From Blood and Magic

by Dave Skinner

  “I still have no idea how Micka managed this, but I believe that you are his son. You look so much like him,” Adamtay said. “Nailmoe was my best friend. We trained as Lancers together. He died saving me, and I miss him every day. He was with me when we acquired the Sword of Sacrifice and the Crystals of Light and Blood. He was at my side the first time we came to this place to rescue Mearistay, and he kept her safe as she searched for our new home. Then he came back across the void on the day KaAn fell to the Demon Lord’s army to try to save me. He was a man I loved and admired. A man I trusted totally. If you wish to make a home in New KaAn, you are more than welcome. I understand what you say about controlling your magic. Hopefully my uncle will be able to help with that.”

  “I hope that also, Your Majesty.”

  ***

  Nails opened his eyes early the next morning. He had slept well, but a dream about a building crashing down woke him while the morning light was dull and grey. Unable to return to sleep, he kept wondering if the wizard would be able to help. He thought back to his encounters with Adel and Sinty. They had tried to help. Adel had given him a little information about his birth, but her fit had scared him more than the knowledge helped him, although holding her and drawing the magic in had felt good. It filled the emptiness he had inside. He thought of it as emptiness because it felt like a black nothingness, or it had, before Adel. Now, it felt like a partially full belly. Sinty said it was a magic core that the Mother would fill if he wished her to. She had shown him how to recognize and draw upon the Mother’s magic. She had also taught him a few spells, like the one that made the grasses grow. He had been reluctant to learn. His idea was to rid himself of magic, not to add more, but she had made him see it not as adding, but more an act of pacifying. He thought he had it under control after that, and then the incident at the mining village proved him wrong. Ran’s exercises were helping to keep him calm, but he had just seen that they were not enough. Ran did them every day to control his curse and yet he still lost control when things became too much.

  A ripple of energy ran down his back, so Nails slipped out of his bed and walked to the window. The glow of dawn was enough for him to make out a walled-in yard below. If he could get down there, he could do his exercises and calm down. He pulled on his pants and shirt and walked barefoot to the door, easing it open without a sound. He saw no one as he padded along the hallway and down the stairs. Off to his left, there was a hallway that went in the direction he wanted. Following it, he came upon a woman sweeping the floor who directed him to the yard.

  The area was similar to the one he had seen at Reese’s house. Three doors led back into the palace, one was obviously the kitchen, as a kitchen worker was carrying buckets of water through that door. Nails looked around and saw four other buckets sitting beside a well, and a number of tables and benches scattered around. He chose a spot beside the back wall and started to warm up, transitioning into his exercise routine once he was ready. It felt good to stretch out his muscles and the repetition eased his anxiety. Nails quickly lost track of time. As he came to the end, he was thinking about how good a dip in his bathing pool would feel. Starting back towards the doorway he had come out of earlier, he saw Princess Feenatay sitting at a table with a mug in her hand. She was positioned along the route he had to take, and as he came up to her, he nodded.

  Nails had no idea how old the Princess was. People appeared to have an ability to guess ages, but he lacked it completely. He could see that she was a little smaller than Brayson, but not being able to tell her age left him without a clue about whether she was a small person or a young person. Like him, she appeared to be bald. He wasn’t close enough to see the short, white hairs on her head, but he simply assumed they were there. Being close enough to see another KaAnian’s hair would require familiarity.

  “Good morning, Princess,” he said. He intended to keep walking, but she spoke.

  “Uncle Ran taught you his exercises, I see.”

  “Yes.” He stopped walking. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do when talking with a princess but passing by seemed rude. “They help keep me calm.”

  “I heard you talk about your magic last night,” she said. “What does it feel like?”

  “Sometimes it feels like a big hole inside. Other times it feels like hunger, or maybe it is simply hunger that I am feeling.” She smiled at that and indicated for him to sit.

  “Does it ever hurt?”

  “Once, in Crosstown, it made me pass out, but that wasn’t from pain. It just overwhelmed me. Are you interested in magic, Princess?”

