The Black Mage: Complete Series

by Rachel E. Carter

  I needed help.

  This was exactly what Eve had warned against. It was the reason she had asked us to patrol and scout in pairs. Our team was counting on the fourth-year mentees to secure victory—all but one of our Combat second-years had already surrendered during the first two hours of battle. More than ever we needed my magic.

  The original plan had been for the Combat mentees to travel in packs of two: one fourth-year and one second-year each, with Eve, Darren, and their second-year mentee as our sole grouping of three. We’d been instructed to carefully scout the city limits and take out any solo Combat mentors who might be foolish enough to enter the southern territory alone.

  Unfortunately for us, the mentors had also traveled in packs. Which was how, when we did cross paths, Priscilla, Ella, Ray, and I lost our mentee partners as well as their horses in a lightning-quick skirmish.

  Now we were all separated, scattered across the city, seeking the others we had lost track of before. I thought I’d seen Ella take off east—the direction I’d been heading in—but everything had happened so fast, and I wasn’t sure of anything anymore. I’d been cut off from the others when the third-years had caught up to me twenty minutes back. Theo and Merrick had refused to give up chase, and I’d spent most of my energy ducking and dodging since.

  There. I sprinted toward the doorway with the telltale sign. The casting I’d been holding onto was starting to give me a headache; I needed to end it now before I wasted any more of my magic. I dropped my casting just as I tore open the door to find Priscilla, two of Alex’s Restoration mates, and Ruth staring wide-eyed at the street behind me.

  “You idiot!” Priscilla screeched. “You led them right to us!” But before I could argue, she had shoved her way past me and cast out a large assault of flying daggers. One of the mentor’s own blades caught her shoulder and the highborn swore loudly.

  I stumbled back after her, panting heavily, and helped Priscilla’s casting. One of the blades hit Theo’s horse and it reared, throwing off its rider.

  Merrick tried to take on his cousin directly, but a large torrent of power knocked him off his feet before he had the chance. Priscilla and I raced forward with our halberds and got the two mentors to surrender before they could cast out anything else.

  As soon as the mentors said the words, Priscilla and I went back into the safe house while a healer on the sidelines came to escort the two out of the city. The woman bore a red silk robe that proved she wasn’t a part of battle in case any of the others came across her while she escorted the surrendered apprentices to the palace infirmary.

  “Erik, do you have any more of that healing balm? It looks like Ry needs some for her leg, and I need you to see to my shoulder.”

  My head swiveled to Priscilla. I couldn’t keep the surprise from showing on my face. Now that we were out of danger, she was still helping me.

  “Don’t look so surprised, lowborn. I’m not about to let my disgust for you as a person keep me from trying to secure a victory.” Priscilla’s tone was anything but kind.

  Well, that at least made sense. She wanted to win, even if it meant playing nice. Temporarily.

  I took a steadying breath as the Restoration apprentice treated the deep gash on my leg. It’d happened when I’d tried to save Phillipe, my second-year partner. Much good it did me. “How long have you been hiding out here? Have you seen any of the others?”

  Priscilla sniffed. “I got here a half hour before you did. And no, I haven’t been reckless enough to risk my neck without backup. I have no idea where the others are.”

  “I think we should find them.” I helped the apprentice finish wrapping my leg.

  “Are you mad? You only just got here!”

  “But what about Ray and Ella? What if they didn’t find each other like we did? We can’t let the mentors pick us off one by one! Like Eve said, we only have strength in numbers when we are going up against the mentors.”

  “We should wait for them to find us. How do you know they aren’t already together? Maybe they are with Darren and Eve.”

  “Priscilla, don’t be a coward.”

  “I helped you, didn’t I?”

  “Well, help me again. Help the mentees win.”

  “I am helping. I’m helping the mentees in here right now.”

  Ruth interrupted Priscilla. “You know Ry is right. You two have to find the others. Eve’s plan stated you were only to use the safe houses if you were injured or alone. Once you have help, you need to go back out there and fight.”

