The Mage Chronicles- The Complete Series

by Lisa Cassidy

  “Yeah, but it’s correct. Once you’ve got the basics in Zandian, it gets much easier. You’ll see.”

  “Oh,” she said, pleased. “Thanks, Finn.”

  “You’re welcome.” He looked as pleased as she did. “You’re really trying, Alyx.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Give that back. I’ve still got three more exercises to complete, and I haven’t even started on Alaria’s homework yet.”

  Finn made a face and left her to it. If there was one subject they studied where he struggled, it was mapping.

  When Galien and his friends left a while later, Alyx didn’t even look up to watch them go. She felt their eyes on her though, in the prickling of her neck and the faint trickle of his magic.

  Chapter 10

  “Breathe slowly, Alyx, focus your attention,” Howell instructed. “Then visualize the ball on the table and make it move.”

  Alyx did as asked. She regulated her breathing until it was deep and even, and focused her attention on the yellow ball before her. For a moment, she had it—her concentration was completely focused, and she tried to push at the ball. Nothing happened, and then she became aware of her friends watching with avid interest. That ruined her concentration completely and she sighed and stepped away.

  “I can’t do it.”

  They were becoming familiar words. In just over two weeks at DarkSkull Hall, Alyx had yet to display a shred of magic. She’d tried telepathy, summoning concussion balls, and even attempted Howell’s talent of moving things with his mind. None of it had worked, no matter how hard she tried. Each lesson had ended with a pounding headache and the bitter taste of uselessness in her mouth, not helped by the fact she was still behind in all her other classes.

  “It’s all right,” Howell said—so far he had demonstrated wonderful patience with her, behaving as if it hardly mattered she didn’t seem able to access her magic. “Take a break, we’ll try again later. Tarrick, could you show me what you’ve been practicing?”

  Tarrick nodded and stepped into the space Alyx had vacated. Her attention wandered as Tarrick employed his concussive magic in small bursts on a small rock, attempting to develop better control over how he used it.

  At the other end of the hall, another group of apprentices was practicing with Master Dirrion. Of average height but burly, Dirrion was the second warrior mage at DarkSkull Hall, and from the brief experience Alyx had had with him, he wasn’t much different from Rothai. His group of six second-year apprentices were amongst the ‘royalty’ at DarkSkull, although they tended to ignore Alyx and the others rather than physically bully them.

  Cario was watching them too, and she wondered not for the first time why he hadn’t joined Dirrion’s group; they were all second years like him and from similar mage-blood families. One, a slight Zandian named Inira, was juggling fireballs that were leaping almost as high as the roof. Dirrion snapped a warning, and the sheepish mage extinguished her fire just as it began singeing the wooden beams.

  A sharp bang sounded, and Alyx jumped violently along with most of the room. Tarrick had managed to blow his rock into unidentifiable shards that now lay scattered across the floor. One piece had landed near her boot, and she picked it up, the residue of heat palpable against the skin of her palm.

  “The idea was to melt the rock, not blow it apart.” Howell sighed.

  “Yes, sir. I’ll work on that.” Tarrick looked more disappointed in himself than Howell did.

  “I’m sure you will. Dawn, up you come. You’ve been working on delving deeper into minds, I hope?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Alyx’s attention shifted back to Cario. It had been amusing at the end of her first lesson with Howell to see the usually mild-mannered master threaten Cario with endless pain and torment should he breathe a word to anyone that Alyx was a mage of the higher order.

  “I mean it, boy,” Howell had said firmly. “I don’t care who your grandfather is. I find out you told someone and I will tear every single hair out of your head one by one… slowly. Am I clear?”

  For his part, Cario had looked thoroughly unbothered at the idea of having each of his hairs pulled out in succession. He’d given only a slight smile. “Crystal clear, sir.”

  “Do I have something on my face, Alyx?”

  She started when Cario spoke suddenly, eyebrows raised as he looked at her.

