“Uh-huh.” Chatta clearly didn’t believe that was the entire story. “Garth, you know better than that. I want the full version.
Now
.”
Busted buckets, I knew it wouldn’t work. “Actually…I still dream about that day.”
“You never told me that.” The words were quiet and troubled.
“What would be the point?” I responded wearily. “It would just worry you. And I know that you’re fine and that you came out of that unscathed.”
For a handful of heartbeats we fell silent, noise from our companions and the jingle of tack filling the pause.
“As much as being attacked scared me—and seeing a wall of flame heading towards you that you’re not sure you can block is pretty terrifying—I think it effected you more.”
“That’s because I faced the very real possibility that you were dead.” I don’t think she realizes just how dark my world would be without her in it.
This conversation wasn’t helping me much either. I shook my head, throwing my dark mood off. “Enough about that. Anyway, Xiaolang apparently sensed even in his sleep that I was having nightmares. He woke up, woke
me
up, and then moved you. I don’t know how he knew, but he was right. Having you that close kept me from having the dream again.”
“Because even subconsciously you could sense me?” she mused.
“I think that’s it,” I confirmed. “Now you know everything. Satisfied?”
“Not quite. I think I would feel better if I could smack sense into you.”
I wasn’t entirely sure that she was kidding. I leaned sideways in my saddle, edging away from her,, just in case.
Chatta regarded me through narrowed eyes for a moment. “Night, is he hiding anything else from me that I need to know about?”
“How is it that I’ve been turned into Garth’s keeper?
” Night complained with an irritated toss of the head.
“Because you’re a telepath and he can’t keep secrets from you,” Chatta answered in exasperation.
“
I
do
give him mental privacy, y’know. A person is allowed that.”
“Night, you’re evading my question. Is there something else I need to know about?”
“
I don’t answer questions of that significance without peanut butter being involved,
” he informed her loftily.
“Night!” I whined. “You’re making it sound like there
is
something else!”
“
Isn’t there?”
he questioned with a wicked look back at me.
I stared at him blankly. What in the wide green world was he referring to? It was obvious he had something in mind.
“…
you’re so dense, Garth.
” Night sighed, turning his attention back to the road. “
Never mind, I’ll get to tease you about this later when you finally realize it.”
Now I was really curious…just what was he talking about?!
“What is he talking about?” Chatta demanded of me.
“I honestly have no idea,” I admitted. “But when I figure it out, I’m sure he’ll rub it in for years.”
“
I certainly will
,” Night assured me cheerfully.
“Which reminds me….” I bent an evil grin on my nreesce. “I’d almost forgotten to tell you this, Chatta. You won’t believe what happened while we were in Ascalon.”
Night’s head jerked around. “
Garth, don’t you dare!”
Considering how many embarrassing stories he’s told about me, I didn’t even pause. “See, we were walking down the street….”
As I told the story of how Night was almost stolen, Chatta started laughing so hard she needed to cling to her saddle. The horrors of the night receded in the face of that warm laughter until it all became nothing more than a distant memory.
~*~
It was early in the morning, very early. Not even the sun was properly awake yet. Just a hint of light purple painted the sky. I lay wrapped up in my blankets, wondering what exactly had awoken me. I was warm, comfortable, and nothing around me was moving. Night wasn’t even snoring, for once.
And then I realized that a part of my mind was screaming in alarm in the back of my head.
I sat up abruptly, blankets going everywhere.
“Xiaolang!”
The Ascalon Captain jerked awake in a second, eyes a little unfocused.
“Huh? What?”
“Xiaolang, there’s a Mage near us and they’re using magic
right now
,” I said urgently. I was already in motion, pulling on my boots rapidly and elbowing Night in the ribs to get him moving.
Even though it was Xiaolang that I was shouting at, all of the other soldiers in the group snapped awake as well. Only Krys and Chatta kept sleeping. This didn’t surprise me—Chatta can sleep through practically everything. Apparently Krys can too. Night wasn’t much more awake than they were, although his eyes were open.
