The Academy

by Vincent Trigili

  “That’s right, and as soon as the good doctor says you’re ready, I have some stew prepared for you; real food, not that junk they force you to eat in the navy,” she said.

  “I think he can eat now, but he will need help getting to the table,” said Rannor.

  “I think I can manage that,” Bill said as he entered the room and came to my bed. As I started to get up he said, “Relax, soldier, I’ve got your back.” I think he carried me more than I walked, but I did what I could to move through the pain. I tried not to let on how much it hurt, but I saw Patty wince every time I moved.

  Once I was seated at the table, a bowl was placed in front of me containing what was most certainly the best-smelling stew I had ever encountered. It looked like it had real meat in it. I could not remember the last time I had had a good, home-cooked meal. Ignoring Rannor’s advice to take it slow, I wolfed down the bowl.

  “Now, James, you are in for a long and painful healing process. I suspect that you will not be able to return to the school for a couple of months. Patty’s family has graciously offered to take care of you while you recover,”

  “Offered? I think demanded with threat of severe physical harm to you would be a better way to put it,” said Patty, grinning.

  Rannor just smiled and continued, “Grandmaster Vydor has issued a full pardon for your little escapade on the way here and has granted both you and Patty extended leave until you are well enough to return. Now that you are past the most dangerous part of your healing, I must get back to the Academy. I’ll come back in a few weeks to check on your progress.” After exchanging some pleasantries he left, presumably to head to the spaceport for a ride home.

  “Patty, what day is it? Robert will be waiting for us,” I said.

  “Don’t worry. Bill apparently knows him too and took care of it, but for some reason Robert didn’t believe you were really sick and said you were a sly dog,” said Patty with an evil look in her eye. Her brother just laughed.

  Patty’s mom brought me a second bowl of stew, and this time I started to eat it much more slowly. I wanted to savor every bite.

  Then another man walked into the room; he looked just like Bill, but older. I knew it must be Patty’s father. All of a sudden, I remembered the story that Patty had been feeding her parents about us. I attempted to stand as he entered but, weaker than I realized, fell back into my seat in pain.

  “No need to get up,” he said, seating himself at the table across from me. “Before I say anything else, I want to make sure I thank you in person for saving not only my wife’s life, but my son’s too. We will not forget your willingness to sacrifice your own. That speaks very highly of you.”

  “Thank you, sir,” was the best reply I could think of. I was really unsure how to handle the whole situation with Patty.

  “I spoke with your father a few days ago,” he told me. “At the time Dr. Rannor didn’t know if you would make it, and I wanted to make sure I filled your parents in. When I first told him you were here and badly wounded, he was surprised to learn you weren’t still at the school. So I said that you had come here with Patty to visit and, without going into much detail, just told him that you’d interrupted an intruder and saved my wife’s life, but suffered a potentially fatal wound in the process. He asked what hospital we’d taken you to, and I told him that we had you here under Dr. Rannor’s care. He seemed to rest a lot easier when he heard that. He offered to send us any money we needed to cover your care and asked to have you call when you were able.” He stopped here and glanced at Patty. “We were surprised to find he didn’t know that you and Patty had been dating for ten years.”

  “Oh, James, I couldn’t take it anymore and I broke down and told them everything,” interrupted Patty.

  I smiled. “My father tends to have that effect on people,” I said.

  “We found that, not only did you save my son’s life and my wife’s life, but you came with Patty and had intended to go along with her plan because her mom was so sick. You know, when Patty first went away I worried about that school; it’s such a strange place, and their concept of teaching seems really odd. Then, when Patty told me that she’d found a nice navy man and was dating him: well, I was even more worried. No offense, but your fellow navy men have a reputation,” he said.

  “Yeah, a big bad rep like Bill has,” chided Patty.

  Her father continued as if he did not hear her. “But this week has shown me the result of all that odd training. Not only did you come and put your life on the line, but your entire graduating class abandoned their vacation and came to our assistance without hesitation. No wonder so few make it through that program. It must refine the heck out of its students.”

  It was a struggle at this point to keep my head up. I was nearing the end of the little energy I had, but I could not walk away now.

  “So I just wanted to let you know that, if some day Patty’s wild story should ever come true, you have my blessing,” he said.

  I assume that made Patty blush, but I could not see as I had started to fall out of the chair. I heard her mom say something to Bill about getting me back into bed, and I could vaguely sense being put there. It was not long before I fell asleep.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Back in the dark room made completely from stone, the seven magi stood around the spinning silver pool watching the scene as if it were a cosmic play unfolding for their enjoyment. They stared on silently as the image in the pool showed Bill carrying James back to his room and placing him in bed.

  “He has passed the test,” said one of the magi.

  “Yes, but he used the wizard’s way,” said another.

  “It matters not,” said the red-hooded magus.

  Then the scene in the pool shifted to follow Rannor as he approached the spaceport. Rannor looked different from everyone else in the image; he appeared sharper, as if the rest of the world was slightly muted in comparison. He ignored all the lines and went towards the secure area of the terminal.

