《Scion of Shadows》


 Chapter One: Arrival at the Gates

    As the wagon rolled up to the shore, Madeleine marveled at the sight of the huge gates, currently shut tight against the tide. A long, wide walkway linked mainland Armorica with the island city of Ys. The cart rolled to a stop as a weatherbeaten man walked up to it.


    ¡°Passage to Ys is closed,¡± he said. ¡°Opens again at low tide. You''ll have to park your wagon over there. It''ll be a while.¡±


    He indicated a handful of buildings to the side of the road. One of them was an inn with a carriage house off the side. The buildings were all made of grey and weatherbeaten wood, obviously survivors of the intensely salty sea air.


    Madeleine¡¯s father urged the horses off the road and to a stop by the carriage house. A groom came out and took the reins and Madeleine¡¯s father jumped down from the seat and then swung her down off the wagon. He held her hand as they walked into the inn. It was an unusual gesture for him and reminded her that they''d soon be parted.


    The inn was about half full, but surprisingly quiet. A waitress lazily made the rounds while a most of the patrons hunched over their food and drink. A fire crackled in the corner, warding off the ocean chill that didn''t seem to realize that Spring had come.


    Madeleine¡¯s father stood at the door for a moment, surveying the room, looking for a seat. A flash of color caught Madeleine eye as a flash of noise caught her ear. While most of the inn seemed tired, drab, and beaten down, there was a table that was lively. As Madeleine¡¯s father walked toward it, she took in the table¡¯pps patrons.


    At the center was a young man, not much older than Madeleine. He wore a bright red, tunic in a Roman style. The tunic was edged in gold. His clothes looked they hadn''t been much worn, a contrast to the locals, and in fact in contrast to Madeleine¡¯s own clothes. The boy''s hair was blonde and meticulously curled. He seemed to hold court at the table, telling a very elaborate story that Madeleine couldn''t hear. Next to him sat an older man. His grizzled features and stiff beating marked him as a soldier, or former soldier. He shared the young man''s golden hair, but his was cut short. He seemed supremely uninterested in the young man''s story. On the other side of the table was a plump older man. His white hair was curled in a style similar to the boy''s. He leaned his head on his hand, held in rapt attention by the boy''s story. With a flourish the boy finished his story. The white-haired man nearly clapped and the boy beamed at the attention. The soldier surveyed the room. He narrowed his eyes slightly when he noticed Madeleine and her father. She resisted the urge to shrink under his gaze, instead choosing to stick out her chin and hold her head up proudly.


    Then the boy caught sight of her. He took in her clothes, a blue dress that, while not fancy, contrasted sharply with the browns and greys of the other patrons. He waved her over.


    ¡°Another traveller!¡± he said, his voice easily carrying in the quiet room. ¡°Come! Join us!¡±


    Madeleine¡¯s father started toward the table, taking in the seen as Madeleine had done herself a moment ago. The boy beamed at them, his smile brightening the whole room. He gestured toward two empty seats at the table.


    ¡°My name is Gaius Flavius Aurelius¡± he announced proudly. ¡°Are you another new student at Ys?¡±


    ¡°I''m Madeleine Brigantia. Yes, I''m a new student.¡°


    Gaius¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Brigantia, eh? So you''re from Britain too? ¡°


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Uh, no. I''m from Armorica. At least, I was born here. My family is originally from the North Kingdom.¡±


    Gaius waved that away. ¡°We''re all Britons, then. At least by blood.¡±


    ¡°You''re from Britain? I thought you were Roman.¡°


    ¡°I was born in Londinium. My family has deep ties to Rome.¡± Gaius launched into his history, and then that Of His Family, Going Back Generations.


    Madeleine listened with interest to the story. Interest that soon turned to boredom. Gaius¡¯s family was vast, his lineage was long, and his ancestors were very busy. A lot of them also shared names, making the story quite confused.


    It was several hours -- or at least that''s what it seemed -- later when the door opened and two figures bundled in cloaks rush in. They huddled by the door for a moment talking, then the smaller figure dismissed the larger one, who bowed deeply and left. The small figure looked around the room and settled on the colorful group. Making her way toward them, she lowered the hood, revealing a breathtaking young woman.


    The girl''s hair was tightly braided and pulled back in a bun. Her features were sharply defined. Glimmers of intelligence and curiosity sparkled in her eyes.


    ¡°You must be students on your way to Ys,¡± she stated confidently. ¡°My name is Cleopatra. I''ve come here from Alexandria to study at the Academy.¡±


    ¡°Gaius Aurelius. A pleasure to meet such a lovely lady. And this is¡­¡± he gestured at Madeleine.


    ¡°Madeleine Brigantia, ¡° she said shyly. Cleopatra was poised, noble, and confident, qualities Madeleine didn''t see in herself but desperately wished for.


    ¡°A pleasure to meet you both.¡± Cleopatra smiled warmly at Madeleine, who blushed slightly. The new arrival sat down and ordered something warming and the group chatted about their families, the school, and other matters. Cleopatra had a deft way of preventing Gaius from monopolizing the conversation without seeming rude.


    As they sat, the gate attendant poked his head through the door.


    ¡°Gate¡¯s open in 5 minutes!¡± he called.


    Madeleine looked at her father, who started to get up from the table. Gaius and his entourage followed, Gaius telling the story of how one of his ancestors had single-handedly saved Rome from a barbarian invasion. Madeleine half-listened to his improbable tale. Cleopatra rose demurely rose and smoothed out her dress. Madeleine slowed down, letting the others drift ahead of her. She glanced back shyly at the other girl, only to find that Cleopatra had closed the distance quickly and was practically beside her. Cleopatra wrapped an arm around Madeleine¡¯s shoulder, causing the young girl to flinch.


    ¡°I think we''re going to be fabulous friends. You must call me Cleo. Cleopatra is so formal. And I think I heard your father call you Maddie?¡± Madeleine nodded, tongue-tied.


    ¡°Excellent! We shall have such fun together.¡±


    The group walked up to the gates of Ys, now slowly opening. Gaius¡¯s company and Maddie¡¯s father said their goodbyes. He hugged her tightly and whispered ¡°Stay safe an have fun. And learn a lot.¡±


    She smiled sadly as she pulled away.


    ¡°I''ll do all those things.¡±


    She turned to go, running to keep up with her two fellow students. The excitement started to overtake her and she looked back with a wide smile. Her father was smiling poudly and waving. Maddie was able to detect a bit of parental worry in his eyes, despite the smile. She waved and turned back, running carefree to catch up to th two people who would no doubt become her closest friends.

 Chapter Two: Ys, the Legendary City

    Two druids met them as they walked into the walled city. One was chubby and jolly-looking, the other skinny and dour-faced.


    "You''re late," said the dour druid.


    The jolly man ignored him and chuckled at the trio. "Caught by the gates, eh? Happens to a few students every time!" He clasped each of them on the shoulder as he pumped their hands vigorously.


    "Can''t be helped, can''t be helped. Anyway, welcome to Ys, the walled city. And to the Academy of Magical Arts!"


    The other man''s face turned from dour to scowling. "We are very late, Corentin, and getting later!" he complained.


    "Oh, Servius, it''s not like they''ll start without us. But come, come new students. I''m Corentin, as you''ve probably surmised and this is Servius." He spun on his heels and started leading the children into the city. Despite his earlier dismissals, he set a fast pace. His sour colleague actually had to hurry to catch up, putting him even with the students.


    As they walked deeper into the city, Corentin pointed out every building of note. And every building seemed to have some sort of note. Maddie tried to keep up with the overflow of information, but most of it went over her head. She looked over at Cleo and Gaius. Cleo seemed to be taking it all in, while Gaius looked bored. That seemed to be his default mood when nottalking about himself. Maddie did manage to get a general layout of the city. It was roughly circular with two roads forming a crossinthe middle.At the far end, directly opposite the gates was was the king''s palace. Maddie managed to glimpse its tall towers. To the palace''s left was alarge temple with altars to many of the important gods. A large lawn surrounded the temple, no doubt the site of many gatherings.


    The druids led the party to the right, onto the second main thoroughfare. At the end of the road, opposite the temple, was a sprawling structure rivaling -- no, dwarfing -- the palace in size and grandeur. They walked through the gates and onto the school grounds.


    "Welcome to the Academy!" Corentin exclaimed. "Now, let''s hurry, for we are quite late and only getting later!" His companion grumped and grumbled at that.


    Maddie was amazed. Beyond the gates was a thickly wooded area that looked like a forest inside a city. They passed quickly through sprawling lawns dotted with benches and statues and surrounded by buildings large and small. The main path led to the largest and most centrally located building. Huge doors, taller than the gates of Ys were set in its face. A carved metal grate covered them, decorated in swirling patterns. An archway of stone surrounded them, with carving so detailed and intricate that Maddie could only guess at their subjects.As they continued walking, Maddie''s eyes were fixated on the gargantuan doors. A bit of fear wiggled its way into her mind.What if those doors were opened.She was so distracted that she almost walked into the frame of another, normal-sized door. She came through and Servius hurried her through the door with so much intensity that he practically shoved her.


    Beyond the doors was a large stone room that stretched up into darkness. It curved out of sight on either side. Whikle the hallway was quite large, it led through a massive arch into another circular chamber. Other arches were visible on each of the compass points. Here too the ceiling seemed impossibly high up, but a myriad of windows illuminated the room so that the walls seemed to terminate in bursts of light. Maddie wondered if she would ever get used to the massive scale of this place. Hundreds of people were gathered in the center of the chamber. Milling about were druids dressed in their longwhite robes. Off to one side was a group dressed in brown robes. Many of them looked bored, as if they had seen this all before. The people in the direct center were all people of about Maddie''s age. She saw a few older and younger faces mixed in.Straight ahead was a raised platform. On it was a tall man dressed in an elaborate white robe, woven through with threads of pure gold. On his head was an elaborate golden crown. The man glimmered and shone in the light streaming from above.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    "Let us begin," he intoned when he saw the quintet enter. "I am Elouan, the Head Grammaticus here and Leader of the Sacred Order. I want to welcome our new students to the school. You will be expected to work hard and in exchange you will be rewarded with a bounty of knowledge. Your teachers will inform you of the rules. Anyone caught breaking them will be summarily expelled from the Academy and exiled from Ys. Now go get settled in and there will be a celebration later in the day."


    The brown robes began filing out of the rotunda, recognizing that they were dismissed. Elouan left the dais. The new students shifted uncomfortably, not sure where to go.


    "The Grammaticus seems like a difficult man," Gaius said to Maddie and Cleo, "very unlike my tutor. He was always very accomodating."


    Maddie remembered the man with Gaius at the inn, hanging on his every word. "Accomodating" seemed like an understatement.


    "Well, I for one plan on working hard and learning as much as I can. The Grammaticus should not be a problem unless we break the rules."


    "They say rules are meant to be broken," Gaius said.


    "Then perhaps I will see you one day if I ever find myself in Londinium," Cleo retorted.


    What about you, Maddie, do you plan to work hard or be a rulebreaker?"


    Maddie swallowed hard. "Well, I''ve never liked to break rules," she said quietly, "And I promised my father that I would learn a lot."


    "Good, the we shall learn together! Gauis, you can still join us if you wish."


    Gaius scowled. "Of course I''ll join you. I happen to be an excellent student. And I can follow rules if I desire to."


    "New students, listen up! In a moment you''ll be split up into groups and go with your assigned teachers."


    Tendruids walked among the crowd, tapping various students on the shoulder and pointing them to different areas. Corentin walked toward the trio, after directing several students to a spot on the side.


    "What luck! You''re to be my students this year!" He escorted them to his designated area, chattering happily about the makeup of his new class and how much he was looking forward to the new school year.


    Cleo poked Gaius in the arm. "He likes to talk almost as much as you do," she whispered. Gaius looked annoyed. Maddie stifled a laugh.


    They joined another 17 students, making up a class of 20. Maddie saw that there were ten groups of 20 students. Servius headed another group. Corentin began outlining the structure of classes.


    "This year you''ll be learning the basics. In addition to Elementary Spellcraft, you''ll have classes in Lore, Poetry, Astronomy, the Natural Sciences, and Philosophy. More advanced concepts, like Ritual Magics and Enchanting will be covered later. You''ll be expected to memorize a lot of information, on which you''ll be periodically tested. Now come with me and we''ll go to your new living quarters."


    Several hours later the new students had settled in, received their new black robes, and were set to feasting. Sleepiness started to creep up on Maddie. She looked around, attempting to clear her head a bit. A man standing by a pillar caught her eye. He was dressed in black, but instead of robes he work a tunic and pants. He exuded an aura of danger, despite the casual way he leaned against the pillar. His eyes caught hers and he smiled. It sent shudders down her spine. She looked away.


    "Can we go back to our room," she asked Cleo, "I''m feeling very tired."


    Cleo had been having a spirited conversation with Gaius and another student. "Couldn''t you go yourself?"


    Maddie looked down and nit her lip nervously. "I...I''m not very comfortable in new environments. Could you walk with me, at least?"


    Cleo was surprised at the depth of her friend and new roommate''s fear. "Of course."


    When Maddie glanced back at the pillar she saw no one, only a quick flash of black.

 Chapter Three: Daily Studies and Daily Struggles

    The next day the students started attending classes. They would meet with their individual grammarian in the morning for a lecture on philosophy. Cleo and Gaius, having studied the subject before with their private tutors, were slightly bored. But Maddie listened attentively, struggling to memorize concepts she had neverheard about before. In her small town morality and philosophy were things you came to understand intuitively. You didn''t give them names. Corentin talked about Plato, Epicureus, and other Greek and Roman philosophers. After class one day Maddie confided in Cleo that she wasn''t sure she would remember it all. Cleo assured her that she and Gaius would help.


    After Philosophy was Natural Sciences. Here Maddie had the advantage. She had at least a basic understanding of plants and animals. Her urban-born friends had seen very little in thev way of real nature and Gaius in particular struggled.


    "I''m always going to live in a city," he complained, "why do I have to know about what plant does what? Half of these things don''t even grow in Britain!"


    "Nature is one of the basics of the Druidic school of magic," Cleo pointed out, "You''ll never advance in your other classes if you don''t do well in this one. If you wanted to learn only magic usable in cities, you should have gone to school in Rome!"


    "As if you do any better," he scoffed.


    "At least I apply myself!"


    Their arguing always made Maddie a little anxious. "Don''t worry, I''ll help you. Just like you help me in Lore and Philosophy. And Poetry."


    Cleo immediately softened, as she always did when Maddie spoke up. Gaius continued to huff and puff as Cleo put her arm around Maddie.


    Astronomy fascinated them all. As did Elementary Magic.


    Elementary Magic was taught as the last class of the day, except for Astronomy class, which frequently met at night. When asked why, Corentin replied, "Because you''re all here to learn Magic. If youhad it in the morning, well, why would you want to attend any other classes?"


    Gaius emphatically agreed with this point.


    Corentin taught them magic. Taught them how to understand the energies of the world. They began class frequently with an exercise Corentin called "meditation." It was a staple of the magic done in the South-Eastern kingdoms, the Mogul Kingdoms in particular. They used this technique to feel the energy of the world around them.


    "Before you can manipulate reality, you must understand it. You must learn to reach deeply into the fabric of the world. You must be able to feel the energies that pervade the world."


    Unfortunately, while the idea of meditation was interesting, it was, as they say, a lot harder than it looked. Sitting quietly for a quarter of an hour was beyond the abilities of most children. Corentin never scolded them. He simply told them to return to their meditation whenever the whispering or giggling started.


    Spring turned into summer and most classes were being taught outside. The landscape of the school was very varied. A forest, seemingly ancient, surrounded the school. Closer to the buildings forest turned into lawns. This was where most classes were taught, excepting Natural Science, which frequently involved long walks through the woods. The amount of animals on the island was amazing. Almost anything that could be found in a Breton forest could be found on Ys. Their Natural Studies instructor taught the students the uses for each plant, moss, and fungus. Leaves and stems often had different functions. Gaius continued to complain, but he did his best to memorize it all.


    Animals were also an important part of the curriculum. They covered not only anatomy, but how to catch, clean, butcher, and cook the local fauna. Usually they cooked it alongside the local flora. This was nothing new to Maddie. She was quite at home in the kitchen and was an accomplished chef, despite her young age.


    It was a few weeks into the school year and the comrades were lounging on one of the lawns behind the school. Elementary Magic had ended a while ago and the three were enjoying the afternoon sun. They chatted about many things, their favorite and least favorite classes, their lives before coming to the Academy, and made plans to study together later. Of course the sunny day made such plans precarious at best. It was then that Cleo told them her least favorite thing about life at the Academy. All knowledhe had to be memorized.


    "What I wouldn''t give for a few sheets of parchment and a charcoal," she sighed.


    The Druids had a strict prohibition about writing things down. "They don''t even have a library! What kind of institution of learning doesn''t have a library?"


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    No one really kknew what the penalty was for taking notes. But it had been drilled into them from the first day of class. Cleo had started writing in the air with her hand and Corentin -- sweet jovial Corentin -- had slapped her hand with a stick. "The sooner you break that habit the better," he snapped. Cleo confided secretly to her friends that she often imagined writing the words in her head because it helped her remember.


    Even worse would be to write things down away from the school. The Druids had occasionally hunted people down for that, or so the stories said. They guarded their knowledge jealously, and they had a lot of it. On the subjects on which they centered they had more knowledge than any other place, even the great library at Alexandria. This hoarding of knowledge ran counter to what Cleo knew. Alexandria gave -- and took -- knowledge freely.


    In the absence of a library, the students had to find areas in which to spend time. The central area of the main hall was off limits to students unless there was an event going on. The main hall corridors were for walking, or more often running, only. Teachers and students could be seen dashing to and fro. Usually it was upperclassmen, the Bards with their blue sashes and the warriors with their red sashes. Teachers wore robes of the same color, depending on their roles.


    The astronomy tower was open during the day, but also open to the sky. Spending time in the dormitories during the day was frowned upon.


    They eventually settled on the greenhouse. The verdant bounty made Maddie feel more at home and fascinated Cleo. Gaius complained about the smell -- that many different types of plants caused the air to have a tinge of rotten greenery to it -- but he soon got used to it. The group chose a secluded spot in the middle of the sprawling structure but also off to the side. They were mostly hidden from view, though they saw an occasional acolyte or druid carefully taking care of the plants.


    It was there that their most intimate conversations took place. And while they talked about their lives and families and made fun of the teachers, they most often talked about one subject that, ironically, first-year students were discouraged from. They talked about magic.


    Each one of them had an aptitude for magic and a willingness to learn. Those were the main prerequisites for entry into the Academy. Each student had been examined and tested by specialized emissaries whose sole job was to test students. They used a combination of divination, appraisal magic, and magical tests to determine each student''s fitness and sometimes their magical affinity. Most mages had an affinity for one type of magic, most often elemental. Most elemental mages also specialized in one specific element. Gaius had shown an aptitude for fire and earth magic, while Cleo had shown an aptitude for water and some form of non-elemental magic. Maddie¡¯s affinity was just expressed as ¡°Unknown.¡±


    ¡°That could mean a lot of things,¡± Cleo told her. ¡°I read that the more difficult it is to judge someone''s talent, the more powerful it is.¡±


    ¡°Oh. The examiner didn''t tell me that. He made it sound like a barely passed the examination. That I barely qualified to be enrolled.¡±


    Cleo thought about that. ¡°Is that why you''re so unsure of yourself? You don''t feel like you should be here?¡±


    The assessment was spot-on, but it still stung a little to hear someone say it out loud. Cleo¡¯s eyes seemed to bore into Maddie¡¯s soul. She was clearly looking for confirmation from her friend. Her blunt questions and matter-of-fact way of talking could be off-putting, even to her friends.


    ¡°I...I guess so. I''ve also never been to such a big place before. There''s so many people. It''s scary!¡±


    ¡°I forgot you were from such a small town. Gaius and I both come from such big cities that I guess I don''t realize how different other places can be.¡±


    She leaned back, thoughtful. ¡°Alexandria is one of the biggest cities there is, almost as big as Rome. There are thousands upon thousands of people in the streets. There are hundreds of people at the Library, where I used to go almost every day. I mean, I''ve read about a lot of places but I suppose I forget that they actually exist.¡±


    Maddie had an insight of her own. ¡°You used to go to the Library every day? No wonder you have a hard time living without books!¡±


    ¡°It''s true. I''ve read books on almost every subject. I''ve written a few precis that have made their way into the Library. I even tried to read up on some of the things I knew the school would teach. It helped a lot, but the amount of knowledge here surpasses even what I could find in the Great Library of Alexandria! The Druids have a grasp of anatomy and herbology that is unmatched.


    ¡°I suppose I feel in a way that books have let me down. That the Library has let me down. How could these people who are so much less advanced than us have so much more knowledge? Knowledge that they refuse to share. Knowledge that I can''t even give to the Library on pain of death! How...how can I even know something if I can''t share it. The Library has been my whole life, and now I''m betraying it in such a way! Sometimes I feel like a terrible person. I''ve gone against everything I stand for. That I stood for, at least.


    ¡°I...I thought it would be different. That I could share this knowledge somehow. I knew it was against the rules, but I thought I could make it alright. I should have just gone to school at home, or at least in Rome. You''re required to memorize things no matter what school you go to, but they won''t kill you over it.¡±


    Maddie just stared at her in shock. Even Gaius¡¯s mouth was agape at Cleo¡¯s tirade. She looked at them, suddenly sheepish. Maddie tentatively put her arm around Cleo¡¯s shoulder and gave her a hug.


    ¡°You can''t be a traitor to your way of life. Not if you still believe in it. Besides, maybe one day you''ll use this knowledge, or teach it to someone, and they''ll write it down. The Druids can''t hurt you if that happens. At least, I don''t think they can.¡±


    Cleo smiled at her friend''s attempt to help, and hugged her back tightly. Cleo wiped the tears from her eyes. ¡°Thank you. You''ve helped me a lot. Okay, I resolve to learn everything I can and spread it as far and wide as possible. Even without being able to write it down! My goal is already to become the best scholar the world has ever seen.¡±

 Chapter Four: The Magic Within

    A few days later Cleo grabbed Maddie as they were on their way out of Moral Philosophy class.


    ¡°I want to try something. Something I just remembered reading about. Let''s go straight to the greenhouse after class later.¡±


    ¡°We''ll bring him along, of course. If this goes the way I think it will, he won''t want to miss it.¡±


    Cleo practically dragged Gaius and Maddie to their bench in the greenhouse after class. They had started more advanced training in Elementary Magic, reaching out to affect the universe for the first time in months. Cleo was so enthusiastic she was practically vibrating. Just watching her made it difficult for Maddie to concentrate, but she had managed to feel something, so she figured she had done all right. Corentin had even cautioned them not to expect too much from their first experience.


    ¡°I can''t believe this is the first time we''ve actually tried something like magic,¡± Cleo complained as she dragged her friends across the lawn. ¡°But we''ll see about that!¡±


    Maddie was a little frightened. Cleo was usually so composed. It was gaius who was prone to fits of the dramatic. Cleo was their rock. But she was actually scaring Maddie more and more the closer they got to their spot.


    ¡°Are you sure this is a good idea,¡± she asked, not even knowing or caring what the idea was.


    ¡°Trust me.¡± Less trustworthy words are almost never found than that phrase.


    They arrived at their secluded spot and sat down. Cleo rubbed her hands together.


    ¡°What are we going to do?¡± asked Gaius, somehow excited rather than terrified. Maddie wasn''t sure how that was possible, but she seemed to be the focus of Cleo¡¯s plan, so it made sense that she would be more affected. Part of her wondered if it was worth it to have friends or if she would have been better off staying alone. At least she might have lived longer.


    When they were settled, Cleo turned to Maddie and said, ¡°I was just thinking about the way the examiners tested us, and I remembered that I had read up on some of the examination practices that the other Academies use. There are some differences, and I think we might be able to figure out your affinity.¡±


    Maddie looked sceptical. Gaius looked excited. Cleo saw her friends¡¯ looks and said, ¡°Okay, okay. I''ll go first. After all, the examiner did say I had affinity for something other than elemental magic.¡±


    She sat on the ground in the posture that they usually used for their meditation.


    ¡°You have to reach out and feel the energy of the universe, just like Corentin has been teaching us. Slowly teaching us. Very slowly. Okay.


    ¡°Now you feel inside yourself, which he hasn''t been teaching us for some reason. You have to look very deep and find the spark of energy inside. Then you have to examine it to find out what it''s like. This is what the examiners do with their assessment abilities. Then they have you try something to see if you can access that spark at all, and how much. But if you can do it when they tell you to, you can do it anytime. And I''ve been practicing for the past day or so, so I should be able to make it work.¡±


    She fell silent, finally reaching a point where she could not focus on her magic and explain at the same time.


