Chapter 20: Sprout

Chapter 20: Sprout

Sprout

It only took a few days for Arlade Glimont to tire of Kalens presence. His questions were simple but never-ending. And for some reason he was obsessed with magnetizing wood. It wasnt the dullest hobby shed ever encountered among practitioners. There was that fellow in Kler whod spent the better part of thirty years experimenting with different diopters of sun crystal lenses

But still! It was hardly stimulating stuff.

The boy was no doubt destined to be one of those crotchety old fellows who lived in a moldy tower, surrounded by anxious cats and disturbing things in jars.

Now, though, he was an overeager child. And he was obviously hopeful that she would share a basic enchanting book with him. Arlade would have happily given him a library full of them if he would just leave her alone. But she had only ever been a dabbler in enchanting, and she didnt carry any scrolls on the subject around with her. Especially not beginners ones.

She could hardly give him the books she did have. Even the ones shed brought for Zevnie were esoteric body and mind magic texts that were really only suited to the specific training she had her apprentice doing this season.

The final straw came when Arlade was standing on the beach, trying to summon a local variety of mollusk so that she could examine it for magical anomalies. Twenty years ago, you could wade in the water off this precise spot and gather a bucket of the mana-hungry little creatures, but the fishermen said they werent so easy to find nowadays.

That warranted study.

Summoning mollusks was nearly impossible for Arlade, not that the boy could have known that. She had little skill with animals in the first place, even less with summoning them, and these animals were basically tentacled clams. Even if the spell was working, they didnt exactly move quickly.

Whats that? Kalen asked, sliding his finger across exactly the wrong spot in her summoning diagram at exactly the wrong moment.

Zevnie! Arlade called shrilly as her working collapsed around her. Zevnie, take Kalen away and teach him something!

Either she gave up her assistant or this little menace was going to give up a hand. There was really no other choice at this point.

#

Nanu hooted with laughter when Kalen stalked into her house later that evening, looking angry as a wet cat.

Its not funny! he said, bristling. I was just trying to speed everything up, and now I'm stuck with thatthatsnooty girl!

Nanu cackled and wiped tears of mirth from her eyes. I cant believe you ruined a sorcerers spell on purpose! Youve got more guts than good sense.

Kalen flinched. I didnt ruin it on purpose. I was just going to interrupt it a little! I thought shed be able to keep casting because shes a sorcerer.

Well, youve done it now, small man, Nanu said. I saw you trotting all over the village this afternoon with that girl stuck to you tighter than a fishs scales.

I cant even escape from her when I sleep, said Kalen with a shudder. I cant prove it, but I think she stays awake just to glare at me all night long.

Its the start of something terribly romantic, Im sure. How did you get away from her this time? Or should I expect her to come bursting through the door at any moment?

She takes a full bath in the washtub every day. With the water so hot its a wonder shes got any skin left at all!

Zevnie fetched and filled the tub herself every evening, so nobody could really complain. Shed been so delighted when she saw the tub with its interlocking mage-painted heating circles that shed actually sung a song while she filled it the first time.

She had a nice voice for an evil spy. Because that was what she was, as far as Kalen was concerned. Nobody had ever watched him as closely as the sorcerers apprentice did, and Shelba was his mother.

Kalen didnt know what to make of it. He was sure he hadnt done anything too suspicious since Zevnie arrived on the island. Hed been so cautious about using his power that his skin was nearly crawling with what he had to assume was excess magical buildup.

Even today, when Zevnie had interpreted her masters orders to teach him something as an excuse to run Kalen through some weird practitioners drill, hed been determined to underperform.

What did she teach you, then? Nanu asked curiously, taking a sip from a mug of tea.

She called it gyring. Its like shoving your magic back and forth through yourself without ever letting it form a pattern or escape to mix with the ambient magic? She said every practitioner was supposed to start doing it from the time they were old enough to move magic at all

He looked at his teacher questioningly.

Aye, I think Ive heard of it in passing, Nanu said with a frown. Sorry I couldnt teach it to you myself. Ive never seen it in a book, and my own master never taught me. Mayhap its a modern technique. Or one learned as a matter of course in wizarn families but rarely shared outside of them.

Itsits pretty easy. I can teach you if you want. But Zevnie says its kind of uncomfortable.

