Adamagika: The Spirit Within - 12. Ch 12: Different

CHAPTER 12: Different

Marcus has always been the bullying type for as long as I’d known him.

When I was nine, he would fling little bits of paper onto the back of my head from his seat behind me (he always seemed to find ways to sit behind me). They were moist and would get lodged in between strands of my hair. I would walk around looking like I had a serious case of dandruff and it didn’t help me make friends at all; not that his interference would have changed things otherwise really. I was always “the boy from the village” and most people avoided me like the plague.

Not Marcus though. He made it a mission to make me miserable.

When I reached the age of ten, he had upgraded his ammunition into magically propelled pebbles. Looking back now, they didn’t hurt as much as sting momentarily but at that age, any bit of pain (especially when least expected) seemed like the end of the world.

The only class he spared me in was Magister Aenhol’s class. It doesn’t mean he never tried though. He tried it once but it didn’t go according to plan for him.

Even at a young age, I already knew that Magister Aenhol had eyes like a hawk. He rarely missed anything happening around him. Marcus learned that the hard way.

On that auspicious day in Magister Aenhol’s class, Marcus tried to harass me by firing a tiny pebble to my head. This time though, it bounced harmlessly and went directly for his nose which rapidly engorged itself into an angry red blob.

Magister Aenhol then warned us to be careful with propulsion spells since they can backfire horrendously resulting in unusual spell effects like enlarged noses. He then gave me a very discrete wink and I knew his class was one in which I was safe. It was the last time Marcus tried anything in that class.

By the time Marcus and I were both twelve, he had already gathered two of his soon to be larger following of goons and the three of them took to assaulting my meals in the dining hall. I had my own allotment of food every day. Magister Aenhol had special arrangements made for my unique case in the castle (as his ward).

They resented that, me being special that is. So, they would often devour my food before I even touched it. That was the strategy at first anyway. Eventually though, they must have grown weary of having to consume whatever was on my plate so they developed the habit of just throwing it away just so I couldn’t eat it.

Other students didn’t seem to notice and if they did, they just ignored it.

Marcus’ set of goons was complete by the time we were fifteen and they made my life in and out of class as much a hell as I could possibly imagine. There were four of them and varied from fat and ugly, to thin and ugly, to crooked and ugly, and lastly to someone who had no notable qualities other than being butt ugly.

Marcus though was not ugly. He was for the most part the model child in appearance made of the stuff that most parents could only dream of. Except for his metallic grey eyes that seemed to dull his otherwise attractive physique, he was undoubtedly handsome and girls (and boys) would coo over his natural features.

I would have been envious of him too if he wasn’t such a prick.

Now that we were almost seventeen, he seemed different than before. I found out through overheard conversations that he had changed since he came back from his visit with the Seer. As I said, I was pretty much invisible or ignored so they probably didn’t even notice me there listening.

He had turned seventeen during the month Magister Aenhol and I left for the Anthium forest and it just so happened that his departure for the Seer coincided with our own trip.

The visit to the Seer as per Mage Academy tradition was a mandatory ritual among young mages of Arantiva’s school. The Seer herself (it was rumored that it was a female) was an unexplainable force of magic. She lived among the caves hidden within the mountain and is believed to hold knowledge of the future. Over the centuries she was known to have moved and influenced the fates of entire generations of mages.

Upon turning seventeen, a mage of the Academy would journey at the end of their birth month to the Mountains of Hallea accompanied by one adult and all other seventeen year old mages of the Academy who shared that birth month. The young mage would visit the Seer by himself and would receive knowledge or understanding that will aid him for the rest of his life.

Marcus underwent that journey. That was over two months ago.

Since then, he’s been… alone. I guess that was one way of describing him. For whatever reason, he had dropped his posse of ugly goons. His face also seemed older somewhat but no less handsome. It was as though he had just suddenly realized that the world was an unfriendly place to be or that there was no such thing as Santa or refined sugar.

He’s been distant, sometimes staring into nothing. The few times though that we happen to look at each other, his face would seem wistful for a moment just before it etched itself in an angry look that seemed to mar his handsome features (by just a little by the way). But whenever our eyes met, I could somehow feel that it wasn’t me he was angry at. I couldn’t explain it. I just knew.

