Adamagika: The Spirit Within - 30. Ch 30: A New Task

CHAPTER 30: A New Task

“You need to start paying me for my services, Mr. Lowry.”

“Wha…?” I heard myself croak. I was having the most fascinating dream about grey haired horses and floating orange cloaks. Somewhere in there, I remember seeing a chicken with the head of Madame Rooste which was when I figured out that I must have been dreaming. The world was never that funny.

“Drink this,” a female voice said. “It will make you feel better.”

I felt soft, practiced hands lift me up from the back and a cup being placed against my lips. I felt a cool sweet liquid trickle through my mouth. It had a pleasant taste and I had no trouble swallowing it all. A warm soothing sensation started spreading through my skin. Some of the weariness in my arms seemed to evaporate into the air.

“There’s a good boy,” the woman said.

I blinked my eyes several times. The world was horribly out of focus and someone was constantly moving about, making me dizzy. I wish he’d stop moving.

“Adam, how are you feeling?” a different, softer, perhaps more worried voice asked. I could recognize that voice anywhere.

“Sir, what’s going on?” I asked Magister Aenhol.

“I was hoping you could enlighten us,” he said. I tried to focus on where I could see his outline but he was blurred just like everything else around me. “When I found you, you were thrashing about wildly almost as if you were being tortured. You were experiencing some rather… unusual magic.”

“Unusual?” the woman who spoke earlier asked. “I haven’t seen anything like it. What that Rooste woman did to him must have been horrible. A spell that could affect the body like that must not be legal, is it? Especially against a student.”

“No,” Magister Aenhol said, “certainly it is unusual and rather… unorthodox to use. However, before we start pointing fingers, we need proof. We’re not even sure that she was responsible for this.”

“Proof?” the woman asked as though someone had just asked her to swallow a rather nasty insect. “She was standing over him as he was tortured. Mage Lord or not, she should be locked up. No one is exempt from the law.” She began straightening my pillows as though she blamed me for ruffling them. “Besides, I’ve never liked that woman.”

I tried to blink my eyes towards the woman but she remained as blurred as Magister Aenhol.

“Sir, I can’t see,” I said. I tried to keep the panic out of my voice but even I could hear it clearly.

“Healer Cotier, would you mind giving us a few minutes of privacy?” Magister Aenhol asked.

Silence followed this statement as the two adults looked at each other. I had a feeling that this woman was not the type to just leave a patient when told. I couldn’t tell the expressions on their faces though because they were a blurred mess.

“Alright,” the woman whose voice I now recognized as belonging to the one who had healed me when Brian had accidentally injured me. “I’ll be back in five minutes. I have supplies to check anyway.”

I saw a white blur move away before I heard the distinct sound of a door closing. I must have been in a ward because I could see the outlines of many beds. However, only mine seemed occupied.

“Sir, what’s happening?” I asked as soon as I knew we were alone.

“You have to be honest with me, Adam,” he said in a serious voice. It was so devoid of emotion that a small inkling of fear edged into my mind. “Did you take anything last night?”

“What are you talking about, sir?” I asked nervously.

“Did you perhaps drink something you shouldn’t have?” he said seriously again.

I remembered the orange juice I drank earlier and how I had felt weird after drinking it. And then I remembered Jacob and what happened last night. “Sir, you have to find Jacob.”

“We will talk about Jacob soon Adam, answer my question first. Did you drink something you shouldn’t have?”

After a moment’s pause, I answered. “Orange juice.”

My response must have befuddled him because it took awhile for him to speak. “Orange juice?”

“I drank some orange juice last night. But I think there was something in it. I remember suddenly feeling so sleepy but I wasn’t before that… and… then I just blacked out.”

He seemed to be thinking deeply because he was once again silent. “Who gave you the orange juice?” he asked quietly.

I didn’t answer. I didn’t know what to answer. Only one answer was on my mind but it didn’t make sense at the moment.

“Jacob,” he said softly.

“Sir, it’s not what you’re thinking,” I began. “Jacob wouldn’t do anything to hurt me. I think he… I think he just wanted me safe and out of the way.”

“Out of the way?”

“Sir, I think he’s done something terrible,” I said. I was starting to get so worried about Jacob that I figured I just needed to come clean to Magister Aenhol. “I had a dream last night. Or maybe it was real. I don’t know. I just know that I saw Jacob and Lord Raezhul… I mean Victor Cross in a forest outside Arantiva. And that man gave Jacob something. It was like a vial with green glowing liquid in it.”

“Did he drink it?” Magister Aenhol asked softly.

