“Hey, Daffy”
“Colon.”
We had been calling each other names like this since Trent and Mattie had gotten here and Trent dropped his favorite name for me in the Mess. Thanks a lot, Buddy.
“You find out where you’re going, next month?” I asked.
“Yeah, they’re sending me to New Mexico.”
New Mexico was the station where my real father and mother had been posted back when the attack occurred. After the Demonkiller legend, it had become the cherry of postings. Only the best got stationed there.
“Good, you deserve that post. You seen Rictor around?” I asked, “He was supposed to get his new post too.”
“I haven’t seen him, but he must have pissed someone off, I heard he got Knoxville, Tennessee.”
“Why is that a bad thing?”
“Oh they had to pick somewhere to send the troublemakers and the rebels. So someone picked the Knoxville post to be the one. The Guards there aren’t that bad but they are Characters with a capitol C,” she said, “The problem is they send the worst Mages there and the Guard doesn’t mesh very well with them.”
“Ahh, I guess I’ll have to give him my condolences next time I see him.”
She chuckled, “I’d give him a bottle of whiskey, he might get some use out of that.”
“I might just do that.”
The elevator hit the bottom floor and we exited. She headed into the Dome and I headed outside. It was late September and all the trees were changing colors. I like this time of year, the cold weather doesn’t bother me much. Soulguards aren’t prone to be bothered by temperature. Cold is still uncomfortable to us but not like it is to a normal person.
I saw several Guards beginning a run up the trail and I followed along. I didn’t recognize any of them, they must have been some of the others transferring through to other postings.
I reached the top of the trail just behind the Guards who suddenly stopped. I looked past them to see someone slumped under a tree. I saw the flaming red hair and leaped to Paige’s side. Something was wrong so I opened my Inner eye.
Her Soul was dim, and I looked down to see a tendril from the Source, wrapped around her stream.
“Paige!” I knelt beside her and felt someone Pull on the Source. I looked down to see a tendril clamp onto my Stream about a foot from where my stream entered my solar plexus and squeezed. My stream almost closed off and I fell beside Paige.
Son of a Bitch was blocking me from the Source! Rage clawed its way out of the pit where I keep it trapped. I clawed at the knot, around my stream and actually untied it. I threw it aside as power surged back into me. I turned toward the source of the tendril and flipped my wrists, calling forth two Soulblades. The fire was a dark red just as my rage was in my aura.
I looked to the tendril that had just sank into the Source to tie me off and smiled as the Source, with nowhere else to go, surged back through that tendril into the cluster of Mages back in the trees. Then the screams began. The Source is not forgiving, It will rip your body apart and burn you to the ground. This is just what it was doing to Gavin Price and four of his followers who had connected to him as supports. I felt a savage joy but it felt wrong and I beat my rage back down and pushed it back in its cage.
I looked down at Paige to see her looking at me in horror. She’d seen my reaction and it horrified her. I felt shame course through me and I turned back to the tendril. Maybe I could cut it with the Soulblade.
I swung one of the blades and severed the tendril. The Source stopped surging into the group of Mages, but it was too late. I watched as Gavin Price flamed out along with Dahlia Morgan, Steve Corum, and Donald Sheldon. Only one of the four didn’t flame, Kurt Yarden was screaming in agony.
“Release it!” I screamed at him.
He looked at me with bloodshot eyes and released the power out of him. In the blinding light, I saw the horror-stricken face of Regina Worthington. The blast washed over her and she screamed as she was burnt by the raw energy that had exploded out of Kurt.
I winced and turned back to Paige who had watched in horror as four Mages died in that inferno. She looked at me with accusation and I knew in my heart that Paige would never feel the same about me. This was all my fault, they wouldn’t have targeted her if I hadn’t stepped in those long months ago.
Now she was blocked from the Source. The one thing she truly loved was being a Mage, and because of me it was gone.
I reached down to her, “I’m so sorry.”
She flinched as I touched her and I felt a pit open in my chest. I saw fear roll across her dim aura. She was afraid of me. Oh my God, she was afraid of me.
Chapter 30
“Oh my God, Colin,” Kyra held her head in her hands, “This is bad. The Archmage will be after blood.”
I stood up, “I didn’t ask for any of this. I’ve just tried to do what I was told. I don’t understand why they did this. What did I do?”
“You were just there, Son,” Kharl answered. “Sometimes that’s all it takes.”
“They’ll try to put this on you at the hearing,” Jack Riordan said, “Make sure your story is straight.”
“It can’t get straighter, I’ll tell the truth. I didn’t start this and they died because they were frigging stupid. Not because I had some nefarious plot to do anything.”
“The question is, who taught Mage trainees to do a Source Block?” Kyra asked, “Only senior Mages know how to do that. The Archmage is, conveniently, overseas.”
“They’ve planned this since my visit to the Archmage’s office. Even the timing was planned.”
We were interrupted by Gregor entering Kharl and Kyra’s quarters.
“This is a little beyond ‘interesting times’, I’m beginning to regret those words,” He said, “They sent for Guilefort, the truth seer.”
