by Mark Albany
I nodded. I had, against all odds, slept like a log to the point where I had even missed Aliana leaving my bed. Then again, she could slip in and out of being like a damned ghost, so that wasn’t saying much.
All in all, I had rested well, and was sporting a satisfied stomach. I gave Vis a simple nod in answer to his question.
“There are various forms of magic,” Vis started by saying, guiding me over to the side of the lake, where I could hear the waves lapping gently at the shoreline. “I lack the physical attributes required for the more demanding forms and so have mostly used spellcasting. It is a potent form, able, in some cases, to be the most powerful form of magic there is. There are, of course, drawbacks to its use. The more powerful the spell, the more power is required to be stored before being used, which is why for the most part I make use of familiars that allow me to keep my concentration on forming the words of power, instead of storing the power being used.”
I nodded. I already knew as much, but it was nice that Vis was starting with something I was already aware of. It would make things a lot simpler when I fell flat on my face. Maybe I’d be given another afternoon off to spend with Aliana.
“Other forms of magic require more physical presence,” Vis said, extending his hand to the ground. Runes on his hand started to glow and one of the rocks started to rise from the ground, stopping at about eye-level. “They are less powerful, as they require less power to use, but less time is spent gathering the power and spending it, so it is more useful in instances where one’s life might be in danger.”
With a flick of his wrist, the rock flew across the lake, taking a couple of skips over the water before sinking with a loud splash.
“Combat magic,” I said with a nod. There had been very little instruction in that over my time here. Vis and the other tutors had said there was just so little need for those whose purpose it was to channel power to learn to use it themselves.
“Precisely,” Vis said with a nod, straightening back up. “It takes a more physical toll, as you are using your body to perform the rites that your mind can do with much more competence and efficiency. Movements are required, your body acting as a mirror of your mind’s will. Some of the ancients performed what they called battle dances to do their rituals. I would show you, but they were a primitive people and there is no need to carry on their legacy here.”
I nodded. I would have liked to see Vis trying to dance. Maybe some other time, I mused.
“This is the power we will attempt to channel through you today,” Vis said, pulling his cloak off, revealing that he was wearing nothing but a pair of loose pants underneath. “And we will attempt to break this annoying block that has been holding you back for such a long time.”
I didn’t want to tell the man that he was going to end up disappointed, but he had to know it anyway. I ground my teeth and kept my mouth shut as I moved over to join Vis on the rocky shore next to the lake.
“Now, follow my movements,” Vis said, turning to face the lake, bringing his hands in fists up to his sides and bending his knees. I imitated him, feeling my body still aching from the ordeal it had been through. It was less painful now than it had been the day before, so I didn’t voice any complaint. It was peaceful out here, and much more relaxing than being stuck in a room full of others who were so much more advanced than I was.
“Now, close your eyes,” Vis instructed, maintaining his position a pace or so away from me. “And breathe. Focusing on bringing the air into your lungs, holding it for a second, and then releasing it. Let your mind become one with your body. Let the energy flow through you. In… hold… and out…”
I nodded, following his instructions. I had read about techniques like this before. Simple meditation moves that allowed one’s body to relax and the mind to slip into a state where thoughts wouldn’t plague what one was trying to accomplish. Apparently, it worked wonders for people who could already perform that kind of magic, but there had been nothing written about what it could do for someone who had no talent for this. It was frustrating.
“Focus!” Vis snapped. “I can sense your mind wandering. Think of nothing but the air rushing in and out of you. Your breathing is all you need to think of. Do not let your thoughts wander again.”
The threat of pain was implied in his tone, so I did as he instructed, keeping my mind focused on the task of taking in and expelling breath.
I wasn’t sure how long we spent there, knees bent, hands clenched at our sides and breathing, but when Vis finally called a halt to it, I could see that the sun was already well into its climb to the pinnacle of the sky.
Vis looked annoyed, but he didn’t let it enter his voice. A variety of different techniques were practiced as the hours wore on. Some were just simple variations of the breathing and focusing, while others seemed closer to the combat moves we had been taught before.
Following in different stances, different moves being repeated for hours and hours was a tiring prospect. Vis realized this, and eventually gave up on showing me what to do and relied simply on telling me as I moved through form after form, move after move, technique after technique until finally, as the sun was already an hour past midday, Vis called a halt.
“That is enough for today,” he said, sounding almost angry. There was a look of frustration on his face as he watched me bend to lean on my knees, breathing hard. I could feel sweat starting to soak through my clothes, the only set I had for now, as the heat started to become intolerable.
I looked up after taking a few minutes to recover, to see that Vis was still eyeing me. He looked incredulous, frustrated, and more than a little angry. At me. And yet he wasn’t lashing out as he normally did. Like he was expecting me to do something, and I wasn’t performing the way he thought I could.
I felt a bit annoyed with myself too. The man believed in me, for some reason. While I had no idea where this faith was coming from and where it had been in the past years, I didn’t want to let him down. He had given me everything, and while I had started to pay that back by breaking the law for him, I wanted to give something back. Something more.
