“Your Magic had to be activated.” Timothy said. “Amilech was probably the first magic you had ever encountered. Good luck trying to turn it off now.”
"How do I get a Soulrock, do I have to pay for it? ‘Cus I'm pretty much broke." Aidan said, beginning to wish more and more for the farm where he had grown up.
"There is a special ceremony where you get to "call" a Soulrock, which will take place in a vault specially designed for them. If the Soulrock is weaker than your will, you will become its master. If not, then the mage…"
"What," said Aidan, "does the mage die?"
Timothy closed his eyes.
"But what if I don't want to go through that, what if I just want to go home?" Aidan asked, feeling some more of the anger build inside him.
"Mate, I wish you could," Timothy said, "I think all of us have wanted that at some point or another. But even if they make this place out to be a camp, or a nice little barracks, it's really a prison. And some of us are gonna die."
3
The rest of the day went by quickly for Aidan. Timothy tried to tell Aidan as much as he could about life at Fort Phoenix, which seemed to be all right except for the whole "Some of us are gonna die." thing. For the first month after arriving young mages could roam freely throughout the camp to get used to the way it was run. After that, there would be an evaluation with a rowan staff that would help the older wizards gauge how powerful the new arrivals were.
Timothy was the only other "First Month" in the camp, he had arrived two weeks before Aidan. Malachi managed to pull some strings so that he and Aidan could do their evaluation on the same day.
The night that Aidan arrived the two boys sat alone in the mess hall. It was a huge structure with more than thirty large tables that were sectioned off based on age and ability. Aidan had a good view of the adult tables from where they sat, and Timothy pointed out the warlocks to Aidan.
"That one at the head of the table," Timothy said, pointing to a very fat man that was starting to lose his fhair, "That is Master Edwin, he is the camp councilor, you know about the council right? The people that rule the entire known world, yeah, he's one of them."
Malachi was sitting on his left.
"So tell me," Aidan said, "How did you get a warlock as your master so quickly?"
"My father is a wealthy merchant," Timothy answered, "And my mother was a powerful sorcerer. She was friends with Malachi when they were young, and she taught me everything I know about magic. Malachi took me on as a tribute to her. Oh, that warlock with the dragon on his forehead sitting on Master Edwin's right is Bartemus. He's never taken an apprentice, most people think he lost his mind when Marcus Thunderheart died in the Great Wars."
Aidan stared blankly at his friend.
"You don't know who Marcus Thunderheart is? What did they teach you in that village?"
"Mainly how to survive when your life is not handed to you with a wand," Aidan said testily.
"Good point. I assume you know what the Great Wars were, right?"
"Of course I do," Aidan answered. Everyone knew what they were. The Great Wars had been a series of battles that took place fifty-nine years ago. Beyond that, Aidan did not know much, anyone who asked about them in his village would get cuffed around the ears.
"Come with me after dinner, I'll ask Malachi for a history book that you can read."
Later that night Timothy handed Aidan a large, leather bound volume, candles, and a small ring made of rowan wood.
"Try not to set that on fire, I made it myself," Timothy said.
Aidan slipped the ring on and stood the candle up on the floor.
"Ingo," he said.
The whole candle disappeared in a blast of heat.
"Whoa, mate, careful there. Try and think of just a spark on the tip of the wick. I've never heard of an untrained mage having so much power." Timothy said.
Aidan put the second candle on the floor and tried to think of a small spark.
This time only half the candle was incinerated, and the other half was beautifully lit.
Aidan put the candle beside the history book and opened the dusty volume.
The book had countless chapters, the first one called How Magic Came to Sortiledge. The last chapter was a section titled The Great Wars that encompassed nearly half the book. Aidan flipped to that section, wondering how Timothy had expected him to learn that much. He began to read:
The Great Wars, at their heart, were a series of battles and skirmishes that took place over two ten year periods. However, in order to understand the Great Wars, we must look back twenty years before this dark era. The three continents of Sortiledge were ruled by all three races, much as the modern day council, with one major difference. Each and every potential council member was entrusted with the care of one phoenix egg. In order to become a true member, the egg had to be hatched, which could take up to ten years.