“I… I don’t know sir. I woke up before that and I knew he was in trouble. I was going out to find him when Madame Rooste stopped me. Everything just happened so fast. I don’t even remember most of what happened after I met her… I just know there was this sudden pain like my whole body was on fire. Next thing I know, I wake up here.”

“I see,” Magister Aenhol said.

“Sir, you have to find Jacob. How long have I been out? He could be in trouble.”

My teacher was really quiet. I would have thought that he would have left if I didn’t see his blurred outline sitting next to me.

“Sir?” I asked again and was met with more silence. Somehow his silence was giving me a strong sense of foreboding. I really wished that I could see his face.

I reached out a hand until I felt my hands touch his robed arm. I moved it down until I found his hand. I closed my hand tightly over his. He remained limp in my hand.

“Sir, please…” I begged. I heard my voice crack and I felt a tear fall from my nearly blind eyes. “Please, sir, I love him. I can’t… He needs to be alright. I’d look for him myself if I could see. Please, please.” I felt two more tears slide down my cheeks.

I was surprised when I felt his other hand brush away the tear tracks on my cheek. “Okay, Adam. I will find him,” he said. “For you, I will find him.”

“Thank you, sir. Thank you.”

He stood up and I felt him slip from my fingers. He started walking away but stopped at the foot of the bed. “Just… just be careful Adam,” he said.

“Be careful of what, sir?” I asked.

“Of Jacob.”

Of Jacob? I certainly had reason to be. I was certain beyond any doubt that he had done something bad. The part that bothered me the most about it was that he had done it for me. There was a reason not to trust him yet I knew deep down that he was good person. If anything, this was entirely my fault. “Just find him, please, sir.”

He nodded or at least I think he did. “You should be able to see again in a few hours.” And with that, he turned and left.

Almost on cue, I heard a door open in the distance and I saw a figure come closer.

“He already left, Healer Cotier,” I said.

“Hey,” I heard the newcomer say. It was a male voice.

“Marcus?” I asked with surprise.

“Yeah,” he said. I could have sworn that I heard a smile on his face. “Already forgot how my face looks like?” he said with a laugh.

I shook my head. “No one can forget a face like that,” I said and then froze as I realized what I said. “I mean… uhh… I can’t see, sorry, my whole world is blurred so to me you’re just a big mush.”

He was looking at me as though studying me. “What about my face?” he asked unable to keep the amusement out of his voice.

“I’m sorry, must be whatever they gave me – making my brain act all weird.”

“Riiiight” he said. I heard a chair being pulled up next to me and I saw him sit down on it. “So you really can’t see?” he asked.

“No, everything’s just blurred,” I said. “Magister Aenhol says I should be able to see again in a few hours. I guess until then, I’m bedridden.”

“Sounds like a tough job then,” he said cheekily. “We’re all slaving away strengthening the city’s defenses while you get to lie down and rest.” He laughed so I knew he was just kidding.

“Hey, you can take my spot any day. I’d rather be able to see and walk around than have to lie down here like an invalid.”

Marcus laughed and I realized it wasn’t something that I often heard him do. “Hey Phillip asked me to give you this,” he said as he reached out with a metallic cylindrical package.

“You know Phillip?” I asked with surprise.

“Yeah… we did meet during your birthday remember?”

“Oh, right,” I said with a shake of my head at my stupidity. I reached out to get whatever he was giving me. It felt cold in my hands.

“He’s actually my partner now,” Marcus said as he let go of the thing in my hand.

“What?” I asked with surprise. “I thought he liked girls.”

“Huh?” Marcus asked clearly confused.

“Wait… what are we talking about?” I asked as I started getting confused too. “You said he was your partner.”

“Yeah, in the Mage Army,” Marcus said. “I signed up awhile back. When I joined in, our Squad Leader assigned me to Phillip. Imagine that. What a coincidence, huh?”

“Coincidence,” I repeated. Something about that word felt wrong at that moment, as though it didn’t fit the situation. “So, why couldn’t he give this to me himself?”

“He would have but he’s undergoing some combat training right now. I’m only here because I already know what they’re teaching the new recruits. Plus I have a little influence through my father.”

“Your father?” I asked curiously.

“Yeah, he’s a Mage Lord. Didn’t I ever tell you that?”

“You mean before or after you were done bullying me?”

Marcus chuckled and I could have sworn he shrugged sheepishly. “Right. Well, he’s the Mage Lord for Economy and Trade so he gets to interact with a lot of the wealthy businessmen and families. So my name has a little pull around here, even in the Army.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that,” I said. “So I imagine he wasn’t very happy with you joining the Army?”

