“Yes,” Master Willow agreed without looking at him. “Hayden was very studious last year, and worked hard to get up to speed in his classes. He has a natural understanding of magic and how to use it to achieve his goals, given his limited training.”
It was awkward listening to the others talk about him, and Hayden wasn’t sure whether he was supposed to participate in the conversation or pretend he couldn’t hear them. He compromised by focusing his attention on feeding Bonk bits of torn-up flat-cakes.
“Hmm, yes, I saw the report from his final arena challenge….Very disturbing, of course,” Calahan said darkly. “To think if he’d actually used—”
“But he did not,” Master Willow cut him off before he could speculate further down that ominous line of thought.
Only weeks ago, Hayden and his challenge group had faced their final arena for the year, where they were accidentally transported to a real warg den and had to fight for their lives until help arrived. It was only then that Hayden discovered someone had swapped his glass prism out for an imperfect one, the very thing that led his infamous father down the evil, twisted path that made him the terror of the Nine Lands for over a decade.
“Yes, that is very fortunate. This conversation would be much different if he had used it,” Calahan sighed. Hayden suspected that the main difference would be them exchanging his Focus-correctors for lead Binders and possibly jailing him for the rest of his natural life.
They talked about Hayden as though he wasn’t in the room for a while longer, but Masters Willow and Kilgore said mostly good things about him, without being overly-flattering. They did mention some skirmishes between himself and the Trouts— which caused their mother to narrow her eyebrows thoughtfully—as well as the discord between Hayden and Jasper Dout, who was ultimately responsible for giving him the broken prism at the end of the year.
At the end of the meal the Council dismissed him and the Masters so they could have a private discussion. Hayden found himself standing in the hallway with Kilgore and Willow, both of whom looked perfectly at ease in their surroundings.
“So, um, how do you think it’s going in there?” Hayden solicited nervously, while Bonk hopped from his shoulder over to the Master of Elixir’s without being asked.
“There’s nothing to worry about, Hayden,” Master Willow assured him airily. “If they were going to punish you, they wouldn’t have had this meeting over breakfast. Their minds were made up long before they arrived, and the rest is just posturing.”
Hayden certainly hoped the Master of Wands was right about that.
“Can I ask why Master Asher didn’t…” take an hour out of his busy day of research to translocate himself here and speak on my behalf sounded rude even inside his head, “…why he couldn’t come here today?”
Kilgore seemed to get the gist of his question, and quietly motioned Hayden a little further away from the door to the dining room.
“Most of the Council members don’t trust or like him very much. He didn’t think it would do you any favors to have him here, so Wil and I came instead,” Kilgore explained quietly.
Hayden’s lips parted in surprise. “Why don’t they like him?”
Kilgore grimaced behind his red-grey beard. “It’s a long story and not mine to tell.”
Before Hayden could question him further, the Council of Mages called them back inside and officially declared themselves satisfied with his progress over the last year, just as Master Willow predicted.
And it was over, just like that. For three weeks of waiting, Hayden was strangely disappointed that the meeting itself had been so uneventful and brief.
“Do you have other business in Kargath, or would you like a translocation back to Mizzenwald?” Master Willow asked him after the Council members filed out of the dining room and went their separate ways.
“I guess there are only a couple weeks left before the start of term, so I might as well go back to school.” Hayden was just relieved that he wouldn’t have to buy a map and find his own way back from Kargath in the snow.
“I’ll drop you off before I check on my research students.” He motioned for Hayden to lead the way back to his room.
Hayden summoned Bonk back to him and said goodbye to Master Kilgore, before showing Willow to his room on the fourth floor and hastily packing his belongings, pell-mell, into his bag, so as to not keep the man waiting.
“Where are your research students at right now?” he tried to draw the Master into conversation while he hurried around the room to make sure he got everything.
“Half of them are at school developing their projects for next year; the other half are in Wynir working on a way to quantify the amount of TMS that occurs as a result of complex spell-casting in a variety of different wand types. Wynir is an ideal location due to its proximity to the Forest of Illusions at the moment.”
Hayden paused in the middle of packing and furrowed his eyebrows pensively.
“TMS…I read about that late last night…” he racked his brain for the answer. “Isn’t it tan—something magical seepage?”
Master Willow looked pleasantly surprised to learn that he had been reading about wands during his winter holiday.
“Tangential magical spillage,” he corrected, picking up Hayden’s textbook from the floor and opening it to the page he had bookmarked. “Ah, yes, you’re in the chapter about pine, the most notorious wood for TMS.” He looked at Hayden again, who was busy trying to count socks as he stuffed them into his bag. “You’re already a hundred pages into the level-two textbook?”
“Yes, but I’ve had to read through it very fast, so I’m not sure how much it’ll help me…” Hayden sighed. “I’m just trying to cram in as much as possible so I don’t fall behind in your level-three class on the first day.”
Master Willow was still giving him that unnervingly thoughtful look.
“Focus on the summaries at the end of each chapter as well as the glossary of terminology. If you can start the year with a decent understanding of things like TMS, splintering, and blending, you should be fine.”
