Scarlet and the Keepers of Light (13 page)

15

Final Lessons

Despite the setback with Lindi, Scarlet’s progress had been remarkable. Delfi—who made sure that Lindi kept her distance, allowing Scarlet to concentrate fully on magic—was quickly becoming a good friend, as the only Tounder her age who could talk to her without acting like she was a celebrity. In fact, he was really her only friend. Dakota was now more like a mentor or second father than the buddy he had been at home; Cricket seemed too overwhelmed by the newness of it all to confide in; and Scarlet’s family was caught up in trying to fit into their new life among the Tounder.

Like Dakota, Delfi also told Scarlet the truth. Not that anyone else had been lying to her, but he didn’t hold back like the rest of them did. Nor was he an authority figure like Dakota, and she appreciated this above all else. It also didn’t hurt that he was cute, funny, and easy to talk to.

***

It was Delfi who finally told her the story of how there came to be two worlds.

They had met in the tower overlooking Illuminora, and he had mentioned that only one other being had possessed the full powers of magic. “Until you and the prince, that is.”

Scarlet looked at him intently, her curiosity piqued. Dakota had mentioned something about another, but he had not elaborated. “Who?” she asked.

“It was a long, long time ago,” Delfi replied. “Not sure how much is true and what is just stories.”

“Tell me anyway,” Scarlet pleaded.

“Well, a long time ago there was a great wizard named Hulpric. And during Hulpric’s time there was only one world, and it was inhabited mostly by Dorans, aside from the animals, of course.” Delfi smirked. “Anyway, Hulpric was a wanderer at heart, and he traveled all over the world. What he noticed on his travels was that some Dorans had the ability to do magic, while others did not. He also noticed that the ones without magical abilities all came from the same families, and their children and their children’s children all were born without any ability to do magic. Because of this, these families were treated poorly, and in some parts of the world they were enslaved. In some versions of the story, they were even hunted and killed by magical Dorans.

“Hulpric’s heart went out to them, and he tried to protect them and speak for them whenever he saw these injustices, but he couldn’t be everywhere at once. While he was protecting nonmagical Dorans in one part of the world, others were being mistreated in another part. Hulpric also saw what most Dorans did not—that the nonmagical Dorans had gifts of their own, powerful imaginations that helped them invent things and build.

“Anyway, one day he returned from his travels in one part of the world to find that an entire community of nonmagical Dorans had been killed because they had rebelled after being forced into slavery. Hulpric’s heart was broken in two—and so, in order to protect the nonmagical Dorans, he did to the world what had been done to his heart. He broke it in two, sending all the nonmagical Dorans to one half, and leaving all magic in the other. He died of his broken heart, knowing that the two worlds could never be one again.

“But Hulpric left Satorium with a warning, a prophecy. It said that one day a Doran would develop powers like his, would try and bring the two worlds back together for his own evil gains, and would meet his match in the form of a woman born from the nonmagical world. Meant to be ironic, I guess,” Delfi ended abruptly.

“That’s quite a story,” Scarlet said, smiling at Delfi. “Do you think it’s true?”

“I don’t know. I used to think it was just a legend.”

“And now?” Scarlet asked.

“Well . . . here you are, right?”

Scarlet looked out at Illuminora, lost in thought. “Here I am,” she said wistfully.

***

The day of her final lesson with Xavier came, and Scarlet entered the library, feeling nervous and apprehensive. She wasn’t entirely sure why. It wasn’t her first time learning something utterly bewildering and unfamiliar, and yet she was more nervous now than she had been on the first day she walked into the beautiful room.

All of the chairs and tables had been removed from the library, leaving a large empty space in the center of the room. Xavier stood alone in the center, looking graver than Scarlet had ever seen him.

“Please come in, my dear,” Xavier said, his voice quite solemn.

Scarlet went to him, her nerves crying out with every step. “What’s wrong?” she asked, summoning her courage. “I have been practicing very hard. If you don’t think I’m ready
____
”

Xavier held up a hand to interrupt her. “Not at all. Not at all. You have exceeded my every expectation. It is time, I’m afraid, that is moving a little too fast.” Xavier turned and walked toward the fireplace. He motioned for Scarlet to follow, and she joined him.

“I heard about the incident with Lindi.”

“Oh . . . you did,” Scarlet fumbled.

“Yes, I’m afraid so. That is partly my fault. I was too preoccupied to notice her ill intentions. I purposely saved this lesson for last, and for Lindi’s sake, I confess I’m glad I did.”

“What lesson is this?” Scarlet asked.

“You could call it many things—but fighting would probably be the most appropriate. Attacking and defending using your abilities, which are considerable, and probably a little overwhelming at this point. This will be one of your only disadvantages,” Xavier said, staring off into the fire as he did so, weariness evident in his features.

“Why does Lindi hate me?”

“Hate is a strong word, Scarlet.”

Scarlet rubbed her chest. “It didn’t feel like too strong a word.”

“No, I guess it didn’t. Lindi has her reasons, misguided though they are. Unfortunately, we don’t have the time to go into what those reasons might be, as we have to begin our lesson. Our time together is running short, I’m afraid.” Xavier turned away from the fire and looked gravely at Scarlet.

Scarlet started to ask why, but she stopped herself. She didn’t want her time to run short. She felt safe and happy in Illuminora. At the same time, she had known from the beginning of her lessons that it had all been for a purpose. Although it was easy to forget and look at everything she had experienced as just some wonderful dream come true, she knew that a nightmare lay somewhere ahead, and that her only choice would be to face it. Difficult as it was for her to believe, there was little doubt that she was the For Tol Don. Every story she had heard from a Tounder on the subject, all the experiences she had had, the Mortada who’d tried to kill her, and especially the aptitude with which she could learn magic, all pointed to the fact that she was Hulpric’s prophesied hero.