  PRISCILLA KICKED a pebble across the street, sulking, as she studied the houses behind us. We were back-to-back scouting as we made our way through the southern streets of Devon. Both of us were looking for any of our teammates, another safe house, or potential enemy mentors.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  I didn’t respond. All of my concentration was directed on the path in front of me. If we came across a pack of mentors, we needed to spot them before they saw us. We could not afford to get caught off guard. Again.

  “Don’t think that I didn’t know you were trying to steal Darren away from me in Port Langli.”

  That caught my attention. It took all my effort not to divert focus as I snapped, “Priscilla, now is not the time.”

  “But it’s the only time I don’t have to worry about running into you with your pack of friends. So, yes, now is the time whether you like it or not.”

  My blood was racing, and I knew it had nothing to do with the stagnant landscape in front of me. I forced myself to swallow. “It was a mistake. I thought he loved me.” It hurt to say the words aloud, especially because if I said much more, I knew the pain would come flooding back, and I’d be powerless to stop it. No matter what I said or how I acted, I still loved him. It was a disease I was fighting to cure.

  “Let me let you in on a little secret, lowborn: he doesn’t love me either.”

  I stumbled and barely had time to catch myself.

  “He never has. Probably never will. But that’s the way of the Crown, and you of all people should know better than to try and change it. If you want proof, just look to Shina—excuse me, Princess Shinako—the next time the two of them are together.” Priscilla sounded bitter.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “People like Darren place power above everything. If Blayne hadn’t secured that princess, Darren would have done so himself. It doesn’t take a fool to see what he’s after.”

  “You don’t love him?” I still couldn’t get over her admission.

  Priscilla laughed. “Love Darren? Of course not. Love is for fools not smart enough to see the path in front of them. That’s the difference between you and me, Ryiah. I see the truth and accept Darren for what he is. You just see what you want to see. It’s why I will wear the crown and bear his children while you are left wondering why you were never good enough.”

  I wanted to turn around and tackle her to the ground. She was deliberately using this mock battle to bait me. The highborn knew I wouldn’t dare attack her while we were being observed by an audience. “You wouldn’t be jealous of Shina and me, if you weren’t afraid of losing him.”

  Priscilla laughed scornfully. “Losing him isn’t the same as loving someone. I want power, same as anyone else. I shouldn’t have to worry much longer, though, since his father moved up our wedding.”

  I felt as if the ground had slipped right out from under me. “W-what?”

  “That’s right. The night of the ascension ceremony, right after you made that whole scene with the platter, the king announced the new date. You’d already left the ballroom by then, of course, but then again it is your nature to rise to dramatics anytime something is not going your way. Like the pig’s blood. Really, Ryiah, it was a harmless hazing.”

  “Stop!”

  “What are you—”

  I turned around and slammed my palm over Priscilla’s mouth and dragged her to the side of the closest building to our left. Not
one moment later, a cluster of mentors appeared, one of them wearing a black armband. It was Ian.

  Priscilla stopped trying to claw my hand and let out a low gasp, pointing at my mentor. I nodded. Now we knew who was commanding their team. Again.

  We stayed in hiding until the patrol had passed, and then we looked to one another.

  “We should follow them,” I said before she could speak. “We should try to pick them off one at a time.”

  “We can’t be heroes, Ryiah. We need to find the others first.”

  The two of us stared at each other stubbornly.

  “Fine.” I was done arguing, and it was time for a compromise. “Let’s follow them and look for the others at the same time. It’s possible they know where the rest of our team is and are heading in that direction anyway.”

  She sighed. “Fine. But don’t do anything daft, Ryiah. We both know you have a reputation for doing reckless things.”

  I glared at her. “If you waste any more time insulting me, we’ll lose sight of them.”

  The two of us took off in the same direction as Ian and his two accomplices. We trailed stealthily behind, using the tracking skills the Ishir regiment had taught us during our desert stay.

