Zak Turner - A Twist In Time (17 page)

“Sorry Mother, I’ll be more careful, I promise.”

“Okay Zak, now you better go and find your father while I check on Freya.  I think he was in his study.  I know Bjarne was outside, so he might have escaped the full impact.”

* * *

As soon as the boys left the room, Bella took a deep breath and stood up.  She’d just experienced first-hand the overwhelming power first of Zak’s Laxo, which seemed to have wiped out the whole castle, and then Tallion’s equally overwhelming Resusipisco!  For the first time she felt uneasy about the magical strength of the two boys.  She suspected that they were sharing their power, but there was no doubt in her mind that even individually they had reached the point where they were magically far more powerful than all those around them. 

Bringing up and training these two boys was going to be a unique experience, and they would need to guide them, rather than drive them, which no longer appeared to be an option!  They were both very teachable though, and willing to learn.  Fate had given them a temperament to match their skills!

* * *

Zak and Tallion quickly made their way to Sir Philip’s study, and found the baronet slumped against the wall outside the door, barely conscious.  Again, Tallion cast the reviving spell, unknowingly watched from a distance by his mother.  The same visible, multi-coloured swirl of magical energy built up behind him and raced down his arm before coiling round his father as his son transferred his own energy to his parent.

The baronet went through the same shocking experience that his wife had just been through, and then delivered a similar, but rather firmer lecture to Zak, after the eleven-year-old explained what had happened.  He then gave both boys a pat on the shoulder to indicate the chastisement was over, and they set off together towards the school rooms to sort out Barty.

Bella smiled to herself.  Her husband had been so very strict with the children when they were young, and she’d often wished he would show a bit more tenderness towards them.  Now, since Zak had burst into their lives, he’d changed quite dramatically.  His focus in life seemed to have switched too, towards developing and supporting them, rather than the myriad duties and responsibilities he had on the Wizard Council and in the dale.  Bella could see a new purpose and energy in her husband, as though he’d discovered a new goal to aim for.

* * *

“Woh!  That was a bit intense!” said Barty turning his head slowly from side-to-side as he gingerly sat up.  “Was that a Resusipisco, Tallion?”

“Yes, Barty,” said Tallion, relief clear in his voice.  “We were a bit worried about you because when Zak used the spell earlier it revived me but not you!”

Barty looked puzzled, “That’s a bit odd!”

“I have a theory,” said Sir Philip, “although it’s only based on a few assumptions.  It fits with the known rules of how magic behaves though.  When Zak let loose the Laxo, he used almost all of his own energy and almost all of yours too Tallion.  That’s quite dangerous, and you’re going to need to find ways to control the transfer of energy between you or you might end up knocking each other out simply by using up each other’s energy.”

“Now, magic cannot fight against itself.  When you study the restricted curses later in your training, you’ll discover that certain offensive spells have no effect if you cast them at yourself.  The one that everyone quotes as an example is the Libra Mortis, although I don’t know anyone who’s actually tested the theory by using it!  Therefore, when the double strength Laxo hit you and Barty, it affected each of you differently because half of the power in the spell was from you, Tallion.  The magic inside you withstood the incoming Laxo, and crucially cancelled out half of its power.  The magic couldn’t overpower itself!  You still collapsed, but that was because Zak took most of your magical energy, not because you were hit by the Laxo.”

“Now, how does that explain why Zak couldn’t revive Barty but could revive you?”

“I think I know, Father,” said Zak tentatively, in response to the baronet’s question.  “I only needed half as much power to revive Tallion as I did to revive Barty?”

“Correct.  Reviving Barty needed a double shot, but that was only possible with power from
both
of you, which is what he got from Tallion just now.  I saw you wilt, Zak, as Tallion cast the spell, and it was clear that he took a great deal of your magical energy, although not too much physical energy, or you’d have ended up on the floor!”

“But how come
my
Resusipisco didn’t take Tallion’s energy when I cast it earlier?  I tried hard to give it everything I could!”

“Ahhh.  Now we’re in the realms of conjecture.  There is certainly nothing written down anywhere that could guide us as to how your particular magical bond behaves, although we should start recording our findings and experiences for future generations.  My speculation is that because Tallion’s magical power was already drained, the bond couldn’t draw any more.  Therefore despite your best efforts Zak, you could only amass half the power you needed revive Barty.”

