with pollen thread!”

  “No. We didn’t use pollen thread.”

  “What am I going to do?” Sam said. He hated the edge to his voice, but what would he do without his legs?

  “Calm down a little. I am going to examine the incision to see if there have been any changes in the last four days.”

  “Four days! I have been out that long?”

  “Seven, actually,” Pilkis said, walking into Sam’s view. He looked concerned as he put his hand on Sam’s shoulder while someone probed his back. He could feel the wound and below that, nothing.

  “It has healed,” Sinna said. “That is amazing. All I can see is scar tissue.”

  “Sam said he was a very quick healer,” Pilkis said.

  “Scary quick,” Sinna said. “There was a strange nodule attached to your spine, and that was the thing that filled with fluid once the gold lump touched it. I can’t explain what it was or why it began to expand.”

  Sam didn’t know what to think. “Can I get on my back?”

  “Just a minute,” Sinna said. The bolsters were removed, and pillows were put into place to prop Sam up. “How does that feel?”

  “My back aches where the lump was,” he shrugged, but he couldn’t help but moan when he tried to wiggle his toes and felt nothing.

  Sinna and Pilkis took chairs and sat in front of Sam.

  “Whatever it was didn’t stop your aversion to pollen,” Pilkis said. “We continued to run tests while you were unconscious. Plantian wanted to know if it affected your magical power to see ward layers, but you needed to be conscious for that. I’ll fetch him after you’ve got some food in you. Banna Plunk couldn’t stay any longer in Alloren and asked to be informed of your progress.”

  “I didn’t know if I’d ever wake up again. I have never felt such excruciating pain. However, I’d be tempted to go through it again to feel my feet,” Sam said.

  ~

  Without the ability to walk, Sam continued his stay in the hospital. His days were filled with tests, and at Moranna Goranan’s insistence, he continued to learn Zogazin words.

  “I don’t know why I need to learn your language,” Sam said to her. “I won’t be getting around anymore, and everyone in Alloren speaks Polistian.”

  Moranna shook her head. “You can’t stay here forever. You aren’t a member of the Order.”

  “I am a part-magician. Yesterday, Pilkis confirmed that I have my magical sight back, and in a few minutes, he is going to pass a gold tip on my back again.”

  “Do you think you should try it again?” Moranna said.

  “We will pass the lump over my back from a distance first. “If there are any twinges, he will take it away.”

  She nodded and went to fetch lunch.

  Pilkis and Plantian Plunk entered Sam’s room. “Are you ready?”

  “No,” Sam said. “But I suppose I need to know how chronic my condition is.”

  “I don’t want to give you any false hopes, but your magic sight returned after a week.”

  Sam nodded. “I know it’s not the gold itself. I’ve been handling gold for some time.”

  “But no one touched your back with it.”

  “No,” Sam said. He felt nervous, but he to believe the nodule was the culprit for his misfortune. “Let us get it over with.”

  The two men turned Sam onto his side. Pilkis warned Sam that the gold was getting closer and finally, Sam felt the touch on his back, just above the ache from his scar.

  “Nothing,” Pilkis said.

  “Nothing but nerves,” Sam said. “Pull up my shirt and rub it on my skin.”

  Sam flinched when the cold gold touched his skin, but his nerves did the flinching. “I’m okay.”

  Sam was returned to a sitting position. “What now?”

  “I will create a harmless ward, and you disarm it with this,” Plantian put the gold tip on Sam’s palm. “Now to your forehead when I create the ward.

  Sam could see a shiny film develop on a painted hospital tray. He reached out with the tip and traced the edges as he had done numerous times for Banna on his voyage to Tolloy.

  “It works the same.”

  Plantian smiled. “It does. Other than your legs, no harm.”

  “No harm!” Sam said. “I can’t walk! No harm? I can’t go to the bathroom unassisted. You think I look forward to a life of needing servants around me all the time?” He took a deep breath and turned away.

  “We will be back,” Pilkis said quietly.

  ~

  Sam woke up in the middle of the night. His foot twitched. His foot! He sat up and ran his hands along his legs. He could barely feel them, but barely was a blessing! He grinned. His body took a long time, but it was doing its work healing itself. He drifted off.

  Sam opened his eyes and looked out at the sun streaming into his room. He wondered if he had dreamt that he got feeling back into his legs. He tried wiggling his toes and saw them moving under the sheets. He shouted, threw back the covers, sat up, another first, and promptly fell on his face. The floor of his hospital room was hard, and Sam rubbed the blood from his nose.

  “How did you get there?” a healer asked, walking into the room.

  “I can move my legs!” Sam said.

  He could barely move them, but he showed the woman how he could wiggle his toes. Hope surged through him as he helped a bit while the woman struggled to ge
t him back into the bed.

  An hour later Sinna Torkin walked into his room. “Progress?”

  Sam grinned. “Progress. Look.” He pointed to his toes. “I think the feeling is coming back, too.”

  “I will get Proctor Sorenon.”

  Pilkis rushed to the door and grinned. “All better?”

  Sam shook his head. “Not all better, but an improvement. I still can’t walk on wobbly legs, but I am thrilled that they wobble.”

  Pilkis performed a few tests on Sam’s sense of touch and then left. While he was gone, his legs began to itch and quiver and shake on their own. Sam called out. “My legs!”

  A nurse rushed in. “Did you lose your feeling, again?”

  Sam shook his head. “I am feeling too much.”

  “Itching? Like when your arm falls asleep?”

  “Oh,” Sam said. He leaned forward and began to massage his muscles. “I see what you mean. Then this is a good sign?”

  “I hope so. I’ll fetch a healer.”

  By the time the healer arrived, the itching, or whatever it was, became worse. Sam struggled to rub his legs.

  “A hot bath sometimes helps,” a nurse said.

  Sam found out that she was right. The bath was really hot, but for some reason, it took away some, but not all, of the discomfort. Sam fell asleep in the bath and woke up sometime later.

  He called for someone to help him out, but no one came. The water had turned cold, and his skin was shriveling. Sam called out again, but nothing happened.

  He pulled himself out of the tub and made it to a chair where he could dry off. His clothes were wadded up a few steps away. Sam tried to walk, but his legs were rubbery, and he fell to the floor and had to crawl to put his clothes on, but after he did, he laughed. He was thankful to Havetta, the Toraltian goddess, that he could crawl.

  Sam rose to his knees and unlatched the door and crawled outside. A healer spotted him on the floor.

  “What are you doing?” the healer said, helping Sam stand.

  “I can’t walk, but I can crawl,” he said. “I was stuck in the bathtub and had to get out on my own, or my skin would have resembled a raisin.”