Mage of Shadows

by Austen, Chanel

  "Why?" I asked, annoyed, "Why can't I sit with my own friends?"

  "Because you're mine to command." Les replied with a dangerous grin that didn't reach his eyes, "Welcome to the ugly side of our relationship, Stratus. You're expected to follow me when I want, and where I want."

  "Come on, Les." I responded in disbelief, stopping in my tracks to stare at him incredulously, "You can't be serious about this."

  My teacher glanced around to make sure no one was close enough to listen in, then said, "I'm dead serious, Nick. This is tradition. You're an initiate of Archanos, but if you don't follow the bylaws set in place, then you'll never become a full member. One of those bylaws is that you must act as servant beholden to the master who teaches you. In two years or when I have nothing left to teach you, you'll be your own man again. As for now however, you're stuck as my man."

  He walked off without asking if I would follow, but I did so listlessly. Les introduced me to his polite, but mostly perplexed friends, who couldn't understand my presence. At least until Les explained to them that I was to him, as he had been to Larry. That got a fair deal of evil smirks out of them, which made my heart creep to the pit of my stomach. This wasn't going to be a fun experience, I knew.

  The only one I already knew was Angela Lin, the Asian sophomore girl from APA. I really couldn't care less about the rest of them; I spent most of my time glancing back to the table where my real friends were. They seemed far away now.

  I still remembered the conversation I had with Eliza just after my initiation. No doubt they would take this as more proof that APA was changing me into someone that they didn't even want to hang out with. That was perfect, and the fact that I would never quit would make them believe that I cared more about a stupid fraternity than them.

  Even worse, during the hours Les wasn't in the library, I was still required to sit away from my friends.

  "Just forget about them." Les said dismissively, "You're too close to that group. It's never a good thing to get too close to Normals. Think of it as a lesson, never get attached to anything you'll eventually have to let go. Plus, you have too much studying to do to socialize."

  He wasn't wrong, with two science classes atop my other responsibilities, I was flooded in work. Plus, I basically had to wait on Les hand and foot whenever he demanded it, much to my irritation. Les wanted a drink? I got it for him. Les needed some inane chore done, like his laundry? That was on me. A snack? Me.

  To be fair, Nishi, and Jimmy didn't have it any easier. Yasmina and Mehdy were apparently teaching them the same lesson, and they were similarly isolated. Our teachers at least seem to conspire to some good, and the six of us formed a sort of pseudo-group that hung together in the Senate Corner, much to the dismay of Larry and Les's 'friends,' who I could now see were nothing more than a bunch of hanger-ons that they kept around for appearances. Libin hung out with us when he could, though he usually spent his time trailing after Hershel, forced to obey the football player's every whim.

  Our freshman struggles brought the four of us closer together as a cohesive group, and nights at the frat house were spent getting to know each other. Though even then at night, we were subject to the demands of our masters. Whenever Vik didn't feel like cooking (which was always a hidden relief) then it usually fell on us. Nishi was horrible in the kitchen and could somehow burn everything she touched. Jimmy and Libin weren't much better, so it usually fell on me to do most of the work there.

  The only positive thing that really seemed to come out of our sequestration in the Senate Squad was getting to know Angela, who albeit was a bit quiet, but very focused and driven. She was still maintaining a perfect 4.0, something that even David couldn't match. I found her not-so-secret crush on Les to be very amusing to watch, but our combined urgings were never enough to get her to actually get the courage up to approach him.

  "Just flirt a little with him," Nishi would prod, while Jimmy, Libin and I shared conspiratorial smiles and nodded along.

  She would blush heavily and shake her head furiously, "No… I could never do that." Mostly we were just teasing, but I had to admit it was nice to know that not every single mage initiate was hard as steel. Angela was soft-spoken and very kind, once she opened up. Les would have been lucky to have her if he learned to look past his own ego. At the time, my master was messing around with some sophomore Normal; I doubted it would last the entire winter semester.

