Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
“ M aybe…” Trailing off, Solomon settled on his knees to make sure he could move without fainting. He forced a lot of magic through his body without nutrition. Rushing from the meeting to the laboratory, he never stopped for food. After speaking with Mac, his stomach remained in knots. When his body balanced out, he carefully got to his knees.
“Solomon? What are you doing here?” Julian moved through the border and out to the meadow. He stroked the different vines that rose and curled for his attention.
Shoving his hands through his dark coffee brown hair, Solomon studied the open grounds that were a mess. While Julian knew some of his secrets, there were others he kept locked. To reveal all his secrets could destroy their bond. His heart wouldn’t stand the loss.
“Solomon?”
“The earthquake was me. Well, me with the Gloriosa’s help.”
“What are you talking about? I don’t understand what is happening. Gloriosa isn’t explaining it well—” Julian looked beyond Solomon. A smile appeared as his entire expression changed.
Solomon knew what it was.
The Professor of Botany and a powerful druid must be arriving from the greenhouses.
Solomon grimaced with pain. He concentrated on standing still.
“Why are the vines burnt?” Emrys stopped between Solomon and Julian. He studied one of the waving vines and lifted an eyebrow. “Really? A magical quake. Never heard of that one.” Sparkles of his magic, a unique blend of druid and mage, flickered around him when he placed his hand on the ground.
“I can’t tell you the reason?—”
Emrys stared at Solomon. Hard. Those changeable hazel eyes filled with more knowledge than he should have about the earth.
Blasted druid.
::Druid is our friend and protector. He saved our Protector.::
Solomon internally huffed. /It wasn’t directed at you or anyone else./
::Oh, those human things called private thoughts. Yes. Our dryad and druid try to explain these things.::
/And?/
::It is complicated. One we continue to untangle and decipher.::
Solomon dropped his head into his cupped hands. Though he would rather bang it against the nearest hard surface, but that wasn’t possible right now.
Emrys chuckled from where he remained close to the ground. “That’s the problem with sentient plants. They don’t understand or comprehend our nuances with thoughts and language—” He tilted his head. “Wait a moment. Gloriosa, what is that?”
Three vines punched up with the tops curled around something they held within a protective barrier of leaves.
Solomon stepped closer with Julian following. “Gloriosa?”
::These are the unusual strange pieces of the magic that don’t belong to the child.::
/Gloriosa—/ Solomon realized the Gloriosa probably wouldn’t understand the concept of secrets.
“Child?” Julian asked.
“This happened to a student,” Emrys added.
Pulling in a breath, Solomon centered himself while dragging his fingers through his hair. He grimaced at the poking of leaves and debris. After what happened with Mac, it exhausted him to keep secrets. It was too much for his heart. If he couldn’t trust these two, then who could he turn to. Thanks to that flyer, he knew the Guild couldn’t remain in the shadows. Nor could his secrets.
Screw the rules. Screw the secrets.
Time to free himself.
“Solomon? Are you all right?” Julian asked.
“Part of my position is to assist Bella with new students or those who have trouble controlling their magic. Because of my magic, I can create the strongest barriers,” Solomon said.
“I know you’re called to help her. Plus, we feel your potent energy in all the barriers,” Julian said.
Emrys moved closer to Julian. “Is this why Mac left today in such a hurry?”
“There are things I couldn’t tell him. It’s one of the sticking points that broke things,” Solomon said.
“He’s not returning.”
“The laboratory and class will remain, but with a different professor. Do not blame him. None of this was his fault. That all lies with me.”
“You’re not telling us everything,” Emrys said.
“That’s the entire problem. Including why I can’t leave the East,” Solomon said. “What I’m about to tell you stays between us. Understand?”
His friends agreed.
“Even with Mac. I need to tell him everything.”
“Of course.” Emrys whipped up a rune and sent it to hover. “This rune is for protection and secrets. Whatever is said can’t be shared without your authorization. Julian and I will be mute on the subject. As a druid, this is done on my honor.”
