by Jay Boyce
Stephen rounded the corner of her worktable, stopping next to her as he admired the tiny ring she was carving with such attention to detail. She noticed him glance at the other boys, making sure they were far enough and engrossed in the fellacai, though she noted they were still keeping tabs on her almost warily. His low tenor voice could barely even qualify as a whisper, but with her keen hearing, it was still clear to her. “Jade, I wanted to say sorry about earlier. I should have warned you Brad was coming, but it slipped my mind. He’s–”
She cut him off, shaking her head. “It’s fine. I understand. It surprised me, and I’m more than a little trigger happy right now because of everything that’s happened. I would appreciate future warning about things like this, though.” It had taken her a bit to get herself under control and in perspective, but she had eventually calmed down.
He nodded, pausing for a moment as if reluctant, then went on, “I can do that. I was also wondering if you could explain what you said earlier about Brad using spatial magic. What did you see?”
Jade set the ring down for a moment, studying him intently. “The reason you’re able to travel through the shadows is because you’ve grasped the tiniest thread of spatial magic. I’m not sure if it’s something that can be learned or if the potential has to already be there, but spatial magic is one of your untapped affinities.”
He raised a brow, and she realized she’d never told him she could see the colors of magic. Who had she told, other than the royal family? Had she explained to Count Ammon and the guards? She’d told the light class last night too, so he should know that she had the ability, or else how would he have been told to let in the entire intermediate light class? Then again, hearing it second hand and hearing it from her were two entirely different things.
Still, he had caught onto the pertinent phrase in her explanation. “One of?”
She nodded. “One of. You use dark magic and wind magic quite regularly, given your aura,” she paused, staring at him as she raised her brow, “and then there’s the other magic that you practice.” She noticed his eyes flicking quickly over to the three boys, a note of relief on his face that she hadn’t named the magic aloud. She continued, “But you also have spatial, light, lightning, and illusion magic that are untapped. Aside from myself, you’ve got the most diverse natural affinities of anyone I’ve seen yet.”
He seemed to be considering her words carefully, parsing over what she both had and hadn’t said aloud. Before he could say anything, she stared him down as she questioned, “Have you ever used it on me?”
The fact that he wouldn’t meet her eyes after that question was all the answer she needed. He spoke softly, his tone that of justification, “Look, Jade, I–”
She held up a hand, stopping him. “No, I’m not looking for you to explain yourself, not to me.” Hadn’t she compelled someone against their will earlier tonight? She had no right to judge him. He cared for her and he’d been there for her. She wasn’t going to hold it against him. Granted, it probably wouldn’t work even if he tried at this point because of her high mental resistance.
Frowning, she realized she’d forgotten something. “Stephen…do you know who Derrick and Marcelle have chosen to go with me on the hunt?”
He looked confused by the abrupt switch of her questioning, but shook his head. “No, I don’t have the list yet. Why?”
She paused, then said bluntly, “I don’t want anyone with less than an intermediate in mental resistance going, but the higher the better. I’d prefer if I didn’t have to defend myself against my group if they’re hypnotized.” She paused, then continued, “I would also like a second healer to go with me as a precaution. I can’t completely heal myself anymore, so if I’m hurt…” Her voice trailed off pensively.
Stephen was nodding. “I’ll mention it to Marcelle.”
Thinking of something, Jade shook her head. “Actually, I have a better idea. I can’t go running all over because of time constraints, but I can at least give them access to talk to me when needed.” Stephen looked confused as she quickly moved over to a different work table; the one where she’d left a stack of mirrors. He followed to see what she was doing as the other boys drifted over to watch as well.
Concentrating, she connected the top two mirrors together. She set one to the right, keeping the left one as she picked up the next mirror. Connect, set aside, connect, set aside. She was on her seventh mirror when her fingers began to tremble and she almost dropped the mirror. Jackson was the one who rescued it from her fingers, setting it down as he said, “You’ve exhausted your magic. You need to take a break.”
Lucas, Steven, and Stephen seemed to be staring in awe at the mirrors. Jade allowed Jackson to lead her over to her sitting area while he rummaged in her coolbox for food. “Did you just enchant seven mirrors to connect to one?” Lucas’s voice was filled with awe.
She nodded, smiling wanly at them as she said to Stephen, “Yes, I did. Stephen, if you can take one to Marcelle, one to King Derrick, you can keep one, give Eric one, we should put one on my workshop door so people can contact me there…” She was mumbling, trying to figure out who she should give the mirrors to. She was going to add more connections once she’d eaten what Jackson had handed her. She wasn’t at her limit yet; it was just that she’d already done seven. She’d be able to add more once her pool was full again.
By her calculations, with the energy it took doubling with each added mirror, it was equivalent to one hundred twenty-seven units of power. She winced. The next mirror would take one hundred twenty-eight units of power. Granted, she’d used some on her signet ring earlier, so she should be able to do it, but it seemed eight was going to be her limit for the moment. “Jade, are you okay?” Lucas had obviously noticed her wince.
