22

A/N: I hope you're all doing well. These chapters contain no sex, again, sorry. I do think the action sequences make up for them, though.

To any new readers: Hi there! Thank you for checking out this story. I know my first 5/6 chapters aren't the strongest, but if you could find the will to get through them, I think you'll grow to like the tale that I'm weaving. So, come on in!

*****

Glossary

Abode:

A house within the Academies.

Agrayodhin:

Champion of the Indian Academy and their commander in battle.

Bhisaj:

Healer at the Indian Academy.

Dark Wielders/Darks:

Wielders who have chosen to use their abilities for evil.

Gift:

Extranormal abilities that Wielders can manifest. They augment their magic, but don't draw on it. Each Wielder's Gift manifests in different ways and acts slightly differently to other similar Gifts.

Power:

Magic.

Rishi(ji):

A Sanskrit term used to refer to a sage/saint, or someone perceived as being highly knowledgeable. Used here to refer to the Dean of the Indian Academy.

Wielder(s):

People who can use magic.

*****

Chapter 21- Knife, Meet Brain

3

rd

February, 2017

5:56 a.m.

Forest Surrounding the Academy

It was a whole week before I heard the voice again. I'd been on edge since that first day, and after a fitful night where I woke up every so often to check that I hadn't hurt Rayka in my sleep, I'd asked her to move back in with her parents till we'd figured out what was happening to me. I knew that she wasn't happy about me shutting her out like that, but she knew me well enough to realize that I'd constantly obsess over it until she was safely away from me. So, after getting clearance to fill her parents and sister in on what was happening, she moved out, leaving me alone at home for the first time in what felt like forever.

Even though I knew it was only temporary, and my idea in the first place, it was hard not to take the separation badly. We still ate all our meals together, but going to sleep in an empty bed and waking up to an empty house was a little more than I'd bargained for. The entire ordeal was causing me to crawl deeper into myself, limiting my contact with everybody to only the absolute essential, which affected not only my relationship with Rayka, but my frame of mind and my training as well.

Even I could see that I was losing my grip on sanity.

I guess that's what happens when you're terrified of yourself.

In many ways, it was a relief to hear the voice again.

"Fireball from the left. Cleave from the front. Roll yourself backwards and rise into a block."

I was so shocked to hear the voice again, that I almost took a fireball to the face. Leaning backwards as it narrowly missed me, I threw myself into a roll, rising up with my sword parallel to my face, blocking Swati's as she swung at me from above.

"You're back!"

I thought at the voice, hoping it could hear me.

"I have so many questions."

"Battle now, ask questions later. Push the sword lock to the right and punch your attacker's knee. Can you add magic to your body and make it stronger?"

"I can."

"Do it. Punch the forward knee twice, as hard as you can, then send a gout of fire through your hand."

"I don't have the spell for that!"

"You're still restricted. Noted. Two punches to the knee, then pump magic into your legs and push yourself forward. Take your attacker to the ground and immobilize them by banging your forehead against theirs."

"What about Vince's magical attacks? He's sure to fire some off while I'm doing all this."

"What spells do you have?"

"I have two right now, to create spheres of water and air."

"Can you cast both simultaneously and combine them?"

"I can try."

"Very well. Your second attacker, Vince? He's hiding, so we need him to attack us. That will allow us to figure out his position and counter. I'll tell you where to aim, just fire off the air sphere before the water one."

"Will that work?"

"We'll find out."

That entire conversation happened at the speed of thought, meaning that barely a second had passed in real time since I'd blocked Swati's attack. Tapping into my Power, I drew as deeply as I could, pushing the energy into my hands and legs.

Grunting with the effort, I slowly pushed back against Swati's axe, till I had the leeway I needed to punch her knee. The move took her by surprise, the first punch depleting some of her shield, while the second broke through and made contact. She hadn't expected me to go for her legs, and hadn't shielded them as strongly as she had her upper body.

I could feel her knee pop out of its socket with the force of my punch, a wet squelch almost making me gag. Ignoring it best as I could, I launched myself forward, my head connecting with her abdomen, my arms wrapping around her waist. Her shields in that area were still intact, but her inverted knee had her distracted enough for the move to work.