“As a dryad, it is done with my honor,” Julian said.
Solomon rubbed his hands together. His mind went back and forth. Constant seesaw about what to do.
“Now. Please open your heart. For we can tell that you have been troubled for a while. What is happening?” Emrys kept his attention on Solomon while the rune sparkled and turned above their heads.
The seesaw dropped to one side.
It remained down.
Decision made.
Time to break free.
Releasing the lock on his secrets, Solomon said, “The leftover magic you feel came from a child with arcane magic. Rescued and brought here in secret through the entire journey. His gift was at an insane level. Completely uncontrollable. Even under multiple layers of protective barriers.”
“By you and others,” Emrys said.
“Yes.”
“If the magic is with the Gloriosa, then the child…” Julian drifted off.
“Didn’t survive,” Solomon finished. “He is being cared for with full respect and returned to his family.”
“And his magic?” Emrys asked.
“I…” Solomon ran his fingers through his hair and hesitated.
“Part of that secret you mentioned.”
The decision seesaw remained locked. He needed to let it out. “I condensed the energy into a ball and brought it here. Gloriosa helped to send it into the earth and absorb it.”
“What is the Gloriosa carrying?” Julian asked.
“I’m not sure?—”
The Gloriosa waved the three vines to interrupt Solomon. :: Too much time talking. These three spells are not from the child. They are dark magic, twisted magic, and not pleasant.::
/What are these spells? Do you know?/
::The Gloriosa does not create with the arcane. Nor can we understand what spells do. We understand light and dark magic. We sense the differences, what to enhance, and what to remove. Yet we cannot create our own spells. We react. Protect.::
/That would be up to me to test them./ Solomon moved to the first vine. Releasing his magic to surround the leaf-covered energy ball, he pulsed and sent out tests. His energy flickered in response.
“What is it?” Emrys asked.
“Energy Enhancer. It increases the magical energy output for a spell, but this—” Solomon glanced at Emrys. “The design caused an overload of a child’s energy. Deliberately.”
“A flame out. You’re talking about a flame out,” Emrys said.
“An uncontrollable burst of a child’s magical energy before they can master it. Yes. Obviously, this was done illegally.” Solomon tested the next magical ball. “This one is a full cover spell. The child doesn’t know there’s anything wrong. Testing facility can’t sense the spell. In the end, the child will test normally. There’s also a timing section, so the overload doesn’t happen right away.”
“To gather the biggest crowd around the child?”
“Don’t think so.” Solomon thought about the timing and came to a worse conclusion. “It’s for when the child leaves the facility and arrives at the academy or—” He glanced at Emrys. “Could you check what I am sensing?”
“It is difficult for me to detect arcane.”
“It isn’t arcane based.”
“Oh. Well then. Let me look.” Emrys created a rune that flickered with multiple colors. Then he moved it around the vine covered ball. His eyebrows pulled together while he studied the response. “Dark spells. Truly twisted ones for maximum effect. Nasty stuff. But there is an odd elegance and simplicity to them. Something that can easily go undetected.”
“For how long?”
“Unless you designed a permanent detector to find them, I would say no one would notice because of the nature around a child’s magic. At their age, their magic flares and misfires. It could literally hide anything.” Emrys closed his rune circle.
“Until it goes off when they wanted—” Solomon’s gaze moved from side to side while he frantically pushed the pieces of his frazzled mind together. Since speaking with Mac, he wasn’t all together focused. Until this moment. And the potential of what these pieces of magic could mean. The view he could figure out was even worse. His energy flickered. “No. No. No. Pleasepleaseplease. Tell me I’m wrong.” He rushed to the last ball and tested it.
“What’s going on?”
“This one is different, but I’m not sure—” Solomon adjusted his discovery spell a bit. Then the energy ball flickered into different colors. “There. That’s what?—”
This magic. He recognized it. A magic flavor that he felt.
Recently.
While he tested it, a spinning circle of a portal appeared and opened.