Page 26 of Witchcraft and Fury (Chronicles of the Divided Isle #1)

‘It is possible, then,’ mused Loveday, after much consideration, ‘that you do have some innate gift. You are, after all, the first witch in a hundred years. I ought not be surprised if such turns out to be the case.

‘Dirk, would you be a good fellow and take off that amulet of yours? See if young Solar here can raid your mind.’

‘You jest,’ said Dirk, looking incredulously at Loveday. ‘Get one of the boys to be the witch’s plaything!’

‘That won’t do, friend. I need a grown man, someone as similar to Ralston as possible. Solar will just try to decipher your current thoughts. No memories.’

Binns scowled.

‘Come, is this really such an indignity?’ Loveday said. ‘We’re a magic encampment; this kind of training is what you should expect.’

‘Aye, but not with a girl ,’ Binns spat, but he removed his amulet, thrust it into Wyman’s hands and strode forward to stand before Solar.

He looked into her eyes, twin black coals boring into her. ‘Do your worst, witch.’

Solar stared back. ‘What am I meant to do?’ she asked, directing her question at Loveday.

‘If I told you that, it wouldn’t be a true replication of your encounter with Ralston. Just mind raid. Those are your instructions.’

Solar kept her gaze locked with Binns, but so much of her willpower was spent on not quailing under his glare that there was little left for working any magic.

‘Nothing,’ she said eventually, giving up and looking away.

‘That’s what I thought,’ Binns spat, stomping back to snatch his amulet off Wyman.

‘Well, that clears that up, then,’ said Loveday with somewhat false briskness, still regarding Solar with a quizzical look.

‘No innate power to speak of, under non-threatening circumstances. Cometh the hour, springeth the power indeed. Just a remarkable case of it, given your lack of any training in mind raiding.’

‘But, Sir Gaderian, if I mind raided due to this “springeth the power” thing, wouldn’t you expect me to still be able to mind raid? Aren’t our field missions meant to drive breakthroughs in our training, not fleeting bursts of power?’

‘You’re not wrong, of course, Solar. I suspect that your lack of success on Binns is due to you having had no training in mind raiding whatsoever, as you observed yourself.

Without the spur of danger, you had no foundation of knowledge to guide you in attempting the feat.

But we’ll see what you manage after some initial training. ’

Solar realised that Loveday was not going to offer any other explanation, despite the obvious doubt in his eyes. She thanked him again and walked back to her place by the fire, attempting to hide her dissatisfaction.

Bear and Pingot immediately insisted on seeing the necklace, holding the pendant in their hands and marvelling at its mysterious beauty.

Once Loveday and Binns had retired to their tents, the three of them sat up late discussing Solar’s puzzling – and somewhat transient – mind raiding abilities.

Try as they might, however, they came up with no explanation better than Loveday’s.

Solar’s satisfaction at having received the pendant was tarnished not just by the mystery of her mind raiding prowess.

After all, she supposed an inexplicable talent was something she ought to be grateful for.

But she also felt a sense of trepidation that she could not shift.

Loveday’s approval gave her a warm glow, and the last thing she wanted was to suspect him of anything underhanded, but persistently at the back of her mind, like a headache she couldn’t shake, was Gib Ralston’s assessment of Loveday: ‘ I have looked into his eyes, and into his heart, and seen a kindred spirit. ’ Could it be that Ralston – and Captain Grubber, for that matter – were right: that Loveday wasn’t the hero he was made out to be?

That he had more sinister plans for her?

Or had Ralston merely been toying with her, playing mind games?

*

The next morning, there was no let-up in their training, despite the exhaustion of the past few days.

Solar found that, after her success in making Gib’s potion boil over, her manipulation was almost as good as that of Oswald or Pingot.

It was a huge relief to have finally improved.

Wyman lagged behind as usual in both confidence and ability, whilst Bear was the best of them all at manipulating fire.

Each mealtime Pingot would set up multiple saucepans of boiling potatoes and other vegetables, frying pans of sausages and onions and roasting spits of whatever game they caught that day.

Bear would stand to one side, controlling the heat under each one with his eyes as Pingot stirred and turned.

Everyone agreed that they made a formidable cooking partnership, and even Cal came back for seconds at every meal.

