Adamagika: The Spirit Within - 3. Ch 03: Return to the Village

CHAPTER 03: Return to the Village

I met up with Magister Aenhol in the stables early the following day. I packed two sets of clothes for myself and some bread, cheese and smoked ham.

My teacher was just wearing his robes.

“Sir, aren’t you bringing anything with you?”

“Of course, I am, I’m bringing you, aren’t I?” He started walking towards the horses.

I didn’t know what to say to that so I just kept quiet. He must have noticed my discomfort because he paused and turned towards me.

“Pardon my manners, young Adam. My age sometimes makes me forget myself. I’m not a morning person, you see.” He paused for a moment then continued. “Everything I need to bring is in my pocket.”

He then proceeded to pat his left chest with his right hand indicating that perhaps there was a hidden pocket inside.

I wanted to ask him how he would fit his clothes and food in there but decided against it. I started to wonder if he meant for me to bring enough food for both us.

“No, your food is all yours,” he said to me as though he were answering my thoughts.

“Did you read my mind, sir?”

He chuckled. “No dear boy, I’m afraid even my magic has its limitations. I simply know what you are thinking because I too once stood where you now stand.”

I looked at him curiously, “you once went as a boy with your teacher to the village?”

Honestly, I’m not sure which I believed more – that he once went on a trip with his teacher or that he was once a boy.

He looked at me and chuckled. “Not the same but quite similar.”

He jumped onto his horse with an agility that should not exist in his frail looking body and I knew somehow that the conversation was over for now.

We rode out through the empty streets of the city. He waved every now and then to a familiar face and greeted them. Most were early morning businessmen preparing to open up shop.

“Ay, whatcha doing out here so early, magister?”

I looked at the speaker and recognized him as the bartender to one of the local pubs. I think his name was George, or Rick. As far as I knew, he wasn’t a mage but he was one of those humans who peacefully lived among us.

“Ah my dear friend, I am just taking a short trip with my student, Adam. We’re going to do some research out in the field.”

The bartender looked over at me and seemed to study my face intently. I just stared blankly at him. He turned towards my teacher and gave him a similar searching look.

“Uhh, magister, you not be thinkin’ anything along the lines of…”

“I assure you Jorik,” aah, so that was his name, “my intentions on this trip are entirely for research and Adam’s presence is of assistance to me in that regard.”

The two friends, if indeed they were friends, stared into each other’s eyes as though silently communicating. The silence stretched awkwardly until Jorik the bartender nodded and wished us the best of luck in our research. After genial farewells, the two of us continued on our horses and headed out towards to gates.

Magister Aenhol waved towards the guardsmen at the gate at which I felt some kind of energy shiver throughout the walls.

“Shields.”

I looked towards my teacher with a questioning look.

“That sensation you feel. It is the shields around the walls going down.” We continued on our horses. “You see, the walls themselves are mostly for aesthetic purposes. What really defends our city from any threat are the shields that encompass the whole city.”

“Sir, we have mages that can shield the whole city?”

“No, not even the most powerful mages will be able to sustain a shield this strong and this large for a very long time. We have magic-sensitive crystals hidden within key locations around the city that power these shields. Every now and then mages would strengthen them with their own magic and reinforce the city’s defenses. You didn’t think a wall would stop our enemies now did you?”

I didn’t actually know. I’ve never read anything about Arantiva being attacked so I had no idea what defenses existed to defend the city. We always spoke of demons, undead spirits, and those humans in the outer regions but other than the last, I’ve never seen any of them up close or in combat. This train of thought reminded me of something though.

I looked around to see if anyone was near enough to overhear us. The city was far behind. I looked back at it realizing that I haven’t left those walls since I arrived seven years ago. It saddened and excited me at the same time and I hoped that it wouldn’t be too long before I saw them again.

We were already coming close to the Brallic forest which surrounded our city to the north. I decided to bring up what was bothering me to my teacher.

“Sir, may I ask you something?” He nodded to me. I contemplated for a moment how to best explain it to him. I remembered what happened yesterday with that voice and I ran it over and over again in my mind on how to explain it to him. I figured it was best to lay it all out.