  As the months passed and I grew to worry more about my grades and new User companions, I thought less about the friends that I had to reluctantly leave behind.

  David and Raj seemed to understand when I moved out, like they had expected it all along. But while they were undoubtedly polite, their tone contained tempered frost that hadn't been there before. Likewise, Tammy, Sam, and even Eliza treated me as if I was just a passing acquaintance. Nishi and Jimmy were treated pretty much the same, but I felt like it hit me harder, because I had been closer to that group than they had been. Plus, they always still had each other.

  It was frustrating, but what could I tell them? Les teaches me magic, guys, so I have to do whatever he says because of arcane laws created by a society that you aren't allowed to know exists. That would go over well.

  Still, for now I seemed to be managing to stay on task with all of it. Les told me that with the development of my telepathic abilities, I would slowly see an increase in mental acuity. However, I saw none of that so far. Probably because my telepathic abilities were woefully nonexistent. I still couldn't Cloak or Push even a Normal.

  "Your talents obviously lie elsewhere." Les said with a shrug, "You're good at blowing shit up, so subtle stuff naturally eludes you. It's never going to be your strongest gift, but keep trying and eventually you'll develop it to at least an adept's level."

  I suppose it was a tradeoff that I had to grudgingly accept. I would choose being good at combat magic over mind control and invisibility… still, was it too much to have it all? No one ever likes being told they aren't good at something. So even though I practiced halfheartedly with telepathy, I could admit that I became quite complacent in comparison to the fascinated hours I spent on telekinetics or focusing on further sharpening control of my power over fire.

  I kept my nights short, sleeping around twelve or one in the morning at the latest. However, on the weekends, I always stayed up an extra hour or two for a singular reason.

  That was when Carmen spent time in the Star Room.

  She had moved into the frat house, much like I had this semester. Most days we had little time to see each other, but we always had the Star Room every weekend. It became our own little getaway to talk, to get away from the other Users and classes and just be ourselves. Our own little Casablanca, I coveted the time we had together there.

  I learned more about her, in that time. She had one younger sister, had dreamed of being a lawyer since she was young, had discovered her powers with Emily when the other girl had nearly been hit by a car and Carmen shoved her on the way. Emily hadn't shunned her, and to their surprise, found her own powers soon after. The trust they had for each other was implicit, and until me she had never trusted another mage enough to feel it through the Magus Touch.

  We would lay and talk for hours, touching elbow to elbow and simply enjoying each other's presence. It was the strangest sort of friendship, one that almost seemed to exist on the weekends only- since we had no time otherwise. Danae and Les seemed to have some sort of mutual hatred for each other, and never spent time near each other if they could help it. In public, we likewise ignored each other, a game of the oddest sort.

  Too close to be friends, but not intimate enough to be anything more. Call it nerves. My last relationship hadn't gone so well, and I still felt the need to proceed with extreme caution. At first, I just thought it was too soon, too early… but then it became too late. I was afraid because she hadn't made a move, hadn't as much as held my hand in all the time we sat or laid on that blanket for that hour or two before turning in for the nig
ht.

  I thought maybe she didn't see me as any more than a good friend. Someone she liked and understood. Kissing me at the end of last semester had been a test for compatibility and I had failed it. There was nothing between us.

  Now looking back at it I think that she had been afraid too. Worried that I wouldn't return her feelings, that I wouldn't want her. Carmen was just as scared. I was safe, she trusted me. She didn't want to lose that. Two teenagers lost and confused in a sea of hormones and emotions that we only somewhat understood.

  One Saturday night nearly five months after my training with Les had begun, I met her up in the Star Room as per usual after another long day. My weekends weren't a break, since my free time was spent working at the SEL, where I was pretty much isolated to study unless some stupid student had broken the printer again. I hadn't seen Carmen all week and was eager to begin yet another inane conversation that I would have hated to have with anyone else.

  I found her lying on the blanket gazing up at the transparent ceiling, which had been covered by many rippling trails of rainwater that had taken residence there. Early April had brought its customary showers; it had been raining all week.