I guess I'd been a little too enthusiastic with my attack. Rather than simply tackling her to the ground, I managed to launch us through the air, both of us crashingand scraping across the forest floor. Her axe was knocked away by the impact, but I somehow kept ahold of my sword.

I managed to stay on top, and following the plan, readied myself to ram my augmented head into hers as hard as I could. I stopped short at the last second, the glinting point of a dagger she'd hidden away dominating my left eye's field of view.

"That was good," she complemented me, panting slightly, "but you always need to be prepared for surprises. That aside, you did very well. You can lower your shields; we're done for the day."

I did as she asked and was just leaning back, when a searing heat bloomed across my back and neck, the impact knocking my head forward, her dagger spearing my eye and sinking in deep.

"No!"

the voice in my head roared, as everything went dark.

I could feel the life draining out of me.

I would figure out later that the dagger had done some damage to my brain, impeding my ability to heal myself. The nearest Healer was at the Academy, and too far away to get to me in time.

"Ra..." I moaned, groggily.

"You will not die today."

My vision was flooded with white as a torrent of Power roared through my body, somehow burning and soothing at the same time. I could feel it repairing my brain and eye, my consciousness slamming back in, instantly as active as ever.

"Did you do that?"

I thought at the voice.

"Did you just save me?"

"Yes."

I slowly cracked my eyes open, hazily looking around and only two sets of feet around me.

"How?"

I asked, shutting my eyes again, too drained to keep them open.

"By expending more magic than I care to remember. It took me a week to gather enough to form a stable connection to you. This used up almost all of it. It will be longer before we speak again."

"Are you my friend?"

"If you would let me be. I mean you no harm. I am only here to help."

"Why?"

My question was met only with silence. Accepting that the voice was gone for now, I gave it to the fatigue that had been gnawing at me, letting it take me with it. As I fell asleep, I noticed a tiny pinprick of white at the back of my mind, slowly fading away into nothing.

***

When I woke up, I was in my bedroom, Rayka lying next to me, fast asleep. It looked like it was late afternoon or early evening, which told me that I'd been out for hours. I sat up as quietly as I could, swinging my legs off the bed as I mentally took stock of my body. Everything seemed to be where it was supposed to be, though I couldn't feel my Power or even visualize the cave I usually did.

"You really need to stop getting knocked out or almost killed every other week," Rayka's voice called softly, and I turned around to see that she was awake, unshed tears filling her eyes.

"I'm sorry," I murmured, as I lay down facing her, moving my hand under her cheek, my thumb wiping away a stray tear. "I promise that I'm not doing it on purpose."

"I know," she replied, her expression turning angry. "It was Vince, again! That little bastard is going to pay, this time."

"Hey, hey, calm down," I said, pulling her in close and stroking her back soothingly. "I'm sure he didn't do it on purpose, either. Swati called an end to the session, yes, but he might not have heard her, or might already have set off his fireball."

"But—"

"It's okay, love. I'm okay."

"But you might have not been! You were stabbed through the eye! What if Swati had hit your skull or your brain? How would you have healed yourself then?!"

"She did."

"What?"

"She did hit my brain. I didn't heal myself, the voice in my head did."

"The voice? It's back? But how was it even possible for it to heal you? Swati and Vince were the only ones in the clearing with you. Nobody else even knows that you were hurt. If I hadn't been waiting for us to eat together, I might not have either."

"I can't explain it myself, okay? All I know is that the voice healed me, and it's guaranteed that it's only here to help. I don't think we have anything to worry about, or to fear, from it. For whatever reason, I trust him."

"Him? Did you get a name?"

"No, but the voice was definitely masculine. It— he— said that the reason he hadn't been around for a week was because it took him a lot of Power to form the connection, whatever it is. It was definitely clearer today, and he was speaking in full sentences as opposed to gruff phrases. He said that healing me took a lot of magic, and that it would be a while before we spoke again."

Recounting the conversation reminded me about the white speck of light in my head, but I decided to omit that for the moment. Rayka would only have more questions that I couldn't really answer, after all.

