THE VROL TRILOGY (24 page)

Draagh handed her a small,
black dowel, 36 centimeters in length, and then said, "Very well,
now Jennie, say
graveincantatio
liber
, while pointing your device at the
book." Jennie did that and whipped the book into the air, with it
almost landing in the massive fireplace on the far wall.

"Oh dear me," exclaimed their teacher.
"I believe we must use something a bit less valuable for these
sessions. It appears that you are both hell-bent on destroying your
lesson materials." The two giggled and looked at each other like
impish, disobedient children.

Draagh's heart warmed as he watched the
two, knowing that his plan was coming along nicely. They were no
longer antagonistic toward each other, and were forming a bond that
would be critical if they were to defeat the Vrol.

Before he could continue, Jennie asked,
"Draagh, do I have to use this stick to perform a cantus because I
am not a mage?"

"Yes, my dear, that is
correct. You see, that
stick
, as you call it, was known as
a
wand
in Earth's
ancient past, and only certain wands enabled non-mages to perform
limited amounts of magic. That, my dear, is yours. I wish for you
to keep it."

"Aw, thankies, Gramps!" exclaimed
Jennie, reverting to the cute voice she used when she wanted to get
a man's attention, but this time being totally sincere and showing
immense appreciation.

"Draagh, what's the difference between
that wand and, say, for example, a stick? Couldn't Jennie grab a
tree branch and recite a cantus?" asked Max.

Draagh got a surprised look on his
face, but had fully expected that question from either of them, and
responded by saying, "Oh, my goodness, no! You see, that wand is
special, as someone of my ilk must create it. In fact, I made that
one, but they were plentiful on Earth of the past, and fetched
substantial coin for their purchase. They were also highly illegal
in some places, as in some lands non-mages were prohibited from
practicing magic. No, no, my boy. One cannot grab a shrub and wave
it around while screaming out nonsensical cantuses."

Max and Jennie both laughed out loud
again, imagining someone ripping a plant out of the ground and
shaking it while muttering nonsense, hoping for things to go flying
about.

Draagh continued telling
them about the complexities of magic, and how Max would have a much
more detailed and controlled sense via his extremities, as his body
was attuned to magical energy. Jennie would need to exercise more
caution, as she was limited to using a device. After an hour he got
them to both lift a book (not their lesson manual, but a biography
of the life and times of a particularly boring troglodyte who had
invented a way of starting fire by rubbing two sticks together),
and to move it to various places around the room. Once they had
mastered that skill he moved onto an incantation for producing
light, using the basic
undacantus
- a spell to manipulate various electromagnetic
radiation wavelengths, and in that particular case, visible
light.

Draagh continued, "Very
well, my children. Now we shall create light. Max, you shall use
your hands to control the light source in the air, while Jennie,
you can only cause the light source to emanate from the tip of your
wand. Now, both of you say
undaincantatio
lux
."

They both followed his instructions,
and Jennie was amazed that a small, visible light, bright enough to
allow her passage in a darkened room came from the tip of her wand.
Then she looked at Max, who was expertly juggling three different
light sources as if he were a street performer, with each one being
a different color.

"Excellent! Excellent!" exclaimed
Draagh. "You are both coming along fine. Let us repair for lunch,
and then continue once we have satisfied the growling in our empty
stomachs."

After they had eaten a
delicious lunch of roasted fowl and purple potatoes, they returned
to the main hall to continue with their lessons. It was then that
Draagh explained just how powerful and complex magic could be. A
knowledgeable mage was able to break down the molecular structure
of an object, causing it to melt or disappear. The same cantus
could also cause a transmorphing effect.
Mutatecantuses
were used for
changing things at the DNA-level, while a mage specializing in
healing would often use
salucantuses
in order to heal the
sick.

Draagh went over everything
that he had previously detailed in the lesson book, which he had
written some centuries prior. They discussed usage of
movericantuses
, used for
simple, local teleportation, like when he had taken Bagatelle to
his ship, and
ignicantuses
, which, at maximum
intensity, enabled a mage to super-heat the atmosphere, causing
anything in its range to burn in temperatures equal to that of a
sun.

It saddened Jennie to learn that her
wand was incapable of calling cantuses to melt peoples' faces or
decimate entire cities, but she seemed quite satisfied with being
able to knock someone into a coma with a concussive
blast.

"I might give you a bit of warning,"
said Draagh, with a touch of concern on his face, "there are
limitations to magic, especially where more advanced cantuses are
concerned."

The two students look at
their instructor as he continued, "As there is a finite amount of
magic present at any time, and because you are both quite young,
certain advanced cantuses will have a depleting effect and will
require what one would call a
cool-down
period
- that is, a necessary time-out
while the magical energy regenerates."

Max suddenly spoke out, having pieced
together the puzzle of the yellow fourth line on his
HUD.

"Draagh! I have an extra line in my
vitals meter, and Alea suggested it could be connected to my magic
levels or something."

Jennie winced at hearing the lovely
lycan trainer's name, but hid her reaction from her
compatriots.

Draagh looked to be thinking for a few
seconds, and then said, "Well, my boy, as one rarely encounters a
magic-capable lycan, I find it likely that you are correct. With
that said, we should test it."

Draagh then had Max perform three
cantuses in rapid succession - the first one being a massive
undacantus of spectacular lights, followed by an ignicantus (where
he almost set the hall on fire) and a gravicantus, which he used to
rearrange the sparse furniture in their training room. Finishing
the quick and most deft display of his newly learned skills, he
concentrated on his meter.

