The Phoenix Ring(23)

Timothy stood up and stretched his arms.

"I'm ready for a nap, you coming?" he asked.

"No, I have something I need to talk about with Master Borin. You go ahead, I'll catch up." Aidan said.

Timothy shrugged and left just as Aaliyah returned.

"Now what was it you wanted?" Borin asked, a note of concern in his voice.

"If you don't mind me asking," Aidan said, "How would you deal with a goblin if he possessed a friend?"

Borin closed his eyes and sighed.

"It's the other sorcerer, Timothy, isn't it? I could tell something was off about him."

"Yes," Aidan said. "We found it on the journey. It might be in his bag right now."

"I doubt it," the amogh said, "If he stayed around so many amoghs for so  long then he might not be able to hold his bond. If you really want to  break him then the best thing to do is to remove him from the source of  his magic."

"You mean like a leeching spell," Aidan said, feeling stupid for not thinking of that first.

"No, I wouldn't try that. In the moment before his magic is taken he  could do some serious damage. If he comes with you on your journey, then  his power will weaken gradually from the amogh accompanying you. You'll  have to be patient, but the bond should wear off. Also, goblins hate  flying. Once you have a griffin he should ditch you."

"Okay," Aidan said, though he still felt a nagging doubt in the back of his head.

"Now you should probably join your friend. Aaliyah will show you the way  to you lodgings. Dinner is in two hours, I'll send someone to get you."





Aidan followed the girl outside, where she began to walk briskly towards a hut that sat at the back of the camp.

Everything about her, the way she moved, the way she looked at Aidan, suggested a deep loathing.

Aidan was also starting to feel a bit of anger rise up inside himself.

What right does this amogh have to hate me? I never tried to hurt her, I  never said anything wrong to her. We came bearing gifts! She should be  grateful for our help, not scornful!

Aaliyah pushed open the door to the little hut, revealing a small space  containing nothing but two cots and the mages' packs and staffs. And a  snoring Timothy.

"I wouldn't sleep there," she said, pointing to the unoccupied cot. "The last man to lay in that died from Blood Cough."

"Blood Cough?" Aidan asked, feeling as if he should have known what that was.

The amogh's eyes' narrowed.

"It starts out with a sore throat, just like any cold. Then it gets  worse, and before you know it you're coughing up blood. It's only a  matter of time before you die, after that. Of course, you mages wouldn't  know about that, living in your 'safety sphere.' Have a nice nap, magic  boy." she said, slamming the door.

Timothy didn't budge.

Aidan slowly sat down, as far away from the cot as he could, and pulled Timothy's pack closer to him.

He picked up his staff, glad to feel the smooth obsidian under his fingers, and pressed the button, releasing the blade.

He positioned himself over his friend's bag, with his weapon held in the air, and quickly ripped open the magic compartment.

It was empty, just as Borin had said, though a lizard-like smell penetrated the air.

Aidan sat back on his heels and sighed. The creature was evasive, smart,  and malicious. No matter what the amogh master had said, Aidan doubted  that the creature would be so easy to get rid of.

Aidan then grabbed his own bag, which no longer held the dragon scales and spines, and pulled out his book of magic.

He found a quick spell that would kill most diseases and cast it over  the entire hut, taking special interest in the area of his cot.

He finally put the book into his pack and sat down.

The Phoenix Ring began to pulse slightly, and Aidan slipped it off of his finger for the first time in weeks.

It was amazing how well it fit him, almost as if it had been made for  his finger, not for Marcus's. He had never really noticed before how  beautiful the Soulrock inside was, gently letting off waves of magic  that dissipated as they came into a camp inhabited by an anti-magic  people.

Marcus is somewhere in there. If I could just find him, then maybe he would know what to do.

Aidan laid back on his cot and closed his eyes, trying to focus all of his energy on the ring.

It was hard, the cot was surprisingly warm and he was very tired …

He never noticed when he fell asleep.                       
       
           



       



Aidan opened his eyes.

