Scholar of Magic

by Michael G. Manning

  “Curdling milk sounds more like you,” returned Will, glancing at the window beside the doors. It was pitch black outside. “Your father let you run off by yourself?”

  “Darla is here too, keeping watch.”

  “Still, the question stands.”

  “I hid at the last moment, while they were going in. By the time they had everything locked down and did a head count, I was already on my way here. Father wouldn’t be foolish enough to abandon everyone and search on his own.”

  “You hope! What if he does?” countered Will.

  Tiny groaned audibly. “Janice will be twice as mad now.”

  Will glanced to his friend. “We didn’t allow her to join us on purpose.”

  “For a married man, you don’t understand women much. Do you think that will matter when it comes to her feelings?”

  Laina snickered. “See, even the ogre has more sense than you.”

  For some reason, that set Will’s temper ablaze. “He’s not an ogre. He’s just a regular person.”

  Tiny set a hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right, Will. She didn’t mean it harshly toward me.”

  Will’s half-sister looked regretful. Looking up at Tiny, she apologized. “No, he’s right. That wasn’t fair of me.” Her eyes bored into Will. “I shouldn’t drag others into it when I’m putting this jerk in his place.”

  He did his best to ignore her and showed Tiny where the leftover bread was kept. When he stepped back out, he looked at Laina. “We’re going to be here all night. I suppose you should join us.”

  She lifted one brow. “You’re not going out to fight the forces of darkness?” Her words were heavily laden with sarcasm.

  “Not a chance,” said Will. “That’s tomorrow. Tonight, I’m just making some preparations. You ditched the family lockup for nothing.” It was well hidden, but he could almost imagine she looked relieved to know that nothing dangerous would be happening. Not that I blame her, he decided. It’s incredibly brave and stupid of her to insist on coming when she thought I might be in the thick of things.

  It didn’t occur to him that the same reasoning applied to him as well. As they started up the stairs, he asked about her bodyguard. “Is Darla outside?”

  Laina nodded. “She insists on keeping watch. Don’t worry. She’ll spot anything before it gets close and come warn us. As tough as she is, she knows better than to fight those things alone.”

  Will led her up the stairs and showed her to his small, rented laboratory. “Welcome to my lair,” he said, waving his hand in a flourish as he opened the door for her.

  Laina wrinkled her nose as she entered. “It smells.”

  Chapter 41

  Since he was done brewing potions, there wasn’t much for Laina or Tiny to see or do. Will stepped out and borrowed a couple of chairs from across the hall, then returned.

  Laina looked back and forth between the two of them. “So, this is it?”

  Tiny nodded. “Exciting, huh?”

  “I’m actually planning to try to attune a relic, but I don’t have much for either of you to do,” said Will.

  Laina straightened up. “Actually, if you don’t mind, you could write out a few spells for me. After seeing what happened a few nights back, I couldn’t help but think I might need to expand my repertoire.”

  Relying on elementals for everything isn’t good enough anymore, eh? thought Will, but he kept his opinion to himself. Laina was willing to learn; he wouldn’t drive her away and miss the opportunity.

  “Which spells are you interested in?” he asked.

  “The force spells you used were pretty handy. The way you stopped the sword when Dad was about to put Darla out of her misery was fairly impressive,” admitted Laina.

  “What force spells do you know already?”

  “A simple wall and the force-dome,” she answered immediately.

  “Can you reflex cast any spells?”

  “Pardon?”

  “Have you practiced any to the point of being able to cast them just with barely a thought?”

  “Oh. No. I stuck to the basics in school and I always figured my elementals would be better when quick, dirty magic was needed,” she explained.

  “Well, the spell I used for Darla was called a ‘point-defense shield,’ and it’s really small. That makes it handy because it doesn’t use much turyn normally, but until you can reflex cast it there’s not much point in having it ready. You’ll have to practice it daily for a long time before that happens.”

  “How long?”

