Chapter 9
An unfamiliar smell tickled Jakob's nostrils causing him to awake. Opening his eyes, he realised that he was in a room he had never been in before. Herbs of extraordinary colours and shapes hung from the roof drying in the heat. Skulls of different shapes and sizes were staked under a table right beside a bucket of what looked like glowing stones.
On one side of the room, resting in a fireplace, was a large copper cauldron. The unfamiliar smell that had woken Jakob must have come from a bubbling bright purple stew that was cooking away.
Where am I? He thought as he struggled out of the bed, he had been lying in. Turning to sit on the edge of the bed, Jakob rubbed the side of his head trying to alleviate a minor headache.
"You're finally awake," a familiar voice said from a rocking chair on the far side of the room. Jakob turned towards the figure as it rose from the chair
"Acantha," he paused, "You... I'm in your house, the dream was real" he rambled, appearing to show signs of confusion.
"Calm down," she said, "You are exhausted."
"No, I'm not." shouted Jakob. I need answers, I summoned shadows and used magic, he thought. As Jakob rose to his feet, his vision blurred, the ground spun, and Jakob could not keep his balance. With a crash Jakob fell to his hands and knees.
"What is going on?" he said, confused.
"I brought you here," Acantha said as she rose to her feet. "I… I saw the whole fight," she said, her voice full of sorrow. "I only got close enough to use magic when you collapsed. I restrained that man and contacted other sorcerers to arrest him"
On his hands and knees, still looking at the ground, Jakob listened to her words, the weight of the situation sinking in.
"I saw," he said in a voice without emotion. Looking up at Acantha he spoke again, "I saw everything. I collapsed after the fight and dreamt you restraining the mage and contacting someone through an orange cloud."
Acantha inhaled sharply, shocked at what Jakob had seen despite him being unconscious.
"Did that happen?" he said, raising his eyes, willing that it was just a dream. For if it was just a dream, then the dream about Bjari and Asta might also be just a dream.
Acantha nodded as Jakob continued to speak, "I… I wasn't at home when the mage appeared. I had a dream…" A single tear rolled down Jakob's cheek.
"I saw that man kill Bjari and Asta."
Struggling to breathe with emotion crushing his chest. Tears grew in number, cheek wet with pain. Lowering his voice, he spoke in a voice coated with pain pulled from the depths of his heart.
"Why didn't you tell me about magic?" he said, voice barely above a whisper. "I… I could have saved them" he said, voice cracking with pain.
Acantha didn't say a word and instead rose from the chair and walked over to Jakob. Placing a hand on Jakob's shoulder she knelt down.
"I'm sorry," she said, wrapping her hands in a hug around Jakob. "I… I wish I was faster. I should have been… I should have protected you… I tried," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"How?" said Jakob as he raised his head to look Acantha in the eyes. Slapping her arm away he raised his voice to a yell.
"How did you protect me? You could have taught me to use magic to defend myself! I could have saved them," he shouted.
"Let's go to the dining room, you need to eat," Acantha said, changing the topic. Jakob opened his mouth to retaliate but Acantha silenced it with a look that was equal parts fierce and loving.
"If you eat, I will tell you everything," said Acantha gesturing towards the door. Wanting to refuse, Jakob's belly growled, and only then did he realise just how hungry he was.
"The reason why I chose to not teach you magic was to try and keep you safe." Jakob opened his mouth to speak, but with a single look Acantha silenced him. "Spells can be cast to track mages of a certain ability. However, the spells only work if whoever they are looking for possesses that ability."
Realisation hit Jakob like a brick "Because I learnt magic, the man was able to track me?" he said, his voice barely above a whisper. Placing a small half eaten bun back on the table, he stopped eating.
"It's still your fault," he said, staring at Acantha in anger. "I only learnt magic because I overheard you using magic. I heard you say Isflyt."
Jakob was conflicted. Part of him wanted to hate Acantha, Part of him wanted to hate himself and the remainder wanted to learn more about magic and why the man had bothered to track him. Tortured, after what felt like an eternity, Jakob chose to stay. He needed more information, after that he could decide what to do and whether to trust Acantha.
"I tried to keep magic hidden from you," Acantha said, defending herself. "You can choose to hate me, but I… I never wanted any of this to happen to you."
As she was talking Jakob glanced at her eyes and saw a cold unshakable fury. Chills flew down his spine, tensing with fear, in that instant he thought he was the focal point of her anger. Sitting in silence, Jakob noticed as Acantha stood, her hands were clenched so tight they were whiter than snow. As a tear rolled down her cheek Jakob finally understood who her anger was directed at… herself.
Feeling immensely guilty, despite his sorrow, Jakob started talking hoping to change the topic and give Acantha something to talk about.
"The man," he said, voice as gentle as a feather. "Why did he bother tracking me? He called me World-killer? What does that mean?"
Acantha sat down at the table. She paused, moving as ragged as a broken sword, Acantha rested her hands over Jakob and looked him in the eyes. "I'm so sorry, I never wanted any of this to happen to you," She said. Jakob was speechless, like looking into a painting, he could see the pain and sorrow in her eyes.
While he was distracted, Acantha started to speak again. "To understand why he came after you, I have to tell you about a prophecy. But," she paused, "To understand that I must teach you about magic. Despite my failure, did you want to learn it from me?"
Jakob nodded, seeking her approval and forgiveness. "Magic is well… it's complicated. There are different forms of magic, each focused around a particular force of nature" Acantha said, teaching Jakob as he continued to eat.
Hoping to please Acantha and keep her talking, Jakob asked a question, "Like fire, earth, water and air?"
