“I still don’t understand why this is not taught at the MageSchool.” Justan said.
“Quite simply because the wizards haven’t been able to figure out how it works and though they wouldn’t admit it, they are always wary of the things they don’t understand. The MageSchool doesn’t like to acknowledge spiritual magic’s existence.”
“But doesn’t that go against their very principals? I would think that the MageSchool would be doing all they could to learn about it,” Justan said.
“Hundreds of years of frustration have curbed their appetite for this particular knowledge, I’m afraid,” Master Coal explained. “So . . . Now that you know what bonding magic is, let’s talk about what it can do. What have you learned so far?”
“Well, I can communicate with my bonded. More recently I have discovered that I can see inside of them much in the same way that I can use my mage sight to see inside myself,” Justan said. “And the other day I was able to send my own energy through the bond to help Fist.”
“Oh . . . so that is what happened on the river? My, that was a very dangerous thing to attempt,” the wizard said. “You are lucky that you didn’t kill yourself.”
“Why is that?”
“Did you give any thought to the fact that Fist is two to three times your size? You were trying to use the energy contained in your-.” He looked Justan up and down. “Say . . . two-hundred-and-twenty pound body to power a seven-hundred pound ogre? Magic does not change the laws of reality, Edge. You need to use common sense too.”
“B-but I had no choice. Fist was close to collapse in the middle of the river. He could have died!” Justan said.
“A little bit of energy just to keep him going may have been okay, but you could have done something much more effective if you had thought it through,” Master Coal chastised. “Gwyrtha weighs at least as much as Fist does and, being a rogue horse, she has vast amounts of energy. You could have pulled the energy from her to help keep the ogre going with little or no effect on her. As a bonding wizard, you can use your own mind and body as a channel in which to transfer thoughts, emotions, and energy from one bonded to another.”
“I can do that?” The possibilities started tumbling through Justan’s mind.
“Yes. You could have brought Gwyrtha’s energy into your body and passed it on through the bond to the ogre. That technique is a bit tricky because if you try to hold too much of that energy inside of your body, you could hurt yourself, but after a bit of practice, you will find that it comes naturally.”
“But . . . wouldn’t it be . . . wrong to just take it from her like that?” Justan tried to imagine what it would be like if someone just started siphoning energy off of him.
“It could be. It would especially feel that way if she did not want to give it. Hopefully if you explained to her that it was for Fist, she would give it to you willingly.”
“She would,” Justan said with confidence. “She loves Fist dearly.”
“Good. This is one of the most important things in a bonded relationship. They should understand that they are a part of you now and you are a part of them, but it is also important that they realize that through you, they are now a part of each other. It is crucial that all of you spend as much time together as possible. Hopefully they will learn to be as close to each other as they are to you. It is unfortunate, but that is not always the case. I have had bonded in the past that truly disliked each other.”
“That would be hard to deal with,” Justan mused.
“There may be times that come up when you need something from your bonded, and it might make them uncomfortable or even cause them pain. If their relationship with you and each other is strong, then they will give of themselves anyway and willingly in fact. But here is where the danger lies.” Coal leaned forward and looked Justan directly in the eyes. His tone was deadly serious. “What if they don’t? What if you or another of your bonded needs something from them and they refuse to give it? In times like that, you will need to make a choice. Do you respect that or do you take what is theirs against their will?”
“No!” Justan said, aghast at the idea. “That would be . . .”
“The damage to your relationship could very well be irreparable.” Master Coal concluded. “There is a fine line between treating your bonded like the closest of family and treating them like mere cattle for you to feed off of when you feel the need. It is something that you need to be very aware of. It is easy, especially if you are very involved in something important to you, to forget that.
“Over the years, I have found that it is best to set a policy to never take their energy unless you really need it. And always ask first. That is very important. Any time that you enter their body or mind for anything, you should ask permission first. Think of it as a knock before entering, as if you were sharing a house with them. Your mind is your most intimate place, and it is horribly rude for someone to just come barging in. There are things in your mind that you don’t want to share even with your bonded and you shouldn’t have to.
“This is one of the first things that I will be teaching you as we start your training. You must learn how to keep thoughts to yourself and how to avoid listening in to your bonded’s thoughts when they don’t want you to.”
Justan’s mind was buzzing. There was so much that he hadn’t thought about. The bond suddenly felt like it carried a great amount of responsibility with it. “Thank you so much for your help, Master Coal. There is so much I need to know.”
“It is good that you are willing to learn.” Master Coal said, pleased with his sincerity. “Now, it is almost time for lunch. Let’s talk about your schedule. Do you have any particular daily needs?”
“Well, I want to have time for exercise and time for my warrior training. But I can fit that around whatever schedule you set for me.”