Hayden wished someone had told him that three weeks ago.
“The only one I’ve read about so far is TMS, and I’m not sure I understand it fully,” he admitted, gently taking the book from Master Willow’s hand so he could pack it as well. “The book makes it sound like magic just spews out of your wand whenever you try to use it.”
“That is more or less what happens,” Master Willow nodded. “The more complex your spell-casting is, the more strength of will it takes to pull it off properly. As you know by now, some woods are more stable than others, which is both a good and bad thing. The less stable a wand is, the more complexity it is capable of, which means you can cast difficult and powerful spells through it. On the other hand, the instability also means you’re more likely to get TMS, which consumes your wand much faster than desired. You may only get one or two high-powered spells out of a mastery-level wand for that reason alone.”
Hayden finished packing his bag but made no move to leave the room, contemplating what Master Willow just told him.
“So when you cast something really difficult, you’re exerting a lot of will on the world…and it pushes back?”
“Something like that,” the Master of Wands confirmed. “Essentially, when you channel powerful magic through your wand, you get a lot of garbled magic sent back in return, which consumes your instrument. We call that tangled mess of magical energy TMS, and Wand majors have spent a century trying to figure out how to predict and minimize it.”
“So that’s why very difficult spells sometimes go really wrong when people cast them, because of TMS?”
“Often, yes.” Master Willow seemed pleased with his uptake. “I have a colleague in Wynir who was trying experimental magic with pine and experienced such a high amount of TMS that he lost a hand in the backlash.”
Hayden shuddered at the thought.
“Are you ready to return to Mizzenwald?” Master Willow glanced aro
und the room to verify that it was free of personal effects.
“Oh, yeah, thanks.” Hayden held onto Bonk to make sure he wouldn’t get left behind, while Willow drew a ten-centimeter yew wand, grabbed Hayden’s arm, and translocated them with a simple flick of the wrist.
Hayden blinked and found himself standing in the warm sunlight of the main courtyard at Mizzenwald. There were two or three other students outside right now, working with their familiars at the obstacle courses. Hayden was glad to know that he wasn’t going to be alone in the castle for the next few weeks.
“Speaking of magical research, I expect you’ll be applying for an apprenticeship with Asher in a few years,” Master Willow’s next comment caught him off guard. “He hasn’t sponsored a student since he began teaching here, but you are also the first natural prism to come to Mizzenwald since then.”
The unpleasant memory from last year came to Hayden at that moment, unbidden. He had once broached the subject of doing research with the Prism Master, only to have Asher tense alarmingly and draw a mastery-level prism as though to duel him. After that it had become perfectly clear that while Asher didn’t mind teaching him basic skills in class, he didn’t like or trust him enough to ever work with him professionally.
“No!” Hayden’s response came out much sharper and louder than he’d intended as the horrible memory hit him. Master Willow nearly jumped at the outburst. “I mean, no sir, I’m…not interested in doing research, not with prisms at least.”
The Master of Wands gave him such a scrutinizing stare that Hayden was almost certain the man could see right through his skin. Thankfully he let the subject drop with nothing more than an, “I see,” and bid him farewell before disappearing again, off to check on his own research students.
Feeling both happy and miserable, Hayden carried his things inside the castle and prepared to get back to work.
2
From the Source
Hayden was pleasantly surprised to learn that his new room was on the fifth floor this year (last year he had been on the sixth), and doubly excited when he found out that Kayce—one of his former roommates—had requested a transfer to a new room, and that Tamon would be taking his place. The placards with their names and majors were already posted outside the doors when he arrived.
None of his three roommates returned to school before his thirteenth birthday, though more students trickled into Mizzenwald by the hour as the new year approached, so it was only a matter of time. He sat reading in the third-year common area (which looked exactly like the second-year common area except it had a window as well) nearly finished reviewing his level-two Wands textbook. He had bought his level-three supplies just yesterday, along with the materials needed for his other subjects.
Theresa Wesley peeked into the common area and saw him there, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she came in and pulled up a down-stuffed chair beside him on the floor. Hayden couldn’t help but notice that she seemed taller than he remembered, and her softly-curling blond hair was past her shoulders now. She also had an orange-and-white cat trailing her.
“Hi Hayden,” she greeted him cheerfully, apparently glad to see him. “When did you get back?”
Hayden was still getting used to the idea that there were people in the world who actually enjoyed his company and didn’t wince at the very sight of him. It was a strange, pleasant sort of discomfort.
“A couple weeks ago. Master Willow brought me back after my meeting with the Council of Mages in Kargath. What about you?”
Tess raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“I just got in last night. What did the Council of Mages want with you?”
“Not much, just to check in and make sure I was doing alright in school and not menacing the population.” Hayden rolled his eyes, but Tess looked worried.
“Did it go alright? They’re letting you stay at Mizzenwald, aren’t they?”
Hayden nodded, trying to put her at ease. “Of course they are. Willow and Kilgore told them a bit about last year and they sent me on my way without any fuss.” He closed his Wands textbook and set it to the side. “I’ve just been catching up on some level-two reading since I’m skipping right to the level-three class for Wands.”
