The Currents of Magic

Chapter Thirty-Five

The weeks passed and summer waned. Despite Moon's words about the Magician, Eldrin's Dale was tranquil as ever, and with each passing day, Meyer found himself thinking less about Eschera and the strange messages he had received. Indeed, as fall drew near, his thoughts increasingly turned to Jaeda, as suddenly he found himself spending much of his time with her. Often they walked the forest paths together in the evenings, and during free afternoons they spent time on the Hillside Green. Sometimes Cade, Ander, Quinn or Triss would join them, but on many occasions they sat alone—laughing as Jebb chased down Delphi Tempests who lit a bed of flowers on fire, complaining when Planar assigned particularly challenging spellwork, and discussing topics ranging from Ander's latest prank to Quinn's latest love interest. Other times they simply lay quietly, staring up at the sky. During such moments Meyer would often find himself wondering about Eschera, and if she had resumed her attacks, but then he would look over at Jaeda and push the thoughts from his mind.

By the time Meyer asked Jaeda on a date, the invitation felt natural. They planned an evening together atop of the east tower of the High Manor, and as Meyer confirmed with Cade which rampart was best for viewings the sunset, Ander berated romantic outings. In fact, over the next two days, Ander told Meyer multiple times that he was insane, even showing up to breakfast with a foul smelling black liquid that he claimed was an antidote to any love potion Meyer might have unknowingly ingested, but Meyer shrugged him off. As expected, the tower sunset turned out to be a perfect evening, and as he returned to the dormitory that night, Meyer felt like he was walking on a cloud.

But more than anything, Meyer appreciated how peaceful he felt around Jaeda. She never inquired about his lessons with Trant, or about his forestalled escape, and by the time she asked him about his life before Eldrin's Dale, she had already told him so much about her own childhood in Ilith, growing up surrounded by magic, that Meyer found it easier to speak about Vanroc.

He told her about Martial Training, and evenings in the village square, and soon found himself readily recounting old stories such as the time when he Ian and Dobson had been caught skipping a conditioning run, or when in a single day Dobson dropped his allowance into the well twice. Meyer missed his old home, but to his surprise, talking about it with Jaeda neither awakened a desire to return, nor an anxiety of Eschera. To the contrary, reminiscing about Vanroc seemed to immortalize the town as a tranquil abode, sheltered from the perils of the greater world.

And so the first day of September arrived, cool and quiet. Meyer was sitting in his room, practicing a transfiguration charm from The First Hundred Spells when there was a knock at his door. He put down his green spell book and turned around in his chair.

"Come in," he said.

The door opened, and Jaeda entered, carrying two books. One was massive, at least a thousand pages, while the other was slim with a bright red cover.

"Hi," said Jaeda, cheerfully.

"What are you carrying?" asked Meyer.

"Just two spellbooks," she said, placing them down on the bed.

"Oh," said Meyer.

Jaeda walked over to the armchair and sat down. "Making progress with the wood-transformation spell?"

Meyer looked down at the pile of mangled branches he had been attempting to transform into a single log. "The Telpos charm... It's going alright."

"It's the last charm in your spellbook, right?"

Meyer nodded.

"And have you thought about what you'll learn next?"

Meyer shrugged. After dropping Adryn's lesson, his only discipline was ethereal magic with Planar Landon, but the lectures remained dry, and hardly involved any spellwork. Meyer had used his extra free time to work through The First Hundred Spell, but had never given much thought to his course of study once he finished the book. "I suppose I could go to Scholar's Hall to find more spell books," he said.