  "No stars for us tonight, I guess." I said as way of greeting, "At least this time it won't be because of the fumes."

  Carmen gave me a half-smile as I approached, she replied, "I don't mind, I love the rain."

  "I hate it." I sat down next to her and looked up at the tearful sky, "Its hell carrying around an umbrella all day, when it doesn't even help, because the stupid wind blows the rain under it anyways."

  "So you're saying it's superfluous. Then don't carry it."

  I scratched my head dumbly, "Big words confuse me, English major. Super-what?"

  She smacked me on the arm and laughed, a tinkling sort of laughter that I had come to enjoy hearing, and looked to induce whenever possible. There are few things more appealing to a guy than a pretty girl that thinks he's funny. Whether Carmen realized it or not, she had me on the hook.

  For a little, we just sat together and watched the rain come down, a steady pitter-patter, like a thousand tiny feet dancing just above us, our own little nature show. I didn't care for rain, but it was mesmerizing to watch the swirling patterns of water slip and slide across the glass, playing with the moonlight and creating a kaleidoscope of lights that couldn't normally exist.

  To describe it now, I would call the night magical.

  Carmen sat up next to me quietly, still looking up, "I'm glad that winter is over. It's by far my least favorite season. I love spring."

  "It's the time of new things." I agreed, "Though I prefer being cold to hot and sweaty."

  "A Fire Aether who hates the heat?" She said, sounding amused by the idea of it.

  I shrugged, "I would rather shiver than sweat. Can't understand why anyone wouldn't prefer shivering, you don't smell like you need a shower badly when you're just shivering."

  Dark brown eyes teased me behind magnificent lashes, "Oh, is that why Les says you're useless in the gym?"

  "I'm not useless!" I protested, "I run, I play basketball, but I don't like lifting weights. So what? I'm never going to be really big or bulky like Shah or Ruark. But I'm lithe, lithe is good, right?"

  "Lithe is fine." Carmen said with a wicked smile, "But there's something extremely hot about a guy who's ripping with muscle, and can bench twice his weight. So that's kind of against you."

  "Damn, why don't you just kill me? You're wrecking my natural confidence, woman."

  She laughed again, and it was all I could do not to sigh miserably. I did lift weights, but I never got much bigger from it. I was long and lanky, not without some muscle after months of Les pushing me in the gym, but it wasn't a lot. My biceps were horribly obscured… I suffered from the dreaded Long Arm Syndrome. Biceps were already a tiny muscle group, and long gangly arms were perfectly made to further conceal them.

  I was built for speed and stamina, I could run miles if I had to, and that translated well to magical stamina as well. Still, I couldn't help be a little jealous of Ruark, Hershel or Vik who only seemed to compete over who could bench or deadlift more. Even Les did double of everything I could lift, and he wasn't much bigger than I. Chalk it up to an extremely fast metabolism atop of daily magical exertion.

  Oh well. At least I got the secret joy of watching Libin trying to match Hershel on the bench. Libin also suffered from a fast metabolism, and had equal troubles gaining muscle. Hershel didn't seem to consider this a viable excuse, and pushed him way harder in the gym than Les pushed me.

  "LIFT!" Hershel would scream at the struggling Indian boy, "LIFT DAMMIT! PUSH PUSH PUSH!"

  Oblivious to my amusing memories that had already cheered me up, Carmen tried to sound sympathetic for my benefit, "We all have strengths and weaknesses. You can't be good at everything, Nick."

  "Yeah." I said with a shrug, "I would like to be phenomenal magically and be able to curl 45s like it was nothing, though."

  "We can't have it all." She shook her head.

  The movement dropped an errant strand of deep black hair across her left eye. Lost in thought, I absentmindedly reached a hand out and pushed it back over her ear without considering the action.

