Mage of Shadows (37 page)

That was Les, in a nutshell. Since it was only 8 AM on a Sunday, he was still sleeping in. Sunday was the only day that I didn't have training in the morning. Thank God for small favors, I guess.

Vik set down a stack of charred pancakes drenched in maple syrup in the middle of the table and took the seat next to me. No one immediately lunged for them, and I saw Danae wrinkle her nose. Vik didn't notice our distaste, instead tossing an arm around my shoulder and poking my side in what I supposed was a playful manner.

"So," Poke, "So, so! Our little boy is growing up!"

I, naturally, didn't understand.

Ruark waggled his eyebrows at me, which was most unlike him, especially since he had gotten the picture that I might possibly never forgive him for his role in Emily's death. The mage usually kept his distance from me whenever possible.

"We heard the news, Stratus. Congrats to both of you." Ruark said.

Danae sniffed, "If you interfere with her training, I'll skewer you."

"I'd like to see you try." I responded immediately, then realized what they were talking about and blushed heavily. How did they already know?

"Did you know," Vik said aloud, "That all relationships between initiates in Archanos have to be archived and reported immediately? Luckily, Car-Car did it for you two."

"W-What? Really?" That seemed very Big Brother-ish to me. So now Lincoln knew that Carmen and I were an item? That was… creepy. It wasn't the stupid Governor's business who I dated, dammit.

Breakfast began when Vik skewered the first pancake for himself, "Eat up guys!" And began to chew happily on his work. We moved with a lot less enthusiasm. The entire meal seemed to be dedicated to poking fun at me, and it only got worse when Carmen came down. I felt myself blushing heavily with the insinuations that they were making, especially Vik.

"So, so," Vik poked at Carmen now, "How was he, Car-Car? Did he impress, or was it… short?" He laughed loudly at his own bad joke, and I wish I could've said that he was the only one laughing.

Carmen, bless her, kept an indifferent stare, "It's none of your business what goes on between me and Mike. Poke me again and I'll break your finger, Vik."

"Evading, usually a sign of guilt or embarrassment." Larry contributed mildly from his tilted seat, "I would say it's the latter, Vik."

Danae laughed evilly, "I would love to see Carmen go after you, Vik. I would bet on her in a fight against you're stupid misogynistic ass"

"Big words confuse me." Vik said with a pout, scratching at his beard, "You would win but only because I don't hit girls."

Ruark gulped down his second glass of milk and rolled his eyes, "Don't lie, Shah, it's unbecoming."

"I don't!" Vik protested, then turned his leering gaze back to me, "So Strat, how was she?"

Carmen lunged from her seat next to me and slapped him upside the head. Larry gave a startled choke as my new girlfriend accidentally bumped his chair and sent it to the floor with a clatter that was ignored. Danae had began laughing uproariously as Carmen chased Vik, and even Ruark was smiling from his seat at the corner of the table.

I myself had never blushed so heavily. Carmen finally came back from her attempted assassination of Shah to sit next to me and gave me a patient, encouraging smile. Apparently all we could do was suffer through the ritualistic embarrassment that came with a new relationship in the APA crew. Later, she would tell me that it was much of the same with Yasmina and Mehdy, or anytime someone started seeing a Normal.

I swear though, at times like this it was just one big dysfunctional family. Most of the times even Danae wasn't so bad, she just had a disturbing tendency to lose her temper and lash out- and usually it was Carmen who had to take the brunt of it. I wanted badly sometimes to test myself against her, just so I could wipe that constant smirk off her face.

"Don't try," Carmen would warn whenever I brought it up, "Even if you won, it would just piss her off more. Everyone tolerates her attitude for a reason- Governor Lincoln is her grandfather, and he dotes on her like no other."

"I'm not expendable, though." I said, half-bragging, "I'm the Fire Aether, remember?"

Carmen shook her head sadly, "Everyone is expendable to the Triumvirate… please, don't test them."

