The Elder Blood Chronicles Bk 1 In Shades of Grey (26 page)

Sovann raised an eyebrow and looked at her.
His eyes seemed to lose focus for a second and then he gave a short
snort of amusement. “Easy enough, you have a block on your power,”
he said. Sovann turned and abruptly slapped his brother’s hand as
Finn reached for one of the crystals. “Don’t touch anything, Finn,”
he ordered, and looked back to Jala choosing once again to ignore
Finn.

Finn gave her a grin and winked, then leaned
back against the table. She could tell from his expression he
enjoyed tormenting his brother far too much. “Why would she have a
block?” Finn asked.

Sovann gave a shrug. “Most parents put blocks
on their children when they are very little, to prevent the more
ambitious ones from starting fires and such when they have a temper
tantrum.” He explained. He gave Jala a slight frown. “Your parents
should have taken it off you well before now though. Certainly
before they sent you to the Academy,” he added.

“My parents died when I was young, I was
raised in an Aspectvar,” she explained quietly.

Finn turned to regard her thoughtfully, and
she saw a flicker of what looked like sympathy, for just a moment
on his face.

Sovann simply nodded with understanding.
“That would explain that. I can, of course, remove the block, and
if you have about an hour, I can most likely teach you a few minor
spells to get you past admissions,” he offered.

A smile broke across her face and she felt
her heart give a small leap. “Really? You would do that?” She
asked, excitement filling her voice. Both brothers seemed amused by
her response.

Sovann looked between the two of them again
and his expression shifted to puzzlement. “Finn, your fate line is
reaching for her,” he said with hesitation.

“His what?” Jala asked.

“I highly doubt that. She really isn’t my
type, Sovann. She has morals, and you know I hate that in women,”
Finn replied to his brother with a smile.

Sovann gave a weary sigh. “You don’t have to
be sleeping with her for fate lines to touch, you cretin. She could
simply be a friend and your fates might run together.” He snapped
at Finn and then looked to her. “
Fate line
is a magical
term. Let me see how best to explain.” He paused and tapped his
chin as he searched for words.

Finn shook his head again. “I don’t have
female friends, Sovann. I have women I haven’t slept with yet. And
as sweet as Jala is, she would require too much effort. I much
prefer women that fall into my bed with very little effort.”

Jala looked at him and frowned. She had
thought them well on the way to becoming friends, but apparently
not.

Sovann looked at his brother in annoyance.
“You are such a pig at times. I can’t believe we are actually
related.”

Finn gave him a charming smile and a wink. “I
know, but I’m sure Father has looked into it by now and decided he
has to accept you regardless. Besides, I think Mother loves him far
too much to have cheated on him. So we will simply have to believe
you were dropped on the head or something,” he said.

Sovann glared at him a moment, and Finn made
a light oinking sound that had Sovann once again ignoring his
brother. He turned his attention fully back to Jala. “A fate line
is quite simply as it says. I cannot describe it any better. It is
a thread of your aura, or soul. It shows the path of your life.
Yours has scars, but I won’t ask. I wouldn’t have mentioned it, had
it not been for my brother. I find it sickly ironic that not even
his fate line can stay away from beautiful women,” Sovann said with
a sigh. Finn gave a laugh at his words and Jala simply shook her
head in disbelief.

Sovann cleared his throat before speaking
again. “Before we begin, let me explain the fundaments of magic to
you. Well, basic fundaments anyway. It will make the process of
learning much easier for you.” She gave him a nod, and he
continued. “There are three basic types of mages. Those, of course,
have various schools to them, but for now we will stick with basics
only. The first type is the Channeler. This type of mage channels
energy from a particular focus. It varies from caster but it is
generally just one type. Aspects, for example, are Channelers where
their focus is faith. The more faith their followers have the
stronger power they have to call on. Understand?” he asked, once he
had finished the explanation in clear precise tones.

“Yes,” she answered with a nod.

“With a Channeler, if they have full access
to their focus they are nearly unstoppable. But if you take away
that focus they must rely on their own personal store of magic
which is rarely ever much. You see every Immortal has a personal
store of magic. Those cretins such as my brother who rely on swords
have very, very small reservoirs. A Channeler is the same
essentially. They rely on a focus as much as my brother does his
sword, so they never build a strong reservoir.” He watched her
until she nodded her understanding and calmly moved on.