Tess nodded. “I think we’ll be in Healing together this year. The rest of my minor classes are at level-two or three, and I’m moving on to level-four Elixirs and Powders. Mittens will be a lot of help with my higher level work there,” she gestured to the cat that was sprawled out beside her on the floor, lolling about in a sunbeam that filtered in through the window.
Hayden whistled appreciatively at that. Tess had told him a while ago that after her first year in school she failed out of all of the major arcana except for Elixirs and Powders, and had enrolled in most of the other minor arcana instead to fill out her schedule. It made sense that she would already be in the second or third level of them all this year, whereas he was just beginning Introductory Charms.
“Cool, hopefully we’ll end up in the same Healing class then,” he said with perfect sincerity. Tess was shy by nature (though she seemed much more outgoing towards him today), but she was also one of Hayden’s favorite people in the world, especially after enduring a year’s worth of challenge arenas with him and saving his life at the end of last term.
A new thought occurred to him just then. “Where did you get Mittens? I thought your familiar was a giant snail named Slimy.”
The mention of Slimy made Tess frown. “He was, but he died during the holiday. Snails don’t live very long, and Torin said it wasn’t because I did anything wrong, but I still feel bad about it.” She gently stroked the orange-and-white cat lying beside her and it purred. “Still, I’m glad to have Mittens now; he’s a much more active familiar than Slimy was.”
Hayden winced apologetically at reminding her of her dead snail when she had been so happy a minute ago. He couldn’t imagine how horrible it must be to lose a familiar, and patted Bonk’s head to reassure himself that the little dragon was still there with him.
Tess changed the subject and gave him a shy smile. “I also wanted to wish you a happy birthday.” She opened one of the many elixir slots on her belt and handed him a phial of something thick and bright purple. “It’s an energy elixir. It’ll give you a burst of energy when you need it, maybe ten minutes worth if I made it just right. I thought it might help you in one of the arenas this year.”
Hayden was momentarily stunned by the first birthday present (or acknowledgement) he had received in years. The last time anyone celebrated his birthday his mother was still alive, and he was ten. He was silent so long that Tess’s smile drooped and she began to look embarrassed. Hayden shook himself mentally to recover his wits.
“Thanks a lot; it’s sure to come in handy this year when we’re stuck in a freezing bog or something.” He grinned at her, and Bonk crawled into Tess’s lap and began nuzzling her affectionately, as though he was pleased with her as well.
Tess brightened instantly.
“Oh, you mean you might let me in your challenge group again this year?”
Hayden could tell by the way she said it that she had been seriously worried about him telling her to get lost, which was absolutely ridiculous because she helped save his life only weeks ago.
“Of course I want you on my team again—you saved us all more than once last year.” He didn’t understand why she looked so pleasantly surprised by his answer, because to him it was obvious. “I told you during our first arena ever, when you fell in that hole—we’re a team and I’m not leaving anyone behind.”
Bonk was still in her arms, and Tess hugged the little dragon so hard he let out a squawk until she released him. “Do you think Zane and Tucker will want to join up again too?”
Hayden frowned thoughtfully, because he had given the subject some thought before now.
“I think Zane’s a shoe-in, but Tucker…I don’t know.” He liked Tucker just fine, but he had very mixed feelings about whether or not
the fourth-year boy should be in their challenge group again. He hadn’t voiced his concerns to anyone yet, not even Zane, but for some reason he blurted it all out to Tess.
“When we were in that den of wargs at the end of the year, Tucker kept telling me to use the broken prism if it looked like we were going to die there, even though he knew what it would cost me to do it,” he blurted out very quickly, his jaw clenching involuntarily at the memory. “I know that he was just worried about us being eaten by monsters, but he knows whose son I am and how much I don’t want to be like my father.” Hayden looked away from her. “I know it probably sounds stupid, because we all lived and no harm done, but it changed something for me.”
Tess listened to him in silence, still gently stroking Bonk’s head. “That’s not stupid at all. It must have been horrible for you, having to choose whether to use it or not while you were being mangled by that warg, and he shouldn’t have encouraged you to break the law.”
“Even if we all died horribly?”
Tess nodded grimly. “It’s better than the alternative. Think of all the people your father killed because of imperfect prisms. If he had had the strength to say no like you did…”
She didn’t finish that thought. She didn’t have to. Hayden was miserably aware of the fact that Tess had lost her mother in the fight against Aleric Frost, and that she was probably thinking about how much happier she would be right now if he had never become the Dark Prism.
“Yeah, um…well,” Hayden struggled to find the right words. “Anyway, that’s why I’m not sure about Tucker being on our team this year, but I guess we’ll see what happens.”
Tess nodded, looking relieved by the change of subject.
“Well, I’d better get going. I’ve still got to get all my books and supplies for classes this year, and maybe some new clothing.”
“Cool, I finished all my shopping yesterday. I’ll see you later I guess.”
“Yeah, I’ll see you around.” Tess set Bonk down and woke up Mittens, who rolled lithely to his feet and followed her out of the common area.
The Other Prism (The Broken Prism) Page 2