“Who’s that?” I asked.
“He’s the Mage who’s a lie detector. He can always tell if someone is telling the truth.”
“That’s good news,” I smiled.
“What?”
“No matter how they try to play this,” I explained, “The truth is the truth. I didn’t attack those Mages. They tried to block me from the Source and failed. Pure and simple. If there is a person there who can see the truth, then I’m not worried about this hearing. If they want to charge me with abuse of power, or even murder, the last person they want to be there is a truth reader.”
***
“Ye stand accused of abuse of power and murder Colin Jaegher, How do ye plea?” the accent was a thick Scottish brogue.
This was the opening from the presiding Mage in the council, Lennox Flynn. He had flown in from the Scotland Academy, so that the presiding Mage would not be biased.
“Innocent on both accounts.”
“Do ye’ ‘ave someone ye wish to stand as yer defender?”
I pointed at the Truth seer, “He’ll be defense enough.”
The Mage nodded and I saw respect actually flow through his aura, “As it should be.”
“The way this works, the Council will ask ye questions and the truth seer will tell us if ye speak the truth. Do ye accept these terms?”
I nodded, “Yes I do.”
“Ye may begin, prosecutor.”
“We will start with some simple questions to let the Truth seer get a feel for you. Is your name Colin Jaegher?”
“No.”
“Truth.”
The prosecutor looked at me strangely, “What is your name?”
I stared at him for a minute, “None of your business.”
“Truth.”
The prosecutor turned to the judge, “This is outrageous. Require him to answer.”
“He did answer and it was the truth. Continue questionin’ ‘im and don’t ask wat isn’t any of yer business.”
I could see amusement roll through his aura. That had been a new one to him and he thought it was funny.
The prosecutor turned back to me with rage in his aura, “D
id you hate Gavin Price?”
“Not until he blocked Paige Turner, an innocent Mage, from the Source. After that, yes.”
“Truth.”
“Did you kill Gavin Price and three other Mages three days ago?”
“No”
“Truth.”
The prosecutor stepped back in surprise. “Then how do you explain to us what happened to the Mages?”
“They tried to block me from the Source and failed, this is on them, not me.”
“Truth”
I was beginning to see amusement in the aura of the Truth seer as well as the judge. They were getting the idea by now that this wasn’t a trial, it was a way to get rid of a problem, me. They’d brought the wrong person here if they wanted to dispose of me.
“Do you know how their attempt to block you failed?” The prosecutor was pacing back and forth in front of the Council.
“Yes.”
“Truth.”
“How did that happen?”
“I untied the knot.”
“Truth.”
The Council members turned to each other in amazement and several exclamations were heard.
Flynn slammed his gavel down, “Silence!”
Everyone stopped talking, and the prosecutor turned back to me, “How did you untie the knot?”
“With my hands.”
“Truth,” the truth seer said in amazement.
After a moment of silent amazement he continued, “What happened after that?”
“The best I could tell, they were trying to tie into the source when I managed to get free. A backlash flowed back into them and they died.”
“Truth”
“According to a Guard you called up Soulblades as soon as you broke free. Is this true?”
“Yes.”
“Truth.”
“Guilefort, just pipe up if ‘e lies,” Flynn said, “Yer ’avin too much fun with that.”
“Yes sir,” Guilefort answered sadly.
“And what were you going to do with those Soulblades?”
“I was going to cut off their frigging heads.”
“Truth,” Guilefort popped out, “Sorry.”
The prosecutor stood back and smiled, “I’ll take that as a confession.”
“No you won’t,” I said, “That’s exactly what I would have done if the Backlash hadn’t killed the bastard. Lucky for me I didn’t have to. You can’t convict me because I wanted to kill the stupid prick. Let me ask you a few questions. Is it not a crime, to block someone from the Source who hasn’t been tried and found guilty by the Council?”
“Yes, but...”
“Truth.”
“Why am I here, on trial when I was just defending myself? Is it because the Archmage wants me out of the picture? Or is it that you are so scared of him that you want to hang me so that you can have a bad guy to give to him when he gets here?”
“I don’t have to answer your questions!”
“I think ye do,” Flynn interrupted, “Is it one of the answers the lad put forward?”
“No!”
“Lie!”
“This is outrageous!” the prosecutor exclaimed, his face completely red, “I am not on trial here!”
“And neither is this boy,” Flynn returned as he stood up, “Every one of ye should be ashamed of yerselves. One, for lettin someting like this happen in the first place, and second for trying to accuse the victim of a crime. Yer foocking disgraceful and this hearing is over.”
I stood up and my rage was trying to escape again. I nodded toward Flynn and Guilefort, then I turned and walked out of the Council chambers. There was one more detail I needed to take care of.
I saw Daphne and Rictor talking in the hall and I walked up, “Daph, you said if I need anything just to ask. Did you really mean that?”
She nodded.
“I need a group of Guards to keep me from being interrupted while I set these matters straight.”
“You’ve got it.”
“Meet me outside in ten minutes,” I said.
“What’s going on?” Rictor asked her as I walked away.
