by Clayton Wood
“Damn right,” Erasmus agreed, perking up. “And the patterns are just the beginning...each one might have dozens of applications!” He turned to Kalibar. “The invisibility pattern we just learned should prove quite handy.”
“That's why we've made the K-Array our highest priority,” Kalibar stated, nodding at Kyle. “Your idea might just give us the edge we need in this war,” he added. “Ideas change the world...and yours has already done so. Now we have to develop your ability to bring your ideas to life.”
“That's where I come in,” Erasmus stated eagerly, his blue eyes twinkling underneath his bushy white eyebrows. “Tomorrow morning you'll start your Runic training...I've set up an accelerated course for you.”
Jenkins arrived then, the blue-clad butler removing everyone's finished plates and glasses from the table. Darius had finally finished his third plate of food, and leaned back in his chair, pulling on his golden gauntlets and crossing his arms over his chest.
“I need a day off,” the bodyguard declared, his eyes on Kalibar.
“Give him the rest of his life off,” the Erasmus offered with a wicked grin. “He deserves it.” Kalibar smiled, but didn't take Erasmus's bait.
“Of course,” Kalibar replied, nodding at Darius. “May I ask what for?”
“To visit an old friend,” Darius replied. Erasmus's bushy eyebrows went up.
“I wasn't aware you had any,” he quipped.
“By all means,” Kalibar answered, “...take the day off, and another if you need to.”
“I leave tonight,” Darius declared. Kyle stared at the bodyguard for a long moment, then glanced at Ariana. She appeared lost in thought, her eyes on the tabletop.
“Well,” Kalibar stated, standing up from his chair and glancing at Erasmus. “We should get back to running the Empire. Ariana, why don't you and Kyle spend the afternoon catching up,” he added. “I had Master Owens cancel your evening classes.”
“Thank you,” Ariana said with a grateful smile. Kyle felt her cold hand grasp his, and he gave it a squeeze. The rest of the adults left the table, leaving Kyle alone with her. He stifled a yawn then, and Ariana stood, pulling him up with her.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I didn't get much sleep.”
“Why don't you take a nap?” she offered.
“You want to take a walk first?” Kyle asked.
“You're sure?”
“Yeah,” Kyle confirmed. “I'll get plenty of sleep afterward.”
“Okay,” Ariana agreed. “I'll watch over you when you sleep,” she added. Kyle raised an eyebrow at that.
“Creepy,” he replied. But of course he didn't really mind.
“Come on,” she urged, pulling him toward the front door of the suite. “Let's go!” Kyle hardly had a choice in the matter; her grip was as firm as a statue's, and she soon led him out of Kalibar's suite and down the hallway to the riser, which brought them swiftly to the ground floor. They walked hand-in-hand down another long hallway to the lobby, past throngs of students going busily about their day, until they'd made it through the huge double-doors leading outside. They had plenty of company, classes having ended recently. Hundreds of Runic and Weaver students were filing out of the Tower toward the dormitories nearby. Kyle and Ariana weaved through the crowd until they'd reached a little-used path off of one of the main roads. It wasn't long before they'd left the crowd behind; the only sound was the faint clop, clop of boots on the path behind them. Kyle turned about, but didn't see anyone there.
“Our guards,” Ariana explained. “They started practicing the invisibility pattern today.”
Kyle nodded, knowing that Kalibar had insisted that elite guards follow Kyle wherever he went, particularly after his kidnapping by the Dead Man. It wasn't long before Kyle and Ariana had reached a lone tree in the center of a grassy field.
“This is my favorite tree,” Ariana declared. I come here every day to sit down and meditate.”
Suddenly Kyle heard someone clear their throat behind them, and they both turned to find none other than Darius standing on the path behind them. The bodyguard was dressed in his usual attire, of course. His golden armor gleamed in the fading sunlight, his blue eyes staring at them expressionlessly.
“Oh,” Ariana gasped, tensing for a moment. “Darius, I didn't hear you coming.”
“Neither did your guards,” Darius grumbled, pushing outward with his left hand. There was a yelp, followed by an elite guard appearing out of thin air, tumbling to the grass beside the path. The elite guard scrambled to his feet, glaring at the bodyguard.
