Apprentice (The Black Mage, #2)(82)

As I fell, I wondered absentmindedly which Combat apprentice – mentee or mentor - had cast enough magic to make the rest of us weak enough to lose track of our limbs.

Two sets of arms gripped mine and pulled me up, running and dragging me out of the fog. I followed as best I could but I wasn't much help. At some point I must have lost track of consciousness because the next thing I knew, cold water was being splashed into my face.

I spit out a mouth full of water, sputtering.

My vision cleared and I saw Darren and Ray clutching a bucket with Eve leaning against a bed frame shortly behind them. We were in another safe house - only this one didn't have a Restoration or Alchemy apprentice in sight. Ray saw the question in my eyes and said, "They were caught," by way of explanation.

"Where are we?"

"Just south of Ian's hideout."

"Why did you only rescue me?" Because that's what this was, I realized, a rescue.

"Because you are the most powerful one and we only had time to save one of you." Darren didn't look at me as he said it.

"I would have helped if I could but we were too afraid of being ambushed. I had to stay here," Eve told me. "The mentors have been systematically combing the south. We've had to change hideouts three times and there are always more nearby. It was too risky to reveal my location."

I was lying awkwardly on a bed. I forced myself to try and sit up. It was surprisingly easy.

Eve noticed my expression.

"We gave you one of the Alchemy mentees' special drafts." She pointed to the empty vial beside me. "I had the girl make two in case we needed to get away in a hurry by using that gas. Hopefully we don't have to use the other."

"What's our plan?"

"You are going to distract Ian's guards while the rest of us ambush his hideout." She said the words matter-of-factly. Like it wasn't a big deal that our entire plan hinged on my performance.

I stared at her. "But the guards are Lynn and Morgan! They are both fifth-years, Eve. If they only see me, they are going to suspect a trap. They will know I'd never be foolish enough to attack them alone."

"If you tell them you are pain casting they'll be wary. You and Darren are the most powerful in the class. The mentors will be too busy watching you to notice when Darren, Ray, and I come out from behind."

"You think so?"

"It's our best chance."





****





While the others waited in the shadows of a building to my right, I made my approach, coughing loudly in case my footsteps weren't enough to draw the notice of the two mentors guarding the armory Ian was in.

Lynn's face fell and Morgan didn't look too happy either. "Great," the girl muttered, "I thought she had already surrendered." I could hear the dislike in her tone. Lynn still hadn't forgiven me for stealing Ian that night in the desert.

"Are you really this foolish, Ryiah?" Morgan wanted to know.

I shrugged. "I can pain cast, or did you forget that? I can have the two of you gone like that." I snapped my finger and then tossed my chainmail to the ground so they could see my bare arm.

In my other hand I produced my weapon.

The door to the armory swung open to reveal Ian who had heard the commotion outside. He frowned when he saw me standing there alone. "It's not just you, is it?"

"Ian, run!" Lynn screeched. "Morgan and I can hold her off – go!"

I slammed the halberd's axe end into my left wrist, biting back a scream as I sent an eruption of power into the air around me. I was hardly conscious of the pain. Raw magic had taken over my thoughts.

I called upon every last ounce of magic I had and launched it at the three mentors as hard as I could. I heard their scattered cries, a series of clashing, and then, somewhere, Ian's shouted surrender.

I started to release my magic and the ground gave way beneath me.

Instantaneous darkness. Victory.





CHAPTER SIXTEEN





"Wow. That's very impressive – two wins and both of them as a mentee." The man laughed heartily. "Good for you, Ryiah, I always knew you and the rest of your lot had enough fight to do well in an apprenticeship. Who's your mentor this year?"

I grimaced and Sir Piers caught the motion.

"Bryce?" he guessed. "That one always was too big for his britches when I had him in my class."

"No." I shifted from one foot to the other. "It's Ian."

"Ian?" The man's brow furrowed. "He's a bit of a rogue but the boy's harmless. Besides... aren't the two of you friends? I thought I saw the two of you dancing during the solstice last year."

"We used to be."

Recognizing my discomfort, Sir Piers changed the subject to my conditioning, eager to see if I still kept up the same rigorous routine as my first year at the Academy.

I answered his questions easily. But the entire time I was still thinking about Ian.

If anything, our mentorship had only become more strained since the mock battle. The worst part of my day was during Byron's lessons in the apprentice study upstairs. Going over potential battle strategy with someone who barely talked to you was tedious. It was like prying teeth from a rabid animal: you were always afraid of the bite. I could tell Ian was still trying very hard to be polite – painfully so - but every once in awhile his efforts would break and there'd be a flash of anger in his eyes or a snappy retort that reminded me just what he really thought of me.