Jake's War, Book Two of Wizards (20 page)

BOOK: Jake's War, Book Two of Wizards
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I hopped Ida to the desert outside Sparse.

“Look after everyone here,” I shouted at Urda before hopping after him.

 

I can't hop people or things accurately unless I'm touching them. Up until a few weeks ago I couldn't even have hopped Ida without touching him. I must have judged the height wrong because he lay on the ground looking winded. He snarled at me and waved his hands.

A boulder the size of a small car lifted into the air and flew at me. I translated into hop-space before it arrived and then returned to the same place.

“Can we talk about this?”

Sand whirled into the air between us in the shape of a whirlwind. The tip of the cone lifted into the air and aimed for my mouth. I split the cone in two as it got close, scattering the sand about me. This was getting annoying.

“I hate you!” Ida shouted. Good, we had managed to establish communications. Trouble was, how was I going to calm him down long enough to talk? He began to move his hands in what I took to be a magic gesture and my patience ran out. I hopped his clothes off him. If I knew boys his age, being naked was going to unnerve him.

Ida staggered back and tripped, landing hard on his backside. This desert was mainly rock coated with a sprinkling of sand. Not the most inviting place and not a good place to trip. I winced in sympathy as he yelled in pain.

If I could penetrate the shield protecting his mind I knew I could bring this fight to an end. I probed at the shield and my magic scattered harmlessly around him. A page from one of Esmeralda's books floated across my mind and I knew how he'd constructed it. At the bottom of the page a sentence was circled in red ink. 'This shield is impenetrable.'

“There's a first time for everything,” I muttered to myself. Esmeralda was convinced the rules didn't apply to me and in this case I had better prove her right.

I knew I could kill Ida. I could rip him in two right now if I wanted. The trick was to find some way of stopping him short of murder.

Ida finally twigged that being naked is much the same as being clothed and got to his feet, fists clenched at his sides. I saw he was trembling, though whether it was due to rage or fear I couldn't tell.

“Give it up, kid. You can't win.”

It would appear that my negotiating skills need some work as this spurred him to attack again.

“Nobody laughs at a wizard,” he said with exaggerated slowness, his fists clenching and unclenching to some beat inside his head. The ground beneath my feet exploded.

I must have created a shield around me earlier because I shot into the air with nothing touching me. Clouds of dirt, smashed stone and sand billowed about me. I allowed myself to float slowly back to the ground. It was a pity I didn't think of floating when I hopped to Fluffy in flight. I'd remember to do that in future.

The dust settled enough for me to spot Ida still standing in the same pose. If he wasn't so scrawny it would have made a great epic photograph.

I put a magic field around him to stop him going into hop-space and then I made the ground beneath his bare feet hot, very hot. He screamed and hopped about in the more traditional manner. I pushed at his chest with a gentle thrust of magic. It was enough to land him on his bottom for the second time in as many minutes. Only this time I'd made the ground beneath that hot as well. He howled in pain.

Magic requires concentration. His mental shield dropped a small amount and I pounced. He was instantly under my control and unable to move.

I cooled the ground and walked over to him. Not as easy as I'm making it sound, as I had to clamber in and out of the crater he'd created. I made him stand in front of me, unable to move beyond a slight tremble. His eyes glowed with hatred.

“Go and put your clothes on, you'll find them over there.” I pointed in the direction I'd hopped them. “Then return to me.” Ida spun on his heels and walked away.

 

I looked at the boy as he stood in front of me again. He could be any fourteen year old on any street corner in Wales except for the glowing power within him.
What was I going to do with him?

“Why did you hurt those people? They didn't hurt you.”

Flat contemptuous eyes stared back. “They're worth nothing, ours to do with as we please.”

“They're humans, just like us.”

“They're weak, feeble and worthless.”

Magic can't let me look into a person's soul and judge it. I wouldn't want to do it if I could. Who am I to pass judgment on somebody else? I knew Ida went through terrible things at the hands of some sick adults, but now he had become one of them.

“How long have you been a wizard?”

“Bronwyn brought out my powers months ago.”