It was supposed to be uncomfortable if you did it right, anyway. Zevnie said the key was to move the magic quick and hard enough that it hurt like the beginnings of a stomach ache, not like someone is pouring acid through your pathways.

Fearful that the older girl would somehow sense the power Nanu assured him he had, Kalen had swished his magic around inside himself as halfheartedly as possible. If it had done anything at all to him, he couldnt tell. Hed try for real tonight, if he could be sure his watcher was sleeping.

Nanu shook her head. Dont worry about me, small man. Im not too old for new tricks, but Ill save my energy for learning the ones that really tickle my feet. Did you come visit me because you missed your books?

She gestured toward the chest where Kalens books and scrolls were now hidden with her own. He stared at it longingly, then shook his head. If I start reading them, itll only tease me. I have to figure out how to shake her off for a few days first. I came to leave you this.

He held up his coin. It was covered in the case of carved bone Dort had made for it years ago, but with Zevnie so close to him, Kalen had begun to grow worried that she would see it and ask about it. He could lie about what it was, but for all he knew, she had strange magical senses that would suss out the truth.

I asked it if I should leave it with you, and it said yes, Kalen informed Nanu.

Well, by all means, lets do what it says, the old woman said dryly.

Nanu wasnt a big believer in the coin. Kalen wasnt sure he was either, but Tomas Orellen had said it would be wrong so often you were never really sure it was working. If it was only right a little more than half the time, wasnt that still better than a regular coin?

Kalen tucked the coin away in Nanus book chest, slipping it between the pages of Cantripy of the Sorcerer Brou. He let his fingers linger on the cover and resolved himself to escaping from Zevnies watchful gaze as soon as possible.

The aurora seemed to have reached its peak potency over the past couple of days. Surely it wasnt long before it began to wane again. Kalen couldnt let it go without at least trying For the stirring of air a few more times.

Nanu, Kalen said hesitantly, are you sure Im a powerful wizarn?

His teacher grunted over her cup. Im sure youre more powerful than I am. And also more powerful than my master was.

Its justZevnie seems so far ahead of me. Not just in the things she knows, but in how she does them. Shes really fast.

The heating circle again?

It wasnt the first time Kalen had brought the matter up with Nanu. I dont understand why I cant form the activation pattern as quickly as she can. Its just a simple one. But if I try to pull it together faster, my magic gets all scrambled, and I have to start over.

Youve gotten faster over the years with practice. Youll get even faster with more. Remember Zevnie is older than you, and no doubt shes been trained by her family since before she could talk.

Is that all there is to it? Kalen wanted to ask.

But he knew there were limits to Nanus knowledge. If he really wanted an answer, hed have to ask Zevnie or Sorcerer Arlade. And hed have to risk earning their interest. Perhaps his trouble was only lack of practice or lack of natural talent, and that would be the end of it. Or perhaps Nanu was right, and he was powerful, and something unusual was going on inside him.

Arlade seemed nice. She was kind and fairly patient, and she was even going to try to help Kalens parents for free. There was a whole bag of coin saved up to pay her for her efforts, and shed refused it easily.

But she was also obsessive about her work. Kalen had been observing her closely and questioning her as often as he dared, and hed decided she was trying to learn about magical anomalies so that she could ultimately do somethinginvolving the rift magic.

And he thought Zevnie was as much a research subject as she was an apprentice. Some of the weird measuring instruments the sorcerer had brought were shaped like bracelets or necklaces, and it wasnt unusual to see Zevnie wearing them and writing down notes in a small booklet she carried in the pocket of her coat.

Kalen could definitely imagine Arlade kindly kidnapping him from his family and taking him along with her so that she could study him in the same way.

He shivered. He was tempted by her knowledge, but not that tempted.

Never mind, he said to Nanu. Ill figure it out on my own, Im sure. If I just keep trying.

#

That night, Kalen faked sleep until he was sure Zevnie wasnt faking sleep.

His unwelcome roommate didnt snore, but her breathing did deepen when she finally fell into slumber. The deep breathing happened much later than the time when her body went still and she stopped rustling around in her ridiculous number of blankets.

I knew she was staying awake to spy on me.

Kalen would have to ask his family if he did the deep breathing thing himself when he slept. Or if he snored. He wanted to be sure he faked it properly in the future.

