Dawn of the sorcerer, p.12
Dawn of the Sorcerer, page 12
Maybe it was that Jake wasn’t full of himself? Could that be it? She was only twenty-three, but it seemed like she’d seen every permutation of the male ego possible during her high-school and college years. It was something she and her friends had bemoaned many times; why were so many guys such complete jerks? Assholes, even?
But Jake didn’t give her that vibe. If anything, his dating life was probably a little stunted. Hornbeam didn’t seem to have much of a mage population, and his Tri-Sphere strength gave him an aura that would make the average person more than a bit uneasy.
With a heavy sigh, her heart went out to him. That had to have been rough, growing up around here. She’d need to be careful. He might not even realize there were signals girls sent guys to show their interest.
When Jake arrived back home, he took the time to show his parents the SUV and insisted they drive it if they wanted. His dad wasn’t much of a car person, but his mom put it through its paces. Once they had their fill of the ‘new car smell,’ they went inside for dinner, and after sharing an enjoyable meal with his parents, Jake went to the backyard. He didn’t know when Gianna was leaving, and he itched to experiment.
The backyard had a tile patio, complete with a (mostly) round brick grill that came up to waist height and was roughly three to four feet across. Pipes allowed air to circulate through the grill’s base, below the mesh-covered platform where the fuel rested. The metal grate of the grill came off for cleaning and fuel stacking, and Jake leaned it against the bricks. He grabbed three loose bricks that his father had in case of repairs and arranged them like a ‘Y’ on the fuel platform, then broke off a small branch that hadn’t come back from the winter from one of the trees in the backyard. He stood the branch upright against the fuel platform of the grill and arranged the bricks to hold it in place. Then, he added a couple squirts of lighter fluid, and he was ready to go.
A match lit the fluid-soaked branch tip aflame, and Jake sat in the lawn chair he brought a little closer to the grill, concentrating on the tiny fire. After a few moments, he thought he felt something, and he closed his eyes to concentrate on the new sensation that hadn’t been there until lighting the branch aflame.
Over the next few seconds, Jake’s connection to the flickering fire grew, and when he felt that saturation effect happening in his cells again, he tried willing some of the energy in his cells into the thumbnail-sized flame that slowly ate the branch.
He was not prepared at all when the tiny pinprick of flame flared up to the size of a three-foot bonfire. The sight captured Jake’s attention because it was so comical. The huge bonfire perched atop a branch about half the thickness of his wrist. In the span of three seconds or so—but no more than five—the now-larger flame consumed the branch and warmed the bricks. A few seconds after that, the bricks glowed a dull red. When the edges of the bricks began looking a little spongy, Jake realized he still felt a tiny thread of energy passing from him to the fire. With a startled gasp, he cut the thread, and the bonfire-sized flame vanished.
He leaned back in the lawn chair and considered how else he might explore his new reality. An idea struck him, and a smile curled one side of his mouth. Mike was always going on about how the Fireball spell was some kind of rite of passage for a mage with the Fire affinity. Jake stood and walked around the backyard, glancing at the neighbors’ houses and the back windows of his parents’ house. There didn’t seem to be anyone watching.
He retrieved his phone from its pocket and looked up Fireball on MageNet. He mainly wanted a description of what the spell did, not necessarily the spell’s text and gestures which the spells’ page also helpfully provided. Hrmmm… according to the spell’s description, it created a peach-pit-sized ball of fire that flew to its target, whereupon it heated to a temperature based on the mage’s strength and expanded at an exponential rate to a maximum radius that was also based on the mage’s strength. Huh… that didn’t seem too difficult.
Jake returned to the lawn chair and began turning the problem over in his mind of how to create the effect without being trained to cast the spell. Was that something sorcerers could do? He didn’t know, but touching the burning tip of the branch with his energy seemed like it would get easier with more experience. So… did that mean that sorcerers didn’t need spells?
He worked through trying to build a construct for the Fireball spell in his mind for several minutes until he thought he had it just about right. But when he stood to convert thought to action, a memory flashed to the forefront of his mind. He wasn’t supposed to have Fire affinity, and if someone saw him trying this, it would mean trouble for him, for Martha, and maybe even others.
No.
He went into the house and retrieved a blank notebook that he accidentally bought when looking for a ruled one. It had been in the stack for ruled notebooks, and he hadn’t paid close enough attention to the packaging. He further hadn’t bothered to look when he tore open the packaging, so he was left with what was pretty much a sketchbook he didn’t need.
Until now.
He rummaged through a catch-all drawer in his room until he found an old set of colored pencils and then took the sketchbook and pencils back to the lawn chair in the backyard. He withdrew the orange and black pencils and started sketching his idea for the Fireball construct. He used the orange for the actual Fire components and the black for annotations, making up a kind of shorthand and symbols on the fly that he defined in black on the pages’ margins. It wasn’t until the last remaining daylight faded around him that Jake noticed a tiny fireball hovering over the sketchbook at around the height of his forehead.
The sight startled him quite a bit, and he almost panicked… until he remembered a stray thought some time back that he wanted more light to see. Jake closed his eyes as he concentrated, and sure enough, there was a whisper-thin tendril of energy connecting him to the tiny fireball.
