by K. Ferrin
“I could teach you,” Magicless blurted out. “To use a sword, I mean. If you want.” The offer had been spontaneous and meant in friendship, but he regretted it as soon as the words left his mouth. Bound or not, Jobin was a mage, and he’d scorn using metal weapons to fight as the rest of them would.
To his surprise, Jobin nodded. He looked like he was deep in thought.
“Do you really think you don’t have any magic at all?”
Magicless blinked, unsure of how to answer. “Of course I don’t, Jobin. I can’t even light a fire without flint, let alone do all the other things you all can do. It’s always been that way.”
“True. You can’t do those things. But magic can exist in all sorts of ways. What if your magic is just different from everyone else’s?”
Magicless had never thought about it in that way. His whole life everyone had told him he had no magic, and the evidence had always suggested this was true.
“How do you mean?”
“Well, I keep thinking about those footprints. How I could see green grass immediately after you stepped away, but then they would fill with swamp water and Viper Vines before my very eyes. It was like you had…I don’t know, nullified the magic or something, but after you were gone it reasserted itself. And I saw what happened with Tredon, Magicless. You should have been fried like an egg when his hand touched you, but the lightning just fizzled out instead. Maybe your power is the ability to nullify, not create.”
Magicless pondered Jobin’s comments, Noz’s words floating back to him as if carried on the breeze. Great gifts come with great costs, One Without Magic. Jobin was right. He should have been badly injured when Tredon had touched him during the fight, but he had felt nothing extraordinary, and he was obviously still here, still whole.
“Hey boys! You don’t really need these, do you?” A female voice carried across the water, interrupting his thoughts. Magicless jumped to his feet to see Elisa standing on the dock, holding two pairs of pants high in the sky and grinning from ear to ear. Her laughter bounced across the water. She stooped, grabbed the rest of their clothes, and ran back toward the cabin, giggling the whole way.
Magicless blushed furiously as he realized he’d have to walk back to the cabin with nothing on, but Jobin only laughed. “That girl,” he said as he shook his head.
“She seems to have it in for you, Jobin,” Magicless said.
“I have no idea why, but she sure does,” Jobin agreed, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.
The sun was falling toward the horizon, it would be setting soon, and Magicless thought about how beautiful it would be. He wondered whether he could get Alekka to watch it with him on the dock. After a moment he realized Jobin was looking at him expectantly, and he pulled his attention back to the present conversation.
“Micah?” Jobin asked. “I need your help.”
Magicless paused at Jobin’s use of his name. “My help?”
“I...” Jobin cleared his throat and shifted foot to foot. “I need help with my power.”
“Jobin, you know I can’t help you with that. I know nothing about magic.”
“But if you can nullify it, I can practice with you without hurting you.”
Magicless thought back to the flame streaming from Jobin’s hands when his brother had been killed. He remembered the smell of the Ragers as they had burned in Jobin’s magefire, and not just burned, either. Jobin had incinerated them until they were nothing but dust and then some. What if Jobin’s theory was wrong and he couldn’t nullify anything? Though he had to admit that his encounter with Tredon in the swamp the day before strongly suggested otherwise.
Magicless shook his head. The idea of allowing Jobin to practice on him was, frankly, terrifying.
“They took my brother, Micah.” Jobin’s voice thickened with grief. “No.” His hands knotted at his sides and his face darkened. “The truth is that I killed my brother. And I hurt my mother. All because I can’t control it. And now I’m bound and can do nothing. I can’t live like this, Micah. I can’t stand the looks on people’s faces when they look at me. Their pity. And I can’t live with this shame anymore. You saw what happened. You know Locke’s death is on my hands. And yesterday I was so helpless I almost killed you, too. I could have killed Elisa.” He broke off then, looking away quickly. He turned back slowly, letting out a long exhale as he did. “Do you have any idea what it feels like, knowing you killed your brother and that you almost killed the woman you—” he paused. “I have to fix this, and I can’t do it by myself. I don’t know how. I know I shouldn’t be asking you this, but—please, Micah.”