  He quickly flashed an ID at the guards and headed for a much quieter section of the spaceport. Soon he came to a small, but extremely impressive, war vessel. On its side in bold Imperial script it bore the words “Dark Talon.”

  As he boarded the vessel he stopped and calmly looked up. It was as if he could see right through the pool to the seven watchers.

  “You lose this round,” he said with a smile, and then the image faded as he boarded the ship.

  “That is not possible. How could he know?” asked one magus.

  “He cannot,” said another.

  “It certainly seems as if he does,” said the first in reply.

  “He is bluffing, but it is of no account,” said the red-hooded magus as he waved his hand briefly over the pool, causing the scene to return to James.

  “Is it time?” another asked.

  “Not yet,” said the red-hooded magus.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The next few weeks passed slowly and with much pain, but every day I could do just a tiny bit more. Patty stayed by my side as much as she could to make sure I had everything I needed. Bill had had to return to the base now that their mother was better, so we did not see much of him anymore.

  When I had reached the point where I could walk alone, slowly, with a cane, they reminded me that I should call my father. “Does he know that I am recovering? I would not like to think of my parents being worried all this time.”

  “Dr. Rannor said he would send him an update, so we assume he knows you’re on the mend,” said Patty’s father.

  “Do you have a place I can call him from while sitting?” I asked. He said that he did and took me to his study to let me use the communicator on his desk. I patched through the call and waited for him to respond. Since my father and I were both veterans, in peacetime we could use the navy transmitters for private calls.

  “Hello, son,” came his greeting.

  “Hello, sir; it is good to see you agai
n,” I said.

  “I am glad to see you are up and about now. Dr. Rannor said that for a while everyone was sure you were beyond saving, but you pulled through nevertheless,” he said. “How are you doing?”

  “A little better than yesterday, but looking forward to tomorrow when I will be even better,” I said.

  He smiled and said, “I want to hear what happened in your own words.”

  “Sir, as we approached the house I noticed something was wrong and put a call in to Rannor asking for backup. Once we landed at the house I knew there was no time to wait for assistance, so I charged in. I met the intruder in Patty’s mother’s room, though I knew it was too powerful for me to take alone; I decided all I had to do was keep it busy until help could arrive. Fortunately help did arrive and with only seconds to spare, too. In fact, my entire graduating class gave up their vacation to come and assist me. Together all eighty-seven of us were able to keep it at bay until Master Kellyn could arrive and finish it off.”

  “Eighty-seven of you? That must have been some fight. This intruder, where is he now?” he asked.

  “It is dead, sir,” I replied.

  “Good. I would hate to learn that you had gone soft. It seems this school you have been attending has turned out some great folk. I may not understand how your powers work and all that, but I do not need to know that to see the caliber of their graduates. Now, your mom would like to meet this woman who has stolen your heart when you are feeling up to another call,” he said.

  “You mean Patty, sir?” I asked.

  “Yes. Oh, I heard her story, but only a fool would think a man would give up his vacation and follow a hare-brained scheme across several sectors to visit a family he knew nothing about unless there was a pretty girl involved somehow,” he said with a grin.

  I had nothing to say to that. “Rannor thinks that it will be a while before I can return to training, sir,” I said, in an attempt to change the topic.

  “You take as long as you need, son. There is no dishonor in taking time to recover, but much in foolishly rushing into something before you are ready.”

  After that I ended the call. It was getting hard to pretend I was not still in pain. As I slowly rose, I noticed Patty standing in the door.

  “If your mom is anything like your dad, I’m not so sure I can handle meeting her,” she said.

  “No, she is much worse,” I said. “After all, she has had to keep him in line all these years.”

  “Wonderful. Well, I came to get you because Rannor is here to check on you,” she said.

  I slowly made my way out to the main room and sat at the family table. Rannor was there and already talking to Patty’s mom. When he saw me enter, he came over to examine me more closely.

  “You appear to be doing well, James,” he said.

  “Thank you. All this good cooking, fresh air, and time to study has been good for me,” I said.

  “Indeed it has,” he said.

  “Rannor, some things have been concerning me about that fight with the spirit. Mind if I ask you a few questions?” I asked.

  “Sure, go ahead,” he replied.

  “When Master Kellyn arrived she was easily able to defeat the spirit. Surely any of the other masters, or even some of the professors, could have done better than we students, so why did you not call one of them?” I asked.

  “James, understand first that everything happens for a reason. We may never know what those reasons are, but there is always a reason. It just so happens that the timing could not have been worse for your battle with the spirit. As I mentioned previously, Master Kellyn and Grandmaster Vydor were in Mantis’ realm and because of that were difficult to reach. Of the remaining masters only Master Gafar was available, as the others were tied up with business elsewhere. I could not send Master Gafar to help you since he had to find Master Kellyn; she was the only one who could heal you and Patty’s mom. The professors are under strict orders from their grandmaster not to leave the school property. I do not know the reason for the order, but since Grandmaster Vydor wasn’t here there was no one in the realm who could overrule it. So that left only the various student level wizards from the past few years of graduating classes,” was his answer.