There was a pause while they all thought about it, and eventually Tallion spoke up.

“So spells cast using power from both of us will always need power from both of to undo them?”

“Yes.  Now you understand why I just indicated that you’re getting into dangerous territory.  If Zak had needed power from both of you to revive
you
Tallion, then he would never have been able to do it!”

The rather chilling realisation that Zak had come very close to knocking out his friend with a spell which could
not
have been undone, sent a chill through the two boys.  Only they knew what Findlay MacElver had said to them on the day that Zak got his wand, but the wandmaker looked like he’d been spot on in his assessment!

11.  A New Broom

Sir Philip decided that they should give potions a miss that weekend, so that Barty could recover properly from being at death’s door.  As a result Zak and Tallion went off early in search of Bjarne, and eventually found him fast asleep on the bench in the broom store!  He woke up when they shook him, but he was obviously suffering from the effects of the Laxo too.  Rather than cast a Resusipisco at him though, they gave him a whole bar of Honey Snap and made him eat it all.  About ten minutes later he was back to his normal self.  Well, almost!

“It was Zak’s fault, Bjarne!  Barty showed us a fantastic duelling practise ring in the classroom, and it gives you real opponents to fight against!”

“Just puppets, not real people!” added Zak, in response to Bjarne confused thoughts.

“And it automatically changes level to adapt to how good you are.” continued Tallion.  “Unfortunately it decided Zak was a wizard Magus, so it suddenly gave him four Magus wizards to fight!”

“You’re a wizard Magus already Zak?!  Blimey, you’ve only been a wizard for a few weeks, that’s unbelievable!”

“I’m not really, Bjarne, I hardly know any spells at all!  I could never fight against real Magus wizards!”

“Ahem,” said Tallion accusingly, looking at Zak with raised eyebrows.  “I don’t think that duelling ring made a mistake Zak Turner, and those puppets were certainly going to behave like Magus wizards!  Bjarne, three of them cast stunning spells at him at the same time, so rather than be beaten he decided to blast the whole place to bits with a Laxo!  All four wizards exploded, and he knocked out me and Barty, Mother, Father, Freya, and probably all the elves too!” 

“WOH!  That’s unbelievable!  Just one spell in the duelling classroom did all that?!”

“Yep.  Where were you?  How come you escaped?”

Bjarne thought for a moment, and then said rather worriedly, “I was up a tree!  I remember suddenly feeling really sleepy, and deciding that I needed to climb down.  When I got back to the castle I found myself in here for some reason, so I laid down on the bench and must have fallen asleep.  Will you show me the duelling ring in the classroom?”

“Sure, but we might have to sneak in one night when Barty’s not there.  I don’t know if he or Father would want you in there while we’re practising.” 

“I’m sure Father wouldn’t mind, he knows we all have to learn how to defend ourselves.  If I watch you two, then I’ll get a head start when I get my wand!”

“It’s a shame you can’t have a wand before your eleventh birthday, I easily think you should have one Bjarne,” said Zak.

“You’re lucky Zak.  Every single witch and wizard who isn’t first generation thinks the same way, but we all just have to sit it out!  I’ve even spoken with Father about it.  He says it’s worst for those with older brothers and sisters because children don’t really think about it until their oldest brother or sister gets theirs.  I never did, until Tallion got his, but nearly every day since I’ve wished I had mine.  I have another year and a half to go, which seems like forever!  Freya’s going to have to wait for
three
years!”

“Come on, let’s go flying,” said Tallion, hoping to distract his brother.  “At least you can do that!”

Zak suddenly remembered that Bjarne’s broomstick had been almost destroyed by the crash into The Cleft on the moor.  He’d managed to fly it back to the castle, but it wouldn’t go in a straight line anymore, or go fast.  Tallion of course immediately heard Zak’s concerned thoughts, and looked at his natural brother, ready to say something consoling, but saw that he wasn’t unhappy at all.  In fact he seemed so pleased that he looked positively excited!

