by Duncan Pile
Gaspi didn’t think he could get any more curious. “What sophisticated enchantments?” he asked, hungry for information.
“All in good time Gaspi,” Hephistole answered infuriatingly. “If we start down that line today we’ll never talk about what I wanted to see you for.”
Gaspi swallowed his curiosity with some difficulty. “What did you want to see me for?” he asked, unaware until that moment that Hephistole had any motive for seeing him beyond letting him know how the summer had gone.
“Hold your horses!” Hephistole said, laughing. “Let me answer your first question!” Gaspi clamped his mouth shut, determined not to interrupt again. “You asked about Sestin,” the chancellor continued. “The short version is that we’ve heard nothing. We suspect that it’s as we surmised after the battle; he has been badly set back by the loss of his demonic forces, and is recovering somewhere.”
Gaspi nodded, relieved that no other dreadful things had happened while he’d been away. “Do people know that Shirukai Sestin was behind the attacks last year?” he asked, unsure how widely that knowledge had spread,
“I’ve given a lot of thought to how much people need to know,” Hephistole mused, “and have come to the conclusion that it’s better to know what you are facing than be left in the dark. Rumours abound of course, but I intend to set the record straight. In the next few days, a letter will be sent to all students’ pigeon holes, and news will be circulated throughout the city. Anyone with further questions will be invited to contact the college for more information. Voltan is concerned it might create a panic, but my hope is that people will be reassured by the knowledge that Sestin has suffered a major defeat, and is unlikely to attack again soon.”
“But even if it goes as I hope, and the good citizenry of Helioport’s fears are stilled, we must not afford ourselves the same luxury!” Hephistole insisted, throwing him a sharp glance. “Wherever he is, he’ll already be plotting his next move. It won’t be too long before he finds another way to unfold his dark plans, whatever they may be. We have identified several possible locations for his hideout, and have sent out teams of magicians to scout those areas, looking for signs of the renegade. No luck so far, but we’ll keep on searching. We certainly don’t want to be caught napping when we could be doing something!”
Gaspi nodded, knowing Hephistole was only speaking the truth.
“On a lighter note,” he said more briskly, “I wanted to talk to you about what you will be studying in the next few months.”
“I thought you let people choose what they want to study once they leave the first year,” Gaspi said, confused.
“Normally we do, yes, but in your case I have a suggestion you may wish to consider,” Hephistole said. “You don’t have to do it, but I think you might like it.”
“Okay,” Gaspi said, curious to hear what he had in mind.
“Sestin shows a disturbing interest in summoning and controlling spirits,” Hephistole explained. “That is forbidden to us, of course, as it is a dark and dangerous practice, but there is no reason we can’t see if we could harness the power of spirits voluntarily.”
“What?” Gaspi asked, horrified. “Ask demons for help? Like the dJin, or the ones that attacked the college? I really don’t think they’d want to!”
“No not demons!” Hephistole answered emphatically. “I’m referring to the benign spirits that inhabit this world. Elemental spirits. You may have covered them in class last year.”
Gaspi dimly remembered Professor Worrick talking about elementals once. “Oh yeah. Professor Worrick said they live in the wild, and that some kind of magic-users live with them.”
“Druids,” Hephistole said. “We know very little about them, or about the practice of magic that enables them to commune with spirits. We should never have allowed such a gulf to grow between the different traditions of magic, but now we have an opportunity to do something about it.” He turned his deep green eyes on Gaspi, excitement sparkling in their depths. “I have managed to find a druid willing to train a student in their ways, on one condition.”
“What condition?” Gaspi asked.
“That it be you,” he answered. “To be honest, it was very hard to get this man to even meet me, but in our correspondence I told him about the presence of a Nature Mage at the college, and once he knew of your gift, he wouldn’t let the matter drop. His name is Heath, and the only place he would meet me was near the wooded dell he calls home. I went to visit him, and a fascinating visit it was too. He was cautious Gaspi, and wouldn’t reveal any of his secrets to me, but I think he might to you.”
