Sorcerer (The Mage Saga Book 3), page 17
“As far as I know,” said Allure. “I haven’t taken a survey or anything, but all the sorcerers I know can do it.”
“What purpose does it serve for the rest of us?”
“It’s not terribly useful, to be honest. Primarily it would be helpful in preventing demonic possession. The demon can’t enter your body if your channels are closed. But you also can’t do magic that way. So, I guess if you ever found yourself surrounded by demons, it might be a good skill to have. But otherwise…” She finished with a shrug.
“Can a demon possess me?” asked Mira. “Or would my null prevent that?”
“That’s a good question, and I’m afraid I can’t say for sure,” said Allure. “But demons use magic just like we do. They need it to pass between the spectral plane and our world and to possess or exit a human body. Which means they should not be able to do any of those things inside your null.”
“So, a demon wouldn’t be able to possess me or anyone else inside my null?” asked Mira.
“I believe that must be the case,” Allure confirmed.
“But if a demon moved into her null, it would be stuck in our world until it left again?” asked Khaldun. “And if it had possessed someone, it would be stuck in that body as long as it was inside her null?”
“Yes,” Allure replied. “But don’t forget, this is all hypothetical. No magical null has ever transformed into a sorcerer before. So, I can only tell you what magical theory says would happen. Unless Mira tests any of this, it’s impossible to be certain.”
“So, there’s no need for Mira wear a ring like this,” Khaldun observed, holding up his hand to show his. He’d inherited it from Nomad, and knew that it helped protect him from demonic possession.
“I would think not,” Allure replied. “A sorcerer’s power shines like a beacon in the spirit realm and attracts demons like moths to a flame. The rings hide that light. But without a normal sorcerer’s power, she’s already invisible to them.”
“Thank the stars,” Mira muttered. “But my null would prevent it from possessing me regardless.”
Allure nodded.
“Could you teach me to close my channels of power?” Khaldun asked Allure.
“Sure. It’ll probably take a while to get it, though. Go ahead and call fire.” Khaldun held out his hand and produced a small flame. “Now I want you to focus on the power flowing through your body and into that spell. Can you feel it?”
Khaldun focused for a moment. At first, he couldn’t sense anything. But then, he noticed a slight tingling feeling—it was the same sensation he’d felt when detecting the hidden cavity in the wall back in Spanbrook, only it was moving through his body. “Yes, I think I do.”
“Good. Now, I want you to imagine that it’s like breathing. Except that instead of the air moving in and out of your lungs, it’s a constant flow of power from your body into the flame.”
Khaldun nodded. “All right.”
“Closing your channels of power will be like holding your breath. Just arrest the flow.”
Khaldun focused on the sensation of energy moving through him and willed it to stop. The flame disappeared.
“Was that it?” he asked.
“Only you can answer that,” said Allure. “Did you simply put out the flame, like you normally would, or did you close your channels?”
“I think I closed them,” he replied uncertainly.
“Try this. Focus on keeping the flow of power at a standstill, but then call a flame at the same time.”
Khaldun tried it. He kept the energy still within his body while trying to call fire again. Nothing happened. “I’m pretty sure I’ve got it!”
Allure nodded appreciatively. “That was fast. Most sorcerers take a few weeks to get that down.”
“This is so unfair,” Mira said with a grin. “Why can’t I learn to do this so easily?”
“Because you can’t do magic,” said Allure. “The exercise I just taught Khaldun is the way every sorcerer learns to do this. But you don’t have any power flowing through your channels in the first place, so there’s nothing to focus on.”
“What if she tries shrinking her null instead of growing it?” Khaldun asked. “If she shrinks it down to nothing, then maybe that would close her channels.”
“That’s what I was thinking, but we tried that yesterday and it didn’t work,” Allure said with a shrug.
