Surviving Prophesy: The Immortals

by Frances Howitt

  ‘Your arms are still too weak to lean your whole weight on. Let Brendon help you into the chair,’ she told him and was aware he felt embarrassed to be so helpless that he couldn’t even get out of bed unaided.

  Brendon wordlessly lifted his friend off the bed and into the chair. ‘You’re getting better so quickly. You’ll be charging around the arena again in no time.’

  ‘I can’t wait,’ Zacharias responded, attempting a smile although being moved hurt. But, soon enough he was wheeled outside and he pushed the pain to the back of his mind to enjoy the fresh clean air. The sickbay garden was in a small enclosed courtyard with paved paths circling and crisscrossing it between the flowerbeds. Zacharias had glimpsed it from his window but not been out here. Megan settled on a bench in full sun but sheltered from the wind; Zach in his chair alongside. Brendon tactfully gave them privacy.

  ‘Do you think it’s going to be safe to stay here, now that what you are is common knowledge?’ Megan asked.

  ‘I suppose that depends on what true motives the trial uncovers and also how they are punished. In some ways it should be safer simply because everyone does know about me and that I’ve been attacked. They will be watching for it happening again. Equally the students were wizards and may have influential or aggrieved families. What is it?’

  ‘Antonius is calling me,’ Megan told him absently. ‘High Wizard,’ she greeted.

  ‘Wizard Megan. We have decided that a full court hearing is appropriate in this case. As soon as the judge and the parents of the accused are here, we will begin the in-depth investigation. I expect them to be present to reconvene the day after tomorrow.’

  ‘Thank you for letting me know, Sir,’ Megan said calmly and the wizard left her mind.

  18

  Megan sat in the witness chair repeating her testimony for the benefit of a roomful of strangers. The five student perpetrators were present, listening to the evidence against them for the first time, as were their parents and several other wizards presumably interested in the case. High Wizard Antonius wasn’t the one taking and projecting her statement this time, but he was present. Magister Eduard was taking the statements from everyone. Relieved she was nearly finished, she felt a sudden pang of pain, quickly gone. It wasn’t her, it must be Zacharias. She reached through their link and even though he was trying to block her from feeling it, she discovered he was walking.

  ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ she demanded.

  ‘I’ve been summoned,’ Zach replied.

  She ground her teeth aware she was stuck on the witness stand; she couldn’t go to him and clearly no-one had stayed to help him after delivering the summons.

  ‘Brendon, can you go to Zach? He’s trying to walk unaided, the damn fool.’ She heard Brendon’s concern and immediate willingness to help and withdrew from his mind after a quick, but heartfelt thank you. She noticed the Magister raised his brows; presumably he’d felt either her divided attention or the small spurt of magic she’d expended to reach and speak with both Zach and then Brendon. Fortunately, such communication could take place in mere moments and so was not usually obvious to anyone else. She seamlessly continued with her testimony and if anyone had noticed the micro-break in her images, they didn’t mention it. About five minutes later the door opened and Zacharias entered. The fact he leaned heavily on Brendon told her he was struggling to walk and was past caring if these strangers knew it. That he’d been able to walk at all was a miracle, given his injuries. Every eye had turned at Zach’s entry and all continued to watch him slowly make his way to the front. High Wizard Antonius stood and gestured respectfully to the row of empty seats at the front.

  ‘Thank you for coming. Please sit down,’ Antonius said quietly and watched the immortal sink into the second seat along. Brendon sat beside him, taking the empty seat Zacharias had bypassed, which placed him between everyone and Zacharias. He idly wondered if the pair had had a conversation about who would sit where before they came in or if the immortal simply understood the animus man’s protective nature. He noticed both men had scanned everyone in the room, but both kept returning their gaze to Megan. Was she their protector now, or did they feel protective of her? Or was she perhaps talking to them? He hadn’t detected any sudden surges in power use, but then she’d already mentioned a link to Zacharias, so talking along it was easy. Magister Eduard was now asking Megan a variety of questions so he guiltily stopped his idle musing and returned his attention to proceedings.

