The Dark Path (32 page)

"Your eyes Thomas!" Marcus exclaimed. He reached into a pouch and pulled out a mirror and held it before his love's face.

"It seems they have changed color." Thomas stared at his now deep green eyes. Then his vision went to his hands. They were still deeply scarred but they were no longer twisted and useless. He flexed his fingers full for the first time in years. “My hands, Marcus. Look!” He flexed them again at Marcus' look of astonishment.

"Why did you slap Gen?" Marcus asked softly.

"What he did here today was an abomination of nature. I felt every one of the deaths of the plants here. They gave their lives to me. No that's not quite right. Gen forced them to give their life to me." He looked to Gen once more.

"I told you it would hurt," Gen stated flatly.

"Where did you learn something like that?" Thomas' tone carried anger.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is you are healed now and can come with me. We don't have time to waste. Get some new robes and meet me by the building behind the ritual circle."

"There is no building there!" Marcus exclaimed.

"Yes there is, Love. I will show you." Thomas patted Marcus on the arm. He glared at Gen. "What do we need from that building?"

"We'll see when we get in it." Gen held out the chain with the key. "Despite what you are thinking, I have permission to take what I need from it." He turned to walk out of the greenhouse.

"I will gather Beth and meet you both there." He walked out of the greenhouse and toward the dorms.

"Was he always like this?" Marcus whispered with a shudder.

"No. He was always a bit distant and I've seen him cold before, but never anything like this. I don't know what has happened, but I'm afraid things are going to get worse before they are over. Come, we must hurry. Bring a small pack and meet me at my room. Wear your armor and bring your weapon. I have a feeling you'll need it." Thomas walked out of the greenhouse.

Gen walked to Beth's room. He could feel her sleeping on the other side of the door. He didn't knock. Opening the door, he lit the candles of the room with a wave of his hand. Beth lay upon her bed wearing nothing. Her raven hair lay over her small breasts. Her scaled arm was across her eyes.

"Wake up!" Gen shouted.

"What?!" Beth shot awake instantly and curled into the corner of her bed when she realized she wasn't alone in the room. "I'm naked!" She exclaimed.

"I see that. Here put these on." He threw her the robes the Headmaster had given him. She looked them over suspiciously, then pulled them on. She stood up instantly awake.

"What is this?"

"Your new robes. Wear them with pride, Apprentice." He turned and walked out.

"Apprentice?" she whispered as she rushed to follow him.

Marcus and Thomas stood waiting when Gen arrived at the ritual area. Gen took the key from around his neck and spoke a command word. A small door shimmered into view to the south of the circle. Marcus and Beth gasped. Gen walked over and opened the door, motioning them to follow. As they walked inside, the place lit with magic. The room was the size of the entire school grounds. The ceiling towered above them. Beth and Marcus stood with their jaws hanging open. Gen walked through the piles of items and jewels toward the back of the room. He pushed some large tapestries out of the way. Then he saw what he wanted. It was a mirror that stood three times his height and was twice that in width. He turned to Thomas.

"Help me guide this outside," he said to Thomas. They both chanted spells of levitation and floated it out of the building. How it fit through the door boggled Marcus and Beth. They set the mirror down and walked back inside. Gen turned to Beth.

"What weapon do you use?" He asked her. The question caught her off guard and she stuttered a bit before she could answer.

"Katars."

"Let's see if there are any here, shall we?" He chanted a few words of magic and a few piles around the room began to glow with a green light. "Search each of those till you find the weapons in each pile. Pick them up with magic not with your hands. Pile them here. I have other things to find." He turned to Marcus, looked down, and saw the gladius at his belt. A sudden memory came to him. He shifted his view to magic and looked closely at Marcus. He frowned as he saw what he had feared.