  “Uh… no.”

  “Then perhaps you should pay more attention to Master Howell than me. It might help you with your magic.”

  The next half hour passed with Howell instructing Alyx, Tarrick, Cario and Finn to think of a specific item while Dawn tried to probe past their surface thoughts and see what they were thinking underneath. It was an uncomfortable experience for all of them, especially when Dawn picked up Finn’s more-than-friendly interest in Jayn.

  Cario’s turn came next. His power was like Howell’s; he could move things with his mind. Their master had commented several times that Cario’s control over his talent was better than most students at DarkSkull. Today Cario demonstrated this by using his power to bring together all the tiny little pieces of grey rock that Tarrick had broken apart until they were lying together on the table. He did it with an apparent ease that caused envy to curl in Alyx’s chest.

  “Very good. Stay where you are. I’d like to try some teamwork,” Howell spoke softly. “Tarrick, Alyx, come over. See if you can use your concussive power to create enough heat to meld the pieces back together.”

  Tarrick and Alyx stepped forward, taking up a position either side of Cario.

  “You need to summon energy with enough heat to melt the pieces together without destroying them. Cario, you’ll need to guide the pieces together as Alyx and Tarrick heat them to form one whole.”

  Alyx focused on the pieces of rock and extended a hand. The familiar pearlescent glow appeared on Tarrick’s forearms as he called his power with ease. The light flicked while he fought to control its strength. She tried to emulate him, reaching inside to tap into her power. As hard as she concentrated, however, she simply couldn’t do it. With a frustrated sigh, Alyx stepped back, shaking her head. Howell said nothing, and they all watched Tarrick and Cario.

  Both young men wore expressions tight with concentration as bit by bit, the little pieces started coming together. It was half-done when Tarrick lost control and his magic surged, sending a blast of energy that melted the remaining pieces into a single hunk of rubble.

  “Sorry,” he said ruefully.

  Cario eyed the piece with a disdainful air. “We might be able to enter that in a village fair as some sort of art.”

  “You both did well,” Howell said. “Tarrick, you have a long way to go, but your control is improving.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Howell nodded. “That will do for the day. I want all of you to keep practicing the tasks I set you. I expect to see improvement next week.”

  Miserable at her uselessness in class, Alyx quietly gathered her books and shrugged on her cloak. Howell said nothing further as he left them to go over and speak with Dirrion. Cario separated from them at the door to the classroom without a word.

  “Odd sort,” Finn muttered as they watched him go.

  “I still don’t know if I even like him or not,” Dawn said.

  “I don’t understand him.” Alyx frowned. “It’s unsettling.”

  “I know what you mean,” Tarrick agreed. “But enough about Cario. It’s dinner time and I’m starved.”

  They left the confines of the building and stepped out into the cool evening air. The sun was setting over the western valley wall, casting an orange glow over the water of the lake. It was one of the rare occasions when DarkSkull looked lovely, and they walked slowly, enjoying the evening.

  “Don’t worry, Alyx, it took me ages to be able to employ even the most basic healing technique.” Finn noticed her glum expression. “Beyond providing energy to someone who’s hurt or sick, I still can’t really do more than close a minor scratch.”<
br />
  “Thanks, Finn.”

  “Maybe if you slept more, you might be able to concentrate better,” Dawn said in concern.

  “Maybe.” She hadn’t had a nightmare since arriving at DarkSkull, but knew deep down it was only a matter of time. She sighed. It was time she told her friends about her last nightmare. Dashan had made it clear he would if she didn’t, and she had no doubt his version would sound a lot worse than hers.

  They walked up the steps of the main hall and waited for a group of students to exit before walking through and turning towards the dining hall.

  “I think you should talk to Howell about your nightmares,” Tarrick said, as if reading her mind. “He might be able to help.”