  “I train with my great uncle, Neventay. He is the Court Wizard you will meet today. I am unsure about it...magic, I mean. The training is not difficult.”

  “Does the magic scare you?”

  “Why do you ask that?” she asked sharply. “Do you think because I am a girl, I am less capable than my brother?”

  Nails realized he had said something wrong but was unsure what it was.

  “Magic scares me,” he said. “That is why I asked. I know nothing about you or your brother.”

  That appeased her somewhat. She studied him for a few moments.

  “From your story last night, I realize you count only fifteen name-days, but you are big and strong, why are you scared?”

  “Because I can’t control it when it comes,” he admitted. “One time, I placed my hands on a boat and blew the front part away. Another time, I knocked down some houses. If I get excited, I don’t know what will happen. If I was you, I wouldn’t want to learn it for fear of what it might awaken.”

  “Unfortunately, the choice is not mine. My brother and I are twins, and I was born second.”

  “I don’t understand,” Nails admitted.

  “My brother will be king someday, and I will be the court wizard. Just like my grandfather and his brother, Neventay.”

  Nails didn’t know what to say to that, and nothing came to mind.

  “I am sure you will be good at whatever you do,” he said eventually. “If you will excuse me, I would like to get dressed and break my fast.”

  “Food will be laid out in the same room we used for dinner last night,” she told him.

  Nails stood, and Princess Feenatay said nothing more to stop him, so he headed back to his room. Someone had relit the braziers in the bathing pool, but the stones had not accumulated much heat. He dropped three into the water and the temperature rose slightly. Nails was accustomed to bathing in cold water, so using warmish water was fine with him, and he decided he was too hungry to wait for the heat to spread. After a dip in the pool, he dressed again, fully this time, and headed back downstairs. No one was in the eating room, but food had been spread out on the table, so he helped himself. Princess Feenatay arrived shortly after, followed by her brother. By the time Nails was finishing his second plate of food, all the people from last night’s dinner were seated at the table.

  “Feenatay,” the Queen said, “will you take Nails to Neventay’s workshop when he is finished eating?”

  “I would be happy to do that, Mother.”

  The Queen’s head came up quickly. She gave her daughter a questioning look, but Feenatay was focused on her plate, so she didn’t notice, or maybe she purposely kept her head down—Nails couldn’t tell which. Mearistay then looked towards Nails who shoveled more food into his mouth. He had no idea what was happening between the Queen and her daughter, but obviously Mearistay thought he was somehow involved.

  “Good food,” he mumbled.

  Nails was the last person to finish eating. He had been full for a while, but he wasn’t in a hurry to meet with Neventay. Eventually, when he had cleaned his plate for the fourth time, he felt fortified enough for wizard scrutiny. Feenatay led him out a side door and over to a small adjacent building.

  “This is Neventay’s School of Wizardry,” she told him. “We have another where most students of magic train. This one is for special students picked to be traine
d by him.”

  Inside the building, she led him to the door of what turned out to be a large workshop, knocked and entered.

  “Sometimes he doesn’t hear the knocking, so now I just go in,” she told him in a low voice.

  A wrinkled old man sat at a desk located near the door. He was bald like every other KaAnian Nails had seen and, for a moment, Nails couldn’t identify what was different about him until he realized it was the eyebrows. All other KaAnians had short white hair on their heads and faces; their eyebrows were almost invisible, but the wizard’s eyebrows were thick and bushy. That, and his wrinkles, gave him a distinguished look in Nails’ opinion.

  “Grand Uncle,” Feenatay said. “This is the young man who needs your help. His name is Nails.”

  “Come in, young man,” Neventay said. “Have a chair over there in the sunshine. You do not have to extend your scales. This sun is nothing like the one back home.”

  “He knows, Great Uncle,” Feenatay said. “He has lived here all his life.”

  “Of course, of course,” Neventay said. “Excuse me. I forget sometimes. Please, come and sit.”