Mostly, I let Marcus be with his newfound attitude. Sometimes, soft tendrils of worry about what happened to Marcus would creep into my thoughts. I was leaving at the end of this month for my own journey to the Seer with no less than Madame Rooste as our adult guide. I was going with Jacob (whom I discovered was born by some coincidence on the same day I was) and one other student I didn’t really know. I sometimes worried that I would return like Marcus, having found some new understanding that would shatter my world.

It worried me every now and then. For the most part though, I was too busy enjoying life with Jacob.

We had grown much closer. Jacob was having little to no difficulty adjusting to life in the mage city and we spent virtually every moment in each other’s company.

We explored more of the city and even returned frequently to the Ice Queen’s Taverna. I didn’t mind as long as I didn’t have to eat or drink anything there. The Ice Queen still wore her lethal red and feathery headpiece. She was also as frigid as ever except for the one time we actually paid for something (only because we accidentally spilled the drink of another customer; she didn’t need to know that tiny detail though). Most of the time however, we would just talk to Jorik and Phillip. I missed Phillip and sometimes even daydreamed about him in school. I had the nerve to flirt with him once.

I think Jacob didn’t liked that. He hasn’t suggested that we go back there since.

So, things were considerably going well for us. It was a beautiful late afternoon when things started going downhill.

We were out in one of the gardens in the castle. These gardens weren’t like what most people considered gardens. The gardens in the castle were the gardens of gardens. They covered large areas and held a large variety of plant life. Many trees were scattered about providing shade strategically where the castle did not. Stone benches littered the tiny little refuge of nature and were surrounded with the most exotic flowers one could expect to see in gardens of this caliber. I didn’t recognize most of them though as I was not a plant person but you did not have to be one to appreciate the beauty of the place.

Jacob and I were just enjoying ourselves on the grass underneath what looked like an Acacia tree. I wasn’t really paying attention to it. We were talking about nothing in particular and just enjoying the view of the sun slowly sinking in the distance when someone decided that he needed to ruin the moment.

That someone loomed over us like a hawk circling its prey, its metallic beady eyes watching our every move.

“Enjoying ourselves, are we?” Marcus asked quite scrupulously, displeasure etched in every word.

“We were, as a matter of fact, until you came along and ruined it,” Jacob replied before I could say anything. I looked over at him in surprise. I’ve known that Jacob has been annoyed, maybe even angry, with Marcus since that day they first saw each other. But until then, the two of them have never really said anything to one another. I knew they’ve shared angry glares when they thought I wouldn’t notice but other than that, they haven’t been confrontational.

Marcus huffed and glared at Jacob. “Who do you think you are? You’re new here, boy. Maybe you don’t know how things work around here.”

Aah, there’s the Marcus I knew.

Jacob was on his feet in an instant. I’m certain if he had his dagger with him, he would have had it unsheathed and aimed at Marcus’ throat.

Marcus seemed to be expecting something like this. He pushed his open palm towards Jacob’s chest before Jacob had any chance to react. He muttered something under his breath and Jacob was flung several feet backwards hitting solidly against a tree. Jacob landed with sickening thud and lay very still.

“Jacob!” I yelled as I scrambled to my feet. But before I could run towards him, a hand was on my right arm impeding my progress.

Marcus was holding onto me tightly. “You don’t need him, Adam. He’s not like us.”

“What the heck are you talking about?” I asked Marcus as I continued to struggle out of his grip. He was clearly strong as I was unable to wiggle away from him.

“You’re not like him, Adam,” he said gently. “You’re one of us. Jacob is dangerous. If you stay with him, you’re going to…” He paused, his eyes widening and looking behind me. Without even turning around, I knew what had caught his attention. I could feel it prickling on my skin – strong and angry magic.

I turned around and found myself staring at Jacob. He was standing with his legs slightly bent, shoulders stiff, and arms curved outwards on his side. It was a fighting stance.

“Move aside, Adam,” he spoke calmly.

“Jacob, what are you doing?” I asked. Before he could answer though, Marcus waved his arms over his head in intricate patterns and the ground around Jacob exploded in a swirl of dust and rock.

“Jacob!” I yelled and tried to reach him but Marcus once again had a hold of my arm.

In the blink of an eye, the whirling dust was suddenly consumed in flames as a whirlwind of fire raised itself into the sky. At the very base of the flames was Jacob. He waved his hand forward and the fire obeyed him surging forward towards a surprised Marcus.

