Shadowborn's Terror: Book IV of 'The Magician's Brother' Series

by HDA Roberts

  Chapter 8

  What little remained of that week passed quickly, and I allowed myself to drift back into what I considered normal; away from thoughts of that place. So, when Sunday came around I was more than ready to go back to school, where it was more... innocent, and I could pretend, at least for a while, that there wasn't a world outside where things like Gardenia existed.

  Cassandra didn't especially like the idea of my going off alone, and to a place where people had already tried to kill me (repeatedly), but I managed to persuade her not to come with me, under the proviso that I checked in with her regularly. I promised to do one better and meet her at least once a week for coffee, which made her feel better. I promised the same to Tethys, who I think just liked having me within teasing distance.

  I arrived back at school by Shadow-Walking, and in good time for once. Windward Academy was surprisingly easy for me to find, even in the Shadow Realm, but then I had spent my most formative years there, so it made sense that I'd have a pretty serious connection to the place.

  I found my room assignment quickly and unpacked before settling in to wait for my friends to arrive. Bill was first. He'd grown again and was now a good two inches taller than me and broader with it; he was still soft around the edges, though, with the same dark hair and easy smile. He was a frightful gossip but utterly and completely loyal to the end. We chatted and messed around while we waited.

  Cathy's text came in around four. Bill smiled at me knowingly.

  "Go ahead, I'll catch up when the saliva stops flowing," he said with a grin.

  "You had to ruin it, didn't you?" I said, but I still jumped out the window and flew right over.

  Cathy's father was still unloading the car when I landed next to her and scooped her into a hug that made her squeak adorably for a moment before returning it with gusto. We had a strict 'minimal contact around her father' rule, so it was just a hug... for now.

  Cathy was the most beautiful girl I'd ever known, with a heart-shaped face, soft, full lips warm brown eyes and golden blonde hair. She had a dazzling smile, a delicate nose and wore thick glasses with heavy black rims, her hair held in a bun pinned by pencils.

  "Missed you," I said, my arms and my Will combining to lift her a few inches clear of the ground.

  "Missed you, too," she said, her arms hard around me.

  There was a distinct cough from the direction of Cathy's car and I put her down, blushing as I went to shake her Father's hand.

  "Good to see you again, Mister Campbell," I said after he'd barely avoided crushing every bone in my fingers.

  "Graves," he said, with a brief nod, "Now you're here, you may as well make yourself useful."

  He gestured at Cathy's trunk and suitcases.

  I smiled and called my Will, lifting them easily into the air as Cathy led the way with a grin on her face. We climbed two flights of stairs and found Cathy's room quickly. I smiled at a couple of the girls I recognised. I put her trunk down and she was on me in a second, planting a deep kiss on my lips that left me in need of air.

  She smiled impishly at me, and we kissed again, my world making sense once more.

  "So, I go away for a couple of weeks and you move in with another woman, get engaged to a second princess and visit a brothel. What do you have to say for yourself?" she said in a serious tone, ruined by the mischief in her eyes.

  "Sorry Miss Cathy," I said, whispering into her ear. She shuddered and nibbled my chin a little bit.

  "You smooth talker, you," she gasped as I kissed her neck and cheek, "Was it terrible? Are you alright?"

  "All better now," I said, smiling at her.

  "God, Matty, I wish you would be more careful," she said, squeezing me tightly.

  "I was, not a scratch on me!"

  "Good," she said, nuzzling in close, "For every scratch you get, I will put on three more to remind you not to get hurt, understand me?"

  "Remembering how you usually put scratches on me makes me want to go get hurt right now," I whispered, which made her squeak, blush and swat my arm.

  "Stop that! I'm serious!" she said, giving me a glare.

  "Alright, I'll be good."

  She hugged me again, "You'd better be."

  She saw her father off and unpacked. I was more of a hindrance than a help, but we had fun anyway. Bill arrived and we caught up some more, just messing around and doing as little as possible. It was good to be back, away from problems that I couldn't solve in places I couldn't stand. I was with Cathy, and all was well...

  ...for that first night.