"Exactly," said Acantha, pleased that he understood. "Those four are the most common forms of magic and generally considered to be the least powerful. Around two thirds of people are born with one of these elements as their focus and can use that magic without speaking."
"Speaking?" Jakob wondered aloud, "What would that have to do with magic, when I summoned shadows, I didn't say anything."
"Yes," Acantha replied, "But you said 'Isflyt' to make the snow move." As Jakob tried to make sense of this, Acantha continued to speak.
"I forgot that you don't know the basics. There are a couple aspects of elemental magic which magicians have found appear in all mages. To use magic that isn't your element of focus, or to reduce the amount of energy a spell takes, you have to cast a verbal spell. However, you can wordlessly summon the element that they are most connected to for a basic action."
She paused, "For example," she raised her arms and showed Jakob the backs of her bracers. Silvery rune lines shone through the air around her wrists. The metal bands seemed to change shape, moving like a strange liquid, forming a small blade that poked a couple of inches above the back of her wrists.
Jakob was speechless, he watched Acantha manipulate the metal with a fascination he hadn't felt in a long time. He knew she could do magic, but this was something else. Trying to make sense of the magic he asked a question, "So, to control the metal, are you… are you an earth elemental magician?"
"No," she said sharply as the metal shifted back into her bracers, "Above the lower elements are the upper elements. Four stronger, more powerful, but less common elements. There is Lightning, Plant, Ice and finally Metal.
"So, you are a metal elemental then," Jakob said as the information clicked into place.
"I am," Acantha nodded in agreement "Around a quarter of all mages, including me, are born with an upper element of these as their focus. One out of ten, of this quarter are mages that have two focuses and the rest. The rest have a lower element. All mages in the entire world fit into one of these categories. Apart from a small handful of people, less than fifty known people alive," she paused and looked Jakob in the eye.
A sinking feeling graced Jakob's heart. He placed the food back on the table unsure if he was able to finish. "I'm one of them, aren't I…? I'm different," he said slowly, scared as all his life he had been on the outskirts, last one to be picked for games, and now, this. Different growing up, and now different in this new world
Acantha nodded, placing her hands over Jacob's; she continued her lecture, "Above the upper elements are two mythical elements. Light and its opposite, darkness."
"So, I must be a darkness elemental because of how I used shadows?" Jakob cautiously questioned. When Acantha confirmed it by nodding he asked her multiple questions.
"You said there were a handful of people, who are the others? Why aren't there more mythical elementals?" Worry traced lines across his face as Jakob as he asked more questions "Did you know before today? Does that mean I am one of the most powerful mages ever? I don't want to be powerful. I just... I just want to be normal."
"I'm sorry" said Acantha as she placed her hands over Jakob's. "I said I would explain everything, and I will. I will start with your last two questions first as the other ones are related together. Is that all right?" she asked.
Jakob agreed, wondering how the other questions could be related.
"Yes, I was told by my teacher that you were a shadow mage. I've known that you could be one of the strongest mages ever since you arrived in Makanor." Acantha paused, collecting her thoughts, "So, yes, you are potentially one of the strongest mages. However, over a thousand years ago there was another tier above the mythical elements. This is legendary magic, Soul magic. This leads on to the second trait of magic. This is that each mage is stronger in their element, or with more of their element around them. An example of this is the mage you fought. He was an air mage, which is why he wanted to fight you in the open air instead of ambushing you at home."
Jakob nodded, that trait made sense to him. A small snowball alone couldn't do much damage, but when that small lump of snow was part of an avalanche, it could do catastrophic damage.
Acantha continued "It's hard to explain soul magic. It doesn't follow some rules of elemental magic. So…" she paused as if she was contemplating an idea, "If I may, I want to show you soul magic."
"Can you do soul magic?" asked Jakob, "I thought you were only an Iron elemental"
"I am," replied Acantha. "What I am about to do is cast a spell that allows people to see memories of the past. This memory was shown to me by a friend and teacher. I am showing it to you so that you can see what soul magic is."
"Before you do," said Jakob. "Can I ask a couple more questions?" A smile flickered across Acantha's face almost as if he reminded her about someone.
She nodded, "Ask away. I will try to answer it now, unless I will answer later."
"Ok, When the air mage killed Asta, he summoned branches out of the wood. But you said earlier that you can't do soul magic. So, what is the difference between him being able to do plant magic but you not being able to do soul magic?"
"Good question," said Acantha, obviously glad that Jakob had been listening. "It comes down to another aspect of magic. This aspect has two traits. The first is that you can cast spells above your 'tier' with a lot of difficulty, but it is still manageable. Any higher than that and it is impossible. So, plant magic is in the upper elements which is one tier above air magic"
"And Soul magic is two tiers above Iron Magic," Jakob said with excitement as he started to understand magic. "That's why you can't use soul magic?"
Acantha nodded as she continued teaching, "The other trait is that you can't cast magic that is opposite to your magic."
This rule was only partly understood by Jakob. Is that rule only meant for me so I can't cast Light spells? He thought in confusion. Wanting more explanation, he asked Acantha for clarification.
"No, this trait is not just meant for you," Acantha said, shaking her head. "Lightning and Iron are opposite, so is Plant and Ice. Fire and Water are as well and finally Earth and Air are opposites too." She said counting the elements off her fingers.
"OK," nodded Jakob as the finer details of magic became clearer to him. Taking a moment to memorise what she had been saying, Jakob finally allowed Acantha to cast the memory spell.
Acantha chanted some words that Jakob couldn't understand. Her eyes glowed an unearthly white, veins shifted into lines of silver and white. Acantha's right hand glowed white and reaching forward she touched Jakob on the forehead.
"This is what soul magic is."