  “I don’t think they’re just nightmares,” Alyx admitted, sitting down as Finn gallantly pulled out a chair for her.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I had another one while I was travelling here.” She paused, trying to find a way to explain what had happened without sounding silly. “It was the worst yet. Right at the end, there was a voice... it sounded so real, and it called me by name.”

  Alarm flashed on Dawn’s face. “You think someone might be giving you the nightmares?”

  “When I woke up from the dream, I was certain of it. But in the light of day, I’m less sure,” she admitted. “One thing that never fades once I’ve woken is the sheer depth of power I remember feeling in the dreams. Even Galien pales in comparison to it.”

  Tarrick didn’t look convinced. “If there was a mage out there with the power you’re talking about, surely we would know about it?”

  “We? Mere apprentices?” Finn raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”

  Tarrick scowled at him. “The council wouldn’t keep a secret like that. They took Galien in; what makes you think they wouldn’t have done the same thing with others like him? If there was a powerful dark mage out there, he’d be here, under their control.”

  “And what makes you think a powerful dark mage would want to be here, let alone allow the council to keep him here?” Finn countered, warming to the intellectual debate.

  “If he wouldn’t come, and he couldn’t be contained, they’d kill him. That’s what happened with Shakar,” Tarrick said tersely. “The council takes their responsibility to keep people safe seriously.”

  “What if he was too powerful to be killed?”

  Dawn interjected as anger darkened Tarrick’s features. “Now you’re just being annoying, Finn.”

  “I suppose I am.” He grinned. “Truce, Tarrick.”

  Dawn searched Alyx’s face. “You say you’re not sure, but these dreams are deeply affecting you.”

  Alyx nodded, not bothering to try and hide her fear. “I don’t want to admit it, but I can feel the presence of someone else in my nightmares. I try to tell myself it’s just my imagination, but deep down I don’t think it is.”

  “Then we need to tell Howell,” Finn said decidedly.

  “We?”

  “Of course,” Tarrick said. “We’re in this together, as always. We’ll tell Howell at our next class with him. Maybe he’ll know something that can help.”

  Alyx sighed. “There’s a reason I haven’t told Howell anything yet. I don’t trust him.”

  “Howell is our teacher. He doesn’t mean us harm, Alyx.” Irritation flickered in Tarrick’s voice.

  “Not on his own, but he’s subordinate to Romas and the council, and I don’t trust for a second that they have our best interests at heart.” Alyx hesitated, glancing at Dawn. The girl gave her a small nod of encouragement, and she lowered her voice before continuing. “Romas stole some of my memories last year.”

  “Tarrick, let her explain,” Dawn intervened as his expression darkened again.

  Alyx explained what had happened the previous year, the identical sensations of mingled nausea and pain she’d experienced when she tried to remember her mother or parts of what had happened the night of the watchtower attack. “My father admitted that my mother had taken away my memories of her. He claims she was trying to protect me, and he thought I’d be happier if I didn’t remember.”

  By the time Alyx finished talking, a familiar expression of eager curiosity filled Finn’s face, but Tarrick’s jaw was clenched and his arms were crossed tightly over his chest.

  “Why didn’t you say something last year?” Tarrick asked stiffly.

  “I figured it out at the same time I learned Ladan was my brother, and I was a mess,” she admitted, momentarily pausing as the memory of that emotion swelled in her chest. “Dawn was there after it happened, or I probably wouldn’t have even told her. I didn’t want to think about it, let alone discuss it.”

  Finn seemed to accept that, his mind seemingly already shifting to the detail of what she’d said. “Is it even possible to—”

  “Yes,” Dawn cut him off. “I researched it last year. Powerful telepaths can distort or take memories.”

  “And you say it happened after the attack, when you’d returned to DarkSkull and Romas wanted to see you?” he asked.

  “Right. Adahn took me to see him, but I passed out on the way there. Exhaustion, I thought at first. But that was the night my magic broke out—what if I did meet with Romas, and saw or heard something in his thoughts I wasn’t supposed to?”