  The first day of my last term at Windward Academy dawned bright and warm and I woke with a smile on my face. I'd allowed myself to forget everything outside the place, and it felt good.

  I dressed in my uniform, blue striped shirt, blazer, trousers, house tie, black shoes and headed off to the dining hall.

  Cathy and Bill were already there and I joined them with a yawn before accepting a good morning kiss from my girlfriend.

  "Did you hear about the new guy?" Bill asked.

  "New what?" I asked, still not all the way awake.

  "New guy," Bill repeated slowly, as if to a simpleton (my morning lack of intelligence was well known), "Mister Crippen said that his school closed down and he's finishing his A-levels here. Magician, apparently."

  I yawned again, shaking my head. Not my problem, too early...

  "What kind?" Cathy asked.

  "How would I know?" Bill replied.

  Cathy shrugged.

  Belle dropped onto the bench opposite me while I was dozing, startling me back into consciousness.

  "New hottie, closing fast!" she said, bobbing up and down.

  "And a good morning to you too," I said.

  Belle was a pretty, tall brunette, a Wizard-level Water Mage with striking features and a wicked smile. She was also my brother's ex-girlfriend, not that I held it against her; in many ways Des was my ex-brother.

  "I just saw him coming this way, the new guy. He's... wow!" Belle said, not overburdened with subtlety was our Belle, "Ooh, there he is!"

  Cathy turned to have a surreptitious look. I couldn't be bothered, still sleepy and hungry. He did walk past, though, and I could see why Belle was so interested.

  The guy could have modelled. He was tall, at least six inches taller than me, and I was over six feet, with healthy skin, broad shoulders and the kind of muscle tone that made Bill and I immediately look like slugs by comparison. His face was finely chiselled, with strong bones and not a blemish in sight. He had grey piercing eyes, which reminded me a little of Kron, actually, and elegantly styled blonde hair.

  "Oh, I would love to find out what that tastes like," Belle muttered.

  "Belle, we're eating here," I complained.

  "Not sorry, I want him to wear me like a hat," she said huskily.

  "What does that even mean?" I replied with a snigger, "You want him to hollow you out and wear your corpse? Or did you want him to skin you and use that to make a fedora?"

  "Don't ruin this for me, Matty, I will beat you," Belle said, following the Adonis with her very lustful eyes, along with most of the other girls in the room.

  "He is pretty, isn't he?" Cathy said.

  "Boyfriend not six inches from you," I replied.

  Cathy blinked and turned to stick her tongue out at me, I replied by pinching her bottom, which made her retaliate on one of my nipples. She kissed my cheek when she was certain I'd learned my lesson and went back to her eggs. I think Belle was drooling.

  Blondie was looking around for a place to sit and naturally Belle decided to be helpful.

  "Hey, New Guy!" she said, he turned, "Come sit with us!"

  Bollocks. I didn't need new people so early in the morning.

  "Thanks!" he said brightly, sliding in next to Belle, "I'm Tyler Storm."

  Well, it's not like he chose the ridiculous name, but Belle seemed to like it. She introduced herself and us. Storm turned his eyes on Cathy.

  "I must say
that the young ladies at this school are a far more lovely bunch than I'm used to," he said with what was supposed to be a charming glance but came out as more of a leer.

  Belle blushed hard and became unintelligible; Cathy rolled her eyes and leant against me.

  Storm looked at Cathy and cocked his head.

  I felt him call power, focussed on my girlfriend.

  "What do you think you're doing?" I asked very quietly, my voice low and nasty. I was all the way awake now, and suddenly not in a good mood.

  The Magic didn't stop coming. I wrapped a shield around Cathy's mind as his Empathic probe was about to hit. I cast Mage Sight as he recoiled from the barrier.

  Low level Sorcerer. Life Mage. That spell was designed to alter the emotional state of the target, of my Cathy. His eyes darted to mine as things started to shake... as everything started to shake.

  I was that angry that my Magic was starting to act on its own, affecting objects around me. Plates and cups rattled, tables shuddered, lights started to flicker.

  "He just tried to get in your head, Cath," I said softly.

