The Magi (The Magi Series) (10 page)

After what seemed like miles of running, Roddick finally slowed down. The trees began to thin out ahead and a large snow-covered meadow came into view. On the other side of the meadow was a small cave that looked like a big boulder with a hole cut out of it. The trio headed that way, keeping close to the tree line. As their pace slowed to a walk, Elijah got the creeps. It was deathly silent. The only audible sound was the crunching of snow under their feet. The only light they saw was what illuminated from Roddick’s torch. A few times, when he was last in line and looked back into the pitch blackness of the forest, Elijah’s imagination got the better of him. All kinds of monsters and creatures materialized in Elijah’s head, which encouraged him to speed up.

Master Roddick was indeed heading for the cave. He gave the torch to Samuel and ordered the boys inside while he looked around. The cave wasn’t deep, but they could not see the back of it from the opening. As Elijah and Samuel waited for Roddick to return, it began to snow outside. The wind picked up and made eerie whistling noises as the gusts passed through the mouth of the cave. Even though he had done it many times already, Samuel continued to check behind them to make sure they were alone.

The lining of the cave was wet-looking, and when Elijah touched it, it felt slimy. The ground, however, was dry and covered with dead pine needles. Roddick suddenly appeared at the mouth of the cave, threw in a bundle of wood, and quickly returned to the snowy wilderness.

Elijah decided there wasn’t any use just sitting there, so he walked over to the wood and picked it up. Near the mouth of the cave, the two boys made a small teepee with the smaller sticks, picked up some dead pine needles lying around the cave, and lit the teepee with the torch. In a few minutes a blazing fire heated the whole cave. Master Roddick came back with more sticks and logs, damp from the snow, and placed them near the fire.

“Hey, great fire, lads!”

Samuel beamed at Roddick’s compliment.

“Do you think anyone is following us?” asked Elijah.

“I doubt it,” answered Roddick. “It’d take more than that to get Hawthorne to leave his school of torture. Besides, I’d be surprised if that pale-faced ghoul could remember his own name now, let alone who attacked him.” He sat down and looked at Samuel. “You sure you’re okay, lad?”

“Yeah,” said Samuel, still a little shaken from everything. “He only got me a couple of times.” There was an awkward silence that filled the cave. They each knew what the other was thinking. Roddick broke the silence.

“Let me start off by saying that what you saw is not supposed to be seen. I have been trained to protect, and when I saw that horrible man hitting you,” Roddick said looking at Samuel, “I reacted.” He stood back up and began to pace around the cave.

“So when you made the water come out of the fountain and attack that man, it was a reaction that you couldn’t control,” Elijah said trying to encourage Roddick to continue.

“Yes,” said Roddick. “I
can
control it, but I believe it would have been wrong not to stop Samuel from being attacked.”

“I’m sorry,” Samuel said weakly. “I know I wasn’t supposed to be out of bed, but I heard Elijah leave and I wanted to see if he was okay.”

“It’s fine, lad,” Roddick said. “What’s done is done.” He sat down again, seemingly coming to a decision. “Alright, I’ll explain what I can now. But I insist that you talk with one of our elders when we get to where we’re going. Before I go on, you need to make that promise.”

“Okay,” they each said, quickly glancing at each other. Elijah briefly wondered where they were going, but he kept quiet and waited patiently for answers.

Roddick took a deep breath and began. “I am taking you to a place called Savenridge. It’s about a day’s walk from here. I have permission to bring Elijah, but not Samuel.” Samuel shot a worried glance at Elijah. “Don’t worry, lad,” Roddick said, noticing Samuel’s concern. “I’ll talk to the council, but you both will have to make a rather big promise.” Elijah shifted nervously. “Once I explain to you who I am—once you are taken to Savenridge and meet our people, you must never speak to anyone on the outside about what you learn. You must keep our secrets forever. The knowledge we have has been kept a secret for almost three thousand years.” Elijah’s eyes widened with awe. Samuel put his hand to his mouth. “What you’re about to be told is powerful. It’s history. Make that promise now.”