Shit! This ‘hiding in plain sight’ stuff was going to be more difficult than he first thought.
Jake quickly severed the energy tendril, and the tiny fireball vanished. He collected his pencils and sketchbook, then dashed inside the house to resume work in his bedroom where he could turn on a light without using magic.
The next morning, Percy Junior called to say that they had a truck coming in that was off its regular schedule, asking if Jake could come in to work the unloading and stacking. Jake looked at his sketchbook with its elastic band to keep it closed as he debated. He wanted to keep working on his notes, especially since he woke up with a few ideas he wanted to record.
But… the more he considered the matter, he didn’t like compromising his word—his ethics and values and integrity—just to play with what was essentially a new toy. Okay… maybe he shouldn’t think of it as a new toy, but at that specific moment, that’s all it seemed to be to him. Once he learned some of the more utilitarian aspects of magic, he felt certain the ‘toy’ evaluation would change.
So, he told Percy Junior he was on the way and ended the call.
The realization hit him as he climbed into his vehicle that he was going to have to join a gym or something if he wanted to keep his body in the tip-top condition he enjoyed right now. Relying on the new vehicle would make him lazy and complacent… but it was such a time-saver that he couldn’t quite help himself.
For some reason, that morning, the jaguars decided to accompany him. While possibly being a little weird, in terms of the change in pattern, their status as registered familiars allowed them to explore the town with relative freedom now… as long as Jake was close to defuse any misunderstandings, of course.
Jake decided to visit Marci’s as he left Percy’s. There hadn’t been too many incidents with the jaguars following him around and watching what he did and how he did it, but those that had happened were a little on the hair-raising side. Like Bandit not paying attention and almost getting his tail run over by the forklift. After the stressful day, Jake felt he had earned a pleasant meal and the peace that Marci’s inspired in him.
Marci’s had a patio for outdoor dining, and rather than trying to claim his favorite booth with the kids in tow, Jake chose that instead. People occupied only a couple of the tables, but much like at the grocery store, Jake and the kids drew attention as they sauntered onto the patio and chose their table.
Sitting there, in the shade of the patio’s awning, Jake realized he hadn’t contacted Fiona yet. Isabel’s warning about Fiona followed close behind, and once again, he felt conflicted on the matter. He’d hold off on the call and give the matter further thought, maybe ask Isabel when it was just them. He hoped she’d elaborate more if they were alone.
On the other hand, he could always call Fiona and listen to her side of whatever it was… then compare that to whatever Isabel said. He wasn’t sure if that was the right path, though. The sad truth was that he knew so little of his new reality that he had no way of determining the best path for him. Even if the mere memory of Fiona threatened to turn him to jelly right there on Marci’s patio.
Hrmmm… decisions, decisions.
He lifted his phone and took the time to save Isabel’s cell number as a contact, then called her. She answered on the second ring.
“Hello, Jake. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you today. What’s on your mind?”
Jake screwed up his courage and threw caution to the wind. “Are you in a position where you can talk? I’d like more information on why you think I should be wary of Fiona O’Rourke.”
Silence ensued to the point that Jake wondered if the call dropped.
“Fiona O’Rourke is not what she seems, not that any of us are,” Isabel explained. “In her case, though, it is far more complex. She is—at the very least—half Fae, and the Fae have a very rocky history with mages. I promise you that a date with her will be unlike anything you have ever dreamed of, and at the same time—depending on how much Fae is in her ancestry—you might not live long enough to pine over her. The Fae are not as closely tied to the natural world as the Elves are, but all the ‘progress’ humans have achieved has certainly curtailed their power. And they tend to lure humans—especially powerful humans like mages—into situations where their power can be stripped from them and transferred to the Fae realm, if they’re patriotic. If they’re not, the Fae doing the draining will simply keep it for themselves. The unfortunate part of all this is that there’s no way to know if she has designs on your power until she has your mind so fogged you don’t even realize you’re dying.”
Yikes. That did not sound fun at all. “So, I shouldn’t pass her info to Mike, either?”
Jake heard a contemptuous snort before Isabel said, “If she gave her number to you with Mike present, giving her number to him would be an insult. Possibly dire, depending how pure of a Fae she is.”
“Okay, so what do I do with her number, then? She acted like she really wanted me to call her.”
More silence.
“If you feel you must contact her, pass me the details if you decide to meet. I will arrive ahead of time and make sure she does not enthrall you. With your power, she would have to work at it for a while to ensure you’d be willing to follow her to your deathbed.”
Okay. That made sense. “Thank you, Isabel. I appreciate your thoughts.”
“You’re welcome, Jake. That’s why I’m here.”
Isabel ended the call before Jake could do so, and he placed his phone on the table and withdrew Fiona’s card from his wallet. He still stared at the handwritten number on the plain white reverse when the server delivered his and the kids’ meals.
Chapter
Fourteen
Jake leaned back against his seat on Marci’s patio and half-smiled. The food here at the diner was so, so good. Yes, Jake loved his mother’s cooking, but at the same time, there was just something about the food from Marci’s diner. And he really appreciated how they cut the jaguars’ raw steaks into small cubes to make eating in public a less traumatic affair for everyone else… including Jake.