  "What?!" Belle asked, sliding away and raising her own shields.

  "That's a lie!" Storm shouted, standing up.

  Cathy, Belle and Bill were all glaring at him.

  "What was he going to do?" Cathy asked quietly, her hands around my arm.

  "I'll let you know when I find out," I asked, casting a Telepathic Probe.

  For a kid who knew how to play with another person's mind, his defences were woefully weak. I was inside his psyche in less than a second and he gasped as I took control, putting his conscious mind to sleep while I went rooting. Searching a mind was a lot like searching the internet. You input certain words or ideas and then the subject's brain will bring up what you need, if it's there.

  The first thing I saw was that he'd done this before. Usually to girls. He made them like him. When I looked deeper I saw that he'd never taken it to an extreme, but he'd wrecked a lot of relationships. That was where his enjoyment lay, not in taking advantage of the feelings he engendered, which was good for him, I'd have torn his brain into pieces if he had.

  No, this was a creature who enjoyed feeding on the pain he caused. Literally, in fact, he drew energy from grief and loss, which was a very rare skill (not to mention a nasty one). He'd seen Cathy and me and wanted to wreck it so he could feed off the misery. He'd never had a relationship of his own. The ideas of love and affection were alien to him. I would have pitied him if it weren't for the fact that he'd gone after my Cathy.

  The second thing I discovered was that he was a junior member of the Peace Legion, sort of their version of the Scouts. I probed deeper there, but the memories were fuzzy and indistinct, like I was trying to squeeze sand; they'd been deliberately scrambled. I might have pushed, but I didn't have the time to waste unpicking his head. Besides, I had enough to go on, and there weren't two ways to look at it, Sutton had almost certainly sent him to Windward, but why? As a warning? She had to know that Storm wouldn't get any closer to me than this, and there was no recognition in him; he hadn't known me, or Cathy, it made no sense.

  I wanted to talk to Hopkins about it, but that would require yet more tact after the last time we'd discussed Sutton...

  One problem at a time. What to do about this fellow? Obviously some sort of pain, lots and lots and lots of it. But how best to go about it? I thought for a moment and then smiled evilly before going to work. It took about a quarter of an hour to cast the necessary spell. It was a thing of horrific beauty and it slid into Storm's mind like an evil amoeba, seeking all the little cracks and crevices where it needed to go.

  I released his mind and emerged to see my friends looking at me.

  "What?" I asked.

  "You've got a little evil on your face," Belle said, "What did you do to him?"

  "You'll see," I said, waking him up with a mental prod.

  His eyes fluttered and he glared, "You!" he shouted, darting towards me. He'd stayed stood up while I was working on him and was a little shaky on his feet.

  He called his Magic... and fell to his knees as his pain centre fired off what would have felt like a first degree burn, over all his body. The more Magic he tried to call, the worse it would hurt. Needless to say, he wouldn't be able to use his powers anymore, not unless he could find a telepath to remove what I'd done, and people who could do that were few and far between. Vanessa Knowles, a professional Telepathic Interrogator with the S.C.A. couldn't get my hexes out, so I could assume that he was going to be without Magic for a long time.

  The beauty of my Hex wasn't just the pain, but the fact that his own Magic shut down the part of his mind that knew how to use it, so even if he found a way around the agony, he wouldn't be able to work around the loop.

  "Problem, Tyler?" I asked nastily, sitting happily as he flailed.

  He stood and raised his hand again... and fell over once more.

  "Wha... what did you do to me?"

  "I revoked a gift you've been misusing," I said coldly.

  "What?" he said, his eyes wide and staring, "My Magic?! You took my Magic?!"

  "Yep," I said happily while the rest of the diners watched our little drama unfold.

  "Give it back!" he said, crawling on his hands and knees, "Please?! God, please give it back?!"

  "Come back in say... twenty years. If you've been good, we'll talk," I replied, turning my attention back to my breakfast.

  "I've got connections," he said, the grovelling tone gone, "Give my Magic back or you'll be sorry."

  "Go on, then," I said, turning my now black eyes back on him, "Make me sorry."

