The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)(32)

“What about graduation?” asked Alex, moving on out of sheer frustration.

Aamir frowned. “What about it?”

“What is it?” Alex pressed, wanting his suspicions to be confirmed.

“You know what it is.”

“I want you to spell it out for me,” insisted Alex.

Aamir looked sad for a moment. “Graduation is what comes, inevitably, at the end of studying. At home, it would mean graduation caps and a diploma. For the magically gifted, it means having your life essence removed—it has to be this way to keep the Great Evil at bay,” he explained, pausing briefly to catch his breath. “Spellshadow does it a little differently than here, I’ll admit, but it’s the same thing. For most, it means death. I suppose there is hope here that doesn’t exist at the manor. And it is something of a spectacle.”

Alex frowned, not quite understanding how Aamir knew about the Ascension Ceremony when he had slept through it. Musing upon it, he guessed somebody must have filled Aamir in on what had gone on—Jari perhaps.

“But why is it done?”

It was Aamir’s turn to sigh. “I will not say it again. It is to keep the—”

“Yes, I know that part,” Alex interrupted curtly, not sure he could hear the words ‘Great Evil’ again without losing his cool. “I mean, why does the Head send people like Finder out to snatch students, taking them by force from their homes, and put in all that effort, just to kill them once they’ve been trained for a few years?”

“I will try and explain it to you as best as I can,” Aamir began quietly. “Mages must be trained to ensure that their life essence has matured enough to meet the needs of its use—the better the wizard, the more potent the essence. It has to be aged like wine.”

“Has graduation always ended in death?” Alex wondered.

“I can only speak of what I know, and I am afraid I do not know that. I can’t remember what I was told,” said Aamir. Alex wasn’t remotely convinced. “It does not always have to end in death now, however,” Aamir added.

“How do you mean?” Alex’s interest was piqued.

“Well, there is always the very slim possibility that a mage—a very strong mage—will survive ‘graduation.’ It has never happened, as far as I know, but there is a myth of it happening,” he elaborated, lowering his voice. “If it should ever come to pass, this person would prove to be a useful adversary against the Great Evil. The idea is, if the mage was strong enough to survive the removal of life essence, they would be strong enough to overcome the Great Evil and fight it. An even match, so to speak.”

Although it was the most Aamir had said, Alex couldn’t help but feel even more exasperated by the tale. To his ears, it sounded like fiction—nothing more than the regurgitation of a story he had been told before.

“That doesn’t sound possible,” he stated.

Aamir shrugged. “Well, it’s all I know about it.”

That can’t be all, thought Alex irritably.

“But why do they do it? Why do these people think they can just take the lives of young mages, no matter which way they wrap it up?” he probed angrily. They had no right, and yet nobody was stopping them. Alex hoped Aamir would give him more than just the robotic recitation of the rhetoric he’d been told.

“It is for the greater good of the magical community.” There was a haunted expression within Aamir’s eyes that sent a shiver up Alex’s spine. Aamir opened his mouth again, whispering softly. “It is your fault.”

“What?” gasped Alex.

“We are forced to do this to keep the world safe from the Great Evil that was released by your kind, years ago,” he hissed.

Alex flinched. “Released by my kind? A void was left behind because your kind wiped mine out! Don’t you dare, Aamir—don’t you dare,” seethed Alex, his anger flaring.

A stillness spread out across Aamir’s face, as the haunted, eerie stare disappeared, replaced with a sad, troubled expression. “Forgive me, Alex—I should not have spoken so,” he said miserably.

It wasn’t enough to calm Alex. “You say it is for the greater magical community, but who are these people? Who are these sacrifices protecting? If they’re so interested, why don’t they use their own essence?” he snapped.

“I don’t think I can give you an answer that will satisfy you, Alex.” Aamir turned his face away.

“Try,” he pleaded.

“As far as I know… all this is done to protect the magical community and those in the world beyond it. The bottled magic taken from the linked havens holds the Great Evil at bay. There is an enormous force of power in this life essence—it is used to keep the havens hidden from this evil, whether by way of moving buildings and their inhabitants daily or shielding them in a realm of magical existence, like here. This is why the essence is taken—for all these purposes.” He exhaled slowly. “The collected life essence is shared among the havens, so each one has a balanced quantity of magic to protect themselves and keep the chain linked, holding off the evil that would consume us all.”

Alex listened intently, though it was as confusing as it was intriguing. Slowly, true understanding began to dawn. The shifting windows, the moving horizons, the crackling magic in the air all around them, in this peculiar world. It was all run on the stolen life essence. The knowledge made Alex feel sick.