  ‘Physician Tomas will now listen to the medical testimony and verify,’ the Magister directed.

  Tomas came forward and took Megan’s hands. The vision of Zacharias lying broken in a pool of blood, his limbs bent at unnatural angles appeared in the air between them. Tomas closely observed the speed, competence and assurance with which she undertook the medical assistance. He queried her treatments here and there, not only to get an understanding of what she’d seen as the priorities but also to better judge her knowledge of treatments and their efficacy. He also had her home in on several areas before, during and after her treatment.

  ‘The treatments did not end there on the day of the attack,’ Tomas stated. ‘What secondary injuries did you treat? And what could be left to heal naturally?’

  ‘No, I have treated him daily. An immortal’s magic is structured to do only one thing; to heal themselves quickly. They are not truly immortal; their magic simply slows down the process of the body wearing out as they age.’

  ‘An immortal can heal from anything then?’

  ‘Far from it. They will heal from anything we would, just faster. That means treating broken bones must be done immediately or they might begin to knit out of alignment and cause weakness. You probably noticed both arms and legs were broken? Well, one of his legs was actually shattered. That was very difficult to repair.’

  ‘Repair?’ Tomas asked, blinking. ‘Show me.’ He gaped at the view she’d seen of shards of bone embedded in Zach’s flesh. He heard someone behind him throwing up, but this was so impressive he did not curtail the view but asked for a detailed rerun of how she’d tackled such a severe injury. Most people would never walk again after such an injury, but the man had walked into the room, limping and supported, but walking. He eyed the immortal for a moment then hurried over to him and asked to see the injured leg. Tomas noted the slow and stiff way Zacharias turned sideways to prop his leg on the empty chairs beside him. He let him get comfortable, noticing up close just how white his face was and the pinched look to his mouth; yes the man was in pain. Tomas pushed up the trouser carefully and eyed red scars, scabs and considerable bruising. He compared the other leg and saw this one was quite swollen too. He examined Zacharias’ arms noting more scabs and bruising. There was no way any of that had been faked.

  ‘You were healed too, I believe?’ Tomas said, eyeing the animus student watching everything so defensively. ‘May I see?’ he added when Brendon nodded. Brendon lifted his shirt revealing a large purple bruise across his ribs. Tomas pressed gently, feeling the ribs carefully and noting the size and position of the bruising. The marks did indicate substantial impact force and indeed the testimony had included a view of the man being kicked savagely whilst on the ground. That would be easily enough to break a number of ribs. However he couldn’t find any tell-tale signs that anything was broken now. Brendon winced, but only a little and that was easily because of the extensive bruising.

  ‘You were injured too?’ Zacharias asked his friend quietly. ‘Sorry.’

  ‘It’s nothing,’ Brendon murmured. What he’d suffered was truly nothing compared to what Zach had endured. But he met Megan’s eye with a small but grateful smile. Without her aid Zach would be dead and he would not only have lost a very good friend, but remain in considerable pain. He also wondered how he would have fared with those murdering students. Without Megan identifying them, would they have sought out and killed him next, simply for being a witness? He watched the physician pause and watch as Megan left the witness
stand and sit on Zacharias’s other side. She rested her hand on Zach’s knee for a minute and the pinched look to his mouth eased. She was wonderful and this Tomas had witnessed or rather recognised what she’d just done for Zach too. Tomas summarised his findings, then went and sat back down in his earlier seat. His testimony clearly approved her actions and confirmed that they had been necessary to treat life threatening injuries.

  Next, the first of the attackers was called to the stand. He was the leader she’d left pinned to the wall. Tony didn’t seem very sorry about what he’d done and was even affronted to be called to account so publicly. He also tried to justify his actions as being a mere experiment. Since Zacharias was here now, he clearly hadn’t suffered any lasting harm, so what was the fuss about?

