I scanned the room, found the source of thepower and traced it back to Dr. Rannor.
“Yes,” he said, lowering the cup. “You see, awhile back I found I could do that, but I knew of the decree aboutthe Black Adders, and I didn’t want to be imprisoned like them. SoI contacted Larath and asked for his help. At the time he was morethan happy to help me forget everything I could do.”
“Of course. He was eliminating a potentialenemy with no risk of being discovered,” I said.
“When you killed him, his spell broke and allmy memories came back,” he said.
“Now that is a revelation. What powers do youhave?” I asked.
“Not much. I can lift very small things likeyour cup, and I can sometimes detect people just before they openthe door or come into view,” he said.
“Well, that is a start, and it shows that youdefinitely have the gift. What do you plan to do now?” I wasstalling while I updated the five members of the Council that Icould reach. This was a big discovery, big enough that Andreyarelayed messages verbally to Kellyn. This was the first Magus fromour realm we had found since the Council was formed. “Gafar, ifhe exists, there could be more. Do what you can to scan the fleetwith minimal penetration. We need to know if there are others likehim whom Larath mentally locked up, or any othersorcerers.”
“That will take some time, a lot of time;but I will do what I can. It would probably be best if I start withthe Dragon Claw and work out from there, since that is where hisinfluence would have been the greatest,” he responded.
“That is just it, Vydor, I don’t know what todo now. Frankly, I am far too old to be of any use in the war, andI am due for retirement this week,” said Dr. Rannor.
Retirement in the Navy was a bit of a looseterm, as there was no place for him to go until the fleet happenedto pass by a station that could take him. And since we were juststarting a mission, that would be a while yet. He was stillthinking out what he wanted to say, so I let him work on it while Idiscussed our next move with the other wizards. Ultimately thechoice was mine to make and not his, but I was not going tostrongarm him into anything.
“There is only one real option, he mustjoin us,” said Darnath.
“Age is not an issue for our art. In fact,I am sure Mantis is far older than all of us combined,” saidAndreya.
“You guessed Mantis to be a lot youngerthan I did, then,” said Luke, “though I am not sure he hasquite grown up.”
Finally Dr. Rannor said, “Vydor, can I stayhere for a while instead of returning to the Dragon Claw? I need aquiet place to contemplate things.”
“Of course. Doctor, I am not sure how to putthis; though this discovery of yours is exciting for us, it willcomplicate things for you,” I said.
“Exciting? Complicated? How so?” heasked.
“Well, this is exciting because you are thefirst Magus from our realm we have found since we returned.Complicated, because you are the first Magus from our realm we havefound since we returned.” I had to concede Darnath’s point that Dr.Rannor, as a Magus, had to submit to our rule, but that seemedsomewhat totalitarian. “Dr. Rannor, we need to explain something toyou. As a Magus you fall under the direct authority of the Councilof Wizards, and are no longer responsible to the Emperor. Now, youdo have a choice. You can retire in peace and forget about yourpowers, and hope the war never reaches you, or you can come to liveon this ship with us as our first student-level wizard. Either way,the choice is under my jurisdiction, not the captain’s or theEmperor’s, though we will behave in a civil manner over theaffair,” I said.
He needed to sit and think that over a while,so I decided to help his decision along. “Dr. Rannor, before youmake any decision there are a couple more things I would like tosay. First, your age is not an issue for our art. It is onlybecause our council is so new that we are all so young. Everymaster-level wizard or sorcerer that we know of is much older thanyou. The amount of wisdom and knowledge the position calls for isnot normally found in the young. Second, I would love it if youwould come be part of our team. I think you would be a great assetand besides, we need someone to treat Kellyn if she gets sick.” Istood, finished my drink and said, “Whatever your decision, you arewelcome to stay on board here as long as you need. Just remember weare heading to the front line, and it could be a bumpy ride.”
I was about to leave him to think when hesaid, “Vydor, I really do not need to think this over. I just hadto convince myself to take the step. The captain knows why I amhere, and he has already offered to release me if you would takeme. It is just that I am an old man. I am used to being a ship’sdoctor. I know how to do that well; in a way, it is all that I am.What we are talking about is a huge departure from that, andfrankly it is terrifying.”
I got down to his level. “You are not just aship’s doctor. If titles are so important, then you should knowthat you have already achieved the level of prospect wizard. I amoffering you the chance to reach the next step and start to learnhow to use the power you already have, because I know that you aremore than any job. If you decide to do this, I know you can. We alldo.” I felt a level of confidence in him from my fellow wizardsthat surprised me at first, but then I remembered they trusted myinstincts completely. “If he joins us we will have to create alevel of telepathic communication far less deep for him to talk tous on. As the council we will need to keep our connection, but itwould not be polite to completely exclude him,” I said to theothers, who were watching intently through me. “Doctor, look aroundyou. All of these books, every last one, is about the power youwield. You will not be left to guess your way through it. We willteach you, not only to practice your art, but also how to use thesebooks for self-growth. We are constantly working on expanding ourcollection, so with a bit of luck you will never run out of booksto study. If you decide to retire, you will be alone. No one willunderstand you. You will be a stranger among even your own people,but here you have family.”