    ¡°Got it! No, wait, lost it again. I really need to focus more.¡±


    A few more minutes went by. Maddie stared at Cleo,waiting for something to happen. Gaius yawned and started to complain but was stopped when Maddie put her hand out and gave him a look. Finally something started to happen.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    ¡°I''m doing it,¡± Cleo said in an extremely calm voice, still focusing, ¡°Can you see it?¡±


    Maddie and Gaius couldn''t see anything. Cleo slowly opened her eyes.


    ¡°It''s not there. But I can feel its presence.¡±


    Maddie looked closely. Maybe there was a faint shimmer in the air in front of Cleo. She reached out her hand toward the shimmeriness, then jerked it back.


    ¡°I felt something. It feels like there''s a ball of something there, but I can''t see it.¡±


    Gaius reached out, only to feel the same disconcerting sensation.


    ¡°What kind of magic is that?¡± he asked, ¡°I''ve never heard of invisible magic before.¡±


    ¡°That''s only because you don''t really know that much about magic. I read a little about the different forms magic can take. There was something about an invisible kind of magic, but it wasn''t well known. I think it''s rare.¡±


    Gaius scoffed. ¡°Lucky you to get such a rare magic.¡±


    ¡°You might not realize it, but I come from a long line of people with magical affinities. The Ptolomies have been using magic since the first Ptolomy daughter with Alexander.¡±


    ¡°That hardly makes you special. There''s plenty of magic in my blood. My ancestors were some of the greatest mages in all of Albion.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I''m well aware of your ancestors. You never stop talking about them!¡± Cleo lost focus and the ball of pure energy dissipated. Maddie had been examining it, feeling for its edges and pushing against it, feeling it almost push back. When it went away she felt it almost pop like a bubble.


    The snap of the bubble snapped Cleo out of her ire. She opened her mouth and started to speak, but stopped. Maddie filled it in for her.


    ¡°Gaius, you should have felt that. It was amazing. And I think I''ll be able to do it myself.¡±


    Cleo and Maddie shared a smile.


    About an hour later Maddie was still at it. Gaius was seriously bored and even Cleo was starting to get impatient. Every time he started to complain Cleo would shush him. Maddie managed to stay calm throughout most of it, but finally puffed out a frustrated breath.


    ¡°I feel like I can almost reach it. Like I keep grabbing at it, only to have it slip away again. I didn''t really have any trouble finding it, either. I just can''t grasp it.¡±


    Cleo frowned, thinking about her own experience. ¡°When I looked for the magic in myself, I found my water magic first. I tried to tough it for a second, but it was a little slippery, almost like touching water. When I found my other magic, it felt the same way you described it. Like I was touching something but couldn''t really tell what it was. Maybe magic is always like that. Maybe you have a magic that''s inherently elusive. Gaius, you try.¡±


    Gaius startled. ¡°Why me?¡±


    ¡°Because you have the most easy to access type of magic. And you already know your affinity. You magic is probably closer to the surface. Maybe more powerful, too,¡± she added, appealing to his ego.


    Maddie got up and Gaius sat down on the ground, fiddling with his clothes in an attempt to keep as much of them as possible le from touching the dusty stone. It took him a while to gain focus -- he was one of the worst in their class at meditating -- but soon his breathing was measured and his fidgeting eased. A few minutes later a small ball of light appeared in the air before him. He slowly opened his eyes and smiled.


    ¡°I got it. And it was easier than I thought it would be. Corentin should have had us doing this from the first day. It''s much easier to meditate if you have an actual goal in mind. I even managed to change it. It wanted to be a ball of flame, but I convinced it to be a ball of light instead.¡±


    ¡°Convinced it? Like it was a living thing?¡±


    ¡°Well, not really. It''s hard to explain. It''s like a powerful force inside me, with a strong will. I know it''s really my own will, but...well, it''s not really my will.¡±


    ¡°The magic must have a tendency to behave a certain way. That''s why it manifest the way it does. It chooses the path of least resistance. And you managed to change it. Good work, Gaius.¡±


    Gaius smiled and the ball of light winked out. He got up and dusted himself off.


    ¡°Thanks. Do you want to try again, Maddie?¡±


    ¡°It will have to wait, Cleo interjected, ¡°It''s later than we thought. If we don''t hurry, well miss dinner.¡±

 Chapter Five: Exploring Magic

    The next morning all three friends woke up excited about their progress. They made it through all their classes and lunch, until it was time for Elementary Magic.


    ¡°Today we''re going to learn how to access the magic within us. Some of you may have been tempted to try this on your own,¡± he looked straight at Maddie, Gaius, and Cleo when he said this, ¡°but it is actually quite dangerous if done without a trained instructor.¡±


    ¡°How does he know?¡± Gaius whispered to Cleo.


    ¡°I don''t know, but if he doesn''t, your whispering will confirm it for him.¡±


    Corentin walked among the rows of students, each sitting on the grass. He came near to Cleo and Gaius and they immediately shut up.


    Corentin walked around his students a few times, murmuring to himself. As he reached the front of the class he started walking again, but this time directing the students to move to either side and to the front or the back until they were divided into four groups. Maddie and Cleo sat across from each other on different rear quadrants, while Gaius was in the front right quadrant.


    ¡°Now, students in this quadrant,¡± he motioned to Gaius¡¯s quadrant, ¡°have, as far as we know, a single elemental affinity. Students in this quadrant, ¡° the one to the left ¡°have more than one elemental affinity. Students in the back right and left have either a known and an unknown affinity, or only an unknown affinity, respectively.¡±


    While Corentin had made clear rows between the different sections, the sections were by no means equal. The majority of the class was gathered in the ¡°single element¡± category. Six students were in the ¡°multiple element¡± space. One other student sat with Cleo. Maddie sat alone.


    Corentin instructed the students to begin meditating as before, but after they were all sufficiently calm -- which took less time than usual now that Gaius was more focused --he had them turn their gazes inward. The technique he described was almost identical to the one Cleo had led them through the say before, except Corentin described things in more detail. He explained that the core inside them was their soul, and that the same energy that ran through the world ran through their souls. In fact, their souls were the same as the world -- they only felt like different things. Everybody''s soul had a magical affinity, a part of the universal being that resonated within them. He said that it was because different parts of the universal being had different affinities, and their souls were made up of those parts of the universal being. He even said that the gods were really just emanations of the universal being, just like their souls. He moved past that quickly, though, as a few students started making noises.


    His explanations confused much of the class, though most of them were able to hide it and continue their focus on their own souls. Maddie was listening to him somewhat, but her practice the day before allowed her to access her inner magic right away. She continued to try to grasp her magic, only to have it slide away. Cleo and Gaius likewise could access their magic, they just didn''t know if they should manifest it. Corentin continued talking. After his slight detour talking about souls, he told them how to recognize the resonance of their magic. The three friends listened more closely, as this deviated from what they had done before. Rather than just accessing their magical cores, they were to move their attention around it. This would give them a bird''s eye view. He then described what they might see and feel depending on their affinity. Once he had them accessing their affinities, he abruptly ended class early. As Cleo opened her eyes she saw a few flashes of Magical energy being extinguished as the more talented students had manifested their elements.


    Cleo, Gaius, and Maddie were sitting in the astronomy tower, waiting for class to start. The sun had just set; they were early. They had decided not to meet back at their spot in the greenhouse, lest they be overheard. They didn''t know how Corentin knew about them, or even if he really did, but they didn''t want to take a chance.


    ¡°Any luck, Maddie?¡± Cleo asked.


    ¡°Still nothing. I can feel my magic, but I can''t get enough of a hold on it or a look at it to see what it is. Could you see yours?¡±


    ¡°I think I saw the same thing you did. It was a sort of shimmer, like the mirage that forms on the desert sands.¡± She then had to explain the concept of a mirage to them, after which they agreed that it matched up with what they had seen.


    ¡°The water affinity might have had an influence, too. If a mirage is like water,¡± Gaius said.


    ¡°That...that makes a lot of sense, actually. I always forget that you''re actually smart, Gaius.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± he responded dryly.


    Maddie sat quietly on the ground, her arms wrapped around her legs. Cleo poked her.


    ¡°You okay?¡±


    ¡°I am, I think. It was just hard being sent to sit alone. I must be something bizarre if Corentin needed to do that. Maybe I don''t really have any magic. Maybe the examiners were wrong and Corentin knows it. Or maybe I''m a magical freak.¡±


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Cleo patted her on the shoulder. ¡°You definitely have magic. You''ve felt it, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but maybe I just--¡±


    ¡°--You felt it. I know you did. Maybe you''re not a magical freak, maybe you''re magically special. Something unique. Something no one has seen before.¡±


    Maddie sniffled. She looked up at Cleo with teary eyes. ¡°You do know that''s basically what a freak is, right?¡±


    Cleo laughed. ¡°I suppose so. But then maybe being a freak isn''t so bad.¡±


    Maddie laughed and dried her tears.


    The next day Corentin directed the students to sit in the same formation. He subtly rearranged them, according to some plan of his own. He had Cleo and the other student with her switch places. Maddie he simply directed to sit in the center of her ¡°square.¡±


    ¡°We''ll be sitting in this formation every class from now on. It''s time to start talking about the different types of magic.¡±


    Most of the class looked pleased, including Cleo. She sobered when she looked over at Maddie, only to see the girl looking down at the ground worriedly.


    Day one was focused on the simple elemental affinities. Corentin managed to keep from talking too much about the universal being, but he did continue to refer to them as souls and their affinities as resonance.


    ¡°Elemental magic is, for the most part, very simple. We recognize four major elements. Namely, that of the earth, of the air, of water, and of fire. The earth is largely static. It is the element of strength and stability. It can be difficult to enge with it because it is stubborn-willed. It tends to move slowly, and as such can be inappropriate for some uses. Combat, for example.


    ¡°Air is capricious. It moves easily but tends to go where it wants. It takes force of will to direct air rather than letting it direct you.


    ¡°Water is sometimes considered the easiest of elements. It moves quickly, always finds the path of least resistance, and is inexorable. Water can grind down stone if given enough time.


    ¡°Fire is easy to learn but difficult to master. Fire wants to be free, to consume. The mage¡¯s will is taken up holding it back. Those that give in to fire¡¯s desire to consume sometimes find themselves needing to be hunted down and stopped. Be wary.


    ¡°Those are the elements. From those four there can be many combinations for those who resonate with multiple elements.¡±


    He went on to explain how different elements combined and what each element was best at. He led a few of the students from the single- and multiple-affinity groups through some exercises. Gaius was able to manifest a ball of flame and show off by changing it to a ball of light. This prompted Corentin to goo off-topic, explaining ways to change the expression of different affinities. He even held them late. Maddie started the class with interest, but soon grew bored. While the magical theory was both interesting and necessary, none of it really applied to her. Did it?


    Over the next few days Corentin started to explain the other types of magic. Apparently what Cleo could do was called by several names. It was variously known as Pure Magic, True Magic, and, probably more accurately, Force Magic. It was one of a very few types of magic that couldn¡¯t be seen and subscribed to no element.


    Soon the whole class was practicing accessing and manifesting their magic. Gaius was early in the lead. His practice -- which he had apparently been doing in secret every day -- really paid off. He could manifest balls of light and balls of flame. He could even make them grow brighter or dimmer as he wished. Cleo was able to manifest her force sphere but she couldn¡¯t do much with it. Water, oddly enough, proved a bit harder.


    ¡°I have more affinity for Pure Magic,¡± she told Gaius and Maddie, ¡°so it keeps taking over when I try to access my water magic.¡±


    Corentin assured her that it would come in time, and suggested that she look at the similarities between her force and water magics.


    ¡°Something I already pointed out,¡± Gaius reminded her. She conceded his point and redoubled her efforts.


    Maddie lagged behind everyone else. She still could not get ahold of her magic. Corentin suggested trying harder, but she was already giving it her best efforts. Then he gave her various exercises, a few of which were designed to ¡°trick¡± her magic into revealing itself. Nothing worked. He tried to reassure her, as Cleo had, that her magic must be very special and very powerful if it was so hard to access. Maddie nodded and outwardly gave consideration to his words, but she still felt like a dunce. In the end, Corentin could only promise to ask the other Druids about different types of magic that were not elemental.


    Gaius tried to hide his excitement when Maddie was down, but controlling his emotions was something he had never mastered. Maddie could see how considerate her friends were being, but it only made her sadder and more withdrawn.


    Cleo and Gaius tried to figure out ways to help her. They met when Maddie wasn¡¯t around.


    ¡°What can we do. We can¡¯t help her access her magic, and reassuring her doesn¡¯t seem to work. It doesn''t help that you¡¯re practically giddy half the time.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s difficult for me. But learning fire magic is actually making it a little easier. You really have to be calm and in control. Otherwise I might burn down the whole school.¡±


    Cleo snorted. ¡°You could barely light a fire. There¡¯s no way you¡¯re going to burn down the school. But we¡¯re trying to help Maddie, not extoll how you¡¯re at the head of our class.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, you¡¯re just jealous.¡±


    ¡°Gaius. Congratulations on being top of the class. Now focus on our friend and not yourself!¡±


    Gaius managed to look sheepish at that/ ¡°okay, okay, you¡¯re right. But I¡¯ve tried everything I can think of. Even Corentin seems to have run out of options.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s just getting more and more depressed every day. She seems really close to her father. Do you think we could bring him here?¡±


    ¡°Against the rules, remember? And how are we going to contact anyone if we can¡¯t send messages out?¡±


    Cleo sighed. ¡°I just think if we had her family here, we could get through to her.¡±


    Gaius thought for a while, then it came to him. ¡°She¡¯s a Brigantine, right? The Brigantes are very close to their goddess. They¡¯re even named after her. Maybe she needs to visit her god.¡±


    ¡°In Brigantia?¡±


    Gaius smiled. ¡°I never thought I¡¯d be smarter than you, Cleo. There¡¯s a big temple on the island, remember. And I happen to know they have an altar to Brigantia there!¡±

 Chapter Six: A Conversation with the Gods

    Madeleine walked through the huge doorway of the Temple of All Gods. The Temple was shaped like a giant semicircle with a large central space and a multitude of alcoves, each with an altar dedicated to a particular god. The ceiling soared several stories up. Marvel arches supported bronze and gold detailing, including a central mural depicting the night sky. It was said that gears and machinery moved parts of the mural to accurately reflect the sky on certain days. The Academy was actually in possession of another such mural, often used to teach Astronomy when the sky was cloudy..


    In the open central area was a statue of a man riding a horse. Flames spouted from the horse¡¯s nostrils. The man held a large sword straight up in the air, seemingly raeching to the ceiling. In his other hand was a shield with a carving of the Celtic Triskelion. The statue¡¯s base was carved out of black glass made to look like waves, as if the horse was riding on water. A plaque set in the base said in breton, Latin, and Greek:


    Gralon Meriadoc, first King of Ys


    Maddie wandered around the temple, looking at the various altars. The Greek and Roman gods were given places of prominence, as were the Celtic gods. Lugus, Bran, even the Green Man had altars. Off to the side was an altar to Caelestis Brigantia. The goddess of the Brigantes, while not popular, was still revered as the patron of those descendants of the North Kingdom who had come to Armorica generations ago.The statue rose above the altar, larger than life. It was composed entirely of dark grey basalt. On Brigantia¡¯s head was a bronze crown. She was armored with real bronze armor and held in one hand a spear and in the other a globe. Out of the base were carved the skulls of her enemies, some of them crushed beneath her feet. Maddie knelt down before the altar and sent her prayers to the goddess of her people.


    ¡°She is a powerful goddess. More so than most realize,¡± said a voice behind her. She jumped up, startled at the silent approach.


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± It was the same man she had seen that first day at the Academy. He was dressed all in black. His black military cloak was fastened at one shoulder by a Gorgoneion, an amulet representing a Gorgon¡¯s head, meant to ward off evil. A spear was strapped to his back, it¡¯s tip gleaming even in the distant light of the temple. A gladius was strapped to one hip.


    ¡°My name is tereus, son of Mars. And you must be Madeleine, Brigantia¡¯s own daughter.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? That I¡¯m descended from the Brigantes?¡±


    He chuckled. ¡°No, Brigantia is your mother just as Mars is my father. He sired me just as she birthed you. Did you wonder why your father never told you much of your mother?¡±


    Maddie stepped back, pressing herself against the altar. ¡°How do you know so much about me? Who are you?¡±


    ¡°I have already told you who I am. And I know so much about you because it is my business to know about those like us. We have many ways of gathering information, from diviners to simple human agents. You are just one amongst many. Many of us are united together in a common cause.¡±


    Maddie turned to the statue of Brigantia and Tereus spoke softly behind her. ¡°Pray to your mother¡¯s statue if you don¡¯t believe me.¡±


    The statue gazed down at her. Then she heard in her mind, ¡°My child, what this man says is true. You are truly my daughter. However, just because he speaks no lies now, do not put your trust in him.¡±


    Maddie dropped to her knees again, this time in astonishment.


    ¡°My...mother?¡± The statue was now silent.


    ¡°I have given you this gift of knowing your true heritage. Remember what I said: we are not alone. And we must band together against the mortals that populate this place, or they would overwhelm us with their sheer numbers.¡±


    Maddie looked up at him, confusion written on her face.


    ¡°Just remember what I have done and what I have said. We will meet again soon.¡±


    He turned and walked away. Maddie watched as he made his way across the vast space and disappeared out into the daylight. She stayed where she was for a while, her head whirling.

 Chapter Seven: A Mothers Love

    Yeah, so I realize that things have been pretty screwed up lately. I''ve been having a lot of issues with RR''s drafts and scheduling options, which apparently means that chapters post multiple times and not always in their final form. So I''m not gonna be doing that.


    I''ve also been pretty busy the last few days and in order to meet my writing goals (which unfortunately I''m not actually doing) I''ve been writing on my phone with Google Docs. That works awesome, except it''s hard to transfer from Gdocs to RR on a phone.


    And then I realized that I haven''t really been setting the chapter breaks where I want them and, yeah, it''s a whole thing.


    So, long story short (or tl:dr), I have more content to publish and I feel like I''ll catch up on my wordcount, but the actual posting has been a headache. So I might wind up posting multiple chapters at once every few days instead of trying for every day.


    Thanks for reading and thanks for your patience. And for the follows, favorite, and comments!


    Advertisement<i class="fa fa-times"></i> Remove</a>


    Maddie returned from the Temple visibly shaken.


    ¡°Maybe that wasn¡¯t such a good idea,¡± Cleo whispered to Gaius. He shrugged.


    Maddie wouldn¡¯t say much about her experience. She was still trying to process everything Tereus had said. Not to mention everything that Brigantia -- her mother -- had told her. It was unbelievable. She told her friends that she¡¯d tell them about it, but she wasn¡¯t really sure if that was true. She had felt a growing rift between her and her friends. They seemed to be closer than ever, spending time without her. She couldn¡¯t fathom that it was only because they were trying to find ways of helping her. Cleo was still nice to her,pulling her close and just letting her stay quiet. But maddie didn¡¯t really recognize it for what it was: true friendship. To her it was pity, pure and simple. Her friends, the other students, even Corentin pitied her.


    After another frustrating week, she decided to pay another visit to the Temple. Cleo and gaius were right: she did miss her father terribly. He had always been there for her. But now she had another parent, one who seemed aloof but not entirely uncaring.


    Walking into the vast Temple, Maddie shuddered. Her footsteps echoed on the marble floor, something she hadn¡¯t noticed on her previos casual trip around the room. Rather than going straight to the statue of her mother, she decided to check on another parent: Tereus¡¯s father.


    She approached the statue of Mars hesitantly. In contrast to what she had heard about Ares -- Mars¡¯s Greek counterpart -- the statue didn¡¯t look frightening at all. It was of a tall man, about her father¡¯s age. He had a short, curly beard and a stern, yet kind face. He was dressed as a Roman soldier, with a plumed helmet that covered his ears and the back of his head. Otherwise he was dressed very much as Terreus had been. The man obviously took cues from his father, or at least his father¡¯s representation. His cloak was fastened on one shoulder with a simple clasp. He wore a metal cuirass and metal armor. The symbol of the gorgon was on his chest. He held a spear with branches of laurel wrapped around it.


    Maddie waited by the statue, waiting for some sign that it recognized her, that it was alive somehow. After a few minutes of no response, it occurred to her that Terreus could appear at any moment. She hurried off to the altar of the goddess of her people.


    Brigantia¡¯s statue gazed down at her as it had the other day. She knelt in front of the altar, looking up at this figure that represented her mother, the mother she had never known. After a minute she looked down. It was as if the gates of Ys had opened. Tears began to flow down Maddie¡¯s face. More tears than she thought she could hold. More tears than she had ever cried in her life. After a long time her tears had turned into loud, choking sobs and she had sunk down onto the floor. All her loneliness, her homesickness, her fears, came pouring out of her at once. It was exactly what Corentin had said when he talked about water. It was inexorable. It was strong, it wore her down. The tears just would not stop. Finally, she was curled up in front of the statue sobbing.


    My daughter. She finally heard the words in her head. She looked up through her tears at the statue. It almost looked like it was crying, too. She felt an arm around her shoulders, an invisible embrace.


    Do not cry, child. You have poured out your tears to me and I have felt your pain. I know what you fear, what you mourn. The voice seemed closer somehow, as if it was coming from a place directly in front of her instead of from the statue.


    Your friends are right: you have something special inside you. Your magic is strong and so it hides from you. However, you can access it if you only believe in yourself.


    Maddie wiped away her tears. ¡°I can?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± maddie was sure she heard those words aloud. The invisible figure seemed to shift in front of her. She could hear its clothes rustle against the floor. She felt a hand on her forehead.


    ¡°Go back to your school. Rest. Sleep. Perhaps it will become clearer.¡±


    Maddie felt a hand touch her heart. It felt warm, and she could feel warmth spreading through her chest, reaching deep inside her where Corentin said her soul was.


    She tried to touch the hand, but there was nothing there. She looked up at the statue but the tears were gone.


    Maddie went back to the dorms and slept. Cleo checked in on her, noticed her tear-stained face and her heart broke. But she noticed that Maddie¡¯s face had a faint smile on it. She slept through dinner, through the evening, and all night. When Cleo went to check on her the next morning, she found Maddie already bathed and dressed. Her long brown hair was brushed and in its usual loose braid. But more importantly, her friend was cheerful. She gave Cleo a big hug when she opened the door.


    ¡°Are you feeling okay>¡± Cleo asked. The abrupt change in her friend¡¯s mood was disconcerting to say the least.


    ¡°I¡¯m wonderful! I haven¡¯t felt this good since I arrived at the school.I think it¡¯s because my--¡± She looked around to see if anyone else was around. ¡°I...I¡¯ll tell you later, actually. Let¡¯s meet with gaius after class, in our usual spot and I¡¯ll tell you. It¡¯s a little hard to believe, actually.¡±


    ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll talk this afternoon, then.¡± Cleo was overjoyed. Her friend had returned to her.


    The trio was in their usual spot in the greenhouse. It was good to have all three of them together again. As Maddie had become more and more depressed, she had taken to sleeping in the afternoon. It was why Ceo and gaius had so many discussions without her.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Maddie sat her friends down and paced in front of them.


    ¡°Okay, this is going to be hard to believe. You know that I never knew my mother, right? Well...This is really hard. I met someone who said that my mother is Brigantia.¡±


    ¡°The goddess?¡± gaius said, ¡°and you believed this person?¡±


    ¡°I believed him, yes. I heard the statue in the temple speak to me.¡± Cleo and gaiuis looked at each other. ¡®I know! You¡¯re going to say it¡¯s mind magic! But I went bck to the Temple yesterday. And the statue spoke again. No, my mother spoke to me. I could feel her touch. I could feel her.¡±


    Tears started rolling down her face again. She sat down on the bench, hard. Cleo put her arm around her friend and drew her close. She could feel the tears hit her shoulder through her tunic.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. We believe you.¡±


    But her words started to feel hollow to Maddie. Her friends didn¡¯t believe her. They called her special but they didn¡¯t mean it. It was only pity after all. She forced herself to stop crying and pulled away.


    ¡°Thank you. I appreciate your support. And I think I¡¯m going to have a breakthrough soon with my magic.¡±


    In class the next day, maddie sat on the grass, alone again in her spot. Sometimes it seemed like everyone else was so far away from her. Even Corentin had started avoiding her section. But today she didn¡¯t care. She might be alone, but she only needed herself.


    As Corentin led them through their beginning-of-class introspection, Maddie turned inward. She had no problem accessing her magical core. She pushed hard, harder than she¡¯d ever pushed before, trying to grasp that elusive ball of magic within her.


    And it didn¡¯t work. If anything, it slipped out of her grasp more quickly, and then wouldn¡¯t let her touch it.