He was in the Phoenix Ring, that much he knew. There was a strange  feeling in the air, of some sort of magic that was too powerful and  ancient for Aidan to recognize. But this place didn't look like the  Phoenix Ring. For one thing, Aidan's vision was blurred, as if he was  looking through a cup of honey, and every sound he heard seemed to echo.  What little he could see was solid white, very unlike the study where  Marcus resided. This white was broken only by the thin silhouette of  what may or may not have been a human.

"Marcus Thunderheart?" Aidan called.

"Aidan? Is that you?" The silhouette moved a little to the left.

"Aidan, I can feel you, but I can't see or hear you. You're trying too  hard. The only way you'll be able to come here is if you wait for the  time to be right. Don't worry, you'll know when that time is."

Aidan felt some anger rise, but it was cushioned, unreal.

"I need your help!" the mage called.

"You'll come back when the time is right." the silhouette said. Then it  turned and walked away, becoming smaller and smaller until it  disappeared into the nothingness.

"Marcus!" Aidan yelled.

The world turned from white to gray, and then went black.





"Wake up, mate," Timothy said, shaking Aidan's shoulder. The green-eyed youth sat up, the world coming into place around him.

The Phoenix Ring was still clenched in his hand, so he slipped it onto his finger.

Was that really Marcus? Or was it just a dream? He thought

"Dinner's in a few minutes, you need to get ready." Timothy said, pulling Aidan back to reality.

Within each of the mages' packs were three robes, two for travel, and one that was longer and more formal.

When the mages became wizards, they would be allowed to decorate their  robes with whatever they wanted, for now they were plain brown.

The boys threw on their robes, grabbed their staffs, and walked outside, into the twilight.

Two long tables had been set up on the grass, with unlit candles every  few feet. The smell of something roasting from the large middle house  made Timothy's stomach rumble.

"Oi!" Shouted a young boy, coming from what must have been the kitchen.  Unlike all of the other amoghs Aidan had seen, this one was slightly  chubby. Somehow it only made his face more round and perfect. "The rest  of them will be back soon, they wanted to see if they could shoot  anything extra for dinner. Borin said you would want a bath."

Aidan and Timothy suddenly became conscious of the fact that they had  been in the presence of so many girls after not bathing through a  week-long hike in the woods.

"Follow me," the chubby boy said. "Get your traveling clothes so we can  wash them. By the way, you can call me Cook. Kind of a nickname, but  it's pretty descriptive."

"Cook" led the boys out of the camp, to small stream about knee deep.

Aidan dipped his foot into the water. Of course it was freezing.

"That stream comes from the mountain snow. It's the cleanest water  within fifty miles. Go ahead, hop in!" Cook said, chuckling as he  politely turned around.

The mages bathed as quickly as they could in the freezing water and hung  their clothes on some branches to dry while they ate. Cook provided  them with robes that were tight around their stomachs and loose around  their arms.

The three boys arrived back at the camp at about the same time as the rest of the amoghs, who were bearing a large wild boar.

They feasted that night, more than Aidan could ever remember. Cook and a  few other amoghs constantly brought out more food, which Aidan and  Timothy ate without thinking, even as the sun went down and someone lit a  set of torches.

There was boar, venison, fish, and just about anything else you could  find in a forest. The only thing that was lacking was wine, but Aidan  had never been able to afford it, and besides, Timothy had told him that  the alcohol did strange things to a sorcerer. It was substituted with  something that tasted like milk and honey. The flavor of the food would  never compare to that at Fort Phoenix, which had been magically  enhanced, but it felt somehow more wholesome and real.

Aidan and Timothy sat on Borin's left, and Aaliyah and the boy who  brought them to the camp on his right. It was a great honor to sit so  close to the head of the table, but Aidan wished he could be further  from the amogh girl. She took every chance she could get to irritate  him, and to generally be as hateful as possible.

It wasn't really that bad though, most of the time the mages just ate or  made polite conversation with Borin, or the boy who brought them in,  whose name was Joshua.