“Why?” Gaspi asked.
“I don’t know, but I got the feeling he would do anything within his power to have the chance to train you,” the chancellor answered.
Gaspi couldn’t help being intrigued, but something was worrying him. “If I agree, will he come here to teach me?” he asked, voicing his concern.
“I’m afraid that wouldn’t work Gaspi,” Hephistole said. “The spirits Heath communes with are elementals, and he’s chosen his home because they inhabit that particular stretch of forest. If you want to learn about elementals, you’ll have to go and live with him.”
“Live in the forest?” Gaspi repeated. “But that means I’d have to leave my friends.”
“It does,” Hephistole answered, “for he assuredly won’t take more than one pupil.
Gaspi fell silent for long moments. “How long for?” he asked at last.
“Heath has agreed to a three month initiation,” Hephistole answered, probing him with his perceptive gaze. Gaspi remained silent as he absorbed the news. “I won’t lie to you Gaspi,” Hephistole continued. “You are in a unique position to study a practice we have lost, and instinct tells me this is important in our battle against Sestin, but I can’t make you do it. I took the liberty of speaking to your guardian about this yesterday. I hope you don’t mind, but I thought there was no point in troubling you with this decision if he was unwilling to let you go. He insisted that the choice was yours and yours alone.”
“I’ll be sixteen this year, and in our village that means I’ve already come of age, so Jonn would always leave it up to me anyway,” Gaspi explained.
“Yes he mentioned that,” Hephistole responded. “So it really is down to you. What do you think?”
Gaspi struggled with it, wrestling with the difficult decision he had to make, but he just couldn’t make up his mind. However important this was, Emmy needed to be on board or he just couldn’t do it.
“I need to talk to Emmy,” he said at last.
“Very understandable,” Hephistole responded.
“If I agree to do this, when would I have to leave?” he asked.
“In a month,” Hephistole answered.
“A month,” Gaspi repeated quietly. It seemed that the meeting was concluded. “Do you mind if I head off?” he asked.
“Not at all,” Hephistole answered, and Gaspi rose slowly from his seat, his head full of conflicting thoughts. This was clearly very important, and Hephistole’s manner, though in no way judgemental, left him in no doubt that the chancellor thought he should go. He didn’t want to leave Emmy, even for just a few months, but he knew he’d do it if it would help them in the fight against Sestin. The problem was that it wasn’t just down to him. If Emmy didn’t want him to go, he didn’t think he could just ignore her feelings and go anyway. In the end, it would be up to her.
He said goodbye to Hephistole and transported down to the Atrium, barely even noticing the uncomfortable effects of transportation.
…
The day after his meeting with Hephistole, Gaspi asked Emea to take a walk through the Orangery - a cathedral-like botanical greenhouse used to grow all kinds of magically enhanced plants and herbs. It was hot inside the expansive structure, its curving roof, made of a thousand panes of glass, leaving plenty of room for the tall trees it contained to stretch skyward. Colourful plants flourished that wouldn’t grow naturally in Helio
port’s climate and brightly coloured birds played in the tree tops, splitting the air with their loud cries. A small stream meandered through the dense foliage, and there were several well-placed benches along its course. Gaspi took Emmy to his favourite bench, tucked into a bend in the path besides a burbling waterfall.
“Emmy,” he began carefully once they were seated. “There’s something I need to talk with you about.”
“What is it?” she asked, and Gaspi could tell that she was worried, warned by his tentative tone that something was amiss.
“Do you remember Professor Worrick teaching us last year about elemental spirits?”
“I think so,” she answered. “They live in the wild right?”
“Yep, and there’s a branch of magic-users called druids that dedicate their lives to working with them.”
“I remember,” she said, looking confused. “But what’s that got to do with anything?”
Gaspi took a deep breath and plunged in. “Well, Heppy thinks it’s important that I learn their ways, and he’s found a druid willing to teach me.”
“That’s great,” Emmy responded after a moment, looking relieved. “For a minute there I thought you were going to tell me some bad news.”
