I leaned over Rena’s shoulder to read the letter and my lips pursed together as I let out a low whistle. “Those are quite the generous terms.”
“I’ll say. And the job isn’t that difficult.” Rena let out a happy humming noise.
“Well, not difficult for you, at least.” Any other magician would find it deucedly difficult.
“Like I said, usually the MISD wouldn’t do work like this,” Nora continued, lowering the letter so she could see us again. “But in this case, having a bypass to Gargan would actually benefit us. It’ll make travel easier for our agents. We’ve been granted an exception so Rena can take it. In this particular case, you’re deemed a consultant, so you can take the terms and pay they offered.”
My money-pinching wife grinned at Nora like a shark spying bait in the water. “Good. I can use it for the house. I’ll take the job.” Rena’s mouth pursed a little as she thought. “I don’t think we’ll need the whole team for this, do you?”
“No,” Maksohm admitted. “No need to haul us up there just to sit around and watch you work.”
“Here’s the Void Mage report,” Nora added on, taking another file out from underneath her arm. “Agent Hollensbeck did a quick portal to hand over the file to me, although he’s taking the long way down himself. Can you combine trips?”
“Sure,” Rena promised her easily. “We can do that, send word back down on what we find, then continue up, tunnel through a mountain, and call it a day.”
“Sounds like a fine enough plan to me. Plan to leave in about three days, alright? And if you do see something strange, or if you find he really is a Void Mage, tell us. We’ll sign him on in a heartbeat.”
Rena gave her a casual salute. “Roger that.”
I retreated to the bed and breakfast with Bannen in order to review the information and start prepping for the trip. Maksohm assured me that because we were doing a simple job, not a mission, we didn’t need to be cleared for duty, but that he’d submit the necessary paperwork to keep all of our ducks in a row. I knew he’d also start the process to request an outside therapist while he was at it, although he didn’t say so.
We commandeered the dining room table for our use, as it was the easiest place to work, and the quietest at this time of the day. We had about two hours before dinner, which gave us enough time to review everything, or so I hoped. The file wasn’t that thick.
Bannen spread the packet open and strewed the contents in front of us. A frown beetled his forehead, the kind that said he found something confusing. If he were smiling, then I’d be worried, because smiles always meant trouble. He liked trouble.
Plopping down next to him, I put a chin on his shoulder so I could read what was in his hands. It seemed a general evaluation report of magical aptitude.
“Wifey, does this make any sense to you?”
“It certainly does. I’ve seen so many of those I’ve lost count. It’s a generalized magical evaluation report. It shows what strengths and weaknesses a child might have and gives an overall rating to their talent. This child rates rather strongly.” My eyes went back to the top of the page and I regarded it with pursed lips. “Agent Hollensbeck. I don’t think we’ve met him, have we?”
“Not that I recall. A shame we can’t speak directly with him, but he left us a note saying he found the whole situation confusing.” Bannen picked up a smaller piece of paper from the right pile and handed it to me.
Accepting it, I read aloud: “Magus Renata, I performed the examination of this child myself and I don’t believe him to be a Void Mage. That said, his talent and perception is very odd. His creative magic is strong enough, but he does have better talent for destruction than most magicians. I also believe that he has an ability of some sort that mimics the perception of your eyes. He can describe what something is composed of with remarkable detail, although he lacks the vocabulary to explain it very well. I suggest you evaluate him again yourself. It might be that he has a Void Mage ancestor. Regards, Hollensbeck.”
Lightly flicking the paper with a fingertip, Bannen asked, “Is that possible?”
“Didn’t you pay any attention to Mary’s lessons? Did you sleep through all of them?” I asked in exasperation.
“No,” he assured me with a bright smile I didn’t trust one iota. “Just most of them.”
My husband would never be the scholarly sort. I let it go with a sigh. “No, it’s not possible. A child of a Void Mage is not automatically a Void Mage, nor do they inherit any of the magical traits of one. He just apparently has a talent that is similar to mine. What, I dearly want to know.”