  “Weeks, months maybe? For the present, the force-dome is more likely to be useful if you’re planning on having a spell prepared in advance.”

  Laina sighed. “I’d like to learn it anyway, and the force-missile spell you used.”

  “Force-lance,” he told her. Summoning his journals, he used one to supply a couple of sheets of paper and copied the two spells out for her. Then he dismissed the journals and brought out Ethelgren’s Exhortation.

  Everyone’s eyes locked onto the rod of iron and silver. Tiny said nothing, but Laina had questions. “First, I’d love to know how you’re making things appear and disappear, but more importantly, is that it?”

  Will nodded, holding the rod in his hand. It wasn’t very large, but it had a substantial heft to it. The silver runes glittered as he rolled it between his fingers. “I’ll let you go over those spells while I figure out how to use this.”

  “You’re just going to pray over it?”

  “Meditate,” he corrected her. “I’m also going to be talking to an old friend, so try not to interrupt. You’re going to hear voices.”

  Tiny smirked, and Laina frowned. Will activated the limnthal and addressed the ring as he sat down cross-legged on the floor. He could have used a chair, but he worried in case something happened. It was a shorter fall if he was sitting on the floor rather than a chair. “I’m ready to start trying to attune this relic.”

  “And you want me to hold your hand?” asked Arrogan derisively. Laina’s eyes widened when she heard the unfamiliar voice appear, but Tiny shook his head ‘no’ before she could interrupt.

  “No. I want you to tell me how to do it.”

  “You have to get inside it—or get it inside you. You say it’s a rod? Try jamming it up your ass.”

  Laina snorted, and Will gave her a hard look. “I’m serious.”

  “Close your eyes and focus your attention on it. Try to imagine that you’re sending turyn into it through your hand. By now you’ve gotten pretty good at your turyn control, so that should be easy. You’ll get a feeling of resistance until you find a match for what the item needs, and it will need a variety of different types of turyn depending on how many spell effects are built into it. Each one will have a different turyn requirement. Make sense?”

  “Sort of.”

  “It’s like finding the right key for a lock. You keep trying different ones until you get one that matches, except that this lock can probably take a lot of different keys, one for each magical effect it can produce.”

  “I see. So, it’s basically like when I attune myself to bypass a ward.”

  “Yes, exactly. Except you don’t have the ward to look at and see what you need to match. You have to feel your way blindly until you find all the different types of turyn that the item will accept. Then you have to learn which ones do what.”

  Laina couldn’t contain herself any longer. “Isn’t that what a transducer is for? He’s a human, not a transducer. People can’t change their turyn.”

  “Who’s that?” asked the ring.

  Will glared at his half-sister angrily. “Just someone who didn’t know when to stay home. Don’t worry, though, she may be intrusive, but I trust her.”

  “Obviously you’re still an idiot, because from that question I can tell she’s just about as stupid as you ever were.”

  Laina wasn’t about to sit still for such abuse, but Tiny clamped a giant hand over her mouth, which given the relative size of hi
s hand meant that he covered most of her face. He removed it after a second, but his eyes warned her to silence.

  Will ignored them. “I’m going to go ahead and start. I’ll leave the limnthal active so I can ask questions if something strange happens.”

  “Go ahead,” said the ring.

  Will closed his eyes and began expressing turyn through his fingers, modulating it slowly through various frequencies and ‘flavors.’ The rod shed the turyn like a duck sheds water, but after a moment Will heard a voice in his head. Is someone there? it asked.

  “Who are you?” responded Will out loud.

  “An advisor to the mentally deficient, obviously. What’s that question supposed to mean?” asked the ring.

  Will was used to the insults, so he let it pass. Instead he continued trying different types of turyn. The voice spoke in his head once more, A wizard? A true wizard at that. What order did you attain?

  “It’s asking me questions,” said Will. “I’m going to try and project an answer with the turyn.”

  “What?!” barked Arrogan.

  Third-order, though I’m still young. I have much to learn. Are you part of the relic?