“I promise,” they said, and Elijah meant it. He had nothing to go back to and no one to share the secrets with, so it would be an easy promise to keep.

Roddick sighed again. “I am a Magi. Despite what you may have read, Elijah, the Magi are good. We’ve been in existence for an incredibly long time. We are not another race. We are not another species. We are human. Are you with me so far?”

“So Magi are human, they are good, and they have been around a long time,” Elijah summarized.

“Yes,” Roddick said nodding.

“So, what is the difference between a Magi and normal people?” asked Elijah.

“Nothing,” answered Roddick. “A member of the Magi is just like any other person, who we call common people, except we have knowledge of a power that they don’t know about. You saw just a small portion of that power tonight.”

“You mean the water thing?” asked Samuel.

Roddick nodded. “Yes. That is
my
power.”

“
Your
power?” Elijah asked.

“Each Magi chooses a power to train with that fits their personality.”

“What do you mean by personality?” asked Elijah.

“I’m not really the best person to explain that part,” Roddick answered. “But I can give you the basics.” Elijah and Samuel waited with intrigue. “You see, our world is broken up into four parts. Each part has its own personality. One part is water, which has a particular personality. Another part is fire, which has another personality. The third part is wind, and the last part is the earth.”

“Water, Fire, Wind, Earth,” said Samuel. “The four elements.”

“Yes,” Roddick said. “You know them as the four elements, but the Magi know them as much more. They are all part of our world. What makes the Magi so powerful is that we have acquired the knowledge of each element’s personality on a much deeper level.”

“What do you mean a deeper level?” asked Elijah.

“Again, that’s something you’ll have to be taught later. But I mean deeper than other people. Most people don’t really understand the world. They are too busy with their own conquests and self interests. Most Magi spend a lifetime trying to understand the rules and personalities of the four elements. We believe that if the world is to be used, it should be for goodness and protection—not for greed.” Elijah was fascinated but still not sure he understood everything. “Now here’s where the power comes in. When you are able to understand these rules and personalities, you can stretch those rules and use them in ways that are not normal.”

“Was what you did with the water considered stretching the rules?” asked Samuel.

“Have you ever seen water do that?” Roddick asked.

Samuel smiled. “No.”

“I was able to use the water the way I did tonight because I understand the personality of water. Therefore, when I needed to, I was able to stretch the rules to manipulate the water in ways that common people can’t. Does that make sense?”

Elijah and Samuel sat silently, processing what they heard, trying to mix what they witnessed back at the academy with what Roddick explained to them now.

“So you say anyone can do this?” asked Elijah.

Roddick shook his head. “The Magi have spent their entire lives surrounded by this idea, so when they are sent to train—usually in their early teens—they already have a basic understanding. Their families have been preparing them for training since birth. For a common person to learn these things, it would take a very special mind. However, I believe you have that mind, Elijah. That is why I asked you to meet me tonight.”

“What about me?” Samuel asked in a frail voice, almost a whisper.

“Well, lad, I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting you until now. Training can be quite frustrating, even for Magi. Are you willing to work hard and learn?” asked Roddick.

“Yes,” Samuel said with confidence.

“That’s a good start,” Roddick said. “But I’m afraid it’s not up to me. That decision rests with the elder council.” The fire was beginning to die, and the cave started to get cold. Roddick walked over and threw another log on. In a few minutes, the cave warmed up again.

“Why do you work at the academy?” Elijah asked, wondering why someone who lived so far away would work at a school.

“Do you remember why I said I helped Samuel?” Roddick asked. “The Magi protect the good in the world, but there is also evil in the world. Not all who know our secrets are good. There is another group with our power that believes in destruction—hatred—greed. They call themselves Maliphists.” Elijah remembered reading that word in his parents’ book. He was even more curious now.

