Forgotten Mage (16 page)

“Why not?” Bren asked, picking up one
of the books only to find that it was written in a language that he
didn’t understand.

“Because your magic would overload it,
but I have come up with another idea. We have had enchanters
working on this for the past three days and for the most part, is
ready, or well enough along for you to try it. There is only one
thing you should know,” Sae-Thae added, sounding
uncomfortable.

“Is it dangerous?” Bren asked, looking
more than a little worried.

“Any time you use magic it is
dangerous, but that is not it. The materials required were very
expensive, and we had to contact your mother in hopes of offsetting
some of the costs.”

Bren didn’t say anything, but he
groaned deeply. He knew that the second his mother learned of his
whereabouts, she would send a host of guards to drag him back, if
not worse.

His mind only thinking about his
mother, Bren didn’t hear anything Sae-Thae was saying. He could
tell that the vathari was excited, but somehow it just reach him.
After a time, Bren was escorted to a small room that broke his
attention away from his thought.

The room was like any other he had seen
before. There was a great wall of glass on everything, including
the floor. Large pedestals stood in the corner of the room with
another in the center. Each of the pedestal were covered in an
assortment of gems, some small and some large. The thought of what
would happen to the poor room, should avalanche ever find it,
crossed Bren’s mind, making the young mage laugh.

“Bren, I need you to go to the center
Tower and place your hands on it,” Sae-Thae said loudly from the
other room, his voice barely audible through the thick
glass.

Bren did as he was told. He was a bit
nervous, and suddenly wished he had paid more attention to what
Sae-Thae had said during their walk over. His hands felt clammy and
his heart was beating fast as his fingers inched ever close to the
pedestal. When his hands were fully on the cold stone, nothing
happened. Bren looked up and shrugged to Sae-Thae, who had an odd
looking smile on his face. Whenever the vathari showed his teeth,
Bren found it more than a little distressing.

Without warning, Bren felt something
hot rush through his body. He tried to jerk his hands from the
stone, but they wouldn’t budge. Then small sparks of different
colors began to fill the air around him, much the way they had
earlier when he had confronted Morus, but this time much stronger.
Some were so large that he could hear them crackle in the
air.

Focus,” Bren heard Sae-Thae’s muffled
voice yell through the glass.

Closing his eyes, he tried to feel the
magic as he had been instructed to do. For a brief moment, he could
almost see the waves of magic with his eyes closed. It was
everywhere, filling the room and collecting around him, then
another wave of heat and pain arched through his body, dropping him
to his knees.

The pain became so strong that Bren
couldn’t see anything but multicolored dots swimming in his eyes.
He could heard loud pops and bangs as Sae-Thae and Phena shouted
something, but he couldn’t tell what it was. Everything quickly
grew dark and Bren found himself fighting a losing battle to stay
awake. As the pain reached its peak, Bren felt himself fall to the
floor below.

CHAPTER XIII

As Bren’s mind began to come aware of
itself, once again he felt odd. There wasn’t pain, just the
sensation that his body had been dipped in cold water.

“Tell master Sae-Thae that Bren is
awake,” Bren heard Phena’s voice say loudly, off to his
side.

After opening his eyes fully, all Bren
could see was a blur. Within seconds, the young vathari mage came
into view. He gave a light smile as he tried to sit up, but as soon
as he started to move his body, his head started to swim and the
world around him began to move. After three attempts, Bren was
finally able to position himself in a sitting position using his
elbows to prop himself up. “Was it a success?” he asked in a lazy
tone.

“In a way,” Phena replied, her voice
low and sounding worried. “We were able to draw out your magical
ability, but with no place to go, the excess saturated the whole
room. That was why you passed out.”

“I just thought I had used too much
magical energy,” Bren said, with a small smile.

“That is what we thought as well…at
first, but master Sae-Thae believes otherwise.”

“Bren…good, you’re awake,” the elder
mage said, rushing into the room. “We didn’t know how long you were
going to sleep. I was more than a bit worried there for a
while.”

“How long did I sleep?” Bren asked,
sounding slightly panicked.

“Only two hours,” Sae-Thae said with a
short laugh. “Nothing to worry about, we will have to make some
adjustments to the testing room before your next adventure,”
Sae-Thae added, his brow furrowing in thought. “Now that I know
your well, I must attend a meeting of the masters,” Sae-Thae added
offhandedly before turning and leaving the room in a
hurry.

“Sae-Thae seems a little off today,
Bren said, shaking his head.

“First off, why don’t you call him
Master like you’re expected to? Second, I have never seem master
Sae-Thae show any fear before in my life, until you unleashed that
torrent of magic today. Even through the glass, I could feel it…it
was overwhelming,” Phena said, her voice more than a little
shaken.

Bren didn’t know what to say. Looking
down, he gripped the thin sheets between his fingers. “When I was a
child and my father disappeared, Sae-Thae used to visit often. He
would spend hours in my father’s workshop, looking for any hint of
what had happened. Then one day, I told him what I had seen, or at
least what I could recall of the event. He had never asked even
though my mother had told him I had been found in the room encased
in vines. I had never told anyone else what had happened that day
before…or since.” Bren said, looking down at the thin silvery scar
on the back of his hand. “Since then, Sae-Thae still visited,
though not as often as before, and many times he would plead with
my mother to let him train me…but mother would always get mad. Then
three years ago, the two got into a big fight and Sae-Thae was
banished from the capital.”

“I came to train here five years ago
and I do remember master Sae-Thae taking trips often my first few
years here,” Phena replied thoughtfully. “I never paid much
attention to them, though I would often ask him to take me with
him. It makes sense why he didn’t…I hear that your mother is not
always the most level headed of people,” Phena added with a nudge
of her elbow.