    So she stopped. After a few deep breaths she was ready to try again.


    But she didn''t.


    I should just give up, she thought, I''m not special, I''m not powerful. I''m...broken.


    Corentin walked over to her. ¡°Are you okay, Madeleine?¡±


    She looked up at him and forced a smile. ¡°I''m fine. Just having a little trouble with my magic.¡±


    He crouched down next to her and looked into her eyes. She noticed that his eyes were bright green, but the sparkle that was normally there was gone. He looked...almost sad. He patted her shoulder.


    ¡°Stay after class. Perhaps we need to talk.¡±


    Maddie¡¯s stomach sank. He was going to tell her to leave the school. He was going to say her magic was no good.


    She wanted to just get up and run away. Away from class, away from the Academy, away from her so-called friends, away from Ys.


    But she''d probably get stopped by the gates.


    Occupied by such thoughts, she didn''t even try to make any more progress before class was over. When the rest of the students got up, Maddie stayed seated. Cleo and Gaius gave her what were meant to be reassuring looks, but she didn''t even look up at them. She was too immersed in her own dark thoughts.


    Corwin sat on the grass in front of her, in the same meditation pose that he assigned to his students. Maddie didn''t meet his eyes.


    ¡°We need to have a good talk, because the methods we''ve been using to access your magic haven''t been working.¡±


    ¡°It''s because I''m not good enough, right?¡± Maddie muttered. Corentin looked at her with compassion, but she still stared stubbornly at the ground.


    ¡°No, it is not because you are not good enough. I believe it is because you have a very special power inside of you.¡±


    ¡°Everyone says that, but I know it''s not true.¡±


    Corentin sighed. ¡°I know that you are very frustrated, but I assure you that it is true. It serves no purpose for us all to be lying to you. If you were truly as powerless as you seem to think, you would never have been granted admission to this school. We take very good care when selecting students, as we very much dislike having to expel them.¡±


    Maddie felt like the boom was about to drop. Corentin said that they didn''t like to expel students, not that they never did.


    ¡°Madeleine!¡± Corentin said loudly. She looked up at him in surprise. ¡°You are not going to be expelled. You are not inferior to the other students. You merely have a very spec...a very different type of magic. My techniques do not work for every student. Many students in the past have needed to explore other options.¡± His voice softened. ¡°I myself needed different methods when exploring my own magic. The use of meditation, of inward focus, is an old one. Even before the East was opened to us, mages used some variation of these methods. I know you and your friends experimented on your own at one point. Many students do. So you can see how ubiquitous this methodology is.


    ¡°But there are certain magics that require different methods. I am quite surprised that Cleopatra was able to access her Pure Magic so easily. Usually it requires outside help. Mind magic, null magic, and a few other non-elemental magics are the same. My mind magic took a lot of work and a lot of outside intervention to foster. Having mental magic is one of the reasons that I chose to teach. It makes it possible for me to help students like you.¡±


    Maddie looked at him in astonishment. ¡°You...you mean that?¡±


    ¡°Of course I do.¡±


    Corentin proceeded to lead Maddie through a very different kind of meditation. This time, instead of just looking inward, he helped her to imagine a forest in her mind. Then he guided her into seeing the magic in everything around her. After guiding her through a few more mental exercises, he had her look inward, to her soul. But she wasn''t there to look for magic, just to see herself as she was. She felt a rush of energy, her dark thoughts receded. She hadn''t found her magic, but she had found something.


    Maddie met with her teacher after class every day to practice this new type of meditation. He even led the rest of the class through it a few times. The meditation did not stay the same every time; Corentin added new places to explore and new facets of herself to see.


    It was almost two weeks later that they finally began bringing magic into it. This time Maddie was able to get a glimpse of her magic. It was just the slightest, fleeting glimpse, but a glimpse nonetheless.


    Her magic was foggy. I appeared as a greyness with fuzzy edges and an almost swirliness to it. Maddie''s first though was of fog, but there wasn''t fog magic. Was there?


    Corentin seemed a little surprised by what he saw. Using his mental magic he could see what she saw as long as she allowed him to. He had a better idea than she did about the type of magic, but it wasn''t something he had seen very often. In fact, even he couldn''t pinpoint the exact type of magic, though he had some ideas.


    ¡°We''ll stop there for now. I will need a few days to look into some possibilities, so for now we will stop meeting after class.¡±


    He seemed pensive, but Maddie tried to stop herself from reading too much into it. She decided to take his words at face value. He left and she headed toward the greenhouse to meet her friends. On her way there she was stopped when Tereus stepped onto the path.

 Daily Studies and Daily Struggles

    The next day the students started attending classes. They would meet with their individual grammarian in the morning for a lecture on philosophy. Cleo and Gaius, having studied the subject before with their private tutors, were slightly bored. But Maddie listened attentively, struggling to memorize concepts she had neverheard about before. In her small town morality and philosophy were things you came to understand intuitively. You didn''t give them names. Corentin talked about Plato, Epicureus, and other Greek and Roman philosophers. After class one day Maddie confided in Cleo that she wasn''t sure she would remember it all. Cleo assured her that she and Gaius would help.


    After Philosophy was Natural Sciences. Here Maddie had the advantage. She had at least a basic understanding of plants and animals. Her urban-born friends had seen very little in thev way of real nature and Gaius in particular struggled.


    "I''m always going to live in a city," he complained, "why do I have to know about what plant does what? Half of these things don''t even grow in Britain!"


    "Nature is one of the basics of the Druidic school of magic," Cleo pointed out, "You''ll never advance in your other classes if you don''t do well in this one. If you wanted to learn only magic usable in cities, you should have gone to school in Rome!"


    "As if you do any better," he scoffed.


    "At least I apply myself!"


    Their arguing always made Maddie a little anxious. "Don''t worry, I''ll help you. Just like you help me in Lore and Philosophy. And Poetry."


    Cleo immediately softened, as she always did when Maddie spoke up. Gaius continued to huff and puff as Cleo put her arm around Maddie.


    Astronomy fascinated them all. As did Elementary Magic.


    Elementary Magic was taught as the last class of the day, except for Astronomy class, which frequently met at night. When asked why, Corentin replied, "Because you''re all here to learn Magic. If youhad it in the morning, well, why would you want to attend any other classes?"


    Gaius emphatically agreed with this point.


    Corentin taught them magic. Taught them how to understand the energies of the world. They began class frequently with an exercise Corentin called "meditation." It was a staple of the magic done in the South-Eastern kingdoms, the Mogul Kingdoms in particular. *** They used this technique to feel the energy of the world around them.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    "Before you can manipulate reality, you must understand it. You must learn to reach deeply into the fabric of the world. You must be able to feel the energies that pervade the world."


    Unfortunately, while the idea of meditation was interesting, it was, as they say, a lot harder than it looked. Sitting quietly for a quarter of an hour was beyond the abilities of most children. Corentin never scolded them. He simply told them to return to their meditation whenever the whispering or giggling started.


    Spring turned into summer and most classes were being taught outside. The landscape of the school was very varied. A forest, seemingly ancient, surrounded the school. Closer to the buildings forest turned into lawns. This was where most classes were taught, excepting Natural Science, which frequently involved long walks through the woods. The amount of animals on the island was amazing. Almost anything that could be found in a Breton forest could be found on Ys. Their Natural Sciences instructor taught the students the uses for each plant, moss, and fungus. Leaves and stems often had different functions. Gaius continued to complain, but he did his best to memorize it all.


    Animals were also an important part of the curriculum. They covered not only anatomy, but how to catch, clean, butcher, and cook the local fauna. Usually they cooked it alongside the local flora. This was nothing new to Maddie. She was quite at home in the kitchen and was an accomplished chef, despite her young age.


    It was a few weeks into the school year and the comrades were lounging on one of the lawns behind the school. Elementary Magic had ended a while ago and the three were enjoying the afternoon sun. They chatted about many things, their favorite and least favorite classes, their lives before coming to the Academy, and made plans to study together later. Of course the sunny day made such plans precarious at best. It was then that Cleo told them her least favorite thing about life at the Academy. All knowledhe had to be memorized.


    "What I wouldn''t give for a few sheets of parchment and a charcoal," she sighed.


    The Druids had a strict prohibition about writing things down. "They don''t even have a library! What kind of institution of learning doesn''t have a library?"


    No one really kknew what the penalty was for taking notes. But it had been drilled into them from the first day of class. Cleo had started writing in the air with her hand and Corentin -- sweet jovial Corentin -- had slapped her hand with a stick. "The sooner you break that habit the better," he snapped. Cleo confided secretly to her friends that she often imagined writing the words in her head because it helped her remember.


    Even worse would be to write things down away from the school. The Druids had occasionally hunted people down for that, or so the stories said. They guarded their knowledge jealously, and they had a lot of it. On the subjects on which they centered they had more knowledge than any other place, even the great library at Alexandria. This hoarding of knowledge ran counter to what Cleo knew. Alexandria gave -- and took -- knowledge freely.


    In the absence of a library, the students had to find areas in which to spend time. The central area of the main hall was off limits to students unless there was an event going on. The main hall corridors were for walking, or more often running, only. Teachers and students could be seen dashing to and fro. Usually it was upperclassmen, the Bards with their blue sashes

 The Magic Within

    A few days later Cleo grabbed Maddie as they were on their way out of Moral Philosophy class.


    ¡°I want to try something. Something I just remembered reading about. Let''s go straight to the greenhouse after class later.¡±


    ¡°We''ll bring him along, of course. If this goes the way I think it will, he won''t want to miss it.¡±


    Cleo practically dragged Gaius and Maddie to their bench in the greenhouse after class. They had started more advanced training in Elementary Magic, reaching out to affect the universe for the first time in months. Cleo was so enthusiastic she was practically vibrating. Just watching her made it difficult for Maddie to concentrate, but she had managed to feel something, so she figured she had done all right. Corentin had even cautioned them not to expect too much from their first experience.


    ¡°I can''t believe this is the first time we''ve actually tried something like magic,¡± Cleo complained as she dragged her friends across the lawn. ¡°But we''ll see about that!¡±


    Maddie was a little frightened. Cleo was usually so composed. It was gaius who was prone to fits of the dramatic. Cleo was their rock. But she was actually scaring Maddie more and more the closer they got to their spot.


    ¡°Are you sure this is a good idea,¡± she asked, not even knowing or caring what the idea was.


    ¡°Trust me.¡± Less trustworthy words are almost never found than that phrase.


    They arrived at their secluded spot and sat down. Cleo rubbed her hands together.


    ¡°What are we going to do?¡± asked Gaius, somehow excited rather than terrified. Maddie wasn''t sure how that was possible, but she seemed to be the focus of Cleo¡¯s plan, so it made sense that she would be more affected. Part of her wondered if it was worth it to have friends or if she would have been better off staying alone. At least she might have lived longer.


    When they were settled, Cleo turned to Maddie and said, ¡°I was just thinking about the way the examiners tested us, and I remembered that I had read up on some of the examination practices that the other Academies use. There are some differences, and I think we might be able to figure out your affinity.¡±


    Maddie looked sceptical. Gaius looked excited. Cleo saw her friends¡¯ looks and said, ¡°Okay, okay. I''ll go first. After all, the examiner did say I had affinity for something other than elemental magic.¡±


    She sat on the ground in the posture that they usually used for their meditation.


    ¡°You have to reach out and feel the energy of the universe, just like Corentin has been teaching us. Slowly teaching us. Very slowly. Okay.


    ¡°Now you feel inside yourself, which he hasn''t been teaching us for some reason. You have to look very deep and find the spark of energy inside. Then you have to examine it to find out what it''s like. This is what the examiners do with their assessment abilities. Then they have you try something to see if you can access that spark at all, and how much. But if you can do it when they tell you to, you can do it anytime. And I''ve been practicing for the past day or so, so I should be able to make it work.¡±


    She fell silent, finally reaching a point where she could not focus on her magic and explain at the same time.


    ¡°Got it! No, wait, lost it again. I really need to focus more.¡±


    A few more minutes went by. Maddie stared at Cleo,waiting for something to happen. Gaius yawned and started to complain but was stopped when Maddie put her hand out and gave him a look. Finally something started to happen.


    ¡°I''m doing it,¡± Cleo said in an extremely calm voice, still focusing, ¡°Can you see it?¡±


    Maddie and Gaius couldn''t see anything. Cleo slowly opened her eyes.


    ¡°It''s not there. But I can feel its presence.¡±


    Maddie looked closely. Maybe there was a faint shimmer in the air in front of Cleo. She reached out her hand toward the shimmeriness, then jerked it back.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.¡°I felt something. It feels like there''s a ball of something there, but I can''t see it.¡±


    Gaius reached out, only to feel the same disconcerting sensation.


    ¡°What kind of magic is that?¡± he asked, ¡°I''ve never heard of invisible magic before.¡±


    ¡°That''s only because you don''t really know that much about magic. I read a little about the different forms magic can take. There was something about an invisible kind of magic, but it wasn''t well known. I think it''s rare.¡±


    Gaius scoffed. ¡°Lucky you to get such a rare magic.¡±


    ¡°You might not realize it, but I come from a long line of people with magical affinities. The Ptolomies have been using magic since the first Ptolomy daughter with Alexander.¡±


    ¡°That hardly makes you special. There''s plenty of magic in my blood. My ancestors were some of the greatest mages in all of Albion.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I''m well aware of your ancestors. You never stop talking about them!¡± Cleo lost focus and the ball of pure energy dissipated. Maddie had been examining it, feeling for its edges and pushing against it, feeling it almost push back. When it went away she felt it almost pop like a bubble.


    The snap of the bubble snapped Cleo out of her ire. She opened her mouth and started to speak, but stopped. Maddie filled it in for her.


    ¡°Gaius, you should have felt that. It was amazing. And I think I''ll be able to do it myself.¡±


    Cleo and Maddie shared a smile.


    About an hour later Maddie was still at it. Gaius was seriously bored and even Cleo was starting to get impatient. Every time he started to complain Cleo would shush him. Maddie managed to stay calm throughout most of it, but finally puffed out a frustrated breath.


    ¡°I feel like I can almost reach it. Like I keep grabbing at it, only to have it slip away again. I didn''t really have any trouble finding it, either. I just can''t grasp it.¡±


    Cleo frowned, thinking about her own experience. ¡°When I looked for the magic in myself, I found my water magic first. I tried to tough it for a second, but it was a little slippery, almost like touching water. When I found my other magic, it felt the same way you described it. Like I was touching something but couldn''t really tell what it was. Maybe magic is always like that. Maybe you have a magic that''s inherently elusive. Gaius, you try.¡±


    Gaius startled. ¡°Why me?¡±


    ¡°Because you have the most easy to access type of magic. And you already know your affinity. You magic is probably closer to the surface. Maybe more powerful, too,¡± she added, appealing to his ego.


    Maddie got up and Gaius sat down on the ground, fiddling with his clothes in an attempt to keep as much of them as possible le from touching the dusty stone. It took him a while to gain focus -- he was one of the worst in their class at meditating -- but soon his breathing was measured and his fidgeting eased. A few minutes later a small ball of light appeared in the air before him. He slowly opened his eyes and smiled.


    ¡°I got it. And it was easier than I thought it would be. Corentin should have had us doing this from the first day. It''s much easier to meditate if you have an actual goal in mind. I even managed to change it. It wanted to be a ball of flame, but I convinced it to be a ball of light instead.¡±


    ¡°Convinced it? Like it was a living thing?¡±


    ¡°Well, not really. It''s hard to explain. It''s like a powerful force inside me, with a strong will. I know it''s really my own will, but...well, it''s not really my will.¡±


    ¡°The magic must have a tendency to behave a certain way. That''s why it manifest the way it does. It chooses the path of least resistance. And you managed to change it. Good work, Gaius.¡±


    Gaius smiled and the ball of light winked out. He got up and dusted himself off.


    ¡°Thanks. Do you want to try again, Maddie?¡±


    ¡°It will have to wait, Cleo interjected, ¡°It''s later than we thought. If we dont hurry, well miss dinner.¡±

 Chapter Eight: An Evil Lie

    ¡°I see you are looking much happier today.¡±


    ¡°Tereus? Why are you here? Aren''t you afraid someone will see you?¡±


    ¡°Don''t forget that the first time you saw me I was here. I have my ways of staying undetected.¡±


    ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°I merely wanted to admit something to you. Something that I''ve been keeping secret from you. I know about your magic.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? What about my magic?¡±


    ¡°I know where your magical abilities lie, and I''ve been keeping it from you. Please, do not think badly of me.¡± He looked down as if ashamed.


    ¡°I know a lot about you. I''ve been keeping an eye on you for a long time.¡± He held up his hand to forestall Maddie''s reaction.


    ¡°I told you, it is my business to learn about others of our kind. And to know about our unusual parents, as well. I have seen other children of Brigantia, and many of them have one thing in common. They all have access to shadow magic.¡±


    ¡°What''s that?¡±


    ¡°Shadow magic is the magic of darkness, of death. It allows one to move unseen and to walk through shadows.¡±


    Maddie took a step back, her hand moving up to her mouth in horror. ¡°Shadow Walkers,¡± she whispered.


    Tereus smiled. ¡°Precisely. It''s the same magic used by Shadow Walkers.¡±


    ¡°But Shadow Walkers are...evil.¡±


    ¡°Pure evil. It''s the corrupting influence of the magic that makes the Shadow Walkers creatures of nightmares.¡±


    Maddie''s knees became weak and she almost fell to the ground. Tereus stepped forward and caught her.


    ¡°Be careful. The Druids have ways of detecting these things. If you think that you''re in any danger, visit my father''s altar in the temple. I may be able to help you.¡±


    ¡°Your father''s altar. Okay.¡±


    They heard sounds coming from further up the path. Tereus attempted to stand Maddie up, but she wouldn''t stand. He lowered her to the ground instead.


    Gaius and Cleo found their friend sitting on the path, a look of horror still on her face. When they asked her what was wrong, she couldn''t tell them.


    Maddie''s friends tried to get through to her. Cleo gently shook her. Maddie flinched back as if in horror.


    "What''s wrong?" Cleo asked.


    Maddie couldn''t answer. What would she say? That she was going to become evil? Her friends would leave her behind, waste no time turning her in!


    She took deep breaths to calm down. She had told them about her mother, and they had at least pretended to listen. Maybe she could tell them this?


    No. They might not turn her in, but they would never trust her if they knew she was evil.


    "It was Tereus, the man I told you about at the temple. He...he threatened me."


    That wasn''t completely untrue.


    "He said that he would hurt me, hurt my father, hurt you if I found out how to access my magic."


    That was a total lie. But Maddie channeled all her fears into the lie, which made it sound more believable.


    "He...he threatened you?" Cleo asked. Her eyes flashed. Nobody threatened her friends. She gave Maddie a hug, causing the younger girl to flinch. Cleo assumed it was because she was scared of Tereus, not of her.


    "It''s okay. We''ll make sure he can''t hurt you."


    Gaius paced back and forth on the path. His face was red and his fists were clenched tight. Nobody threatened his friends.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.Maddie''s breathing was still ragged. She didn''t know what was worse, her fear of Tereus, the Druids, or her friends.


    "Why didn''t he want you to use your magic? What does he care?"


    Those were good questions without good answers. Rather than try to come up with more lies in her panicked condition -- lies that would no doubt come back to haunt her -- Maddie took the easy way out. She fainted, right there on the path.


    She started to come to a few minutes later, but willed herself back into unconsciousness. She could thank all her mental training with Corentin for that little ability. Gaius was carrying her off the path when she woke up the first time. The second time she was in bed. The third time Corentin was sitting in a chair, keeping an eye on her. His presence startled her, but then she remembered that he didn''t know anything.


    "Tell me everything," he said to her as soon as he saw she was awake. Her heart sank.


    "My...my friends? Cleo and Gaius?" she stalled.


    "They''re right outside. They were very worried about you. Gaius carried you through the grounds and up to the dormitories."


    "Can I see them?"


    Corentin paused for a second. "I don''t see why not. They can hear whatever you tell me."


    It was just a reprieve, then. Maddie nodded. Gaius and Cleo tentatively came into the room when Corentin called them.


    "Now, then, tell me the story," Corentin said, forestalling any questions or comments from Cleo and Gaius.


    Maddie told him everything, or at least the version of everything she wanted him to believe. It was mostly the truth. She told him about seeing a mysterious person at the welcoming dinner, about her trip to the temple and meeting Tereus. She made his claims at demigodhood sound just a bit less certain. Then she told him about seeing him on the path and ended with the version of events that she had given to her friends. Or as near as she could remember.


    Corentin took it all in and sat for a while digesting it.


    "Well, we''ll have to make sure that he doesn''t come back and that he can''t threaten you, your friends, or your family. I''m positive that we can protect you, so there''s no reason not to continue your studies. Perhaps we''ll hold off on your extra lessons a bit, and you can take it easy a bit in class for now. But we''ll resume your training soon. I just have to talk to the others about this new threat.¡±


    Maddie felt relieved and guilty at the same time. While she didn''t really think that Tereus was going to hurt anyone, she didn''t want to have to explore her abilities and be found out.


    The next day Maddie spent most of her classes thinking about the implications of what Tereus had said. She didn''t want to become evil. She liked her friends and her family and her teachers and didn''t want to become some monster who could kill them all. Nowhere were these thoughts more prevalent than in Elementary Magic class. Not having to concentrate on her magic let her focus all her attention on these dark thoughts. She had a brief reprieve, but sooner or later she would have to start trying again. And if Corentin was going to help her, he would see that she had Shadow Magic inside of her. She liked her teacher and he seemed really nice, but she had no doubts that he''d help capture her if she tried to escape.

 Chapter Nine: Around the Town

    Gaius and Cleo got together to try to think of a way to cheer up their friend. Now that they knew that Corentin had mind magic -- something Maddie had let slip -- they were back at their little alcove in the greenhouse.


    Several plans had been thought of and rejected when Cleo came up with what might have been the stupidest plan of all.


    ¡°We haven''t seen the city since we''ve been here. Maybe Maddy would enjoy a walk around the city. All we''ve seen are in Academy¡¯s grounds and while they are impressive, I''m sure they pale in comparison to the wonders of the famed city of Ys.¡±


    ¡°That seems more like something we would like. Maddie¡¯s a small-town girl. She probably isn''t itching to see a big city. Plus, she''s seen the Temple and those trips never went well. And then there''s a crazy man threatening to kill all of us. I doubt she''d feel safe out in the open like that.¡±


    Cleo sat for a moment, biting her lip as she thought of a response.


    ¡°About that man, Tereus, do you...do you think that Maddie is telling the truth?¡±


    ¡°She''s my friend and I trust her. Plus, she was definitely scared of something. And I don''t think she''d make up a man walking around the city.¡±


    ¡°Oh...I definitely believe that he exists and that he''s been talking to her. And I believe he said something to her that made her very frightened. But, well, something about her story doesn''t add up. I''m not sure why he would threaten us if Maddie used her magic. I think she''s keeping something, that there is some detail of the story that she''s changed. And I think it has to do with threatening our lives.¡±


    ¡°That''s a big supposition. And a big risk to take. What if you''re wrong?¡±


    ¡°First of all, I am rarely wrong. Second, do you think that her story makes sense?¡±


    Gaius had to think about that. ¡°You''re right. It doesn''t exactly make sense. But do you want to risk it?¡±


    ¡°Actually...It do. The Druids can provide security I''m sure and if Maddie doesn''t enjoy it we can always come back. We will avoid the Temple, however.¡±


    The next day before the start of classes, Gaius and Cleo talked to Corentin about their idea. He agreed to arrange for protection for the group ! and to act as their guide. Cleo smiled when she .


    remembered Corentin''s jovial -- if quick -- tour through the city that first day. Thinking about that Corentin versus the Corentin that stood before her made her a little sad. He had been so jolly and carefree. Now he looked drawn and serious. She hoped that it would be the jolly Corentin that took them around the city.


    They talked to Maddie at lunch. She had been withdrawing again, paying more attention to the voices in her head than to life outside. Cleo meant to change that.


    ¡°I don''t know. It sounds scary,¡± she said to Cleo, ¡°And dangerous,¡± she added, remembering her story.¡±


    ¡°We''ve talked to Corentin and he agreed that it''s a good idea. The best warriors will provide protection and he will personally take us around the city.¡±


    Maddie thought about it for a while.Alright. I suppose it could be fun.¡±


    That afternoon the quartet left the Academy grounds to explore the famed wonders of the legendary city of Ys. As they had first noticed, the city was set up like the points of a compass with the palace opposite the gates and the Temple opposite the Academy. To Cleo¡¯s delight, Corentin had regained much of his earlier joviality. He pointed out the sights of the city, in a much more thorough way than last time. Rather than a trot, their pace this time was a stroll.