“Then there are Weavers. They are much rarer,
and you will almost never encounter one. I am a Weaver, so you are
lucky to actually meet one. We draw magic from everything around
us, small amounts as a rule. And we cannot draw much magic from any
one thing or we will destroy it, or kill it, if it happens to be a
living target. Our magic is not as battle-worthy as a Channeler,
but we excel at the creation of magical objects.” He motioned
toward the sword as if to emphasize his words. “We have other
talents, of course, but the main thing to remember is Weavers can
draw off of you even if you do not wish them to, and if they have
ill intent they can kill you just by doing so,” he finished. She
gave another nod for him to continue, absorbing every word he spoke
as if it were the gospel of Fortune.

“Last, there are Sorcerers. Pay close
attention here. You qualify as one,” he cautioned, and she raised
an eyebrow in surprise. She hadn’t actually expected to qualify as
any sort of mage. She was just hoping to learn enough to pass
Admissions. “Unlike the Channeler or the Weaver, a Sorcerer’s magic
is innate. They can simply see a magic and mimic it. The other two
have to study a spell and commit it to memory from runes or books.
However, Sorcerers do not use a focus or draw magic from the
outside world. It comes only from their reservoir. For this reason
alone, there are not many powerful Sorcerers. In order to build
your personal store of magic, you must exercise it, such as Finn
working out with his weights. You must steadily use more and more.
This will leave you in a constantly weakened stage until you get
your reserves to the level you wish them to be.” He paused,
watching her closely.

“How do my reserves refill if I don’t draw
magic from the outside world,” she asked.

“Excellent question and proof you are
listening closely. It will occur naturally on its own. Meditation
will help, as will sleep, but the speed it regenerates depends on
the casters and their strength. A very powerful Sorcerer will
refill his reserves before a weak one. Despite how it might seem,
the weak one would be at full capacity first given the smaller
reservoir,” he answered.

“You should teach at the Academy,” she told
him with a grin. “You explain everything so clearly,” she
added.

He gave a pained groan. “Aspects no. I’d not
wish that on my worst enemy. Now, another thing you have to know is
that Sorcerers have what are called Familiars. If you watch for
them at the Academy, you will notice them. They are usually some
sort of common small animal like a cat, or a bird. I’ve even heard
of frogs and such. It depends on the person. The best way to
explain the Familiar is that it is an extension of your soul. So
the animal that comes to you will be a reflection of your inner
self.” Sovann raised an eyebrow at her and smiled. “I don’t know
you well enough to hazard a guess at what yours might be, but do
you understand what I mean about them?” He asked.

“I think. You are saying, by seeing a
person’s Familiar I can define certain qualities about him, such as
a Sorcerer with a cat could be considered intelligent, curious, or
perhaps cruel, whereas a Sorcerer with a rat is likely cunning and
resourceful, and most likely a bit sneaky,” she answered with only
a hint of hesitation.

“That is pretty close to the mark. You get
the general idea of it. You will have to come back and show me what
sort of animal comes to you. I admit I’m rather curious.” He sat
down on a stool and motioned her to do the same. “Have a seat and
we will start learning a few basic spells. Just watch me and
attempt to mimic my actions. It will be rough at first, but once
you figure it out only the size of your reserves will limit you.”
Sovann said and indicated a stool across the table from him.

With the eagerness of a child, Jala dropped
lightly onto the stool and waved for him to start. Her smile
wouldn’t seem to fade and her heart was lighter than it had been in
days. She could feel the frustration at her failures already
falling away.

“Look. Light!” She chirped happily to Finn.
She was more skipping than walking and had been showing off her new
found skills for most of the way back to the school. She beamed at
the small globe of light cupped in her hand. It shown pale violet
and clearly lit the way.

“Beautiful light,” Finn agreed good
naturedly.

She let the light die away and abruptly
summoned it again. “Light!” She chirped again, fully aware that she
was making a fool of herself, but too happy to care. Finn gave a
chuckle and shook his head. She let the light dim once more and
gave him a hug on impulse. “Thank you so much, Finn,” she said in a
voice filled with joy. She gave a slight bounce once she had
released him and summoned the light back and dismissed it again
with a giggle that sounded a bit mad, even to her ears.

