The 13th Mage (18 page)

The Shadow Mages.

“
The shadow mages.
”

“
What about Owen?
”
She wondered,
“
was he part of this too?
”

He couldn’t possibly be, he had every opportunity to ste
a
l Heather after she was born and he didn’t.
He was genuine.

“
But why did he leave?
”

Because he loved you too much not to show it, and you were in love with someone else.

“Okay, that’s enough.
Who the hell are you!
?
”

Me? Your inner voice of course, another trait of being a mage, your inner wisdom.

“Get the fuck out of my mind! I know you are not me, you don’t even speak like me.”

There was a knock at the door.

Hide!

“Fuck with hiding, fuck with running away, fuck with you! I can tell you are in there you little bastard, or bitch, or whatever.
I thought there was something strange in my mind, I should have realized straight away, what with that funny accent.”

“Is there anyone home? Jennifer?
Are you in there dear?”

It’s Aeoife.

“It’s Mrs. Crow, not Aeoife! Owen? It’s you isn’t it you little shite! When I get my hands on you, you bastard, you and your brother, I am going to kill you both!”

Somewhere in
Rio
, Owen began to choke. S
omething was strangling him, something very powerful.

“Is that you Jennifer dear?”

“Yes Mrs. Crow, I’ll be there in a second,” Jennifer said getting up off the floor and letting the old lady into the house.

“What’s wrong dear?
Why are you looking at me that way?”

Owen hadn’t stayed alive for hundreds of years for lack of self-preservation skills.
It had been a close call, and an unexpected one, but he had taken control of his senses and stopped the choking before losing consciousness.

It was amazing really, the way the girl was advancing. Having grown up a mortal had freed her from all preconceived ideas of what she could or could not do.
He felt sorry for Aeoife. H
e’d had a glimpse of Jennifer’s thoughts just before he was thrust out of her mind.

He drank a glass of water and
rubbed his neck, it was bruised. There were
finger marks all around
it
.
He smiled to himself, “that’s my girl,” he said to no one in particular and sat down to wait.

The voice came a few hours later, it was weak at first, hardly noticeable, but it made him proud.

“Owen? Are you alright? I’m really sorry, please answer if you are there.”

Yes! he thought.
Jennifer was an utter genius.
She only had to feel something once and she could work out how to replicate it.

“Owen, oh God, please be alive.”

He waited for as long as he could before answering, it wasn’t right to show too much enthusiasm to someone who had tried to kill him.

“What are you doing in my head Jennifer?”

“Oh Jesus, Owen!”

Owen tried to connect back to her, but she was unreachable. Good, he thought, although he had got used to her, being with her, sharing her experiences.
He’d miss her.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine.
A bit bruised, that’s all. Y
ou have to learn to control that temper of yours.”

What he had been doing was completely unethical of course, against the rules.
Something only the Shadow would have the nerve to do.
Borrowing into someone’s mind was
a violation of their inner self. I
t also meant the person had access to the one doing the borrowing, if only they knew how to tap into that access.

“How is Aeoife?”

“Aeoife? She’s fine, why?”

“Oh, just wondering, I thought you might have attacked her as well.”

“Aeoife? No way, for a second I thought it was those people Sean mentioned, pretending to be Aeoife, but as soon as I saw her I knew she had nothing to do with it.
I can feel them you know.”

“Yes, I know.”

That was
something unique about Jennifer. S
he could feel the vibratio
n level of a mage with her body. H
e had clearly detected a pain on her right side and a bitter taste in her mouth when the Shadow made a presence through the reporter she had visited.
It must be a human thing he hadn’t inherited, he thought.

“Do you really think so?
I just felt sick, didn’t notice the pain, but now that you mention it…”

Enough was enough, he thought,
“bye Jennifer.”

“Don’t cut me off yet, when are you coming back?
Where are you? And why did you tell your solicitor that Heather was yours?”

“I guess there is no point me hanging around here now, but I have a problem being near you.”