“Well, you will, soon enough.”
True. The question would be answered as soon as we got up there. “Something bothered you while you were reading, though. What was it?”
“This.” Bannen tapped a finger to the top of the page.
I stared at it, my own confusion making itself known. “Dagwood, Age 8, Residence: Seagrove. That’s it? What’s his last name? Address?”
“You don’t need either in Seagrove.”
“You’ve been to Seagrove before?”
“No. No one actually visits Seagrove, just passes through. And if you blink while passing, you miss it, it’s that small.” Smile crooked, he pointed at the paperwork. “Seagrove is a fishing village at the very northern tip of Sira. Any more north and it would fall off into the ocean. It’s maybe twenty houses altogether and everyone is related to everyone else. No one has a last name up there. No one needs one. There’s no streets, no signs, and no inn within a two hours’ radius of the place. I got stuck there once overnight because of a rip in the main sail and thought I’d go mad. It took me hours to get proper help and I had to go into a neighboring town, only slightly larger, to find it.”
Oh dear. This sounded less than promising. “So…what are the odds that magicians come out of this place very often?”
“Hollensbeck actually looked that up for us,” Bannen informed me, pointing to another piece of paper. “Last one was about six generations ago. And he didn’t pass the Tests.”
Lovely. “So these people are likely very, very excited that they have a legitimate magician in their midst, have limited understanding what a Void Mage is, and will not take a correction from me well.”
Bannen nodded along to each point I made and agreed equably, “That about sums it up.”
I hated it when I was right sometimes. Groaning, I rubbed at my forehead, already feeling a headache coming on. “This should be a barrel full of laughs.”
Two days later, we boarded a sleeper train traveling north, leaving our teammates behind in Foxboro. I knew Rena wasn’t keen on the idea of being on a train for five straight days—neither was I—but there wasn’t any way around it. Everyone else made no secret of the fact they were glad to miss this particular trip. Maksohm made noises about possibly doing some training with Emily, get her more accustomed to working with them as a unit while we were gone. I thought it wise. They might as well while waiting for us to return and get all of that red tape cut.
The trip to Seagrove was actually rather straightforward. Coming up from Foxboro, it was a five-day trip to the last train stop by sleeper train. From there, we’d take a cart for several hours to reach Seagrove. It wouldn’t be a direct route, but it was direct as ships and trains offered. I did not look forward to this trip one iota but there was no helping it. The MISD wouldn’t accept the word of anyone but a Void Mage in this case, and I couldn’t very well ask Mary to travel all this way on what was likely a fool’s errand.
We might have stayed in Njorage a day longer than strictly necessary. I felt the universe owed me time to soak properly in hot springs and lounge about getting leisurely massages. But we only allowed ourselves that day before hopping back on the train, arriving at the last station, then renting a cart and traveling the last leg to Seagrove.
Rena was not used to riding, not really, and we had two large suitcases, making a cart the only sensible decision. That said, I regret
ted it almost as soon as we left the main highway. The road here was little better than a muddy rut. With potholes in it. And rocks jabbing out randomly. Did absolutely no one try to maintain the roads out here?
Grumbling, Rena commented, “I think I see now why you hated it up here.”
I winced as the cart went over another rock, jostling us into each other. “Not much to like. And it has to be at least ten degrees colder up here. I know we’re further north, but not that far north.”
“Sea breeze, perhaps?” Rena offered.
I’d always noticed the air coming in off the sea was cooler. “Probably.” I eyed her sideways for a moment before turning my attention back to what the locals laughably called a road. “The whole trip up here, you haven’t made a peep about how you want to play this.”
“I have absolutely no intention of arguing with the locals.” Rena’s tone was quite firm. “If I go in, evaluate him, and discover that he’s a regular magician, I’m not going to try to persuade the village he’s not a Void Mage. I’ll just tell them I’m reporting back to the MISD and they’ll make a decision what to do.”