  We had gone on for about twenty minutes when we caught sight of another safe house.

  Priscilla raced ahead to see who was inside while I kept a lookout nearby, hidden behind some brush. A minute later, Priscilla emerged with Ella. I breathed a sigh of relief. My friend was still okay, and I could see Alex and another Alchemy mentee inside.

  Ella followed Priscilla to my hiding spot. She wore a funny expression. Probably at the idea of Priscilla and me as partners.

  The three of us continued tracking the mentors to an armory on the northern side of the city. We’d just set up watch a quarter of a mile away when a loud crash sounded behind us.

  Before I even had the chance to cast up any sort of defense, Ella and Priscilla were sent sprawling into the wall behind me. I whirled around to find Bryce and Loren smiling.

  “Surrender?”

  Ella and Priscilla attempted to stand. Bryce cast out two swords at their throat and Loren pressed his poleaxe against mine. “Don’t try anything,” Loren warned. “I don’t want to hurt you if I don’t have to.”

  “Bryce,” Priscilla’s voice was sickly sweet. Ella made a gagging sound, but our teammate continued. “Please, let us go, or at least me. You can trust me. You know me.”

  The mentor laughed shortly, not swayed by his friend. “You’re such a liar, Priscilla. The second I let you go, you’ll free these two lowborns to impress your betrothed.” He cleared his throat. “Surrender now. Say the words, or this will get a lot worse.”

  Ella’s eyes shot to me, and I swallowed. I could see her question: would I pain cast to try and set us free? Loren’s blade was close. If I could press into it…

  “Don’t even think about it, Ryiah. We’ve been following you three since that safe house you pulled Ella out of,” Loren said quickly. “If you do, our first order of business after we take out the three of you will be to get your brother and his friends. We won’t give them an option. We’ll just let them burn. Wonder how long it’ll take the Restoration mages to treat Alex in the infirmary afterward?”

  My stomach clenched, and I could hear Ella struggling. I knew Loren was a friend, but in that moment, I hated him for playing my twin against me. I opened my lips to speak.

  With a huge flare of light and a loud boom, the ground shook.

  A rush of thick gas flooded the air around us.

  I couldn’t see anything as I choked back my breath. I could hear crying and someone shouting, but everything was hazy. A second later, I lost control of my balance.

  As I fell, I wondered absentmindedly which Combat apprentice—mentee or mentor—had cast enough magic to make the rest of us weak enough to lose track of our limbs.

  Two sets of arms gripped mine and pulled me up, running and dragging me out of the fog. I followed as best I could, but I wasn’t much help. At some point I must have lost track of consciousness, because the next thing I knew, cold water was being splashed into my face.

  I spit out a mouthful of water, sputtering.

  My vision cleared and I discovered Darren and Ray clutching a bucket with Eve leaning against a bedframe behind them. We were in another safe house, only this one didn’t have a Restoration or Alchemy apprentice in sight. Ray saw the question in my eyes and said, “They were caught,” by way of explanation.

  “Where are we?”

  “Just south of Ian’s hideout.”

  “Why did you only rescue me?” Because that’s what this was, I realized, a rescue.

  “Because you are the most powerful fourth-year, and we only had time to save one of you.” Darren didn’t look at me as he said it.

  Eve cleared her throat. “The mentors have been systematically combing the south. We’ve had to change hideouts three times, and there are always more nearby.”

  I was lying awkwardly on a bed. I forced myself to try and sit up. It was surprisingly easy.

  Eve noticed my shock.

  “We gave you one of the Alchemy mentees’ special drafts.” She pointed to the empty vial beside me. “I had the girl make two in case we needed to get away in a hurry by using that gas. Hopefully we don’t have to use the other.”

  “What’s our plan?”

  “You are going to distract Ian’s guards while the rest of us ambush his hideout.” She said the words matter-of-factly, like it wasn’t a big deal that our entire plan hinged on my performance.