"Thomas, Marcus, come with me please." He walked out of the building. He tapped into a power he hadn't used in a long time and spoke directly into Thomas' mind. "Marcus has a spell of control around him. I found a similar one around Mina yesterday. I will destroy it without harming him if you will help to distract him. Also ask to see his weapon. He doesn't trust me enough to hand it over." Thomas looked at him with a frown on his face, but turned to Marcus and asked to see his blade. When Thomas held the weapon, Gen reached out and unwove the control spell. This one was thicker and more complex than the one on Mina. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he worked. The spell came undone and he opened his eyes to see a gladius point at his chest. Marcus held the other end of it. Thomas stood holding his arm in pain. The blade hadn't pierced his chest. Why? He looked back over and saw Beth's clawed hand holding the blade. Her eyes burned with hatred directed toward Marcus that stood as if in a stupor. Gen's mind slowly came back to speed.

"Thank you, Beth. I owe you." He placed his arm on her shoulder. "Thomas are you alright?" Thomas nodded though his eyes held pain. Gen could see that his wrist had been broken.

"Marcus do you know why you just tried to kill me?" Marcus looked down at his hand holding the gladius hilt. He let go of it and Beth took the blade away, though the blade was now melted and useless where Beth had grabbed it.

"What have I done? What's going on?" He looked around with eyes wide with confusion and fear.

"Thomas watch over him while I finish preparations." Thomas nodded and walked over and started to draw Marcus away. Gen reached out and stopped Thomas.

"Give me your hand," Gen said calmly. Thomas obeyed though he had a look of fear in his eyes. Gen reached inside of himself and gathered the dark energies that resided there. He used it to reknit the broken bones of Thomas' wrist. He couldn't heal flesh very well on his own, but bones he knew well. Thomas flinched in pain but didn't pull his hand away. "That should help a bit." Gen released his friend's hand and looked back to Beth.

"You owe me," she said to his confused look.

"How did you know to follow us?"

"I heard you talking to Thomas and came over. I knew something wasn't right. It's a good thing I did come."

"Thank you again. Now we have work to do." Gen walked back through the door. "I'll help you." He chanted a few words and all the weapons from the glowing piles throughout the huge room floated over and arranged themselves upon the cold stone floor. There were four sets of katars and one without a match. "Take the ones you want." Gen walked away to look for something else he needed.

Beth looked down at the weapons. The katars were of very different materials. The first set was of dark adamantite. The second was of mythril. The third was of what looked to be Jade. The fourth set was plain steel and the one without a mate looked to be carved from some sort of bone. She chanted the spell Gen had taught her and the weapons instantly shone almost blindingly bright. She tried to read the patterns of magic in each of them. Her head instantly began to throb.

The patterns of each were as diverse as the materials they were made from. The dark set looked to be enchanted with some kind of poison, it's weave a sickening black, interlaced with green. The mythril set's weave was dark blue with arcing lightning. The jade set had a very simple red weave that she somehow knew. She decided it must be fire. The steel set she couldn't understand the weave of at all. It shifted constantly. It looked to be ancient. The bone one was a magic weave that felt alien to her. She didn't like the feel she got off of it at all. She finally took a deep breath and picked up the steel ones and placed them upon her hands. The weapons conformed to fit her hands even though her right hand was more of a claw now. She watched as the red of her demon self flowed out into the weapons. A dark, steel colored energy flowed back to meet the red and the two cords of magic intertwined. She felt a connection with the weapons. Suddenly they vanished. She could still see them in the weave of her arms but she couldn't feel them. She cancelled the sight spell and gasped. The blades were gone. A crash sounded back around the area Gen had gone. She jumped up to run that way and found that the blades were back in her hands. She stopped and thought about the blades going away. They again vanished. Well that's handy she thought. She headed back to the sound of the crash.

Gen stood surrounded by a pile of various items. He held in his right hand a plain gray rock.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Beth asked. Gen turned slowly to face her. Her blood ran instantly cold. She was frozen in place with an almost primal fear. Gen's eyes glowed with color shifting light. He slowly opened his mouth.