Scarlet looked up expectantly at Xavier, her face telling him that she was ready to move on with the lesson.

“When you fight another user of magic, it is most important to keep your wits about you, Scarlet,” Xavier began. “You have to think fast and react even quicker. A battle between sorcerers is a battle of imaginations. One throws some manifestation of magic at the other; the other counters with something else; and this continues until one is able to gain the upper hand. They constantly take in the world around them, searching for things to use against their opponent. There are no hard and fast rules to what curse, enchantment, or power will defeat or protect you from any given attack. There are so many factors—the power of the sorcerer, the knowledge you have amassed, your natural and learned talent, how well you conserve your energy . . . Each is vitally important.

“With time and practice you will grow stronger and more powerful, but for now, it will be important to end any battle quickly and decisively.” Xavier looked at Scarlet with an intensity in his eyes she had never seen before. Despite her resolve, she felt scared and more than a bit confused.

“Maybe it would be best just to give it a try,” he said, giving her his most reassuring smile.

“You mean, fight
you
?”

“I might be old, my dear, but I can assure you that I still have a trick or two up my sleeve.” Xavier laughed.

“That’s not what I meant,” Scarlet protested.

“I know what you meant. I promise you will be perfectly safe.” Xavier reached out and put two firm hands on her shoulders. “Do your best. It will be more than enough.”

The two Keepers of Light walked to the center of the room and faced one another. Xavier gave a curt bow to Scarlet, who awkwardly returned the gesture. Then, after a wink and a small pause, Xavier sent a flash of light at Scarlet that began somewhat like the flash of a camera before taking the form of a hawk. Like an inverted shadow puppet, the hawk descended upon Scarlet, its beak gaping in a silent shriek.

For an instant Scarlet was frozen to her spot, watching as a hawk, born only of light yet as solid as any real bird, bared its talons and began a dive toward her. Her mind was racing.
A hawk. How do you stop a hawk?
At the last moment she fell to her knees and sent out her own animal into the room: a rabbit.

The little creature scampered forth, darting left and right, desperately searching for danger. The hawk, catching sight of this new, easier prey, banked away from Scarlet and made for the rabbit. All Scarlet could think of now was that she had to distract Xavier before he could regain control of the bird or send something else after her. As her eyes darted around the room, her mind desperately grasping for answers, one thing began to dominate her vision and mind. Books. They were everywhere. Thousands of them.

She sent out the light within her, not to one book, but to all of them. Thousands of volumes, each as bright as she could imagine. Scarlet filled the entire library with a flurry of blindingly glowing tomes, flying out from their shelves. The library was in utter chaos as the books collided and ricocheted off walls and each other. Scarlet was struggling with what to do with them when she felt the books being pulled out of her control.

The books began to spiral together into a cyclone, moving with such velocity that to Scarlet’s eyes they had become one solid cone of light. The only way she could still tell that they were moving was by the horrific rush of wind that nearly lifted her off her feet. The act of illuminating the books had drained her. She felt weak and tired. The cyclone was coming nearer; in moments it would engulf her. She had to do something—now.

With all the strength she had left, she reached out for the glowing cyclone of books. Xavier was too powerful for her to take control of it completely, but if she could just manage—

She opened the books, every one of them, all at once. Like miniature sails, they caught the air, slowing before sailing out of the cyclone and into the far wall. Scarlet collapsed to her knees. She was spent. It felt as if she had been awake for days, as if she hadn’t sat down in a week. Her legs quivered beneath her, feeling as if they belonged to someone else.

Xavier did not attack again. With a wave of his hand he sent the illuminated books back to their shelves and extinguished their light. He knelt down beside Scarlet, and she noticed that he too looked ragged and beat. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his skin looked sallow.

“You are remarkable,” he said in a raspy voice.

“I feel like I’m going to faint. I’m so tired,” Scarlet managed, her eyes beginning to close. “You could have won. I couldn’t do anything to stop you right now.”

“I’ve also been doing this for ages, my dear. You’ve been at it for mere weeks,” Xavier said, smiling.

***

Scarlet slept all that night and most of the next day. When she finally woke, she didn’t feel any lasting effects from her duel with Xavier. A small vindictive part of her wanted to go and find Lindi and see just how keen the Tounder girl would be to attack her now, but she knew that wouldn’t be the right thing to do, and it would certainly disappoint Xavier. Instead she went to find Delfi, suddenly filled with a need to tell him all about her lesson. She thought about
telling her dad first, but he wouldn’t understand the way Delfi would. After all, Delfi had learned this stuff himself.

She found Delfi in the grand dining room, seated with several other young Tounder, including a pretty brunette who was hanging on his every word. Scarlet felt an instant dislike for the dark-haired Tounder before realizing that it made no sense. She’d never even met the girl. Surely she wasn’t jealous. That was silly.

Scarlet sat down at the table and was greeted so warmly by everyone that she instantly felt foolish for her earlier thoughts. Within minutes she was laughing and sharing in their conversation, and it was almost like being back at the lunch table at school; for a moment she was able to forget about prophecies or wars. After a while the other Tounder got up, leaving Delfi and Scarlet alone.

Scarlet, having waited to tell him about her lesson until she could speak to him one-on-one, immediately burst out with a flurry of excitement.

“It was amazing,” she exclaimed. “You wouldn’t believe how powerful Xavier is!”

Delfi laughed. “Oh, I think I have a good idea.”

Scarlet told him all about the books and the hawk, thinking to herself that she was not at all doing justice to how exciting it was, even though Delfi could easily tell by the tone of her voice.