Jobin’s face was stricken, and his desperation pressed down on Magicless like a physical weight. Alekka’s somber face as she expressed her own fears to him that morning came back to him—as did the promise she’d made him make. He didn’t know what Jobin was feeling exactly, but he had his own yoke to carry, so he understood some. He could not ignore Jobin’s need any more than he could have ignored Alekka’s. If there was something he could do, he had to do it.
“We are all pieces in this game, and we need all the pieces if we are to play,” Magicless said, the truth of Alekka’s words surging up anew.
“What?” Jobin asked.
“Nothing. Nothing, just…I will help you, Jobin, but under one condition.”
“Anything. I’ll do anything.”
“We need to bring one other person into this. It can be Elisa if you’d like, but I want someone there in case...” he didn’t know quite how to finish, but Jobin’s face colored deeply with shame.
“In case I lose it again. You want protection. I understand. Not Elisa though, please. I don’t want her to see me like this. Will Alekka do it, do you think?”
“Not in case you lose it again, Jobin. Like I said, I don’t know anything about magic. We need a mage to teach you and we need a mage to unbind you.” Magicless was certain Alekka would be willing to help. “I’ll talk with Alekka tonight, then. If she agrees, we’ll start tomorrow.”
Jobin’s relief was palpable, and Magicless thought for a moment he would weep. Jobin scrubbed rapidly at his face with open palms, drawing in a huge breath and letting it out. When he dropped his hands, he was smiling. “Thank you. I can’t say it enough, Micah, thank you.”
The two men clasped arms—a casual gesture that left Magicless breathless. He’d settled into the knowledge that he’d be alone for all of his days, and here, twice in one day, came offers of companionship. For a moment, Magicless struggled to school his face into some semblance of calm, feeling as if he could burst. It sat awkwardly in him, like getting to know one’s body again after a growth spurt. But it felt good, too. Something to get used to. I could do that, Magicless thought with a smile. I definitely could.
“Let’s get back before it gets dark,” Jobin said. “And don’t worry, I’ll sneak in and get your clothes for you.”
Magicless huffed out a rueful breath. “I really would appreciate that, Jobin.”
“So modest. It’s funny,” Jobin gave him an exaggerated, leering once-over, “you have nothing to be ashamed of, and it might just...”
Magicless shoved him toward the water, laughing. “Shut it! Just swim, will you?”
The sun had fallen below the horizon as they walked back up to Noz’s cabin. Lights blazed out of every window, and Magicless could see everyone standing around the kitchen table. He felt his good mood sink as he took in more details of the scene.
Leali was clearly angry—she was yelling, and her hands were beating at the air as if she were throttling some invisible foe. Tredon and Ashier stood beside Leali, as always, the three of them unified but separate from the rest. Tredon was nodding his head in agreement at whatever Leali was yelling. Elisa was standing next to Alekka, her features detached but her eyes sparking, and Alekka was slowly shaking her head.
Magicless glanced at Jobin. “That doesn’t look good.”
“No, it doesn’t. Wait here and I’ll grab us some pa
nts. I think we need to get in there,” Jobin said.
Magicless wasn’t at all sure he wanted to get in there, but he nodded and moved closer to the window, trying to hear the conversation. Either the glass was too thick or more of Noz’s magic was at work because he couldn’t hear a thing. Leali and Tredon were clearly working themselves into a frenzy, the shouting escalating. A clothed Jobin returned with some spare clothing, and Magicless dressed quickly. The two of them stepped into the well-lit kitchen.
Tredon’s upper lip curled in disdain as his gaze fell on them. “Hope you are enjoying your holiday, you two. Is all this save-the-world stuff boring you?”
Tredon, we’ve been on the move for months, one restful day isn’t...” Alekka started, but
Leali slashed through the air with one hand, interrupting her. “We don’t have time to rest, Alekka. You of all people should know this. Every moment we spend resting,” her lip followed Tredon’s example and curled into a snarl on the word, “is another day of terror for young mothers all across Dorine Lillith. Noz may have abandoned us, but he left us all of his books, and we should be hunting for information on how to defeat Amentis while we are here, not wasting time swimming and lazing about like children.”