“We will continue this training tomorrow,” Vis said, collecting his robe from the ground. “Eventually, we will find what keeps you from performing as you should, and we will overcome it. That, I promise. For now, rest and recover.”
He patted me gently on the shoulder and marched off in the direction of the manor as I sat on a fallen log to catch my breath. Oddities upon oddities. He’d never been one for fatherly affection either, and now this? I shook my head. I was overthinking this. Probably as a result of letting my mind do nothing but breathe and follow my body’s movements for most of the day until now. I had followed his instructions to the letter, and with a lot more gusto than I showed to any of my other tutors.
For some reason, I had started to believe in what the man was saying. I wanted to. I needed to be something more than just the man’s pet thief.
I moved over to the lake, washing my face, hands and arms in the cool, clear, refreshing water before starting the walk back to the manor.
The exercise had done wonders for my recovery, I realized. A lot of the cuts were still there, but they were healing quickly, and the bruises were starting to disappear as well. I could breathe easier, and walking was less of a limp-infused torture session.
I even let myself smile as a cool breeze cut over the lake and drifted across my face.
As I reached the manor grounds and headed toward where the servants were housed, my good mood started to evaporate. There were horses being tended to just outside the main building, and the servants were rushing about. These guests hadn’t been expected, and it seemed that they had everyone on edge. I wasn’t sure why, but considering what had been happening over the past couple of days, my mind did not need to leap too far to find a likely conclusion.
I caught one of the stable boys by the shoulder, dragging him to a halt as he passed me by.
“What’s happening?” I asked. “
Who do these horses belong to?”
“His Lordship Drake Pollock has graced us with an unannounced visit,” the boy said, scowling and shaking his shoulder free from my grip. “He arrived before Master Vis did, and has been in foul spirits over having had to wait for our master to return.”
“Right,” I said. “Carry on, and sorry to bother you.”
The boy answered with nothing but a low growl, clearly annoyed at having been interrupted in his duties by a familiar asking questions.
That said, I had little time to worry about the stable boy’s problems. I had a handful of my own. Drake Pollock was the man from whom I’d stolen that magical parchment for Vis. The man was something of a favorite in the Emperor’s court and wasn’t likely to have bothered coming down to this manor. The more likely course of action would have been to send a letter asking Master Vis to join him at his manse. Vis would have jumped at the opportunity to rub elbows with the man and his peers.
Which begged the question, why was Pollock here? I doubted it was my fault. There was no reason why they would know that I was Vis’ man. Even though the Lancers and mercenaries had gotten a good look of my face, it had been dark, and they didn’t know me from the Emperor himself. And the way that I had escaped their clutches couldn’t have been tracked, right?
Right?
Well, there was only one person to ask who would know any real answer to that question, and that person was currently confined to a dull bronze ring hidden under my mattress.
I moved quickly into the servants’ house, trying not to seem like I was rushing as I moved through the building. I took the steps up to my room two at a time, pushing the door open and closing it behind me, careful to slide the bolt closed before moving over to my bed.
I pulled the ring out and rubbed it urgently, looking around. She had disappeared into the ring, hadn’t she? She could have gone exploring too, I supposed. She knew how to travel from one point to another in a second’s time, after all, so she could be anywhere. I could be rubbing a useless piece of jewelry for all I knew.
“What do you--?”
“Oh fuck!” I quickly snapped around. “Must you do that every damn time?”
“No,” she said with a grin. “But it’s fun to watch you jump like that every time.” She paused, seeing how agitated I looked. “Is everything all right?”
“I don’t know,” I said, softly, moving over to sit on the bed. “The man I stole that parchment from is here, and from looks of things, he’s not too happy about it.”
Aliana nodded, moving over to me and taking a seat on the bed instead of kneeling at my feet. I took a moment to smile and appreciate that. She noticed and smirked.
“I could probably bring you over to listen in on what Pollock is talking about with Vis,” she said softly. “In fact, I could show you how to use that power yourself, if you wish it.”
I opened my mouth but didn’t say anything for a moment. If you wish it, she’d said. Sure, the djinn of stories were the kind that offered wishes to those that held their objects of power, but after our talk the night before, I had somehow lost track of the fact that she was indeed a djinn. The way she’d said it, it felt like she was offering something, a djinn to her master, and it was something of a jolt.
“Look,” I finally said, turning to face her. “I don’t want it to seem like I’m taking advantage of you, or your powers. As useful as that would be right now, I don’t want to abuse it. You’ve helped me a lot already, even so far as saving my life back in those caves, and I want you to know that I’m grateful and fully intend on repaying that debt somehow. That debt, and any other I might incur if you help me further.”
She paused, looking at me oddly. I couldn’t tell if she was surprised or annoyed by what I’d said. What I could tell was that she was thinking her words through carefully, not wanting to rush into a response.
I could understand that, I supposed. I was suddenly rethinking a couple of things I’d just said myself. Debt? How was I ever going to pay her back for saving my life? It wasn’t like she needed my help for anything, anyway.