“It shouldn’t be a problem. You will get plenty of exercise working the farm in the mornings. And along the lines of what we have been discussing, I have made sure that you will be working together with your bonded during those hours. Make the most of that time together. Teach them what we learn in our lessons. It will keep your mind off the strain of the work and it is good information for them to know as well.
“From the noon meal until dinner, you will work on your studies. Sometimes I will be with you, sometimes I will have assignments for you to work on. After dinner, the time will be yours to spend as you wish. This is probably a good time for you to do any additional training you want.”
“Thank you, Master Coal. That sounds very reasonable.”
Master Coal stood. “Let’s go eat, then.”
Justan left Coal’s study looking forward to learning much more from the master.
Chapter Sixteen
That evening as everyone was getting ready for bed, Justan went to Benjo’s house. It was the first building in the enclosure, just in front of the stables. It was situated away from the other houses and he wondered if Benjo had chosen the place for just that reason. Justan knocked. The door opened right away and the large man invited him in.
The house was small, just two rooms. There was a small table and a cabinet in the main room, along with a couch to sit on. Justan could see a bed and dresser in the next room through the doorway in the back. To his surprise, it was all kept quite neatly. He had always seen Benjo as kind of a slob.
“I-I was expecting you to come,” Benjo said and gestured to the couch. “Uh, would you like to sit, Justa- . . . er, Sir Edge?”
“No, I think we need to get to the point,” Justan responded. “I am going to be staying here and learning from Master Coal for a while, I don’t know how long actually, and I don’t need you creeping around in the shadows trying to think of ways to stab me in the back.”
“Oh, no no no, I-I wouldn’t. I mean, well what happened back at . . .” Benjo stopped for a moment, gathering his thoughts. “I know how much you must hate me for what I did. I have been trying to think of what I was going to say to you ever si
nce I saw you earlier. Maybe it is best if I start at the beginning?”
“I just need an answer. Are you going to be a problem?”
“N-no, of course I won’t. But please, will you let me explain my side of the story?” Benjo looked so desperate, that Justan couldn’t say no to the man.
“If you must.”
“Well, I left this place to go to the Training School after Willum entered the academy. Coal was so . . . proud of him that I just wanted to accomplish something too. I-I didn’t want to be a farmer all my life. And I was pretty good. I had sparred around a lot with Willum and he’s much better than me and all, but he taught me a lot of stuff. I figured that if I put my mind to it, I could do it and you know, be an academy graduate some day. Coal didn’t want me to go, though. Said I had responsibilities here. I know now that he was right, but I was tired of him telling me what to do and I went anyway.”
Justan found himself understanding how Benjo must have felt and he didn’t like it. Part of Justan wanted to punch the man in the face just for making him sympathize with him.
“When I got there, I ran into Kenn. I hadn’t seen him since we were kids back before Coal married my mom. He showed me around and stuff and helped me out. He talked me up, you know? Had me feeling big and tough, like I could really make it in the academy.
“When he got mad at you after the strategy test and asked me if I would help him get back at you, I thought he just wanted to scare you at first, you know, teach you a lesson. The situation kind of got out of hand though and got . . . rougher than we planned.”
“Speaking of Kenn, I saw him just a few weeks ago,” Justan remarked. “You want to know what he was up to? The weasel was a dungeon keeper in charge of torturing people. Frankly, at the time I expected you to still be with him.”
“But I’m not like him, I’m . . .” Benjo turned his head away in shame. “I-I guess I can see why you’d think that of me after everything that happened. Anyways, after we woke up after that . . . lady knocked us out, I was done. I had learned my lesson right there. I just wanted to go through Training School and get on with my life, but Kenn wouldn’t let it go. Getting even with you was all he could talk about. I-I wouldn’t have anything to do with it all year. I even talked him out of a few things he had planned, I swear. I was able to scare him off of it by telling him that the . . . lady would protect you.”
He watched Justan for a reaction to what he was saying, but Justan did not let his emotions show. He refused to give in to the man’s story. He waited with his arms folded, not saying anything until Benjo continued.
“Well, uh. Then testing week came and the day before the stamina test, Kenn told me what you had told Mad Jon about me and I got so mad that I-.”
“He told you what?” Justan interrupted.
“About how you told Mad Jon I had sneaked out of archery class to meet my girl. I got pulled before the council and they almost kicked me out for it.” Benjo misunderstood the dumbfounded look on Justan’s face for something else. “Oh, it’s okay. I mean, I don’t blame you. You had every right to be mad at me after what we did to you in the alley.”
“Benjo, I have no idea what you are talking about. I couldn’t have cared less what you did. I was too focused on my own training.” Justan said. He had a pretty good idea what had really happened though. If Benjo wasn’t going to follow Kenn’s little schemes, it would be just like the little man to tell on his friend so that he could blame Justan.
