Adamagika: The Spirit Within - 7. Ch 07: Reservations

CHAPTER 07: Reservations

That night when Jacob broke down in my arms, we didn’t talk about anything else. I had questions buzzing in my head but I knew that he probably had more. It seemed that he hasn’t had experience with magic like this before and it was undoubtedly confusing. Heck, I’m familiar with magic but still I’m confused.

He fell asleep in my arms and soon I too fell asleep. I felt an odd sense of peace lying there with him on the soft ground. It almost seemed like he belonged there with me.

I wanted it to last forever but morning came far too soon as it always did when one slept.

When I woke up the next day, Jacob was still asleep. The air had become moist with the morning dew and the sun was just beginning to warm the forest with its heat.

Magister Aenhol was awake. He was seated a good distance away from us on a mat placed upon a large flat rock I didn’t notice the night before. On the mat was an assortment of fruits. I wondered where he managed to keep a mat in his robes.

“Good morning, Adam, are you hungry?”

“Good morning, sir, and yes, I’m starving.” I gave him a small smile. I had finished the bread and cheese by yesterday. The bag that contained my clothes was still with the horse.

I sat down next to him and looked at the different fruits he had.

“Are these apples, sir?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, they are.”

“But apples don’t grow in the forest, sir.”

“No, they don’t.”

Again, I somehow knew that was the end of that particular conversation.

“I have a lot of questions, Adam,” my teacher suddenly said, “and I’m sure you have more. This is probably not the best time or place for us to discuss them all but some matters must be addressed sooner rather than later. “First, I’d like to ask you what you intend to do with your friend, Jacob?”

“What do you mean, sir?”

“Well, where will he live? Are we going to bring him back with us to the city? Who will care for him if so? All things considered, he is just a boy.”

That hadn’t occurred to me. I stayed in the school in the castle because Magister Aenhol vouched for me all those years ago. I wanted to ask him if he would do the same for Jacob but somehow I figured that he wouldn’t.

“I can vouch for him if you want me to, Adam,” he said softly.

I turned my head to face him. He did that thing again. “Sir, are you sure you can’t read minds?”

He chuckled lightly, “I just know you too well. Know though, Adam, that I do not like whatever happened between you two. I can’t say I understand it yet. You seem to be delving into magic unheard of,” he paused to look intently at me. “It could be dangerous.”

“You still don’t trust him, sir? What about last night? You saw how he was. You could tell that he didn’t really want to harm me.”

“It is because of last night that I don’t trust this boy,” he looked over to where Jacob was sleeping. “We don’t know what motivates him, what his intentions are, what drives his magic.”

“His magic? You mean he’s a mage, sir?” It had occurred to me as a possibility but until then I wasn’t sure.

“Oh yes,” my teacher replied. “There is no doubt in my mind that he is a mage though I’m not sure if he knows it. Somehow it has been repressed much like yours has been.”

“Mine, sir? What’s wrong with my magic?”

“Nothing’s wrong with your magic, Adam. I’ve always known you had the potential to become a powerful mage and I knew that your magic was being held back.” He looked over at me and continued in a much softer voice, “I have a somewhat unusual talent to sense great magic, you see, even when it is concealed. Your magic has changed overnight. It was hidden for whatever reason and has now started the process of coming out. It hasn’t been fully released yet but more of it has been exposed for you to use much like with Jacob. You two have more in common than I would like to admit.”

“Is that how you found me, sir? With your special talent?”

“Yes, Adam, that is exactly how I found you. Now, before you ask why I did not find your friend here earlier, that I cannot answer because I do not know.”

I digested his words for a moment. “Do all mages have special talents, sir?”

“No, some do and for those that do have unusual magical gifts, their talents do not usually manifest until much later in life. More than likely you, yourself, will manifest some kind of exceptional gift. As a matter of fact, I think you’ve already begun displaying some of it.”

“I have a special talent, sir?” If that were true, I didn’t have the slightest clue what it was.

“Yes, I believe so.”

“What do you think it is, sir?”

“Aah, dear boy.” He looked over at me. “I’m afraid that is for you to figure out for yourself.”

A thought started bothering me about all this. He always seemed to speak to me ambiguously as though things were supposed to be obvious when they obviously weren’t. It almost felt like my teacher was hiding something from me.

“What is it really that you are worried about, sir?” I looked into his eyes trying to convey exactly how much he needed to be honest with me at that time. That whatever he was hiding, he had to tell me in order for me to understand.

He looked intently at me in those few moments and his eyes conveyed more emotion than I would have expected or perhaps thought possible – love, concern, and an unmistakable hint of fear. Before I could ask him about that though, he looked away and responded. “Now is not the time for this conversation, Adam. Soon though. Perhaps far too soon. Aah, he stirs.”