“How the hell...” he began, but Darius cut him off with one gauntleted hand.
“Leave,” he ordered. The guard's jaw dropped, and then he glanced off to Darius's right. The other elite guard appeared, glaring at Darius, then at his fellow guard.
“Grand Weaver Kalibar...” he began.
“Made me their bodyguard,” Darius interjected. Both guards glared at him, then turned about sharply, marching back to the Tower in the distance. Darius turned to Kyle. “We need to talk,” he stated. Kyle glanced at Ariana, who smiled at him.
“I guess I'll see you back in the Tower?” she asked. Kyle nodded. She waved, then turned back toward the Tower in the distance. The sun was setting, and lights shone in each of the countless windows that ran up the magnificent structure. Brilliant rays shot outward from the crystalline pyramid that topped it. Kyle watched Ariana's retreating form, then turned back to Darius.
“I'm leaving for Sabin,” Darius declared. “If I'm not back in 24 hours,” he added, “...assume I'm dead.” Kyle felt the faint thrum of magic around them then, a familiar subtle vibration in his skull. Darius put one gauntleted finger on Kyle's chest. “In that case, use the spacetime bridge generator.”
“How?” Kyle asked.
“It can only be activated by you,” Darius answered. “It recognizes your unique magical fingerprint. Stream magic to it for five seconds and it will activate.”
They stood there then, Darius staring at Kyle silently, and Kyle with his eyes on Darius's feet. They said nothing for a long moment. The sun continued to drop over the horizon, sending a splash of red and purple across the feathered clouds above.
“Whatever happens,” Darius continued, “...you must never tell your father about me. No one on Earth can know about Doma...or magic.”
Kyle nodded silently. Darius reached out and placed something heavy in Kyle's hand. Kyle glanced down, seeing the rolled-up map there, the cyclindrical metallic bomb tucked within.
“No regrets,” Darius murmured.
And he was gone.
Chapter 4
Kyle yawned as he followed an elite guard out of his bedroom and into Kalibar's main suite. He'd fallen asleep soon after returning to the Tower the night before, and Ariana had made good on her promise to watch over him as he slept. She'd left before he'd been awoken by an elite guard knocking on his bedroom door, no doubt to practice weaving before her class with Master Owens.
Kyle yawned again, barely registering that he'd left Kalibar's suite and was being led down the hall to the riser at the end of it. Today was the first day of his lessons with his new Runic teacher, who apparently wanted him to wake up at five in the morning. That was far too early for learning, if you asked him. Far too early for being conscious.
Two more elite guards appeared behind Kyle, following a few steps behind him, their heavy black boots clopping sharply on the granite floor below. They all wore the signature black armor of the elite guard, a squad of highly-trained soldiers dedicated to protecting the highest-ranking government officials...and their families. Ever since Master Banar's murder, Kalibar had drastically increased Kyle's security force, and had forbidden Kyle and Ariana from venturing far from the Tower. Well, Kyle, anyway; Ariana had proven quite capable of defending herself since her...change.
Kyle yawned a third time as he stepped onto the riser with the three guards. The circular stone platform descended rapidly, eventually stopping, and
the guards led Kyle down another long hallway, to a door on the left. They opened it, and motioned for Kyle to go through. He did so, finding himself in a familiar place: the Runic Archives. The Archives were a series of rooms that contained ancient tomes and magical artifacts, some over two thousand years old. The main room was huge, with dozens of rows of shelving standing over two stories tall, each overflowing with countless magical artifacts. To the left, Kyle saw the door to the Testing chamber, where Erasmus's Runics had decoded Kyle's ring. The guards led Kyle forward, to a large, rectangular table standing beside one of the many shelves. Wooden chairs surrounded the table, and in one of them sat a very old woman. Ancient, even. She was tall, or used to be; her back was a bit stooped, forcing her to crank her neck back a little just to see forward. She had curly silver hair and twinkling blue eyes, thick glasses sitting astride her nose. She nodded at Kyle.
“Morning,” she greeted, motioning for him to take a seat opposite her. “You must be Kyle,” she added. Kyle nodded, sitting down in the chair.