He crept from the room. Dodging every creak in the floor by memory, he sneaked out of the house, pausing only for a few minutes to observe a gold and glass bowl Arlade had left by the cold hearth. When Kalen focused his mind and circulated his magic, he could see motes of mana collecting in the bowl.

It was fascinating, but he didnt dare touch it for fear the sorcerer would know.

Distance seemed like the safest bet, so when he made it outside, he kept walking. He headed into the dark forest, following the rough path that led toward his rock. When hed made it far enough that a shout probably wouldnt reach village, he settled himself on the needle-strewn ground with his back to the trunk of a tall pine.

There wasnt much light to see by. The glimmer of the aurora was hard to make out through the tree limbs, but that was all right. Kalen was used to camping out, and for the first time in days, he felt like he could breathe freely.

Finally. Here, there was nobody to hide from. He had no intention of going back home until sunrise. If he was exhausted tomorrow, he would just sleep through the day. Let Zevnie spy on his unconscious body instead of his waking one. She deserved the boredom.

With no supplies, Kalen was limited in what he could cast. So he practiced his breath thrawning. It was hardermentallyto do it when he wasnt underwater. The presence of so much convenient air was too tempting.

When he tired of that, he recited the water-cooling cantrip on a tree root to see what would happen. After ten or so casts over the course of nearly an hour, he thought the root felt somewhat colder to the touch.

It wasnt the most impressive feat, but Kalen didnt care. The process was pure joy. He drew the magic in, he shaped it, he let it flow out again in time with the cantrip. And then he repeated it. By the time he was finished with the chilly tree root, he finally felt more like himself.

With a contented sigh, he let the last of his tension drain from him.

At Nanus earlier, Kalen had added notes to his grimoire on things hed seen Arlade do that he wanted to attempt himself. But that wasnt a project he could undertake quickly. Instead, he settled into his usual meditation posturelying back on the ground with his legs drawn up at the knees and his arms stretched out, palms facing down.

A not-very-detailed description of meditation Kalen had read when he first started practicing had made him think this was the proper positioning. Nanu had never disabused him of the notion. And he refused to change it just because Zevnie had told him in a scandalized tone that he looked like a sunbather instead of a real practitioner.

Anything that irritated the sorcerers apprentice couldn't be all bad.

When he was completely comfortable, he started to run through the technique shed taught him this afternoon. Gyring.

Zevnie had made it sound like it should be a swishing around of your magicone way and then the other through your pathways until they ached. Shed said that there were different levels to the technique, and advanced practitioners made the magic move in a smooth, spiraling motion instead.

She had indicated that Kalen was too immature and uneducated to understand why the spiral was important. And he had gone along with that impression, though it rankled. But he assumed it had something to do with drawing large quantities of magic through your pathways more quickly. Or with practicing fine control over it. Probably both.

At any rate, he was a long way from there.

Kalen swished his magic the way Zevnie had told him to, but it wasnt as smooth as she had described. The two largest flows of magic inside Kalenwhat he sometimes thought of as the main riversdidnt connect to each other at any point.

Oh, they wrapped around and around each other in complicated knots, but on the rare occasions hed had the focus and the willpower to follow every twisted path to its conclusion, hed learned that there was nowhere the two main flows intersected.

Kalens mana structure branched a hundred times into streams, and then a hundred more into rivulets, and then into even narrower little strands of magic that felt thin as threads.

These threads were the only parts of the system that were easily manipulable. And they were what was used to form the fundamental shape of a working, whether it was a spell pattern, an activation rune, or a thrawning.

Zevnie had made it sound like a practitioner was supposed to be able to draw his or her magic back and forth through this whole internal network at once. And Kalen could. Sort of. But he had many small pockets of stillnessinternal knots that were too tangled and forgotten tributaries that were too distant from the rest of the system to be affected by a general push-and-pull of his magic.

These had to be manipulated separately. So it took Kalen a while to go through the whole thing, stirring everything to life and swishing it as instructed.

It was an interesting exercise, though he imagined that would change if he did it every day. Zevnie said anyone below the mage level should do it that often if they hoped to develop themselves properly.

But Kalen couldnt tell what good this process was doing him.

So shed combed through Arlades collection of texts instead, searching for useful, simple nuggets of information that could help him.