  Arrogan’s voice was panicked, but his warning came too late. “Will, drop it! Now! Don’t touch the thing! It’s a trap—”

  The voice had already heard Will’s mental reply, though. Perfect! Even as his ears registered Arrogan’s words, something reached out through the turyn he was projecting, establishing a link, something very similar to a source-link.

  A split second later, the war began. The limnthal deactivated as the turyn within him surged and shifted back and forth. The link was more than similar to a source-link; it was damn near the exact same thing. Will’s body was paralyzed, locking his hand around the rod. Startled, Will failed to react for a moment, which turned out to be a critical mistake. The relic was working to separate him from his source by the time he began to fight.

  Will seized hold of it and tried to reverse the link, but the item’s will felt like iron, strong and inexorable. He was already on the wrong end of things, for his late start had given the item a large advantage. It was rather like trying to win a shoving match when you were standing on a slope—of shifting sand.

  Let’s not fight it, child. I know it’s disconcerting, but there’s nothing you can do. I’m centuries ahead of you, said the voice in his head. Will slid further, and then his contact with his source disappeared. He was a prisoner within his own body. That’s better. Now let’s see what we have here. Did you say third-order? Was that the truth, or a lie?

  Will refused to even think an answer, but then he felt something shifting in his mind. The voice was rummaging through his memories! So you were telling the truth! I never dared to hope! How about vampires? Are they still about or were you just a greedy little bastard?

  He felt more sifting through his mind. So they’re back. You chose wisely.

  You’ll help me? asked Will tentatively. Can I have my body back?

  I’m afraid not. Only one of us can use it after all. Rest assured though, I’m the right one for the job. No one knows this enemy better than I do.

  But it’s my body! exclaimed Will.

  Was. It ‘was’ your body. Now it’s mine. You appear to have had a lot of potential, so it’s a shame. I feel a little guilty about cutting short such a bright future, but it’s clear which of us the world needs right now.

  How about afterward? asked Will desperately.

  You won’t be around. I’ll keep you for a while, so I can pick out the memories I need. Once I’ve adjusted to your life and the people you deal with, I’ll let you go softly into the dark night.

  That’s murder!

  Would you rather live trapped in a void for seven or eight hundred years? I think not. Trust me, child. I am not a cruel man. It’s best to let you go.

  But—! And then the world went black as Will’s senses were cut off. He was once again locked within a black void.

  ***

  Will opened his eyes slowly, examining the room around himself. Someone was leaning over him with a worried expression. Good lord, he’s immense! Will almost fell backward to escape the looming giant. “Back off!” he shouted.

  Tiny frowned but stood back up. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine, ya great whopping beast of man! Step back, let a fellow breathe!” said Will testily. Then he noticed the stunning blonde sitting across the room. “Well, hello!” She frowned as he addressed her. “What’s your name, my sweet little dumpling?” She became visibly angry at that, and he realized his mistake. Holding up one hand, he took a moment to do a quick mental search. “Laina! Right?”

  “I knew you were mad,” she replied. “First you were talking to strange voices and now you’re acting like a lunatic.”

  Will winked at her, then turned his eyes back to the giant, pointing a finger at the man. “Tiny! Sorry if I startled you. My head was a little scrambled for a moment.” Getting up from the floor, Will stretched, marveling at the youthful vitality of his body. “Damn, that feels good.” He ran his hands over himself, exploring his arms and legs, then rubbed his groin for a moment. “Oh, this is very nice! I’m going to love this.”

  Tiny was looking very concerned. “Will. Maybe you should lie down and have a rest. You don’t seem well.”

  “Well, maybe you should lie down,” he responded. “I feel fine.”

  “Will?” asked Tiny, a funny look on his face.

  “Will I what? Make sense, man!” snapped Will.

  “Something is wrong with him,” Laina told Tiny. “He isn’t usually this stupid.”