  He backed away at the look in my eyes, tears streaming down his face as he ran out of the dining hall.

  Silence descended.

  "Wow, you really can't go one term without making an enemy, can you?" Belle said, "And did you have to do that? We could have been something special."

  "He's asexual, Belle, he doesn't even know what his bits are for," I replied.

  Her eyes went wide, "You're kidding?"

  I shook my head.

  "I could have taught him," she offered.

  We sniggered, Cathy's grip on my arm never loosened.

  After that, I went to find Hopkins, figuring I'd just lay it all out for her and let the chips fall where they may.

  Back when I'd thought I was just your run-of-the-mill Shadowborn, she'd come to work at Windward as a teacher to keep an eye on me and chivvy me in the right mental direction. Even after I'd found out who I was, she continued to do the job she signed up for. Her contract would be up at the end of the academic year; she said she was looking forward to it, but there were times when she seemed to be a little sad about the idea of leaving teaching behind.

  I found her in her English classroom just before first period.

  "Jen? You won't believe what just walked into the school," I said.

  "I know that tone," she said, turning to grin at me, "What did you do now?"

  I explained and her face fell at my description of the guy and our brief interaction. I left out the Peace Legion stuff; I'd let her discover that on her own.

  "Matty, I'm begging you, begging mind, to tell me you didn't break the mind of Tyler Storm."

  "I didn't break it, I just blocked bits of it. It was the least he deserved, you heard what I told you about what he did, right?"

  "Matty, you don't get it-"

  The ground started to shake, the building with it.

  "Oh no," Hopkins said as the door to her classroom blew open and a familiar, enraged figure stood in the doorway.

  Storm is one of Kron's descendants, Matty, Hopkins said into my mind as Kron walked in, her face like thunder, You hurt a member of her family.

  I saw Storm behind her, his face split by a sneering grin as Kron walked towards me.

  Well... that sure did explain a lot. What happened next filled in the rest of the holes in my musings on motivation, cause and effect.

 
"You animal!" Kron bellowed, bunching a fist and slamming it into my gut. The air blasted out of me and I dropped to the ground, gasping.

  "Vanessa!" Hopkins said, moving to my side as Kron dragged me up and socked me in the face.

  My lip split, blood flowed and teeth loosened as I fell again.

  You know, if she hadn't just played me like a harpsichord, I would be very impressed with Namia Sutton's Machiavellian talents. As it was I was too busy getting the snot beaten out of me to be anything other than quite pissed off.

  "Stop it!" Hopkins shouted.

  Jen, stay back, I'm sorting it, alright? Trust me, I sent.

  Hopkins bit her lip and stepped back as Kron picked me up again, her face a mask of fury as she smashed me into the wall hard enough to crack something in my shoulder. I could already feel my face swelling up as she slammed her fist into the opposite cheek. I'd cast a numbing spell, so the actual wounds barely hurt, but every fresh injury produced a spike of agony before the spell could adjust and take it away.

  It took her a while to punch herself out of her rage. I didn't know how badly I was hurt, but some important things were fractured and at least one limb wasn't moving properly.

  "God, Van," Hopkins said as Kron finally let me slide to the ground, "What did you do?"

  I saw through one working eye as Kron looked at her knuckles, covered in my blood. I coughed up a mouthful of the stuff and it stained my shirt red.

  "You done?" I managed to lisp through split lips and broken teeth, "You ready to hear my side now?"

  Kron looked horrified at my reasonable tone and backed away, bumping into a table. I felt Flesh Magic as Hopkins went to work fixing things, which I appreciated; fixing your own wounds is trickier than fixing someone else's, and I'd taken a few good shots to the head, enough to make my concentration a bit iffy.

  "What did he tell you?" I asked Kron.

  "That you attacked him and took his Magic," she said, steel coming back into her eyes.

  "Did he suggest a reason why? Did you ask?"

  Doubt crossed her features.

  "He's a Leech. He feeds on pain. When he can't find it, he makes it. He tried to do it to me and Cathy. I stopped him and made sure he couldn't do it again, that's all."