Suddenly his shoulders squared up and hesaid, “Master Vydor, I cannot turn down your offer, and I humblyaccept.”
I tried to think of a good response to thatbut my mind was full of six cheering voices. Wait a minute …“Kellyn, I thought you were hiding!”
She giggled and said, “How could I missthis? Okay, back to hiding for me!” and she was gone.
The others soon came up to welcome Dr. Rannorto the family. After many pleasantries were exchanged, I offered tocall the captain for him.
“Yes, please do. Just now, if you don’t mind,I need rest. I have not slept much since you made your firstcontact with us earlier this week, and it is catching up onme.”
“Of course, Rannor. Gafar here will show youto the crew quarters where we all stay. These rooms are allshielded from telepathic communication of any kind. If you needanything or anyone while in that room, or want to reach a person intheir quarters, you will need to use the mundane intercom system.Outside those rooms we communicate telepathically, and in time youwill too,” I said.
Rannor and Gafar left to find him somequarters, and I made my way to a comm station to call the captain.I was not certain how to approach him about this, but Rannor saidhe had already spoken with him on the subject so maybe it would bea non-event.
“Good evening, Master Vydor,” said thecaptain. There he went again with the title. Sometimes he used itand sometimes not. I wondered what the difference was.
“Good evening, Captain, I am sorry to disturbyou but I have just had a rather interesting chat with Dr. Rannor,”I started.
“Ah yes, he told me he planned to talk toyou,” he said.
“What did he tell you?” I asked.
“We talked for a while about his upcomingretirement and how it would have to wait until after this mission.I told him I thought he was too young to retire just yet. Hementioned he wanted to transfer to your crew for the duration ofthe mission. I explained to him that your ship is considered to bean alien vessel, and there could be no official transfer, but ifyou allowed it, it would be fine with me,” he said.
/>
“Did he say why he wanted this transfer?” Iasked.
“No, not really; just that he felt it wassomething he had to do. Don’t take this the wrong way, but if anofficer does not want to be in his position, I would rather movehim to a different position than force him to stay against hiswill,” he said.
“Well, Captain, that is pretty much whathappened here. Dr. Rannor has officially requested to join ournation permanently,” I said.
“He is due for retirement at the end of thisweek, so while I could demand that he returns to the Empire andserve here, it would also be easy to say he is finishing out hiscareer as an Imperial advisor to Kellyn. Then after he retires heis free to do as he wishes,” said the captain.
I thought for a bit about my response. Icould just accept that and say no more, but I felt that would bedeceptive. This man was trusting his life and the lives of hisentire fleet to my abilities. The least I could do was becompletely honest with him. “Captain, it is a bit more complicatedthan that.”
“How so?” he asked.
“Captain, Dr. Rannor has made it known to methat he is a Magus. This means that he falls under my jurisdictionnow, and no longer that of the Empire,” I said.
“Master Vydor, I see what you mean about itbecoming more complicated. What exactly does this mean for mydoctor?” There he went with the formal title again.
“I offered him a choice. I said he couldeither finish his present assignment, find a place to retire to inpeace, and forget he ever discovered his powers; or he could joinus and be trained as a wizard.”
“I am glad to hear you left the choice up tohim. I would hate to think you had let your newfound power andposition corrupt you. Be ever wary against that, Vydor. Thetemptation to abuse your power must be far greater than I canimagine and it would be a dark day indeed if you gave into it.” Hestopped and sighed. “I know the good doctor too well to think hechose retirement.”
“You are correct, Captain,” I said. I heardhis words, but I was more concerned about his warning. There wasgreat truth in it, and I did almost force Rannor’s position. I mustalways be on guard against that.
“Then the simple way to handle this is to dowhat I suggested previously and assign him to your crew as anImperial advisor,” said the captain.
“I must respectfully disagree with that,Captain. I do not want to set up a precedent of sneaking aroundinstead of just handling it straightforwardly. I think the bestthing would be for you to grant him retirement a few days early,and then note on his record that he has joined the ranks of thewizards, so that there is no question about his allegiance down theroad,” I said.
“Then that is what we will do. Can I speakwith him?” he asked.
“Well, I have nothing against it, but he hasretired for the evening already. I am sure there will be ample timefor you to talk tomorrow either before or after the wedding.”
After that we wrapped up the call. Now,before I went to bed I needed to contact Mantis. We did not haveany training material for someone as new to his powers as Rannor.The big question always was whether Mantis would answer the call.We never found a pattern indicating when he was available and whenhe was not.
Chapter Thirty
There were no doors to the Crystal Room, so Ihad to teleport in. This was the one exception to our rule againstteleporting on the ship. With the lack of discipline about usingthe exercise room, I wanted everyone to walk as much aspossible.
I arrived in the room alone; most of theothers were asleep by now and I did not want to bother them. Iactivated the sphere and waited. I was unsure how much time passedwhile I waited. I spent it thinking over the day’s events andworrying about the next day.
“Hello, Master Vydor,” came a distinctivevoice from the ball as Mantis’ face appeared in it.