“Sovann did everything. All I did was take
you to see him, and that was the least I could do after you saved
me from getting exiled.” He replied in a voice barely above a
whisper. “And here you are, Milady. It has been a pleasure meeting
you, and may we cross paths again.” He indicated the serpent marked
door before them and gave her a slight bow.

“I hope we do, Finn. Next time, I’ll buy you
the drinks,” she said happily. “But I won’t drink the potion,” she
added, her voice firm.

He gave a soft chuckle and the door opened.
They both turned to look, her with an expression of surprise and
Finn with a guarded look. Shade looked between the two of them his
eyes lingering for a moment on Finn before he turned to Jala.

“I’ve been worried sick, I sent Leah out to
make sure you hadn’t gotten lost. Are you OK?” he asked in a voice
filled with concern.

Her expression turned a bit guilty. “I’m so
sorry, Shade, I expected to be back sooner. I should have sent
word. But look!” Her tone went from somber to happy with the last
two words and she held up her hands in front of him and summoned
the small light back. “Light!” She exclaimed.

Shade’s expression shifted to amaze.
“Congratulations, Jala,” he said with a smile, and moved aside so
she could come inside the hall. “Thank you for seeing her home,
Finn.” He offered in a voice that was grudging.

Finn had been smiling at Jala’s obvious joy,
but the smile faded when Shade turned his attention to him. “Think
nothing of it, Lord Morcaillo. It was done as a kindness to the
lady. Congratulations to you, by the way, I understand this was an
important dinner for you.” Finn’s voice was as cold as ice. “I must
say, it came as rather unexpected gossip to me considering recent
rumors I had heard of you.” He gave Jala a glance and a smile and
then looked back to Shade. “But it’s late, and I’m sure the lady
wishes to rest. Goodnight to the two of you,” he said in the same
cold voice and walked back down the path.

Puzzled, Jala watched him go. Her hands had
fallen back to her sides, and the light spell was all but
forgotten. Finn had said he didn’t hate Shade, but that certainly
seemed to be hate to her. “Should I offer you congratulations, as
well? I’m not really sure what he was talking about,” she said at
last, in a voice that had gone soft.

For another quiet moment, Shade watched the
path Finn had taken, and then closed the door and turned to Jala.
“No, of course not, it’s nothing. I’d rather hear about your magics
and how you learned them.” He motioned her back down the hall and
she quickly began telling him all about her night.

“I think I finally have it figured out,” Jala
said to Shade as she fell in step beside him. They stepped out into
the bright sunlight of a warm summer day. She stopped on the stairs
leading down from their rooms and closed her eyes to bask in the
warm sunshine. There was a gentle breeze drifting down the path and
it hung heavy with the scents of the garden flowers.

Shade raised an eyebrow. “What?” he asked. He
had stopped at the bottom of the stairs and stood waiting for
her.

She opened her eyes and joined him once
again, and they began to walk slowly toward the market district.
She felt her pace pick up a bit in anticipation of the café they
favored on free days. The nightmares had started coming nearly
every night over the past month, and coffee seemed to be the only
thing that kept her going throughout the day. She had even taken to
wearing a bit of makeup so no one would notice the dark circles
under her eyes.

“The Academy,” Jala answered finally, pulling
her thoughts back to the conversation. “I’ve caught up on all of my
classes and have high scores. I no longer get lost, and I’ve gotten
my routine down perfectly now. Five days of nothing but study and
two days of relaxing before the studying starts again,” she
clarified.

“Then you have gotten it down faster than
most. I’ve seen students that have been here for years, wandering
around with the confused look that plainly says they have no idea
where they are. You have scarcely been here three months.” He
nodded his approval. “But then you seem to learn everything with
exceptional speed,” he added with a smile. They walked for a while
in silence, and she fairly sighed with relief when they reached the
café and the waitress brought them their usual breakfast the moment
she saw them. Jala sipped the coffee gratefully and took a dainty
bite from the tart. As soon as Shade had discovered her love for
blackberry tarts, this place had become a tradition every morning
on the first of their two free days.