She sighed, shaking her head as she swallowed. “I’m fine, just realized that one more mirror is probably my limit, since the power consumption will be equal to slightly more than the last seven combined.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to just create a second set of mirrors then?” Jackson queried curiously.
She turned to stare at him as he flushed uncomfortably under her scrutiny. Finally, she laughed. “Why yes, it would! Thank you for helping me see past my own stubbornness and pride.” Really, that’s what it was. She’d been told five was the limit, so she wanted to see how far she could go. Her hubris had made her forget that she wasn’t trying to prove anything, she was trying to set up lines of communication.
She went through the process of eating and enchanting a set of mirrors four more times, ending up with five sets for a total of thirty-five. Still, she did one last round where she set up one other mirror from each set to contact one from the four others. She noted which these were to Stephen. “These should go to five people who need to be able to contact each other as well. I’ll leave that up for you to decide.”
Taking nineteen normal ones and placing them aside, she expounded, “I assume you’ll keep one of the five. These nineteen I’d like to go to each of the rest of my teachers.” She put one down and said, “This will be for my door.” The next one she put down as she said, “This will go to The Green Dragon.” She put the five connected ones together. “Stephen, Derrick, Marcelle, Ammon, and whoever else you think needs it.”
That left her with nine left over. She shrugged and said, “Okay, these nine are what I guess is fair game. Wait, no, eight. Camille needs one or she’ll kill me. Oh, Mike needs one too. I’ve got Scylla covered under my teachers… Who else do I need to give one? If you have more, I think Ashanna, Victor, Will, and Tisha would probably want them too.”
“So do I.” Only she heard Lucas’s quiet mutter under his breath.
She shrugged, then said, “I’ll let you decide on these seven then. Lucas would like one if you’ve got an extra.”
“How?” Lucas’s voice was nearly strangled as Stephen turned to consider him thoughtfully.
Jade smiled and shrugged. “I have good hearing.” Lucas turned bright red
and she laughed softly, the others chuckling as well. Jade tucked her five main mirrors and the one for The Green Dragon into one of the velvet pouches that had been made for the mirrors and had been at the bottom of the stack she’d gotten. She’d feel better when she had a bag of holding and could carry them with her without fear of breaking them. Hopefully she’d make some progress into that tomorrow.
She let out a startled laugh when Jackson absently poked her stomach and she twitched away, clutching her sides so he couldn’t tickle her anymore. “What was that for!?” Jade asked while defending her sides against further intrusion.
Jackson shook his head, staring incredulously at her. “I want to know where the food went. You just ate more than most people eat in a week and your stomach is still flat and you’re not throwing up. It makes no sense.”
Jade shrugged. “If it was still light out, I probably wouldn’t have had to eat that much.”
“What does light have to do with anything?” Lucas asked incredulously.
“She intends to drain energy from the sunlight, I think,” Stephen responded drolly.
“You can do that?” Steven asked curiously. He was looking back and forth between her and Stephen in amazement.
Stephen shrugged. “I’ve only ever drained man-made and magical light before, but in theory, yes, it should be possible. I’ve never tried to use it to recharge my energy, just to escape the light.”
The others nodded thoughtfully, and Jade shrugged. “I’m going to try it tomorrow. I figure if I don’t have to carry an army’s worth of food with me into the forest, that’d probably be a good thing.” Granted, she could drain the trees, but they’d lived so long, and she kinda felt that would be sacrilege to fell the mighty behemoths she saw outside the walls.
Standing up, she brushed herself off. “Well, I think it’s time to go back and get some sleep. Lots to do tomorrow!” She walked over to her metal table, picking up her half finished signet ring. She’d maybe try and finish it before she went to bed. Slipping it into her pocket, she looked at the swarm of fellacai still flitting around her room freely.
“Into the cage, everyone. You know the drill.” Her voice rang out calmly, and she could almost hear the groans of children forced into bedtime echoing in her head. Still, though reluctant, they flew past her and into the open cage, which she closed behind the last one while the others still watched on in awe. She hadn’t even had to use compulsion to get them in.
She frowned as she realized that no one would let them out while she was gone because they couldn’t control them. Maybe Stephen could, but would he take that chance? Stephen was gathering up the mirrors to be handed out as she took the fellacai next door again, leaving them in the contractual classroom with a promise to come back tomorrow.
Her own babies were fluttering around the four men, herding them out the door of her workshop as she laughed at their antics. “I get it, Ramoth, I get it. I’m going!” she heard Lucas mutter as Ramoth perched on his head, fluttering around a bit before returning as she urged him on. It was no surprise to her that Lilith was doing the same to Stephen. When everyone, both human and fellacai, were all out of her workshop, she locked it up behind them.
The trip to leave campus was uneventful, save for the astonished delight of the boys when she lit her babies up with glowing sparkles to play in the night as was becoming her custom. Stephen and Lucas were the first to say goodbye, heading towards their own lodgings since she had Jackson and Steven who were going to The Green Dragon with her.