The soul mates were both sharing each other thoughts, and casually trying to understand why Bjarne was so happy, but hadn’t reached a conclusion before Tallion opened the broom cupboard door.

Then
they understood why!  Lined up under their names were three new broomsticks!  Bjarne’s grin turned into a laugh of glee.

“It was nearly killing me keeping it secret!  Father told me last night that they’d arrived from America, but that I shouldn’t tell you until after your lessons had finished today.  He also said I had to wait until then before I could fly mine too.  It’s been torture!”

“They’re from America?  Are they Falcons?!” asked Tallion in a hushed voice.

“Yes, I came to look straight after breakfast.  They’re Falcon Tourers though, not Falcon Pros.  Father had to get something we could use at school, and you’re only allowed publicly available broomsticks at school, not specialist ones.  Falcon Pros are only available to professional Balai sportsmen.” 

The three boys took out their new broomsticks and inspected them.  Although they all looked the same in the cupboard, close up they had personal touches that made the boys smile.  Each one was hand finished to pick up the boys colouring, so in both Bjarne and Tallion’s case there were fine cobalt blue and blond lines sweeping gracefully along the sides of the almost black handle, matching their eye and hair colour.  In Zak’s case the lines were amethyst and hazelnut.  The broomsticks also had their names painted on them at the top of the handle, in their eye colour, next to a picture representing their name and personality.  Zak, of course, had a winged stallion, Tallion had an eagle, but Bjarne had a bear.

The footrests and twig bindings were all a smooth matt platinum colour, and Zak noticed that the handles were kinked slightly at the hand grips to make it more comfortable to hold.  The shaft where you sat was also shaped differently too, to make it more comfortable.

“Blimey, these must have cost a fortune!” said Zak, once again feeling uncomfortable about being provided with things for free.  Unlike clothes and food, this had cost real money!  Sir Philip had bought these…

“Well, yes, they’re like wands,” said Tallion, hearing his friend’s thoughts.  “You can’t just magic them into existence; they have to be made by wizard craftsmen.  We’re not exactly short of gold though Zak!  So stop worrying about it.”

I’ll try not to Tallion, but…  Well, you know me and how my mind works better than anyone else.  I still can’t get over how lucky I am to be a wizard, and to have you as my friend, well no, as my soul mate!

You’re still happy about it?  After nearly being killed so many times since your birthday?

Zak smiled his full overwhelming smile at Tallion, and responded,
Yes, even after all that, and even knowing what lies ahead, I still think I’m the luckiest boy alive!

WE are the luckiest boy alive.  One boy, with two bodies, two minds, and two souls, but one boy.

Does it feel like that to you too?  It’s starting to feel like that for me, especially now that I have your thoughts in my head all the time.  Sometimes I even think I’m hearing things through your ears too!

Well, it doesn’t quite feel like we’re one person yet, but yeah, it’s starting to go that way, and I know that’s where it will end up.  Do you mind?  Not being just yourself anymore I mean?

No, not really, I like being you!  It’s very weird having your thoughts helping me to make decisions though!  We’ll always have ourselves in here too I expect; our joint personality is made up from two people. 

I feel the same, and I love hearing your thoughts, you think about things so differently to me.  I never understood before how two people could see the same things and be in the same situation, and yet come to totally different conclusions about what was happening, or what to do next!

There was a brief pause in the thought conversation before Zak continued.

Come on, we need to go outside with Bjarne; he’ll probably kill himself when he sets off for the first time!  We can talk later.

Don’t forget that we’re meeting Steven later, at the post office…

Blimey!  I
had
forgotten!  What time did we agree?

We didn’t.  Maybe you should send him a messenger to tell him.  That’ll give him a fright! 

Okay, now?

Yeah, quickly while Bjarne’s outside.

Zak put his broomstick back on the holder and got out his wand.

We need to tell Father too.  What time?

Four thirty?  Then he can have his meal here too.  He’ll enjoy that!

We should send a messenger to Father first, to ask if it’s okay.

Yeah, you’re right, although we’ve already told Steven so what if he says no?

He won’t, he likes Steven almost as much as he likes us!

Okay, hold this while I send my messenger.

