Born of Magic (Channeler Series) (7 page)

Inside, a large spiral staircase wrapped all around the outer wall. The first room was entirely open and contained a kitchen and study area. There were books scattered all over the room. He didn’t seem to clean his home very often. A thick layer of dust coated everything in the study. The kitchen seemed to be the only room on this floor that was cared for. He guided me up the stairway to the second floor. The stairway continued up to the next level, with an opening in the railway to exit onto the floor. At the stairway exit was a hallway with several closed doors.

He opened the first door on the left side and set one of the bags down. He then emptied the contents of it and spread out an assortment of female clothes that were close to my size on the bed.

"This will be your room. I hope these clothes will work for you, I grabbed what I could."

I nodded with excitement, almost jumping up and down like a spoiled child. My own room, my own clothes; all the risks I had taken seemed to have paid off now. My new room was
somewhat bare. I could tell that no one had ever really lived in it. Thick layers of dust coated every inch of the floor like a blanket. The bed was small but very comfortable, relative to what I usually slept on. There was also an empty bookshelf, dresser and dust-painted desk in the room. I had no idea what to do with them.

“I’ll let you get comfortable. You’ve earned some rest.”

Aton walked out of the room, leaving me to become acquainted with my new life. I flopped down onto my new bed, coughing from the cloud of unsettled dust that arose from the blankets. I stared at the ceiling and reflected on all of the changes that I have gone through. Aton left me to my room the remainder of the night, dropping off a tray of food for dinner as night fell over the tower. With the silence of the room, I found it hard to fall asleep and dragged my bed closer to the window on the other side, allowing some of the subtle night sounds of the forest to reach my ears and lull me to sleep.

That morning Aton knocked on the door to my room. I wasn’t sure why he did this, so I knocked back. It was probably a custom I was unfamiliar with. Hearing Aton's laughter outside the door I opened it and shot him a glare.

With a smile on his face he said, “Fun game.”

There he stood, tall and slender with a tray of hotcakes, fruit, and some juice as he greeted me with a smile. "Eat up. Today we start your training." With that he left me and made his way downstairs.

I finished breakfast with glee in my bite and a warm feeling in my stomach. Then I went downstairs and found Aton sitting in a chair, reading a thick unlabeled black book. He heard me enter the room and peered up over the top of his book, our eyes meeting for a moment. "Let's begin."

~4~

Aton spent the next few weeks teaching me how to survive in the forest, starting with the basics, like learning how to figure out my location and direction based on the location of the stars at night. After he felt as though I had learned enough of the basics, he went on to show me how to set up a shelter for the night, gather food, start a fire, and cook some of the foods that can be easily found in the forest.

One day, after I had finished learning how to make a bed in a tree, Aton clapped his hands together. "I think we’re ready for our first big trip, Jas."

More confident with my abilities now, having learned how to survive in the outdoors as well as more about my magic abilities, I was a little excited at the idea of putting my new skills to the test. "Where are we going?"

As we sat around a campfire that I had set up a few miles from Aton's home, he scooped up some more of the steaming vegetable stew that cooked in a pot above the fire. "It’s a long journey to the North. In the harsh snowy mountains lies a hidden town on the other side, where few travelers ever venture. The people there aren’t quite like you’ve seen before;
they’re fishing people that live off the frozen sea. Their culture is primitive, but they manage to live comfortably in the harsh environment."

Aton could probably see the fear in my eyes. I had never been somewhere that cold before, "Your training will help you with the journey, but once we reach the town, I’m afraid I’ll be your only true defense. As long as we keep our heads low and don't draw any attention to ourselves, we’ll be fine."

"If few people ever travel there, how will we go unnoticed?" I asked. All of the different challenges of this trip ran through my mind.

As he thought, it became more apparent that Aton had not entirely worked out a plan for us yet. "We're going to come in at night. Since there are no guards we will go unnoticed as long as the town is asleep. Then we will have to lay low until the time is right."

The more important question I should have asked finally came to mind, "What are we going there for?"

"Another gem. This one should be easier to obtain than the last. Our biggest obstacle will be the journey there. The mountains we must pass are dangerous and unforgiving. Before we go, we will need to get some warm clothing to keep ourselves from freezing to death. The days are cold and the nights are lethal."

Having enjoyed the past few playful weeks of learning, camping, and spending a few nights in my comfortable new bed, I once again realized the cost of it all. I wondered if others had to work this hard and risk this much for a roof over their head and a full stomach every night.

The remainder of the day was spent packing supplies for our trip. I could sense the discomfort in Aton as he struggled to compose a scheme to get us through this quest of his. Having no possessions other than the clothes Aton had given me, I was packed with plenty of time left over to lie in bed and enjoy it while I could. After a half hour had passed, I threw my pack over my shoulder and waited for Aton downstairs in the study.

A few minutes later, he appeared from the stairway with two large backpacks, one of which he was wearing over his shoulder, the other he tossed in my direction.

"I will need you to carry that for the trip."

I shrugged at the weight of the bag, it seemed to be heavier than me and I could tell carrying it along this journey would be a daunting task. At least Aton’s bag looked like it was twice as big as mine. Without protest, I donned the backpack and we left the tower, Aton locking the door behind him. I wondered if he ever had to worry about anyone breaking into his home, and if a simple locked door would be enough to stop those who would bother to come out here in the first place. His home was surrounded by miles of forest and is not a destination I imagined someone would reach, at least not without looking for it.