  Nails noticed as he sat down that the sunlight came from a square opening in the roof.

  “I was told that you are having trouble controlling your magic,” Neventay said. “Tell me about it.”

  Nails explained his problem again. It didn’t take long. He thought he was getting good at telling it.

  “Well, let us see what we can discover about this natural ability of yours.”

  Neventay had been leaning on a long staff while Nails explained. Now, he lifted the end, laid it on Nails’ shoulder, and said something Nails did not understand. It sounded like a different language to him, but that could have been because the man mumbled. As far as Nails could tell, nothing happened.

  “Interesting,” Neventay murmured. “Feenatay, please activate the mirrors.”

  Feenatay walked to a pull cord hanging from a contraption on the ceiling and tugged it. A circle of mirrors flopped down and directed light at Nails. The glow was so intense his eyes watered. Neventay said the same incoherent thing he had said before, but this time, Nails felt something. The wizard made a circular motion with his free hand, and the light started spinning around Nails. The glare was too much for him to keep his eyes open, and even with them closed, the light seemed to penetrate into him. Nails felt hungry again. An emptiness within seemed to be awakening and growing. It welcomed the light, reached out, embraced it and sucked it in hungrily. Nails heard something fall. The light stopped suddenly, and Feenatay called out. He popped his eyes open. Neventay was on the floor.

  Chapter 21

  “I am sorry about Wizard Neventay,” Nails said after all other goodbyes were finished. “I hope he will be all right.”

  “Actually, Nails, we should thank you,” King Adamtay said. “I have been suggesting he retire for years now. He has trained many good wizards who are more than capable of taking over for him. He always said there was no reason to retire. Maybe he will think differently now. If his magic refuses to come back, he may not have a choice.”

  Nails nodded and turned to push Reese’s boat off the sand, scrambling to get in as Brayson used the oars to maneuver it around. Ran, sitting at the tiller, waved to his friends while Brayson rowed them towards the harbour exit. Soon they had the sail up and were headed along the coast towards Gore. Brayson stored the oars and settled into a position on the floor of the boat across from Nails. He looked at his friend for a few minutes.

  “So you drained the magic out of that poor, old man,” Brayson said.

  “I didn’t try to do it,” Nails said quickly. “It just happened.” He held his head down and refused to look up.

  “Relax, Nails. Everyone knows it was an accident. But I still fail to understand how it happened.”

  “It was like what happened with Adel, in a way. He had light spinning around me. I felt hungry, and then I heard him collapse. Feenatay called for help, and we carried him to his rooms and put him into bed. You heard the rest.”

  “Well everyone has suggested you see Andoo Toran. Are you ready to?”

  Nails considered the question. As much as he wanted to stay away from Andoo, he felt he really had no options left. He doubted that even the mighty Wizard Toran could take his curse away. The only thing he could do now was learn to control it.

  “Are people afraid of me, Brayson?”

  “Why do you ask that?”

  “Because they wouldn’t even shake my hand when we left.”

  “Adamtay shook your hand.”

  “He was the only one. You can tell what people are feeling. Are they scared of me?”

  “There were some feelings of apprehension,” Brayson admitted.

  “Do I scare you?”

  “Why would I be scared of you? You have saved my life a couple of times. You are the gentlest man I have ever met, and one of the few big-people I trust. Every problem you have caused was unintentional, and you are my friend.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Now, answer my question. Are we going to visit Andoo Toran?”

  “I think I have to,” Nails sighed.

  “Okay, I have a suggestion. I want to go with Remi to meet my father and her brother. After that, we will be at Upper Thesia. I would like to go across country and visit my mother, but then we can keep heading west to the Trade River and travel down it to Riverrun South. That will put us close to Delta. It will take longer, but I am tired of people and their endless questions.”

  “You want me to come with you and Remi to meet your father?”

  “I think Reese is taking us, so it would be Remi, me, you and Reese sailing to Thesia,” Brayson explained.

  “Reese doesn’t like me.”

