The Mage's Limits: Mages of Martir Book #2 (28 page)

“I was just trying to make conversation,” said Darek. He felt the chains around his wrists and ankles loosening ever-so-slightly, giving him more motivation to keep Aorja distracted. “Did Jakuuth say when he was going to return?”

“In his words, 'after North Academy is a graveyard and World's End is a ruin,'” Aorja said. She pouted. “I have no idea how long that will take, but it would probably be a lot faster if he had allowed me to come along and help.”

“It is unfair that Jakuuth left you here, I agree,” said Darek, nodding. “I know how much you were looking forward to destroying North Academy. You must be very disappointed.”

Aorja eyed him as if he was a trickster trying to swindle her out of her money. “I'm not an idiot, Darek. I know when you're trying to distract me. We lived in the same dormitory for years.”

“I'm not trying to distract you, though,” said Darek. “All I am doing is agreeing with you that you would be better suited leading the Limitless Army into battle rather than playing prison guard here with me.”

“Got that right,” said Aorja as she lowered her book. “Sometimes I wonder if Jakuuth actually knows what he's doing. I don't see why he couldn't have left Rema or Gonar here to watch you instead. He gave them command of the Army that's going to World's End.”

The chains' pressure on Darek's wrists and ankles had lessened considerably by now; in fact, he thought he might be able to slip his hands and feet out if he wanted to. Yet he didn't want to try anything too sudden, at least until he was sure that Aorja was completely distracted. That meant he needed to talk with her a little bit more, just to be safe.

“Probably he thought you knew me well enough to see through any tricks I might try to use to escape,” said Darek. “By the way, why did Jakuuth leave me alive? Why didn't he just kill me?”

“How am I supposed to know that?” said Aorja with a shrug. “Though if I had to say, I think he actually still likes you. He probably remembers how much he loved your mom, so maybe he decided to let you live a little longer to honor her or something.”

“Maybe,” said Darek. “I thought for sure that leaving me alive would constitute a security hazard, but I guess he's confident that there's nothing I can do to stop him now, even if I were to escape.”

“I wouldn't say so,” said Aorja. “If he thought you couldn't stop him, he wouldn't have left me here to babysit you. He just doesn't want you underfoot.”

The chains around Darek's ankles and wrists jangled slightly as he moved his body to a more comfortable position, but it was a very slight sound, so low that Aorja didn't seem to hear it. Still, Darek did not feel comfortable attempting to escape just yet. He needed to be absolutely sure that Aorja was distracted before he tried anything.

“Presumably, then, if I escaped, it would be a big problem,” said Darek.

“Presumably,” said Aorja. “But that's irrelevant. You're chained up and I am not going to let you escape. Jakuuth would skin me alive if he found out I let you go.”

“First the Ghostly God, now Jakuuth,” Darek observed. “It really seems like you have a thing for following cruel, unreasonable masters who don't actually care about you.”

Aorja folded her arms across her chest. “Jakuuth is handsome, despite being so old. Why do you think I'm so loyal to him? Well, that, and he has given me far more power than I could ever have gotten on my own. If he didn't actually care about me, he wouldn't have given me such an important place in the Limitless Army.”

“Or he's just manipulating you,” Darek suggested. “You're very insecure, you know, which makes you exactly the sort of person who would be easy to manipulate.”

Aorja threw her book on the floor with a loud
clunk
and stood up. Glaring at Darek, she said, “I am
not
insecure.”

Darek shrugged as best as he could on his position on the floor. “If you say so.”

Then, moving as fast as he could, Darek pulled his right hand out of its chain and pointed at the book. He activated his telekinesis and sent the book flying into Aorja's face.

Aorja didn't even try to dodge it. She looked down just in time to get hit directly in the face by the thick tome, causing her to fall back onto the sofa she had been sitting on. Slumping in the sofa, she was clearly out for the count, especially with her nose, which looked quite broken.

Darek slipped his left hand and feet out of their chains and stood up. Rubbing his wrists, he looked around for his wand before spotting it on Jakuuth's desk. A flick of his wrist and the wand flew back into his hand immediately.

