Scholar of Magic

by Michael G. Manning

  He’d considered climbing a building, but Tailtiu had told him that the assassin liked to hide atop the nearby buildings. Even with magic, the awkwardness of climbing might be enough to betray him to someone watching carefully. By staying on the ground and hugging the sides of the buildings, he would have nearly a fifty percent chance of being out of the assassin’s line of sight, depending on which vantage point the man had chosen. On the chance that he was approaching from one of the man’s clear fields of view, he would just have to move as slowly as possible.

  It helped that it was dark out, although this part of the city was lit by gas lanterns, creating a patchwork of dimly lit areas between islands of light. Will adjusted his vision without even thinking about it now, filtering out the glaring heart-light that came from the lanterns and increasing his sensitivity to other wavelengths. It gave everything a weird mixture of colors, but he could see clearly.

  There were a few people out walking, but none of them seemed suspicious. He saw no sign of a hidden assassin. Continuing his slow pace, he moved forward, and soon he came to the corner where Mark Nerrow’s house sat. He paused there to carefully study his surroundings. Will paid special attention to the ambient flows of turyn in the air, since in the past he had been able to spot well-hidden enemies simply by noting the places where it was obviously disturbed by a living body.

  He still saw nothing of note. A young lad ambled down the lane, passing so close that Will almost had to take a step to avoid a collision. After five minutes he moved on, deciding to circle the block and see what the street on the other side of the house looked like.

  Will continued his careful pace and slow study, until he passed a side alley that caught his attention. There was a trace of something he couldn’t quite see. Adjusting his turyn sensitivity, he spotted the telltale signature of Tailtiu’s fae magic. They glowed in small scratch marks on the brick wall to his left. She must have been shapeshifted, he observed. The marks went halfway up and then across for a few feet before vanishing. On the ground below was a heavy spot of her turyn on the cobblestones, as though she had jumped down. Or fell.

  A fine powder coated the ground around the place she had landed. Taking a chance, Will touched it with one finger and lifted it to his nose. Temporarily shifting his vision back to normal, he noted the color. It was brown, and it had a distinct scent of iron. Rust, and a lot of it. Had someone used it as a weapon? He could only imagine what a cloud of rust might do to one of the fae. He was sure it wouldn’t be pleasant.

  Shifting his vision again, he caught sight of a dark stain. Examining it closer, he decided it was probably blood. Damn it! He could only guess what had happened to her, but it was obviously bad. Farther along he caught sight of something gray, a type of turyn he hadn’t seen before. Moving closer, he studied it, but he couldn’t make up his mind what it reminded him of. As his aunt had said before, it was similar to demonic turyn in some way, but it felt cold in a way he couldn’t define.

  There was a faint handprint on the wall that glowed with the same trace energy. Unlike most of the marks, this one was well defined. It looked human, but for the sharp claw marks that scored the brick at the end of where each finger had been. What the hell did that? he wondered.

  The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, and he could feel someone watching him. Will froze and slowly looked around but saw no one. He decided it was time to move back to the main street. The sensation of being observed went with him, but there wasn’t much he could do about it until he spotted whoever it was. Unless I’m imagining it, he thought.

  Unable to do anything about the unnerving sensation, Will kept moving steadily back around the block. He wanted to at least be in a position where he could observe the main door of the house. It took him a quarter of an hour to get there at his glacial pace. Once he could see the front door, he decided to get close. He reasoned that if he couldn’t spot the assassin then he might as well be close to the door in case Laina exited. At least then he might be in a position to do something if the assassin made an attempt.

  The small front lawn of the Nerrow home was enclosed by an iron fence. The front door opened onto a walk that led to a gate for the residents to use, presumably when a carriage was waiting on them. Will decided to wait there. Leaning against one of the stone pillars that framed the gate, he would be effectively invisible. Unless whoever it is still has their eyes on me, he reminded himself.