  “Then you two can scowl at each other for the whole trip, or maybe you can win her over. Just remember, no talk about being a pirate.”

  “Okay,” Nails said. “I like that idea.”

  “Good, it is settled then. Oh, one other thing. Do not talk about being in bed with Susin.”

  “But that is one of my best memories.”

  “Nails, my friend, I think I should explain a few things about women.”

  Nails liked it when Brayson taught him stuff, so he settled back and listened.

  ***

  Reese dropped the sail outside of Lower Thesia harbour, and they used the oars to maneuver through the ships to find a place to beach. Both Upper and Lower Thesia harbours were large and always crowded, according to Remi. Brayson, Remi and Nails threw their packs out onto the sand, and all four climbed out. The girls hugged and talked for a long time before Reese came over to Brayson and Nails. She gave Brayson a hug.

  “Take care of yourself. I hope to see you again. Like my parents said, you are always welcome at our house.”

  She turned and stepped up to Nails. She had apologized to him for the “slow” comment and explained why she said it as soon as they had returned to Gore. They talked easily after that and had even laughed together, but now Nails felt awkward. He hoped she would hug him, Brayson had said to just open his arms a little bit and smile.

  “Relax and be yourself.”

  “What if I can’t relax?” Nails had asked. “What if she hugs me and my hands start to give off sparks?”

  “Don’t worry about it. I hear girls like a few sparks in a relationship.”

  Reese came forward slightly and hesitated, so Nails put his arms out a little and tried to smile. She smiled back, lifting her own arms as if to reach out to him. As she moved closer, a spark started to build in Nails’ hands and he dropped them. Reese dropped hers too.

  “Goodbye, Nails.”

  “Bye, Reese,” he said. Say something else, he told himself. “Maybe I’ll see you again,” he finally managed.

  “That would be nice,” she said. “Will you push me off?”

  Nails’ tongue seemed too big for his mouth, so he just nodded hi
s head a number of times. She climbed into her boat and settled on the oar seat. He pushed the skiff out, watching her maneuver it away before he walked over to Brayson and Remi. Brayson had a sad look on his face, and he reached out to touch Nails on the shoulder.

  “Don’t touch me I’m sparking,” Nails said, holding his hands out.

  “Reese!” Remi bellowed. “He is sparking over you.”

  Nails almost died on the spot. He spun around to see how Reese reacted. She was smiling. She waved and threw him a kiss. Well, it was probably a kiss for Remi, but it seemed to be directed at him. He turned back to Remi.

  “What did you say that for?” Nails demanded.

  “Someone had to do something,” she said. “Watching you two tiptoe around your feelings for each other is painful. Now come on, my father is waiting.”

  Nails shouldered his pack and followed the other two towards town. The stairs between Upper and Lower Thesia were the shortest route between North Lake and South Lake. The other route was the Trade River from Riverrun North to Riverrun South. The Trade River, at the other end of North Lake, was wide and fast-flowing with many areas of rapids but was navigable unlike the torrent beside him. The Thesians made their living carrying goods up and down the stairs, which ran beside the boiling rapids. Sinty had explained that natural turbulence like rapids and fast-moving rivers were places where magic could be accessed. She was right, Nails could feel the power coming from the water and he tried to block it off, but it was impossible. He allowed the energy to flow through him and into the earth below his feet using the grounding process Sinty had taught him. It worked, although he felt sparks on the souls of his feet. He ignored the feeling and concentrated on being calm. Eventually, he could appreciate what was around him.

  The stairs were cut into the rock in many places. In other spots, large natural slabs, some twice as long as he was tall, formed long steps. Wooden stairs had been built, sometimes two and three together, to accommodate bottlenecks. Everywhere he looked, Thesians trudged along, going up and down. All carried heavy loads. Almost everything was covered in a fine mist thrown up from the river. Nails wanted to ask Brayson about the time he had spent as a porter on the stairs, but the thunder of the river made talking impossible. After a long climb, they eventually crested the top.