“And hid them from me?” Ida looked puzzled. “Did she do something to you to hide your powers from me?” He shook his head.

“Did she tell you to do this, to cause me all this trouble?” Ida shook his head again.

I scratched at my head. I took his hand and hopped us to the spot where I'd first seen the village of Sparse. It looked unexpectedly peaceful and happy. Adults were out in the streets moving around purposely. Small children played with sticks and balls outside their homes. Ida was old enough to be an adult in Sparse. He was certainly capable of doing adult things.

I reached into his mind and squeezed the magic from it. When I'd finished there was nothing left. I felt unclean as I did it, but I had no choice. Removing the mind control took only a second. Ida slumped to the ground with all the fight knocked out of him.

“Go down and rejoin your people.” Ida stood up and began to walk down the hill. “Oh, Ida.” The boy turned and looked back at me. “You will never physically hurt anyone again.” It was a command and I burnt it into his brain. He nodded and carried on walking.

I vomited for a few minutes before I regained control. Then I hopped back to the hotel.

 

My parents, Urda and Bronwyn's children were in the lounge. Everything looked normal. I looked into Reception and saw people trying to get the doors open. I removed the magic and tried not to giggle as the concierge fell over when the door flew open.

Urda was eager to tell me the news as soon as I sat down.

“I healed all the burns then changed their memories so no one would know. They think they've been out on a fire drill. Mr. Morrissey suggested it, though I'm still not sure what a fire drill is.”

“What have you done with Ida, Jake?” Mam asked. “You haven't … hurt him have you?”

“I took away his powers and left him in Sparse. Things seemed to have settled down there and it looked safe enough.”

“Can you do that, Jake? Take away a wizard's powers?” Urda looked anxious.

“It seems I can.”

Urda stared at the floor and her sister placed a hand on top of hers.

“What about the rest of them?” my Dad asked.

I put my hand out to Urda. “Take my hand.”

Urda looked as though it was the last thing on Earth she wanted to do. Her sister squeezed her arm and Urda reluctantly took mine. She was trembling.

I poured power into her. She looked up into my eyes, startled and surprised. Then she smiled as I filled her to overflowing with magic.

“Oh Jake, that's better than sex.” Urda flushed as she realized what she'd just said in front of my parents.

“You sound surprised. What did you think I was going to do?”

Urda's head tilted down and she said in a whisper. “I thought you were going to take my powers away.”

I will never understand the working of the female mind. After the horror I'd gone through stripping Ida of magic I couldn't imagine ever doing it to anyone again. And why would I do it to a friend?

To get my mind off that horrible thought I pulled out Bronwyn's mobile phone and powered it up. I played Bronwyn's video to them.

“She's lying,” Urda said the second it stopped.

“I know. Urda, I want you to compel all the children not to use magic. Nothing else, just place that command on them for now.”

Urda nodded.

“I'm going to Salice to check on things.”

I hopped directly to Esmeralda's room, as that's where most things in Salice happen.

Esmeralda and Jenny stood around a table with some officials. Esmeralda looked up and smiled.

“Good timing, Jake. We desperately need your help.”

 

Chapter Thirty: Fire

 

 

 

 

“I was hoping to get some rest.” I stepped closer to the table to see what was so interesting. A highly decorative map of Salice lay on the table. Someone had placed checker board pieces on a forest to the north, grassland to the east and farm land to the south. If Esmeralda hasn't placed books on the edges of the map I might have taken them for weights to hold it down.

“This is our problem, Jake. I gather you slept late this morning; surely after so much sleep you can't be tired?” Jenny turned away to hide her face and I tried my best to look innocent.

“One of Bronwyn's kids caused me a bit of trouble.”

“Salice has an emergency and you've been worrying yourself with the children?” Esmeralda waved at the map. “We have three fires running out of control that threaten to destroy the kingdom.”

One of Esmeralda's advisers stepped away from the table so I could get a closer look. If the checkers indicated fires the city would be under threat whichever way the wind blew. And I knew that the crops were close to harvest. Fruit trees were threatened to the north and grain fields to the south.