“You should know that you owe me no debt, Grant,” she said with a smile, turning to fully face me. “You saved my life by dragging me out of that damned ring as much as I did by removing you from the clutches of the men who had you bound. However, if you do wish this to be a gift-exchanging kind of relationship, know that if I help you, you can help me as well.”
“How?” I asked, leaning closer.
“If you help me track down my sisters, find them wherever they’ve been lost or secreted themselves in the world, I will help you in return,” she said, her voice low and thoughtful. “I will help you attain your power. Your true power. The kind that neither you, nor even your master, has ever dreamed of.”
“Come on, not this again,” I said. “I’ve just spent the whole fucking day trying to convince Vis that there’s no latent power inside of me, and now I have to convince you, too?”
She smirked. “I know for a fact that what you just said isn’t true,” she whispered, leaning closer to me. Close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from her body as my eyes seemed to get lost in hers. “Help me, and I’ll show you just how wrong you are.”
I looked toward the door, grinding my teeth. Well, if there was anyone in the world who could dig up some kind of power inside me, she would be my top choice. If only it meant that I was spending time near the lake with her instead of Vis. I gazed down at my lap for a moment as I gathered my courage, then looked up at her, steadily keeping my eyes from staring too long at the breasts that were almost hanging out of her ‘clothes’.
I offered her my hand. “That’s a deal.”
She looked down at it questioningly.
“You grab it, and shake it,” I explained hurriedly.
“Oh,” she said with a laugh, taking my hand in hers then gripping it tightly and shaking it.
7
I honestly wasn’t sure what I’d just agreed to. There had been a promise of greater powers than I’d ever dreamed of, but since I’d never even considered there might be powers in my future, that bar was set pretty damned low.
As the moment of silence carried on until it started to become awkward, I looked at the woman who wasn’t a human woman sitting next to me. There was something about her. She exuded a kind of infectious passion. I wasn’t sure if that was the reason why I agreed to help her in finding her sisters, or if I actually thought it was a good idea.
The thought that I might be doing this because of a more carnal urge occurred to me as well. She was beautiful. Sure, there were more than enough oddities. She had horns, green hair, and her skin was a slightly different shade than I’d ever seen in humans before. But there was no denying that she was beautiful. Maybe not in spite of those characteristics, but partly because of them.
I realized I was staring and quickly looked away. There was nothing to see, really, so my eyes instead moved down to where my hands were balled into fists on my lap.
“So, what do we have to do to start looking for your sisters?” I asked, realizing that it had been a while since either of us spoke.
“We have to go to back the tomb where you found me,” Alianna said softly as she caught my gaze and held it. “There’s something about the dead woman that is calling to my mind and I can’t push it away. I know she’s important, but I’m not sure why.”
I nodded, leaning forward. “Well, if we’re heading back there, I’d really rather not do that transport thing you did that got us out of there.”
“Why not?” she asked, sounding annoyed. “It’s much faster than walking or riding, and we wouldn’t have to worry about being discovered on the way.”
“And it feels like my head is being cut in half with a butcher’s cleaver,” I added, grinding my teeth at the memory. “While I realize it was a necessity that time, and infinitely preferable to what I assume actually having my head cut in two by a cleaver would be like, I was hoping we could avoid it this t
ime.”
Aliana inhaled deeply, like she was keeping herself from trying to convince me to do it anyway. I was glad she didn’t try, since that would have gotten me to cave fairly quickly. I did want to impress her.
“Fine,” she finally agreed with a deep sigh. “But I hope you realize that means we’ll have to wait until nightfall. It’s not like I can just walk around in broad daylight. Turning heads is precisely what you don’t need right now.”
“Why can’t I just put you back in the ring?” I asked, glancing down at it then back up at her.
“Besides the fact that being encased in a piece of jewelry is more painful than your head being split in two, not to mention demeaning?” she asked, unconsciously drawing back. “What if you need my help? What if someone sees and recognizes you? What happens then? Are you going to find the ring and rub it while being chased through the city streets?”
“I’ll have you know that I can be rather hard to catch,” I said quickly, in a defensive voice. Even so, she had a point. I’d rather not have to call her out of the ring again should trouble arise. It looked like we were going to wait until night fell, when she would look less conspicuous.
I’d have to find some sort of cloak for her, however. There was no amount of darkness that would hide the fact that there were horns coming out from the top of her head.
I leaned back onto the bed, closing my eyes for a moment. We had time to kill, I supposed, and there was a beautiful… djinn in my bed. Wishes and the possibilities that came with them were vivid in my mind, and it was all I could do not to open my eyes and try to make it so. The thought of having her slap me for even thinking such a thing was terrifying, though. It never occurred to me that she might say yes.
Why would she? For all I knew, we might not even be compatible in that fashion.
I opened my eyes to see her staring at me, like she knew what I was thinking. There was a bemused expression on her face, made better by the slight tilt of her head that sent her long hair drifting down over her shoulder. It was all I could do not to reach out and touch it, just to see if it was as soft as it looked.