“But, Kenn said-. He . . . that son of a dog.” Benjo laughed then. It was a self-mocking laugh and Justan lost grip on some of the anger he had been holding onto so tightly. “Oh, Coal was right about me. He said that I wasn’t ready to go out on my own yet.”
“So that’s why you pushed me in the stamina test?” Justan said, subconsciously fingering the frost rune through his shirt. How strange that his encounter with the Scralag wouldn’t have happened if not for a lie that Kenn had told Benjo.
“Yeah, I was really mad. I mean not only did I nearly get kicked out of the Training School for skipping class, but the council told my girl’s father about it and he forbade her to ever see me again.” He shook his head. “It all seems so childish now. But anyway, after the race, when you chose not to tell the council that I was the one that pushed you, I was so confused. Kenn wanted me to help him jump you in the night but I wouldn’t do it.”
Justan remembered that night. The next day, he had awakened late because Kenn had covered his windows. He had almost missed the archery exam.
Benjo went on, “Then the next day after the archery test, Kenn was so humiliated after what that . . . lady did to him, that-“
“Please stop calling her ‘that lady’. Just call her . . .” Justan wasn’t sure what he wanted to tell Benjo to call her actually. He didn’t deserve to know her real name. Even hearing the man call her Ma’am seemed like it would be an insult. “Just refer to her as my trainer.”
“O-okay. So Kenn wants revenge so bad and this guy in a white robe shows up and offers to sell us a sleeping potion. I said no way and got out of there. I told Kenn that I was through with him. Then that night, he snuck out of the barracks and headed towards your place. I followed him, trying to talk him out of it and up comes Swift Kendyl. He was waiting for us. No one would believe that I was trying to talk Kenn out of using the potion. They expelled both of us that night.
“I didn’t know what to do. I had nowhere to stay. I didn’t want to go home. Kenn found this old storeroom for us to sleep in and I just laid there on the floor for an entire day, trying to figure out what to do. Then Kenn came in that night and said that the old man had given him another bottle of the sleeping potion. He wanted me to go with him and . . . I really don’t have a good excuse as to why I went that time. I was so lost at that point that I just followed him. He told me that the plan was to dose you with the sleeping potion and then take you out of town so that by the time you woke up and got back to the Training Grounds, you would miss the test.
“But that- er, your trainer . . . she showed up and Kenn splashed her with the potion. After that, things got way out of hand real quick. Kenn started acting crazy, ranting and stomping around. I nearly ran out of there a couple times, but the way he kept eyeing her, I was afraid of what Kenn might do to her if I left him alone. I-I just . . .
“Anyways, you know the rest. After you got there and Kenn tried to . . . I took off. I didn’t look back. I just headed out of town. I knew they would be looking for me and I didn’t want Kenn to find me either. I couldn’t believe that I had let that little man ruin my life.
“But Willum found me. He showed up as I was heading into the hills and stopped me, demanding to know what I had done. I-I told him what happened and . . . I’ll never forget the look of disgust and pity on his face. He said a lot of things, but in the end, he told me that he wasn’t going to say anything to Coal about it. H-he said that he would leave that to me.” Benjo finished his story and sat down on the couch with his head in his hands.
Justan looked at the man, saw the agony on his face, and imagined the guilt that must have been plaguing him ever since. The last bit of anger that Justan had been holding onto slipped away.
“If it helps at all, Benjo, the last time I saw Kenn, I left him on one of his own torture tables to be found by the other escaped prisoners. I never did hear what became of him after that.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Benjo said. “I don’t care what happened to Kenn. I wish I’d never met him in the first place. I just want to forget that part of my life ever happened. I still haven’t spoken to Coal about it. When I got back, I couldn’t bear to admit what had happened. I just told them that I failed the tests.
“Coal was so understanding and I felt so guilty about lying to him about it. He wanted me to go back to farming and I was ready to do what ever he wanted. But then Bettie pulled me aside and started teaching me the forge. I am okay at it too, but leatherwork . . .” Benjo looked down and stared at his hands. “I love i
t. I really do.”
“Benjo, you should have listened to Willum. Trying to forget it ever happened is not going to work. You are never going to be able to put this past you until you go talk to your father about it,” Justan said. “You know him far better than I do, but if what I know about Master Coal holds up, he would understand. I won’t be as nice about this as Willum though. If you won’t talk to him about it, I will.”
Benjo looked at him with terror in his eyes. His bottom lip quivered for a moment and then he grit his teeth. A look of resignation entered his haggard eyes.
“Y-yes. You are right. I will speak with him about it.”
“Good,” Justan turned to leave, but stopped before he reached the door. “Benjo, I want you to know that I forgive you for your part in what happened.” He really had no reason to hold a grudge. In a way, his life has turned out for the better in part because of the things Benjo and Kenn had done.
Hunt of the Bandham (The Bowl of Souls: Book Three) Page 17