    Maddie began the journey in her own head, barely paying attention to her surroundings. But a few minutes walk outside the walls of the Academy, she began to look up at the points of interest that Corentin pointed out.


    The two main roads -- Maddie supposed they would be called streets, or avenues, or some other word that you only found in cities -- didn''t intersect in a cross pattern as she had originally thought. Instead there was a central area, much like the way the Academy¡¯s main hall was set up. Around the center was a curved street that joined up with the two main streets. Corentin called the large streets boulevards. As they walked toward the center, Maddie''s breath was taken away when she saw the center of the city.


    The entire center was taken up by a large market. Like most things in Ys it was formed of concentric circles. At the outside were small stalls, many covered with colorful tarps. Behind them the buildings started. In contrast to the very strict, very orderly building laws of the rest of the city, the merchants¡¯ circle was a mishmash of different styles. One-story buildings seem to have been turned into two- and sometimes three-story ones. Some of these additions leaned forward precariously. Maddie saw a building leaning at such an extreme angle that it touched the building across the street and they seem to have been joined into one. A few other building had top floors that covered the street and there were walkways everywhere. It seemed entirely possible to walk through the merchants¡¯ circle without setting foot on the ground. In fact, it was entirely possible.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.¡°The Merchants¡¯ Circle was built quite a few years after the rest of the city, as you can surmise. While King Gralon oversaw the development of most of the city, he let the merchants run a bit...wild.¡±


    Seeing the children''s fascination, Corentin let them explore the circle to their hearts¡¯ content. He did glance up at the roofline, reassured to see a flash of red.


    Every type of item was on display. Spices from the East, diamonds from Visnagar, steam-powered toys from Alexandria, even books. Cleo practically drooled over the books. If they had been unaccompanied she might have been tempted to buy some in secret and smuggle them into school but looking over at Corentin she quashed that notion. Seeing the conflict written on her face made Corentin laugh.


    The steam-powered whirligigs made them all smile. Maddie was just in awe. Gaius wanted to take one apart and see how it worked. Cleo was just happy to see something from home that had always made her smile and laugh as a child. The man selling them was good, too. He demonstrated all the features of the toys while laughing joyfully and giving a over-the-top sales pitch. The gang watched several people purchase probably more than they wanted. Cleo helped a bit by pointing out various features and telling Gaius a little bit about how the mechanism worked, as she had one as a child.


    They explored the market for a few hours, reveling in the wonders from all over the world. Cleo, Gaius, and even Corentin kept an eye on Maddie to make sure that she was sufficiently distracted.


    After they had spent time in the market, they walked on the see the rest of the city. Cleo and Maddie were linked arm in arm as the left, with Gaius catching up behind them and Corentin in front, talking even though nobody was ready to listen. As Gaius started to catch up, Cleo reached back and grabbed his arm, then linked hers with his. In that way the trio toured the rest of the city.


    After the market they headed toward the palace. The Palace was a marvel of architecture. Its towers soared above the city, thin spires that were the tallest structures on the island. In contrast to the light grey stone of the Academy, the Palace was built of dark basalt, with accents and carvings of onyx. The huge palace gates were open and laid back against a thick semicircular wall. The palace''s towers swirled like the horn of a narwhal and the entire feel of the building evoked the sea. Corentin checked the sky and led the children up a huge staircase that wound around the palace wall.


    ¡°I''m about to show you the most magnificent site in all of Ys.¡±


    At the top of the staircase was a balcony that looked out over the city walls. It was high tide and the water broke against the top of the walls. It was terrifying to see, as each time the waves hammered it looked as if they would overwhelm the structure and spill into the city.


    ¡°That''s terrifying,¡± Gaius whispered, instinctively taking a step back, ¡°What keeps it from coming over the wall?¡±


    ¡°A series of sluices and gates. They lower at high tide and open again at low tide to let ships leave the city.¡±


    As he said that, the children noticed a great port beneath them. It was enclosed in another semicircular wall. There was enough water to keep the ships afloat, but the walls towered above their masts.


    ¡°The say that only King Gralon has the key, and that he uses it twice a day to open and close the gates.¡±


    Gaius looked at him. ¡°Such a thing must surely be automated.¡±


    Corentin chuckled. ¡°Probably. But they say that the king oversees it personally, and wears the key around his neck at all times.¡±


    Gaius tried to scoff, but the sound was lost in the awesome power of the waves.


    ¡°What happens if the gates open at high tide?¡± Cleo asked.


    ¡°That''s easy. The water would start to fill the city and we''d all have to swim around everywhere,¡± Gaius said, proud of his knowledge of engineering.


    ¡°Corentin, can we go back now? I...don''t really like being up so high,¡± Maddie said meekly.


    After one last look at the sea, they headed back down the steps.

 Chapter Ten: Examination

    The next day seemed to dawn brighter for Maddie and her friends. She had managed to put Tereus¡¯s warning out of her head and dove into classes. With autumn coming on classes were being taught predominantly inside. Corentin ran most of his classes from one of the smaller buildings off the main school. Natural Science was being held in the greenhouse much of the time, though they would occasionally range out and learn about the plants and animals that came out for an Armorican autumn.


    Elementary Magic was being held on the lawn for the last time. The grass was crisp with frost as they sat down in their assigned formation.


    Corentin walked back and forth through the middle row, seemingly lost in thought. He carefully looked over each student as if evaluating their place. Several times he moved his hands, imagining what the ramifications would be if he changed things. Finally he walked to the front, sighed, and turned back to the class.


    ¡°From now on there will only be two sections, front and back. Close this gap in the middle here.¡±


    He then moved individual students around, moving one or two from front to back or vice-versa. He motioned to Maddie and pointed her to a spot next to Cleo. As Maddie shuffled over the blanket to her friend, Cleo put her hand on Maddie''s.


    ¡°Today we will begin something different. We will be having examinations, something my colleagues have said I should have been doing for months. But I like to give my first-year students a break. Unfortunately, I think that time has come to an end.¡±


    Maddie felt her heart sink. They had been through exams in other subjects, including the other ones taught by Corentin. They were usually asked to stand before the class and recite something they''d learned and be prepared to answer questions. While Elementary Magic followed a different format, Maddie was sure it would be the same.


    ¡°Since magic is a unique discipline, examinations will be tailored to each student''s particular talents. This examination will be difficult to fail. And since you will each be tested in your own way, do not judge yourselves based on your peers.¡± He looked straight at Maddie as he said that, and she knew that his assured


    assurance was meant for her.


    The exams started with the students who had the most basic abilities: the single elementalists. They were usually asked to manifest some of their particular element. One of the water mages was asked to describe how to draw water from the environment and then to demonstrate it by drying the grass and forming the water into a globe. Gaius had to manifest a ball of light and cause it to pulse and display different colors. He then had to answer questions about the relationship between fire and light.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.Cleo¡¯s evaluation looked almost like a study in telekinesis. She was tasked with lifting into the air various small items that Corentin pulled out of his overcoat. He pushed his luck when he asked her to juggle them.


    ¡°If I don''t know how to juggle with my hands, I can''t be expected to juggle using magic alone,¡± she answered with all the Ptolemeyan haughtiness she could muster. Maddie and Gaius hid giggles at their friend''s uncharacteristic response. Corentin ordered her to learn to juggle before her next exam, then burst into laughter.


    By this time Maddie''s worry had turned into confusion. Surely she was going to be asked to do something, but what? Corentin knew both her abilities and the stakes if she tried to demonstrate any magic. Didn''t he?


    He did. Maddie had the most grueling exam of all. She had to recite nearly everything she had learned about the theories behind magic, its various forms, and then answer a series of questions from both Corentin and the other students about the more esoteric things they had learned.


    The most bizarre and obscure question came from Cleo. Maddie had to wrack her brain to even understand the full meaning of the question, nonetheless its answer. But then she felt the knowledge blossom within her and she answered not only the first question, but several follow-ups. When she sat back down next to her friend, Cleo reached over and gave her a tight squeeze.


    ¡°That was amazing. Well done,¡± she whispered.


    Exams continued throughout the week. Every day Corentin had them meet in a new location and take a new type of test. Sometimes it was magical lore, other times they merely had to stand and stare into their teacher''s eyes. No student performed the same test as another and none performed the same type twice.


    They were meeting in the astronomy tower when Corentin asked Maddie to stand and look at him. She had a feeling she knew what was coming next, since it looked just like her private sessions. She wasn''t far off, but instead of directing her to focus on her magic, he did it himself.


    She felt the core of magic inside her come to life, felt it start to swirl and give off smokelike wisps. With nasty yanking feeling, she felt it surge and unravel. Inside the smoke was a tight black ball that sat there in the center of her soul. The darkness seemed to pulse, shrinking and enlarging. Then, like a letting out of breath, it dissipated.


    Maddie let out a huge breath, but then staggered back from the pure power of her magic. It hadn''t disappeared into nothingness, it had filled her body, mind, and soul.


    She saw the look of surprise on Corentin''s face. He knew. He knew about her shadow magic, and now he would lock her up, or whatever they did to potential Shadow Walkers.


    She stumbled back then turned and fled

 Chapter Eleven: Change of Circumstances

    Maddie''s abrupt exit caught everyone by surprise. Corentin surged forward to stop her and Gaius and Cleo scrambled to their feet. But Maddie was somehow faster than all of them. She heard their steps pounding behind her and expecting any second to be snatched back. The only thing that kept her from just closing her eyes and surrendering to her fate was the look of horror and betrayal she knew would be on her friends¡¯ faces.


    With her magic unlocked, Maddie found herself feeling lighter. She focused on her arm as she ran down the relatively straightforward path. She could swear she saw wisps of smoke coming off of it. Warriors in their red robes stepped out onto the path, but Maddie was almost a blur as she ran past them. She had always been a small, relatively scrawny kid, but now she ran faster than an Olympic runner. A net of magic appeared in front of her and she seemed to blur out of existence for a split second and reappear on the other side of it. If she hadn''t been so focused on running away she would have been terrified by something so resembling the teleportation abilities of a Shadow Walker.


    Once through the gates of the Academy, Maddie headed straight toward the temple. She needed to get out of the city as fast as possible and she only knew of two people who could help her. Both of them could be found at the temple.


    It was an amazing feat of athleticism. Maddie led not only her friends and Corentin, but Druids of both red and white robes, and several city guards, on a merry chase. She reached the lawn of the Temple of All Gods and then she felt her body falling forward and everything became darkness.


    Maddie woke up in a brightly lit room. Magical lanterns hung from the ceiling, eliminating any shadows. She squinted at the brightness, then squeezed her eyes tightly as she remembered what had happened. She was caught, imprisoned no doubt for the crime of being a future Shadow Walker. The design of the lights told her that they knew what she was and didn''t want to give her a chance to use her powers.


    Though, what were her powers? The brightness of the light and the fog of exhaustion made it hard to think.


    She sat down on the floor and examined the room, squinting until her eyes became adjusted to the light. There was a thick mat on the floor. That was what she had been lying on. The floor was wood boards, the walls were plaster, and the door was solid. It looked like almost every interior room of the Academy. There was no window and the globes of light hung inches from the ceiling. They had been arranged so as to allow no shadows.


    Then she felt inside herself and brought up the memory of her flight through the city. She had definitely been moving much faster than she ever thought she could. And she had definitely dodged that net of magic by...not being in the space it was. She had blurred from one place to another without going through the space in between. She had teleported, like a Shadow Walker.


    The door opened and Elouan walked in. The only times Maddie had seen the head Grammaticus since the first day had been at meals, and then only from a distance. In person he looked both older and more spry. He was wearing a simple white robe, without the ornamental necklaces, crown, or gold jewelry that an Arch-Druid usually wore. His hair and beard were both quite long and of the same bright white as his robe. Under the room''s lights he almost seemed to glow. His face was wrinkled but he moved with smooth motions that belied his advanced age. His eyes were the same color as moss growing on an pak tree.


    ¡°I don''t believe we''ve had the pleasure of meeting in person, Miss Brigantia.¡±


    ¡°N...no, Grammaticus.¡±


    ¡°Please, you may refer to me as Elouan in this case,¡± he said, smiling. Maddie merely nodded.


    Elouan looked around the room and then rapped on the door. A young student with a red sash opened it and stuck his head inside.


    ¡°Chairs. Two,¡± Elouan commanded. The student nodded and disappeared. A few minutes later he came back, struggling under the weight of two heavy wood chairs. Just as the thought flashed through Maddie''s mind that she could attempt to escape, someone unseen closed the door after the student with the chairs.


    After he had left and they had settled themselves in the chairs, Elouan looked at Maddie.


    ¡°I''ve had a report from your teacher and from the war mages and it paints a very interesting portrait. A very perplexing one, too. Now, I don''t really want to keep you here, but I don''t think you''re fit for classes right now.¡±


    ¡°You don''t want me here. Am I expelled?¡±


    Elouan blinked at her for a moment, then realized what she thought he meant.


    ¡°I''m sorry, I''m afraid I wasn''t very clear. When I said ¡°here¡± I meant in this room. I have no intention of expelling you right now. In fact, I''m pretty sure it would be a bad idea if you left on your own. I''ve heard stories of this man you saw, this Tereus,¡± he said the name with distaste, ¡°and none of them was good.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.¡°This is what I''ll do. I''ll let you stay on the Academy grounds but you won''t be attending any classes right now. And instead of sleeping in the dorms, you''ll sleep here. We''ll, um, do something about these lights.¡± He pointed at the ceiling and all but one if the lights winked out.


    ¡°Try to stay inside if you can. Please don''t leave the grounds. And if you see this Tereus again, let someone know immediately.¡±


    He stood up and opened the door wide.


    ¡°I''ll have a proper bed and a lamp sent up here. You can keep the chairs. I think your friends want to see you now.¡±


    Maddie was very quiet when her friends rushed in. Cleo hesitated for a second before giving her friend a big hug that left her practically gasping for air. Gaius awkwardly patted Maddie on the back. Maddie broke into tears when Cleo let go.


    ¡°It''s okay,¡± Cleo told her friend, crouched down on the floor next to the chair. She pulled a cloth from her dress and dried Maddie''s eyes.


    ¡°I''ve been such a bad friend!¡± Maddie sobbed, ¡°you helped me and I didn''t trust you!¡±


    ¡°It''s okay,¡± Gaius broke in, ¡°We don''t care as long as you''re okay.¡±


    This made Maddie cry harder. Cleo put her hands on the sides of Maddie''s head and forced her to look at her.


    ¡°Whatever you did or didn''t do that you regret, you did a lot of good things. You supported us even when it was hard for you.¡±


    Cleo nodded.


    Cleo and Gaius comforted Maddie until they had to go to class. A little while after that, a couple of students came in carrying a cot and a mattress. Maddie thought it would be better if she left them to it.


    Maddie wandered the halls connecting her new room with the rest of the Academy. She was in a wing of the main building. Students were normally housed in one of the larger outbuildings, but the teachers and other Druids had quarters within the main building. Perhaps Elouan thought that being among so many capable people would help her stay safe. After all, he had recommended that she stay inside. Maddie felt like she was in a secret world where students weren''t supposed to go. With thd exception of one or two advanced students, everyone she passed was an adult. Oddly, nobody seemed to think it was strange that she was so out of place, even though her brown robes and lack of sash marked her as one of the younger students. And it wasn''t as if she looked older than she was -- if anything she looked young for her age.


    Eventually her meandering led her to the outside. The weather had turned, seeming to go from fall to winter overnight. Maddie knew it was morning, but the sky looked more like night. Thick black clouds hung over the city like smoke. They seemed like they were closing in on the city. Maddie imagined that she saw them come lower and lower. She waited for the inevitable rain, imagining what that first fat raindrop would feel like. But rain didn''t come. The clouds started roiling but where there would usually be flashes of lightning buried deep in the clouds there was nothing. The pressure increased; Maddie felt it press down on her like a weight. It practically drove her to the ground, but she used all her will to stay standing.


    The lack of thunder made every other sound stand out. Maddie could hear voices chanting in one of the groves. It seemed that some of the Druids were doing combat with the unusual phenomenon over the city. Wisps of cloud seemed to reach down from the sky like tendrils of smoke, aiming for the Druids. The chanting grew louder and the tendrils stopped, disippating into nothing. The sky grew darker. It was if night had fallen but the clouds were still clearly visible and Maddie could see as well as she could have on a normal cloudy day. The clouds swirled, pressing closer before receding slightly. They seemed to float up higher.


    Then there was thunder. No lighting preceded it, it was just one abnormally long peal of thunder. The force of it was enough to knock Maddie off her feet and make her ears ring. Trees bent under its power. The storm followed the thunder with a focused burst of wind that felled the trees of the grove and sent the Druids flying.


    Then, as the clouds had, the wind lifted back up into the sky. The clouds rose higher and the landscape gradually grew brighter. At a certain point the clouds came apart, revealing a strong late morning sun that nearly blinded Maddie. As she struggled to her feet she noticed her shadow next to her. The sight pulled at something in her brain, something she couldn''t quite remember.


    Maddie stood there, warmed by the unusually bright sunlight for a few minutes until clouds -- normal, everyday clouds -- started to cover the sky. She felt oddly calm as she walked back to her room.

 Chapter Twelve: What to Do About Maddie?

    Gaius and Cleo arrived at Maddie''s room a few hours later, only to find the door closed. When Cleo knocked lightly a student came down the hall and told them that Maddie was sleeping. They were no strangers to their friend''s occasional dark moods and propensity to sleep in response to stress. So, even though they desperately wanted to discuss the morning''s incident, they turned away.


    They made their way to their normal spot in the greenhouse, holding their conversation until they sat down on the bench. Cleo took a deep breath and let it out.


    ¡°We need to talk about Maddie, I suppose,¡± she said. Hesitancy was unusual for Cleo, who was normally very strong-willed.


    ¡°I guess we should,¡± Gaius replied, then fell silent. Between living through them and having class, they hadn''t yet had the chance to talk about the incidents of the last two days.


    ¡°She has a very unusual magic,¡± Cleo finally n said. Gaius snorted.


    ¡°That is an understatement as big as your beloved lighthouse.¡±


    The comparison made Cleo smile despite herself. Gauis continued.


    ¡°Whatever it is, it''s incredibly powerful, too. She ran almost across the whole island. This is the girl who got winded climbing up stairs the other day--¡±


    ¡°--to be fair, we were all winded, you most of all.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, as I was saying before the insults started flying, she''s not an athlete, but she ran faster and longer than the strongest Druids here. She must have run for close to an hour straight. If her magic can let her do that¡­¡±


    ¡°It''s something I''ve never heard about, much less seen. It''s like it''s a new form of magic that''s never been done before. And then the sky this morning. That was an awesome sight that I wouldn''t ever want to see again. Do you think they''re related?¡±


    ¡°They can''t be. If Maddie''s magic could cause something like that, it would be the most powerful magic ever seen! Although¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Well, let''s analyze this. Let''s look at all the moving parts.¡±


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.¡°Well, first Maddie couldn''t access her magic. Even Corentin couldn''t help her.¡±


    ¡°Then she met this guy who told her she was a demigod. At least, that''s what she said he told her.¡±


    ¡°I believe her. And I''ll give her the benefit of the doubt when she said he threatened her.¡±


    ¡°Phh, that was a total lie. But whatever he said really scared her. You can''t fake terror like that. And when Corentin finally pulled her magic out of her--¡±


    ¡°--the same kind of terror,¡± Cleo finished. ¡°I don''t think he should have done that. You could see on Maddie''s face how hard he was pulling on her. Whatever mental force he was subjecting her to was more than she could handle.¡±


    ¡°He''s a teacher and a powerful mind mage. He knows what he''s doing.¡±


    ¡°Even the smartest, most accomplished people can be wrong. I''ve seen many people come and go in the Museum who were experts in their fields but still made mistakes. Sometimes their entire life''s work was built on a mistake and had


    to be rethought.¡±


    Gaius thought about that.


    ¡°I wouldn''t want that to be me, that''s for sure.¡±


    ¡°So, let''s continue. The only piece of the puzzle that doesn''t fit is that strange display this morning. Maddie didn''t cause it, it didn''t seem aimed at her. It has to be a coincidence.¡± Cleo said the word with distaste.


    ¡°Do you really believe in coincidences?¡±


    ¡°I...believe in them. I just don''t like them. They don''t fit into a world of logic and order.¡±


    ¡°I agree. Things should have a cause and effect. You don''t think it was Tereus¡¯s doing?¡±


    ¡°If he could do that, he would have just taken Maddie away with him. I don''t think anyone has that much power, even a demigod.¡±


    ¡°Then we''re talking about a god¡­¡±


    Gaius shook himself out of that thought.


    ¡°I don''t even want to think about that. If the gods are getting involved, it''s way above our level. What can we do in that case?¡±


    ¡°Just be there for our friend. It''s what we''ve been doing all along.¡±


    Gauis nodded. ¡°Then let''s. ¡°

 Chapter Thirteen: A Pledge is Made

    Maddie lay on the cot in her room, staring up at the single orb of light on the ceiling. One of the students had offered to dispel it when she brought in the lamp, but Maddie decided to keep it, even if it made the room a little too bright for sleeping. As she stared at it, she slipped into a meditative state. She could see how the orb was constructed; it had several distinct parts that each served a different function. Its core was made up of a ball of colorless magic that powered the spell. Surrounding that was a large ball of light, fuzzy at the edges. It was attached at certain points to the core, possibly to keep it powered, possibly to keep it the magic from dissipating, possibly to keep the spherical shape. Possibly all of those, or none of them. Thanks to Corentin''s meddling, Maddie''s  ability to see magic had grown to an advanced degree. But her understanding of how magic was constructed was still at a very basic level. She could see the components but she couldn¡¯t tell what they did.


    She woke up some time later. Focusing her mind deeper and deeper into the globe of light had lulled her to sleep. She stayed where she was for a while, but the longer she lay there the more she started to think about the drama going on in her life. She could feel her mind getting sucked into the vortex of negative thoughts. This is where the paranoia started, where the depression that forced her into bed lived. She desperately wanted it to stay away.


    She thought of the times she had been happy in the last few weeks; when she was with her friends, learning new things. Magic had been a source of worry thanks to Tereus, so she stayed away from it, focusing on the things she had learned in her other classes. She went over the verses they had learned to help them remember their lore. She thought about the arguments of the different philosophers; that brought a smile to her face when she remembered Cleo coaching her through it. She cataloged the plants and animals she had learned about in and her hands moved through the motions of preparing them for use. Several hours went by that way. At one point she heard a gentle knocking, then a voice and footsteps moving slowly away.


    Eventually she turned to magic. She ran through Corentin''s lessons at a fast speed. Most of it had been meditation designed to see and access the magic within. She went over only his verbal instructions and skipped over the hours spent in silent contemplation. Then she chanced a peek inside, at her magic. It was still a smoky, diffuse energy. It traveled through her body, following pathways she had never noticed before. She watched it for a while.


    She stood up with her back to the light. She watched the way her shadow stretched up the wall, moving up and down as she moved nearer and farther. Some piece of knowledge pulled at her mind again, the same thing she was trying to remember before. As she walked toward the wall the edges of her shadow grew smoky. She peered at it and, lost in fascination, walked right through.


    She was in a place of only smoke. She thought the background of this place was a white void, which didn''t make sense for a world of shadow. It seemed to be waiting for her to decide what to do. She could turn back and be trapped in that room again or go forward and¡­


    Trapped?


    Elouan had assured her that the Druids were doing everything for her benefit, that they were protecting her. So why did she feel trapped? Maybe it was the uncertainty of her situation. Relegated to a room deep inside the Academy. The look of astonishment -- or was it horror? -- on Corentin''s face.


    The smoky void swirled around her, calling for her to make a decision. Forward or back?


    Forward. But then, where to? Three faces flashed into Maddie''s mind. Three people who had accepted her whatever happened. But only one could answer the questions she had.


    Maddie stepped out of a shadow in the Temple of All Gods. I''ve done it, she thought, I¡¯ve shadow walked.


    What it meant for her she didn''t know. Was it the first step toward turning into a monster? She didn''t feel any evil stemming from the shadowy realm. It just felt...normal.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    She stood in front of the statue of Mars. She wondered if Tereus heard his father¡¯s voice come from the statue. Maybe she should go see her mother rather than wait for her questionable ally.