For the most part, I held my tongue. It actually got easier now that Carmen and I were together. Les and Danae apparently came to some sort of reluctant understanding, and let us be. No longer did we have to hide up in the Star Room together, we could sit together on the couch near the fire in the house, or spend time together in our rooms. After two weeks, I was ready to ask Carmen to make the move across the hall to sleep with me, but call me a coward, I was too afraid to ask her to actually do it.

Hey, wanna live ten feet from where you already sleep? I have a drawer all cleared out for you!

It sounded weird enough in my head.

We found time for each other during the day now that we were together. It wasn't a lot, usually we would each lunch together, or dinner. I suppose to outsiders it looked a little peculiar that a sophomore girl was dating a freshman. The look on David's face was priceless when he saw us holding hands for the first time, even though I felt bad about it. Raj, amazingly enough, seemed angered by it.

One time, he cornered me alone at work and snippily said, "I didn't think you were actually going to steal his ex. That was a dick move, bro." And then walked off. He still refused to talk to me a month later. I felt the loss. Because of work at the SEL, Raj was the only one I actually saw from my old friends on a semi-regular basis.

They all summarily ignored my existence now, Tammy, Sam, Eliza, Raj. David was actually the nicest about it, but even he was obviously uncomfortable talking to me. Could I blame him? I was his roommate, he basically taught me how to succeed here, got me a job, and then I turn around and start dating his ex-girlfriend atop of already ignoring them for my supposedly new friends.

"I think he still had feelings for me." Carmen confided to me one night when I brought it up, "I broke up with him pretty suddenly… I just knew I couldn't keep hiding myself from him. But I wasn't going to tell him what or who I was… it was the only fair thing to do for him, instead of continuing to string him along, you know?"

I nodded, but I didn't really understand. I had never dated a girl who wasn't a User. I never had to deal with the turmoil of keeping a huge secret like that. The closest that I could get to it was having to keep it from my parents, and even then it wasn't the same. Teenagers always kept stuff from their parents; my secrets were just a little bigger than others.

I continued to train, every morning, and every night. Les would run me ragged at the gym, in the training field, everywhere. I dreamed about my fights and what I could have done differently, ran through the complex fluid forms of Wing Chun. Still, despite how hard I pushed at the fitness center, no matter how much ate, I stayed woefully skinny. It seemed that it would be a curse that would haunt me forever.

My skill in a spar, though…

Les came at me hand-to-hand, pressing his greatest strength against my greatest weakness, as per usual. But this time I was ready.

Shift right, block, shift backwards, redirect knee, redirect punch, and attack again. The movements had haunted in my dreams for so long that the proper technique was coming to life. Too many hours with the wooden dummy were finally coming to fruition against a real opponent. My root was solid, feet dug stubbornly into the artificial turf. My torso was another story; it twisted and writhed in time with Les's attacks. One solid stop of his punches opened me up to a lashing kick, and I dodged backwards as quickly as possible to avoid, springing into a two handed backflip with just a touch of power behind it to clear space between us. I soared into the air just as cleanly as if I had Jumped using my legs, albeit not as far or high. The ceiling height here wasn't really suited for Jumping anyways.

I remember the first time I had tried that. My arms had crumpled beneath me, unable to support the weight of my entire body in the improvised movement. Les had found it very funny; it was why Jumping was always done with the legs. Finally, I had developed the upper body strength in my shoulders and arms to support it.

Les wasn't laughing now.

I gathered power even before I landed. Les was Dashing towards me to close the gap again, to regain advantage in melee combat. But I was faster; I lit up with the glow of magic as I gathered power enough to fill my entire body. Two months ago, it would have taken at least four seconds to gather so much, six months ago it would have taken ten… before that, I wouldn't have been able to gather that much power at all.

Now, I did it in less than a second.

Les got within arm's length and threw a desperation punch, hoping to get me off-guard before I could finish. It had been too late; I released a concussive telekinetic force that was aptly named the Sphere of Power with a decisive shout.

The attack was made to deter multiple opponents and was released in a radial circle from my body, the center point. It worked just fine on a single opponent, too, and it was flashy, which I always enjoyed. My teacher was bodily thrown backwards, flipping around and grinding to a stop against the dirt in a solid crouch. I was still set aglow with power, and Les gathered his own magic from the air to match me.