  “I see; so next time I need to time my life-and-death battles for when Master Kellyn is home,” I said with a smile.

  “It would help if you did, that’s for sure,” said Rannor.

  “That spirit I fought: how powerful was it? Master Kellyn defeated it with ease, but I know she alone could not kill the spirit that was attacking Grandmaster Vydor, so this one must have been weaker; but how much weaker?” I asked.

  “I have not yet studied spiritual warfare. I will do that after I have been promoted to apprentice wizard in the spring. However, from what I could see it appeared to be a fairly weak one and I think that, after you have a few years’ training in actually using your powers, you will be able to take one like it alone,” said Rannor.

  “You’re being promoted? That’s great!” exclaimed Patty. “That makes you the first apprentice from our realm, right? How long did it take?”

  “Yes, I will be the first, though there are a few others that are not far behind me. You see, it took me a lot longer than it will take you, because you two have the advantage of teachers in your art. My power is only known at present by Master Kellyn, who spares as much time to help me as she can, but obviously that is limited. Mainly I have had to study on my own, with a little help from books,” said Rannor.

  “Congratulations, Rannor,” I commented. “I assume this means you will be teaching next year?”

  “Yes, the plan has always been that as we produce apprentice level wizards they will start taking over the teaching positions. As we start getting journeyman level wizards they will send elite level wizards to continue the training. The process should have our school filled completely with teachers from our realm in two to three centuries,” answered Rannor.

  “Hey, that’s really cool. What will you be teaching? I want to be in your class!” commented Patty.

  “History, most likely, as I am one of the few from our realm who actually participated in The Great War and had an inside track to what was going on,” was his answer. “Now, James, you have rested enough; it is time to start your physical therapy. I will talk with your ‘mother-in-law’ about what you need to be doing. I think she’ll make a great coach.”

  “Physical therapy? But I thought you said that all my physical wounds were healed?” I asked.

  “Yes and no. You see, you are made up of three distinct parts: a spirit, a soul, and your physical body. Most of your wounds were sustained to your spirit, yet you cannot separate the three parts and treat only one part of you. It would be like fixing and maintaining the left engine on a spaceship but ignoring the right one. Sooner or later you are going to have a serious problem flying in a straight line. The studying and resting you have been doing is great for your spirit and soul, but not very good for your physical body. In order for you to fully recover, you will need to work on your body and get back into good shape again,” he said.

  “Why do I get the feeling this will hurt a lot?” I asked.

  “Oh, I assure you it won’t hurt me at all,” he said with a grin.

  “Gee, thanks. I feel so much better now,” I said.

  “James, this is the first case of such serious magical injury that we have seen in this realm, so I can only make an educated guess at your prognosis based on accounts of similar injuries in Mantis’ realm. Going by that, I estimate it will be several months before you will be able to use your powers again, though I expect you to be able to return to school in five to seven weeks. That being said, if you can use your powers sooner then by all means do so. It will be a good stretching process for you,” he said.

  “You know, Rannor, this past month or so has really been a dramatic upheaval in my life. A month ago I thought I understood where I stood in this universe, but since then
I have heard Grandmaster Vydor’s speech, been promoted to student level wizard, almost been arrested for breaching security in a shuttle port, nearly died defending a woman I had never met, spent a month in total pain and weakness, unable to care for myself - and now, after ten years of being told I must not use my powers, I am advised to use them as soon as I possibly can,” I commented.

  “Welcome to the world of wizardry,” he said with a grin. “James, you and Patty will have your basic assumptions torn apart and tossed aside as you begin to learn how the universe really works. For example, I’m sure you both assume that everyone in your graduating class has the gift of magical powers, but in fact two do not. They will be sent on a different course through the school than the others. What is most important to us is a good soul, not the ability to toss around great energies.”

  I had never even considered that anyone who made it that far would not be a wizard. It was just unthinkable to go through all that and then find out you were not gifted. “Rannor, do they know?”

  “Yes, they were told early on. Most people who are given that news leave the school of their own free will, but a few stay on as those two have. There are many supporting jobs they can fill which require no magic, and they have a heart to serve,” he replied.

  “Amazing. I would have been crushed to find that out about myself,” I said.

  “James, I probably should not tell you this, but I am not known for my ability to withhold information. It has been foreseen that you and Patty are called to be great leaders one day in the distant future. Your decisions now will affect your ability to answer that calling. Do not let your pride in your accomplishments prevent you from being humble. Remember what you spent the last ten years learning. The best leader is first a servant,” he said. “Now, you should get some rest. You have a lot of hard work ahead of you tomorrow.”

  I took his advice and headed back to my little room. It seemed a bit lonely now since Patty no longer slept on the floor in there, her mother being unwilling to allow it since I had regained full consciousness. Then it struck me: Rannor had referred to Patty’s mom as my mother-in-law! All I could think was, “If the guys get word of this back at the school, I will never hear the end of it.”