Chapter 5 - The Last Messenger

Chapter 5 - Aael

Aael felt the vibrations through his feet as two people climbed the stairs. He gritted his teeth at the interrogation that would soon begin. He strode to the bed, jumped in, and snapped the sheet to cover himself. It slowly fell as the air leaked out the edges. The door opened and his dad, along with the Abbot, entered the room.

“I appreciate the information,” Caden said to the Abbot.

Caden was thick but not fat. The type of guy you would avoid on a dark street. He wore loose cotton pants with a matching brown shirt and sandals. His light brown hair hid strands of grey. Aael had grown taller than his dad last year, something he was secretly proud of. Caden walked to the dresser and leaned against it, his face relaxed.

The Abbot pulled out the locker from the foot of Aael’s bed and sat. Aael almost smiled at the old man but smothered it. This wouldn’t be pleasant, and a misinterpreted smile might make it worse. The Abbot rubbed his bald head and then covered his brown face for a few seconds.

How much trouble was Aael in? Did they know where he’d been before the attack? Old people always figured things out. He knew his dad wouldn’t give anything away, so Aael studied the Abbot.

The Abbot had never trained to hide his body language and usually gave a lot away. Aael looked for the gestures the untrained made: narrowed eyes, lips pressed together, hands curled but not clenched. The Abbot wasn’t angry. Frustrated maybe? The Abbot leaned forward, his robe unable to hide his thin frame. Aael wished the old man would eat more than fruits and nuts.

Aael slipped into Moonless Night. It was pointless trying to match his father’s mask, but Aael did his best to emulate it. His father had taught him to listen first, talk last, and always observe. A person’s words and gestures were littered with subtext and easy to read if you knew how to see. Aael hated silence but had gotten comfortable with it over the years. His dad lived in it, only talking when he had to.

After a minute, the Abbot started to tap his foot. Another minute and the Abbot sighed and then spoke. “How do you feel?”

Laughing, Aael shook his head. He’d seen through his dad’s magic and spoke to his father, ignoring the fake Abbot next to his bed. “The Abbot is more patient. He would’ve let the silence drag on for at least another few minutes.”

Aael blinked as his dad’s magic unwrapped from his mind, and vertigo made his stomach turn. The Abbot and locker disappeared, and Caden gave a small smile. The locker reappeared at the end of Aael’s bed. It had never moved.

“Did you feel the overlay?” Caden asked.

“No. You did it as I ran back to bed, masked in my anxiety?” Aael asked.

Caden nodded.

“What about the footsteps?” Aael asked. “I felt two sets.”

“Sometimes things take too long to process in here,” Caden tapped his temple, “And you experience something as a memory even though it just occurred.”

Aael nodded. “I’ve had that happen.”

“Yellows use this mechanism to repeat sensations you’re experiencing. You heard my steps, and I made you hear them again. The memories are so fresh little energy is required.”

Aael’s dad was a weak internal mage. He had an excellent memory and a small talent as a Ghost Mage, the name used for mages who had studied in the Yellow Spire. They’d played this game Aael’s whole life, the constructs growing more complicated as he aged. Hid dad had stressed that real mages should be avoided as most were powerful and would easily destroy the few defenses Aael had learned from his dad. The magic in Aael’s body provided him a chance to keep his thoughts secure. Those without magic were powerless.

“Elu called me arid,” Aael said.

“An old term, but accurate enough. Some of history’s greatest generals, scholar –”

“I get it. It’s not a handicap.”

Caden nodded. “Your condition gives you a huge advantage.”

“Elu said I was marked.”

Caden walked to the locker, dragged it to the side of Aael’s bed, and sat. “I’m going to the library tomorrow. I don’t have much,” he tapped his forehead, “in here about it. Nothing I’m ready to share.”

“The library is closed tomorrow,” Aael said.

Caden shook his head. “Your mom kept you under yesterday. Today is Darrow.”

Aael pressed his lips together. “I hate it when she does that.”