One such evening meal, Solar, feeling full to bursting, saw Loveday return to the encampment from the trees. He strode towards the campfire, his shadow long in the day’s dying light.

‘Trainees, follow me. The day’s final lesson is about to begin,’ he announced as he reached the fire. The trainees all stood. There was an air of excited anticipation amongst them as they followed Loveday back the way he had come, treading a narrow path into the trees .

It was dark in the forest, the evening sun hidden by a canopy of tangled branches. Loveday muttered an incantation, and a ball of pearly white light burst into being and hovered a hand’s length above the tip of his staff, lighting the path and trees around them in an other-worldly glow.

‘Sir Gaderian,’ said Solar, hurrying forwards to walk beside the wizard. ‘What are you going to teach us this evening?’ Behind her, her chattering classmates fell silent so they could listen. But Loveday smiled one of his mysterious smiles.

‘You’ll just have to wait and see,’ he said, patting her warmly on the shoulder. ‘But believe me, I have quite an evening in store for you.’

After some twenty minutes of walking they came to a small clearing. The sun had now fully set, and the moon was out. At the centre of the clearing was a large fire, and Loveday bade them take seats on six logs arranged in a ring around it.

From her log, Solar looked around the clearing.

Just outside their circle stood a derelict hut.

Towards the edge of the clearing, just visible in the firelight, were crowds of tree stumps.

Branches had been hacked from the few trees still standing.

The land, partly obscured though it was by shifting shadows, appeared ravaged, the mutilated trees its scars.

‘What is this place?’ asked Pingot.

‘A place where a great crime has been committed,’ answered Loveday.

‘The man who lived in the hut axed down much of the surrounding forest. But the trees in these parts are rich in magic. Felling them was a terrible sin. Only those intent on carving a magic staff should ever touch one, and only then with the greatest respect and knowledge of forest lore. We, or rather you , are going to right the man’s wrong. ’

‘How?’ asked Wyman .

‘By casting a spell to make the trees regrow,’ said Loveday.

Excited murmurs passed between the trainees. Solar felt her heart perform a somersault. If there was any one skill that would help her find her father, it was the ability to cast spells. She had never dreamt that she would begin studying them so early on in her training.

Wyman spoke again. ‘But we need magic staffs to cast spells, don’t we?’

‘Normally, yes,’ replied Loveday. ‘But before I brought you all here I cast a powerful, complex spell in this clearing. It filled the very air with magic, and that magic will remain for the night. It is a magic that you can harness to cast your own spells, without needing a staff in your hands.’

‘You have cast a spell here to make the air … magic? And we can tap into, or harness, this magic to cast our own spells?’ asked Pingot. He sounded doubtful. ‘The air here doesn’t seem any different from anywhere else.’

Loveday smiled. ‘No different? Really? Close your eyes. Breathe. Concentrate. Then tell me that I have not made the air here special.’

They did as instructed. Solar tried to focus on the air’s quality, its temperature, its taste. But she was distracted by her thumping heart and an uncontrollable urge to simply get started.

Giving up, she opened her eyes. The other students all still had their eyes closed. Bear was mouthing to himself, ‘ focus, focus, ’.

Solar looked towards the deserted hut, its cracked tiles like jagged teeth, and to the thick forest that covered a steep rise in the land beyond.

The moon emerged from dark clouds, and in its glow she saw the farthermost treetops ripple in a sudden gust of wind.

The dark leaves seemed to blacken as they were buffeted in her direction, and within moments the ripple had reached the clearing.

Solar’s hair whipped into her eyes and mouth.

She swept it from her face and breathed.

This time, the air set her taste buds afire.

She breathed again, in a great gulp, relishing the sensation that spread deep into her lungs.

It was unlike anything she had ever tasted before …

like starlight, like the waxing moon, like the forest’s heady aroma in the final moments of purple dusk.

She looked at Bear and Pingot, who had also now opened their eyes, and she could tell by the wonder on their faces that they felt and tasted it too.

‘Now you see?’ said Loveday. ‘The air here is magic, and tonight you will begin your journey in spell casting.’ He picked up a pile of books next to his log and handed them to Bear, sitting on his left, instructing him to take one and pass the rest on.