"If he really did heal you," she said, a pensive expression on her face, "then I guess we can trust him after all. I've read about distance healing before, but nobody I know today would have the sort of Power needed to do it over a distance of anything more than two or three kilometers.

"If this was a regular situation, I'd just posit that he was someone from the Academy, but I haven't heard of anybody here having telepathic abilities. I don't think I've

ever

heard of that, to be honest. Maybe Lisbet knows more?"

"Maybe," I agreed. "I still haven't heard back from her about the names I got from the dream, though, so I think we should wait before asking her to look into this. In fact, I think I'd like to keep it between us for the time being."

"Really? Why?"

"I just think that it'd freak the others out a little. This entire situation already has them confused and concerned, and I don't really want to add to that."

"Okay, I can respect that. One last question, though. Are you able to channel your Power at all, right now?"

"No, I can't even sense it! How did you know?"

"I figured as much," she mumbled, her brows furrowed in concentration. "That usually happens when your body is filled with more Power than you can control. I've seen it happen when a Bhisaj was healing a particularly bad injury, for example. It's like a fuse; the bridge between you and your Power is temporarily collapsed in order to protect you. It's only temporary and should wear off soon."

I just nodded along, her explanation shining a new light my first experience with Pan's Bounty and Ronald's reaction when it happened. If he hadn't had a Battery on-hand, I probably would have "tripped my fuse" per se, and been unable to accompany him to Vaishnavi's house for dinner that day. I was about to ask her why she thought he hadn't explained that to me back then, but the expression on her face and my newfound sense of relief were impacting a part of me that had been neglected for over a week.

"I love it when you get all focused," I said to her, softly grinding against her leg.

"What are you doing?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow at me.

"Well," I drawled, "seeing as how I'm sure that I can trust the voice, I figured it's okay for you to move back in, and since I'm supposed to be convalescing, I'm sure nobody expects me back for the rest of the day. That means that you and I can make up for lost time."

"Oh? And did you think to ask whether I

wanted

to move back in, or whether I want to make up for lost time? Or, did you just assume that as the male in this relationship, you could make all my decisions for me?"

"What?!" I exclaimed, pulling away. "Of course not! I would never—"

That's when I noticed the sly, teasing look on her face, and realized she was just messing with me. Growling in mock frustration, I wiggled my fingers threateningly, starting to tickle her sweet spots. Just as she started begging for me to stop, we were interrupted by someone knocking at our door.

"This isn't over!" I exclaimed, getting up and giving her a stern look. "I'm going to punish you for that one!"

"I look forward to it," she responded, giving me a sultry look.

I froze where I stood, wondering whether I could get away with ignoring the person at the door and just ravishing Rayka then and there.

"Rayka?" a voice carried through the door. "It's Vaishnavi. I heard about Chris and wanted to see if he was better."

"Go open it," Rayka said, laughing as I huffed in displeasure.

I stalked to the door, mumbling and cursing Vaishnavi's horrible timing the whole way. However, I couldn't help but smile as I saw how worried she looked when the door swung open.

"Chris!" she exclaimed, taking in the sight of me. "You're awake! We didn't know how long it would take this time."

"Not as long as we expected, I suppose," I replied jokingly. "I think I've beaten my previous record with this one."

She just smiled along and hugged me, before following me inside.

"Pranam, Agrayodhin," Rayka said in greeting, walking out of the bedroom.

"Please," Vaishnavi said, motioning for us to sit in the living room, "you know you can call me by my name."

I could tell that Rayka didn't know what to say, so I decided to just butt in as we sat down opposite her.

"So," I said to Vaishnavi, "are you here just to check up on me, or is there something you wanted?"

"I do need to talk to both of you," Vaishnavi answered. "But first, Chris, Swati wanted me to convey her apologies and to let you know that Vince will be reprimanded accordingly."

"Don't worry about it," I responded, waving it away. "It was a training accident. They happen. I'll tell her as much tomorrow, anyway."

"That's the thing, Chris; you won't be seeing her or Vince for a while."