“Here’s what I don’t understand,” said Mira. “You said that there isn’t any power flowing through me, but that doesn’t sound right. Before my transformation, I was still able to cancel other people’s magic. And to do that, I had to cast a spell of my own, but it was always cancelation. So, doesn’t that mean I was projecting something into the world around me?”
Allure frowned in concentration. “I guess you’re probably right. It’s difficult because none of us have ever experienced this before. But yes, I suppose you could say your power is there, but it’s the opposite of what other mages possess. They’re casting light while you’re projecting shadow.”
“All right, so maybe we’ve been going about this the wrong way,” Mira suggested. “What if instead of using my null, I cancel a spell the normal way. Whether the power is positive or negative, I should still be able to feel it moving through my channels, right?”
Allure nodded. “You might be on to something. Khaldun, I want you to call an enormous tower of flame. Mira’s going to cancel it, but I want you to continue pouring energy into the spell. Mira, you’re going to put out the fire, but you’re going to keep doing it and try to sense the energy flowing through your body. Are you ready?” They both nodded. “Do it.”
Khaldun held out one hand and called fire, creating a towering inferno. Mira canceled it, but the flames erupted back to life moments later. Mira put it out again, this time holding out her hand and prolonging her spell. Khaldun kept channeling energy into the spell, but couldn’t get the fire to return.
“Good, that’s it,” said Allure. “Now, Mira, can you feel anything?”
“Yes,” she said, her brow furrowed in concentration. “There’s a tingling sensation moving through me.”
“Focus on that and try to stop the flow,” Allure told her.
Mira grunted with the effort, and suddenly Khaldun’s inferno reignited.
“Now hold it,” said Allure. She moved to Mira’s side, right up against her, and held out one hand. A small flame sprang to life in her palm. “You did it! Your null is gone!”
Mira lost her focus, and Allure’s spell disappeared.
“That was it?” she asked. “I closed my channels of power?”
“I’m pretty sure you did,” Allure said. “But now we need to determine if magic works on you in that state. Let’s try it again, exactly the same way. But Mira, I want you to hold it as long as you can this time. And Khaldun, if you see my flame when I’m standing right next to her again, I want you to try hitting her with a simple spell. Try calling air and see if you can lift her off the ground.”
They repeated the exercise. Khaldun created another pillar of flame, and Mira canceled it. The two of them continued pouring power into their spells, until Mira closed her channels again. Allure pressed herself against her and called a flame.
“Now, Khaldun,” she said.
Khaldun called air and tried to lift Mira off the ground. Nothing happened. He tried again, but Mira didn’t move. He cast the spell on Allure instead, and she floated a few feet into the air.
“I can’t do it,” he said, returning Allure to the earth. “The spell wouldn’t work on her.”
“As I suspected,” Allure replied with a grin. “That’s it, my lady. No binding for you.”
Khaldun felt his heart soar. Maybe this meant they’d let Mira return with him to Spanbrook…
Mira smiled from ear to ear. “So, magic doesn’t work on me, regardless of whether my channels of power are closed or not?”
“That would seem to be the case,” said Allure. “And now we can stop wasting our time on this silliness. I’ll let the others know in our council meeting tomorrow.”
Chapter Thirteen: The Council
Allure wrapped up Mira’s lesson for the day. But they realized that a crowd of students had gathered to watch them work.
“Show’s over, boys and girls,” Allure told them as she went on her way. “Get back to class.”
Mira wanted to practice more, but not in front of everyone. So, Khaldun took her to the pastures behind the quad. They spent a couple of hours working on Mira’s newfound abilities. She was able to expand her null to over two hundred feet in diameter and managed to close her channels of power repeatedly. She couldn’t keep them closed very long—only a few seconds at a time. But by the time they were done, she could close them at will, without having to cast an active cancellation spell to do it.
They were both famished, so they went to the dining hall for lunch. It was crowded, but they found a couple of empty seats at the end of one table.
