A Spell of Seven

Chapter 3

 Night. Fire. A shadow danced around him, fending off the danger, weaving a wall with a single gate. Through that gate strode the Brother called Crassus. "Mageling," he snarled. His voice was Akhenaten's."The Brotherhood is waiting."

Terror washed over Falan, and he remembered his magic, but Crassus was already burning, and screaming...

"Wake up, mageling."

The voice was indifferent, and female. Someone was shaking his shoulder. Falan snapped awake. "Freya?"

The warrior stood over him, her face unreadable. She removed her booted foot from his arm. "You were dreaming." Without further comment, she stalked off and began removing a thick, tough bread from her pack. She'd changed her shirt – it was now grey rather than green – but her leather armor was still stained with blood. No other visible sign remained of her bullet wound.

Falan turned around. Jax was still asleep, but Falan saw to his surprise that he himself had scooted as far away from Jax as possible, until he was up against the opposite boulder. "What's that about?" he mumbled to himself. He didn't usually move in his sleep, but he'd had one heck of a nightmare.

"You're opposites." It was Freya, who, naturally, had heard him. "You're a fire mage, born from a phoenix. Phoenixes hate the cold, and he radiates it."

Born from a phoenix? "How was I 'born,' then? Why did the phoenix transfer its power to me when it died?"

Freya tossed him a piece of thick bread. "Eat this."

Falan decided it would be useless to pester her. It was then that he heard Jax's voice from behind. "Then how were you created? Are you a mage, too?"

Jax sat down next to them. Falan glared at his brother. Bad question! Freya's eyes darkened. "How dare you? I am not a mage. I cannot do magic, nor do I care to." She tossed a piece of bread at Jax, and it very nearly nailed him between the eyes.

"Then what are you? You're like, super human," Jax said, awkwardly catching it.

Jax, shut up. Please, please shut up, Falan thought. Freya wasn't friendly, but he didn't want her to hate them for Jax's pestering.

Freya's eyes narrowed, and for a moment she didn't say anything. Then, "Magic is a strange thing. It forms connections, sometimes unwanted, and it adheres to itself. It gathers in a vessel that is naturally magical, like a phoenix or a demon cat, and when that vessel dies, it seeks somewhere to go, preferably somewhere that won't force it to spread out. You two were perfect vessels for the magic of those rouge creatures to flee to. The fact that you're brothers, one light and one dark, makes it even better.

"When someone is transformed by magic, a strange thing often happens. If someone has a sibling, or sometimes even a spouse, it may affect that other person, either the same way or the opposite way as the original transformation. Sometimes, magic chooses that depending on temperament. Other times, it is random. Someone who is made dark-haired through magic may have a sibling who becomes pale-haired. This didn't happen to you, Falan, when your brother's hair turned dark, because you have your own magic, and therefore it becomes much harder for someone else's magic to transform you. These transformations can happen through two ways: through becoming a mage, like you two, or through a person without magic being altered by someone with magic."

That answered Falan's question, but not the question of Freya's strength. A sickening thought occurred to Falan. "So if I burn someone, their sibling might get burned, or become immune to burns?"

"No. That person would be a victim of conjury. There are effects to that person – the burns – but no deep transformation."

That was reassuring. Absently, Falan bit into the bread he was holding, and almost spat it out. It was tasteless and hard.

Jax noticed. "What is this?" he asked, waving his own portion.

"Traveller's bread. It's nasty, but I keep some in my pack in case of an emergency. Usually I'm the only one eating it."

"You eat this stuff?" Falan failed dramatically at hiding his disgust.

"I can't taste it," Freya explained. "It's all food to me. Many members of the Order don't eat it, but that's their loss. The bread is full of nutrients and will keep you full and energized for the rest of the day. It does not spoil."

"Is that the price you pay for your strength?" asked Jax. "Not being able to taste?" Falan elbowed his brother in the arm so hard Jax nearly fell over. "What?"

"It is the least of my price," Freya replied furiously. She stood up. "We keep walking. Either eat the bread or don't, but you will get no food for the rest of the day."

She was silent as they walked, which of course was not unusual. Falan repeatedly asked questions about the magic world, to which her answers were as simple as possible. Eventually he gave up. Both boys ate as much traveller's bread as they could without gagging, then chucked away the remains.

They kept walking without stopping as dusk drew on and night closed in around them. The darkness was not a problem: Jax could sense his way in the shadows, Falan's eyes glowed like lamps, and Freya seemed to be able to see fine, though she did not share how.

They only stopped once the moon was fleeing to the horizon. Freya got her sleeping bag out again and threw it at Falan. "In there."

He peered into the cleft in a rock that she indicated. They were in the middle of a forest that sprouted rocky ledges at intervals, and this little cave was one of the deeper covered spaces formed by the stones.

"Ick," Jax remarked. He grinned at Falan with false humor. "Bet there are lots of bugs in there."

Flames spiraled from Falan's fingers into the cleft. "Not anymore."

"It's going to get colder before dawn," Freya broke in, in a tone that indicated she didn't care about the cold, but thought they might. The temperature had dropped with the sunset. "Wait here." She stalked off into the undergrowth.

Jax took the sleeping bag from Falan and crawled into the cleft. "Roomier than it looks in here. Do you think she's going to try to give us more waybread, or whatever that is?"

"No, I'm not. Not tonight, anyway" said Freya dryly, appearing out of the woods like a shadow. Falan started. She held a dead rabbit, and skinned it as they watched. The hide fell to the ground, and she cut meat away from bone before handing the meat to Falan. "Would you like to roast this, or shall I build a fire?"

He eyed it with suspicion. "Sure." Taking the meat, he heated both hands and cupped them around it. It did not take long to cook, and Freya used a dagger to spear it and a knife to slash it into pieces. Falan took his immediately, and it did not burn his hands, but she ordered Jax to cool the rest with his shadows. He did so irritably.

As soon as they were finished, Jax and Falan crawled into the cleft, onto the sleeping bag. Freya buried the rabbit's remains and then followed. The cleft was indeed roomier than it appeared from the outside, but it was not quite roomy enough for three people to fit in comfortably. All three curled up as small as possible, and Freya and Jax were smashed against the cavern walls. Falan was smashed against Jax, but he was too tired to notice Jax's cold and fell asleep instantly.