“He did not abandon us.” Magicless spoke up without thinking. He’d not wanted to get involved in this argument. Things were already tense enough between him and Tredon, and he had no desire to place more wood on that fire. But he felt affection for Noz, odd as he was, and felt compelled to defend him. “He’ll be back soon, and he’ll get us the map.”
“You can stay here and twiddle your thumbs while you wait for Noz, but I am not going to sit and do nothing. You don’t know that he hasn’t simply abandoned us. We need our own plan in case he doesn’t come back.”
Magicless opened his mouth to object but Elisa beat him to it. “You’re right. Of course you’re right, Leali. What we are doing here is of the utmost importance and every minute the Dark Wizard lives unchallenged more women and children are being taken from their families. Let’s not argue amongst ourselves. That gains us nothing. Let’s eat, and after dinner we will all help you search Noz’s library and try to find aid there.”
Magicless was impressed that someone typically so callous toward others could step in as mediator so effortlessly. He glanced at Jobin, who was smiling softly in Elisa’s direction.
“Elisa is right,” Ashier said. “We need to stick together if we are going to be successful in this. We must stop this bickering.” He stepped close to Elisa and placed a hand on her shoulder. She smiled at him, took the hand in both of her own and gave it a squeeze before setting it back at his side. She walked to Jobin and put an arm around his shoulders.
“Thank you, Ashier. Now, can we eat, please? I am starving, and whatever is cooking in that pot smells delicious.” She pulled out a chair, manhandled Jobin into it with such casual proprietorship that Magicless almost laughed aloud, and moved to the pot to scoop food into bowls. Jobin didn’t seem to mind, though, as he was still smiling at her softly.
Elisa tossed the bowl toward the table as Noz had done the night before, but rather than drifting gently into place as it had done with him the bowl slammed into the table, splattering rabbit stew all over Jobin’s freshly cleaned clothes and halfway down the length of the table. Her mouth and eyes widened comically, and everyone stared at the mess in shock before bursting into laughter.
Any remaining tension broke—it was hard to be angry when you were doubled over with giggles like children. Elisa wiped the slop from the table, a rueful smile playing across her lips, and Jobin went to change. By the time he returned everyone was seated and eating and chatting about the day.
Under the noise of clinking dishes and chatter, Magicless leaned over to Alekka and told her about the conversation he’d had with Jobin and asked if she would be willing to help. She glanced at Elisa, who was laughing as she poked Jobin in the chest, leaning in toward him in invitation.
“Not Elisa?” Alekka asked quietly.
“He doesn’t want her to see him struggling like that. He’s definitely got a thing for her—he practically said he loved her today, when we were down by the lake.” Magicless knew that he shouldn’t be gossiping about anyone’s love life, but if he was going to tell anyone, it should be Alekka.
Alekka didn’t respond to his comment for long moments. At last, she spoke. “Yes, I will help.”
Her eyes took on a vague, distant look. “We are going to need all the help we can get to do this, Micah. We will need Jobin and all of his power, or we will fail. It is set in stone.”
Her words and the unfocused look in her eyes sent a chill down his spine and raised the hair on his arms. “What do you mean? Do you know something you’ve not told me?”
She didn’t respond, and he reached out to touch her gently on one of her shoulders. She started at his touch, and her eyes snapped into focus on his face. She smiled at him. “What did you say, Micah? I’m sorry, I didn’t catch it.”
“Why did you say that?”
“Say what?”
Her eyes were clear and focused, her expression devoid of concern or confusion, yet she didn’t seem to recall what she’d said a moment before. Magicless’ brows knit together, but he didn’t push it. “Nothing. But you will help with Jobin, then?”
“Of course. I am so glad he asked you about it. I’d been thinking of approaching him, actually, but it is so much better this way. We’ll begin tomorrow morning then, early, so the others don’t become suspicious.”