  “Adahn might know,” Finn murmured, almost to himself. “But he’s gone, passed his trials over the summer.”

  Tarrick was shaking his head, his voice terse when he spoke. “I know you’re not lying, but if Romas did steal memories from you, he would have had a good reason for doing it.”

  “Give me one good reason for stealing my memories,” Alyx snapped, angry at his defence of Romas. She kept her gaze on his, challenging, and he eventually looked away, unable to come up with an answer.

  “For now I’d prefer not to share anything with Howell or Romas until we know more,” she gentled her voice.

  Finn shrugged and sat back. “They’re your nightmares, we’ll be guided by you. But you say you came back here to try and get answers. If you refuse to talk to Howell about anything, I don’t know where else you think you’re going to get those answers.”

  He was right, loathe as she was to admit it. Tarrick pushing back his chair saved her from replying though. “I’m going to take a walk.”

  He left without another word, his shoulders stiff with tension, long strides carrying him quickly away from their table. Alyx’s attention dropped to her food, though she only managed another few bites. Their conversation had killed her appetite.

  Finn eventually broke the silence. “Time for study?”

  Alyx groaned. “I may have grasped Zandian, but Shiven grammar is still making no sense to me. Think you could help me out if I come with you?”

  “I’d be happy to.”

  Her gaze lingered on the door Tarrick had left through as they rose to leave. He

  took his role protecting her so seriously, but what if that one day meant he had to go against the council, an institution he had looked up to since childhood?

  Chapter 11

  Much later, Alyx looked up from her books with a yawn and leaned back in her chair, stretching aching shoulders. Her eyesight was beginning to blur, a sure sign that it was getting too late to keep going. A glance at Finn showed the apprentice slumped over his books, eyes closed. Guilt tugged at her—he’d only stuck around to make sure she didn’t have to walk back to her dormitory alone, and she’d completely lost track of time as she tried to make sense of Alaria’s mapping homework.

  Movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention. It was Howell, carrying a small stack of books into his office at the back of the study area in the library. Finn’s pointed words from earlier floated through her mind. After another glance at Finn—whose soft snores were now lifting the corners of the parchment nearest his face—Alyx quietly pushed back her chair and headed towards the office.

  Howell looked up at her knock and immediately waved her in. “I’m impres
sed. It’s quite late to still be studying.”

  “I have a lot to catch up on,” she said, adding truthfully, “I don’t think I’m making much progress.”

  “Keep working as hard as you have been and I have no doubt that will change. You’re a clever girl, when you can be bothered.” The habitual twinkle in his eyes faded as he regarded her. “What brings you here tonight?”

  She hesitated only briefly before replying. “I want to ask you about my mother.”

  “I see. Ask away, I’ll tell you what I can.”

  “What happened to her? How did she die?”

  “I don’t know.” Howell lifted a book from the pile he’d carried in and looked at it from all angles before putting it down on the other side of his desk. “You might consider that while I am indeed a mage, and head librarian here, I’m not on the council and not privy to everything that happens under their purview.”

  “You’re saying Master Romas would know?”

  “I’m saying he would know more than I.” Howell picked up another book.

  “Will you tell me what you do know? Please,” she added quietly.

  A sigh escaped him and he put down the book. “The last I knew directly of your parents, they were working for the council. I was in Carhall at the time, working in the mage offices there, and I would see them from time to time when they reported in to the council.”

  Carhall. The capital of Tregaya. Alyx had thought she’d lived in Rionn her whole life—another assumption about her past that wasn’t true. “They worked together?”

  “Yes. Historically it wasn’t unusual for mages to work alongside Taliath, either in pairs or small groups, but your parents were the last to do it. Even then the Taliath—always much rarer than mages—were beginning to wane in numbers.”

  “You must have known Ladan and me as small children?”

  “No, they never brought you into the council offices. After Ladan’s birth, I believe they took a home in the city somewhere, but they were very private people. And then after you were born I saw much less of your mother.”