“He’s got a crazy look in his eye,” Daphne answered, “Whatever it is it’s big and I gotta get the Guards together.”
I opened my Inner eye and looked around for her Soul. I saw her outside, behind the Guard barracks, sitting under a tree.
I paced back and forth in front of the entrance to the Academy until a crowd of Guards exited and formed up. I turned and headed for her. She looked up as I walked under the tree and the Guards formed a circle around us.
“It’s time to fix what I caused,” I said softly.
“No Colin you can’t...”
But she was too late, I reached a tendril out and untied the knot from her Soulstream. The Source poured up the tendril into me and I felt that burn like I had felt at Morndel, but I was prepared this time. I channeled it straight into the sky.
As the Source flowed through me I extended the tendril to wrap around the gentle stream of life going into the tree. As it touched, power flowed into the tree as well as me, When the power level had dropped enough, I severed my link and the Source fed the tree directly. Its bark turned darker and the leaves turned green in the Fall, and I swear it grew right in front of our eyes.
I turned around with my eyes smoldering from the power coursing through me. I saw on the other side of my Guards, almost everyone stood with awe and fear in their auras.
Flynn and Guilefort both stood out there with amazement rolling through theirs. I looked into Flynn’s eyes as I released the rest of the power into the sky. I could see his aura as he realized why everyone was scared of me. And he saw the real reason the Council had wanted to throw me under the bus.
Chapter 31
“There is one more thing I need to do,” I turned to the Guards, “We have to go up the trail.”
We all bounded up the trail to the spot where they had tried to trap me. With my Sight, I could still see two tendrils sticking straight up out of the ground. Once you tie something to the Source it stays tied to the Source.
This time I thought a little before I acted and I wrapped my tendril around the nearby tree’s stream first and extended the end to the first tendril. As the tendrils touched, Life force poured up the tendril and I cut mine before it even reached the tree. There was much the same effect in this tree as the one down at the bottom.
“What are you doing?” Rictor asked.
“Where Gavin tried to block me, there are two tendrils of Source power just sticking out of the ground. If someone were to accidentally touch one, they’d probably burn. I’m tying them to trees so they won’t hurt anyone.”
I repeated the same action on the second tendril. If I’d just done that with Paige’s, I might not have terrified half the Mage Academy. I guess you live and learn. I just wish I could learn the easy way for once.
“Done, now we can go back down. Thanks guys, I wasn’t sure if any of them would try to stop me from unblocking Paige. She didn’t deserve to be blocked.”
Daphne nodded with a strong respect flowing across her aura. I looked at the other Guards to see the same sort of reactions in them all.
We all bounded back down the trail to find several people waiting for us at the bottom.
“I see you’ve been busy,” Nora said, “I hear you made the whole Council look like fools. Then just for kicks, came outside and unblocked Paige from the Source. Busy, indeed.”
“Son, you’re gonna give me a heart attack,” Kyra shook her head in wonder, “Can’t you just give us a little warning?”
Kharl snorted, “He’s never given us warning before, why start now?”
“Sorry guys, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing.”
“You need to go talk to her, Colin,” Nora said, “She’s not moved since you unblocked her. She just sits there.”
I nodded and went back to the tree that was now, at least, three feet in diameter at the base. Paige was sitting there look
ing at the tree. There was regret and sadness in her aura, and more than a little shame and guilt.
She turned as I walked up to her, “You deserved so much better from me, Colin. I was so angry at you when it happened. Then I saw you smiling as they burned and it scared me so bad. I’m sorry I blamed you.”
She reached out and touched my face with her right hand, I could see her emotions and just once I wish I couldn’t because she was still scared of me and when she touched me she remembered what she had seen. I saw from her perspective what she’d seen and I understood the feelings that went with it more than before. Seeing my face with that evil smile watching four people burn to death sent shivers through me.
“You are right to blame me, It’s my fault. My temper brought us to this and my actions will bring more grief on the people I care for. It’s best if you distance yourself as far from me as you can.”
I turned and walked away, hoping she would call out and tell me not to go. But she remained quiet and I felt a great loss as I returned to the entrance of the Dome.
Chapter 32
I walked toward the elevator, on my way to a meeting with Gregor, and everyone I met showed fear in their auras. Whether it was fear of me personally or just fear of the reaction of the Archmage when he returned, I don’t know.
The Archmage had been informed of the death of his son but he hadn’t flown straight back in like I expected. I almost figured that he would come flying back and attack me, but he didn’t.
Kurt Yarden was tried and found guilty of abuse of power two days after my farce of a hearing. They didn’t accuse Regina Worthington of anything, although I believe she was there to make sure they got it right. She got burned quite badly when Kurt released the power and her face bore the scars of it. Her outside looked much like her ugly soul now, fitting, in my opinion.
I met a group of Guards as I crossed the Dome and several nodded with respect. At least I hadn’t alienated everyone, the Guard still liked me.
I entered the Elevator and headed to the upper floor where the offices were. When I exited the elevator, there was the same woman who had been there on my first day at the Academy.
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