Magus (Advent Mage Cycle) (26 page)

She sighed, hugging me back and burying her face in my shoulder. “You always were the most thoughtful of my children.” After a pause she ventured, “You all look like good friends.”

“We are. Actually, I think we’re more like comrades-in-arms.” I thought about that some more, testing the concept carefully and finding that if anything, it lacked the depth of what I felt for the people downstairs. “They are people that I trust absolutely.”

“You don’t do anything by halfway measures,” she confirmed, lifting her face to smile up at me. “Even as a child you were like that. If you were friends with someone, then you were as close as possible to them.”

I shrugged, silently agreeing with her.

“Well, let’s go down and get supper on the table.” With a last squeeze around my waist, she let go and headed downstairs.

Dinner that night was a riot. Shad, being Shad, couldn’t leave anything alone and was teasing everyone mercilessly. My family rose to the challenge and was giving as good as they got. I was thankful neither Xajen nor Braeden were home—if they had been, it would have gotten completely out of hand. Naturally, with Shad and my parents going at it, everyone else had to join in as well. There were some real zingers flying around the table. My face was sore by the end of the night from smiling and laughing so much.

I went out after dinner to make sure that Night was taken care of. He was snuggled into the small stable, sound asleep. I stood watching him for a moment, surprised to see that he actually fit in there. Night grew to be a gangly stallion, tall and with a large bone structure; recently, however, he started filling out. I was grateful that my Tonkowacon friend Small Rider wasn’t around to see this recent development. If he ever saw how well Night developed, I’d really have a fight on my hands!

I turned back to go to the house, and hopefully a soft bed. I was three feet away from the stable when I realized I wasn’t alone out here. On the back porch, watching me, was Xiaolang. I couldn’t see his face well in the fading light, but he had the air of a man who had something on his mind. I lengthened my stride, crossing to him in a few quick steps.

Even when I was standing next to him, however, there was a long moment of silence before he chose to speak. “I’ve often wondered, since I met you, what kind of family you came from. Meeting them like this,” he cast a glance behind him, toward the house, “has answered a lot of questions for me.”

That statement was certainly open ended. “Good or bad?”

“Good,” he assured me with a soft chuckle. “All of its good.”

I had the feeling that he wasn’t going to go any more into the subject. I was very curious to know what questions he had, and what answers he apparently gathered here, but knew that it would be easier to spin the world on my pinky than to get Xiaolang to change his mind about something. I’d weasel it out of him later. Hopefully.

“I can see why you fit in with my family so well,” Xiaolang declared with a smile lightening his face. “Your family is very similar in some ways. I haven’t laughed this much since I left home.”

I agreed with this with a vehement nod. “We are very similar in some ways.”

The door opened and a small, reluctant face peered around the wood. “Garth, Mommy Jaylan says you have to take me home now,” Trev’nor informed me with a desolate sigh.

I bent down and scooped him up. This wasn’t as easy as it used to be—he’d definitely been growing while I was away. “It
is
getting pretty late, kiddo.”

“Can’t I stay the night?” Trev’nor bent his most pitiful, no-one-loves-me look on me, the one guaranteed to get his way.

And, as usual, I caved. “Well, we’ll need to send a message to your parents to tell them we’re keeping you.”

“YES!” he bounced in my arms, face splitting in a wide grin. “Can I sleep with you, too?”

A part of my mind irreverently wondered if he still kicked in his sleep. But I couldn’t deny the kid—it might be months before I got to see him again, and I knew how much he missed me. “Sure, why not?” I capitulated. “But you need to go get something for me. There’s a mirror broach in my saddlebag.”

“The talking one,” he stated in recognition.

“That’s the one,” I confirmed.

“I’ll get it!” he squirmed down, running almost before his feet managed to hit the floor.

“Doesn’t the kid ever move at a normal
walk
?” I muttered to myself. I was vaguely jealous of having that much energy. Why is it squandered on children, when adults need it so much more?

“That boy thinks the world of you,” Xiaolang murmured. “And…” he visibly hesitated, slanting a questioning look at me from the corner of his eye.