“Fair enough and I’m not arguing that. But we already have an evaluation saying he’s got magic talent. No one in that village is going to know how to train him. Shouldn’t someone try to take him out, introduce him to a master?”
“Probably, but that’s not my job.”
I frowned at her. Wait, now. Was that a good idea?
Rena noted my frown and tried to reassure me. “I’m sure that they’ll step in, find him a master to train under. The MISD doesn’t let talent go to waste. They just want a second opinion, a verification that a regular magician can teach him.”
I accepted this with a nod. “Alright. How long is this going to take?”
“The evaluation? About an hour. Why, do you think we can skip in, do the evaluation, and leave again without needing to stay overnight?”
“I’m hoping that it works out that way, yes. Nora said point blank it was difficult to find someone to put her up for the night the one time she was here.” I gave an exaggerated look around before rolling my eyes expressively. “Normally I don’t have anything against camping outside, but up here?”
“Where there’s more stones than grass and it gets unreasonably muggy? Yeah, I’ll pass, thanks.”
I agreed, although I had a bad feeling this wouldn’t be the easy in and out we hoped for.
Calculating things on one hand, she asked, “We’re still, what, two hours away?”
“More like an hour and a half.”
We kept trundling along, that hour and a half feeling like a small eternity before the first hint of houses popped up along the horizon.
I wasn’t kidding. Seagrove was literally so small that if you blinked, you’d miss it. The houses were tightly made, formed of stone and mortar, and clustered together like chicks under a hen’s wings. Everything was of the same stony construction, which meant everything was the same color, giving it a very drab appearance. It also smelled strongly of fish, ocean, and cold stone, which didn’t make it any more inviting. I could tell from Rena’s expression she felt completely unimpressed with the place, but then she’d grown up in cities most of her life. I’d been to a place as small as this before and had a better handle of how closed off a place like this was. Oh man, this was going to be rough. Anti-fun, even.
The one thing going in our favor was that Seagrove, because of its proximity to Z’gher, almost had my homeland’s culture. I could tell that instantly when we entered because people dressed similarly to myself. There might be some cultural differences—in fact, I’d lay good odds on that, but hopefully enough in common to smooth the way.
I pulled the cart off to the side of the ‘road’ and tied the reins off. Rena and I both hopped down, looking around, trying to figure out who to speak with. We got more than a few curious looks but no one seemed likely to approach us.
We got two feet into the village when an older man with a slightly stooped posture and weather-beaten skin stopped us with an out flung hand. “Who are you?”
Despite the caustic, warning growl, I gave him a bow. “Elder. My name is Hach Bannen. This is my wife, Renata. The MISD sent us up to take a look at your young mage.”
He liked the manners I showed him, but his suspicion for some reason doubled. “MISD already sent an agent up.”
“Yes, sir,” I agreed promptly. “Hollensbeck. He was a little confused at the results and asked my wife, who is also a mage, to come up and take a look.”
“Nothing confusing about it. Boy’s a Void Mage, like that other girl.”
This reaction just confirmed for me that the village didn’t really know anything about Void Mages. They couldn’t even recognize the one standing in front of them. “Hollensbeck knows nothing about Void Mages, sir. We do. So do you mind if we take a look?”
“You do, eh?” His voice rose, enough that others popped their heads out of windows and doors to see what was going on. People gradually clustered around us, and while none of them seemed hostile, it gave me a general uneasy feeling. “And how do you know about Void Mages?”
Frustrated, Renata stepped up, pinning him with a look. “Because I am one. Now, can I please examine the boy?”
I’d kind of hoped she wouldn’t say that, and we could skip in and out of here with no one the wiser, but…ah well. Resigned, I let my wife take the lead on this.
The old man spluttered, staring as if she’d just announced the sky was falling. “You’re a Void Mage? Bah! The only one is a young girl, over in Z’gher.”