Gaspi screwed his face up. “Well it is bad news, sort of,” he said. “If I agree to do it, I have to go and live with him while I study.”
“Oh,” Emmy responded, her lips forming a little round circle. She was silent for a moment. “How long for?” she asked, her face a deliberately composed mask that didn’t fool Gaspi for a moment.
“Three months,” he said, watching her carefully to see how upset she would be.
“Why can’t he come here?” she asked, her tone a little shrill.
“He’s a recluse, and the spirits live in the forest with him,” he answered.
“But why does Heppy think it’s so important?” she demanded, pouting.
“He thinks it’s something we need to learn to fight Sestin. Sestin uses demons right? He thinks the spirits are sort of the opposite of demons - spirits of light against spirits of dark or something like that.”
Emmy sat in silence, processing what she’d been told. There was a stiffness in her posture that eloquently communicated how unhappy she was.
“Look, Emmy,” he said. “If you don’t want me to go, I won’t.”
She looked up at him. “But you think you should?” It sounded like an accusation.
“That doesn’t matter. If you want me to stay, I’ll tell Hephistole I can’t go, and that’s that.”
“Then I don’t want you to go,” she said, her wide-eyed gaze an open challenge.
Gaspi didn’t know what to say. He’d known it was a possibility that Emmy might react badly. They hadn’t been apart since their first kiss nearly two years ago, and it would be a huge wrench for both of them. Well, there was nothing for it. He’d already decided that if she didn’t want him to go, that would be his decision.
“Okay,” he said, his shoulders sagging. “I won’t go.”
Emmy stared at him in disbelief. “You mean it?” she asked.
“Of course I mean it,” he said. “You come first.”
“Oh blast it!” she said and flopped back down next to him with a loud harrumph. Her eyes were glittering with freshly formed tears. “How can I be selfish when you’re being so blooming considerate? You should go.”
“But you just said…”
“Ignore what I said,” Emmy interrupted. “I’m just upset okay? I know you’ll go. You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t.”
Gaspi pulled her into a hug, grateful beyond words that Emmy was behind him. “Thanks Emmy,” he said, kissing the top of her head.
“When do you leave?” she murmured.
“In a month.”
“You’d better be extra nice to me all month,” she murmured, her fingers tightening possessively in the cloth of his robe.
…
Gaspi met Taurnil in the Barracks after weapons drill and told him the news.
“When do we leave?” Taurnil asked. Gaspi’s eyes widened momentarily in surprise, and then he sighed knowingly. He should have realised his friend would react like this.
“You can’t come Taurn,” he said.
“How can I protect you if I’m not with you?” he asked as if that was the end of the matter.
“You don’t come to the privy with me either do you?” Gaspi asked. “What if I got attacked in there while doing my business?” Taurnil looked hurt. “Sorry mate, bad joke,” he apologised. “Look, I know you take this seriously, and believe me, I’m glad you do, but Sestin has been set back a while, and this druid won’t let anyone except me come anywhere near him.”
Taurnil looked unhappy. “And you have to go?”
“Yeah I think I do,” Gaspi answered. “Heppy says he thinks I’ll pick up something that can help us against Sestin, and Taurn, no-one’s been able to study this for ages. I’ll be learning brand new stuff and bringing it back to the college.”
“I don’t like it,” Taurnil said resignedly. “But if you have to go you have to go.”
“I’ll be back before you know it,” Gaspi said, “but while I’m away, I need you and Lydia to look after Emmy okay?”
“Of course mate,” Taurnil responded.
Four
Gaspi sat at his desk, staring at the open book in front of him with unfocussed eyes. He was meant to be studying, but so far he’d read three lines of “Elmark’s Second Theory of Enchantment” over and over, and even that hadn’t gone in. It was less than two weeks until he left to go and stay with the druid, and, with that momentous change hanging over his head, he was struggling to find much energy for other studies. A breeze blew in through the window, cooling the room before flowing out through his open door. A burst of laughter sounded faintly from down the corridor. Abandoning his study altogether, he snapped the book closed and stood up from the desk. Snatching up his key, he left the room.