“Yes, I know.
I’m sorry.”

Yes, he had declared himself to her; it was too late to take it
back now. He would
have to live with it.

“I’ll meet you in Skerries,”
he said,
“don’t go back to Heather, the Shadow have a fix on you now and going back will only put her in danger.”

“I’ll see you soon then?”
she asked.

“Yes, soon.”

He cut the connection and smiled, he felt happy, very happy.
He didn’t remember feeling this happy ever.
He opened the window wide and breathed the
hot
clammy July air, the birds were singing, the city was awake, he’d get ready and go down for some breakfast, then straight to the airport.

“I don’t think I have ever seen you this happy Owen, what are you up to?”

He was startled at the voice behind him, he hadn’t heard anyone come in, but he could recognize that rasping voice anywhere.

“Great Rossini,” he said, turning around, “it is a great honor.”

The old man sat on the only chair in the room and rested his gold tipped staff beside him, he locked his large muscular hands in front of his chest and stared at Owen like a lion stares at his next meal.

Owen looked
at the top end of the S
ta
ff. I
t had a golden claw holding a blue crystal ball which seemed to have a light of its own.
The
Staff
.

His mind went into overdrive. T
here
, right
in front of hi
m, was the object of his desire
.
The only goal and dream he had had for millennia.

Rossini w
as a great deal older than Owen. H
e had held the
Staff
before Owen had even been conceived and knew that look, he had seen it in hundreds of Council Elders.

But he wasn’t concerned about that look, not from Owen, or from anyone else for that matter.
Rossini had gained quite a reputation in his younger days.
He had been named God of War by at least two early Mediterranean cultures, something he had believed himself to be until he met the Council of Elders.
A good battle didn’t worry him in the least.

As soon as Rossini had seen Joitan, the weak old man who was
Staff
Holder before him, he knew the
Staff
would one day belong to him.
He had always suspected the old
Staff
Holder knew this as well, for he had supervised Rossini’s training from the start, something which had surprised Rossini at the time, Joitan was known for his cruelness and self-serving nature.
Many had suspected him to be a follower of Shadow.

Owen sat and waited patiently for Rossini’s next move, he was a good boy, thought Rossini.
At least now he looked the age he truly was, it happened to all mages, sooner or later they would settle down to their true age.

Owen shifted position, was about to speak, but Rossini stared him into silence.
He still wasn’t sure about Owen, he had never been sure.
Too immature, too superficial, not intelligent enough, but his perseverance had made up for it.

Now there was something else, an inner power Rossini hadn’t seen before.
Owen radiated it and was strong enough to make Rossini curious.
It made Rossini wonder if the time was upon him, but the thought didn’t last long.

The funny thing was that Owen was completely unaware of it, completely blind to his own growth. Amazing.
"
Well, a sense of inner knowledge was never Owen’
s strong point," thought Rossini. "I
n fact
it was his weakness.
"
“Know thyself
,
” had been the first thing Rossini had learned in his own quest.

“You have changed,” Rossini stated.

“Yes, I know,” Owen said, the
Staff
had taken him by surprise, he didn’t often meet Rossini in person, but he had things to do elsewhere, he wanted to get away, go back to Jennifer, he needed to supervise things personally.

“What has changed you?”

“Well, you see, Great Rossini, it’s like this,” he began and stared out of the window, he was too high to jump out, with Rossini around there were no guarantees he would be able to manipulate the laws of physics to make a soft landing.

“Yes?”

“Well, I have no interest in the
Staff
at this time, I know you knew I was after the
Staff
, but things have changed now, I have to keep a promise to my adoptive mother, the Witch, their way is very particular and as her eldest son I have to keep my word.”

“And this promise, does it have anything to do with a special initiation? An introduction to a new kind of magic?”

“I… no, I don’t think so,” he wasn’t thinking straight.
It was possible the Great Rossini was attempting to Borrow deeper than was allowed.
If he succeeds he would have knowledge of Jennifer’s baby true nature and would know his plan.