“Sir, do you remember when I told you about the voice I heard in the village all those years ago?”

“Mmhmm,” he nodded again.

“Well sir, I heard it again yesterday.” I looked towards him but his expression remained calm and unchanged. It almost felt like he was expecting what I was saying.

“I heard it sir when I was speaking to Madame Rooste.”

He chuckled lightly. “Oh my, she does tend to get into people heads now, doesn’t she?” He looked over at me with a smile.

I forced a smile back to him and continued. “Well sir, it wasn’t her voice that I heard in my head. It was the same one I heard those many years ago.”

“And, what did this voice tell you?” He looked ahead again towards the road. The sun was slowly rising in the east.

“Well…” I paused.

It is not yet time for him to know about Jacob. The voice took that moment to interrupt my thoughts. His past clouds his judgment. He will not understand until you do!

I must have sat there with a dumb expression on my face for awhile because the next thing I knew my teacher was nudging me and asking me if I was alright.

I looked into his grey, almost silver, eyes and saw a flurry of emotions – concern, love, and what appeared to be pain.

I didn’t know what to do. I trusted my teacher. Perhaps he was the only person I did trust in the whole world. What did it mean if I couldn’t tell him? And what about his past affected us then?

“Uhm… uhh…” I stammered. “I’m alright, sir.”

I thought for a moment, trying to find a way out of this conversation that I really wanted to have yesterday. Then, it occurred to me.

“She said Madame Rooste was evil.” I decided to go for half the truth.

He chuckled lightly and looked back towards the road. Whatever emotions were playing in his eyes were gone now. He seemed almost playful again. “Well, I suppose it doesn’t take a disembodied voice for us to know that.” He chuckled again. “Did it say anything else?”

He was still looking forward when he asked me that last question.

“Uhm, no sir.”

He looked over at me as if trying to read my mind and again I was wondering if maybe he lied about not being able to do that. “Well then, it was probably just your mind trying to warn yourself about Madame Rooste. We all know she’s evil.”

I looked over at him in shock. I have never heard him say anything bad about other teachers.

He looked over at me and our eyes met as though saying that our conversation should be kept a dirty, little secret. He then abruptly changed the topic much to my relief. “In case you were wondering, we’re headed to a settlement in the forests of Anthium just between the borders of the Oarstir and the Dervik Clans.”

Now, having read much about modern and early history, I knew what the Oastir and Dervik clans were. The Oarstirs live in an area rich with metal resources which made their clan some of the best weapon smiths in the region. The Derviks on the other hand had superior fighting abilities and were known for killing mages primarily through ambushes.

Weapons and skill combined, these two neighboring clans make fierce enemies of the mages. I was wondering why two lowly mages like us, well one lowly and one powerful, were headed towards a place that clearly sounded dangerous.

This was particularly bothersome since they were near the heart of the non-magical human kingdoms, places known to be heavily concentrated with technology.

“Sir, is it wise for just us to head in there by ourselves? The Derviks are known to ambush mages. What if we get attacked and fall into one of their traps.”

“The settlement we are going to is not thickly populated. It is very small even. It borders the two clans but is not of significant enough interest to either. There is something I need to check.”

“Are you looking for someone out there like me, sir?”

“Yes, quite possibly there is someone out there just like you.”

I nodded silently at this but in truth I was jumping with excitement inside. Despite the magnificence of the mage city, I felt lonely there. I didn’t belong with the children of the wealthy and powerful mages and it was not easy for me to interact with them. Perhaps this person we were looking for could be my friend when we get back. This brought a smile to my lips.

The next two days went by slowly despite the fast speeds of our horses. We would stop every now and then to eat and we would rest at night. Just before going to sleep, Magister Aenhol would raise shields around us. I knew because I felt the same tingling I did back at the city gates.

We would eat twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. I made do with my hardening loaf of bread and cheese. The smoked ham didn’t even make it past my first meal.