The laughter sounded again as he locked the door. He followed it round several twists and turns of the corridor until he came to an open door. He knocked on the lintel and stepped in to find a trio of boys sitting round a small table littered with wooden counters and multi-coloured squares of card. He knew them all from class the previous year: A small, curly-haired boy called Matthias; Owein, the captain of Gaspi’s football team; and Everand. Gaspi felt a twinge of dislike at the sight of the boy who’d tried to make his first year at the college so miserable, but he fought it down. Everand’s strange side-kick, Ferast had masterminded much of the conflict between them, and on finding that out, Everand had come to his senses and apologised to him. He had also chosen to fight in the battle against Sestin’s demons at the end of the year, and that counted for something in Gaspi’s opinion.
“Hey Gaspi,” Matthias piped cheerfully.
“Join in mate,” Owein invited, pushing out a spare seat. “We’re playing a few hands of blag.”
“Thanks,” Gaspi said, taking the seat. He’d heard about the game from Taurnil, who played it often with the guards.
Everand nodded at him. “How was your summer?” the tall boy asked. His friendliness was a bit forced, or maybe he was a little nervous, but Gaspi could tell he was trying.
“Boring!” he answered emphatically, and all the boys laughed, breaking the tension. “And yours?”
“The same,” Everand said with a grin. “My father thinks I need to know all about his business. He showed me the books and tried to get me involved in managing his finances.”
“Sounds fascinating,” Gaspi said sarcastically.
Everand pulled a face. “It’s really not!” Gaspi laughed. “Hey, er, have you seen Ferast?” the handsome boy asked hesitantly.
“No,” Gaspi answered truthfully, unsure why Everand would mention something that brought the tensions of the previous year to mind. “Have you?”
“Yeah, skulking around on his own. After what happened last year, I was kind of hoping he wouldn�
�t show up after the summer break, but he’s back, and even stranger than ever. I swear, that boy thinks he’s a harbinger of doom or something.”
“Well, I intend to stay out of his way,” Gaspi said. “I’m not looking for a fight.”
“Me neither,” Everand said hurriedly. “I just thought you ought to know. He was always so obsessed with Emea, and if I were you, I’d keep her out of his way.”
“Okay thanks Everand,” Gaspi said, wishing he would talk about something else.
“What did you think about Hephistole’s letter?” Matthias asked, as if reading his mind.
Gaspi smiled at him gratefully. “It caused a stir, but people deserve to know what they’re facing, right?” Hephistole had done as he’d said, and sent out a letter to the entire city, letting them know who was behind the attack they’d endured only a few months previously. The letter had upset the citizenry of Helioport, but that was nothing compared to the buzz it had created within the college. The idea of a renegade magician was a frightening one to many of the students, but it was the older magicians who’d been really upset by the news. Many of them had known Shirukai Sestin when he’d been chancellor, and like Hephistole, had believed him to be dead. Finding out that he was the driving force behind the attack on their beloved city was like discovering a dreaded foe, long thought vanquished, had come back to life.
“Yeah, it’s best that people know.” Matthias said. “At least, I’d prefer to know,” he clarified.
“I agree,” Everand announced in round tones.
“So Gasp,” Owein interjected brightly, fingering the colourful squares of card. “You know how to play?”
“Not really,” he answered.
“It’s easy enough. Listen,” he said, and explained the basics of the game. It was quite simple really. Each player was dealt cards until the pack ran out, and then swapped out a maximum of three cards with cards from the deck. You could do this three times, matching up numbers or colours of cards and then announcing your best combination. The player to your left then had to better your hand, but if they couldn’t they could lie and try to convince the player to their left that they had the hand they were claiming. If you didn’t believe someone’s claim you’d call “blag” and the player showed their hand. If they were lying they lost points, and if they weren’t, the player that called blag lost points instead.