He looked at Fiona’s card again and sighed. Yeah, he really felt compelled to call her. As far as he knew, no one else had ever shown any level of interest in him at all. Might as well find out where he stood with her.
Jake saved all the contact information—including her business info—into a new contact record before tapping the entry for her mobile number. The call rang three times before he heard the voice that threatened to turn him to jelly, “Fiona O’Rourke.”
“Hi, Fiona. It’s Jake. You probably don’t remember—”
“Oh… now, now, Jake. You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. I absolutely do remember you. Thank you for calling. I should probably play hard to get, but the truth of the matter is that I’ve been wondering if you’d call. Hoping for it, actually.”
“Thank you. I’ll consider you hoping I would call a compliment.”
“You should, good sir,” her voice dropped to throaty purr. “You really should.”
Jake would never have admitted—not even to Mike—what the sound of her purring voice did to him. He was very glad he was sitting down and not driving.
“So, now that we’re talking, what do you have in mind?” Jake asked and immediately realized his mistake.
The purr continued, “So, so many things, Mister Adams. My associate and I just returned to the office, and our case load is such that I would be a horrible partner if I just disappeared off to Hornbeam. I don’t suppose I might entice you to visit me?”
“There is always that chance. When were you thinking?”
“It’s a damn shame I don’t have a Spatial mage handy, because I would love to say right now. But I probably should not allow myself to sound so eager. Proper lady and all that. May I check my calendar to see when I have the fewest work commitments and send you those dates?”
“Of course, Fiona. I’m not one to risk anyone’s professional life. Would texting you my email address make it easier to send me those dates?”
Fiona’s reply was immediate. “Oh, yes… much. I love all my smartphone does for me, but sadly, that love is unrequited. In the love-hate relationship we have, I love it, and it hates me.”
Jake couldn’t keep from chuckling. “Well, then… as soon as we end the call, I’ll text you my email, and we’ll go from there.”
“It has been a pleasure hearing from you, good sir. Thank you again for the call.”
The call ended with a click this time, and Jake quickly put action to his words by sending Fiona his email address. Mere seconds later, she confirmed the receipt and promised a swift response with possible dates.
Bandit looked up from where he lounged on the patio floor. * Are you choosing a female, Jake? Shouldn’t my sister and I meet her? *
Smokey expressed her thoughts on Bandit’s presumption with a no-claws slap to Bandit’s shoulder. * Shut up, fur-butt. Jake’s our friend, not our cub. He doesn’t answer to us. *
A number of other diners glanced their way when Smokey slapped Bandit, but when further violence did not seem forthcoming, they returned to their plates and conversations. Jake considered the matter and decided it was—perhaps—time they left. He didn’t want the kids to get rowdy and alarm people. True, odds favored them taking a nap after a meal, but Marci’s patio wasn’t the place for that, either.
“All right, you two. Can I trust you to wait for me if I go pay for the food, or should you come with me?”
* We’ll be good. * Smokey was quick to answer. * I’ll keep an eye on fur-butt. *
Jake managed to hold it together until he stepped into the diner before the laughter overtook him. He couldn’t imagine his life now without the kids, and they certainly made it interesting. He managed to catch the register without a line, and paying for their food was quick. He waved goodbye to Marci as he returned to the patio and collected the jaguars before heading home.
Jake had just hit the button to raise the lift gate at the back of the SUV when his phone chimed the notification tone for a new email. He checked it as he exited the vehicle and smiled at seeing a rather impressive list of potential dates for his visit to Topeka. He would have to discuss the matter with Isabel before making any firmer plans, but so far, he felt rather good about the conversation. He really hoped she wasn’t out for his power; she seemed like too nice of a person for such a thing to ruin it.
He opened the side gate that allowed the kids to go straight to the backyard and then decided to use it himself and go in the house through the back door. He told his parents hello, giving his mom a hug as he passed her, and retrieved his sketchbook and pencils from his room before returning to the backyard.
Jake moved a lawn chair to the jaguars’ favorite tree, and they all lounged in its shade while Jake drew more diagrams of spell ‘blueprints’ in his sketchbook. He was staring off at nothing in particular as he considered his Fireball sketch when his eyes landed on the grill, on the air holes. Air—specifically oxygen—fueled a fire and made it hotter. What would adding an Air component to his fireball design do for it? It was something a regular mage couldn’t do unless she or he possessed affinities for both Fire and Air, but it was certainly something he wanted to try. So, he flipped to a new page and promptly began sketching. It wasn’t long before snoring from either side accompanied the sound of his pencils as he wrote and drew.
The whispered whoosh of flame above his field of view coupled with the extra light over his sketchbook told Jake it was time to go inside. At the rate he was going, he’d blow his cover in no time… unless he moved somewhere far more secure. He wasn’t sure he especially liked the idea of taking over the Wainwright Grove, especially if it meant the Wainwrights were dead, but there was no denying how much it would protect him from peeping toms—otherwise known as busybody neighbors—and allow him to study his abilities in peace.