I tossed out a casual arm and launched another attack, this time a sickle-shaped arc that Les referred to as a Force Lance. I had taken well to the naming system, which apparently predated my teacher, though even he didn't know the originators of most of the attack names. It was a apparently ubiquitous system; all the other initiates used it as well.

A year ago, I would be lucky to get any kind of telekinetic attack going at all. When you can't even shape the move, naming it seems kind of pointless. The Wise Gate was the first step to really letting loose as a mage. At this time, I was having trouble actualizing how I existed so long without at least cracking it open.

Les dodged my Lance with a decisive step and launched his own back at me, followed by a glowing Hammer, the tiny sphere whistling past me as I leapt into the air without a thought to avoid it.

He smirked triumphantly and Jumped up to meet me in midair. I cursed as I clumsily stopped his first punch, which pounded against my arm with added telekinetic force. Adding power to physical attacks was tough, and it wasn't something I had completely gotten the hang of. Luckily, cushioning attacks using your own magic was a lot easier, so I barely felt the force of the hit.

I tried to apply Wing Chun's redirecting principles in midair. It was as hard as it sounded, and I was distinctly aware that we were quickly plummeting to the ground. Les seemed unconcerned with our descent and continued to pummel at my guard and weakening the Magus Glow that I held ever so slowly, depleting my power with each punch. In milliseconds I found myself with my back to the ever-approaching turf, and desperately made my move right before I collided.

The last of the Glow left me when I released a dazzling burst with another Sphere of Power. It shoved surprised Les away and roughly hurtled me into the air when I was only a few feet from the turf. My head snapped backwards and I felt the blowback of my own saving grace consequently pound against my back and dangled legs, the price that the unbendable law of inertia demanded. It was almost as bad as if I had just hit the ground, though I wasn't as defenseless, so it was technically worth it.

Now when I landed awkwardly on all fours, I had a bit of room to breathe and reconsolidate options. My opponent was forced to land much further away- but was already launching at me once more. That was the problem with fighting Les. That asshole never knew when to give up.

My Magus Glow had faded with the Sphere. Even I couldn't gather enough magic quickly enough to push Les away again as he slammed a triumphant fist into my jaw and sent me stumbling backwards with a dismayed cry.

One… two… then my face screamed as the pain caught up viciously. My addled and disoriented mind cried out for vengeance as Les pressed onwards towards me, determined to take advantage of my shock. Rage consumed me in that moment of frustration, I was sick of losing to Les and facing the inevitable taunting that would occur afterwards.

I didn't give him the chance to follow through with his next attack. My suddenly enraged will sharpened and clashed with his as Les grew closer- and I won. I ripped power from the air, from Les, from everywhere. It was mine to command, in that moment, I was stronger than him. I saw his surprise as I lit up again with a sudden Glow, developed even quicker than it had before, if you could believe it. I scarcely could.

Precognition flickered to life as I dominated the magical field. I caught Les's weakened punch, then follow-up kick. I smirked when I saw the reflection of my Magus Glow, my power over him, in his eyes. More than that, I saw surprise, anxiety, even fear.

I felt triumph.

It was time to turn the tables, for once.

Master? I owned him now.

I still had his leg trapped in a fierce grip after he had tried to kick me. I derisively shoved it to the side and threw him off balance, then viciously tugged on his caught arm to bring him towards me. My right fist met his face with a satisfying crack.

I think I just broke his nose, I realized, somewhere inside. That voice was too quiet; I barely had to do anything to ignore it and continue just as fiercely with my devastating attack.

Punch, kick to the guts, slap away fist, break weak root, and return to dictating the now one-sided fight. The field was mine; he was too distracted by pain to even attempt to pull magic, my magic, away. The thrill, the exhilarating feeling that I was actually beating Les… it was intoxicating. Whether he was justified or not, the last six months had been torture for me.

He took my friends from me.

He took my time, and smirked whenever I had to follow a command obediently.

He physically and verbally tortured me when I couldn't follow through on his orders.