Magicless nodded his agreement, giving her shoulder a light squeeze. After they’d finished eating and had begun clearing the table he let Jobin know they would begin in the morning as planned. Jobin still looked wary, but he gave Magicless a tight smile and shook his hand. Magicless moved into the main sitting area where Leali was already buried in a book, a large stack to her left and a much smaller stack on her right.
“Have you found anything yet, Leali?” He asked. She glanced up, and he thought she would ignore him and go back to reading, but after a moment she answered.
“Not really. Not anything concrete, anyway. A few passages covering things we all know already. And a lot about how all-powerful and undefeatable he is.” She rolled her eyes, but Magicless could hear the tension in her words.
He looked around him. Noz had hundreds of books. Bookshelves floor to ceiling everywhere he looked. It would be so much easier if the man himself were here—certainly he would know exactly which books to look in for information. He took a deep breath. “Well, if it’s here, we’ll find it.”
She responded with a noncommittal grunt and went back to reading. He wandered around the room looking at spine after spine, searching for some sign. Nothing struck him, and eventually he simply decided to start from one side and work down a row. He grabbed the first book on shelf next to the door to his room and sat down to read it. He sincerely hoped Noz made it back quickly.
[ 15 ]
“If you are not going to take this seriously, Jobin, then I am not going to help you. I’d much prefer to be curled asleep right now myself than wasting my time out here listening to you snore!”
When Jobin had first asked for his help, Magicless had been nervous about the idea of being the target of Jobin’s magic, but once the decision had been made, the nerves had melted into excitement. Excitement to be a part of something instead of always being on the fringes. Excitement that perhaps he could do something for someone that no one else could do. He began to feel that this was really the start of something big.
Now that they’d started, however, excitement was pretty thin on the ground.
Alekka had led them to a small clearing she had found while walking the day before. It was surrounded by a thick boundary of heavy tree cover that had Magicless cursing as they scraped through it. No one would be able to see anything through it. Regardless, for safety’s sake, it was quite far from the cottage but still close enough to the lake that they could rest on its shor
es. It even had a little patch of sand for a beach.
Alekka had taken over Jobin’s training immediately and set him to work, with “work” mostly entailing Jobin sitting in the center of the clearing trying to “get in touch with himself.” He was to sit cross-legged, his attention turned inward, and work on clearing the emotional clutter of his mind. So far, it didn’t seem to be working too well.
They had started early, while it was still dark, and Jobin had fallen asleep within fifteen minutes of Alekka depositing him in the center of the clearing. She had spent most of the rest of the morning either poking and prodding Jobin, equal parts cajoling and stern, or paying him no mind at all, sitting with her back against a tree, one of the several books she’d brought along propped open on her knees, her attention absorbed in whatever it was she was reading. Magicless made a note to himself to do the same tomorrow.
As the sun finally tipped the tops of the trees surrounding them, Magicless walked to the beach, picking up a stick roughly the size of his sword. He spent an hour going through sword forms until he was slick with sweat in the cool morning air. Then he went and settled himself next to Alekka and watched Jobin shift restlessly in the center of the clearing.
He had started to doze himself when Alekka snapped her book closed and got to her feet. “Time to head back. We’ll do the same thing tomorrow, Jobin. And the day after that, for as long as we need for you to learn the lesson.” Jobin was clearly discouraged. He said nothing as they made their way back to the cottage and said nothing as they ate a late breakfast. When the others finally dragged themselves from bed and made their way into the main room, Alekka was nowhere to be seen and Jobin and Magicless were already flipping through the day’s pile of books.
Noz did not return that day, much to Magicless’ disappointment. He spent the day paging carelessly through book after book, not even clear on what he was looking for. By late afternoon he’d not found a single mention of anything remotely useful regarding Amentis, the Winter Isle, or Nox Noctis. The books contained information on plenty of other people and places he’d never heard of, but nothing on anything of interest to him.