“I don’t think she would have taken the
news that father had another child…well.”

“”
You humans and your
jealousy… Why is it that you believe that you can only love one
person or that one person can only have love for you? Does their
having affection for another somehow diminish what they feel for
the other? Honestly, your human’s perception of love is one trait
that I am glad I do not share.”

Bren, I heard something happened to
you,” Faye said, running into the room, her face red and blotchy.
There were not many people in the medical section of the Tower, but
everyone who was there turned to look at the young girl. “What
happened?” She asked, pushing Phena out of the way so she could
stand next to Bren.

“I had a little trouble controlling my
powers,” Bren replied, trying to shrug his shoulders, nearly
costing him his balance. “I haven’t seen you lately…How are your
own studies going?” Bren asked, giving a light smile.

“Good…I still can’t turn invisible
every time I want, but I can do it most the time now. It’s not as
much fun as I thought it would be though. Most my work is
meditation and I can’t stand having to sit in the same place for
hours on end,” Faye rambled, the look of worry fading
away.

“Nine hells!” Bren yelled, startling
both Faye and Phena.

“What?” Faye asked, her face laced with
worry again.

“I am supposed to report back to the
training grounds at the academy tonight,” Bren replied as he tried
to force himself out of bed.

Phena easily pushed him back down with
one hand, her lips turned into a devious smile. “I don’t think you
will be going anywhere tonight,” she said, her voice almost
playful. “I will inform the Weapons Master that you have taken to
bed under Master Sae-Thae’s orders. That should buy you a day at
least to rest up.”

“I can go tell him,” Faye said, her
face slightly pinched.

“Do you know who the Weapons Master
is?” Phena asked mockingly.

Faye didn’t answer. “I didn’t think
so…”

Bren could almost see the sparks of
tension between the two women. It was more than obvious they didn’t
care for one another, but he had no clue why. They were so much
alike, he figured that they would be good friends by
now.

“Faye, just let Phena tell the Weapons
Master.” Bren said softly, hoping to break the tension.

“”
Fine,” Faye said in a
sour tone that seemed to eat at Bren’s brain. “Hope you get to
feeling better.” She added in the same tone before stomping out of
the room.

Phena followed quickly behind, leaving
Bren alone in the medical room. He tried to work through what had
happened, to see where the two women might have started their
fight, but everything seemed fine. He could find nothing that would
really offend either of them.

From his spot in the room, Bren spent
the next few hours watching as the sun began to set. It had been so
long since he had the time to enjoy his own company, and he found
it dreadfully burning. He wished that he had asked either Phena of
Faye to grab him a book or something to occupy his mind, instead of
sitting there with only his thoughts to keep him
company.

You really think either of
those girls would have brought you a book? Even if they did, they
would have made sure it was one you wouldn’t enjoy.

Bren let out a heavy sigh. “You had
been so quiet lately, I thought you might have lost your voice...so
much for dreams,” Bren replied, in no mood to listen to Thuraman’s
comments.

Oh, I have been talking, but
there has been so much noise around you that you couldn’t hear. You
really need to learn to control you power, otherwise things are
going to get real bad for you.

“Worse than they already are?” Bren
asked sarcastically.

You don’t seem to
understand. Most mages only have a slight impact on the magical
flow around them. In most cases, the currents are too strong for
them to affect, but gathered here is a great number of mages and
magical beings and the flow has changed to accommodate them.
Before, your talent was still locked and you were only drawing a
little more magic than most toward you. Over the past few days, the
wall that has kept your power at bay has begun to break down, and
from what I can see today it has crumbled completely. More and more
magic will begin to gather, and if you don’t learn to harness it,
then it will kill you.

“I have never heard of magic killing
someone just by being there,” Bren replied skeptically.

And you know so much child.
I have spent a lifetime with your father as he poured over every
text relating to magic that he could find. Believe me, those who do
not learn to use their power are weakened by it. Some get sick,
grow frail…and some die. You are far stronger than any other mage
within these walls…and that much power will eat you alive if you
don’t learn how to channel it properly.

“Bren, sorry for having to leave in
such a rush earlier…the other masters wanted to know what had
transpired in the testing room this afternoon,” Sae-Thae said,
coming into the room. “What is wrong boy, you look as if you have
just been bested by death?

“Is it true that people who don’t learn
to control their magic die?” Bren asked, more than a little shaken
at Thuraman’s words.

“It has happened, but it is rare.
Especially when one is studying within the halls of a proper Tower.
I must admit that your strength is far beyond anything known
before, but you will learn to control it; though, I don’t honestly
know if that is a good or bad thing.”

“What do you mean?” Bren asked, shocked
that Sae-Thae would think that his power was a bad
thing.

“You’re young child, and haven’t seen
what I have. If you had been born a vathari, we would have
celebrated your birth and at the same time we would have lamented
it. Too much power only brings ruin. We learned that once and vowed
to never to repeat that mistake again. You my boy, have too much
power…I don’t even know if the gods could best you.”

“Don’t be silly Sae-Thae, there is no
way that I could fight a god…They’re gods,” Bren said, almost
laughing.

“I don’t think it is any joking matter
Bren. I have met with my own god and have felt his power first
hand… and I have seen just a hint of what your power could do this
very day…It is no joking matter,” Sae-Thae said again, his own face
turning more pale than it had been moments before.

“That is not the reason I have come
though,” Sae-Thae said, as if pushing off the disturbing thoughts
that clouded his mind. “The other masters, myself included, believe
that it would be best if you took some meditation training. That is
normally held for internal mages and higher level apprentices, but
we believe it might help you get a hold on your power. If nothing
else, it is worth a try while we try and rework the testing
room.”