  ‘I would like to question this person,’ Zacharias announced.

  ‘You are not a Magister.’

  ‘Correct, I’m the one he tried to murder and no-one has more right to know why than me,’ Zacharias responded.

  ‘I will ensure he replies truthfully,’ High Wizard Antonius said, tacitly giving him permission and volunteering his personal aid, much to everyone’s, and especially Tony’s, consternation.

  ‘Remember the moment you decided on the attack,’ Zacharias ordered, and watched Tony shake his head then wince and guessed Antonius was overriding his will. A scene appeared in the air in front of Tony and everyone watched closely. Tony could be seen and heard ordering two of his clique to tag and then shadow the immortal. ‘We know where he’s going. The top floor will be deserted. No-one will see what we do. We can make it look like an accident.’ The scene unfolded from his point of view as they sneaked up behind their quarry, spells already discussed to paralyse the animus too. Antonius made him remember the whole attack and it was particularly chilling to hear the orders given for ever more vicious attack spells on an initially unprotected man. The speed with which Brendon had turned into a furious dog was clearly visible too. That dog had attacked them, defending Zacharias valiantly against a whole host of painful spells cast at him. The spell Megan had cast which grabbed Tony, throwing him to the wall, was sudden and extremely effective. He’d been pinned immobile but remained able to continue watching and shout orders.

  ‘Who told you I was immortal?’ Zacharias asked next. A face appeared, but not one Zach recognised. ‘Who is that?’ Zach had the impression Tony once again tried not to answer, but soon a scene of this stranger coming up to Tony and telling him to look for the immortal and his wizard partner. Telling him Zacharias was plotting mischief, leading his young fiancée astray. He needed to die.

  ‘There is a magical compulsion within this message,’ Antonius told everyone.

  ‘What kind of compulsion?’

  ‘A weak one actually, simply designed to make the message believable. It was not strong enough to override even this lad’s weak will if he chose not to act.’

  Zacharias sat back and exchanged a look with Megan. He’d been right, this was an ordered hit. Why choose teenage wizards and leave so much to chance? Surely the likelihood of them succeeding was far less than using an experienced assassin? Or was someone else either primed within the school, or on their way even now hearing that he yet lived?

  ‘Is he still under the compulsion? Zach asked.

  ‘Not now; I’ve neutralised it.’

  ‘You recognise the wizard responsible?’

  ‘We do. We will be questioning Wizard Stevens. Unfortunately, we have no jurisdiction over him,’ Antonius responded, his mouth pressed in a hard straight line. ‘You might know of him as being Lord Darcourt’s son. He works for his father exclusively and it is Darcourt’s responsibility alone therefore to mete out any punishment.’

  ‘Ah hell. I thought the name seemed familiar.’ Zach responded thoughtfully. ‘Stevens can’t still be around then; he’d be noticed. So, who was Tony to report my death to and was there a time limit set for the job?’

  They soon determined the job, aka his murder, took place on the allotted day, but that no further meeting had been set up.

  ‘So, they are in a position to hear the news on the grapevine,’ Zacharias commented and glanced around the room. This was far too close to home. The go-between orchestrating the job for Wizard Stevens was probably close-by and might even work at the school. The Mistry had seemed determined to physically weaken him before taking him to Darcourt. Was Stevens expecting the student’s attack to partially succeed too, leaving him injured and weak? Was someone else primed to take advantage of his current vulnerability and abduct him?

  Zacharias sat back and listened as the other attackers took the stand in turn for their testimony to be heard. None brought anything new to the facts, but did serve to confirm Tony’s version of events was accurate.

  ‘It appears a number of investigations need to be undertaken,’ Antonius agreed heavily, ‘before the full extent of the plot and its perpetrators can be known. What is clear is that a wizard recruited five weak willed wizard students to commit murder. Only one showed remorse and tried to stop it happening. We will retire to make our deliberations.’