  Will paused and searched through his memories a bit more, until finally he realized what was wrong, then he laughed. “Ha! I was just on a lark. You didn’t think I honestly forgot my own name, did you?”

  Laina nodded almost imperceptibly to Tiny, indicating he should move behind Will. Then she smiled. “So, did you already finish attuning yourself to the relic?”

  “Relic? Oh! This thing!” said Will, holding up Ethelgren’s Exhortation. “I’ve got it mastered now. It’s amazing the things it can do.”

  She smiled, then winked, and Tiny moved to wrap one arm around Will’s chest while grabbing hold of the rod with his other hand. Or rather he tried to do so. Will turned and pushed one hand toward the big man, as though he was pushing air. Tiny flew backward, smacking into the wall with solid but not dangerous force. He remained there, held back as though by an invisible hand.

  Will tutted gleefully at the big man’s discomfiture. “Not so fast, my overlarge friend.” Laina started to move behind him, but he turned and snapped his fingers. She froze in place, but not from a spell. The move had been so sudden and the sound of his fingers snapping so loud that she had feared some lethal effect.

  Will smiled. “Don’t run off too quickly, darling. We need to talk.” Turning back, he looked at Tiny pensively for a moment while his mind rummaged around looking for details in his memories. A spell formed above his hand. “Tiny, my good friend, I’ll explain everything later, but for now you’ll need to take a rest. I do apologize.” The spell flew from his hand, and Tiny sagged, slowly collapsing to the floor, unconscious.

  He turned back to Laina. “Don’t worry. He’s fine. Is there anywhere we can get something to eat? I’m famished!”

  “What is wrong with you?” she demanded, fear and anger fighting for dominance in her expression and voice.

  “Nothing a good meal and the arms of a good woman wouldn’t solve,” he responded rakishly, giving her another wink.

  The look Laina gave him was one of absolute disgust. Finally, she answered, “It isn’t safe out tonight, so I wouldn’t trust one of the public houses.”

  “Oh, the vampires? No need to worry. I can handle them.” Moving past her, he opened the door and then offered her his arm. “Shall we go?”

  She stared at him for a moment, but when he didn’t move, she finally reached out and draped her hand over his forearm.
He looked up and down the hall before finally choosing the correct direction and then heading for the stairs. As they descended, she reminded him, “You know there’s a curfew on right now, don’t you?”

  “That’s a damn shame,” he agreed. “But not a bad idea, considering the circumstances. I’m sure we can find someone willing to cook for us.”

  That earned another odd look from Laina, but she didn’t say anything. As they stepped outside, she glanced around, but she didn’t see Darla. The former assassin appeared behind them seconds later, as if by magic.

  Will didn’t react well to being surprised. As Darla started to announce herself, he turned and ‘pushed’ with his hand again, sending her flying into the side of the Alchemy building. She was pinned there, and he glared at her menacingly for a moment before Laina got his attention.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded. “Let her go! She’s my guard!”

  Will stared at her for a moment, then sheepishly apologized. “Oops.” He gestured, and the force holding Darla vanished, allowing her to slide to the ground. “Sorry about that, miss. I’m a little jumpy given the current circumstances.”

  Darla started to reply, but Laina was standing out of Will’s line of sight and she held a finger in front of her lips to indicate the other woman should remain silent. The Arkeshi dipped her head and bowed, then moved to stand beside her mistress.

  He stood for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, then set off in the direction of the school gate. Laina and Darla exchanged looks but followed without comment, and soon they were walking down the streets of Cerria. After only a few blocks, men appeared around them.

  “You should know better than to be out wandering with a curfew on. Identify yourself,” said the leader of the guardsmen.

  Will paused a moment, then announced, “William Cartwright, and my companion is Miss Laina Nerrow, daughter of Baron Nerrow.” He glanced at Laina with an unspoken ‘right?’ in his eyes. She merely nodded.

  The leader of the guardsmen bowed. “Forgive me, milord. The king has instructed us not to interfere with your movements.”