“This is so exciting,” Mira said as they sat down. “If they can’t bind me, then there’s no reason for them to keep me here—Dredmort wouldn’t be able to bind me, either. So, I should be able to return to Spanbrook with you!”
“My thought exactly,” Khaldun said with a grin. “But let’s not get our hopes up just yet. They’ll still want to prevent you from falling into Henry’s hands. You’re a powerful sorcerer—now more than ever—and I’m sure Dredmort could think of other ways to force you into service, even though you can’t be bound.”
“But that’s the thing—I’d be far safer in Spanbrook at this point. Fosland might have the university surrounded soon. But it’ll take him ages to conquer the rest of Maeda. And he’s sure to do that before going after Dorshire.”
“That’s a fair point,” Khaldun acknowledged. “We’ll have to see what the governors say tomorrow.”
After lunch, Khaldun tried contacting Syllith with his mirror, but couldn’t reach her. He figured she was probably on her way back from the watchtower and would need her full concentration to fly her carpet. He went to Mira’s dorm with her, and they found Allison and Dana in the room. The four of them chatted for a while, but then Khaldun felt someone reaching out to him through the mirror. He excused himself, then moved into the corridor to find Syllith’s face in the glass.
“I felt you trying to contact me,” she said. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes, I was just checking in.”
“I’m on my way; I’m about halfway across the Forsaken Hills. I stopped to get some rest, but I should be there tonight. Meet me at Enigma’s. I’ve got some things to discuss with you.”
“Will do. Safe travels.”
After dinner, Khaldun let Mira know he’d be staying at Enigma’s that night. So, he kissed her goodnight, and she headed back to the dorm with Allison. Khaldun retired to the mansion, and sat down in the library to read a book. But he must have drifted off, because he started awake to find Syllith grinning down at him.
“What time is it,” he asked with a groan, sitting up in the chair and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Syllith had lit a couple of oil lamps to provide some light.
“Almost midnight,” she said, sitting in the adjacent chair and yawning. “That trip was exhausting, but I wanted to make sure I was here for the council meeting tomorrow.”
“How did it go at the watchtower?”
“About as expected,” she said with a sigh. “I told the three of them about Fosland’s military activities, and they agreed that it’s time to take sides.”
“All of them? Even Semblant?”
“Yes,” she said with a shrug.
“I would think if he were the traitor, he’d push for maintaining neutrality. Make things as easy for Henry as possible.”
“Perhaps. But I think the situation has grown so dire that none of the governors could reasonably defend that position anymore.”
“Maybe it would have been best not to reveal the news to him. Semblant could tell Henry that we’re on to him.”
“No, Semblant’s still a governor. Unless we can prove treason, then we have no right to keep the information from him. In any event, the three of them signed a declaration supporting open resistance to Fosland. I’ll present that to the council tomorrow, since they won’t be there in person.”
“Did you get a chance to discuss your concerns about Semblant with Enigma?”
“I did. We spoke privately when the other two were out working on the wards. And Enigma once again dismissed my warnings out of hand. I’m more convinced than ever that he’s hiding something from me. He’s the most intelligent and perceptive person I know, yet he refuses to consider the possibility that Semblant is up to no good.”
This gave Khaldun an uneasy feeling. “Listen, I don’t know Enigma nearly as well as you do… but how can you be so certain he’s trustworthy? I mean, as grateful as I am that he bound me to Aldo, even though the council never would have permitted it, that shows a certain moral flexibility, doesn’t it?”
Syllith shook her head. “No. He foresaw Myrddin’s downfall. The council would have approved your assignment there if they had that information. Without question. Your presence in Spanbrook is critical to maintaining stability in that region.
“But not only that, consider the work he’s doing at the watchtowers. If he wanted to liberate Nyro, why would he be going to such lengths to reinforce the wards?”
“Are you sure that’s what he’s doing? He could be helping weaken them and we’d have no way to know it.”