“Are you kidding? He was ecstatic. He said he was really proud of me for stepping up when the city needed me. My mom looked like she laid eggs though, said I was putting myself in unnecessary danger, as if anything will be safe when they attack our city. But, I think she’s slowly coming around to accept it.”

I smiled as an image of my old, egg-laying village mother came back, except she was in mage robes, long, flowing dark hair, and far too attractive grey eyes... I looked down at the cold thing in my hand and tried to focus on it. But again, it was blurred out. “What exactly is this thing?”

“It’s apple cider,” he said, “from some place called the Ice Queen’s Tavern.”

“Taverna,” I replied with a frown.

Marcus laughed. “Judging from your face, you already know how it tastes.”

“Actually no,” I said. “But Jacob said it tastes like crap.” As I said the words, I remembered my vision of Jacob and I felt terribly sad. I felt so helpless sitting there. I forced a smile though just so Marcus wouldn’t notice anything.

“I’d say he was right,” Marcus laughed obviously not noticing the momentary sadness that passed through me. “I’ve tasted it myself. Wish I hadn’t though.”

“I’ll save it for later then. Or maybe never.” I placed the cold container on a table beside my bed. “So what really brings you here, Marcus?”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well really, the last time we’ve really spoken was on my birthday. That was quite awhile ago.”

“We’ve seen each other around,” he said.

“Yes, but those were incidental times and we don’t really speak during those moments. Sometimes I think you’ve been avoiding me.”

Marcus became quiet and it occurred to me that maybe he had been avoiding me.

“You haven’t, have you?” I asked slowly.

“Kinda,” he said quietly.

“How do you kinda avoid someone? Don’t you just do it or you don’t?”

He sighed. “Okay, maybe I’ve been avoiding you… a little.”

“Why?” I whispered.

“Reasons,” he replied unhelpfully.

“Reasons like?”

“They’re not important,” he said.

“They must have been pretty important if they made you avoid me. I thought we were starting to become friends.” He became quiet again and I was worried he was going to get mad and leave. I reached out with a hand and asked him to place his in mine. “Whatever it is, you can tell me,” I offered. I massaged his hand with my thumb and waited for him to speak.

“I’m just… confused about some things,” he whispered.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“There are far too many important things to do,” he said as he suddenly stood up, startling me. “I should go. I’m glad to see you’re alright.” He moved towards the exit.

“Marcus, wait,” I called out, but he was gone.

* * * * * * * * * *

It took a few hours but soon enough my vision cleared up again. Healer Cotier wouldn’t let me leave until I could see clearly. To test that, she had a chart that contained letters and placed it at the far side of the room opposite the bed. At first I was hoping I could just memorize it until I got it down perfectly but each time she’d test me, she’d wave her hands and the letters would change on the board. I swear she was playing with me though because sometimes I saw stars, squares, and other shapes. I recall even seeing a cow at one point. I kept asking her to test me anyway. I think she eventually got fed up and just wanted me out of there so I could stop bugging her.

Fortunately though my vision was clear enough by then that I could get around well enough as long as I didn’t have to look too far.

I ran out of the ward I was in and realized that I was in the armory. I was just about to search for Jacob when I heard my name called out. It was Brian.

“I’m glad you’re awake,” Brian said seriously. He looked tired and his clothes were a bit rumpled. “Do you think you’re able enough to train?” he asked.

“What?” I asked somewhat confused.

“To train,” he repeated. “Combat training.”

“Oh, I guess,” I said as I realized what he was talking about. “But…”

“Come on then,” he said as he continued walking down the hall. He stopped at one of the training room doors and went in. I followed him.

“Brian, there’s something I need to do,” I said as I caught up with him. I looked around the room and saw several members of the squad practicing. The mages were divided by half on each side of the room. They seemed to be working in pairs. Some were projecting large shields around them. The mages standing next to the ones creating shields were hurling wind spheres towards the shield. I was surprised when I saw some of the wind spheres go through the shield as though the shields weren’t there. As the wind spheres flew to the other side of the room though, they were blocked by the shields being generated by the opposite pair.

“What could be so important?” Brian asked as though he was irritated. “In case you’ve missed the memo, we are going to war quite soon and there are some things you need to learn quickly if you’re going to be of any help.”

I looked over at him and wondered what was eating at him. I then remembered that it was only the day before that the two of us kissed. I wondered if it had anything to do with his behavior at the moment.

“Look, Brian, it’s about Jacob. I think he’s in trouble.”

“Yes, I know about Jacob,” Brian said.

“You do?” I asked in surprise.

