The Currents of Magic

Chapter Forty-Three

Meyer stared blankly at Cade, the features of his friend's face appearing oddly prominent... his straight nose... his flat forehead... A slight wind sent a rustling through the woods, but still Meyer's focus did not shift...

He had just seen Eschera torturing Sarn—demanding to know the whereabouts of a captive from the Outlands—and in that moment all the signs all made sense. The message from his father—Gibb's beleaguered appearance—they had been trying to warn him. He was Odessa's son... Meyer didn't want it to be, and yet now he knew... understood...

Except he didn't.

Cade had just said that The Magician was looking for him. But The Magician was concerned with the High Provinces, not with the Outlands or Odessa's son...

Meyer stumbled backwards, and as he regained his bearings, he noticed all his friends also staring at Cade: Jaeda perplexed, her brow narrowed into a look of concern, Ander somber and serious, and Damian with his eyes wider than Meyer had ever seen.

Cade glanced around at their dumbfounded expressions. "The night of my seizure—it didn't happen randomly," he began. "I was on my way to the kitchens when I heard someone talking—whispering. I ventured off the path to better hear, but that's all I remembered. At least, that's all I remembered for the past two months."

"You've probably noticed I've been reading a lot on memory magic," he continued. "I wanted to try to restore my memory of that night. I tried a basic mental healing charm, but it yielded only a vague recollection of running—of being chased—and yet that tiny memory only increased my certainty that I needed to discover the full account of that night. I didn't want to perform more powerful restorative magic, lest I damage my brain, but eventually I found a potion safe enough to try. I finished brewing it this morning..."

Ander rubbed his foot across the ground. "What did you discover?"

"When I drank the potion, my memory of that night returned almost entirely. I had been crouching behind a thicket of bushes, and there were two voices, one belonging to a man and one belonging to a woman. I never managed to hear much of what they were saying because they were talking so quietly, but from what I gathered, they were discussing The Magician and Eschera. One person said that The Magician had sent Eschera to the Outlands, but the other said she would be back soon, and that when she returned, the plan would be put into motion.

"That was all I heard because suddenly the voices stopped and I heard approaching footsteps. I ran. When I turned into the courtyard outside the dormitories a spell hit me—I assume a curse to obscure my recent memories. And that's all I remember. The curse shocked me into a seizure."

No one spoke, and for a moment there was silence, but then a nasally voice rang out from nearby. "Seize them!"

Meyer looked up to see Jebb approaching with Jato by his side, behind them a dozen guards. For a moment he considered fleeing, but decided not to as the guards expanded their rank, spreading out as if to surround them. Instead Meyer slipped the memory ring into his pocket and tried to discretely shift the anti-enchantment belt behind his back.

"What's going on?" said Jaeda.

"We can explain," said Cade.

But Jebb only glowered as he approached. "Silence!" he said. "I see four of you holding anti-enchantment belts. Attempting to leave the Dale is grounds enough for punishment, but after the announcements made today... Such behavior is beyond reckless. In my nineteen years in Eldrin's Dale I have never seen tempests behave in such an irresponsible manner."

The guards closed around them, and five stepped forward. Meyer felt a gloved hand pull his arms behind his back while another yanked the anti-enchantment belt from his grasp. Next to him Damian gave a small cry as his arm was twisted behind his back, but then Jato's gaze flashed in his direction, and at once the guard holding Damian loosened his grasp.