Marcus raised his right arm over his head and the air shimmered with a transparent grey shield made from magic. It did little though as it was quickly quenched when the orange fire met the grey air. It exploded on impact knocking Marcus and myself backwards away from each other.

By then, several students were watching what was happening. Some were watching with anticipation while others looked frightened but also eager to know what would happen next.

I leaned on my side to check what was happening.

Jacob was still on his feet, no longer shrouded in fire. The grass around him looked like they were bombarded by meteors. Marcus was on his knees and watching Jacob warily. Each was waiting for the other to make a move.

Marcus took the initiative. He reached out with his hand and the tree behind Jacob tipped itself downwards slowly making its way down to crush Jacob. Jacob was too fast for it and he managed to roll away with practiced ease.

Marcus was expecting this though as roots and leaves started sprouting from the ground where Jacob landed. They wrapped themselves around his wrists, arms, chest and legs and were pulling him downward. Jacob arched his back upwards resisting the sinew of his bindings.

A sudden wind whipped around us whirling from all directions. Marcus seemed to be at the heart of this wind storm as his robes were being whipped upwards to ever changing directions and his face looked like he was being slapped roughly and his mouth was gaping like a fish. The wind was threatening to lift him up and knock him down at the same time.

It was strange but as I watched the magic ripple in the air I could feel an odd tingling all over my body. It felt as though something was attempting to escape through my skin but at the same time my body was resisting to let whatever it was escape. It was a very strange and distracting sensation.

I put it out of my mind and turned my attention back to the two boys dueling. The two of them knelt there struggling against the bonds being enforced by the other until there was a sudden, very loud bang that seemed to roll out from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. The three of us found ourselves on the ground panting from deep exhaustion which I found weird because I was basically just sitting there the whole time.

I saw a swirl of purple majestic robes sweep before me. I struggled to look up and found myself staring up at familiar face. It belonged to a rather young female, Mage Lord.

“What is going on here?” she asked seemingly no one in particular.

She was answered by a chorus of ragged breaths coming from three floored boys. She waved her hand almost in dismissal and I felt exhaustion leave me. Slowly, I got to my knees.

“Adam Lowry, would you care to explain to me what is happening here?” she said. It took me a few seconds to comprehend that she was referring to me. I stood up.

“Oh uhm,” I began eloquently. “Well there was a fight.”

“That much is clear to me, young man,” she said in an exasperated voice as she looked over at Jacob and Marcus who were still panting on the floor. Roots were threatening to wrap themselves around Jacob’s exposed neck. She waved a hand and the roots dissipated into dust. She then turned back towards me. “What I want to know is how it started and why it led to the destruction of this garden?”

“Uhm,” I said again as I wondered how to explain it best. I decided to start with at the beginning and as soon as I started speaking, it all came rushing out. “I guess it started with Jacob and me just sitting here in the grass. Marcus came over and started causing trouble. And then he used magic to fling Jacob back towards a tree then he made the ground around Jacob explode. Then the fight just escalated from there.” I said the last bit uncertainly, not sure how much more detail she wanted.

She tilted her head as though she was contemplating if she should believe me or not. “Did you use any magic in this fight?” she asked.

“No, uhm… Madame.”

She looked intently at me for a moment and as I stared into her eyes, her eyes were swirling different degrees of confusion, curiosity, and excitement.

She told me to stand still and then she placed her hand right between our eyes where I could clearly see it. I watched as dark purple flames emerged from her hand. She frowned for a moment then smiled as the flames almost immediately turned into a turquoise blue.

“Interesting,” she said to herself. At least, I didn’t think she was talking to me.

Before I could ask her about that, a shriek came from behind us followed by the unmistakable figure of Madame Rooste parting the crowd. The temperature seemed to rise several degrees.

“What have you done?!” she screeched. She looked around at the destruction then to the two panting boys on the ground then towards me and her eyes narrowed like daggers.

“I’m going to have you expelled for this,” she hissed. I swear it came out as a hiss.

“I don’t think it is necessary to go to such extremes, Madame Rooste,” said the other female Mage Lord.