  Carmen had gone completely still when I did so, and I saw her eyes suddenly focus on mine, and I became acutely aware of how close she was to me…

  I'm not really sure who moved first, but in the next moment my head had tilted to hers and I caught her lips in a soft kiss. It was hesitant, but it continued far longer than our first one the last semester when she had broken away from me. I didn't give her the chance to do it this time; I pulled her even closer, tighter against me and locking her away from the possibility of escape. She didn't seem to mind it, either.

  Yes, definitely a magical night. I never said a bad thing about rain again.

  It was later than usual when I went to bed that night, and I was surprised to find that I could sleep at all with my skipping heart and racing thoughts, but I managed somehow. The young man that I was, I couldn't help but declare to myself that it was the happiest night I had had in a long time, possibly ever.

  The naiveté of youth. Everything is so much prettier when it's young and beautiful.

  Chapter 14: Life is Pain

  Have you ever walked into a room where everyone has just found out a deliciously juicy piece of gossip about you, and you didn't know? That was pretty much how the next morning at the house went.

  APA's kitchen was relatively small, and the only person who seemed to enjoy cooking at all was Vik. He had a flaming red apron emblazoned with the words 'KISS THE MAGE' across the front in stylized gold lettering, and it was very hard to take him seriously. His actual cookery also left much to be desired.

  Subpar… was a fair assessment of it. Yet, he kept at it.

  Today, Vik was attempting pancakes, swanning around the kitchen whistling off-tune. At the gnarled wooden table set against the end of the kitchen wall, Danae and Ruark sat as far from each other as possible while Larry Chen balanced precariously on two legs of a stool at the middle edge.

  All heads turned to me, and my cheerful good morning was met with knowing smirks. I didn't catch on immediately. I sat near Larry and enjoyed the show he was putting on, perched atop the stool like a pelican on a precariously stabilized post. One false move would send him leaping from it as it clattered beneath him. Yet, he showed no signs of falling as he balanced without a whisper of movement.

  Les had shown similar feats of skill, although they were perhaps a tad less impressive than Larry's honed abilities. I hadn't begun with that bit of my training, though it was apparently to come very soon. Les finally considered my Wing Chun to be slightly better than amateurish, though he commented it was unlikely I would show any true mastery of it for years.

  "What will I do when you don't teach me anymore, then?" I asked, confused.

  Les only shrugged, "I'm your teacher for two years, maybe. Do you think you're going to stop lea
rning after that? You make due, find a new teacher, maybe even try and learn on your own for a change. Over-dependent whiny bastard."

  That was Les, in a nutshell. Since it was only 8 AM on a Sunday, he was still sleeping in. Sunday was the only day that I didn't have training in the morning. Thank God for small favors, I guess.

  Vik set down a stack of charred pancakes drenched in maple syrup in the middle of the table and took the seat next to me. No one immediately lunged for them, and I saw Danae wrinkle her nose. Vik didn't notice our distaste, instead tossing an arm around my shoulder and poking my side in what I supposed was a playful manner.

  "So," Poke, "So, so! Our little boy is growing up!"

  I, naturally, didn't understand.

  Ruark waggled his eyebrows at me, which was most unlike him, especially since he had gotten the picture that I might possibly never forgive him for his role in Emily's death. The mage usually kept his distance from me whenever possible.

  "We heard the news, Stratus. Congrats to both of you." Ruark said.

  Danae sniffed, "If you interfere with her training, I'll skewer you."

  "I'd like to see you try." I responded immediately, then realized what they were talking about and blushed heavily. How did they already know?

  "Did you know," Vik said aloud, "That all relationships between initiates in Archanos have to be archived and reported immediately? Luckily, Car-Car did it for you two."

  "W-What? Really?" That seemed very Big Brother-ish to me. So now Lincoln knew that Carmen and I were an item? That was… creepy. It wasn't the stupid Governor's business who I dated, dammit.

  Breakfast began when Vik skewered the first pancake for himself, "Eat up guys!" And began to chew happily on his work. We moved with a lot less enthusiasm. The entire meal seemed to be dedicated to poking fun at me, and it only got worse when Carmen came down. I felt myself blushing heavily with the insinuations that they were making, especially Vik.