    ¡°I see you''ve decided to get in touch with me finally,¡± Tereus said behind her, ¡°After those displays of power yesterday I wasn''t sure you needed me anymore.¡±


    ¡°You thought I did that? That whole storm?¡±


    ¡°No? Hmmm. I thought that was a little too impressive. But you''ve escaped from the Druids anyhow. Now we can really get started.¡±


    ¡°Get started doing what?¡±


    ¡°Bringing this city to its knees, showing our true power.¡±


    ¡°I...I don''t want to do that.¡±


    Tereus stopped and looked at her. ¡°Why not? After what the Druids did to you? After they attacked you and captured you, kept you a prisoner? I would think you would want revenge.¡±


    ¡°They didn''t attack me. They didn''t keep me imprisoned. They tried to teach me--¡±


    ¡°--You''re wrong. You''ve been led astray by them. I''ve been watching you since before you came to the school. The examiner targeted you specifically. They knew what you were, and when that Druid forced your magic out of you I knew they would use it as an excuse to keep you locked up. I thought that you had fought your way out in that impressive battle yesterday, but I guess I was wrong. How did you escape, by the way?¡±


    ¡°I...just walked out?¡±


    ¡°And appeared here?¡±


    ¡°I...I walked through a shadow.¡±


    An evil smile spread across Tereus¡¯s face. ¡°You shadow walked? Then things are more serious than I thought.¡±


    Maddie stepped back. ¡°They are?¡±


    ¡°Now the Druids will have no reason to let you go. When they discover that you''re able to use your magic they won''t stop until they''ve captured you...or destroyed you.¡±


    ¡°They would do that?¡±


    ¡°To avoid having another Shadow Walker in the world? Of course they would. You will be anathema to them.


    ¡°The only way to escape is to become what they fear most; learn to use your magic and destroy them before they destroy you.¡±


    ¡°But my friends¡­¡±


    ¡°Your friends are already lost. If they don''t deny you, they''ll suffer the same fate. The only way to protect them is to liberate them from their captors.¡±


    Maddie''s head was whirling. Her friends were the most important thing to her, short of her father. If what Tereus said was true, if the Druids would really hurt them...But the Druids had never really shown signs of hostility.¡±


    ¡°I see that you doubt me. Let me show you something.¡±


    Tereus moved his hands apart as if stretching something unseen. The air between his hands wavered and then a vision appeared.


    Cleo and Gaius were standing by the open door of Maddie''s room. Students with red sashes grabbed them from behind and wrestled them down the hall, where a warrior mage waited. The students forced her friends to their knees.


    The vision shifted. A druid in red robes sat in a coach with Maddie''s father. He seemed to be questioning the druid, who stayed silent and refused to answer him.


    ¡°What is this?¡± asked Maddie. She desperately hoped that Tereus would tell her it was a vision of the future instead of--


    ¡°The present. This is what''s happening right now. The Druids have captured your friends and your family. Most likely they''ll interrogate them, and if they don''t like the answers...well, Samhain is coming up and a Wicker Man has to be built.¡±


    Maddie''s mouth hung open. Surely the Druids wouldn¡¯t sacrifice her friends or her father. But none of them was likely to turn on her. They could be branded criminals, and criminals could easily end up in a Wicker Man, sacrificed to the gods.


    ¡°What can I do? How can I save them?¡± Maddie whispered.


    ¡°Pledge yourself to our cause and I''ll help you rescue them. Once we bring down the Druids it will be a simple matter to rescue your friends.¡±


    ¡°You want me to destroy the Academy, all the Druids, all the students. I...I don''t think I could do that.¡±


    ¡°Well, there is another way. We can make a trade with them. But first we need something to trade. I think the key to Ys should be sufficient.¡±


    ¡°The key to the gates? That''s not possible. It''s the most heavily guarded thing in the city!¡±


    ¡°For most people, yes, it would be impossible. But for us it will be easy. Well, perhaps not easy, but very possible. With a little instruction, you will be the perfect person to accomplish the task.¡±


    Maddie hesitated before saying, ¡°If it''s for my friends, I''ll do it.¡±

 Chapter Fourteen: A Plan is Formed

    Tereus took Maddie to a small house on the outskirts of the Temple district. It was a single room with a fireplace, a cot, and a few chairs. The real prize, however, was a small backyard, well-fenced and hidden from the neighbors.


    ¡°We''ll train here. We only have a few days, so we''ll start right away.¡±


    First she demonstrated the things she knew how to do. She could access the smoky magic at her core and sometimes cause it to come out of her skin. She could walk through shadows, but she was reluctant to do it. When Tereus managed to get her to step into that smoky void, she backed out right away. She sensed that he was being patient with her; logic dictated that shadow walking would be important to their plan.


    Tereus also led her through basic weapons training. Maddie balked at that, but Tereus explained.


    ¡°Taking a life, or even injuring someone, is never easy. But if it came down to hurting an enemy or losing your friends, which would you choose?¡±


    ¡°Hurting an enemy.¡±


    ¡°Right. Now you don''t have to kill someone you''re fighting, but you do have to make sure they won''t get back up and stab you in the back.¡±


    They practiced fighting with knives for hours at a time. At first Maddie could barely last a few minutes, but as they kept going she could feel some of the strength she had tapped into when she tried to run from the Academy. Tereus noticed her improvement and pointed out the smoke coming out of her pores.


    ¡°You have to tap into that magic. It will not only help your stamina, but you''ll be able to hide from your enemies.¡±


    They switched to swords. ¡°Not that you''re likely to need it, but you never know what will come in handy.¡± Tereus was a soldier; if he had his way Maddie would learn to fight with every weapon possible. As he pushed her harder and harder he exhorted her to tap into the power that had allowed her to run faster and longer than a normal human.


    When Tereus was ready to take a break, Maddie almost collapsed on the floor. When she looked up she saw the sun coming up through the windows. They had trained all night.


    ¡°Rest. I''ll wake you up in three hours. We don''t have a lot of time to waste, but you''ll need to be rested for the next part.¡±


    Maddie collapsed on the cot, fully dressed. She had a dream. She was standing in that shadowy void and a girl about her age was standing in front of her. The girl had long black hair and the pale complexion usually found only on nobility. She wore a simple red dress with gold trim. She ran to Maddie and wrapped her arms around her.


    ¡°My child! You''re here!¡±


    ¡°Where are we?¡±


    ¡°Right now we''re in the place of dreams. But you''ve also drawn very close to the place of shadows. I needed to talk to you.¡±


    Maddie looked at this young girl. Though she looked nothing like the statue in the temple, Maddie knew this was her mother.


    ¡°I''m sorry, but I prefer this form. I know I don''t look very motherly, but I needed to warn you. You must not trust Tereus. He has his own agenda and is merely using you. You are my daughter and you are much stronger than that. Don''t be his pawn. Stand for yourself.¡±


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Maddie felt the god''s strength flow into her, but it faded almost instantly.


    ¡°I''ll try. I have to save my friends. That''s more important than my own life.¡±


    The goddess looked at her daughter, tears staining her face. She kissed the girl on the forehead.


    ¡°Be careful. And remember that I love you.¡±


    With that the dream faded.


    Tereus woke Maddie what seemed like only a few minutes later. She felt surprisingly well-rested despite the lack of sleep. After a rushed breakfast, Tereus continued her training. He lit the fire and worked it until it was a roaring blaze. It cast flickering shadows on the walls.


    ¡°Now we get to the most important part: using your shadow abilities.¡±


    She spent several more hours learning to use her magic. It was more exhausting than the weapon training, because her enhanced stamina didn''t help her here. She melded into shadows, surrounded herself with shadows, and finally tried walking through shadows again. This time she was able to detect the shadows in the room  and exit nearby. Tereus couldn¡¯t hide his glee at her progress.


    ¡°Just a little more and we¡¯ll be there. That key will be ours and we¡¯ll bring the Druids to their knees. And rescue your friends, of course.¡±


    Maddie was too focused on her abilities to really listen to him. Unlike the months of trying to access her magic or the unpleasant pulling of Corentin¡¯s mental assault, using her shadow abilities just felt right.Shadows seemed to make sense to her. It was like the whole world was connected.


    A cold fear hit her: is this what Shadow Walkers feel? They were beings of pure evil, assassins who could appear anywhere and killed indiscriminately. Many times they had been sent after a single target, only to massacre whole families, or even whole towns. Maddie turned with her back to the fire and stepped through her own shadow. It was the easiest to access right now. It was then that the little nugget of information she had been trying to remember. As she stepped out of Tereus¡¯s shadow it dawned on her: Shadow Walkers didn¡¯t cast shadows. It was one of their defining features. They could walk through them and, the stories sometimes said, control them, but they didn¡¯t cast them. If they did, they¡¯d be unstoppable, able to go anywhere. No place would be safe from their evil.


    ¡°Tereus, how come I cast a shadow. If I was really turning into a Shadow Walker, wouldn¡¯t my shadow disappear? It seems like mine has grown stronger.¡±


    And indeed it did. Just like that day in the sun, the more she walked through it, the darker and sharper her shadow became. She could fuzz the edges and lighten it to the point of almost disappearing -- if she concentrated -- but when it came back it was clearer than before.


    Tereus smiled grimly. ¡°So, you noticed that, did you? The corrupting influence of Shadow takes many forms. Not everybody becomes a Shadow Walker. There are different soldiers of the Darkness. You will become one of them, just wait.¡±


    Maddie sat down on the cot. Was it worth it?


    ¡°I think you need a reminder of why you¡¯re doing this.¡±


    He made another bubble in the air. It showed Gaius and Cleo in a room, being talked to by Elouan. Their hands were tied and they were covered with bruises. Rather than the kindly old man that Maddie had met, this Elouan was a monster. He towered over the two children, a look of rage on his face. He stomped back and forth, ranting silently. Cleo said something and Elouan advanced on her. Gaous struggled against his bonds, trying to get between her and Elouan, but he couldn¡¯t move. Elouan smacked Cleo across the face hard enough to cause the chair to rock to the side. Cleo looked down, tears streaming down her face from the pain. Gaius shouted at Elouan, who gave him a similar blow, this time actually knocking him to the floor. Students with red sashes righted the chair. Elouan continued to rage. Maddie clenched her fists and held back tears, this time of anger. She studied the image, looking for a shadow to step through.


    ¡°No. Do not go up against an Arch-Druid. You will not survive.¡± The image winked out.


    ¡°I have to save them!¡±


    ¡°And we will. We simply need the right tools. The key to the city will be a sufficient bargaining chip.¡±


    ¡°And they¡¯ll let my friends go? Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll make sure.¡±


    Maddie practiced her shadow magic for a while more, then Terus started going over the plan of attack. The key was to be theirs before morning.

 Chapter Fifteen: Execution

    Maddie held her dagger in a tight grip as she walked as silently as possible down the hall. She pulled shadows around her like a cloak, terrified that she would be discovered. Once she stopped dead in her tracks as guards passed within a few feet of her. She had taken refuge behind a thick column that provided a shadow in the relative darkness. She wiped the sweat from her head and wiped her hand on her tunic. It wouldn''t do to drop the dagger. She crept forward on the felt pads Tereus had slipped onto her boots.


    All this sneaking was going to drive her crazy. She slipped into a nearby shadow. There was resistance, but she pushed through.


    Only be spit out again. She tumbled to the floor, her knife clattering on the stone. She heard footsteps running toward her. Tereus had warned her about wards, but he hadn¡¯t really said what they were. How could she know that they would keep her from shadow-walking?


    The footsteps neared; at least two guards were rushing at her. She scrambled to get to her feet and recover her knife as the guards closed. She ran from them, feeling the same blur she had felt when running away from the Druids. Alarm bells rang and more guards mobilized. They covered all the doorways leading away from the hall.


    This was a bad plan, Maddie thought as she saw several guards appear from around a corner, Why would Tereus come up with such a bad plan. It was like he wanted me to get caught.


    Not for the first time, Maddie began to doubt Tereus. She was a total amateur and he had sent her into a heavily guarded stronghold. He was either a tactical dud or wanted her to fail. He had managed to convince her that the plan would work, though. He was nothing if not charismatic.


    The soldiers in front of her held up crossbows. Maddie cringed.


    And then stepped past them, just as she had done to the Druids¡¯ spell. The short-distance teleport didn¡¯t seem to trigger any alarms. The guards whirled around as she rounded the corner. She found a shadow and wrapped herself in its darkness.


    The guards ran past her hiding spot. She didn¡¯t even breathe out a sigh of relief.


    She waited there for what seemed like an hour but was probably only a few minutes. Guards milled around, looking for the intruder. Maddie shrank into her hiding place, careful not to push herself into the shadow.


    Suddenly, a thunderous boom rang through the castle. The very stones shook. Guards ran past Maddie again, but this time they were focused on the gate. Smoke blew through the corridor, giving Maddie enough cover to head toward the king¡¯s chambers.


    When she arrived, she saw to her dismay that two guards were still stationed outside the door. They were heavily armed. The halberds they held were ceremonial, but still featured a sharp point and a keen blade. A short sword also hung from each guard¡¯s belt. Maddie had few options; she couldn¡¯t take even one of these men in a fight, let alone two.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.She backed up and ran at the door. Right before she would hit it she blurred through it. She hoped that she wouldn¡¯t hit anything on the other side.


    She did hit something, or rather someone. King Gradlon was knocked to the ground, while Maddie skidded to a halt further in the room.


    While not armored, the king was still armed with a sword and dagger. He gained his feet and drew his sword, dropping into a fighting stance. Maddie scrambled to her feet, fumbling for the sword that Tereus had given her. He slowly advanced on her. She managed to get her sword out of its sheath and held it up feebly.


    ¡°If you¡¯re an assassin you¡¯re not a very good one,¡± the king told her, ¡°It looks like I could blow you over with a breath.¡±


    Maddie, trying to adopt the same stance as the king, said nothing.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how you got in here, but I see you tripped the wards. The fact that you didn¡¯t know there would be wards is another sign of inexperience.¡± He lowered his sword slightly, thinking. ¡°And how old are you? You¡¯re just a child.¡±


    Maddie took his hesitation as a sign of opportunity. She lunged at him. Instead of parrying her blow with his sword, he hit her wrist with his forearm. Her sword went flying and she fell back. The king wasn¡¯t even pretending to fight her anymore. She was so clearly outmatched that he felt almost bad for having resisted.


    Maddie knew she needed to escape or she would be dead, or worse, captured. She would probably be tortured or given back to the Druids and burned alive. At least she would be with her friends. She pushed desperately against the shadows.


    And found the wards gone. Whatever Tereus did at the gate must have affected them. As Gradlon walked toward her, she dropped through his shadow and into the void. She was able to land on her feet. She could see a vague outline of the room she had come from. A figure that must be Gradlon turned around, looking behind him. She drew her dagger and stepped back through the same shadow. Lunging forward, she stabbed the dagger into Gradlon¡¯s stomach. Or tried to. Her blade sliced along his ribcage. As he turned she saw the chain around his neck. She reached for it with her other hand. Gradlon finished his pivot by plunging his sword into her side.


    She clawed at the chain, managing to just snag it. He grabbed her wrist but as she slid off his blade he was pulled forward. She dropped to the floor, her hand still holding the chain. It snapped and the key pulled out from under Gradlon¡¯s tunic. As she dropped through the shadows again, the key dropped with her. Gradlon hit the floor.

 Chapter Sixteen: Battle of the Gods

    Maddie landed in the Temple of All Gods, in front of her mother¡¯s altar. Beside her, the key hit the marble floor with a ringing sound. She collapsed on her knees, breathing hard from the exertion and the anxiety. This was the first place she thought of; she was meant to meet Tereus back at the house. She looked down at the floor and saw blood dripping from her tunic. The black fabric didn¡¯t show the blood, but she could see that it was wet. Her mother, still in the form of a child, appeared before her.


    ¡°Child, what has happened to you?¡±


    Maddie couldn¡¯t speak. The breath had all left her body and it seemed that she couldn¡¯t draw any new air in.


    ¡°I knew that something would happen! I warned you! I will destroy that upstart child of Ares for this!¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, that is something I cannot allow,¡± a booming voice said. It reverberated throughout the whole temple. Brigantia jumped to her feet and stood in front of her daughter.


    A man walked through the middle of the temple. He was armored much as the statue of Mars, but his spear was not symbolic -- it was meant to kill. Brigantia ran at him. Black wings sprouted from her back and a giant sword appeared in her hands. It looked like a six-foot-long blade of pure onyx. In Brigantia¡¯s childish hands it looked almost ridiculous. She remedied that by transforming, growing into an adult. Her wings lifted her off the ground as she attacked Ares. Her sword came down and he parried with his spear, sending her twirling away. The blade of her sword hit the statue of King Gradlon, bisecting it. Ares stepped to the side as tons of bronze crashes to the floor, cracking it.


    ¡°You will never best me in a fight, sister. Perhaps you should stick to stealing souls from the bodies of the helpless.¡±


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.Brigantia responded by swinging her sword again. Ares moved his spear in a complicated maneuver that Maddie could not follow. The sword flew from Brigantia¡¯s hands and landed in the marble floor next to Maddie. Ares followed up with a stab of his spear that pierced the winged woman''s chest. She gasped.


    ¡°Take the sword. Protect yourself!¡± Then she vanished.


    Ares waved his hand and the walls of the temple cracked. Maddie tried to step through shadows, only to find Tereus standing right behind her. He grabbed her neck roughly and forced her to the ground. He picked up the key.


    ¡°You managed to do it. I''m impressed and surprised. I thought you would need much more help but you managed to get the key and wound Gradlon in the process.¡±


    He turned to the sword and pulled on the handle. It didn''t budge.


    ¡°Ah, well, I suppose you can''t get a souvenir from the gods so easily.¡±


    He bowed to Ares. ¡°Thank you, father. I will carry out the plan as you instructed.¡±


    Ares nodded, "I''ll leave it to you." Then he vanished.


    Maddie struggled under Tereus''s grip. She stretched out her hand but the sword''s handle was just out of reach. Tereus raised her from the ground an roughly pushed her, letting go of her neck. She stumbled and fell, but managed to angle herself so she landed closer to the sword.


    Tereus held the key up to the light and smiled. As soon as he took his eyes off Maddie she grabbed the sword and lunged toward the nearest shadow, which happened to be the top half of the bronze statue. Tereus noticed the movement but could not stop her in time. Maddie sunk into the shadow, dragging the oddly weightless sword behind her. She chose a thick concentration of shadows at the Academy and just let go.

 Massive changes are on the way! (not a chapter)

    I''m usually loathe to promise content, but I''ve written (and am diligently working on) several new chapters. Somebody mentioned in a comment that things seemed to move fast, and that''s because I left out about a quarter of the book! The chapter before the last (the Fall of Ys) should be the middle of the story, not the end, so there are quite a few chapters on the way.


    I had to tell a couple of friends to stop before the end of Book 1, so I thought I''d make it official. I deleted a bunch of chapters (including all of Book 2, which will go up in some form when Book 1 is complete) and the end of Book 1. If you''ve already read it, I''m sorry that it spoiled the big plot twist for you.


    Reading back I discovered that I have to slash half of Chapter 15 and rewrite it. Slash will be happening now, rewrite later. I''ll keep you updated.


    I''m going to post a new chapter in a bit. Some oddities might include:


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    * The chapter number being wildly off from what''s currently posted because I condensed some of the earlier chapters.


    * Um...that may be it.


    The earlier chapters are going to be rewritten (maybe only slightly; I don''t know yet) sometime after I finish new chapters. Book 2 will be updated after I finish these edits. There aren''t any differences that would affect the plot, so you don''t have to worry.


    To be clear, I''ll be re-posting the current chapters of Book 2 when Book 1 has been completely uploaded.


    Please keep in mind that these are fairly rough drafts. If you spot any major continuity errors, please drop a comment and let me know.


    I''m also trying to get some kind of Substack or Patreon going that might include extra world-building info (like a deeper dive into how magic works or some of the geopolitical and historical details of the world). None of that''s written yet, though, so we''ll see.


    So, a new chapter today and another one...maybe next week? My "backlog" is minuscule but I''d like to keep things moving.


    So, please enjoy and I hope you''ll see me soon!

 Chapter 15b

    Maddie was breathless when she arrived back at the Academy. She appeared out of a shadow in the greenhouse. The plants were shrouded in the dark, giving her almost too many choices of entrances. Instinctively she looked toward the alcove where she had spent so much time with her friends. It was empty, of course, as night had fallen hours ago.


    She took a few deep breaths to calm down before thinking about her next option. Thinking of the room that Elouan had given her made her nauseous. It felt too much like a prison, even though she knew now that it wasn¡¯t. With another deep breath she stepped into the mass of shadows and picked her destination.


    She almost threw up when she appeared out of a shadow in her cage -- room -- but barely steadied herself. The cage -- room -- spun. She was half out of the shadow portal, which was still connected to the greenhouse in some way. She stumbled forward a step and the connection switched off, making her head feel just a tiny bit clearer.


    There was no one there, just a burning candle and her furniture. She dropped to her knees and let go of the sword. It hit the ground with an almost room-shaking crash. Kneeling didn¡¯t make her any less dizzy and she slowly lowered her head until she was laying on the ground. She felt much less like she was going to fall over as her cheek pressed against the wood planks.


    Dimly, she heard the door open and one of the aides who had been helping her the last time she was imprisoned -- taken care of -- rushed inside. He knelt next to her and checked that she was breathing. Then he shouted for another aide to get someone. The voice shook Maddie¡¯s head and she let out a moan. Another aide rushed through the door, took one look at the scene and ran back out again, shouting as he raced through the hall. The aide helping Maddie attempted to turn her over, but the dizziness returned full force as soon as she left her position. She groaned so loudly that he stopped moving her and gently lowered her to the floor.


    Maddie relished the feeling of wood against her cheek. She focused on it and the dizziness faded into the background. She heard voices: Elouan, Corentin, and the woman who taught medicine.


    ¡°Madeleine, what happened?¡± Elouan said soothingly as he knelt near her. He was waved out of the way by the healer.


    ¡°Tereus. Key. Sword. My mother,¡± Maddie managed to mumble. The healer turned her on her back, ignoring her protests. Maddie caught her breath and managed complete sentences.


    ¡°Tereus has the key to the gates,¡± she made out slowly, ¡°Ares is behind it all. My mother fought him with this sword.¡± She meant to indicate the sword next to her, but moving her head was not an option. She wound up limply wiggling her right hand instead.


    Elouan moved over to examine the blade. It was taller than the girl who had carried it there. He tried to push it and it wouldn¡¯t budge. When he looked underneath it he saw that the planks were cracked.


    Corentin placed a hand on Maddie¡¯s forehead. The girl protested as vehemently as she could in her condition. She tried to struggle but he exuded a calming presence that she knew was fake. His influence on her mind disgusted her, but she had no way to resist. She felt the tendrils of his mind brush up against hers.


    ¡°No. Stop.¡±


    Corentin shushed her. ¡°Just let me work and we''ll have you feeling better.¡±


    Maddie whimpered but stayed quiet.


    The mental tendrils were very gentle as he assessed the state of her mind. There was no reading of thoughts, no deep probes. Just a general analysis with a slight focus on her immediate condition.


    Maddie sighed when she felt the mental intrusion withdraw.


    ¡°She''s panicked and overwhelmed. Her powers¡­I think she overextended herself.¡±


    Internally, Maddie agreed, but she didn''t want to agree with Corentin. He had betrayed her.


    The greenhouse, she thought, I never should have gone there.


    The healer helped her sit up. The dizziness was almost completely gone.


    Elouan stood next to the sword, hands clasped behind his back and brow furrowed in thought. When he looked at Maddie his eyes softened.


    ¡°You said that this man Tereus has the key to the gate of Ys?¡± he asked. Maddie nodded.


    ¡°Please tell me again, who is this man?¡±


    Maddie took a deep breath as the aide and the healer helped her off the floor and over to the bed.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°He¡¯s the son of Ares. He told me¡­he lied to me about my magic. He told me that you would try to capture me or kill me. That you would hurt my friends.¡±


    ¡°Because you have shadow magic,¡± Corentin said quietly. Maddie pushed through the feeling of weakness to glare at him.


    ¡°Yes, because I have shadow magic. And shadow magic is evil because shadow mages can become Shadow Walkers.¡±


    Elouan snorted and chuckled. Maddie shrank back slightly while still turning her glare on him.


    ¡°Child, Shadow Walkers and Shadow Mages are completely separate and distinct. Shadow Walkers are monsters who have been created over centuries. Shadow mages simply use shadows, just as fire mages use flame. There is nothing wrong with what you can do.¡±


    Maddie relaxed. Elouan continued.


    ¡°What did you mean when you spoke of your mother and this.¡± He looked like he was going to tap the sword with his foot but thought better of it. ¡°I was under the impression that your mother was dead. What does she have to do with the gods?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not dead, I just never knew her. She¡¯s the goddess Brigantia.¡±


    Elouan looked skeptical but glanced at Corentin, who gave a solemn nod. Elouan started pacing back and forth in the small room.


    ¡°You¡¯re the child of a god. Hmmm. That would explain why your magic seems to work¡­differently.¡±


    ¡°It would?¡± Maddie squeaked out. She sighed in relief. She blinked, trying to keep her eyes open. They refused. She settled comfortably into sleep.