“And…?” I encouraged him. Xiaolang rarely hesitates in his speech. When he wanted to say something, he said it. I’ve only seen him this hesitant once before, and that was when he told me that his people sometimes had a bit of precognition.

“He’ll be very important in the future,” Xiaolang murmured. “I’m not sure how to put this…” he paused, mouth rummaging for words. “Something will change very soon, Garth. Someone will be discovered who will change everything. When that happens, you need to trust Trev’nor like he trusts you. Much will be lost otherwise.”

I could not have been more stunned if he announced that the sky would be green tomorrow instead of blue. Where had
this
come from? “I don’t suppose that you could be more specific…?”

“I wish I could,” Xiaolang muttered in frustration. “Let me put it this way. Certain people have more…more
weight
to them than other people. It…no, that won’t work.” He paused, thinking about it some more. “All right, try to imagine this. You worked with your father as a blacksmith, so you should be able to understand this. You use certain hammers for different work, right? Because one hammer isn’t necessarily strong enough to do certain jobs, but other hammers
are
. Right?”

I understood entirely what he meant. You didn’t use a normal carpenter’s hammer to forge a sword, but another hammer entirely. “Right.”

“You have that kind of weight to you. I can tell by looking at you that you are a hammer meant for certain tasks.”

That made sense. My eyes went wide as what he was telling me started to sink in. “And Trev’nor?”

“Almost as heavy as you. And, well, in the immediate sense almost
heavier
.”

“Any idea what he’s meant to do?” I was grasping at straws now.

Xiaolang shook his head, frustrated. “Precognition isn’t my strong point. I’m lucky to get snatches.”

“Rats,” I groaned.

“The one part of this that I’m firm on is that it has to do with a little boy that we’ll take out of Chahir, and that somehow Trev’nor needs to meet that boy.” Xiaolang’s head tilted a little, eyes going blind as he focused on something that I couldn’t see. “And you need to make sure that they meet.”

“Well, that gives me something to go off of.” I frowned to myself, thinking. “Will you recognize the boy when you see him?”

“Yes.” Xiaolang was absolutely certain of this.

“Good enough,” I decided. “We’ll take the rest of it as it comes.”

“Practical advice,” Xiaolang agreed.

Trev’nor scampered back toward me, sounding like a herd of deer. “Garth, here it is!”

I looked, really looked at Trev’nor as he handed me the mirror broach. Trev’nor has always been special, a child prodigy in a life that had no child prodigies. My head was swimming with questions after Xiaolang’s revelation. Who was the boy we were to rescue, and why was Trev’nor so important for that boy?

Trev’nor gave me an uncertain look. “That is the right one, isn’t it?”

I blinked back into the here and now and smiled at him. “Yes, it’s the right one. Sorry, I was thinking.” Shaking my head at myself, I grazed the mirror with a touch of power. “Chatta?”

There was a moment of silence and then a concerned voice came through. “Garth? Is something wrong?”

“No, not at all.” Trev’nor and I shared a smile. “Just wondering if you could pass along a message for me…”

~*~

We met at the Academy bright and early the next morning. Mom, being Mom, woke up early enough to cook a huge breakfast for all of us. By the time I dragged everyone out of the house, Shad had charmed my youngest sister, and was swearing up and down that he was going to adopt my mother as his. Neither Mom nor Kaydan minded, naturally. They found his antics charming.

Charming. Ha!

For revenge, I decided I would make him cook for the next week. That’ll teach him to mind his manners.

Terran didn’t say much—he apparently wasn’t much of a morning person—just gathered us all up close to him. Then he nodded to me. “Magus, if you would take us to the Chahir coastline?”

I nodded in understanding, wrapped us all up in magic, and took us down to the earth path.

It was a quiet trip, for various reasons. Most of us were still a little asleep on our feet, some of us—like poor Aletha—were very uneasy being underground like this. After about a half hour of traveling, Terran maneuvered until he was standing next to me.

“I’m told that you weren’t really trained in your abilities,” he commented. It sounded idle, but the look in his eyes was very curious.