On our first night, I tried to light a fire with my magic. I gathered a bunch of broken branches and pilled them into a stack. I then focused and recalled how we conjured fire from our practical exercises. Most students were able to generate fireballs. One was able to create a pillar of flame to the amazement of the teachers. One even managed to make his flame take the shape of a dragon.

I managed to create a ball of flame the size of a very small pebble.

It wasn’t any better out here than in the castle’s training grounds.

For food, Magister Aenhol would just eat whatever fruits he found in the nearby trees. “It’s good for digestion,” he would say. He offered me some but I politely declined. I had no idea what those wild fruits would do to me.

On our third day, we finally reached the Anthium Forest. Now, this forest was not known to be one of the safest forests in the world. In fact, with it being so close to major non-mage settlements, we knew very little about it. I did know that most mages that entered it did not leave again. I wasn’t sure if it was because of humans or something else that lived there.

Magister Aenhol jumped off his horse. “We will leave the horses here. The settlement is not too far into the forest. It is best if we try to exercise additional caution in our research.”

We fought our way through the thick trees while trying to make as little noise as possible. Every now and then, Magister Aenhol would wave his hand in the air and raise his head as if he was trying to pick up a scent.

“Magic sensor,” he said when I asked him about it. “I’m trying to see if there is any kind of technology near us that could dampen our magic. We wouldn’t want to find ourselves powerless amongst enemies now would we?”

I simply nodded. I knew about magic sensory spells but knowing my aptitude for magic, I could just as easily have used my eyes and gotten better results.

The thick trees that hung over us prevented most light from reaching the forest floor. It made the forest seem more menacing and dangerous.

At one point, Magister Aenhol placed his arm on my chest to stop me. He seemed to be listening intently for something. I don’t know what it was because to me, the forest was completely still and quite.

He pointed towards an opening in the clearing. “The settlement we need is over there.” He said in a soft whisper I could barely hear. “But something is not right.”

I looked at him as though trying to figure out what could possibly be right about being in the middle of an unfamiliar forest among people who would want nothing more than our heads – bodies optional.

He continued walking towards the clearing.

I started getting that tingling feeling again in my neck and for a moment I thought I sensed another presence in the forest. What was odd about it was I didn’t feel scared about whatever or whoever it was. In fact, I had this odd sense of excitement to meet whatever was lurking in the forest.

“Come Adam. Be careful and try to make as little noise as possible.”

I looked back again towards the place where I thought I sensed something or someone but it was gone.

I walked towards my teacher. Eventually we reached the end of the clearing where the forest opened up to the sky. The camp was laid before us but like the forest. It was deathly quiet and still.

My teacher waved his arms out again and tried to sense for technology.

“Something’s here,” he said in a whisper, “but it’s…,” he paused, “…different.”

“Different, sir?”

He started walking towards the village without answering me.

The voice came back and spoke to me. It’s a trap!

I grabbed onto my teacher’s robed arm. “Sir, is it really wise to walk right into a human settlement? This feels so much like a trap. I’m actually quite sure of it.” I don’t know why but I knew I could trust that voice in my head.

He looked at me for a moment. “Yes, it is,” he said quietly.

I stared blankly at him for a moment trying to comprehend what he meant.

He continued. “But, we came here to find out some facts. I won’t know what they are unless I go in there.”

I let go of his arm and looked into his eyes trying to will him to understand how much I hated the idea of us going in there.

“You can stay here if you want, Adam. In fact, I think it’s best if you do. I am going over there near those huts. At the slightest sign of danger, you run back to the horses, do you understand?”

Fear was starting to envelop me and my breathing was starting to become ragged. Why won’t he just leave with me?

“I can’t leave yet, Adam,” he said to me softly as though he replied to my thoughts. “I must know.”

At this, he turned and headed towards to nearest hut.

I hesitated, torn between keeping myself safe and helping my teacher. This human settlement was nothing but bad news and if that voice was right, my teacher was walking right into a trap. I couldn’t let him go at it alone but what could I do? I could barely do a decent fire spell!

I sighed and ran after him. I stopped at his side. “I’m going with you, sir,” I said shakily.

He smiled at me. I felt the familiar shimmer of his mage shields going up around us.

“Stay with me.”