    ***


    Gaius and Cleo sat in the hallway, leaning against the stone walls. One of Maddie''s aides came out of her room and said simply: ¡°She¡¯s awake.¡±


    The two scrambled to their feet. Gaius looked at Cleo, who was straightening her robes and composing her face, eliminating the fear and worry. Gaius did his best to do the same. The aide held the door open for them and they walked in to see their friend.


    Maddie was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the huge black sword practically embedded in the floorboards. When she heard Gaius and Cleo come in, her face morphed into the biggest smile as she looked up at them.


    Cleo assessed her friend while she rushed to give Maddie a hug. She looked well-rested and calm, but Cleo still wanted to be careful. She wrapped her arms around her friend gingerly, but Maddie pulled her into a tight hug. The girl¡¯s strength was almost overwhelming. Cleo let out a strangled breath and Maddie lessened the pressure. They stayed holding each other for a long time.


    When they broke the hug, Maddie looked through her tears at her two crying friends. Gaius stepped up and held Maddie¡¯s hand tightly.


    ¡°I thought I¡¯d lost you,¡± she sobbed, ¡°Tereus showed me horrible things happening to you. He showed me¡­¡±


    Maddie closed her eyes and took a shuddering breath.


    ¡°He showed me you being tortured. He told me that the only way to save you was to get the key.¡±


    Cleo¡¯s eyes widened and her brain immediately shifted into gear. ¡°The key? To the gates of Ys? Do you still have it?¡±


    Maddie shook her head. ¡°I gave it to Tereus.¡±


    Cleo took a step backward, her mind racing. ¡°If he has the key, then he could destroy us at any time.¡±


    Gaius, meanwhile, had left the questioning to Cleo and was examining the sword. He tugged on the handle with one hand and when it didn¡¯t budge he Grasped it firmly and tried to lift it with all his strength. With Cleo lost in thought, Maddie turned her attention to him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you can lift it. Not unless you¡¯re a god. Or a demigod.¡±


    He raised an eyebrow at her, his face red as he still strained to move the sword. Maddie stepped over to it and pushed the handle until the blade was pointing straight down. The sword slid through the wood floor and into the stone underneath.until she let it go. Gaius attempted to jiggle the handle again and again the sword didn¡¯t move. It was as if there was a statue sticking out of the floor. He leaned down to examine the opaque black blade, his hands clasped behind his back as he peered appraisingly at it.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch it!¡± Maddie shouted. Gaius gave her a look that asked if she thought he was stupid. She shrank back a little, chagrined. ¡°Sorry,¡± she muttered softly.


    Gaius decided to chalk it up to Maddie¡¯s traumatic last few days. He continued to examine the sword and as he did, Maddie really looked at it for the first time.


    The blade was so black that it reflected no light. The handle, guard, and pommel seemed to be made out of simple iron.


    The thing was massive. The blade was at least as long as Maddie was tall, and the handle added another two feet. It was almost a foot from edge to edge. Gaius walked around it and Maddie followed him. One edge was dull; it was rounded and the width of a club. The blade narrowed from around two inches to razor sharp, giving it almost a teardrop shape.


    ¡°Can you pull it out?¡± Gaius asked. She lifted the sword out of the floor. He looked closely at the shape of the blade.


    ¡°That¡¯s probably the most impractical shaped sword I¡¯ve ever seen.¡±


    Even knowing almost nothing about swords, Maddie had to agree.


    The blade was straight from the hilt to about a foot from the tip, where it curved upward slightly, culminating in a pointed tip that looked designed to stab anyone who put themselves in its way. In order to do that they would have to stand next to the dull edge, which didn¡¯t seem likely. One would say that the sword was definitely not made for stabbing. Except that the razor sharp edge continued on the front.


    Maddie slid the sword back into the hole it had made in the floor and Gaius straightened up.


    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t so sharp it would be practically useless,¡± he stated. Maddie nodded. They both turned and saw Cleo looking at the sword. She looked up at Maddie and said simply ¡°I have too many questions. You¡¯d better tell us the whole story from the beginning.¡±

 Chapter 15c: What Happened Before

    ¡°So, you know that I never knew my mother,¡± Maddie began. Cleo nodded.


    ¡°You told us that.¡±


    ¡°I was raised by my father in a small village east of here. He never really told me about my mother, about why she was gone. He just said that she wasn¡¯t dead, even though that¡¯s what he told people. He said she had to leave but that she loved me. He¡¯d talk a little about when they were together, what she looked like, stuff like that. He never told me that she was a goddess.


    ¡°When Gaius said I should go to the temple, to the statue of Brigantia, she spoke to me. She told me she was my mother, that I was special. But then Tereus came to me and told me that he knew about my powers and that I wouldn¡¯t be safe if anyone found out. My mother¡­my mother told me not to believe him, but I did. He made it sound so scary. He told me that everyone I loved would reject me. That you¡­you would be scared of me. He said I could be with other people like me and him. People that wouldn''t reject me.


    ¡°After Corentin¡­unlocked my powers, I just ran. I was sure that I had just brought down a death sentence on you and my father. So I went back to him. He showed me, well, he showed me lies. You being tortured. My father being tortured.


    ¡°He said if I got the key I could use it to get you all back. As a bargaining chip. To save all of us from being killed or put in a dungeon. So I used my magic -- my powers -- to sneak into the castle and steal the key.Then when I got back he took it and told me he¡¯d lied. That all the visions had been fake, illusions. He told me he didn¡¯t need me anymore.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Then my mother appeared. She said she¡¯d kill Tereus for what he¡¯d done to me. Then Ares appeared and they fought. My mother made this sword but Ares stabbed her. She told me to take the sword and run.


    ¡°Then I ended up here.


    Cleo¡¯s brow was furrowed. ¡°You lied to us. When you told us that Tereus threatened you.¡±


    Maddie looked ashamed. ¡°He did, kind of, by telling me that you were being tortured. If you look¡­¡± she took a breath.


    ¡°Yes. I lied to you. I lied to everyone.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t trust us. You didn¡¯t believe us. Or the Grammaticus, or Professor Corentin. You thought we would hate you, that we would be scared of you, that we would turn you away.¡± Tears ran down her face. Maddie wilted until she had her face buried in the pillow. Her own tears wet the fabric.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t trust you,¡± she mumbled, ¡°I thought you would hate me. I thought everyone would hate me.


    ¡°I thought I would turn into a monster. Something you would have to hate.¡±


    ¡°But,¡± Cleo continued, ¡°When you thought we were in danger, you did everything you could to save us.¡±


    Maddie lifted her tear-streaked head and nodded.


    ¡°Then you¡¯re forgiven,¡± Cleo announced. She looked over at Gaius. ¡°Right?¡±


    Gaius looked startled. ¡°Uh, yeah, everything¡¯s forgiven. You did your best for us.¡±


    Maddie slumped in relief.


    ¡°Now what do we do?¡± Gaius asked, looking at Cleo.


    ¡°Now we hatch a plan to get that key back before Tereus uses it.¡±

 Chapter 16

    ¡°Now we hatch a plan,¡± Cleo had said after Maddie told them the whole story.


    It was a good plan, or so Cleo and Gaius thought. Maddie wasn¡¯t so sure. The plan involved her going to see Tereus. It was the last thing she wanted to do.


    She walked totally normally to the house where Tereus had trained her, which, of course, meant that she stuck out. She was desperately trying to be sneaky, and it was obvious to everyone. She also had a giant black sword strapped to her back. Gaius had rigged up a series of straps and buckles that would allow her to flick a switch to release the blade. She had practiced with it and determined that the best way was to have the hilt of the sword down, next to her hand. As she reached the house, she squared her shoulders and stood up straighter.


    The house was more or less the way she remembered, but it had a run-down look she didn¡¯t remember. The roof seemed to sag, the windows were boarded up, and the door was broken in. Maddie gingerly pushed open the door and stuck her head in. The room was completely familiar. The roof¡¯s sag wasn¡¯t as pronounced inside and the door seemed to close tightly. Maddie realized she had really only been inside at night or when she was totally exhausted, so she hadn¡¯t noticed the boarded-up windows. She walked through to the backyard.


    Everything in the backyard was the same. Except, it was completely empty. Maddie could see the traces of footsteps and the place where she had skidded particularly hard after a blow from Tereus. Other than that, there was no sign that the house had been occupied in years. Only the wear on the yard let her know she wasn¡¯t crazy.


    The Temple was the only other place she could think of to find Tereus. She hesitated and really thought about it. The Temple scared her now. The last time she had witnessed a fight between gods. Gods. One of whom was her mother. If she went to the Temple, Tereus might be there. But her mother and Ares certainly would be.


    Steeling herself, Maddie took a deep breath before touching the core of shadows inside her. It was ephemeral but strong. She walked over to a large, dark shadow in the corner of the yard and stepped into it.


    She stepped out of a shadow in the Temple of All Gods. She had chosen something far away from Ares¡¯s shrine, and Brigantia¡¯s.


    She looked around the Temple. There was a group of men standing around the top half of the statue of Gradlon the First. While they seemed absolutely flabbergasted as to how the statue could have been cut so cleanly in two, one of the men was giving orders to get chains and pulleys so the large bronze chunk could be moved away. The huge object was a few feet taller than them, even laying on its side. When Maddie looked at the bottom half of the statue, which still stood, it still seemed to rise up almost to the ceiling.


    Maddie pressed herself against the wall, her shadows allowing her almost total invisibility.After watching for a while, she saw that the men were too engrossed in their work to notice a worshiper. She walked quietly toward the altar to Brigantia, hurrying past the altars of Ares and Mars. When she stood in front of the small alcove, she dropped to her knees.


    ¡°Mother, what should I do?¡±


    There was no answer. She felt no comforting presence, no arms around her. The statue felt lifeless, as if it had no power. It was just a statue.


    Maddie rested her head on the altar. She felt adrift. Her friends, while they hadn¡¯t rejected her, couldn¡¯t be there to support her. She had to implement the plan on her own. And it involved something she wasn¡¯t very good at: lying. After a few minutes she pushed back the misery and stood. With deep breaths she walked to the statue of Ares.


    What do you want, child of Brigantia? A male voice boomed in Maddie¡¯s head, making her wince.


    ¡°Tereus told me that if I ever needed him, I should go to your shrine.¡±


    And you chose the shrine of Ares, not Mars. You are annoyingly perceptive. I will create a shadow for you that will take you to my son.


    Darkness billowed out from the altar and Maddie could feel the presence of a portal. She stepped through. Unlike the other times she had shadow stepped, there was only one option. She walked out of another billow of black smoke.


    Tereus was standing there, leaning casually against a pillar. Maddie looked around and saw she was in an opulent house. It was the polar opposite of the ramshackle hut where she had trained. Frescoes adorned the walls, showing scenes of Hercules completing his impossible tasks. Carved marble pillars -- almost certainly decorative -- were interspersed through the room. The floor was a mosaic of the Gorgoneid. Plants overflowed their pots, cascading down walls. The style reminded Maddie slightly of the Academy -- the parts that students weren¡¯t allowed in.


    ¡°You found me,¡± Tereus said as Maddie gaped at the excess, ¡°Much better than that little hovel, right? If I¡¯m going to stay in Ys I¡¯m going to live in luxury. Feel free to look around.¡±


    Maddie walked around the room, inspecting the murals. While the labors of Hercules took up several walls, there were frescoes depicting the Roman gods as well. Mars had a prominent place but Artemis, Zeus, and Poseidon were also depicted.


    ¡°So, have you come to kill me?¡± Tereus asked, jolting Maddie out of her focus.


    ¡°K-kill you?¡± Maddie stammered, ¡°No, I need your help. I want to join you.¡±


    Tereus sauntered over to a chair and indicated that Maddie sit across from him.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to have to put that down.¡± He indicated the sword. ¡°Gently on the ground would be best.¡±


    Maddie cringed inwardly but unstrapped the blade and put it down. She managed to mask her emotions, but she felt less safe without it strapped to her back. She did her best to place the hilt close to her.


    ¡°They locked me away!¡± she sobbed after Tereus had asked for her story. ¡°They wouldn¡¯t let me see my friends! They put me in a room with so many lights that there were no shadows to walk through.¡±


    ¡°Yet you escaped.¡±


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°One of the aides came in to check on me and I was able to use his shadow before he got completely into the room. It was close.¡±


    ¡°And they let you keep the sword?¡±


    Maddie put on a sheepish look. ¡°Nobody else could lift it. I pretended I couldn¡¯t, either.¡±


    Cleo had correctly predicted Tereus¡¯s questions and Maddie used the answers they had prepared. Her tears came from thinking about the scenes of torture Tereus had shown her and fear of the man himself. Tereus was terrifying and his calm demeanor put Maddie off balance. She couldn¡¯t tell if he believed her or not.


    ¡°Well, " he said, leaning forward in his seat, ¡°It was good that you came to me. Those mortals will never understand what it means to have our kind of power. They have underestimated you, to their detriment.¡±


    ¡°They said that my friends were safe, but I don¡¯t know if I believe them.¡±


    Tereus stood and began pacing in front of her. ¡°I wasn¡¯t completely honest with you earlier.¡±


    Maddie¡¯s shock was evident on her face. What lies would he admit to?


    ¡°Our organization is more wide-reaching. We call ourselves the Army of Mars. Our purpose is to elevate our kind to positions of power. In short, we want to take over the world.¡±


    ¡°Our kind? The world?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Our kind -- the children of the gods -- are more powerful than mere mortals. We deserve to rule. And we will get our due.¡±


    ¡°But¡­but how? It¡¯s the world.How are a few demigods going to take over the whole world?¡±


    Tereus chuckled. ¡°A few? Yes, I suppose you would think that. There are hundreds of us, each worth as much as 100,000 regular men. I myself have dozens of half-brothers and -sisters around the globe. And it¡¯s not only my father,¡± he gestured to the frescoes of other gods, ¡°All the gods have sired or birthed children. Your ¡®mother¡¯ has an unknown number of other children.


    ¡°You will have to go up against your own siblings, and those of Athena as well. She has been another thorn in my side. At least some of the gods do not take sides.¡±


    Something registered in Maddie¡¯s mind. ¡°You said ¡®mother¡¯ in a weird way. What did you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°You know her as Brigantia, but she has been many gods before. Mostly of the dead.¡±


    Maddie tried to remember what she knew of the different gods. There were a lot and she had grown up acknowledging the Celtic gods, not those of Rome and Greece. ¡°Are gods of death evil?¡±


    Tereus chuckled at Maddie¡¯s ignorance and na?vet¨¦. He had been doing that after almost every question she asked.


    ¡°The gods of the Dead are not necessarily evil.  They are more¡­independent than others. It was quite unexpected that your mother intervened on your behalf.¡±


    Maddie stayed silent for a few moments, working Tereus¡¯s words around in her mind. Her mother was a goddess¡­god? of  death.Did death gods kill people, or did they just help people get to the afterlife? Did they run the afterlife? She again tried to remember her Roman deities. Who was the god of the Afterlife? Were Roman gods like Ankou, who collected the dead and took them to the Afterlife? Or were they like Arawn, who ruled the Underworld? Where did her mother come into it? Brigantia was a goddess of life, not death. Maddie told Terus so.


    ¡°Two sides of the same coin.¡±


    If Maddie wasn¡¯t sitting down, she would have had to sit down. Her head spun with all the things Tereus had just said and the implications concerning her mother. Tereus had her completely on the back foot. She struggled to center her mind and bring herself back to her original purpose.


    ¡°I¡­I¡¯m not sure if I trust my mother. She never really helped me, just told me not to trust you. I don¡¯t know why, but it sounds like demigods really should rule.¡± Part of that was Maddie¡¯s real issues with Brigantia¡¯s actions, but the rest was pure fiction. If all the demigods were like Tereus, then what would be left of the world after they conquered it?


    Tereus stroked his chin. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s true. Your mother usually stays out of my business, but she seems to be particularly protective of you.¡±


    Maddie could see gears turning in his head, so she quickly changed the subject.


    ¡°What can I do to help?


    ¡°Shadow powers of your caliber are rare, even among the children of Death.¡± Maddie winced at the name.


    ¡°Your magic training helps immensely, but I¡¯ve seen what those Druids have been teaching you; how to access the magic within. Forget that. Magic is about imposing your will upon the universe. You must tell it what to do, not ask it.¡±


    Tereus stood up and motioned for Maddie to join him. They walked out to the central atrium while Tereus continued to insult and refute the Druids¡¯ teachings. He stopped by the peristyle, which was uncharacteristically devoid of gardens.


    ¡°This is where we will explore your powers.Where we will hone your will.¡±


    Maddie¡¯s will was not strong, she knew that. If it was she wouldn¡¯t be in her current situation.


    ¡°Call shadows to your hand,¡± Tereus commanded.


    Maddie reached inside herself and felt the fuzzy edges of her shadow.


    ¡°No!¡± Tereus thundered, ¡°Use your will. Don¡¯t ask, tell!


    Maddie was dumbfounded. This was the only way she knew to access her magic: to look inside herself, and¡­


    ¡­what was her magic? Was it a separate thing tied to her soul? Or was it her?


    Tereus was observing her closely and could read the thoughts as they displayed on her face.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to look at your power to use it. That¡¯s for weak-willed fools who must match the resonance,¡± he practically spit out the word, ¡°With the world at large. Your power is your will. Tell the universe that you want shadows to appear and they will.¡±


    Maddie closed her eyes to concentrate. Tereus peered at her, prepared to scoff or shout when she did it wrong again.


    My magic is me. If I can¡¯t look at my magic, maybe I should look at the shadows and ask¡­no, will¡­them to do what I want.


    She opened her eyes and looked around. There was a shadow in the corner and she told it to stretch and come to her palm. It lengthened toward her until her hand was bathed in shadow.


    Tereus snorted, ¡°Close, but no. We know that you can manipulate shadows but you need to command them!¡±


    It took a tremendous effort of will on Maddie¡¯s part to not jump as he thundered the last part. She held out her hand and the shadow snapped back to the corner. She risked a peek at her magic and imagined the same thing covering her hand. She felt something and turned her hand over, palm up. A ball of fuzzy grey shadow appeared above it.


    Tereus scoffed and shook his head. ¡°You seem to lack imagination. Very well. Take that,¡± he said, pointing at the shadow now nestled back in the corner, ¡°and make the same thing form in your hand.¡±


    Maddie glanced at the corner, seeing a wry smile on Tereus¡¯s face. She looked directly at her hand and imagined a ball of black sitting there. She felt something odd, like a breeze blowing across her fingers. Something wanted to be there. It wanted to be a solid black sphere that wisped a little at the edges. She wanted that, too, so she let it happen.


    It wasn¡¯t quite what Tereus had told her to do, but the result was the same. She gaped at her work and Tereus smiled. He had taught her his first lesson.

 Chapter 16b

    Unlike Tereus¡¯s previous training, this did not pass in a blur. First of all, there was the fear: of Tereus, of being found out, of how her friends were doing. Maddie was able to put that fear aside while she trained her magic -- her improving willpower helped immensely -- but when training was done the worries bombarded her. She tried her best to sleep, but without the intense physical activity of her combat training to exhaust her, she spent many sleepless hours at night. Even a morning dose of wine didn¡¯t prevent her from being groggy.


    That brought up another fear: that Tereus would notice her grogginess and think something was up. Part of her knew it wasn¡¯t rational, but the more the worries piled on, the less realistic they had to be to upset her. Finally, after almost a week of training, Maddie began to fall back on some of Corentin¡¯s teaching. She ignored most of the navel-gazing but used the breathing exercises he had taught them. She also decided to practice using her sword for a few hours during the day to tire herself out. At first Tereus gave his usual scoffs at her performance, but after a few sessions he began to call out suggestions and improvements. Eventually he started getting more involved in her training, showing her forms. The sword took getting used to; it was incredibly large but light as a feather. There was no way to practice parrying or blocking, since the sword would cut through anything that was not a divine artifact. Tereus had one dagger he had received from his father, but compared to Brigantia¡¯s blade it looked like a needle.


    After a week of both magic and sword training, Tereus decided to combine the two.


    ¡°You can focus your magic through your blade,¡± he announced out of nowhere.


    Maddie thought for a minute about that, then asked ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°Take a stance, blade up. Focus on the blade as if it were made of shadow and manipulate it.¡±


    Maddie focused on her weapon. The black blade was almost like a condensed shadow. She pressed her will onto it the way Tereus had taught her.


    The blade became incredibly heavy. No longer able to hold it, Maddie dropped it. She and Tereus both jumped back as the sword sunk into the tiled floor. The tip hit first and the sword sank into the floor until not much more than the handle stuck out. It had sunk at an angle that left it almost horizontal.


    ¡°Watch it!¡± Tereus growled.


    ¡°I¡­I couldn¡¯t hold it. It got too heavy. I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Tereus narrowed his eyes and looked at the sword. It had roughly bisected a mosaic depicting his father. Maddie could see how it might look intentional to Tereus. She cringed as he examined the damage.


    Then he reached down to pull the sword out of the ground. He had been able to lift it before. Maddie was pretty sure he¡¯d held it at one time. This time he strained to move it. It seemed to weigh a ton. They both imagined that  it moved a fraction of a digitas, but no amount of strength could move it any more.


    ¡°Pick it up.¡±


    Maddie hesitantly reached down and lifted the sword out of the tiles. Once again it was weightless. Tereus looked at her with suspicion, but the fact that he could no longer lift the sword meant that something had changed.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°What did you do?¡± he snarled.


    ¡°I¡­I tried to tell it to change. It seemed like it was made of shadows, so I used my will and--¡±


    ¡°--locked it to your own resonance.¡±


    Tereus paced back and forth like a caged animal. Maddie carefully placed the sword on the ground. For an instant she was tempted to slide it back into the hole it had made, but she didn¡¯t want to upset Tereus any more than he already was. A moment of disrespect could cost her her safety, she thought. Tereus muttered and Maddie strained her ears as best she could while staying still and keeping her expression neutral.


    Not that her face was ever really neutral while she was in Tereus¡¯s domus. She was terrified, all the time. She couldn¡¯t discern any words.


    Tereus¡¯s face was a stormcloud as he stared back and forth between Maddie and the sword. Maddie shrank back under his glare. This only served to focus Tereus¡¯s attention on her. She took a step back, trembling. He took a step toward her and she fell on her butt. She was just about to scramble backwards when his gaze shifted back to the sword.


    ¡°What¡¯s done is done,¡± he spat. ¡°Do as you wish, but don¡¯t disturb me for the rest of the day.


    When she was sure he had left the courtyard, she flopped onto her back. The tiles were warmed by the sun and she gazed at the sky, wishing she could just leave and go back to her friends. But she couldn¡¯t, not until she got the key. Tereus hadn¡¯t been wearing it, so she assumed it was hidden somewhere in the domus. If it was in his private chambers she wouldn¡¯t be able to get it until he left, which was hard. He spent most of his time outside with her when he wasn¡¯t occupying the place she needed to look. She dragged herself upright and stretched. She left the sword in the courtyard as she walked inside. She might as well search the rest of the house in the vain hope that Tereus might have left the one thing most vital to his plan laying around.


    Poking through the rest of the domus, predictably, turned up no key. She was disgruntled, so her search was more cursory than it should have been. After a few hours she used her breathing techniques and focused her mind. Thus calmed, she began her search again, this time more thoroughly. She was rummaging through a chest in the cubiculum where Tereus slept when she heard the door to the tablinum (office) open. She froze for a moment and started to panic when she heard Tereus¡¯s heavy bootsteps coming toward her. She hastily closed the cabinet, wincing when it made a loud sound. The steps reoriented and Maddie stood to face Tereus.


    ¡°Something you need? Something you misplaced in my personal chamber?¡±


    Maddie¡¯s conscious mind shut down momentarily. She stuttered as she faced him. Was he always 10 feet tall?


    ¡°Finally you reveal yourself, little mouse. Weeks I spent teaching you my secrets, when I knew in my heart you would betray me.¡±


    Maddie snapped into focus. Tereus had been walking toward her as he ranted, leaving the doorway open. She dove for it, trying to get past Tereus. She didn¡¯t make it, but he grabbed the back of her tunic and threw her into the atrium. She landed hard on her side and rolled, trying to scramble to her feet as Tereus stormed toward her.


    It was still only midafternoon and shadows were plentiful. But her sword was nowhere near her. As Tereus approached her, she slipped through his shadow and tried to land on the other side of the atrium, where her sword still lay next to the gash in the floor.


    In the shadow-place, she found a shadow near her sword and slipped out of it.


