Sitting in the lesson on illusions, my attention is fully on the instructor for a change. "Illusion spells are designed to fool the onlooker so that they see what you want them to see. This is not the same as mind control, but it can open up the deceived to many of the same symptoms as mind control. Please do not use illusion spells lightly. They can be quite draining, as it must be sustained in order for the illusion to stay in place. Now, first I need you to visualize what it is you want the deceived to see, you must picture this clearly in your own mind before you can push this illusion into the consciousness of another... break off into partners, today you can practice casting illusions at each other." The instructor waits as students rise and mill around, finding their friends and whispering softly while those like me, who did not have any friends, stand silent to see who we will be left to partner up with. A dark haired girl with a sneering expression motions at me, and I nod. Soon all the students stand about the room in pairs. "Paired up? Good, now try to make the other person perceive there is a rain storm in the room."
A few hours later, not only can I cast a pretty good illusion, but I get better at telling them, too. It seems when my partner casts her illusion, there is the slightest bluish haze to it... but I am not sure if it is just her illusions or all illusions that have that haze. I wonder if other mages have different hued hazes around their spells. Then the class is over, and I grab my books for study and head for the corridors. Corbin meets me and escorts me back to the dining hall without a word. We both get our meal and sit down to eat, Corbin praying before he eats, as usual. I pick at my supper, unable to eat. The drama of the morning robbed me of my appetite. Tired of pushing my food around the plate, I rise from my seat to return to my dormitory. Corbin follows in complete silence. I smile at him before I enter into my dormitory, and notice he is looking at me with an unreadable expression. I hope the guard will be changed in the night; I do not want to have to try and cast any spells on Corbin.
I dump the books on my cot, bouncing down after them. I look toward the door to make sure no one was about to come in, and I pull a hand scribbled sheet out of the tome ‘The Moralities of Spellcasting’. I had copied this page from a book I had found in the library, which was actually an old diary of one of the caretakers of the tower. But in it I discovered there was a map of the tower, the lake and dock, and the outlying areas. I was unsure if I needed everything on the map, but I copied it anyway. I also discovered that over half of the tower, the east side, was unaccounted for. Meaning apprentices and magi did not enter or use that side. I wondered if that may be where the relics are kept. Three escape attempts turned futile because of that damned relic. Worried that they would find me in the Ennish camp, there can be no shortcuts this time, I must find that relic. So I pour over this rough map of the tower, lake, and surrounding area. The knowledge of the secret place of the relics is known only to the high ranking Sacellum members and the High Magi. It is said that the High Magi is the only mage to even see his own relic. The utmost securities will be on it, and surely they will be of a magical nature. If I can find where they keep the relics, how in the world am I ever going to be able to destroy mine? And then escape?
The diagram shows a window to the east side. Hmm, a window. I have only seen the outside of the tower four times... once when I was brought in, and three other times when I had escaped and was recaptured. I do not know of many windows, only a few here and there, small things that no human or elf, not even a dwarf could fit through. What side of the tower had I seen? Since all the times I was brought back were at night, there would be no way of telling. I need to get outside, to see the outside of the tower. But how? Mage-apprentices were not allowed to leave the tower until they were Magi of the Council, and then only by order of the Council. I chew my lip and think, lying back on the cot and trying to discover a means to go outside, to find this window on the east side...
Fire, again, and the clashing ring of metal on metal. I awake with my books still scattered about me. It is dark, and quiet. I slip my feet out of bed and find the icy floor. Wrapping a cloak around my shoulders, I quietly creep to the door. Knowing the guard was on the other side; I tap it and ask, "Corbin?"
"No, this is Marbruk." A deep voice answers.
Pleasure at this makes me smile. "Marbruk? Im feeling sick, I need to throw up... “I try to make my voice sound whiny, and I lean on the door, already pretending to be sick.
"I’m sorry, Mistress Lyrah, but you cannot leave your chambers. You may be tryin’ to escape."
I expect this response. "But I’m gonna throw uhh-pp,"I feign and make a hurling sound and allow myself to hit the floor. The door opens immediately and Marbruk's big frame blocks out the dim light from the hall. I was lying down, holding my stomach and moaning. Marbruk was a good-natured sort and seems concerned, which is why I feel a sliver of guilt when I am swept up in his arms and we head toward the clinic.