When they arrived, Kaylee and Jessica made their usual fuss over her, saying they’d stocked her room. They were delighted when she handed over the mirror she’d designated as belonging to The Green Dragon; really it was for them, Raphael if he needed it, and anyone else who was nice enough to the girls that they deigned to let use it.
After washing up and getting ready to sleep, she bid her babies goodnight as she went through her siphoning options for the day. Today was not going to be the day she skipped in order to get a full night’s sleep, not with Kevin’s surgery tomorrow. She needed all the boost she could get.
Marking her choices a little earlier than normal, her body spasmed in pain before she blacked out for the night.
Chapter Forty-Six – Secrets
Day Nine
The first rays of dawn caressed her face, drawing her from sleep. She’d woken up hours ago to eat some more and then promptly decided to get some real, hopefully restful, sleep. It had worked to some extent. Perhaps it was because she hadn’t siphoned all that many people yesterday. Sure, she’d still made a lot of choices, but most of them had been fellacai. Only twenty-six had been humans, showing that she’d managed to touch a lot fewer people yesterday.
Stretching, she got up and grabbed her things, smiling peacefully at her babies still sleeping in their tree as she made her way to the bathroom. As nice as it was to instantly clean herself, she still loved the relaxing feeling of just floating in the tub.
Once she was settled in the soothing water, she looked at her mental feed of dots. To her surprise, there was a new color there this morning: green. Curious as to what this new color would bring, she pulled it up quickly.
Congratulations! Because you have acquired a basic understanding of Blood Magic, Dark Magic, Earth Magic, Fire Magic, Light Magic, Lightning Magic, Metal Magic, Nature Magic, Water Magic, and Wind Magic, your skills have combined. You will forevermore be known as an Elementalist.
That was odd. What was considered a basic understanding? Four of them had been approaching advanced, but dark and lightning had still been beginner until yesterday… She wondered if that was the catalyst. All ten of those had finally passed the beginner level into intermediate. She supposed that would be a mark of basic understanding, passing the beginner mark.
Absently, she wondered. If these ten elements were combined…were there other things that could be combined if she collected all the appropriate skills and leveled them to intermediate? But how would she know? There were ten other magics she knew of, so she figured that might be a possibility. However, that didn’t account for the other colored magics that she hadn’t figured out what were. What else could be one? She had several resistance skills, several weapons skills, a couple deceit skills, a ton of movement skills…
Deciding just to pull it up so she could count things, she focused on her profile and skill list.
Name: Jade Winward
Age: 18
Strength: 18.37
Dexterity: 18.84
Constitution: 18.73
Intelligence: 21.42
Magic: 19.55
Charisma: 18.01
Luck: 17.76
Special Abilities: Adaptable, Keen Senses, Siphon²
Skills: Accessorycraft, Acrobatics, Appraisal, Archery, Athletics, Bluff, Cold Resistance, Climbing, Compulsion Magic, Contractual Magic, Danger Sense, Death Magic, Deception, Diplomacy, Dodge, Eating, Elementalist, Engineering, Flight, Glasscraft, Gravity Magic, Haggle, Healing Magic, Heat Resistance, Herbology, Hypnotize, Illusion Magic, Information Gathering, Insight, Intimidate, Life Magic, Light Armor, Magic Resistance, Mana Sense, Mathematics, Mental Fortitude, Modeling, Navigation, Pain Tolerance, Perception, Perseverance, Persuasion, Poison Resistance, Resilient, Riding, Running, Sense Motive, Shock Resistance, Singing, Sleight of Hand, Small Blades, Spatial Magic, Speed Reading, Stealth, Stun Resistance, Summoning Magic, Swimming, Tailoring, Tracking, Unarmed Combat, Walking, Writing
Accessorycraft
Intermediate 2
49%
Acrobatics
Intermediate 10
5%
Appraisal
Intermediate 9
78%
Archery
Intermediate 9
89%
Athletics
Advanced 1
16%
Bluff
Intermediate 9
58%
Climbing
Beginner 10
53%
Cold Resistance
Beginner 7
77%
Compulsion Magic
Intermediate 5
2%
Contractual Magic
Intermediate 6
96%
Danger Sense
Intermediate 10
37%
Death Magic
Beginner 6
24%
Deception
Intermediate 9
18%
Diplomacy
Intermediate 10
94%
Dodge
Intermediate 9
78%
Eating
Intermediate 8
74%
Elementalist
Advanced 7
89%
Engineering
Intermediate 3
1%
Flight
Intermediate 2
69%
Glasscraft
Beginner 6
53%
Gravity Magic
Beginner 10
22%
Haggle
Intermediate 4
85%
Healing Magic
Advanced 2
47%
Heat Resistance
Intermediate 5
79%
Herbology
Intermediate 3
8%
Hypnotize
Intermediate 1