The Sorcerer's Abyss (The Sorcerer's Path) (2 page)

“Congratulations, you look worse than usual. A feat to be proud of, to be sure.”

Ellyssa rotated her head without lifting it from the desktop and stuck her tongue out at Roger.

“More bad dreams?” he asked.

“No more or less than usual lately.”

“You think you’re going to be able to stay awake through the entire lecture?”

“I sure hope not,” Ellyssa replied. “It’s the one reason I came to this class.”

“Well you better pay attention. How are you going to learn anything when you never come to class?”

“I do come to class, sometimes, and there is a lot more to magic than reading books and listening to lectures. Sometimes, I feel like I am being held back when I sit in class.”

“You are being held back for your own good,” Roger said seriously. “You, in particular, need someone to keep you in check so you don’t hurt yourself or others by exceeding your abilities.”

Ellyssa worked up the strength to glare at her friend. “You have no idea what my abilities are.”

“Do you?”

Before Ellyssa could issue a retort, Wizard Maira entered the room and commanded everyone’s attention. As Ellyssa had hoped, it took only a few minutes of droning lecture before she felt her eyes close and her mind drift away.

“Ellyssa, wake up!”

Ellyssa’s eyes flew open and she bolted upright. “Yes, Chain Mistress!”

Misha glared down at the stubborn girl. “What do I have to do to you to make you pay attention?”

Ellyssa’s mouth worked up and down, trying to find the words to prevent the sadistic woman from unleashing agony through her chains.

“Maybe this will help you focus,” her Chain Mistress snapped.

Ellyssa stood and backed away as Misha stepped angrily forward. She looked at her hands and saw the chains were no longer there. The bracelets and collar they once joined were gone as well. Ellyssa did not hesitate. She grabbed at the Source and felt it flood into her a moment before unleashing it against her cruel mistress.

Misha quickly brought up a ward to shield herself from the young girl’s magical onslaught, feeding more power into it as Ellyssa’s arcane strikes forced her back across the room. Ellyssa punctuated each attack with screams of unbridled rage driven by fear. Other screams soon mixed with hers. The shouting was so loud, she barely heard Misha crying out her name, begging her to stop.

“Ellyssa, wake up! Stop this!”

The different tone of her voice finally broke through Ellyssa’s subconscious. She blinked several times and saw Wizard Maira pressed against the far wall, the remnants of her ward little more than a fragile eggshell. Her next strike would have surely shattered it and possibly killed the young instructor.

Ellyssa stared down at her hands and felt the tingling of the Source as it slowly drained away. She looked around the room at the terrified faces of the other students standing rooted in shock, certain their psychotic classmate was about to murder their teacher.

Her jaw trembled as she tried to form words to apologize but could not force them past the lump in her throat. Unable to speak, she turned and fled the classroom, racing across the grounds and through the southern gate. On she ran, pushing her muscles well past the point of exhaustion. Only when her legs finally collapsed and her breath became so ragged and painful it was barely able to bring air into her lungs did she stop.

Ellyssa heaved until she purged the last bit of bile from her stomach. She lay next to her pool of vomit and wept until even her tears ran dry.

“What is wrong with me!” she shouted into the woods, but the trees did not answer.

When she finally awoke once more, the sun had set and darkness filled the woods around her. Her stomach ached from heaving and sobbing and her legs were as stiff and unyielding as the trees. She looked in the direction of the school and dreaded returning, but she had nowhere else to go. She hated the thought of making the walk back, but the evenings were too cold to stay in the open.

It took almost half an hour just to get her legs to obey and carry her back home. She was miles from the school and it seemed an eternity before she finally reached the flickering orange glow of the torches and lamps lit upon the walls. Ellyssa collapsed onto her bed, terrified of going back to sleep but powerless to prevent it.

If the nightmares returned that night, she did not remember them. Pale light seeped through her window, heralding a new day. A new day of the same old pain, the same accusing stares, and the same unrelenting ocean of guilt.

She ran a quick brush blindly through her long, tangled hair and grabbed whatever clothes lay close at hand. She stole down the stairs of the old tower and darted into the kitchen. Agnes was there, as usual, along with several other kitchen staff, busily preparing enough food to feed nearly a thousand hungry mouths. Agnes, rushing between the three full kitchens, one of which was in the new tower, paid Ellyssa no heed and would not have even if she were not so busy. The cook was fully aware of the girl's ritual and was one of those who preferred not to have anything to do with her.