“Your mind Owen, is a mismatch of messages, are you being truthful?”

“Yes, I am Great Rossini.
I would never try to deceive you.”

Rossini waited patiently, watching Owen fight an inner struggle that unsettled him no end.
Owen leaned his head down in a sign of respect.

“Tell me about this promise Owen.”

“In the
Witches Way
there is a return of gratitude, a way to pay back a great good.
My immortal mother adopted me at a time when my country was going through a theological revolution, a difficult time for the Old Ones.
She had great difficulties keeping me safe from the dangers we all faced in those dark centuries. Now it is my turn to adopt a child, a mage child.”
Owen hesitated. P
utting things into words sometimes had a way of clearing up his own confusion.

“Except in my case there are two of them, I have to protect and nurture two mage children, it is a difficult job.”

“And?”

“And I have become bonded to one of them.”

Owen knew what embarrassment was, but had never felt it burning his body like it was now.
For a member of the Council of Elders to openly admit he or she was bonded to another being was a great failing.
Depending on how they handled it, bonding could be considered an expelling offence for a Council Member.
Ow
en was taking a calculated risk. M
ore than one Council member ha
d gotten away with being bonded. T
hey grew out of it and were allowed to stay in the Council. Yet keeping it secret and being found out meant immediate expulsion.

“Ah,” said Rossini, so that was it, he thought.
Love.

Rossini was proud of his sense of timing, his sense of identifying approaching danger.
It was impeccable.

“And, is this love reciprocal?”

“No,” Owen said, his shoulders dropping visibly, “she doesn’t love me, but maybe sometime in the future she might,” he added looking up.

“And this refusal, this rejection, it doesn’t bother you?”

“I want her happiness
more than anything in the world.
I don’t care if it comes about without me.
Although if I lose her forever then I don’t know if I will care to continue living myself.”

“See, this is why bonding is discouraged Owen,” Rossini said getting up from the chair, staff under his arm, “bonding can destroy the strongest mage, it can take away his ambition, take away his aim in life, it can be a good leverage for the Shadow to strike.
It is truly a destructive and dangerous
disease
.
You must find a cure.
Don’t be fooled Owen, this feeling of bonding is not a natural occurrence, it is imposed.
Someone has done this to you.”

Owen thought he would skip breakfast and go straight to the airport, if he hurried he might be in time to get that evening’s
London
flight.

Rossini felt Owen absence of mind and decided he had to take charge of the situation.
He had always suspected Owen would be the next
Staff
Challenger, and had wondered how this would come about, waiting, disappointed at Owen’s lack of skills.
There was nothing like a good battle and no one had challenged him since the time of Stellar, she was good, the battle had lasted five decades, then she vanished, leaving him empty.

But battling against this type of power was not Rossini’s strength, if Owen realized what he had in his hands Rossini wouldn’t last the year. He had to destroy it before Owen became aware of it.

As soon as Rossini had identified his own weakness he had outlawed bonding in the Council.
Love was for mortals, it was too dangerous a weapon for a mage to wield.

“You have to come with me Owen,” said Rossini, but as he pronounced those words he felt a surge of power grow around Owen, he was close to awareness, “as you know the Council of Elders does not allow this kind of behavior, it is part of the Oath, you have to answer to the Council, Owen.”

Yes, this had disarmed Owen immediately, Oaths and promises were very important to the young man, belonging was important.

“My body needs to be nourished,” Owen said.
He needed time to think.

For a moment there, when the Great Rossini had mentioned keeping him from going to Jennifer, Owen had felt almost strong enough to defeat him.
He felt as though he would be able to take the
Staff
with just a wish, just one word.
But then it was gone, good job too, he thought, it wasn’t a good time for him to lose his powers, which was the inevitable result of a failed
Staff
Challenge.
No, he wouldn’t be challenging the Great Rossini for the
Staff
until he was ready and that time had not yet come.