“I ran into Magister Aenhol as he was leaving a few hours ago,” Brian began and then paused as though he was trying to remember. “He said you’d be worried like this. He said he was going to look for Jacob and that you shouldn’t worry. You can and should trust him. There’s nothing you can do for Jacob now and the best you can do is to train for combat.”

“He said all that?” I asked.

Brian looked over and this time he actually smiled. “Actually he did. You know, sometimes I think he has a little bit of the Seer in him. It’s like he knows everything.”

I sighed and scratched my head in annoyance. Brian noticed it.

“Look,” he said softly this time, sounding more concerned. “I know Jacob is important to you and I mean really important to you. I don’t know what happened last night so I can’t judge on how serious things are. But, if you really want to go out there looking for him, I won’t stop you.”

“No…” I said. “Magister Aenhol’s right. He promised that he’d find Jacob and I should just trust him. He hasn’t really been wrong so far.”

“Are you sure?” Brian asked trying to keep his voice level though I think he sounded just a little bit happy on my decision.

“Yeah…” I looked over at the others who were training. “What are they doing?”

“Lady Helena wants us to practice deflective shields – shields which are repellant or protective on only one side. Look at what Rick is doing.”

I looked over at Rick who was paired with a guy I knew as Dave. Rick was creating a purplish shield around him and Dave was hurling wind sphere after wind sphere through the shield to the opposite pair who was Clarisse and a girl whose name I forgot. Dave’s wind spheres passed without problems through Rick’s shield and slammed hard against the shield being generated by Clarisse’s partner.

The shield generated by the opposite pair though was blocking even the wind spheres hurled by Clarisse. She was looking more irritated by the second.

“Focus, Kat,” Brian yelled. “You have to will your side of the shield to let magic through, otherwise that shield won’t be any good to us.”

“I’m trying, sir,” Clarisse’s partner yelled. “I haven’t quite practiced this kind of shield before.”

Brian turned towards me. “We need to gather as many recruits capable of generating deflective shields within the next few days. If our information is correct, we have less than two weeks before that army in the North assembles and reaches us. That means in two weeks time, I need you trained and flying.”

“Flying?” I asked in surprise. “As in on a gryphon?”

“Yes, recruit,” Brian said turning serious again. I noticed that as young as he looked, he seemed to have an aura about him that I couldn’t help ignore. I felt myself become more serious, almost like I couldn’t resist imitating whatever mood he was in. “It seems Lady Helena wants everyone capable to be airborne in six days. Those in our squad who are able to fly will be on the defensive.”

“I thought it takes a year before we’re able to fly.”

“Normally, yes, recruits aren’t allowed to fly until they have been trained for a year. You must remember though that you’re the only new recruit here. Most of these guys have been training for months, even years. Most have already flown a few times with training gryphons though they haven’t bonded with a specific gryphon yet.”

“Oh,” I began, “does that mean I can’t fly.”

Brian looked over at me again. “We’ll see. You’ve been an Aerophalanx for just a little over a week and frankly that should tell me that you are clearly inexperienced. However, you’ve impressed me and even some of the folks up there in the last few days. You may not have noticed it but they’ve been watching you. If you can fly without trouble then I don’t see why we should stop you. If we fail anyway, then the rules wouldn’t mean squat a year from now. That is why it’s important that you get to train as soon as possible at least for the roles you’ll be doing up there. I won’t have the time to train you offensive aerial magic. That kind of training involves timing, precision, aiming, coordination, and a lot of power. Frankly we don’t have the time for that kind of attention. We’ll leave that to the more experienced fighters. What we need to do is make sure that other flyers around us remain safe and that involves creating these shields.”

“I see,” I said. “So while we just focus all our attention on creating shields the others can focus on attacking the enemy.”

Brian nodded. “Exactly, do you think you’re up for it?”

“Of course,” I said suddenly feeling as though I was actually going to be useful in the war. “What do I need to do?”

Brian then showed me how to do those shields. I got paired with Bruce who merely gave me a nod. As laidback as these guys were when I had to duel them, they were dead serious when it came to training. Thirty minutes later, Bruce’s wind spheres were going through my shield without problems.

“You know, it’s easier when I just try to image stopping the oncoming attacks rather than imagining a wall,” I told Brian. Shields were often compared to walls in training. However, by focusing on the individual spells heading through my shield, I could somehow pick which ones would or wouldn’t go through.

He nodded. “A lot of magic is about sheer will. I’m sure you know that. Different things work for different people. That can work yes but you just have to be careful because their attacks can be many and unpredictable. You won’t always have warning when something’s coming at you so you’re shield has to be up all the time.”

We practiced for about an hour more. By the end of it, I realized that I was able to see clearly again and I was surprisingly having no trouble creating the deflective shields. It was just like altering slightly something I was already familiar with.