“I’m from Corcoran, actually. My husband-familiar is from Z’gher. Rumors never get the facts right.” Rena pinned a smile on her face and flipped the lapel of the light jacket she wore over to show the mage credentials pinned to her collar. “See?”
He bent and peered at them for the longest time, seeing not the usual circles and lines, but instead a single circle with a black center. We’d had to get it customized and made for Rena from a jeweler, as of course no other place made something like this. Mary actually designed it for us, a newer version of her own pin.
The old man stared, and stared, and finally one of the women behind him got impatient and hip-checked him out of the way in order to get a look of her own. He went sideways, spluttering, rubbing at the abused skin, but no one paid any attention to him.
“We don’t know any of those mage symbols,” the matron informed her. “Can you give us some other proof?”
Rena cocked her head, thought about, then nodded. “Alright.” She turned her head a bare two inches, the incantation falling readily from her mouth. I had no idea what she aimed at, but everyone looked in that same general direction. In a half a minute, one of the decorative shells hanging from the corner of the roof disappeared in a wisp of smoke and ash.
Half of the onlookers jumped, jerking back in alarm. The other swore and looked at Rena as if she’d just sprouted horns.
The matron nodded, as if satisfied. “I’m Dag’s aunt, Autumn. You come with me, I’ll take you to him.”
Glad to escape the paranoid old man, I obeyed with alacrity. Autumn’s wide build cut a swathe through the watching people and she chattered over her shoulder as she went, “You ignore Blue. Man doesn’t believe anyone until he’s proven it himself. We’re glad to see someone else from MISD, as that last agent didn’t know what to do with Dag. Said it was strange what the boy could do. Didn’t think he was a Void Mage, either, which we thought was strange, as Dag’s powerful good at destroying things. But you’re a Void Mage, you say?”
“That’s right,” Rena confirmed. She cast a glance over her shoulder, as did I. Everyone in the village chose to follow us. Rena was apparently going to have a crowd of onlookers for this test. That did not fill my heart with joy.
“Then we’ll let you tell us what he is. We’ve got no real experience with magic in these parts, aside from traveling magicians getting stranded every so often.” Autumn left the last two hous
es, facing the docks and rocky beach, and put both hands around her mouth to shout out, “DAG!”
A boy with dark brown hair, tousled from the wind, popped up from where he had been working the nets and yelled back, “WHAT!”
“Come here!” Autumn shook her head and turned before calling again, “Everest! You too!”
Another man who had been sewing on fishnets dropped everything in his hands and made his way forward. He looked nearly as old as my father, but I realized part of that was the life he’d lived, prematurely aging him. His dark hair looked similar to the boy’s, but other than that, they didn’t seem at all alike. Still, I assumed this to be Dagwood’s father.
Dagwood himself scampered nimbly over the rocky shore, the thin soles of his shoes slipping a little on the slick rock, although it didn’t slow him down much. He barely looked his age, he was so skinny, and a little short in my opinion. My attention was caught on his eyes the most, though. Those clear grey eyes looked remarkably like Rena’s.
My wife caught the resemblance too, as she shared a quick glance with me, head slightly canting, expression asking, ‘Do you see that?’
I nodded to her in a minute dip of the head. I certainly did. I know she’d said that Void Mages didn’t pass down anything genetically—their child either was or wasn’t a Void Mage—but those eyes really made me question that theory. I tried to keep that off my face, as I had at least a dozen people examining every facial twitch of mine. This was truly getting unnerving. What would they do if we didn’t give them the answer they wanted?
“Everest, Dagwood, this is Renata Hach, the Void Mage,” Autumn introduced with a proud smile at us, as if she’d magically produced us herself from thin air. “I didn’t catch your name, young man.”
“I’m Bannen Hach, her husband-familiar,” I introduced myself with a quick bow and smile.
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