Hes at his rock, Iless said finally. He goes there to study. He wanted privacy to study the new runes you gave him.

His rock?

Kalen has a rock in the woods. He camps there sometimes.

Further questioning led to the vexing information that this rock was hours away from the village by foot and that Kalen wasnt expected back for a few days.

Ill take the book for you, Iless said suddenly, straightening her spine. I know the way to the rock. I can deliver it to Kalen today.

I am sure your parents would not want you to make such a long journey on your own, Zevnie said in surprise.

I do it all the time! Iless said loudly, putting her hands on her hips. I bet Ive done it hundreds of times. I love to travel through the woods alone. There arent even wolves on this side of the mountains! And if there were, I would love that, too.

I see, said Zevnie. Even though she didnt. She couldnt believe they let Kalen go out on his own, and this girl was years younger. I will keep that in mind. I may just wait until he returns to give him the book.

That would be good, said Iless. Her hands were still firmly planted, and her small jaw stuck out. Kalen likes to be alone on his rock. Privacy is important for wizarns. But if you dont want to wait, then you should remember to send me with the book instead of going yourself. Because you are busy with your master, and delivering books to the rock is something I do lots and lots.

Zevnie was half afraid the child was going to demand a solemn oath from her, so she nodded hastily and hurried toward the privy.

What an intense little girl. She reminded Zevnie of her sister.

A rock? Arlade said later that morning when Zevnie brought the matter up. Theyd just finished placing one of the sorcerers monitoring bowls beside a strange-looking tree that seemed to be absorbing more mana than its neighbors.

Some kind of local sacred place thats been abandoned for years? Zevnie said. I thought maybe we should test it.

Oh! That rock. Yes, Ive visited it several times on past trips. Usually, ancient landmarks have something magically anomalous about them, but that old rock is just a rock. It rolled down a mountainside during an ancient landslide most likely.

If you wanted, I could take the equipment and test it again. Just in case

Arlade glanced over at her in surprise. Zevnie wasnt usually one to offer to run off and perform experiments on her own. Suddenly, the sorcerer laughed. Zevnie, how unexpectedly dear of you! You want to deliver that little book youve made to Kalen in person, dont you?

No. I just thoughtit wont be as useful to him once the rift magic has faded. And I wasn't sure when wed leave exactly or how much help he would need understanding what Id written

Arlade gave her an indulgent smile. Go, she said.

What? Really? Zevnie asked in surprise.

Youre so serious and, frankly, unenjoyable most of the time, Arlade said, flipping her hand in a shooing motion. If were going to continue traveling together for another contracted year, I feel that your sudden show of human affection should be encouraged. So, begone. Depart.

Another contracted year. The words rang through Zevnie, bright as celebration bells. She could scarcely believe she'd heard them.

Iyes. Master, thank you! I will make you so proud. I will achieve what no amphora has before, and I

Will go visit Kalen at his rock?

I dont have to go, Zevnie said at once. I could clean your instruments again. I could

Could go be friendly and sociable like a normal fourteen-year-old girl who knows how to have a good time on occasion? Excellent.

Right. I will do that. And Ill be so quick! I can come back this evening.

Please dont. Kalen might follow you home, and I need at least a couple of days of peace and quiet before he starts lurking around again. Did you sense him staring at us from behind the bushes the other day? Very distracting. Sogo camping. Learn to have fun. Arlade paused, then added, And try not to freeze to death, my little hothouse flower.

Zevnie hardly dared go in case something changed Arlades mind in her absence. But she couldnt very well demand that her master stop her work and formalize the contract right on the spot. And she couldnt stay when shed been ordered to leave.

Practice socializing? Am I really that difficult to be around?

Zevnie shot off toward the house so that she could collect some supplies and the book shed made. She would socialize with Kalen so thoroughly that he would never want her to leave! But she would. She would!

Another contracted year. She hadnt shamed herself and her family as much as shed feared.

The joyaccompanied by a double thrawning that strengthened the legs and increased blood-flowcarried Zevnie along the rough forest path to her destination at a swift pace.

After an hour, the forest began to slope more sharply upward, and the path was so overgrown that Zevnie had a bit of trouble finding it at times. It definitely wasn't the easiest trip in the world, and she was surprised that Kalen and even little Iless apparently traveled it often.