* * *

Less than two minutes later, both boys were out in the courtyard, climbing onto their new brooms for the first time, their messages safely sent.  The reply from Sir Philip had been almost instant, as though he was waiting for the question, and had been a simple, ‘Yes, good idea.’

It was only as they kicked off the ground, which was a moment of revelation in itself as their new brooms rocketed forwards catching both boys by surprise, that the eleven-year-olds realised that Sir Philip was already on his own broomstick waiting for them.  They slowed down and circled round to join him, stopping alongside Bjarne who was grinning madly.

“You didn’t seriously think I was going to give you all unrestricted brooms and not be out here watching and ready to catch you if you fell off did you?” he asked, looking rather amused.  “So what do you think?”

“Awesome!” said Bjarne without any hesitation, Zak and Tallion echoing his comment.

“Okay.  You two are probably the only eleven-year-olds in the country with Falcon Tourers, and you are most certainly the only nine-year-old with one Bjarne!  I can’t pretend that I’m not just a little bit worried.  There are good reasons why children shouldn’t ride adult broomsticks, lack of weight being the most obvious.  However, you two are getting close to the ‘minimum’ weight, and Bjarne clearly has an innate ability to fly, so we might get away with it.”

“This courtyard isn’t big enough to use these though, so we’re going to have to use the moor.”

The boys’ eyes lit up!  They were going to get chance to do some real cross country flying!

“We still need to keep out of sight though, so I’ll show you where you can fly safely.  When I got
my
first adult broomstick, one of the first places I wanted to go was the crag, so I know you’ll be the same.  I’m not going to stop you, but I
am
going to warn you that it’s not a friendly place.  I hope you have the same experiences there that I did!  However, I can see you’re itching to see how fast you can fly it Bjarne, so let’s just have a run straight there and back for now.  You lead off, we’ll follow.”

“Yes sir,” said the almost ecstatic nine-year-old, unable to believe that he had his own fully unrestricted broom to fly on,
and
that he was being encouraged to test himself!  He wanted to show that he was responsible though, there was still a tiny bit of cautious Middleham blood controlling the excited schoolboy.  Therefore he didn’t rocket away using the same racing start that he’d jealously watched his father do plenty of times, but just set off quickly and built up speed steadily, heading towards the crag.  His father matched him, flying almost alongside, with his two other sons following.

* * *

Steven Robson had been feeling a bit flat.  His new life at Netherdale Academy had started out quite well, but had fallen apart a bit on Friday when Zak and Tallion disappeared before lunch following the ‘lightning strikes’.  Steven had been scrupulous not to say what had really happened to everyone who asked, which turned out to be most of their classmates who all knew he was friendly with Zak and Tallion.

His and Sam’s Friday afternoon without their two best friends had dragged a bit, and although they stuck together, they were both relieved to get back to their farms that afternoon.  Sam just plunged straight back into his families farming life, not thinking about school or the others, but Steven had seen too much of the magical world now for his mind to focus only on the farm. 

He spent Friday evening writing a letter to Sartrina, hoping that he could give it to Zak who would somehow get it to his girlfriend.  He was a bit nervous about handing it over because it might mean that he had to admit they were more than just friends.  However, his desire to write was much stronger than his wish to keep a secret from his best friend.

Saturday passed with a steady stream of farming jobs, and he was just having a last sweep round the livestock on the quad bike in the early afternoon when Zak’s spectral messenger appeared right in front of him and made him swerve to a stop, nearly tipping the quad bike over in the process!

“Meet us at the post office at four thirty!” said Zak’s voice.

Steven recovered from his fright and grinned, suddenly feeling heaps better.

“That I will Zak Turner, I’ll be waiting fer yer, so don’t be late!”

Steven didn’t know if the messengers took replies back to the person who sent them, but he spoke aloud to the unicorn just in case.

* * *

The three boys at Lofthouse Castle weren’t the only children from Netherdale who’d had an eventful Saturday.  Sartrina Proudfoot had survived, and enjoyed, her first week at wizard school, and was entering into school life cautiously but determinedly.  She’d had more or less one lesson in every subject, and her academic brain was already sorting and arranging what she’d learned, and establishing her new routines.  She simply couldn’t face life without a plan.