WinterMaejic (5 page)

The power of maejic never ceases to awe me. That we must keep its use secret is criminal. How many people have gone to their graves never knowing they had the gift—or knowing, choosing not to use it?

Our numbers decrease. There are scarcely enough of us left to maintain the balance of power. We weary and are in danger of growing weak.

Long have I pondered what it will take to put things to rights. Maejic was outlawed when the dragons were overthrown from joint rule. Will it be restored when they regain their rightful place? Is Xyla the precursor? I am tempted to pin my hopes on her, but this does not seem wise, for many things can yet go wrong.

Though go we to rest now,

Say not thou “defeat.”

The power of ages

Again shall be meet.

Ascent from the ashes,

Descent from the stars,

The power of ages

Once more shall be ours.

A strong one will quicken

And harvest alone

The power of ages

To lead us all home.

Is Xyla the strong one? Is Donavah?

“I assure you I am not kidding.” Yallick’s chuckle made me look back at him. “Come inside,” he said.

I followed him into the cottage, the inside of which looked nothing at all as it had when I’d left it earlier in the day. The furniture was pushed back against the walls, the rugs were rolled up leaving the floor bare, and not a single book, manuscript, or instrument was to be seen anywhere.

“I was right,” I burst out. “We
are
leaving.”

“Yes, indeed. And who knows when or even if we shall return?” I detected a wistful note in his voice. “What we cannot carry on our backs we must leave behind.”

“But if the king’s men are coming . . . what about all your things?”

“That is what I need your help with. I have already buried everything of import—”

“Buried your books?” I interrupted. “They’ll all be ruined!”

Yallick snorted. “I think not. I would have hoped you would trust me to do better than that. Everything is safely sealed in magic trunks. But even the most junior of Roylinn’s novices could open the trunks if they were found. That is why I need your help. We must move that boulder to cover the spot where the trunks are buried.”

I looked at him as if he were crazy, and then it dawned on me. Of course! We would move the boulder using our power. My eyes widened. “I’ve never . . . I can’t . . .” I spluttered. Then I rose to the challenge in Yallick’s eyes. “All right. Teach me what to do.” He smiled in satisfaction.

He led the way back outside and around to the back. The boulder was at least twenty feet across and close to half that high.

“Close your eyes and compose your thoughts.” Yallick’s voice was soft, almost chanting.

I took another look at the huge rock, then did as I was told.

“Gather your power.”

I took a deep breath and raised my hands, as if feeling for the threads, the strands of power to weave into substance. There—on my fingertips, now in my palms. I gathered it as Yallick instructed.

“Direct it to the boulder.”

I sent the ropes of power to surround it, lift it into the air. Not much, just a few inches. I heard the tiniest of gasps from my teacher, which I put out of my mind.

“Move it to the left, not far, maybe eight feet.”

I felt like laughing, this was so easy. Obviously, Yallick was doing most of the work. Still, I was learning a new skill. With a slow movement of my hand, I slid the power to the left.

“By all the . . . !” Traz’s voice rang through the night, shattering my concentration. The ground shuddered as the boulder fell. I almost lost my balance, but Yallick grabbed my arm. Traz sauntered over to us. From the look in Yallick’s eyes, I knew the boy was in for a tongue-lashing. “That was awesome, Donavah!” Traz went on. “I didn’t know you could do that. C’mon. Do it again!”

I braced myself for the expected torrent of anger from the mage, but before it came, the entire world seemed to tilt. Yallick caught me up in his arms before I fell, then quickly strode to the cottage. I tried to protest that I could walk, but no words came out. He carried me inside and to my room, placed me gently on my cot, and pulled several heavy blankets over me. I caught sight of Traz’s worried face watching from the doorway, but I couldn’t move. Panic started to seep into my stomach.

Yallick placed a warm hand on my forehead. “You are all right. Sleep now. We must leave before dawn.” And I immediately fell asleep.

I was softly prodded from a dreamless slumber to find Yallick looking down at me in the candlelight. “Awake?” he asked.

I nodded and pushed myself into a sitting position. I felt a little groggy, but nothing a cup of strong tea wouldn’t take care of.

Yallick sat on the edge of the cot, and I moved my legs aside to give him more room.

“It is almost time to depart. But before we go, I must beg your forgiveness. What I did last night was utterly inexcusable.”

“What do you mean? I don’t understand. So I helped you move—”

“Helped me?” he interrupted. “Helped me? My dear, you did it all yourself.”

I almost asked if he was kidding, but I could see the concern—concern for
me
—in his eyes.