“I was given as much guidance as they could,” I answered, shrugging. “The rest I either figured out, Night told me, or I found hints in history books.”

“Ah yes,” he cast a glance at the Nreesce at my shoulder. “You would have inherited a great deal of knowledge from your mother, wouldn’t you?”

“Not as much as I wish, sometimes. She didn’t pay a lot of attention to how things were
done
. So I can tell Garth that it’s possible, but he has to figure out how to do it.
” Night flicked his ears, slightly irritated.

“It’s been an interesting learning experience,” I agreed ruefully. “Do you have Earth Mages over in Coven Ordan?”

“Three,” Terran answered with a growing smile. “And they will
all
want to meet you.”

Somehow, that didn’t sound reassuring. I eyed him suspiciously, wondering what he
wasn’t
telling me.

“I assume that you can’t move through water?” Terran continued, changing subjects without warning.

“Er, not really.” I rubbed my chin idly, thinking about it. “I’m not really that good with water. It’s not one of my elements.”

“Fortunately I’m quite good with it.” Terran flashed me a bright, cheerful smile, which was slightly sarcastic. After all, he
was
the Water Mage. “Just bring me to the water, and I can take over from there.”

“All right,” I agreed easily.

Little did I know….

I brought us up on the very edge of the Chahiran coastline. We took a bit of a breather, stretching out and walking about for a few minutes. Then Terran called us together, wrapped us up in magic, and dropped us into the water.

It’s always puzzled me that people found traveling the earth path disturbing. I was in complete control—nothing could possibly harm them. And it was safer, and far faster, than any conventional way of travel. There were people that were claustrophobic, of course, but it seemed to bother everyone on some level. I could never understand why.

I understand now.

I
completely
understand.

And boy did I wish I didn’t!

Nothing Terran was doing could excuse my nervousness. The ride was perfectly smooth, the water completely repelled and molded by Terran’s magic. He was absolutely in control.

That didn’t change that I would give my eye teeth to be on solid land again.

“Garth?” Chatta was frowning, watching me with concern. “Are you all right?”

I resisted the urge to start openly fidgeting. “Chatta, you know how I always dismissed your fears whenever we traveled by earth path?”

“Yes…” she said cautiously.

“I’m sorry.” My voice was hoarse but very earnest. “I’m truly sorry. I understand completely now. This is
unnerving
.”

“Ah,” she murmured in understanding. Sympathetically, she patted my arm, and while that was sincere, there was a smirk on her face, too. “You can see it from my point of view, now?”

“Completely,” I groaned.

“There isn’t an Earth Mage in existence that feels comfortable traveling in water like this,” Terran declared over his shoulder. “I thought you knew that?”

“Terran, don’t assume I know anything,” I retorted acidly.

Terran, the rat fink, laughed. I think he forgot to mention it on purpose…in fact, I’m nearly sure of it.

I spent the next hour doing anything to keep my mind off of where I was, to limited success. I actually reverted to taking the Braid out of Night’s hair and completely redoing it. Trev’nor had taught me a more simplistic and sturdy braiding pattern, and I used that while putting the seal back into Night’s hair. Out of habit, I put a barrier spell back on. You never knew with Didi—sometimes he just couldn’t let an opportunity pass him by.

Then, with nothing else constructive to do, I fell to fidgeting. Everyone was watching me in amusement and with a bit of perverse satisfaction. I ignored the urge to stick my tongue out at them, like a frustrated child.

We could not get there fast enough to suit me.

~*~

When I pictured Coven Ordan in my head, I had a certain idea in mind—probably a small town, buried up high in the mountains. Considering how many magicians lived there, I was sure that there would be some pretty fantastic architecture to it.

My imagination didn’t even
compare
to reality.

There, in front of my astonished eyes, was a
floating
city!

I didn’t know you could do that with magic!

It was of a fair size, probably about the size of Geol. I was standing on the top of the mountain, and could look straight across into the city gates. From what I could see at this distance, it was a beautiful place, filled with rich plant life and spectacular buildings.

I just couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that it was suspended over the valley floor, hovering so that it was level with the tops of the mountains around it. How by the stars had they managed this?