“Good morning,” Kyle replied.
“I'm Lee,” she stated, extending a wrinkled hand across the table. Kyle took it, shaking it gently. Her grip was strong, her skin warm and dry, and only a little creepy, as very old people's hands invariably felt.
“Nice to meet you, Master Lee,” he stated politely. Lee snorted, waving away the formality.
“Just Lee,” she insisted. “I've no patience for formality at my age,” she added. “I don't have enough time left for it. I'm practically dead, after all...or at least I look it.”
“Uh...” Kyle stammered, unable to think of any way to respond. She was distressingly accurate. Lee laughed, her raspy voice echoing throughout the chamber.
“Come on now,” she stated, peering over her glasses at him. “My son tells me I need to make a Runic out of you before my funeral.”
“Your son?”
“What, he didn't tell you?” Lee asked. “Can't you see the resemblance?”
“Um...”
“Erasmus,” she stated, smirking at his blank expression.
“Wait, you're his...?”
“I made him, yes,” she replied. “Luckily he came out skinnier than he is now, or I'd have been buried sixty years ago,” she added with a wry smirk.
“Sorry, he didn't tell me,” Kyle apologized. Lee shrugged her frail shoulders.
“Who cares?” she replied. “Now come on, I haven't got all day. Can you rune-link?”
“What?”
“Never mind. Can you inscribe?”
“Um...”
“Do you know what a rune is?” Lee stated impatiently, drumming her fingers on the surface of the table. Kyle blushed, then nodded. “Tell me!” she commanded exasperatedly.
“A pattern made of a crystalline wire,” Kyle answered, remembering what Master Banar had taught him. “It conducts magic the same as our brains weave magic.”
“Oh good, you're not completely hopeless,” Lee grumbled. “You know about sensory runes?”
“Yes ma'am.”
“Good. And I like the manners,” Lee stated. “Never trust a woman who says she doesn't.”
“But you said...”
“Exactly,” Lee interrupted. She sat back in her chair then, sighing loudly. “So you're all theory and no application. Absolutely useless,” she spat, shaking her head in disgust. She reached up with her left hand, grabbing at thin air, and suddenly a small brown cube appeared between her fingers. Kyle's jaw dropped, and Lee chuckled.
“Oh, I'm not dead yet,” she stated. “I've got more than a few tricks up my sleeve. And I'm going to teach you as many as I can fit up yours,” she added. “Some students have longer sleeves than others,” she explained, narrowing her eyes at him. “God, I hope you're not stupid.”
“I'm not,” Kyle replied rather defensively.
“Prove it,” Lee challenged. She sat up suddenly, walking around the table to the chair at Kyle's right, sitting on it. She set the brown cube on the table. “Do what I do.” She stared at the cube then, and Kyle felt a slight vibration in his skull. He saw a faint blue light appear beneath the skin of her forehead, moving left, then arcing backward a fraction of an inch, then moving forward, then dipping downward. He followed the movements, weaving magic in his own mind, copying her pattern. She shot the pattern out toward the crystal she'd set on the table, and Kyle did the same. Two tiny blue dots appeared on the surface, then faded, leaving two orange dots behind. Lee frowned at the dots, turning a critical eye on Kyle.
“You're not supposed to do that,” she muttered.
“What?”
“You weren't supposed to be able to do that,” she clarified. “I was testing you. You were looking at my forehead the entire time,” she observed. “Can you see magic?”
“Uh...” Kyle mumbled. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to tell anyone about his gift.
“You can,” Lee deduced. “Stop being difficult,” she added crossly. “This'll be easier if you quit keeping secrets. Why haven't you told anyone?”
“I thought everyone could,” Kyle lied. Lee snorted.
“You're smarter than that,” she scolded. “Erasmus told me Kalibar developed the same gift when he received his new eyes. Have you always been able to see magic?”
Kyle hesitated, then nodded.
“That explains why you learn patterns so quickly,” she deduced. “Owens never figured you out, did he,” she added with a shake of her head. “Weavers!”
“What was that pattern?” Kyle asked. He'd seen Master Banar do the same thing – turning a brown crystal orange – but couldn't remember what it meant.