Aton took a moment to calculate the exact direction to go, looking up at the sky and then along the mountain range. He nodded and we made our way North. The sun was almost overhead. Aton believed we could cover a good distance before night fell once again. The start of the trip was easy. The land was flat and easy to traverse. The further North we went,
however, the less inviting the forest became; it grew thicker and giant trees sometimes required us to detour from our trail.

"I chose a path that would require us to pass through as few cities as possible. The last thing we need is another unexpected incident on this trip." As Aton spoke, his breath was steady and calm while mine was short and challenged. My legs lost their feeling as the day drew on. The peaceful serenity nature once gave me now seemed tormenting when compared to the comfort of a bed.

"We do have to make one stop though, before we go much further. We're going to need some warm clothing for you, as well as some thick blankets. There’s a town not too far from here where we may find what we need."

Staying true to his word, we reached a small town the next day. This one was much quieter than the other one we had stopped by. The horrific memory of my kidnapping and the two men being stabbed to death by Aton had been blocked from my mind until now. I shuddered at the thought of being helpless like that once more and wished that I did not have to rely solely on Aton for safety. I would have to take it upon myself to learn self-defense, if he would not teach me.

Aton took us to what appeared to be the main market street of the town. His eyes scanned the various shops until they came upon a tailor. This time he kept his arm wrapped around mine with a tight squeeze, not wanting to lose me once more. I felt somewhat relieved to know he had grown more cautious after his failure to keep me safe the last time.

This visit was calm and uneventful, much to my relief. Aton had purchased the supplies needed for our trip and we were off. My backpack was now heavier than before as it also held the thick clothing Aton had thrown in there. Was I his companion, student, or his faithful pack mule and energy source? I laughed inside at the image of me dressed like a mule, carrying packs of grain and food with me as Aton guided me into a market to sell off the goods that I carried.

"Turn back," a voice came into my mind. It was so brief in its appearance that I almost missed it. It was faint. If things hadn’t have been so quiet, I may not have noticed it at all. It came back once more briefly, the words too faint to make entirely, "you shouldn't be—“ The voice faded. I paused for a moment, waiting to see if it said anything else.

Aton looked back at me, his eyebrow arched out of curiosity, "What is it, Jas?"

"I thought I heard something, a voice. It said 'turn back'."

Aton grabbed my hand, "We must hurry." He pulled me along, much faster than we had been going before. My legs struggled to keep up.

"Why? What is it?"

He didn’t look back as he spoke. His breath was short and desperate, "They may be after us. As long as they don't know where we’re going, we can lose them. Did the voice sound faint?"

"Yes, I could barely hear her. What is—“ My legs felt like rubber as he continued to drag me along.

Aton interrupted, "Mages that are after the gems as well. I've managed to stay ahead of them. They're still looking for clues as to where the gems are. Since we've beaten them to the first two, they probably now realize we're after them as well."

"What does that mean?" I almost tripped as I struggled to speak and keep up at the same time.

"It means we need to speed this up. If we can lose them, it's unlikely they'll find us again. I doubt they know the locations of all the gems."

"Do you?"

Aton stopped for a moment to catch his breath. I took advantage of this moment and used every second I had to recover while he spoke. His words were far apart and cut off by gasps for air, "Ever since... my brother grew... sick... I've been researching their locations..... as soon as I knew.... where they all were.... I decided to go for them.... all at once."

Before I had enough time to recover, he grabbed my hand and we continued walking again. His pace was somewhat more tolerable, but still difficult to maintain. We continued on like this until nightfall, my body sore and bruised from all the times that I had tripped.

Aton prepared the camp for us. He was clearly in far better shape for such reckless treatment. He was short of breath, but I could tell by the way he moved that he was not sore or tired. We sat by the fire he had started, dinner roasting over the bright crackling flame. Aton had managed to catch a rabbit for us. While I felt remorse for the poor animal, I was thankful for the sustenance.

"I believe the three other mages we ran into that night in the castle are the ones going after the gems as well. The woman is a mystery to me, but I believe she has the ability to communicate with other mages through their thoughts."

"There are mages that can do that?"

"I don't see why not, there are many types of magic, especially to the East. The mages are more dominant there and because of that, it's far more treacherous. Thankfully, only two of our gems are in those lands."

I found it interesting that the mages had managed to beat us to the castle since they did not know where the gems were, at least not as well as Aton. Though I did not say it out loud, the question, feeling more like an accusation, must have been apparent as Aton continued to explain our situation. "I had to rush that last one because I had caught wind of them heading that way. It was the first gem they knew of and they wasted no time trying to reclaim it."

"If they were after the gem as well, why were they so welcome there?"

He sighed a moment, "I believe the woman is responsible for their warm welcome, her ability to communicate may not be the only power she possesses over others people’s minds. Enough talk about this now, let's finish eating and get some rest—we're going to need it." With that, we both ate in an awkward silence and went to bed. I wrapped myself up as tight as I could in the thick blanket that Aton had bought for me.

That morning the sun seeped through the trees and illuminated my eyelids. I awoke to find Aton was already up, packing up his supplies. A plate lay next to me with some left-overs from last night. I ate them in a rush and we once again began our journey.

After a couple hours of hiking in the forest, the air grew colder and colder, until I could see my breaths turn to smoke and float in front of my face. The forest was nearly barren when we reached the base of a gigantic mountain. The only feature visible on the mammoth’s surface was the thick, freezing sheets of snow that covered it like the dust in my room.

Aton tilted his head back and looked up at the mountain. He let out a long sigh and rubbed his jaw with his index finger and thumb. "This is where the fun begins. Put on the new clothing I threw in your bag." he yelled. Thick, frozen winds roared around us, drowning out his voice.