"What? Why not?!"

"They've been deployed, and you may soon be as well. That's what I've come to talk to both of you about."

"I don't—"

"You'd understand if you let her speak," Rayka chided me, smiling at Vaishnavi apologetically. I just squinted expressionlessly at her, while Vaishnavi just smiled softly and continued.

"You haven't been made aware of this yet, but there has been a rampant increase in Dark Wielder activity over the last eighteen months," Vaishnavi explained. "It's gotten to a point where we need to deploy more Wielders in the real world, just to stay on top of our relief and disguise efforts."

"I need you to explain that to me," I told her, a pensive expression on my face.

"As I'm sure you know, the Academies have managed to remain secret, even in today's digital world, where every person with a smartphone is a potential vector for discovery. The only way for us to do so is via mutually beneficial agreements with certain clandestine agencies spread across the outside world."

"So, wait, there are people out there who know about the existence of magic?"

"Oh yes, and so much more. But that's a whole other discussion, alright?"

"Fair enough. Go on."

"Our agreements work both ways: When these agencies pick up chatter about what seems like the aftermath of a Dark Wielder attack, they get in touch with us, and we handle cleaning up after the attack, rescuing and healing those we can, and funding rebuilding efforts where necessary. The agencies intercept any digital communications that may expose the true nature of the event, cover them up, and then work with us to create a believable tale that we sell to the media.

"In return, when these agencies encounter an ongoing instance of Dark activity, or what seems like Dark activity, they fill us in, and we take it from there. There have even been instances where Wielders from the Academies have stepped in and helped resolve situations where Darks weren't involved, simply to help our allies out."

"Are instances like that at the root of most urban myths or sightings of magic, aliens, monsters, and so on?"

"You hit the nail on the head."

"And that's what Swati and Vince have headed out to do? And what Rayka and I might be doing soon, as well?"

"Not so fast," Vaishnavi said, putting her hand up, her signal for me to calm down and let her explain. "Yes, that's what Swati and Vince will be doing, but you can't just jump into heading out on active duty. Nobody can. I'd like for you and Rayka to join my own taskforce, but both of you need to go through the Proving, first."

"Do you think he's ready?" Rayka asked, a concerned expression marring her face.

"He has to be," Vaishnavi responded. "We don't have the liberty of taking much longer."

"Would someone like to explain?" I asked, annoyed that they were talking about me like I wasn't even in the room.

"The Proving," Rayka said, turning to me, "is a more advanced version of the Challenge that you take every year. Rather than just assessing your physical and magical performance through a series of tests, it actually pits you against other Wielders in your Tier, and maybe a few above it, in a no-holds-barred gladiatorial-style battle. Real weapons, all the spells you can cast, no limits whatsoever.

"You fight in two battles per day, and each battle lasts till only one fighter is left standing. Even if you end up draining yourself dry, you still have to face your next set of opponents for the day.

"The Proving started as a way to keep weaker Wielders from the front lines of battle. The lower you rank, the lower down the pecking order you remain, and the less battle you see. If we want to work with Vaishnavi on helping with the Dark crisis, we have to rank within the top twenty—"

"Fifty," Vaishnavi interrupted her. "You're right in calling it a crisis, so emergency protocols have been activated. The top fifty will be readied to deploy to the real world, while the next two hundred will join the ranks of the warriors and ready themselves to defend the Academy, should the need arise. We need the numbers if we're to have any hope of getting ahead of this.

"As with any Proving, all those who pass— the top two-hundred-and-fifty Wielders in this case— will earn their weapons and Armor. We may even have to go so far as equipping all the Wielders within the Academy, just in case."

"Wait, defend the Academy?" I asked, bewildered. "Do you think the Darks might try to mount an attack against us?"

"We have no evidence to the contrary," Vaishnavi answered, "and so, we must be prepared for any eventuality. As a result, your training will be stepped up. Your classes have been cancelled for the foreseeable future, and Ronald will be stepping in for Swati, in order to help improve your general fighting skills. Senga and Lisbet will be pushing you harder than they ever have before, so you better get ready to face up to that.