"What do you see, my boy?" asked
Draagh, "Has this extra line of which you speak changed at
all?"

"It went down to half, but it's slowly
creeping back up as we speak," Max replied. Thus he had discovered
what his extra readout was for - it simply gave him a visual on the
timeout for using his magical abilities.

"But what about me? I don't have a
cool-down meter, so how do I know when I'm drained?" asked
Jennie.

Draagh took her wand into his hand and
expertly twirled it around his fingers, saying, "My dear, you will
have to do a bit of counting in your head, and also know your
limitations. However, I may be able to add a little feature to your
equipment - perhaps something to give you a sensory response, like
a small vibration. Would this help you?"

"Yeah, that'd be great, Pops!" the
young woman excitedly responded, not wanting to be at a
disadvantage in battle.

"There is one thing you will be able to
assist each other with in the future," continued Draagh. During the
full moon, you are both aware that you will turn into raging,
snarling beasts, am I correct?"

They both looked at him and nodded, but
their expressions slightly unnerved him. It appeared that they were
looking forward to the transformation.

"Well," he continued, "as you shall be
required to go through the change in three weeks' time, we shall
forgo any attempting to sidestep that particular bit of nastiness,
but at a later date, you shall both be able to stop each other's
transformation."

Max and Jennie looked at each other
quizzically and then back at their teacher.

"You see, an
electricantus
of
sufficient power can short-circuit a lycan's
death form
transformation, albeit
with some limitations. That is why many lycan strongholds desire to
have a mage in their employ. In fact, Krynos has a resident
minor-mage, but he tends to stay well hidden whenever I am
present."

"So Pops, tell me - Jennie and I will
be able to perform a cantus on each other and avoid turning phase
3?" asked Max.

"That is possible, my son," responded
Draagh. "You would need to hit each other with sufficient
electrical force, and then hope that you did not die."

Max thought for a moment, unable to
make the connection between an effected genetic process and an
electrical shock.

"Well then, if successful, how does
shocking work?" asked the young mage.

"Well, it can deactivate the particles
in your system that are working in conjunction with your genetics,
of course!" responded Draagh.

Particles. Genetics. Viruses. Magic.
Cantuses. These things were new to Max and Jennie, but they
absorbed it all quite well. In fact, better than Draagh would have
imagined when he first encountered them near the banks of the
Urubamba River. The ancient Primulus went on to explain that
everything that had mass in the universe also had a combination of
some form of particles. There was light matter, dark matter, dirt,
water, oxygen, cannabis sativa (his favorite), and many
quadrillions of other things.

"Draagh," asked Max, "exactly how does
magic work? I mean, what is it, really?"

"Max, my boy," Draagh responded, "How
old were you when you learned to drive a grav sled on your maternal
grandparents' farm?"

"Um, I don't know, maybe 8 years old?"
he shot back.

"And did you understand
exactly
how
that
grav sled worked?"

"No, no. Not at all."

"Yet, you were still able to operate
it, am I not correct?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"Exactly the same here, my boy!" he
shouted, slapping Max on the back and causing the young man to
cough as he did so. "You must practice more, and then the assorted
titillating details will be revealed. It shall be quite
enlightening, I can already say. Yes, indeed, I can."

The three finished the day,
practicing calling
glaciecantuses
- freezing spells, and making ice cream. This was
most probably due to the fact that Draagh had the munchies. They
then ate a quick dinner, with Max and Jennie choosing elk and a
delicious light honey mead. After they had all retired to their
chambers, Max heard a light knock on his door. His heart jumped -
he hoped it was Jennie coming to visit with him. He ran to the
door, opening it, only to find Alea standing there in a
semi-transparent nightgown, her attractive figure visible via the
light coming from the partial moon, which also made it quite
apparent that she was not wearing any undergarments.

"Max, I am sorry to bother you, but I
do need to speak with you. May I come in?"

Max stepped back and shut the door behind
her.

"Alea, it's late and I've been training
all day. What is it?"

She looked at him, and stepped forward,
putting her hands on the crisscross collar tie of his tunic, and
saying, "I believe that a danger lurks in the castle. I have no
idea what it is yet, but we have been betrayed before. I can feel
its dark embrace. Please be careful. I am deathly afraid, and, as
you have become so strong, I was wondering if I could pass the
night - in your bedchambers?"

Max sighed and took her hands into his.
"Alea," he said, "you are an immensely attractive woman, and if I
were here alone and not going anywhere I can tell you that I would
not only take you up on your offer, but I would seek to make you my
mate. You are really that incredible - and to top it all off, you
have a great right hook. But the reality of this whole situation is
that I'm not staying here. I need to return to my home planet and
prevent a disaster - the same type of disaster that befell this
world. Can you understand that?"

Alea hummed softly and leaned up to
kiss him, which he lightly reciprocated, and then reached over to
open his door.

"If you would like, I can request
protective guards for you. Would that work? I mean, I think I have
some connections with the king," he said half-jokingly.

Alea smiled, her beautiful face glowing
in the moonlight and said, "No, I am fine. I just wanted to warn
you, and perhaps, well, you know. Goodnight, Max."

"Goodnight, Alea," said Max, as he shut
the door, his heart beating, not out of lust, but out of
anticipation. He wanted to get her out of his room before Jennie
found out she was there. The last thing he needed was a jealous
lycan female throwing down shots with soldiers - again. He turned
to look out the window, and remembered what she had said - that
there was danger in their midst. That was most disconcerting, and
he paused, only to be scared half out of his wits, because there,
in the window was a figure, crouched and waiting.