“I did not think you would be able to do it; you have not yet had sufficient training. But after yesterday’s events, it was wrong of me to put you to that kind of test. My only defense is that I did not expect you to succeed. But you did.”

He paused, as if to let that sink in.

My voice came out in a whisper. “I . . . I did it all myself? That’s not possible.”

Yallick smiled. “I was surprised myself, despite my confidence in your abilities.” He patted my shoulder. “It is almost time to leave. Traz has prepared porridge and tea. You must eat well, and then we will be off.”

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “But I haven’t packed yet.”

“Not to worry. Traz and I took care of that last night. Your pack is in the front room. Hurry along now.” And he was gone, closing the door behind him.

I looked around the room. Although it was at least twice as big as my cell back at Roylinn Academy, I hadn’t been here long enough to really make it mine. I’d set a few pinecones on the desk, but that was about it. Still, the bed was comfortable, and the thought of camping in the outdoors during Winter didn’t make it seem less so. I sighed and threw back the covers, discovering with relief that I was still dressed in yesterday’s clothes.

Breakfast improved my mood still more, so that when we left the cottage, I felt ready to face whatever was ahead. We hoisted our packs and went outside.

“Don’t you want to lock the door?” I asked Yallick as we walked down the front path.

“If
they find the place, a lock would scarcely slow them down.”

Something about the way he stressed the word
if
made me look back. Sure enough, where the cottage had stood was now a meadowy glade. Even the boulder I’d moved the night before was gone.

“Then why did you have me move it?” I asked in exasperation.

“Because I have no idea whether they will be able to break the illusion. And even if they do not, the illusion will not last forever. Let us carry on.”

Yallick took the lead, and Traz and I walked side by side behind him. We headed north.

The sky was just turning rosy in the dawn light when the mage Anazian joined us. He had a very serious look on his face, and he spoke with Yallick in a language I didn’t understand. Not liking the feel of being left out, I slowed my steps to let the two men get a little ahead. Traz stayed with me.

“Where is Xyla?” I asked. “I didn’t see her anywhere. I can’t hear her, either.”

Traz’s winced a bit, reminding me of his secret wish to become maejic. “Yallick sent her ahead last night. Said she needs to travel when it’s dark.”

“But where’d she go?”

“To wherever we’re supposed to camp tonight. I guess that’s the plan for awhile, until we have to start traveling at night, too.”

“At night?” I exclaimed much louder than I’d meant to. Anazian looked back at me. I smiled at him, and he turned back to Yallick. “At night?” I repeated more quietly. “You’re joking.”

Traz shrugged. “I’m not. And I can’t imagine Yallick ever joking.”

“You’ve got a point there,” I agreed. Then I shivered. “It’s already too cold to be outside at night.”

“I know. And I think we’re heading for the mountains on the northeast border.”

“Great. Just great.” I hunched up in my cloak, shoved my gloved hands deeper into my pockets, and trudged along in silence for awhile. I tried to enjoy the scenery, but the woods had suddenly lost their appeal.

As the day progressed, more and more mages joined us, until we were a group of well over a hundred. Traz attached himself to Klemma, and I couldn’t help smiling when I realized he’d managed to coax her into a verbal lesson on weaponry.

After lunch, Anazian joined me. “So, Donavah, how goes the teaching? Are you studying hard?”

“I was until today,” I grumbled.

Anazian threw back his head and laughed. “Very bitterly said. You would rather be attending to Yallick’s boring old lessons than hiking in the fresh air?”

His humor was infectious, and I grinned sheepishly. “Well, maybe if it were Spring it wouldn’t be so bad.”

“You just might be right, at that.”

“Well, in answer to your first question, I guess things are going all right. Yallick seems to be satisfied.”

Anazian looked closely at me. “He does? That’s unusual.”

That pricked my pride. “What’s so unusual about that?” I snapped. “I’m a good student, and I work hard.”

He laughed again. “No, no. You misunderstand. My apologies. What I meant was that it’s unusual for Yallick to let a student know what he thinks. Especially if it’s positive. I should know.”

“Why?”

“I apprenticed with him, too.” I looked at Anazian in surprise. He caught the look and said, “And now it’s my turn to bristle if I choose. Does that seem so unlikely?”

I ducked my head in my own apology. “No. It’s just that I thought it had been a long time since he’d had an apprentice.”

“And so it is. I believe I’m considerably older than you think. The same is even more true of Yallick.”

“But he’s
ancient
. He must be at least fifty.”

Anazian laughed aloud yet again. This time I noticed several mages look our way in curiosity. I wanted to tell him to stop, but didn’t think it would do any good. He’d probably just laugh at me more.