"Toss me that pouch at your feet." His voice rang through her head. It was as if he spoke in every language at once. She looked down at her feet and saw a burlap pouch. She picked it up and tossed it over to him. He slowly bent over and picked up the pouch and placed a small stone into it. He tied the strings tight and the light left his eyes. He looked back to her.

"What the Hell was that!" Beth exclaimed.

"If I told you what this is, I'm afraid I would have to kill you. Just know it is something that I need." He shuddered visibly. "That was a very difficult thing to do. I will have to be careful how I use this." He looked down at his hand and winced. He held his palm up to Beth. She saw that his hand was burned with a symbol she had never seen before.

She found that she had bowed with her forehead touching the stone floor. She looked up in confusion. "What is that?" Her voice was shaking.

"The mark of power, to put it simply. I pray I have the strength to use this if I have to." He looked up. "Gods of good. If one of you still listens to me, please give me the strength to use this if it comes to it." He tied the bag to his belt and walked back to her. "Have you picked your weapons?"

"Yes, Master." She frowned. Why had she called him master?

"Show me," he said kindly.

"Yes, Master." She frowned deeper. She had done it again! She thought about the blades and using them and felt them appear in her hands. She held them up before Gen. "Good enough?"

Gen looked at the katars for a long time. Finally he looked up to her. "Those are not from this world. They should do well." He turned and walked away.

"What do you want me to do now, Master?" She called to him.

"Go stand with Thomas and Marcus. I will meet you outside."

"Yes, Master." She frowned. She had tried to stop herself from saying it this time. She would ask him about it later. She walked out to find Thomas holding Marcus close. Marcus was crying. She had never known the two were a couple. She shrugged. She walked over and sat across from Thomas. "Is he going to be okay?"

"He will be fine. Won't you, Marcus?" He pulled Marcus away from him and pulled his chin up so he looked at Thomas. Thomas' eyes flashed a bright green. "Pull yourself together now. Gen needs us." Marcus stopped crying and nodded. He stood up and turned to Beth.

"May I have my blade back?" Marcus asked as he wiped his eyes.

"Only if the Master says you can." She frowned. There she went again calling Gen her master.

"Beth," Thomas called to her quietly. "What happened to your arm?"

"My other half so to speak." She winked at him. "Maybe you'll meet her someday, though I hope for your sake that you never do." She grinned evilly and winked her red eye at him. He paled a bit, to her pleasure, then put on a grim face.

"If I meet her, I'll hold her close and thank her for saving my friend's life." Thomas looked to the mirror that stood hugely upon the field. "I wonder what he plans to do with that?"

"I plan to bring my army," Gen said as he walked out of the building. He wore a black leather glove upon his right hand.

"You have an army?" the three of them asked at once. Gen laughed. Then his face put on a stern look.

"You wont like them. Don't worry though. They will listen to you." Gen walked over and made a twisting motion with his hand. The mirror shifted to face the main gates of the Schola.

"Master, Marcus wants to know if he can have his weapon back." Beth gritted her teeth at having called him master again.

"Marcus, I know you were under control of a spell. I will forgive your actions this time. If you try to hurt any of us again, I will torture you to death. You may have your weapon back. Make sure you use it to protect Thomas." Gen didn't even turn to face him. "Thomas take Marcus and open the gates. If there are any Eremian soldiers out there, come get me and I will remove them." He turned to face Beth. "Beth, you will come with me. We will be back soon." He turned to the mirror and began chanting words in a language none of them had heard before. Thomas turned to Beth as she handed Marcus back his sword.

"He isn't a Master mage you know," He said to her. She looked to him. "He has the feel of the Headmaster, maybe even beyond him. Whatever happened to him those years he was gone, he has long since passed the point in which I could catch up to him. Keep him safe please. He means a lot to me." He walked off with Marcus toward the main gate as Gen finished the spell. Beth walked over to stand beside her master and watched as the image in the mirror rippled like water and showed the interior of a castle. A soldier stood in front of the image and looked directly at Gen.