After examining his wand to make sure it was still in one piece, Darek looked at Aorja again. She was quite still and didn't seem likely to get up anytime soon; nonetheless, Darek didn't trust her. Using what little metomancy he knew, Darek manipulated the chains to wrap themselves around her body. He doubted that would hold her for long—if he could escape from that, then she probably could, too—but for now it would have to work.

Then Darek ran to the door, opened it, and stepped outside. The prison yard below was completely empty, looking as abandoned as the ruins of the tiny town of Yurima in the Great Berg. Aorja had been telling the truth about the Limitless Army leaving, a truth he had hoped was false until he saw the proof of it for himself right now.

Darek gripped his wand tightly. How was he supposed to get from Rock Isle to the Great Berg? True, as a Limitless, his ability to teleport was no doubt much stronger than normal; even so, it would probably take him many days to teleport from island to island until he got to the Great Berg, and likely another day until he got to North Academy, which was located at the northernmost end of the Great Berg.

And I don't have even
one
day,
Darek thought.
Jakuuth's Army is already there. They're probably destroying the campus and killing people even as I think this.

Darek looked up at the sky and called out, “Hey, Ghostly God! A little help?”

No answer.

“Xocion? Skimif?” Darek said. “Anyone?”

Again, no answer.

Then Darek remembered that half of the Limitless Army was in World's End, likely working alongside Uron's army. No doubt all of the gods, northern and southern, were busy defending World's End from Jakuuth and Uron's forces. Maybe they even had orders from Skimif not to bother with anything else.

Looks like I'm on my own again,
Darek thought.
If it's too late for me to go back to North Academy, maybe I could go to Carnag or Itrija or one of the other Northern nations. Or maybe I could send a gray ghost to Archmage Yorak and ask for her assistance, although I doubt the Institute mages will be able to get to the school in time to help.

That was when Darek heard the sound of bone clacking against the metal walkway. Puzzled, he looked around, but did not see anyone else in the area. Yet he heard the sound as clear as day, making him wonder if he was losing his mind or if the sound was being blown in from the sea on the other side of the massive prison wall opposite him.

“Darek Takren.”

Darek went still. He recognized that clacking voice, even though it had been a while since he last heard it. It was not a voice he had expected to hear again, and for a moment, he thought he must have imagined it until a skeleton materialized next to him, its eyes glowing green, its mouth smiling as widely as always.

Darek aimed his wand at the skeleton, even though he wasn't sure if it was a threat or not. It just stared at the end of his wand for a moment before looking up at him, as if confused. It was hard to tell, however, because its expression never changed.

“What are you doing here?” said Darek, taking a step back. “You're the skeleton I saw when I first broke through the ceiling a month ago, aren't you?”

The skeleton made a bony, clacking sound like a laugh. “You remember. I thought you might have forgotten about me in all of the excitement. I'm ready to take you back up on that earlier offer to fight me, by the way.”

“I don't remember making any such offer,” said Darek. “Even if I did, I'm in no mood to fight you. If you haven't noticed, I need to get to North Academy right away to stop Jakuuth and his Army of Limitless thugs.”

The skeleton stroked his chin. “Yes, I know. And then there is Uron and his half-gods in World's End causing trouble for the gods down there. These are desperate times, it seems, for everyone who calls Martir home.”

Darek had no idea what a 'half-god' was, but he nodded anyway. “Since you seem to be so well-informed, I hope you understand why I don't have any time to play with you at the moment. Maybe we can pick this up later.”

“I didn't come here just to fight you,” said the skeleton. He put one finger on Darek's wand, sending a jolt through Darek's arm. “I only said that to see your reaction, which was exactly what I hoped it would be.”

Darek didn't understand what that jolt meant, but he said, “Okay, it looks like you're not leaving. Cool off.”

Darek jabbed his wand in the skeleton's face, but nothing came out of the tip. He did, however, bump the end of his wand in the skeleton's forehead, making a hollow echoing sound like a coconut.

The skeleton rubbed his forehead as Darek looked down at his wand in disbelief. “That didn't hurt, but it was annoying and silly.”

“I don't understand,” said Darek, looking back up at the skeleton. “Why can't I use my magic against you?”

“I disabled it,” said the skeleton. “Not forever, mind you. Just long enough to ensure you won't try to hurt me, though to be honest, even if I didn't do that, you wouldn't even be able to scratch me with that level of magic.”