  Once he was in place, he surveyed the street and the buildings across the road once more, but as before, he didn’t spot anyone. Since he had nothing else to do, he began experimenting with his vision. Earlier he had eliminated heart-light from his vision because the street lamps gave off so much of it that the glare was annoying. Over time he had come to learn that heart-light, despite the name, had nothing to do with hearts, or life, but rather was a special type of light produced by heat.

  The turyn in his vicinity was undisturbed, except for the disruption his own presence caused, so he was almost certain the assassin couldn’t be close, but as he shifted his vision to see heart-light, a soft white glow appeared nearby, in front of the other gate pillar. Will’s heart jumped into his throat, but he didn’t move.

  Staring at the position, he slowly altered his vision until a figure became clear. A short slender man, hidden within a cloak, stood less than ten feet away, gazing back at him. Will felt a jolt as their eyes made contact.

  Neither of them moved, but the stranger slowly smiled at him, watching his face to see the effect on him. He’s not sure if I see him or not, thought Will. If I react, he’ll know. Naturally, it was at that moment that the door of the Nerrow home opened.

  “I’ll be back soon,” came Laina’s voice, calling to someone still inside.

  She would be at the gate within ten or fifteen seconds. Will moved without thinking, summoning his falchion. The sharp blade would be good against an unarmored opponent, and if the assassin did have protection, Will doubted it would stand up to a thrust from the heavy bladed sword. Plus, the man didn’t appear to have a sword.

  The other man’s cloak flew wide, and something punched Will in the chest hard enough that he stumbled and nearly fell. A sharp pain followed, and Will recognized the sensation, since he’d felt it several times in the past. He’d been shot with a crossbow. His mail and gambeson had mostly stopped it, but the point had still managed to penetrate his skin by slipping partway through one of the rings.

  He didn’t hesitate. Recovering his balance, Will advanced, dodging deftly to one side as the man threw the crossbow at his head and drew two long knives.

  Ordinarily, fighting sword versus knife, or in this case two knives, would have given him the advantage, mainly because of reach, but Will rapidly discovered that he was out of his depth. In the span of five or six seconds he was forced to use his point-defense shield to stop four cuts that he simply couldn’t get his sword in position to block. The assassin didn’t waste time attacking his body, where his armor protected him.

  Wearing armor, using a sword, Will should have had an overwhelming advantage. But he didn’t. Shit, he’s fast! Backpedaling, Will struggled to regain the initiative. When his enemy paused for a second, he leapt to the attack, concentrating his turyn in his muscles and increasing his own speed. He thought he might catch the man off-guard, but that turned out not to be the case as the other fellow grinned and matched him.

  He was expecting that, Will realized. He barely saw the blade that came at his face, and it was with yet another point-defense shield that he managed to keep his eye. I should have started with magic. Attacking with a sword was foolish. It was difficult to get enough space to concentrate, though; his enemy seemed able to read his mind.

  A sharp cry cut the night air as Laina caught sight of them. Will turned, thinking to warn her, and the assassin moved in her direction as well. That was too much for him. He had to do something. He released the wind-wall spell he’d prepared earlier, and the sudden violent gusts threw dust and detritus into the ai
r as it knocked the assassin from his feet. It didn’t have enough turyn in it to be deadly, but it was enough for what he needed. As the stranger fell, Will summoned his own crossbow, already locked and loaded. Without pause, he aimed and fired.

  Will felt a certain sense of relief when he saw the quarrel bury itself in the assassin’s hip. The man didn’t cry out, but he saw the pain in the man’s eyes. Before the assassin could recover or use some other trick, he needed to finish him. It would only take a second or two to construct a force-lance spell.

  “Assassin!” screamed Laina’s voice from his left as she pulled open the gate in a panic.

  “I have him, get back,” Will yelled to her, hoping she would change course and run for the house.