“It’s the only way you’ll stay still.”

Aael sat up. “Can I go with?”

“What would your mother do to me if I took you to Hylt? Where you just almost died. Imagine that conversation.”

Aael clenched his hands. He loved the library. They had a section devoted to the Blood Dance with hundreds of books that described the epic fights from the past. Once he got rid of his disease, he would win the Blood Dance and be in one of those books.

“Put an image of me asleep in her head,” Aael said. “She’ll never know I left.”

“Mages like your mother –”

“External?” Aael interrupted.

Caden nodded. “Yes, external. Their minds are chaotic and nonlinear. It’s easy to remove something unimportant, but adding is almost impossible. I’ve only tried it on your mother once.”

Aael’s parents never talked about their past. It made his curiosity unbearable. Why did adults keep so many secrets?

“When?” Aael asked. “What happened?”

Caden hesitated and then spoke in a low voice. “We were at the Spires together, I…I tried to get her back for something. She noticed and…”

“And?”

Caden took a deep breath. “She incinerated everything that touched my body. Books, jewelry…clothes.”

Aael gasped. He knew his mom’s temper well, but it was hard to believe she would do that to someone. He tilted his head and gave it a second thought. Actually, it wasn’t hard to believe. His mom was a tempest.

Caden continued. “It wasn’t until I met your mother that I seriously considered consequences. Weak as they are, my talents are internal and sufficient to have my way with a dumb external. I have never, not once, been able to fool or outsmart your mother on anything of importance. Learn that lesson before it costs you your clothes in a crowded park.”

Aael felt pressure in his head, and then a picture formed in his mind. A very young version of his dad, his reflection caught in a row of windows, hands over his crotch as a crowd of robed figures laughed and pointed.

Aael laughed and then covered his mouth in guilt. He’d never seen such a stricken look on his father’s face. Aael’s chest warmed. His parents seemed like strangers sometimes. It felt good to see his dad vulnerable. It made him human. 

“Mom knows how to make a point.”

“My friends still call me the Naked Mage.”

Aael laughed again, and then they sat in silence. He had never felt closer to his dad. For the first time, he had seen an image from his parent’s past. It made him feel good. Trusted.

Caden looked at the floor. “We thought we’d lost you. It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know you are. What we’ve been doing isn’t working anymore.”

“Mom said I only have,” Aael swallowed hard, “a few months.”

“Do you think your mom would allow you to die?”

Aael smiled. “She’d kill me if I did.”

Caden returned the smile. “She would.”

“She said you only cared about the Shade.”

“The conversation with Elu has shaken my understanding. Just like you, I want to know what he meant. Once I do, I promise, I’ll tell you. Good or bad.”

Aael’s stomach knotted. “What’s going to change?”

Caden leaned back. “Not much for now. You’ll still train with your mother, but she’s insisted you learn a thing I’d hoped to shelter you from.”

The knot in Aael’s stomach loosened. He didn’t like change, and it made him happy things would stay the same. “What about our lessons? Will I still have to read books about dead people and the boring things they did?”

“No, it will be more like…”

Aael’s arm erupted in burning pain, and he screamed in agony. He thrust his mind into Moonless Night to protect it from the pain. But it didn’t work. The pain originated from inside his head. How did you escape your own mind? The torment disappeared suddenly and completely.

Aael gasped. He rotated his arm and looked for burns, terrified the pain would return. His arm appeared fine. 

Aael looked at his father. “Have I mentioned how much I like reading?”

Caden narrowed his eyes. “Imagine trying to do anything with that in your head. You’ve not been prepared for it.”

“Why now?” Aael asked, still rubbing his arm.

“We might need to leave to find a cure, and you need to be ready. You’re killing yourself faster than we can stop you. Again.”

“Again? I’ve killed myself before?” Aael said with a laugh.

Caden stood, pushed the locker back into place, and walked to the door. He looked back at Aael as he left. “Yes, the day you were born.”