Ellyssa dodged the milling bodies, which was far easier than avoiding the accusing looks, and snatched up morsels of food before escaping into the dining room. She was barely halfway through her breakfast when the sound of voices preceded the appearance of nearly everyone she wanted to elude.

Allister, Rusty, Colleen, and worst of all, Lady Miranda strode into the dining hall earlier than was their normal routine. All conversation ceased as the arrivals stopped and stared at Ellyssa who stared back like a trapped animal, her half-chewed food filling her mouth with the taste of ashes. Volumes were spoken in the moment of silence before Ellyssa bolted for the kitchen, the remains of her breakfast left half-eaten on her plate. Agnes and half a dozen scullery maids thwarted her escape by trying to enter the dining room with trays bearing the morning meals for the school's masters.

Her retreat blocked, Ellyssa spun, ran along the far side of the table, and fled through the door through which the others had emerged with her head down and her arms crossed defensively across her chest.

"Ellyssa," Allister began to say, but Ellyssa was already past and sprinting for the doors leading outside. The old mage sighed loudly. "More than a year and the girl still can't bear to be in the same room with us. I'm surprised she can stand to sit through her classes."

"Other than her frequent truancy, she has been doing exceptionally well, until yesterday." Rusty said.

“What happened?” Allister asked.

Rusty and the others took their seats around the table. “She attacked Maira. I think her night terrors have returned and she fell asleep in class. When Maira tried to wake her, Ellyssa called her Misha and Chain Mistress. She said Ellyssa looked at her like a trapped animal and lashed out at her. If some of the other students had not helped reinforce her ward, Ellyssa may have killed her before coming to her senses.”

“Dear gods,” Allister muttered.

They all knew of Ellyssa’s nightmares, but there had never been an episode this serious before. They had tried various potions and even had Brother Thomas use his divine powers to try to bring her a measure of peace. It seemed to have helped a little, but that no longer appears to hold true.

Rusty continued. "Except for yesterday, she has shown more effort than I have seen from any other student, including Roger. It's just too bad it took this tragedy to make her take her studies seriously."

Allister harrumphed, "Too seriously if you ask me. The girl does nothing but study and practice. I fear for her sanity if she keeps herself locked in Azerick's lab all day and night. Perhaps my fears are borne out."

"Do you think it is wise to leave her alone with Azerick's book?" Rusty asked. "The tome contains a lot of information on advanced magic and has already gotten her into trouble once. With this new development, the last thing she needs is more power."

"I do, actually," Allister replied with a nod. "She is not the frivolous little girl she was before theaccidentand I think Azerick would want her to use it to reach her full potential since she has matured."

"How can you call what happened an accident?" Miranda practically snapped.

Allister laid a gentling hand upon Miranda's forearm. "I know how painful this has been for you. Azerick was the son I never had. But you need to let go and forgive Ellyssa. She was young and foolish, but she loved him as much as any of us and her pain is just as great. Greater, probably, since she refuses to unload the additional burden of being responsible. We all need to try and bring her back to us instead of pushing her further away."

"I have told her I forgive her; when I can keep her in the same room long enough to say it."

"Yes, you have said the words, but such pain and guilt needs far more than the words, my dear."

Miranda's took in and released a deep breath. "I try, Allister. The gods know how I try, but every time I see her, when I look at my son, all I see is the girl who led my husband to his death. I know in my mind it is not fair to think in that way, but I cannot convince my heart, and my heart speaks the truth when I try to say otherwise."

"You would not be human otherwise, my dear," Allister told the still grieving widow. "Perhaps we all just need more time. Speaking of young Daebian, Aggie and I believe we have done what we can to shed some light on hiscondition. This is all more of her expertise, so let us wait for her to come down to explain what we have found."

As if she were a stage actor awaiting her cue, Aggie burst through the dining room door putting the finishing touches on her tightly bound bun of hair. "I tell you, it would almost be worth being a man just so I could stick my feet in a pair of slippers, drop a robe over my head, and be ready to start my day. Miranda, I don't know how you manage to look as lovely as you do by the sixth hour."

"Easy," Miranda said with a smile, "I get up at the fifth."

"Ugh, no thank you. I will settle for second," the elder lady mage looked at Colleen, "well, a distant third best."

"You are beyond lovely, Aggie. You are majestic," Colleen told the venerable wizard.