“Disabled it?” said Darek. He tried conjuring just a tiny ice cube, but nothing appeared. “No way. Impossible. You can't disable magic. That's not how magic works.”

“Magic works more or less the way I say it does,” said the skeleton. “One of the perks of being the God of Mystery and Magic.”

Darek's eyes narrowed. “Wait, you mean you are the Mysterious One spoken of in legend? I thought you were just a myth.”

“Everyone says that,” said the skeleton with a shrug. “Even the other gods say it. Truthfully, I'm as real as anyone, although there are times where it feels like I am not.”

“I don't understand that,” said Darek as he lowered his wand. “But I guess I don't have to. What are you doing here, so-called 'Mysterious One'? Are you going to stop me? Why aren't you helping your brothers and sisters on World's End?”

The Mysterious One shook his head. “I'm here to
help
you, Darek Takren, not stop you. That's the same reason why I appeared to you back in North Academy. I didn't want to see you go down the same route as Jakuuth, which is partly my fault.”

“What does that mean?” said Darek.

“It doesn't matter,” said the Mysterious One. “What does matter is getting you to North Academy, and fast. You should be able to help turn the tide, seeing as you know the Limitless Army better than your friends do.”

The Mysterious One held out a hand as if to grab Darek, but Darek stepped back out of his reach.

“You didn't answer my other question,” said Darek. “Are you or are you not going to help the other gods? You know, your siblings?”

The Mysterious One sighed. “But I
am
helping them. Just not in an obvious way. And please don't call them my 'siblings.' I never said they were such.”

“But I thought all of the gods were related,” said Darek. “Except for Skimif, obviously, but besides that I thought every god and goddess were family.”

“I've said far too much,” said the Mysterious One. He looked up at the sky apprehensively, as if he didn't want to be caught in the middle of wrongdoing. “I'm technically not even supposed to be here. So I better send you to North Academy quickly. Then I must go.”

Darek opened his mouth to ask more questions, but then the Mysterious One snapped his fingers.

All of Darek's surroundings—Jakuuth's office, the walkway underneath his feet, the prison yard below, the Mysterious One—vanished, immediately replaced by the tall Walls and heatstone buildings of North Academy … and an all-out war.

Chapter Nineteen

C
old. That was what Durima felt as she and Gujak sank beneath the waters of the Void.

Not 'cold' as in the temperature, but cold as in a cold intelligence. All around her, Durima felt something watching them, an intelligence that was far older and much colder than any god. It was too dark for her to see what it was, but something told her that even if it was as bright as day under here, she wouldn't be able to see it because the intelligence was a part of the water itself.

An intelligent sea,
Durima thought.
No, not a sea. The Void itself.

Yes, that was it. The spirit of the Void, if it could be called that, was the sea in the Void. She could feel its darkness filling her lungs, attempting to smother her and Gujak, too, although with Gujak it was hard to tell because of the shadows. That he was so still, however, told Durima that she was on her own for now.

She swiped her free claw through the water, but it was a useless gesture. She couldn't hurt it, but it could hurt her. Her fur grew heavy with wetness and her legs were too weak to kick against the water. Her mind slipped in and out of consciousness, the way it did whenever she went to bed at night.

Sleep,
an unfamiliar, feminine voice whispered in her mind.
Rest. There is nothing you can do now. Stop resisting. Allow the Void to claim you as its own.

The voice—more like a feeling put into words—was seductive, tempting as gold. Durima almost closed her eyes in obedience to its coaxing, but then she forced them open. She couldn't breathe, and it didn't seem likely that she and Gujak would escape, but damn it if she was just going to let anyone kill her before she was ready to die.

But despite her best efforts, her muscles relaxed. The Void filled her with its darkness, filled her like a cup of water. She gradually began to forget what she was doing or where she was. All Durima wanted to do now was sleep, as the sweet, gentle voice had suggested.

Before she closed her eyes completely, she felt a boney, thin hand grab hers. Then the hand pulled, and a moment later, the darkness and water of the Void vanished. Durima felt like she was being pulled through mud, like the Void itself was trying to keep her and Gujak with it, but then Durima felt light and heat on her back and she landed face first on a hard wooden surface underneath her.