  A magical barrier dropped around the accused, preventing them leaving, but also from talking to or hearing anyone outside their prison. A Magister remained in the room to supervise everyone, his gaze pinning anyone talking loudly or trying to get a message through to the prisoners. Most of the parents just sat there silently, either white faced with shock or red faced with anger. None could deny the attack had taken place and was anything other than an unprovoked and premeditated attempted murder. The evidence taken from several witnesses, in addition to the perpetrators own admissions were exceedingly damning. There was no doubt of their guilt and it was highly unlikely this scandal could be covered up.

  ‘Do you think it’s going to be safe for you to remain here?’ Brendon asked softly.

  ‘I really don’t know,’ Zacharias admitted. ‘As we’ve seen, the very students we trust could be turned against us.’

  ‘And you have not yet regained your strength,’ Brendon pointed out quietly. ‘Travel will be difficult.’

  ‘We’ll talk more of this later,’ Zacharias said and Brendon glanced about them, recalling that although no other animus were present with their extra sensitive hearing, wizards were capable of augmenting their hearing magically if they wanted to. None of them wanted their plans to be overheard and perhaps used against them. Whilst he was now able to walk, he’d just discovered the hard way that anything more than a few paces remained painful and exhausting. He still needed time to heal and continue regaining his strength. He knew he was more likely to set that process back by forcing his body to do more than it currently could. He supposed it was best he stayed at the academy long enough to recover. Only when he could properly walk could he practically consider leaving.

  The Adjudicators returned to the room and everyone fell silent.

  ‘Will the accused please stand. Tony, for your part in this as inciter and ringleader we find you guilty of coercion and blackmail of your accomplices. Your willingness to carry out such a brutal and premeditated attack is clear and will remain on your permanent record as Attempted Murder. You were fully cognizant of what you were asked to do and it was well within your power to have refused. Your complete lack of remorse in planning the murder of a rare magical being has been taken into account in your sentencing. You will hereby be stripped of your magic, permanently. Such abuses of power and general cruelty to others will not be tolerated. You are a disgrace to the name wizard.’

  There were gasps and muttered exclamations from the audience but none dared voice any disagreement. The Magister glanced around with a forbidding frown and everyone hastily fell silent to allow the Magister to continue announcing the rest of the sentencing.

  Each of Tony’s accomplices received the lesser penalty of being temporarily stripped of their magic, the time span varying according to the level of each man’s viciousness and willingness to participate. The one who refused to attack was the only
one who retained his place at the academy. Whilst temporarily stripped of his magic like the others, he was further denied all personal leisure time at the Academy for the next six months. This would be punishment, re-education and protection from any retaliation, all rolled together. He at least would be given the opportunity to redeem himself. The others were summarily expelled and would have that status permanently on record, ensuring future academies and employers would know what manner of person stood before them.

  ‘Immortal Zacharias,’ Antonius said with grave formality. ‘Are you satisfied with the court’s verdict and punishments?’

  ‘I am.’

  ‘So noted for the record. That concludes this trial.’

  Everyone watched in silence as the convicts were led away, the door thudding closed behind them. The parents were led out next by the court officials. They would have to wait for each of their sons to undergo being stripped of his magic, before taking him home in disgrace.

  Slowly everyone else began leaving the room, and the noise level increased as many animated conversations took place. Zacharias sat quietly, letting the room empty. He had little strength and would rather his struggle to walk wasn’t turned into a spectacle for the curious. It had been bad enough on the way in and he was still paying for overdoing it now. Brendon sat with him silently, but watching everyone in the room. Zacharias was glad of his vigilance; he felt less vulnerable. The door opened to someone coming in and he felt a small jolt through his link to Megan. He turned to her quickly; she and every other wizard left in the room watched someone enter from the door behind him, their eyes wide.