    Except she didn¡¯t. Instead she rebounded off something hard that knocked her back. She had never really felt like she had a physical form while inside the shadows, but she was sent reeling back. She stumbled backwards and felt another opening behind her, leading to the greenhouse. As soon as she realized that the opening flickered to a new location and Maddie plummeted through.

 Chapter 17

    Cleo prayed to Serapis that her friend was okay. It had been weeks and she worried about Maddie every day. She had even fallen behind in her studies, a fact that would have shocked her under any other circumstances. Corentin and Severus knew about Maddie¡¯s mission, while her other teachers were given to understand that something had happened to Maddie and so cut her friends some slack. Slack which, to Cleo¡¯s displeasure, Gaius did not seem to need.


    She was walking down the hall to Maddie¡¯s bedroom, checking for the millionth time to see if Maddie had returned when she heard a loud crash and a yell. She broke into a run. In a moment she was slamming through the door.


    What she found would have been comical if Cleo had not been so focused on her friend. Maddie was laying on the floor, the remains of a small table underneath her. A small clay vase had been flung to the side and smashed against the wall. Cleo rushed to Maddie¡¯s side. The girl was trembling and trying to catch her breath, which seemed like it wouldn''t come.


    ¡°Maddie! What happened?¡±


    ¡°He knows,¡± she gasped out. ¡°Sword. Too small.¡±


    Cleo¡¯s brow wrinkled at this group of non sequiturs. She cradled Maddie¡¯s face and stroked her hair, which was coming out of the messy braid she usually kept it in. By the time Gaius rushed into the room with Elouan and another student behind him, Maddie had calmed down enough to speak. She was still shaking but her breathing was close to normal.


    ¡°What happened?!¡± Gaius asked.


    ¡°Tereus found out that it was a ruse. I managed to escape, but I couldn¡¯t take the sword.¡±


    Elouan paled. ¡°Then he has a divine weapon.¡±


    ¡°No. No, I¡­¡±


    Elouan snapped into action. He ordered the other student and Gaius to lift Maddie onto the bed and wrapped a blanket tightly around her. Cleo sat down and continued to soothe her. Elouan ordered the student out and the door closed. They all waited patiently for Maddie to continue.


    ¡°I somehow locked the sword to myself, so Tereus can¡¯t use it. But it¡¯s still at his house.¡±


    Gaius swore in british, earning a disapproving look from Elouan and blushes from Cleo and Maddie.


    ¡°We need that sword! It¡¯s our most powerful weapon against Tereus!¡±


    Cleo fixed Gaius with a glare. ¡°We have our friend back, unhurt, and you worry about a weapon our enemy can¡¯t use? The sword can wait until another day.¡±


    Gaius backed down at her harsh words. ¡°You¡¯re right. I was so focused on our mission.¡±


    He went to Maddie and gave her a big hug, which she leaned into. He felt Cleo¡¯s hands on his arm as she joined. Surrounded, protected by her closest friends, Maddie swooned. Gaius and Cleo lay her down on the bed as Elouan placed another blanket over her. As he dimmed the lights and they all left, Maddie slipped into slumber, a smile on her face.


    Before Maddie woke up, the jumble of thoughts, feelings, and sensations started to coalesce into a relatively clear set of memories. She opened her eyes to find her best friend by her side.


    ¡°Good morning, sleepyhead.¡± Cleo¡¯s smile was as wide as Maddie had ever seen.


    ¡°Is it morning?¡±


    ¡°Well, closer to afternoon, but who wants to argue?¡±


    ¡°You do, probably. Or Gaius, if he was here.¡±


    ¡°Oh! That reminds me!¡± She went to the table -- which had been replaced, to Maddie¡¯s relief -- and picked up a piece of polished metal. Closing her eyes, she concentrated for a moment and the metal began to glow. Gaius¡¯s face appeared on the reflection.


    ¡°Cleo! What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s awake.¡±


    The reflection in the polished metal started to shake as Gaius evidently started to run.


    ¡°Calm down! Calm down! She¡¯s fine! Slow down, you¡¯re going to get hurt!!¡±


    With a crash the image in the mirror stabilized. It showed the ceiling as it slid down the hallway.


    ¡°Gaius!¡± the girls shouted together.


    The mirror moved and Gaius¡¯s face reappeared.


    ¡°I¡¯m okay. Nothing hurt but my pride.¡±


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°Oof, hope that¡¯s not a mortal wound. Your pride is your biggest organ,¡± Cleo retorted.


    ¡°Ha ha. Funny. I¡¯ll be there in a few minutes.¡±


    The image cut off and the polished metal glowed softly for a few seconds and then faded. Cleo sat down on the bed and gave Maddie a hug that lasted until Gaius arrived. They broke it off and Maddie stood up and gave him a big hug.


    ¡°Maddie, I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m really happy you''re okay. Tereus didn¡¯t try to hurt you in any way?¡±


    ¡°No, he was almost¡­nice to me. But I think he saw through me the whole time.¡±


    ¡°So, did you learn anything?¡± Cleo asked, taking a seat on one of the chairs.


    ¡°I did, actually. He taught me a lot. Magic doesn¡¯t need resonance. You can use willpower to use it.¡±


    ¡°That is one way to do it,¡± said a voice from the doorway. Corentin stood there, his usual jovial smile ever-present, if possibly a little strained. His wispy brown-white hair stood up on his round head and the white robe could not hide his chubby frame.


    Maddie¡¯s head snapped up when she heard him speak. She started to shuffle back in the bed until she was pressed against the wall.


    ¡°What are you doing here? I don¡¯t want you here,¡± she whispered.


    Shock passed across Corentin¡¯s face before it fell. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I just--¡±


    ¡°--No.¡±


    Corentin staggered as if he had been hit. ¡°Madeleine, I¡¯m sorry if--¡±


    ¡°--NO. I don¡¯t want to see you again. Ever!¡±


    He slowly backed out of the room, then still in shock he turned and walked down the hallway.


    Gaius got up and closed the door.


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°He started this whole thing.  He pulled my magic out of me before I was ready. He should have known better! He¡¯s supposed to be my teacher! He¡¯s supposed to be an expert! He started this! HE BETRAYED ME!¡±


    She was standing and shouting by the end. Cleo rushed to comfort her but Maddie elbowed her aside. She started pacing, but when she got to Gaius he reached out his arm and put it around her shoulder. She violently shrugged it off.


    Cleo motioned to Gaius that they should both sit down while their friend paced and ranted.


    ¡°It¡¯s all his fault! He pushed and pushed until I ran to Tereus to get away. I wanted someone I could trust! And then he lied to me. He showed me terrible things. He tried to turn me against you! He made me so scared!¡±


    She collapsed to her knees, tears streaming. The next things she said were said in a whisper.


    ¡°I believed him. I was so gullible, so naive, so trusting.


    ¡°So stupid.¡±


    She dissolved into tears. Cleo took the opportunity to comfort her while Gaius stayed in his chair, clearly uncomfortable and at a loss.


    After a few long minutes Maddie¡¯s tears dried up. She leaned back against the bedframe and sighed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want that traitor teaching me magic. He¡­¡±


    She put her head in her hands. ¡°No, he didn¡¯t. Tereus did. I did. I should have listened. I listened to all the wrong people. And so many people could get hurt¡±


    She leaned on the bed and pushed herself to her feet.


    ¡°I¡¯ll work with him, if I have to. But I¡¯m not going to forgive him. I¡¯m never going to forgive him.¡±


    She looked her friends straight in the eyes. ¡°I need a break. I need air and I need out of this stupid room.¡±


    She walked to the door. Cleo hurried after her and Gaius started to stand up.


    ¡°Alone.¡± And she left the room.


    After she was gone, Gaius turned to Cleo. ¡°Our friend has grown quite a spine.¡±


    Cleo looked at him askance. ¡°You would too if you went through that much trauma. That¡¯s what you do with trauma, you either adapt or it kills you.¡±


    Gaius winced. ¡°I guess you¡¯re right.¡±


    As Maddie got near the exit to the building, she felt a cold chill. The lights in the hall seemed dim, as if they were going to go out. She opened the door and saw blackness.


    The clouds had returned. Thick black clouds pushed down on the Academy grounds. She felt the same pressure that had almost knocked her down last time, but she was able to keep herself from faltering. She looked up at the clouds and saw the roiling inkiness in sharp detail. They seemed closer, as if they were only cubits above her.


    Then the thunder. Louder and longer this time, it seemed to Maddie. She flinched slightly when it started but kept her feet. She looked over at the grove, surprised to see no Druids battling the storm. Maddie took a few steps forward, waiting for the next part: the wind.


    It started seconds after the thunder had passed. Instead of blowing through the grove, it seemed to come straight for Maddie. Her hair blew back, separating from its braid and blowing around her face. But the brunt of the wind seemed to go around her. She could feel where it split in front of her and where it came together behind her, blowing through the open doorway and into the hallway. She could hear the creaking of wood and then the cracking as the door she had come through started to come apart. Crashes came from inside the building, signaling that the same thing was happening inside.


    All of a sudden the wind reversed. It split around her once again but before it was past it hit her like a shove. She stumbled forward slightly but the wind was gone, rushing up into the sky. She watched circles form in the clouds as the wind returned to its home. Once again the clouds started to rise until they were nothing more than wisps of smoke that revealed a depressing grey sky. Maddie stood for a while longer watching the clouds and picking out their shapes even as they seemed to be one formless grey mass. She let out a deep, deep breath and a small smile came to her lips. Everything was going to be okay from here on out.


    She turned back to the building. The broken pieces of the door lay on the ground. She turned away, deciding to stay outside on the grounds for a little while longer.

 Chapter 17b

    Maddie felt refreshed after her walk. Rain had started to fall a few minutes into it and just closed her eyes and let it cleanse her soul. Her problems were still there. Nothing had changed. But she felt better. She felt stronger. She felt¡­not happy, but content? No, she felt centered. She realized she hadn¡¯t felt that way in a long time, not since magic class began. She was so happy then and she could be happy again. There were just things to do before real happiness could begin.


    She walked back to her cage suppressing the slight feeling of dread she felt whenever she approached it. When she opened the door she had a big surprise waiting for her. Someone had been in there while she was on her walk and made it¡­nice. The cold magic lights were gone, replaced by a burning oil lamp. There was a rug on the floor by the bed and a new vase with some fresh flowers and an oak branch stood on the table. An extra chair had been added and everything had just been neatened up -- table and bed straightened and made. It was warm and comforting and nothing like the lonely room she had felt locked in. Someone had also moved in the things from her dorm room.It was a proper room, no longer a cage. Maddie sighed as the centered feeling returned.


    Just as she had taken it all in, a deep bell tolled, signaling the start of dinner.She sat down on her new chair and waited, but nobody came with food. Another sign that she wasn¡¯t a prisoner? She left her room and walked across the Academy campus to the student dining hall. The rain had let up and the grey skies had lightened.


    Gaius was the first to notice Maddie. When she saw him looking,Cleo turned in her seat. Her eyes lit up and she waved her friend over.


    ¡°You''re here! It''s been forever since we got to eat with you!"


    Maddie sat down. As she looked around she realized she was out of place wearing her simple dress instead of the brown robes of a first-year student. One of the cooks came over and placed a dish down in front of her. She smiled at him in thanks.


    ¡°How do you feel?" Gaius asked as she dug into her food.


    She swallowed a mouthful and beamed at him. ¡°I feel amazing, actually."


    Gaius raised his eyebrows. ¡°Really? Even after all that¡­that?¡±


    Maddie''s grin faded. Cleo kicked Gaius under the table and put her arms around Maddie''s shoulders. She wrinkled her nose.


    "You are absolutely *drenched*," she said, ¡°what were you doing?"


    ¡°Oh, I was outside. It was raining."


    ¡°How hard? How long were you out?"


    Maddie shrugged. ¡°A while, I guess. It was pouring and then it started drizzling, and then it stopped.¡±


    "So this is after you''ve already dried off a little?¡± Cleo shook her head in disbelief. Maddie only shrugged and kept eating.


    ¡°I''ll bring you a cloth from my room so you can dry your hair, at least. And maybe I have a dress?"


    Maddie swallowed her last bite. ¡°Oh, they put my stuff in my room. My new room."


    ¡°You changed rooms again?" Gaius asked.


    ¡°No,it''s the same room as my cage. They just put all my stuff in there and made it nice."


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Gaius leaned forward and whispered, ¡°Cage?"


    Maddie blushed. " Um, that''s the way I used to think of it. I know I was allowed to leave, but it was all the way in the main building and it was so empty and when I woke up there I really thought I was locked up.¡±


    " I didn''t know you felt that way. " Cleo rested her head on Maddie''s shoulder, making a face when the side of her face hit the wet dress and hair of her friend.


    ¡°I know. I didn''t tell you. I''ve kept a lot of things to myself lately. But that''s going to change."


    Gaius smiled and reached his hand out across the table. Maddie took it.


    ¡°You know we really care about you, right?"


    Maddie nodded. ¡°I know."


    ¡°Let''s see your new room, then. And dry you off."


    When they entered Maddie''s room, Cleo understood what she meant about it being a cage before. She hadn''t really noticed the starkness before. The coldness. But this was nice. It was homey. And it looked a lot like the dorm rooms.


    Cleo turned around to hug Maddie but stopped herself when she remembered one of the reasons they had come back here.


    " I''ll get a cloth,¡± Cleo said and started going through her friend''s things.


    Gaius looked around, commented that it was ¡°very nice" and excused himself so the girls could be alone. Cleo helped Maddie dry off and put on a set of robes.


    ¡°I wish I could do something about your hair, but you have a lot of it," she said, eying Maddie''s waist-length brown hair, ¡°and I don''t think it''s completely dry. I know you usually like to braid it -- and I would love the chance to do something more interesting with it -- but I think we should just tie it back."


    She pulled a ribbon from one of the drawers in the chest Maddie had never noticed before. She walked up to Maddie and gently took her hair and tied the ribbon around it. Then she just looked into her friend''s face until she saw the hint of a blush coming. She kissed her on the cheek and stepped back.


    ¡°There, that''s perfect."


    Maddie sighed and relaxed her shoulders.


    ¡°Cleo, you''re the best.¡±


    "I know,¡± Cleo replied, her sly smile creeping into her face.


    There was a knock at the door. Maddie supposed it was Scholarch Eloan or Corentin. She still didn''t want to see Corentin and told Cleo so. Her friend walked to the door and opened it just a crack, using her body to shield the room from the eyes of whoever was outside.


    ¡°Yes?"


    Maddie heard a voice she didn''t expect.


    "I would like to speak to Miss Brigantia,¡± Serverus said. Cleo looked at Maddie who waved for him to come in. Cleo opened the door and ushered the teacher in.


    ¡°Magister, what do you need?" Maddie asked as she stood up from the bed and walked over to the table, indicating that Servius should take one.


    ¡°The Scholarch wanted me to inform you of some changes going forward," the dour-faced teacher said as he took the offered seat.


    ¡°You will no longer be left to your own devices, nor will you be encouraged to stay in this room. Although you will not be attending regular classes, you will be receiving private tutoring in a few subjects.


    "You will receive training in combat from me and training in magic from Magister Corentin.¡±


    Maddie''s face drained of color. " Does Corentin¡­uh, Magister Corentin have to be the one to teach me magic?" she asked.


    ¡°Hmph. Magister Corentin is the best magic teacher we have in this academy. He is also the only one who knows how to teach this method of magic that Tereus has started you on. If we want any measure of success, you must learn from Magister Corentin.¡±


    Maddie leaned her elbows on the table and buried her head in her hands. ¡°I don''t know if I can learn from him. Not after what he did. ¡°


    Servius straightened up in his chair and peeled Maddie¡¯s hands off her face. He looked her straight in the eye and said, ¡°Miss Brigantia, you are going to have to. For all our sakes.

 Chapter 17c

    ¡°Will my friends be able to join me?" Maddie asked.


    ¡°Hmm," Servius considered, ¡°the combat training is usually reserved for warriors. I suppose it would do no harm for them to become more self-reliant. As for magic, it is up to Corentin to decide. The techniques he will be teaching may interfere with their normal magic studies.¡±


    A pang of anger shot through Maddie at the thought that Corentin would be the one to decide yet another aspect of her fate, but really she knew --


    ¡°-- That makes sense," Cleo said, "I need to get the most out of my studies. Sorry, Maddie, but it''s true. I love you, but I can''t be second-rate. Especially if I''m going to help you take down Tereus and his army.¡±


    She reached over and put her hand on Maddie''s upper arm. Maddie took a shuddering breath but her anger evaporated under her friend''s loving gaze.


    ¡°I know. We all have to be as strong as we can."


    A knock on the door. Once again Cleo opened it carefully, then widely as Gaius walked in.


    " Magister Servius?" he said, ¡°it''s, um."


    Cleo ushered Gaius to the table and put him in her seat.


    " Magister Servius is going to teach us weapons and Magister Corentin will teach Maddie the new kind of magic that Tereus started teaching her. We may get to learn it if it doesn''t interfere with our own magic studies.¡±


    Gaius¡¯s eyes widened and he looked at Maddie.


    "Is that going to be okay for you? Working with Magister Corentin?¡±


    Maddie nodded resolutely. ¡°It''s going to have to be."


    It was at dawn the next day that Gaius, Cleo, Maddie, and Servius stood in the training ring outside. As a chilly wind blew through the outside space, Maddie thought that she would rather the training be inside.


    ¡°It¡¯s so cold,¡± Cleo murmured for only Maddie and Gaius to hear. Servius heard them anyway.


    ¡°The cold air will wake you up better than any wine. You¡¯re lucky that we¡¯re only doing weapons training and you get to skip the physical conditioning.¡± He indicated the warrior-druids-in-training doing laps.


    ¡°We will be taking this inside in the next few days,¡± he said quietly, ¡°Cold is only good for so much.¡±


    The group was led to a rack of training weapons and asked to pick from the array of spears, swords, knives, and clubs. Gaius wanted a sword, like any noble-born boy would. Cleo was considering a knife -- something easy to hide that she could carry with her always. Servius stopped Maddie from approaching the rack.


    ¡°Your weapon proved to be incredibly difficult, Miss Brigantia. Your blade is essentially weightless but also incredibly large. Even with enchantments we¡¯ve had an incredibly hard time mimicking it. I¡¯m afraid this is the best we could do.¡±


    He picked up a wrapped bundle sitting in front of the rack of weapons. As he undid the cloth, Maddie saw the solution they had come up with. It was a monstrosity. Mostly shaped the same as her sword, it was made of some lightweight material and barely at that. Only the blade portion had a structure, with the back open to decrease the weight. The handle was a simple wooden dowel. Maddie stared at it, speechless. Gaius finished picking out his weapon -- a spatha longsword that was almost but not quite as long as his leg -- and turned to see Maddie¡¯s practice sword. He visibly recoiled.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s disgusting.¡±


    Servius¡¯s normal frown deepened into a scowl. ¡°What it lacks in beauty it makes up in being the closest we could get to a Divine Blade.¡±


    ¡°Err, yes, sorry, Magister,¡± Gaius looked contrite. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ never mind,¡± he finished quietly, looking at the ground.


    Cleo came over with a short wooden pugio dagger that was almost a foot long.


    ¡°It¡¯s not ideal, but this is probably the best choice for me.¡± It was similar to the dagger Maddie had used to stab the king. Maddie gave a slight shudder at the thought.


    ¡°This may be more appropriate,¡± Servius said, pulling out three short pugiones, each half the size of the one that Cleo was holding. Unlike the wooden weapons from the rack, the three pugiones were made of metal, with a rounded tip and rounded edges. Incapable of hurting anyone.


    ¡°We¡¯ll begin basic training with these and then move on to your other chosen weapons. And that,¡± he said, indicating the pile of scrap metal shaped only-sort-of like a sword.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    The three stood up and each adopted a stance. Maddie used the one Tereus had taught her. The one she had used to stab the king, she thought. It was aggressive, but loose, as if she might change her mind and run away instead. Running and hiding had been her number one tactic on her mission to the palace.


    ¡°You look like you¡¯re about to run away,¡± Servius observed. Maddie blushed.


    ¡°I think that might have been the point,¡± she admitted. Servius sighed and shook his head. He looked over at his other two prospective warriors.


    Cleo¡¯s stance was almost demure. She held the dagger firmly but kept her hands low, almost at her sides. Servius could tell by the way she held her body that she was ready to use her pugio to react at any moment.


    Gaius¡¯s stance was that of a warrior. Similar to Maddie¡¯s, he held his dagger firmly in front of him. But instead of looking like a scared rabbit about to bolt, he looked like a lion poised to pounce. Clearly the boy had some training as a warrior. His style was very similar to what Servius would have taught.


    ¡°There,¡± he said to Maddie, indicating Gaius, ¡°do that.¡±


    Maddie¡¯s body tightened. She placed her feet more firmly and held the pugio more steadily.


    ¡°She still looks like she wants to run away,¡± Servius said to Gaius, ¡°help her out. And, girl, remember what you are fighting for!¡±


    He moved over to Cleo. ¡°What kind of stance is that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what¡¯s taught to all the Ptolemy girls. We¡¯re meant to defend ourselves but not seem aggressive.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re going to be aggressive. In fact, you might have to stab people before they try to stab you. I assume you were taught to react to attacks.¡±


    Cleo nodded. Servius picked up the long pugio and swung at her. Cleo¡¯s dagger shot up and deflected the blade.


    ¡°Good reflexes, good form. But your stance is off. Go learn with them.¡±


    Cleo bowed her head and went to work with Gaius and Maddie. Servius let out a deep breath. At least they weren¡¯t all hopeless. Except the girl. She had the longest way to go and the most urgent need for training.


    Maddie sat on one of the stone benches on the Academy grounds. On the lawn Corentin conducted his magic class. While the students were still ordered by their aptitudes, it no longer featured the isolating squares that had made her feel despondent those weeks ago. The students stood in neat rows with enough space around each student to let them sit on the ground. Maddie scowled when she realized that the rows were even without her. She continued scowling as she watched Corentin animatedly discuss whatever new thing he was teaching them. She was just too far away to hear his lecture.


    Maddie wore her brown initiate¡¯s robes. It had been Gaius¡¯s idea -- supported by the scholarch -- that she dress like the other students and walk around the grounds the way she would if she was attending classes. They probably didn¡¯t intend for her to stare angrily at the other students, though.


    As if sensing Maddie¡¯s mood, Cleo turned toward her and gave her a smile and a little wave. A smile replaced Maddie¡¯s scowl and she sort of zoned out, watching the other students like they were images in front of her instead of a group she desperately wanted to join.


    Cleo and Gaius walked over to her when class was over. Maddie¡¯s glassy eyes refocused on her friends. She half-faked a big smile.


    ¡°How is class going?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Oh, well enough,¡± Cleo responded, ¡°Probably not more interesting than your private lessons will be.¡±


    Maddie pushed down the scowl about to make its way across her face.


    ¡°Some of the other students were getting a little freaked out when you started scowling at them,¡± Gaius said plainly.


    ¡°Gaius!¡± Cleo admonished, ¡°That¡¯s rude to say!¡±


    ¡°Maybe, but it is true. I think Maddie would rather know, right?¡±


    Maddie shrugged. ¡°I guess so.¡±


    Then her expression turned somber. ¡°Maybe I shouldn¡¯t stay around when class is happening. Especially when I¡¯m still angry at¡­him.¡±


    Cleo put her hand on Maddie¡¯s arm. ¡°It¡¯s okay. We like having you nearby. Just¡­maybe walk us to class and meet us after?¡±


    When Maddie¡¯s shoulders slumped more, Cleo pulled Maddie into a big hug.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± she whispered, ¡°we¡¯ll always be here for you and we will never let you feel left out.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s go to the greenhouse. It¡¯s starting to get really cold.¡±


    Sitting against the warm stone made some of the tension leave Maddie¡¯s body. She breathed in the earthy smell that reminded her of the woods near her house, except more intense.


    ¡°Have you ever been to the woods?¡± she asked her friends.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been to parks and gardens, but there aren¡¯t any forests near Alexandria.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I used to go hunting with my tutor and my retinue all the time. I miss my hounds sometimes.¡±


    ¡°I used to pick berries in the woods near my town. There would always be birds singing and animals rustling in the bushes. And the berries were so sweet and perfect. Better than the ones they grow here.


    ¡°I miss home. It wasn¡¯t really that different from here, but it was¡­happier, somehow.¡±


    ¡°I know what you mean,¡± Cleo said, ¡°this place couldn¡¯t be more different from Alexandria. But I came here to learn and see new places. I could have easily gone to the Academy in Alexandria, or even had the magisters there tutor me at home. But I wanted to learn in a new way.