“Good,” Brian interrupted. “Come here for a sec, Adam.”

Noel took my place as Bruce’s partner and I met up with Brian.

Brian reached for the six inch rod hanging from his pants. In his hand, it expanded into his familiar mace. “Have you used your mace yet?” he asked.

“Not yet,” I said. “It’s in my room. I don’t have it with me.”

“I want you to carry it with you at all times from now on,” Brian said. “And, I want you to learn how to channel magic to and from it.” As he said this, he raised his mace in his hand and the crystal began glowing. “Do you feel that?”

“Yeah. Magic is flowing from you to the mace,” I said. “That’s like the Seer’s crystals.”

Brian nodded. “Yes, that’s like that actually though the crystals on these maces are nothing as powerful as what you might find in the Seer’s caves. Most of the crystals we use came from mines in the Hallean Mountains. They’re very receptive to magic and serve as great stores of energy. I think non-mages have items they call batteries that can store those electricity things. It’s a lot like that except a mage can store his energy into his weapon.”

“How do I channel magic from me to the mace?”

Brian smiled. “It’s not as hard as it looks. When you first grasp your weapon, you’ll feel it almost immediately. You’ll get pins and needles prickling through your skin and you’ll almost know what to do after that. You have to be careful though. The more magic you pour into your weapon, the more tired you become. The more tired you are, the less effective your magic is. That is why it is wise to power up your weapon only when you are going to rest like when you’re going to sleep. Also, never do it where you are unsafe because it could leave you really drained and you might not be able to defend yourself. You have to remember that although you can channel magic into your weapon, you cannot channel magic back to you from it to energize yourself. That means that you can only expend the magic in a mace through spells you use it with.”

He then pointed his mace towards Rick and his partner. Swirling wind gathered at its tip and effortlessly formed into a wind sphere. It surged towards Rick who managed to see it only at the last moment. Although his shield was up, he must have been distracted because the wind sphere smashed through his shield and both boys were thrown backwards.

“You need to get that shield stronger, Rick.”

“I wasn’t ready!” he yelled indignantly. His partner punched him on his arm and they started yelling each other. Something told me though that they weren’t seriously fighting.

“That wasn’t very nice,” I told Brian.

“Well, he deserved it for spying on us and he knows it,” Brian laughed. Turning to me, he continued what he was saying. “You can store large amounts of energy in a mace which can be crucial in combat. You wouldn’t want to get so exhausted from using magic that you fall off your gryphon. With a mace you can use magic longer without draining your personal stores.”

“Does that mean non-mages can use magic then?” I asked trying to keep my mind off what just happened.

Brian smiled. “That’s the beauty of this crystal. For some reason it doesn’t react to anyone who does not have inherent magic in them so in the hands of a non-mage, this is just another blunt instrument.” He twisted the weapon in this hand and it shrank into a six inch rod, the massive crystal on the mace shrinking into a small looking gem at the top.

“I want you to start channeling your magic into your weapon every night. Something you must know though, the more magic you channel into a crystal, the quicker the energy stores will get dispensed. Even when unused, the magic in the crystal dissipates into the air, likely to be absorbed by the larger crystals around the city. So, just channel a moderate amount unless you know that you will be using a lot of magic the next day. Otherwise, the energy you store will dissipate quickly within a few days.”

“So the more magic I pour into it,” I began, “the quicker the magic will release into the air? And the less magic I put in, the longer it will get stored? And, as I channel magic into it, I get more tired depending on how much I store?”

“That’s right” Brian said with a grin. “You catch on really fast.”

“That doesn’t sound very reliable,” I commented.

“It’s not perfect but it has its uses,” Brian said. “You have to weaken yourself first before you can get stronger.”

“That’s the part I don’t like.”

Brian watched the others train for awhile in silence. “You know, I never really thought about it. As much as magic is part of my life, I never thought there would come a time when I would have to be wary in using it. Training feels like a scheduled thing. You know that after it, you can get plenty of rest to replenish your stores.”

“I doubt any of us will get much rest the next few weeks.”

Brian chuckled. “Well, we still could get plenty of rest, you know. All we have to do is get ourselves killed.”

“That’s not funny,” I said looking seriously at him.

“No, I suppose not,” he said with a smile as though he still found something amusing. He turned to all the recruits training in front of him, and his eyes seemed to rove over each face marred in concentration. Slowly, his smile turned into a sad one. Perhaps he was sharing my own thoughts. As secure and safe as I felt at that moment, training with my other squad members, I knew that in a few weeks, some or many of us might be dead.