  I stared at her. “But the guards are Lynn and Morgan! They are both fifth-years, Eve. If they only see me, they are going to suspect a trap. They’ll know I’d never be foolish enough to attack them alone.”

  “If you tell them you are pain casting they’ll be wary. You and Darren are the most powerful in the faction. The mentors will be too busy watching you to notice when Darren, Ray, and I come out from behind.”

  “You think so?”

  “It’s our best chance.”

  WHILE THE OTHERS waited in the shadows of a building to my right, I made my approach, coughing loudly in case my footsteps weren’t enough to draw the notice of the two mentors guarding the armory Ian was in.

  Lynn’s face fell, and Morgan didn’t look too happy either. “Great,” the girl muttered, “I thought she had already surrendered.”

  “Are you really this foolish, Ryiah?” Morgan wanted to know.

  I shrugged. “I can pain cast, or did you forget that? I can have the two of you gone like that.” I snapped my finger and then tossed my chainmail to the ground so they could see my bare arm.

  In my other hand, I produced my weapon.

  The door to the armory swung open to reveal Ian, who’d heard the commotion outside. He frowned when he saw me standing there alone. “It’s not just you, is it?”

  “Ian, run!” Lynn screeched. “Morgan and I can hold her off—go!”

  I slammed the halberd’s axe end into my left wrist, biting back a scream as I sent an eruption of power into the air around me. I was hardly conscious of the pain. Raw magic had taken over my thoughts.

  I called upon every last ounce of magic I had and launched it at the three mentors as hard as I could. I heard their scattered cries, a thud of metal and explosion, and then, somewhere, Ian’s shout of surrender.

  I started to release my magic and the ground gave way beneath me.

  Instantaneous darkness. Victory.

  17

  Ian’s and my mentorship only became more strained after the mock battle. The worst part of my day was during Byron’s lessons in the apprentice study upstairs. Going over potential battle strategy with someone who barely talked to you was tedious. It was like prying teeth from a rabid animal: you were always afraid of the bite. I could tell Ian was still trying very hard to be polite—painfully so—but every once in a while his efforts would break and there’d be a flash of anger in his eyes or a sna
ppy retort that reminded me just what he really thought of me.

  It had only been made worse by Byron’s evaluations. The master delighted in tearing apart every solution Ian and I came up with. No matter what strategy we suggested, it was never, ever good enough. We were the two troublemakers the master despised, and so his lessons were just one more way to repay our years of insolence.

  Which was what led me to the Academy’s snowy practice yard this evening, in an effort to clear the frustration that had been building since the day we arrived two months back.

  I’d barely started my drills when I caught sight of Darren exiting the Academy with a training sword in hand. As soon as he saw me, his expression darkened. “Coming or going?”

  His words were so distant, it was like we were strangers. And it hurt.

  Was this the first time we’d spoken since the ascension, excluding that day of the mock battle? I suspected it was, though I’d worked hard to block out as many memories of the prince as possible.

  “Why?” My voice was hard and cold. I was proud it didn’t waver. “So you can make sure you’re not stuck in the same place as me for more than a second?”

  “I’m trying to keep things civil between us. You’ve never been known for your easy temper.”

  “My temper goes hand in hand with your benevolence.”

  Darren’s hand on his blade tightened. “You don’t know anything about me, Ryiah.”

  “I know exactly who you are.” I took a step forward, and another, until I was standing right in front of him. Then my words turned to ice like the ground beneath my boots. “You are the selfish, spineless son of a king who is too afraid to be his own man. You would rather hide behind your status than fight for something that could actually mean something.” There, that felt good. It was one of a thousand lines I’d recited in my head. “And it’s a shame, really it is, because, according to you, I was the one true friend you had besides Eve.”

  Something flared in the prince’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a malicious smile. “That’s where you are wrong. We were never friends, Ryiah. I was only telling you what I thought you needed to hear.”