It took about two seconds for Xiaolang to really wake up enough to understand what I was saying. I knew when he did because he exploded into action, reaching for boots and sword at the same time. “Garth, how close?”
“About twenty miles, I think. I’m barely able to sense it.”
“How much magic?” Boots on, he stood and quickly belted on his sword.
“A
lot
. I think it’s a Mage accident.” I dove to Chatta’s side and started shaking her awake. “Chatta, wake up.
Chatta!
”
“Unh?” she blinked slowly, twisting her head a little toward my direction.
“Garth, forget her,” Xiaolang ordered sharply. “We don’t have time for the whole team to ride there. Shield, you’re in charge here. Get everyone up and moving and be ready to leave in ten minutes. Shad, you’re with us.” The only reasonable choice, as Shad was definitely the most awake and aware person in this moment. On top of being energetic, he was notoriously a morning person.
“Garth, no need to be stealthy.”
“Right.”
I waited until Shad was within an arm’s length of me, and then I dropped us abruptly in the earth.
“Um, shouldn’t we have waited for Night?” Shad glanced above us with a dubious smile.
“Night’s as difficult about waking up as Chatta is,” I said, more focused on the Mage. “And we can’t wait. The magic is building up to a higher level.”
That got both of their attention. “What does that mean, exactly?” Xiaolang pressed in clear worry.
“This isn’t a minor accident,” I answered grimly. “It’s going to be very obvious and probably damaging. It’s not intentional, though, I can tell you that—the power’s rhythm is all over the place, there’s no way that someone is controlling it.”
“So not another mad Mage, that’s good,” Xiaolang muttered. “How close?”
“We’re coming up now,” I cautioned. For a few seconds I really focused on the ground above me, not wanting to come up under someone’s feet. When I was sure there was a clear area above us, I brought us up to the surface.
And instantly got knocked off my feet by a large wave of water.
I went down, water closing in over my head. Instinctively flailing, I quickly realized that the water wasn’t deep—I could touch earth with one hand, while the other had broken the water’s surface. Twisting about, I put my feet on the ground and stood up, braced this time in case another wave hit me.
As I stood, I saw in my peripheral vision that Xiaolang and Shad were standing, too. They were also soaking wet, not exactly a comfortable state in this very cold pre-dawn air.
I didn’t have the time to focus on my body’s discomfort, however. There was a more immediate problem to deal with.
We were in the center of a small village, apparently on the main square, as there were shops on either side of us. Located in the center was a single water fountain, probably the main source of water for the village, gushing wave after wave of water.
Only one person stood next to that stone fountain, a young girl in her early teens. She had both arms wrapped around her chest, like she was struggling to hang onto something solid.
She stood in a perfect circle of dry land, not even a drop of water on the hem of her dress or in her light brown hair. Water Mage!
I quickly started to slosh my way toward her.
“You have to shut it off!” I called to her.
Her head snapped around, eyes large as she noticed my appearance for the first time.
“Your magic is out of control,” I continued with a gesture toward my own chest. She probably felt the warm heat that controlling magic always gives a Mage—she’d understand what I was referring to, hopefully. “You have to shut off the magic before the water will recede! The warmth in your chest means that your magic is active—concentrate on cooling it down, sealing it back within yourself.”
Although I was close enough now to certainly be heard, she didn’t act as if my words made any sense to her. “You’re…glowing…” she breathed, eyes taking me in from head to…knees, as I was covered in water from knee down.
“Yes, I’m glowing,” I responded impatiently. I was close enough now to see that the girl couldn’t be more than twelve or thirteen. She was probably in shock, her mind unable to completely face what was happening around her. “I’m glowing because I’m a Mage—as you are a Mage. Listen to me. The water is going crazy because it’s responding to your magic. To stop this, we have to shut your magic off. Do you understand?”
Her arms tightened, fingers digging into her shoulders. “I don’t know how!” she wailed, beginning to shake. “I don’t know how to turn it off!”