“But, I do, Lady Helena,” she said seemingly with disgust. “Seeing as how I am the Mage Lord in charge of handling all affairs involved in this school, it is I with the final say in deciding who can and cannot stay within the fine walls of this institution. These two are dangerous,” she said as she spared Jacob and me a glance. “I have already given leeway with these two at the behest of the Council. Have you forgotten what they did to my dining hall?”

“No, I haven’t,” said Lady Helena solemnly.

I felt like I had to speak up or else Jacob and I were going to be at the losing end of this. “But Madame Rooste, it was Marcus that attacked Jacob first. Jacob was only defending himself.”

“Be that as it may,” she said in a tone that clearly said that she had made up her mind regardless of what I said, “fights are not resolved in this manner among us mages. This kind of behavior is barbaric and the type I would expect to see only from people of the village.” She glared at me.

“Now,” she continued as she turned towards Lady Helena as though I suddenly became something unpleasant to look at, “the young Marcus will be extended the same courtesy given to these two when they first destroyed school property. Be assured though that if he ever steps out of bounds again I will have him expelled despite any influence that his father has on the council.” She said this loud enough for Marcus and probably the entire student body to hear.

She turned back towards me. “I want you two out of the castle grounds before nightfall.”

“I’m afraid you cannot remove them from the castle,” Lady Helena intervened.

Madame Rooste’s nostrils flared. “And why not?”

“As the Mage Lord that oversees the Academy, you have every right to remove them from the educational institution of this castle. You can ban them from setting foot in any of your classrooms. However, the power to remove any individual from the castle as a whole lies only with the High Mage Lord and his chosen Apprentice.”

“Fine,” she spat as she turned to me again. “I want you to vacate your room by the end of the day.”

“I’m afraid you can’t do that either,” said Lady Helena.

Madame Rooste glared at her. “Are you telling me now that I have no right to remove non-students from rooms reserved solely for students of the Academy?”

“Of course not,” she said calmly, “but you must remember that the room was granted to these boys through a decision of the Mage Council which overrules individual powers of Mage Lords. As I recall, you protested vehemently back then also though it didn’t make much of a difference. They can therefore continue to use that room and by extension the hallways and stairs that lead to the said room. Even included is their continued right to use the facilities of that level which are there for the residents of those rooms. If you want to reverse this decision, then it is something you might want to take up in the next council meeting.”

The two Mage Lords stared at one another. Lady Helena had a calm, serene look on her face while Madame Rooste’s was a mask of anger.

“Are you going to tell me also,” Madame Rooste said tentatively, “that these boys are also allowed to use the school dining halls for their meals?”

“That I’m afraid,” replied Lady Helena gravely, “is entirely up to you.”

Madame Rooste turned to me with malicious eyes and I was afraid of her next words. However, she turned around and stomped back towards the interior of the school. I felt a momentary sense of relief that lasted about three seconds.

“You’re also banned from the school dining halls!” she yelled over her head without turning around. I could have sworn that I heard laughter following her.

I puffed out a deep sigh and looked towards Jacob who was still panting on the ground. For a very brief moment, I felt a stab of anger towards him.

A gentle hand landed on my shoulder. I turned to see Lady Helena studying me with compassionate eyes. “Everything will be alright, Adam,” she said. I wish I could believe her.

She turned towards Jacob and Marcus. “I suppose it’s alright now for me to release you two?” She waved her hand and the two boys slowly got to their feet.

Jacob and Marcus glared at each other.

“Don’t make me do that again,” she said then turned around and followed Madame Rooste towards the castle. The rest of the spectators started breaking off and hurrying towards the Academy presumably for their classes because the bell for it rang just moment ago.

Marcus turned his head towards me. I glared at him. I was angry. This was entirely his fault and there were so many things I wanted to say right at that moment that would have made his momma gasp. As I continued to glare at him, his eyes seemed to soften and I could clearly see regret etched in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. He turned away from us and walked back towards the castle without another word.

I turned my attention towards the only other person left in the garden – Jacob. He was standing facing me but looking down. I could see tear tracks that led all the way to his chin. They did nothing to mollify me though.

“Adam, look…” he began. I didn’t give him a chance.

“Just… don’t,” I said severely as my anger seemed to rise again. I made a slicing motion in the air as I said this. Jacob flinched as though he thought I was going to hit him.

I turned around and left him there in the fading light.

Alone.