Catalyst(34)

He grabbed it with a shaky hand. “No. I want to. I should.” He gazed into the distance. “After the ritual, we ate and went to sleep. During the night, the maleika attacked me, draining me of my life force and taking my magic. It was much stronger than any maleika I had encountered before. I was able to get that cursed thing off but I couldn't banish it.” His voice became hoarse and his face tightened. “As I should have.

“I told Tara to run for cover while I worked on a stronger spell. But she was too stubborn. She thought we’d be able to finish it off together. The thing was too quick, and smothered her head.”

Just as it had done to me. I shivered. I had a feeling this story wasn’t going to end as well as mine.

“I was afraid to attack it while it was on her, so I tried to finish the ritual again.” Master Stradus's focus rested on me, his blue eyes piercing me. “If something goes wrong, retrace your steps, use your strongest mana, and finish the spell again.”

I nodded.

“Good. I said the banishing words, pouring all my strength into them, and it loosened its grip. I used the rest of my strength to summon a holy lightning bolt, nailing it right in the eye. The maleika howled and howled until it vanished. I hoped it had died when it went back to the Netherrealm, but I was never sure.” Master Stradus was quiet for a few moments. He stroked the globe on his staff, staring off into the distance. I could see the muscles in his jaw working as he tried to contain his feelings.

“I rushed over to Tara to check if she was still” —he paused and swallowed— “alive. She looked one last time into my eyes, and then she was gone. I tried desperately to heal her with my magic. I had none left.”

Master Stradus’s cloudy eyes were heavy with regret and remembrance. I now understood why he was so hard on me in lessons, and why he got upset when I tried to undo his web. He didn't want anything to happen to me. I was a fool to keep disobeying him. I had needed a reminder that magic, no matter how simple it may seem, was a great responsibility and should be taken seriously. No matter how badly I wanted to see my mother and how much I missed her, she would be disappointed to know the risk I took to do it.

“After I buried Tara,” he continued, “I became so enraged that I summoned maleika after maleika, trying to find the one that killed her. I never found it. The other maleika either couldn’t, or wouldn’t, tell me what I needed to know. I…lost my temper and killed dozens of innocent maleika. It wasn’t their fault she was dead. It was mine.” The globe on top of Master Stradus's staff darkened. His hands reddened as he tightened his grip. I watched as the globe swirled and his power continued to build. The air around us became heavy and violent.

Master Stradus took a deep breath. His power dissipated as he calmed himself. “I continued to summon one every year on the anniversary of her death in hopes I’d be lucky. I never saw it again until now.”

Master Stradus's blue eyes focused on me again, and his voice became firm. “While you're in this mountain and under my tutelage, I expect you to do everything I say. It's not because I enjoy telling you what to do. Magic is very dangerous, Hellsfire. Even if you think you're doing everything right, things can still go wrong.”

“But I wanted to see my mother.” I bit my lip and looked down in shame when I saw how exasperated he looked. “I'm sorry. You're right. I shouldn't have performed the ritual after you said no.”

“Quite right.” His eyes softened. “I was terrified when I saw the same maleika doing the same thing it did so many years ago.” He placed his hand on my shoulder. “I'm glad to see you're all right now, my boy.”

I nodded. “Me too.” I couldn't resist the impulse to hug him, burying myself in his sky blue robes.

Master Stradus's muscles tightened in surprise. He relaxed and returned the hug. We embraced for several long moments before he broke it. He cleared his throat. “I don't want you to do anything like that again, Hellsfire.”

“I won't.”

“I'm serious.”

Our eyes met, and I said, “So am I.”

“Good. Now, all things considered, you did a good job.”

“I did?”

“Yes. You successfully summoned a maleika. If it hadn’t been that one, things might have gone better. I promise you, you'll get to summon more to check on your mother and those you care about.”

“Thank you, Master.”

“Now go to bed. It's late.”

I yawned and put a hand to my mouth. I left him and walked to the door. “Good night, Master.”

“Good night, Hellsfire. One last thing.”