Great ancient magic, the girl wasn’t in any condition to listen to calm instructions. I could walk her through this but only if she was calm enough to really listen. I didn’t have the time to calm her down. The village was largely empty—probably having fled from the girl when this whole thing had started—but who knew when they would be back? And if the water wasn’t stopped soon, the entire village would be irreversibly damaged.
That only left one option.
I knew, in theory, how to temporarily seal someone’s power. Sallah, when I had visited Coven Ordan, had taught me how just in case. I’d never actually done it to someone before.
No time like the present for practicing… Gulping in a breath for courage, I reached out with both hands and placed my palms over the girl’s heart. I brought my own power to the fore as I did so, curving it and directing it until it wrapped completely around her body. In effect, I was smothering her magic with my own, giving it no outlet.
The water from the fountain instantly stilled behind me. The Mage in front of me shuddered, tears seeping from the corners of her eyes.
“Th-thank y-you,” she choked out hoarsely. “I couldn’t stop it. I wanted to stop it, but no matter what I tried, it wouldn’t do it…”
“I know, I know,” I assured her gently. “It’s frightening the first time it happens.” It had scared me spitless the first time my magic had gone out of control and it hadn’t been anything nearly on this level. “I promise you, this is not how your magic will react in the future. We can train you so that you have perfect control. Just take a deep breath, and calm down, all right?”
She nodded, dutifully sucking in a large breath. And then another. “Who are you?”
“Magus Rhebengarthen, an Earth Mage from Hain.” I reclaimed my hands and gave her a cordial bow. “And you are?”
“Sinhelenan,” she responded shyly. She bowed back, eyes a trifle wide in her face. “Thank you for the gift of your name.”
I was distracted by the sound of sloshing from behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that Shad and Xiaolang had joined me, and were looking at the young Mage in interest. “She’s all right,” I assured them, “Her power is sealed for now. This is Sinhelenan. Sinhelenan, this is Captain De Xiaolang and Captain Riicshaden.”
They both bowed to her politely, which, judging from the girl’s expression, completely befuddled her.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sinhelenan,” Xiaolang assured her with a charming smile. “Despite the fact that I’m freezing and wet. Garth, can’t you do something about that?”
“Xiaolang, if I could do something about it, don’t you think I would have
done it already
? I’m just as wet and cold as you are. We’ll have to get back to Chatta before we can get dry.”
Shad stepped in closer to Sinhelenan. “Don’t mind them,” he assured her in good humor. “They like to squabble. Now, young Magus, allow us to get you out of here before trouble descends.”
“Wait, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, here,” Xiaolang cautioned. “Sinhelenan, do you have family in this area?”
“I live with my aunt and uncle,” she responded slowly, her eyes darting from one face to the next. She fiddled with the end of her braid. “Um, they were the first to run off when the fountain started gushing water.”
“Hmm, that’s not good.” Xiaolang rubbed the back of his neck, turning in a slow circle to see everything around him. “I’d like to talk to them and tell them where we’re taking you.”
Sinhelenan straightened a bit, her arms relaxing to rest on her stomach. Now that the terror was over, she was finding her center again, unfolding from the tight shell she had wrapped herself up in. “Where
are
you taking me? And why?”
“Hain,” Shad replied. “We’re taking you to Del’Hain, and the Academy for All Magic, so that you can be trained. We’re here on orders from the King of Hain to rescue all magicians out of Chahir.”
She looked impressed by this, blue eyes batting in clear surprise. “Are there that many Chahiran magicians?”
“There’s about thirty of us all together,” I answered, enjoying her reaction. “And we’re finding more all the time. But we can tell you more about that, later. Right now, we need to get out of here. Sinhelenan, how will your aunt and uncle react to this?”
“They’re terrified of magic,” she responded sadly. “They’re devout members of the Star Order.”
“In that case, change of plans.” A dark frown passed over Xiaolang’s face. “We won’t stay to talk to anyone. Sinhelenan, come with us.”
She nodded reluctantly. “Um, yes. Um,” her eyes went to me pleadingly, “can’t you do something about the water first? I don’t want to leave it like this.”
At least she was raised well enough to want to clean up her own mistakes. I nodded in reassurance.