I looked over to Jacob who was just beginning to wake.

He stretched out his arms and legs and turned towards us. His face changed several times to convey a mixture of emotions. At first it was confusion, then understanding, then finally something that looked somewhat like defeat. He stood up and walked towards us. He seemed to be eyeing the assortment of fruits.

“Would you like to have some breakfast, Jacob?” my teacher asked. This surprised me considering I did not expect him to be so friendly, at least not yet.

Jacob seemed to eye him warily as though looking for any hint of malice in my teacher’s eyes. His gaze then landed on mine and a small smile seemed to break on his lips. “Yes, please.”

“Well, help yourself.”

He sat down next to me and took an apple. He took a bite then another and another. Boy, he was hungry.

We sat there in silence. Sometimes it was awkward, and in others it felt just right. It almost seemed like we were just enjoying a day out in the forest.

“I’m sorry about that.” It took me a moment to realize that Jacob was pointing at something on my neck. Instinctively, I raised my hand to check what was there. I felt a rough patch of skin. It was a wound – a souvenir of last night’s events.

“I mended it while you were sleeping,” my teacher answered my unspoken question.

I looked over to him and nodded with a smile. Then, I turned towards Jacob. “It’s alright. I’m just glad you didn’t go deeper or I might have to hurt you too.” I offered him a smile to convey that I was doing a friendly jest.

He bowed his head and seemed to shrink further into himself. “I’m not like that you know,” he said softly. “I’ve never hurt anyone before yesterday. For the longest time, I’ve hated mages. I’ve always imagined myself killing mages someday. I’ve been taught they were evil.” At this, he raised his eyes to momentarily look at my teacher then just as quickly lowered it again.

“But I’ve seen your life,” he said as he continued to address me, “at least bits of it and I can tell you’re not like the mages we’ve been told to hate.” He looked out into the forest, probably trying to recall memories of his home. I tried to comfort him.

“You can come with us, Jacob,” I began tentatively. When he didn’t respond, I continued. “There is a city for mages like us where we’re trained. What you do with your magic is up to you. If you want to help people with it then do that. If you want to kill humans with it like all the stories you’ve heard then you can do that too. Know though that if you do that, you will make enemies of both humans and mages alike.”

He looked over at me with a somewhat impassive face. “Am I really a mage?” He seemed to be taking this a lot better than I thought.

“We think so,” I said. “We don’t know yet what you’re capable of but we’ll help you understand if you let us.” I looked over at my teacher at this and his face seemed unreadable. Perhaps he realized that I was expecting him to say something because he suddenly spoke.

“I can vouch for you, Jacob, like I did with Adam seven years ago. You can learn magic with the other students in school and I’m certain that Adam will not hesitate to help you in any way he can.”

Jacob’s eyes met mine and I thought I saw happiness in his eyes. His lips seemed to be struggling to hold back a smile. “I’d like that,” was all he replied.

“Very well,” said my teacher as he stood up. “In that case, we should head out as soon as possible. The city is a good two days away by horse. Jacob, you can ride with Adam.” He walked purposefully towards the horses.

“Horse? Don’t mages have a way of travelling faster?” Jacob asked my teacher as the latter mounted his horse.

My teacher looked over at us for a moment and added “there will be right times to use magic and it should not be abused by those that can wield it.” He then turned his horse the other direction and started heading for the road.

Jacob looked at me in confusion. He looked a bit disappointed. I gathered up the few remaining fruits before turning my attention to him.

I offered my own explanation.

“Just go with it.” I smiled widely and that seemed to be enough for him.

We mounted the horse. With Jacob being smaller, I made him sit in front of me sandwiched between my legs. His dagger was safely placed in a hilt by his belt that I didn’t notice until then when our bodies were in such close proximity.

At first, I was worried that Jacob would respond awkwardly to leaning on me shirtless while on a horse. But if it made him the slightest bit uncomfortable, it never showed. I turned our horse and started following Magister Aenhol down the road. He had a considerable lead on us.

I wanted to ask Jacob something. I wasn’t sure if it was the appropriate time. But somehow, I knew it was important for me to get to know Jacob more and maybe understand a bit of what I saw in his history. I figured that it was as good a time as any to start that.

“Jacob?”

“Yeah?” he said without turning his head to look at me.

“What happened to Thomas?”

His body seemed to stiffen at that and his head seemed to have gone up a notch. He was silent for awhile and I was worried that I asked too soon. Eventually he responded though.

“He’s dead. He got killed trying to protect me.”

“Oh,” I said somewhat disappointed with the news. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“It’s alright,” he said. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”

I didn’t know it then but he was absolutely right. I didn’t have anything to be sorry about.

I wouldn’t know until much, much later that this was the first of many lies that Jacob would tell me.