Most of the villagers were sturdy folk, she supposed. And Kalen probably made it this far on sheer stubbornness.

An hour after that, her thighs aching from the unnatural speed shed forced on them, Zevnie sensed magic. She looked around, seeing nothing but endless stretches of evergreen trees.

It was not the feel of the aurora overheadthat raw and untamed river of pure mana and half-aspected rift magic pouring through the atmosphere. No, this was shaped. And it was fairly powerful.

If not for the slope of the ground making her direction so obvious, Zevnie would have thought shed gotten turned around in the forest and ended up back near the village and Master Arlade. The sorcerer had a habit of flinging her magic at a spell haphazardly when she was in a mood, and this felt similar.

It cannot be Nanu. The old woman was clever, but uneducated and weak. Unless shed been hiding her power for some reason?

Zevnie didnt see why she would.

There were a few middling magicians in the town on the other side of the island. Perhaps one had come here? Why? To teach Kalen?

Strange. Surely they wouldnt have lied about Kalen having a teacher. It wasnt like Zevnie or Arlade cared.

The magic built, then faded, then built again as Zevnie walked.

Well, someone has a lot of energy to be throwing it around so casually. Or else they are drunk and facing down a bear.

This might not be the work of a magician. It might even be a mage.

Zevnie was uneasy, but she reached into the pocket of her coat and took out the crystal skull token that proved her apprenticeship. If they were a mage, it was all to the good. They wouldnt be from Hemarland, but some less far-flung place. And they would recognize the warning writ clear in magic on the carved crystal.

If you harmed her apprentice, Arlade Glimont of the Archipelago would harm you. And she would do a much better job of it, too.

Just to be on the safe side, Zevnie held the skull in front of her as she approached the source of the power. It was building up again.

She stepped into a clearing that was almost entirely filled by a boulder with a flattened top. A small blond figure stood in the center of it, facing away from Zevnie.

She looked around for the other practitioner.

There was nobody else in sight.

Then, a sound broke the silenceKalens voice. He wassinging? Reciting? And his hands, which had been hanging loose at his sides, began to tap his legs as though they were keeping a rhythm.

The magic started to build again. Mesmerized, confused, and unsettled, Zevnie found herself running toward the stairs carved into one side of the boulder. She raced up them.

Kalen hadnt heard her. He was still chanting.

Thats what it is. A chant, thought Zevnie, heart pounding. Is this a cantrip? This is a cantrip, isnt it?

It wouldnt work. Of course it wouldnt. Stupid little village boy. He really didnt know a thing.

But why is there so much magic?

In the womb of the earth,

all lies in darkness.

I bring you the light.

I bring you the light.

Take the water from the air,

for I have brought you to light.

Drink your fill,

for I have brought you to light.

Live, oh mote of life.

Live in the light.

Live.

Some words were hard and others were soft. Some lines went up and others down. It didnt sound good, exactly. But it sounded careful. Polished. Intentional.

An image flashed through Zevnies mindone of the heating circle in Kalens bedroom. So perfectly painted. So strangely flawless for the work of a child.

Though shed never learned a cantrip herself, Zevnie would have bet her soul in that moment that Kalen had not missed a single inflection in his chant.

But it doesnt matter. He cant have done anything.

Whywhy is there so much magic?

Zevnies feet hit the top of the stairs at precisely the same moment as Kalen gave a pleased cry and bent to pick something up from the surface of the stone in front of him. He cradled the thing to his chest.

What was it? The cantrip hadnt worked. Zevnie knew it hadnt.

Show me what youve got! she shouted, rushing at him.

Kalen spun. His brown eyes were wide with shock. Zevnie, he breathed, pure horror in his voice.

But shed already reached him. She grabbed his cupped hands in both of hers, and he was too slow to stop her. Too late to hide what hed done.

In his hands, Kalen, son of Jorn, held a single seed. A pale sprout had emerged from it, and as Zevnie watched, a tiny green leaf unfurled and reached for the sun.

All that magic for such a small thing, Zevnie thought. Her eyes stung. Such a small, useless, perfect thing.

Kalen was trying to stutter some kind of excuse. Zevnie wasnt listening.

You lying bastard, she said in a trembling voice. You thief. Youve ruined everything.

Then she drew back her arm and slapped him as hard as she could.