The clinic was located on the first floor, the lowest floor apprentice mages were allowed to go on. I am moaning and writhing and listening to the chunk, clunk, chunk of Marbruk’s boots as he tromps through the stone halls carrying me. Now, as we near the clinic, I begin to visualize a fire inside the clinic, and begin to push this visual towards Marbruk. Flames engulfing the beds and pouring over the rafters... the soot... the smell... the heat.... then I am almost jerked from my focus when Marbruk almost drops me, shouting "The clinic! It’s on fire!!” He sets me down and runs back down the hall, armor clunking.
I stand up and dart past the clinic through the large doors that I have only been through under armed guard. Now I see that there are two sets of stairs, one set going down into the earth and the other set going upwards in both directions from either side of the door. I chose the one that I thought to be on the east side, and dash down them. It is dark, and a guess, but I discover that it does not matter, since both sets of stairs go to the same set of huge doors. Giant doors, with a thick, massive chain across it, and an enormous, gargantuan brass lock holding the heavy chains together. The lock fills both of my hands as I grab it, and I sling it back in disgust, where it rattles and clangs. By now Marbruk would be returning, and I hurry back through the doors to the clinic, just in time to see Marbruk and two other Hellebardiers with buckets of water running down the dark hall. Had not those great doors been barred for the night, I would have turned and fled through them but I knew that they would not budge. The other Hellebardiers now can see that the clinic is not on fire, after all. Marbruk seems at first confused, and then very angry. My arm is roughly grabbed and I am half-dragged back to my chamber where I hear them turn the lock, after pushing me in. I even hear one of them mutter ‘Valspar’ under his breath. I should have thought it through more, they will watch me closer than ever now. I pull my knees up to my chest and sit in this position on my bed until dawn.
When the morning bells begin ringing, I change into fresh robes and sit at the end of the bed, waiting to hear the turning of the key in the lock. But it does not come, and I sit for some time. After a while I become very thirsty, but I know better than to bother to ask for anything. Eventually I hear the good natured boom of the High Magi’s voice, and the gruff voice of Marbruk outside the door. Then finally I hear the key turn in the lock, and the High Magi dips his head to enter my chambers. He is tall, and he seems to fill the room. “Now Lyrah my dear, what was last night all about?” He asks straight away, his clear, brown eyes steady on me.
Rage and loneliness well up inside, but I fight them down coldly. “I want to go back to my tribe, Sir,” I reply softly, proud that my lip stays firm.
Javol drops his eyes, and his good-natured self seems suddenly tired and defeated, and grim. He appears to slump, and his voice is quiet when he says “I know.” He nods as though to himself, and is silent for many minutes. I stand respectfully and wait. “But this has been the decision, I’m afraid that our…. gifts do not let us choose our own fate like other mortals. But I have all faith you will make a fine Magi one day.” He tries to reassemble his good nature again, and pats me on the back. “But I must be honest with you, Lyrah, if you continue to test the Sacellum’s patience, you may find yourself in such trouble that I will not be able to get you out. It will be out of my hands then, and I cannot help you.”
“You can’t help me now!” I blurt angrily, then immediately feel ashamed and avert my eyes when I see the hurt in his face.
“No.” He says softly, turning to leave. “No I can’t. I wish I could.”
He pauses at the door and sighs heavily. “You will be confined to your room for now. The Grand Ashipu is to determine what is to be done with you, and he will not be returning to Hamlet for some time. Please, Lyrah, please be good.”
He leaves the chamber and Marbruk, much surlier than he had been at the beginning of the night, growls something about bringing lunch and slams the door and locks it. I throw myself back on my bed with a groan.
Marbruk brings me a plate of food and a goblet of mead and a flask of water. The bread and cheese are from yesterday, they taste hard and stale. I assume he deliberately found the food from the day before. By now I am genuinely hungry, though, and not having anything else to do, slowly I consume my dry, musty meal. The noises of other apprentices as they come and go in their chambers echoes through my quiet room. I open one of the lesson books, and began to flip through it, completely bored. I am thinking about those small windows, and how could I discover where the relics were kept. Hidden. The rough illustration of a songbird catches my eye, and I flip back to the page.
‘Transformation spells, transfiguration spells, shape shifting and taking on animal forms- a ‘rare’ power’ , it says, now that would be something worth learning. I open to the first page and begin to read….
Comments (0)
See all