“I was there. Watching them work. I was concerned about Semblant, not Enigma, but all three of them were strengthening the protections. Patching weak spots. And moreover, Enigma helped me destroy some of the lesser demons.
“No, Enigma has no interest in freeing Nyro. I can assure you of that. There’s something else going on.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it, then,” he said with a nod. “Like I said, you know him far better than I do.”
“Oh, I almost forgot,” she replied, getting to her feet. “Come with me.”
Syllith led him down to the basement. It was dark, but she held out her staff and called fire, lighting several oil lamps around the perimeter. Then, with a wave of her hand, a desk and several bookcases appeared out of nowhere. They were empty, but with her next spell, she brought their contents back from the void: dozens upon dozens of books and scrolls on the shelves and stacks of documents on the desk.
“What’s all this?” Khaldun asked.
“My research,” said Syllith, moving to one of the bookcases. After riffling through several journals for a few minutes, she moved to the next bookcase. Finally, she found what she was looking for and brought the volume to the desk. Sitting down in her chair, she scanned the pages, finally stopping at an entry near the end. “Aha!”
“What is it?”
“Remember when I told you that I’d heard about a Temple of the Goddess before?” Khaldun nodded. “It was gnawing at me, but I finally recalled where it was on my way here. There’s a group of monks who run a temple in Ulster. They practice Ohlam, which is the ancient religion practiced on most of the continent prior to Nyro’s reign.”
“I know that place,” said Khaldun. “Nyro wiped out their religion, right? But those monks are trying to bring about a revival. We ran into them when we were trying to take the first artifact to the university. They took it from us and tried to use it to open a portal for one of their gods!”
“That’s the place,” Syllith said with a knowing grin. “I found them when I was trying to track down one of the lesser Pythan demons. It ended up being a dead end. But in my conversation with their leader, he told me about a group that broke away from them to establish their own sect. They formed a cult that worships Nyro. And they went to Shifar to establish a new temple devoted to her.”
“Called the Temple of the Goddess, I assume?” said Khaldun. Syllith nodded. “You know, their leader told us that Nyro cast their gods out of heaven.”
“Yes, and according to the cult, Nyro must be the true god if she could cast the old ones out like that. Blasphemy to the monks who still practice Ohlam, of course.”
“That’s both fascinating and terrifying, but how does it help us?”
“Their high priest knows the exact location of the Temple of the Goddess. He told me he’s got a map in case he ever needs to go there. I didn’t think anything of it at the time—just a bunch of fanatics, right? But now we need that map!”
“That place is in Ulster. It’s part of Henry’s territory, now. Good luck getting there.”
“I have no choice,” she said with a sigh. “Based on what Nyro’s told me, the monks in Shifar are working on a way to liberate her. At the very least, I need to see it for myself. Hopefully, Nyro’s lying, and we won’t have to worry about it. But we can’t leave it to chance.”
“When do we leave?” Khaldun asked with a grin.
“We don’t. I can handle this myself. And it’ll have to wait a little while. Assuming all the governors are on board with opposing Henry, then it’s going to fall to you and me to ferry some of the other sorcerers to the princedoms. Once that’s done, then I’ll head to Ulster.”
They retired for the night. Khaldun woke at dawn and ate breakfast in the dining room with Syllith. When it was time, they headed over to the main administrative building for the council meeting.
Unlike last time, the governors all sat around a large conference table in the middle of the room. Khaldun took a seat next to Syllith. Once everyone was ready, Madeline called the meeting to order and nodded to Allure. She apprised the others of Mira’s breakthrough, and explained that it would be impossible to bind her.
“Perhaps she simply needs more practice,” one of the wizards suggested.
“I don’t think so,” said Allure. “The girl’s channels of power were closed, yet magic still didn’t work on her. No matter how much or how little she practices, closed is closed. The key is to remember that magic didn’t work on her prior to her metamorphosis, either. She can stop her null from extending into the world around her, but there’s no way to make magic work on her.”