“Hello, Mantis, there have been somedevelopments here since we spoke last. I had better fill you in onthose first, and then I would like you to send me some trainingmaterials for new Magi.” I then proceeded to tell him about thesituation with Terathan XV, Rannor and the upcomingwedding.
He listened very thoughtfully to everythingwithout any comment or reaction. When I finished he just sat therea moment then said, “Very interesting turn of events.” Then heappeared in the room in person and took one of the chairs acrossfrom me. “I suppose the first thing I should say iscongratulations,” he said with a big smile.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Vydor, I am a bit worried about you. You andthe others are skyrocketing up the ranks of power at a phenomenalrate, and now you are taking on a prospect? I spoke with theCouncil about your growth and they assured me that this was the wayit had to be, so I have said nothing until now. But with Rannorcoming on board, I think it is time to address this,” he said.
“It does not feel like phenomenal growth. Ifeel as though we are only little children trying to compete withgods some days,” I said.
“All seven of you have surpassed wizards withtwenty times your experience; it’s just that your perspective isskewed because you only know high-level wizards. For example, lookat your fight with Larath. You overpowered him easily, and I knowthat you have at least tripled your strength since then,” hesaid.
“Overpowered him? Hardly. I crudely bashedhim on the head with a fancy stick,” I said.
“You see, that is exactly what has meworried. You used a great deal of power and did not even noticeit,” he said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, remember the scene Andreya showed theEmperor in which one of the Seven defeated your Dark Knights; howhe stood there completely immune to all the weapon fire aroundhim?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“That was the grandmaster of the sorcerers.He was upset that the Dark Knights were winning that fight. Theyproved to be far more powerful than the sorcerers had guessed, andif not for his arrival the Dark Knights might have successfullytaken control of that colony,” he said.
“Really? I had not realized that,” Isaid.
“Yes, but the point is: Did you notice howthe grandmaster did nothing to stop the weapon fire, it just had noeffect on him? That is what is known as a passive energy field. Hewas so wrapped up in power that those attacks were insignificant incomparison and were just absorbed,” he said.
“That is very impressive, but what does thathave to do with Larath?” I asked.
“Larath had a shield up to block you that,had you been a mundane person, would have made him completelyinvulnerable to your staff blow. He thought he was safe because hedid not think you would blast him with your staff because of therisk of hitting the people behind him. But as you approached him,do you remember the look of fear on his face? Yes, I was watchingthe whole thing take place; it was too important not to. But do youremember the look? As you closed in on him he could see the powerbuilding in you. By the time you swung your staff, you had so muchpower behind that swing that ten Laraths could not have stoppedit.”
“Surely you cannot be right. I mean, I didnot call on my powers, at least I do not think I did.” I was tryingto think back to what precisely had happened.
“You see, that is exactly why I am concerned.If you can bring forth that level of power without meaning to, Iworry that unintentionally you will start forcing your will onsituations when you know you should not. For example, bargainingwith the Emperor for a ship,” he said.
“Now wait a minute, Mantis, I know I did notuse any power on him, … ” I began.
“No, you did not. But if you can kill Larathwith your powers unintentionally, what is to stop you fromunintentionally doing other things?” He just left that commenthanging, and I had no answer to it.
Eventually I said, “Nothing, I suppose.”
“No, not nothing. One bright spot in yournews is your marriage to Kellyn. She is a great stabilizer for you.You will have to learn to control this intensity of yours, and turnit into a powerful weapon against the sorcerers. You merely have toaccept that it is an issue and decide to fix it. Everythin
g to dowith our art centers on willpower, and you have that in greatabundance. Make it work for you instead of you working for it,” hesaid.
I thought about that a long while, and thensaid, “I understand, and will work on it.”
“Now, about Rannor. That is a mostinteresting development, and while I do not think you are ready tostart training others, you cannot just leave him to himself. Readyor not, you must train him. In this box are all the entry-levelbooks that we use in our schools. Vydor, understand that it willprobably take him fifty or sixty years to reach the level you havealready reached in your more basic powers. I do not understand whyyou are all growing so fast in power, but the Council continues toassure me that this is the way it must be,” he said and placed asmall box on the table. I knew better than to open it here, as itwould be much easier to carry all the books he had somehow stuffedinside it while they were still in that tiny box.
“Well, as long as those materials give usfair expectations for him, however long it takes is however long ittakes,” I said.
“As for Terathan XV, this is news to me and Iwill have to investigate at our end. We might have underestimatedtheir ability to recover from their last loss here; we did notexpect them to make a showing for at least another year. I willcontact you about that when I know more, but not tomorrow. Tomorrowyou need to give completely to Kellyn.” And with that he left. Iwondered if I would have a heart attack if he ever actually made anattempt at a goodbye.
I took the box down to the library and leftit on an empty shelf to deal with another day. Right now, I neededto get some sleep.
I lay there in my bed a long time justthinking about what Mantis had said. I slowly opened my mind to thepower that I had and could see the swirling energy around me.Mantis at one time called me a spellweaver. He also said my naturaltalent for seeing magic meant I worked directly with the energy inits purest form. While most wizards had to convert the energy intosomething else to use it, such as fire or electricity, I couldweave the power itself.
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