“Maliphists?” asked Samuel.

“Yes. They are very powerful and very dangerous. They get their beliefs from a man who lived centuries ago named Maliphist. To go back to Elijah’s question,” Roddick continued, “the school has been, in recent years, a sort of training ground for the Maliphists. There is a Maliphist city close by that likes to collect angry, bitter young men and women to brainwash into joining their way of life. I won’t get into it all tonight, but to be brief, they believe that they should rule the world. Some even believe that all common people should be destroyed.” Samuel and Elijah looked horrified. “It thankfully hasn’t come to that yet. Part of that is thanks to some of us who are willing to keep the Maliphists away from young minds.”

“Like the young minds at Saint Phillip’s Academy,” Elijah said, beginning to understand.

“Exactly,” Roddick affirmed. “The Maliphists would like nothing more than to take the students that are the most angry, the most self-destructive, and move them to the Maliphist city for their own training.”

“During the time you were gone,” Elijah interjected, “Master Corgan took a student away from class.”

“That’s because Corgan is a Maliphist,” answered Roddick. “I was not there to see this, but I did hear about it. The student was most likely someone Corgan thought would make a good Maliphist—someone who would easily buy into the power of hate. Unfortunately, we can’t stop all the Maliphist deliveries.”

Elijah was shocked that all this time he was being taught by a Maliphist. He remembered the first day Corgan talked to him about science and wondered if he was saying Elijah would not make a good Maliphist. He now considered that a compliment.

“Do you now understand why I work at the school?” Roddick answered. “With so many Maliphists trying to brainwash everyone, there needs to be someone who can stop them, or at least keep them in check. And Corgan’s the least of our problems.”

“What do you mean?” asked Elijah.

“Saint Phillip’s has been under Maliphist control for a while now. Some teachers are Magi, some are Maliphists, and some are neither. A few decades ago, the majority of teachers were Magi. It was a good time. However, different chancellors bring different ideas. Each chancellor is hired by the community. As you can probably guess, if a Magi chancellor is hired, he will hire Magi teachers. If a Maliphist chancellor is hired, he will hire Maliphists. When a teacher retires or leaves, the chancellor brings in a new teacher.”

“Is Hawthorne a Maliphist?” asked Samuel.

“Yes. And as long as he is the chancellor, Hawthorne will replenish the vacant positions with Maliphists. So it is very important for the Magi to stay at the school. We need to protect the students from the influence of the Maliphists.”

“But can you even go back to the school?” Elijah asked.

“Eventually,” Roddick answered. “Pennington, my substitute, is a Magi as well, so there is no rush.”

“How did I end up at Saint Phillip’s Academy?” Elijah asked.

Roddick nodded his head. “You were most likely brought here by a deliverer.”

“A what?”

“Who brought you to the academy?” asked Roddick.

“Detective Scott,” said Elijah.

Roddick snorted at the name and gave a little nod. “Do you mean Nick Scott?”

“I think so,” said Elijah.

“Yes, Nick Scott is a Maliphist, and they have a sort of delivery system,” Roddick continued. “They collect boys and girls that are orphaned and bring them to the nearest academy or boarding school that the Maliphists use. The closest one to you was Saint Phillip’s, and Nick Scott delivers kids there.” Roddick could feel Elijah’s anger. All three jumped when the storm outside the cave grew stronger and the thunder roared outside.

“It’s getting bad out there,” Master Roddick said, peering out. “Hope we don’t have too much trouble tomorrow.”

“How does he do it?” asked Samuel, referring to Detective Scott.

“I’m not sure,” said Roddick. “My guess is that he is very crafty and is able to manipulate whoever he needs to in order to take you. There’s not many people that’ll argue with a detective, right?”

Elijah was steaming. “So every orphan is basically done for?” asked Elijah furiously. “There’s no hope? They come here to become part of the Maliphist’s little game?”