  A wave of flames washed over him before he could finish his spell. Unprepared as he was, his body still absorbed most of the turyn that fueled the blast, but enough heat got through that it scorched his eyebrows.

  Will stared at his half-sister in shock, then pointed at the downed assassin. “Not me, him!”

  For her part, Laina finally recognized him. “You!”

  “Me?” He could already tell that something didn’t add up. Laina was moving to shield the assassin with her body and five incandescent balls of white-hot fire sprang to life in the air in front of the young woman.

  She was protecting the assassin.

  He’s her bodyguard, Will realized, suddenly feeling stupid. The fear and outrage on Laina’s face made him feel even worse.

  “Surrender and release the spell or I’ll burn you to ash,” she declared fiercely. “Darla, are you all right?” she asked the bodyguard.

  Her words made him realize he was still holding the force-lance spell in his hands. I look like a right villain, don’t I? Then his brain processed the rest of her words. Darla? Staring at the wounded assassin, his mind put the pieces together. The assassin wasn’t a slim-built man, but rather a woman—and he’d just shot her.

  What is it with me and the female half of the human race this week?

  “Last warning!” said Laina through clenched teeth.

  He was about to do as she said, when a flicker of movement caught his eye. Laina was facing him, her back toward the corner. If the motion hadn’t been across the street directly behind her, he probably wouldn’t have seen it in time. A man leapt from the roof of the house across the street.

  The house was two stories tall, and the man dropped close to thirty feet before landing on the hard stones of the street. The house was similar to the Nerrow home in its construction, which meant the house was set almost fifty feet back from the road. Will’s jaw might have dropped if he hadn’t seen Tailtiu land after falling similar distances without visible harm. As it was, he had never seen his aunt jump such a distance horizontally at the same time.

  All of this registered in the span of a second. The newcomer hit the ground and sprang forward, racing toward them with a strange, unnatural grace. Although the stranger had two arms and two legs, the man’s movements would leave no doubt in any viewer’s mind. He wasn’t human.

  Will’s expression shifted, showing surprise and determination as he lifted his hands to aim. In return, Laina’s face hardened. Will tried to warn her, “Behind you!”

  “You asked for it,” she spat, then she released her spell.

  He expanded his outer shell, hoping he could absorb whatever spell she was using, but he kept his eyes on the man running at Laina’s back. As fast as the creature moved, Will didn’t want to risk missing, so he cast the force-lance at the last possible second. He was gratified to see it connect, blowing a fist-sized hole in the chest of the thing behind his sister.

  Then the blazing orbs struck, all five of them hammering into him in quick succession. They flew in a spiraling pattern, and while the first hit him from the front, the following orbs came at him from a variety of different angles, landing a second or so apart. The first was no problem. The second and third taxed him, and the air around him began to glow as he struggled to contain the fiery turyn. The pain began when he absorbed the fourth. He was also still holding onto the energy from her earlier attack.

  Rather than vent the power back at her, Will thrust his hands skyward, releasing a gout of flame as though he meant to burn the heavens. The fifth orb hit while he was still trying to make space and his world became an inferno.

  Incredibly he wasn’t incinerated, but his hair and clothing caught fire, and there was no doubt he would be blistered in places. He continued trying to vent the excess energy skyward, though he couldn’t see much around himself, for he was wreathed in flame.

  Then Laina stepped through the flames, a cobblestone in her hand. Will was so surprised that she nearly brained him with it before he could stop the blow with a point-defense shield. The flames around them died down as he continued emptying the power he held into the air, and the expression on Laina’s face told him she had finally figured out that he wasn’t trying to kill her or her bodyguard. She seemed puzzled, though still angry. “What the hell are you doing?” she demanded.

  She took her eyes off him for a second to check on Darla, and they both saw the creature rise from where it lay on the street, the hole still visible in its chest. Laina’s eyes widened with shock as she realized what had happened, just before the thing charged at her once more.