“The inscribing pattern,” she answered. “The most important pattern ever discovered,” she added authoritatively. “That's how we inscribe runes.”
“Can you show me again?” he requested. Lee nodded, staring at the cube again. Kyle followed the faint blue light on her forehead again, committing the pattern to memory. Then he wove it himself, casting the pattern at the cube. Another two blue dots – one from each of them – appeared on the surface, fading to orange.
“Now,” Lee stated, flipping the cube over so that an unmarred brown facet faced upward. “Weave the fire pattern.” Kyle complied, weaving a thread of magic clockwise in a full circle, then bringing it backward, then forward, then sending it outward in front of him. He attached a small magic stream to the pattern, and a tiny red flame appeared in the air a foot in front of him. Lee reached into the air with her right hand, plucking a sheet of paper – again out of thin air – and a pencil. She drew a symbol then:
“What's that?” Kyle asked.
“The fire pattern,” Lee explained. “In standard Runic notation. The thing at the top is a nose,” she continued. “...telling us we're looking down at someone's head. The dot in the middle is the center of the mind, the circle represents the first part of the pattern. The dark dot at the start of the circle marks where one starts weaving. The next two lines represent the next steps...sending magic backward, then forward.”
“I get it,” Kyle said.
“You'd better,” Lee replied. “That's the easy part. Now if the pattern was drawn like this...”
“...then the thing at the left is the nose, and we're looking at a person's head from the side. The left side, of course.”
“Okay,” Kyle said.
“So now you know how to read standard Runic notation,” she stated. “It gets complicated, but there's time for that later. We need to make you useful...pay attention.” She stared at the cube, lowering her head to it, and a blue dot appeared on its surface. It vanished below the cube's surface, then returned, then vanished, then returned again, slightly to the left.
“I've inscribed the fire pattern into the cube,” Lee explained. “I traced the inscribing pattern like this...”
“So the top of the drawing is the top of the cube,” Kyle guessed. Lee nodded.
“The end of the pattern extends all the way to the surface,” Lee continued.
“That's important; it forces the pattern to be expressed outward, at the top of the cube. Now, stream magic to the cube,” she ordered. Kyle complied, and a small flame appeared a fraction of an inch above the cube's surface.
“That's it?” Kyle asked. “That's easy!”
“I make it look easy, honey,” Lee retorted. “We're just getting started. Now, did anyone ever explain to you how magic works?”
“Uh, yeah,” Kyle replied. “It changes matter and energy,” he added. Lee rolled her eyes.
“Oh brother,” she groaned, shaking her head in despair. “Have we got a long way to go!”
* * *
Ariana stepped out of the Tower lobby's massive double-doors, feeling warm sunlight strike her skin. Whereas before she would have found such a sensation pleasant, her body no longer required warmth, and it was now a neutral sensation. She did enjoy the relative silence of the outdoors, however; ever since she'd been reborn, her senses had been remarkably enhanced. While indoors, she could easily hear people talking behind closed doors, even from a floor above or below. She could even hear sounds that she'd never heard before...sounds too high or low in pitch for normal people to hear. The constant sounds of talking, footsteps, and other noise became overwhelming after a while, and it was nice to get outside to avoid them.
She closed her eyes for a moment, hearing birds chirping far in the distance, and the clatter of countless footsteps as Runic and Weaver students made their way from their dormitories toward the Tower for their classes. She was early for her class with Master Owens, as usual. She typically requested that they have class outside, much to Kalibar's consternation, and far away from the dormitories and the Tower. It was easier to focus in the outdoors.
She opened her eyes then, walking down one of the many cobblestone paths leading from the Tower to the campus beyond. She spotted a bird flying far above the Tower; even from four hundred feet away, she could spot the small brown mouse clutched in the bird's talons, wriggling helplessly in its cruel grasp. In addition to her hearing, her vision had improved tremendously since her rebirth. She also had much improved night vision, starlight being more than adequate to see full color. It'd taken a while to get used to, but now she couldn't remember what it had been like not to see and hear like this. She found it strange how quickly her mind had adapted to her new way of being.