    ¡°I suppose it wouldn¡¯t feel the same if I couldn¡¯t attend classes. I would probably feel so alone. Except for you guys, of course. You could get me through anything.¡±


    ¡°And you do get me through it all,¡± Maddie said gratefully, ¡°I could never do this if you weren¡¯t here for me. I don¡¯t know if I could have done any of it, even sitting in magic class that first month.¡±


    They settled into a companionable silence. Suddenly, Gaius perked up.


    ¡°Oh, we forgot. We¡¯re allowed to attend your special classes. Corentin talked for a while on the differences between the types of magic and their strengths and weaknesses, but he said we could learn it, too.¡±


    Maddie smiled. She would need her friends to get through the torture of learning from Corentin again

 Chapter 17d

    Corentin taught class not on the grounds, but in a small room tucked away in the back of the main building. There were cushions stacked in the corner and four laid out on the floor -- three in a row and then one in the front of the room. One of the older students ushered the trio into the room, which was so far empty.


    Cleo looked around. ¡°This is a pretty nice room. It¡¯s almost fancy enough to be in a palace.¡±


    The walls were hung with gold cloths with a subtle oak motif woven through them. The floor was wood polished so highly as to almost be reflective. Two magical orbs gave off a soft, gentle light that highlighted the walls and floor without casting a direct reflection.


    Maddie walked toward the front of the room, focused on the cushions. She pulled the nearmost cushion back about a foot and plopped down on it.


    Gaius raised his eyebrows. ¡°Making a statement?¡±


    Maddie shook her head. ¡°No, I just don¡¯t want to be that close to him.¡±


    Cleo, finished admiring the room, swept over and pulled the other two cushions back to be even with Maddie¡¯s. She sat herself down demurely on the middle cushion. Gaius looked at her inquiringly.


    ¡°No statements,¡± she said simply. He went to the remaining cushion and sat down.


    A moment later the door opened and a round, pleasant face peeked in. Corentin¡¯s face lit up.


    ¡®Ah, you¡¯re all here. Wonderful!¡±


    Maddie averted her eyes as soon as she heard the teacher¡¯s voice. Looking down at the floor, she let out a stiff but crisp, ¡°Hello, Magister Corentin.¡±


    Her friends echoed a hello.


    ¡°It¡¯s good to see you all, Gaius, Cleopatra, Madeleine. I think you are all going to learn a lot. Now,¡± he said, sitting his rotund frame on the front cushion, ¡°I introduced the idea of willpower magic in our last class, but I haven¡¯t taught the other students anything yet. We¡¯ll start with some more basic training which Madeleine might find repetitive, but I have to gauge your proficiencies.¡±


    He glanced down at the floor and frowned as if something was slightly off but he couldn¡¯t quite place what.


    ¡°Now, as you now know, there are two different schools of thought about magic. One school -- the one I subscribe to -- looks at the resonance of the magic in your soul and tries to match it with the world outside. This effectively coaxes cooperation between your magic -- your soul -- and the fabric of the universe. This is an old method taught by scholars in the East, in the Gupta Empire and the lands around it. The Hindu sages have been practicing it for thousands of years. We are lucky that many of their texts have been given to us and translated into Latin and Greek.


    ¡°The second method is used in more warlike societies. The Germanic tribes in the north use a more ¡­ direct method. Instead of looking at your soul and seeing the resonance, this method simply uses your willpower to make changes to the world. It is a blunt weapon compared to using resonance and one that not all people have the capacity to use. I¡¯m a little surprised that Madeleine could use it, given her shyness.¡±


    He said this like a joke but the chuckle died on his lips when he saw the way Maddie was shaking with anger. He held up his hands placatingly.


    ¡°I¡¯m terribly sorry, Madeleine. I should not make such personal comments. Especially considering that you and I are not on the best of terms.¡±


    The phrase ¡°best of terms¡± drew a sneer from Maddie that she curbed when Cleo poked her in the ribs without warning. Maddie let out an ¡°eep!¡± and nearly jumped and looked at her friend, who smiled and nodded. Then she gestured for Maddie to say something.


    ¡°A¡­apology accepted, Magister.¡±


    Corentin sat down on the remaining cushion. He looked down sadly for a moment and when he raised his head up he wore his usual cheerful smile.


    ¡°Now, to be clear, resonance isn¡¯t completely useless in willpower magic. Your elemental aptitudes still determine what magic you can use. With practice you may be able to influence elements outside your domains, but it takes decades of study and is incredibly rare. Madeleine, what domains did Tereus use?¡±


    Maddie blinked, surprised at the question. ¡°Um, he used illusions and I think maybe mind magic? And when he taught me he used shadow magic.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, he either has access to a wide range of domains or he was using a divine ability.¡±


    ¡°Are we going to train to go up against Tereus¡¯s domains?¡± Cleo asked.


    ¡°Hmm? Oh, no. I guess I was just wondering.¡±


    Cleo fixed her teacher with a look that implied a lot of respect for his position and expertise, but clearly meant that he should get on with it and not waste her time. Corentin looked down, a bit chastised. Cleo was very good at that look.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Err, yes. Madeleine, I¡¯m going to ask you to do something that you¡¯ve done before, but bear with me, please. I want you to look inside yourself and attempt to see your magic.¡±


    Her eyes narrowed, but she looked inside at her shadow magic, just as she had done during Tereus¡¯s lessons. It was the same wispy, slightly fuzzy-looking dark grey ball it had always been, even before she could see it.


    ¡°Okay, I can see my shadow magic,¡± she said.


    ¡°Ah, of course, but I want you to look around, see if you possess any other affinities.¡±


    Maddie narrowed her eyes, trying to parse Corentin¡¯s words.


    ¡°My shadow magic is so big, it¡¯s hard to see anything else.¡±


    Cleo put her hand on her friend¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Imagine your¡­mind?¡± She looked at Corentin for confirmation.


    ¡°More like your soul, but yes.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so imagine your soul is a room. Your shadow magic fills up most of it, but are there other things? Maybe in the corners or hiding behind the shadow?¡±


    ¡°Or maybe you could shrink your magic down,¡± Gaius suggested.


    The image of the room came easily to Maddie after all the visualization exercises they had done in class. She pushed her focus deep and the magic was everything. Her mental vision was nothing but shadows. She frowned deeply, trying to shrink the shadows, but she was lost in them.


    ¡°Perhaps not quite that deep. Look at the surface level of your soul.¡±


    Maddie snapped out of her contemplation immediately and her eyes snapped to Corentin. He put his hands up in surrender.


    ¡°I¡¯m not using mind magic. I promise. I¡¯ve just taught many students over the years and I recognize the look on your face. You looked like you had gotten very deep into your soul and were trying to affect your shadow magic, as Gaius had suggested. Follow Cleopatra¡¯s lead and take a very shallow look at your soul.¡±


    Maddie had to take some deep breaths to settle her misplaced shock and anger at her teacher. She centered her mind and took a look at the space within herself where her magic seemed to live.She saw the fuzzy ball of shadow, but didn¡¯t let it fill her whole vision. She tried to build a mental room around it, with white walls, floor, and ceiling. As soon as it was completed, the room started to come apart. Maybe Tereus was right, and she did lack imagination. Her brow furrowed and her eyes blinked open for a second. In front of her was Corentin, sitting centered in front of her. Something fuzzed and he was covered by the ball of magic. Maddie turned around to face the back of the room, which was almost entirely empty. Eyes open, she imagined the magic in front of her but several feet away. It was large, but didn¡¯t take up as much of her vision as it had before.


    Maddie started to search the room around her magic, but all she found were the pillows in the corner.She was feeling stupid, and silly, and sure that everyone was looking at her. She scrunched her eyes tight. Before her mental vision could take over, the room with the ball of magic flashed into her mind.


    ¡°Is she¡­?¡±


    ¡°Shhh.¡±


    She held the image, blurring it around the edges a little. The details faded but the room was still clear.


    ¡°Almost,¡± she murmured.


    Maddie meditated until the room was set, then she started to look around. Corentin saw her head moving.


    ¡°Go by feel as much as by vision,¡± he whispered.


    The grey ball sputtered, throwing up wisps of smoke. It crackled, getting louder as she tried to take her attention from it. She tried to tune it out. Then she heard another noise. A crackling that didn¡¯t come from the ball. It came from behind it. She slowly rose and followed the sound, walking around the ball of darkness.


    ¡°Why did she get--¡±


    ¡°--SHHH!¡±


    Behind the shadow magic was a smaller ball. She had expected it to be tiny, but it was half the size of the shadow ball. It was a lighter grey sphere -- looking almost exactly like a storm cloud. The edges were fuzzy and let off little sparks of light. It was the source of the crackling, as well. Maddie could see her shadow magic behind it. The larger sphere looked darker in comparison and the edges looked more solid. It did not crackle or spark, just smolder slowly.


    ¡°There¡¯s something else there. I don¡¯t know how to describe it, but I think it¡¯s been there all along.¡±


    She opened her eyes, then walked back to her pillow and sat down.


    If you¡¯ll permit, I could see the image in your mind if you call it up. No, no, never mind that!¡± Corentin retracted his offer as soon as he made it. He needed to remember to handle Madeleine with extreme care.


    ¡°What does your magic look like?¡± Maddie turned to Cleo and Gaius.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Cleo replied, ¡°It doesn¡¯t really look like anything. I guess it¡¯s like looking at an ocean.¡±


    ¡°Mine is just heat and light,¡± Gaius replied, ¡°Maybe a wall of flame? The sun? I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Mine looks like a ball,¡± Maddie told them, ¡°like the way you made it look the first time you showed it to us. A perfect sphere. Except the edges were all fuzzy and crackled. But when I looked behind it I saw another sphere. This one looked like dark clouds and it was fuzzy and crackling and the other one wasn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like some kind of storm magic. Likely Air and Water magic that became tangled together in your mind. Storm magic isn¡¯t a normal Domain, but Shadow magic isn¡¯t either.


    ¡°Forgive me again, Madeleine, but I did see your magic -- the way you visualize it -- when I¡­ When¡­ Before.¡±


    Maddie was so lost in thought that she didn''t even react to Corentin¡¯s mention of that terrible moment she hated him for. Storms? She had always loved the rain and had felt so right when those massive storms had hit. She opened her eyes, shocked by a thought.


    ¡°Those storms!¡±


    Corentin¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°That couldn¡¯t possibly be. It took thirteen druids to quell that storm.


    ¡°As strong as your magic is, that would be much too much. Even with your instinctual style of using magic, that¡¯s just not possible.¡±


    Maddie was both angry and abashed when Corentin said she wasn¡¯t powerful enough.She tried to formulate a thought through her conflicting emotions.


    ¡°What if it¡¯s a divine ability?¡± Gaius offered.


    Cleo looked at him and nodded. ¡°We need to find out more about the gods and their offspring.

 SoS1 Chapter 17e A Trip to the Library

    The lack of writing meant a lack of books at the Academy. Cleo knew of a dozen volumes that dove into the lineages and powers of gods from all over the world, but they were all secured in the Great Library in Alexandria. It would take months for a letter to reach the Library and for books to be copied and sent back. Cleo was in a foul mood for half a day and ranted about the druidic rules just as she had when classes had started. Except with more anger, and cursing in at least five languages. In the end there was nothing else to do but visit the Temple of All Gods. Besides the shrines, the Temple housed some texts about the gods.


    Maddie was still apprehensive about going to the Temple, in case Tereus -- or Ares -- was waiting for her. Corentin assured her that the man would not show up while they were with a teacher. Maddie was calmed not at all, until Cleo suggested they invite Magister Serverus. A group of five would surely be a strong deterrent, she reasoned. With just a little coaxing she eased Maddie¡¯s fear.


    The statue was still in two pieces in the middle of the rotunda. Apparently the workers had been stumped and simply left it alone. It was a stark reminder of Maddie¡¯s parentage, of the fight between her mother and Ares, of her time with Tereus, of the fear that seemed to always exist beyond the surface of her thoughts. When Maddie stopped moving, Cleo took her arm and gently led her forward.


    ¡°Would you like to stop by the shrine?¡± Cleo asked. Maddie shook her head.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather look at the books first,¡± she said softly. Serverus walked past all the shrines and knocked on an unobtrusive door. He spoke to the attendant who opened it and then motioned for the rest of them to walk over. Cleo stopped just inside the room and took a long breath, inhaling the smell of books. Gaius had to poke her in the back to bring her out of her reverie.


    ¡°Why have I never visited here before?¡±


    ¡°Off-limits to students, I¡¯m afraid,¡± Corentin said as he walked past her. Cleo¡¯s face fell a bit, but she took another sniff and a smile formed.


    Serverus was talking with the attendant in the corner, telling him about their mission. Corentin went over and the three talked quietly while the students looked around. The room was only about the size of Maddie¡¯s bedroom, but the ceiling went up to the height of the rotunda. Gaius sent a ball of light up and it revealed that the shelves on the upper levels were empty. Cleo scoffed but quickly got distracted by the books the room did have.


    While it might only be half full, the library was enormous and stuffed with books, scrolls, and any other kind of writing possible. Cleo was sure she caught a glimpse of a clay tablet, but it was stuck in a corner. It was okay, she reasoned, since she couldn¡¯t read cuneiform anyway.


    The library was not organized, at least in now way that Cleo could see. The young attendant rushed around as much as the space allowed and tried to find the information. He told Cleo that there was a very complex organization system set up by the Head Librarian -- an old man sitting next to the door. Cleo was doubtful, but she asked for volumes on a few subjects and the librarian was able to produce them. He handed Cleo a book of bound papyrus. She opened it and took a deep whiff. ¡°I¡¯ve missed you.¡± she murmured. Gaius gave her a sidelong look but didn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡°Books about the gods¡± turned out to be a very broad request. As it was primarily a religious library, most of the books were about the gods. Corentin stood in a specific spot, blocking a tower of shelves. Cleo caught the title of one of the books and it seemed to be about magic. Her hands literally itched to touch those books even for a second, but she regained her focus.


    After taking a while to get used to the library¡¯s selection and focus on their issues, Cleo narrowed down their focus.


    ¡°Ares, Mars -- the differences between them, Brigantia, other British gods, life gods, death gods. Gods with wings and big swords. Demigods.¡±


    ¡°Brigantia will be hard to find information on,¡± Corentin said, ¡°As druids tend to be the keepers of information about the gods, there isn¡¯t much written down.¡±


    Cleo let out the longest suffering sigh that any of them had ever heard. It blew dust off a book halfway across the room and set Gaius coughing.


    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you say anything?¡±


    Corentin held up his hands and shrugged. ¡°Brigantia isn¡¯t a very popular goddess. To be honest, I¡¯m surprised she has a shrine here.¡±


    ¡°There was a diaspora or Brigantes a couple of decades ago,¡± the young librarian said, ¡°they insisted. It¡¯s why she¡¯s on the end.¡±


    ¡°Then we need to know more about the Brigantes. Maddie, what do you know about your culture?¡±


    Maddie looked down at the floor, ashamed. ¡°Not much. My father didn¡¯t talk much about where we came from. He¡¯s not even British, he¡¯s Breton. He said my mother came from the north, but other than my name, she didn¡¯t leave anything and he didn¡¯t talk much about her. I don¡¯t remember her at all -- from when I was a baby, at least -- so she was never there to tell me stories or about her family.¡±


    There was a sudden sad energy that came from both Maddie and outside the room.


    Cleo gave her friend a side embrace and patted her shoulder.


    ¡°Maybe we¡¯ll be able to fill in some of those details,¡± she said.


    ¡°I doubt it. The librarian said there isn¡¯t much they know about Brigan¡­my mother.¡±


    Her eyes widened as she suddenly remembered something Tereus had said.


    Tereus said that Brigantia had been other gods. Gods of death¡­and life. That¡¯s what we need to look up. And any demigods descended from them.¡±


    Cleo looked at Gaius. ¡°Any ideas?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­Ankou, Arawn, Pluto. But they''re all very different. I wouldn¡¯t even know where to start in creating a list of commonalities.¡±


    ¡°Well, Ankou is a psychopomp, right?¡± Maddie and Gaius both gave her blank looks.


    ¡°He brings the dead to whatever place they end up. Like Charon.¡± Understanding dawned in her friends¡¯ eyes.


    Cleo, ever the pragmatist, shook her head slightly and refocused. "Well, if we can''t find information on Brigantia directly, we''ll have to go sideways. Let''s start with death gods. We know she has a connection to them, according to Tereus."


    The young librarian, who''d been hovering nearby, perked up. "Death gods? We have a lot of information on those. Many cultures have their own deities related to the afterlife." He gestured toward a far corner of the room, where shelves were crammed with scrolls and bound volumes.


    As they made their way through the labyrinthine shelves, Cleo''s eyes lit up at the sheer volume of information. Gaius, ever curious, picked up a scroll covered in hieroglyphs, while Maddie remained quiet, her gaze fixed on the floor.


    "Here," Cleo said, pulling a thick tome from a shelf. "This is a comparative study of underworld deities. It might give us some clues."


    They gathered around a large table, the book spread open before them. Pages filled with illustrations of skeletal figures, shadowy beings, and winged guardians turned under Cleo''s eager fingers.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    "Look," she pointed to a passage. "Many death gods are associated with cycles of rebirth, not just endings. Maybe Brigantia''s connection isn''t about destruction, but transformation."


    "That fits with what Tereus said," Maddie murmured. "Two sides of the same coin."


    Gaius arrived at the table after Maddie, Cleo, Corentin, Serverus, and the attendant. Rather than crane to see over them, he went back to idly sorting through the scrolls with the hieroglyphs. Suddenly, his eyes widened.


    ¡°Cleo, remember what you said about goddesses with wings and big swords?¡± He held up the paper to the group.


    ¡°I was just joking, Gaius. That¡¯s not really a type of goddess.¡±


    ¡°No. Look,¡± he said, shaking the paper to get her attention. She looked over, then turned back to the book.


    ¡°That¡¯s just a picture of Isis. You could call her a death goddess, and she does have wings and a sword, but she¡¯s an Egyptian god.¡±


    Gaius and Maddie both looked puzzled.


    ¡°So?¡± Maddie asked quietly.


    ¡°Egyptian gods don¡¯t have physical forms. They can¡¯t make babies with humans. You don''t think I already considered her and rejected her? She doesn¡¯t have any children. Human children, at least. It¡¯s a dead end.¡±


    Gaius hmphed. ¡°I still think it¡¯s related.¡±


    Cleo shrugged. ¡°You¡¯re welcome to be wrong if that¡¯s what you want.¡±


    Gaius scowled but kept his mouth shut.


    ¡°What about storm gods?¡± Maddie asked, ¡°Are there gods of death and storms?¡±


    Cleo flipped through the book, cataloguing all the information.


    ¡°As far as I can tell there are storm gods and death gods but not both.¡±


    ¡°What about fertility gods?¡± Gaius shouted from down the stacks. The young librarian hurried over to him and picked a bound volume from the shelf right above him. He hesitated, not sure if he should hand it to Gaius or bring it back to the table. Gaius shooed him away and the youth hurried to the table.


    ¡°Fertility gods,¡± he announced.


    Cleo paged through the book. Looking at the descriptions of different deities.


    ¡°Rain brings fertility. It waters the crops.¡± She looked up at the others. ¡°I don¡¯t know, it¡¯s kind of thin.¡±


    ¡°But, there are gods of life and storms?¡± Maddie asked.


    ¡°There are, but there¡¯s not really anything there. It looks like it¡¯s ¡®god makes storms and brings fertility.¡¯ That¡¯s it.¡±


    Maddie sighed softly and looked down at the table. ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. What¡¯s our next avenue of attack?


    ¡°Demigods,¡± Maddie said forcefully. Cleo¡¯s eyes widened at her vehemence. She turned to the attendant.


    ¡°Let¡¯s look up demigods.¡±.


    Hours passed and frustration built as high as the piles of books and scrolls around the table.


    ¡°Every god of life or death has no children, and there are so many of them,¡± Gaius groused. ¡°All of the demigods we know about are thousands of years old. Tereus said there are thousands of them living today.¡±


    ¡°Hundreds of thousands,¡± Maddie corrected quietly.


    ¡°Right. I know the gods like having sex, but there aren¡¯t even a hundred demigods that we¡¯ve come across in these books.¡±


    ¡°Well, it makes sense that only the famous ones get into the myths,¡± Gaius said, wandering down one of the two cramped corridors. He hadn¡¯t stayed still for very long, mostly browsing the stacks and picking through the scrolls. The library assistant would dart out from time to time to put things back the way they were supposed to be.


    ¡°Hey, remember what I said about Tereus having a divine ability?¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± was all the response Cleo gave, her nose firmly entrenched in another book. Her deep breaths and quick-moving eyes seemed to be in contrast to each other.


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s a book on Ares sitting right here on this shelf. Maybe instead of searching fruitlessly for hours -- like we¡¯ve been doing -- we should focus on Ares instead. Know thine enemy and all that.¡±


    Cleo¡¯s head shot out of the book and she looked cat Gaius, or at least in his direction.


    ¡°No offense, Cleo, but this is a dead end.¡±


    Maddie, a little book-drunk after all this time, snorted at the unintentional pun. Cleo glanced at her and shook her head softly.


    ¡°Okay, what you say makes sense. Bring it over here.¡± She made room on the table for another book.


    Cleo scanned the book, turning pages almost before Maddie could read a single sentence.


    ¡°Maddie, what kind of magic did Tereus use?¡±


    ¡°Um, mostly illusion magic. Why?¡±


    ¡°Well, this book has a different take on Ares. It goes into his behavior among the gods, not mortals. And he likes to trick the gods into fighting each other.¡±


    ¡°Hermes is the trickster god, though, isn¡¯t he?¡± Maddie offered up.


    ¡°Yes, but tricky among mortals. Ares likes to make everyone fight, but especially his family, it seems.¡±


    The young assistant, who had been hovering around the periphery this whole time, suddenly spoke up.


    ¡°Wait, that sounds familiar,¡± he said as he went to grab a book. ¡°Our friends from the North have a similar god. He¡¯s known for his pranks, but I think he likes to cause strife between the other gods.¡±


    He plopped a heavy book down right over the middle of the open book about Ares. Cleo¡¯s jaw fell and she turned pale. Maddie thought she might have heard a short whimper escape her friend¡¯s mouth. The assistant librarian stared at her for a moment, then realized what he had done. He grabbed the book and lifted it up while Cleo scrabbled under it for the smaller volume.


    She pulled the small book out with both hands and held it up to her face, examining it closely for damage. She sighed when there didn¡¯t seem to be any. The assistant looked to be near tears, no doubt thinking about the punishment he would receive. Cleo tried to hand her the open book but he waved his hands at her in a ¡°no, no, no¡± gesture. The sound of a throat clearing came from the seat by the door where the Head Librarian sat. The assistant took the book reverently from the girl¡¯s hands with both his own and carried it slowly to his master. Maddie and Gaius glanced at each other. The whole thing had looked like some kind of ceremony.


    Cleo took a minute to get her breathing under control, then gingerly opened the cover of the new volume. She turned a few pages. Then she sighed.


    ¡°I can¡¯t read this. It¡¯s in a language I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Gaius¡¯s eyes widened in mock surprise. ¡°You mean a language exists that you don¡¯t know?¡±


    Cleo glared at him. ¡°Funny,¡± she said, deadpan.


    She turned her glare on Maddie as the girl let out a chuckle. Then she smiled.


    The aide hurried back and went to the book. He turned to a section in the middle of the book with an illustration that depicted a tall man with fiery red hair.


    ¡°This is Loki. He¡¯s adopted by the¡­father? leader?...of the German gods and loves to make them fight each other. The German gods don¡¯t mess with humans as much.¡±


    He traced down some lines, his mouth moving silently as he translated the text. Then he turned the page. A picture of a man fighting a wolf as large as a ship was above an illustration of the world on fire.


    ¡°Oh, and Loki starts the war that ends the world.¡±


    Maddie¡¯s eyes widened. The attendant had said it so casually, but she could see that happening as a result of Tereus¡¯s plan.


    ¡°How was Loki defeated?¡± she asked quietly.


    ¡°Uh, let¡¯s see. Bound to a rock with the entrails of his own son.¡± Maddie made a disgusted face.


    ¡°Oh, wait, that¡¯s before the end of the world.¡±


    Maddie paled.


    Cleo picked up on Maddie¡¯s thoughts. ¡°We really don¡¯t know that¡¯s Tereus¡¯s plan,¡± she reassured her friend, ¡°What he said totally makes sense for him.¡±


    ¡°But not for this Loki,¡± Maddie countered.


    Gaius sighed as he walked back to the table. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what Tereus or Ares want. We have to stop them anyway.¡±


    Maddie and Cleo slumped in their respective chairs.


    ¡°Did this even get us anywhere?¡± Maddie groused.


    ¡°It got us to a library,¡± Cleo offered helpfully, ¡°And knowledge is its own reward.¡±


    Maddie and Gaius both rolled their eyes at her.