  Will brought his hands down and released the rest of the fiery power at the man who should have already been dead. He hoped the angle was good enough to avoid hitting Laina’s bodyguard, but there wasn’t time to be sure and he was out of options.

  The old, familiar smell of burning flesh found his nose seconds later, as the man-thing became a human-shaped torch. It flailed wildly and seemed to still be trying to find Laina, though its eyes were gone. Will had other things to worry about as he beat out the smoldering flames at the hem of his gambeson.

  His sister, for her part, seemed stunned into immobility. The sight of what was, at least in her mind, a living human burning to death in front her had sent her into a state of shock. And yet she was perfectly willing to try and burn me to death just a few seconds ago, thought Will wryly. He caught Laina’s arm and guided her back a few feet to avoid the burning creature’s grasping hands. The burning figure collapsed to the ground a few seconds later, still kicking feebly.

  “You just burned that man alive,” mumbled Laina, still trying to process what had happened.

  Will nodded, taking the moment’s respite to pull out the crossbow bolt that was still lodged in his mail. “As you tried to do to me just a few seconds earlier.” Reaching, up he felt his face and was relieved to find his skin still seemed intact, but his eyebrows were definitely gone.

  Something finally clicked in Laina’s mind and she snapped into motion, heading for her fallen friend. “Darla!” Will followed her over so he could examine the woman he had shot. A large pool of blood had formed around the bodyguard.

  “If she dies, you’ll follow soon after,” threatened Laina coldly as she knelt by the other woman. “Darla, can you hear me? Say something.”

  Will knelt on the other side of the warrior and began cutting away her trousers. From the placement of the arrow it might have struck a large vein. He didn’t think it was an artery, or Darla would probably already be dead. He could see that her eyes followed his movements, though her mouth opened and closed without making a sound.

  “What are you doing?” demanded his half-sister. “This is your fault.”

  “And I might be able to save her if you let me,” he responded without looking up. His sister fell silent as he continued to examine her friend. It’s a deep vein, and above the leg where I can’t use a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, he noted mentally. He couldn’t effectively apply pressure there either, which meant the woman would be dead in a short span of minutes. Will glanced up and caught Laina’s gaze on his face. Behind the anger he could see she was frightened. As she looked back down at her friend, tears began to well.

  And she’ll be dead because of me. Be
cause I thought she was an assassin rather than a guard—because I decided, in my infinite wisdom, to interfere where I wasn’t wanted. He summoned one of his remaining two regeneration potions from the limnthal and quickly unstopped the vial. He poured a few drops on the wound, then held the tiny bottle to her lips and tilted it up. Some spilled, and the woman choked, but enough got down her throat. It was potent stuff, as he knew from prior experience.

  “What was that?” asked Laina, her voice thick with desperation.

  “A regeneration potion,” he said simply.

  “Will it work? She’s lost so much blood.” Her voice cracked near the end.

  “It brought me back from the edge of death,” he told her calmly. “It just needs a minute to do the job. It will exhaust her, but after she rests, she’ll feel better than she did before it happened.” Even as he spoke, the color began to return to Darla’s cheeks.

  Without warning, Laina shifted subjects. “You murdered that man without a moment’s hesitation.”

  “I don’t know what he was, but he wasn’t human,” Will informed her. “And he was heading for you. You didn’t hesitate to try and do the same to me.”

  His sister’s eyes never flinched. “You nearly killed Darla, and I warned you first. I didn’t want to do it.”

  Will’s emotions were conflicted as he stared back at her. On one hand he admired the girl for her conviction, as well as her bravery in defending her friend, while on the other he was irritated by her obvious dislike for him. Added to the mix was the fact that he was guilty and embarrassed for nearly killing an innocent person. But I also saved Laina’s life, he reminded himself.

  Just what was a person supposed to feel at such a complicated moment? He had no idea. As he struggled to find words, Laina spoke again. “You could have warned me. I thought you were attacking me.”