“Is this sort of thing common at this time of year?”

Esmeralda sighed impatiently. “It's been dry for weeks. Sometimes we get a fire, but I've never known three to break out at the same time. If you go and try to stop one of them I shall organize the people against the other two. We can't possibly stop all three.”

“Can you stop any of them?” I looked closely at Esmeralda as she answered. It's the sort of thing she lies about.

“I don't know, Jake. I have considered asking the Valhalla wizards for help, but that might come at too high a price.”

“The King?”

“Is rallying the people to the east. With the wind blowing from the east the city is under threat if we don't get that one under control. We'll lose our fruit and grape harvest in the north and next year's grain in the south if those fires rage on. It's a disaster whatever we do.”

There was a distinct smell of smoke in the air. I went to the window and stared out. A haze was developing in the air above the city and the sky was black on the horizon. I didn't think for a moment that the darkness was rain clouds.

Esmeralda did one of her 'reading my mind' tricks.

“There are rain clouds over the ocean, but the wind is blowing the wrong way.”

“I'll see what I can do,” I said and hopped to the cliffs overlooking the sea.

As Esmeralda said there were rain clouds away in the distance. I guessed they must be about twelve miles away. I sat in the lotus position facing the clouds and imagined the winds driving the clouds towards Salice. I ordered the wind to change direction.

After a few minutes I gave up. The clouds might be coming towards me or they might not. I couldn't tell. I felt a bit foolish to tell the truth. This felt like my King Canute moment when I finally proved I couldn't do everything.

I needed to get on and do something that worked. If the King was in the east and rallying people there, I'd better start in the north and see what I could do. I looked north and saw an ominous cloud of smoke rising and spreading out like a black mushroom. I hopped into the sky in front of it.

Skydiving without a parachute can be worrying. I fell towards the ground so fast my eyes misted up with tears. I used my newly discovered levitation skills to halt my descent and looked around. I was worryingly high in the sky and from where I floated I could see all three fires progressing across the land. None of them looked in the slightest bit under control. I stared at the blazing tree a long way below my feet and wished the fire to be out. For a couple of seconds the fires stopped and then they flared to life again with increased intensity.

I needed to make a plan. Last year Mr. Griffith brought a fire officer into the woodyard to talk about fires and how to put them out. A fire in a woodyard isn't a brilliant idea and learning how to deal with them made good sense. The fire officer said that a fire needs three things to stay ablaze and Malcolm had said
'yeah, flames'
and the officer told him he was dead wrong.

'Fire needs three things, fuel, air and heat. Take away any one of them and the fire will stop.'
He said that pouring water on fires made the fuel too cold to burn and that foam extinguishers stopped air getting to the fire as did fire blankets, but you had to keep the fire covered because it would start again if the fuel was hot enough. It didn't need a spark.

That was what I'd done wrong. I'd killed the flames but the trees were so hot that they'd started burning again as soon as they got the chance. Fuel seemed to be the easiest of the three things to deal with. I'd create a firebreak in the forest.

I hopped to a few hundred feet over forest that wasn't yet on fire. I concentrated and trees ripped out of the earth. I flew over the forest in a line parallel to the fire, creating a zone of barren earth over a hundred feet wide behind me. I saw animals struggling to clear the destruction I had created and not all of them making it.

When I reached a place where the forest changed to foothills I turned and flew back to where I'd started. The fire was almost upon the firebreak. I tore up trees and vegetation in the other direction until I reached a lake.

The effort exhausted me and I dropped to the shore to catch my breath. That was when I heard the screams. People were trapped on the wrong side of the firebreak. They were unable to get to safety because of the trees and debris I'd thrown across the forest. I'd forgotten that the people of Salice were fighting this fire.

Despite the fact that my head hurt and I couldn't see straight I knew I had to rescue the people I'd put in danger. I struggled to my feet and flew into the air. The magic was easy; it was my mind that was exhausted. Smoke blew into my face making my eyes water. I cast a protective shield and stayed low to the trees and the devastation I'd wrought. I saw women and children beside their men desperately trying to find a way through the broken trees.

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