Tre Lloyd Adventures Ch. 11

With a groan I woke up and looked around. I didn’t see anyone in the room and guessed that Arianna had slipped back to New Orleans to take care of some business while I was unconscious. I lay back in the bed to wait on her to return and looked around the room. Surprisingly there was no sign of the usual medical equipment, no heart monitor or oxygen or anything. I reached up to scratch my head and noticed that there was no sign of the hemorrhaging in my hands that should have still been evident from the strain of controlling too much mana during my testing.

My confusion grew when I noticed that I wasn’t hooked up to an IV. I looked around again and sat up. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and cautiously stood up. I reached up to scratch my chin when I felt no effects of the testing whatsoever. Someone must have been shaving me while I was out because my fingers met smooth skin, not the stubble I expected.

I couldn’t focus on it for too long as I heard a woman’s voice out of nowhere saying “Tre, come to me.” I didn’t know where the voice came from but I was determined to find out. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, drawing on the mana cautiously. I formed it into a shield around me and slowly headed to the door. Still I felt no lingering effects of the testing and that was in the back of my mind as I opened the door.

I looked around the hallway outside of my room and still saw no one. That made no sense as I knew that there were supposed to be nurses on duty at least. I kept my shield in place and made my way down the hallway. I slowly made my way up to the exit and looked around. It was strange that the Chapterhouse was completely abandoned.

“Come to me, Tre.” I looked around as I heard the voice again. I still didn’t see anyone it could be coming from so I reached out and opened the front door to the Chapterhouse. My eyes widened in shock as I stood in the front door and looked around. I still didn’t see anyone anywhere in sight and it that was a huge shock.

What was the bigger shock was the sight out the front door of the Chapterhouse. I expected to see the scenery of New York City as I stood in the doorway. Instead I looked out of the door onto a large grove of trees. My confusion eased somewhat as I remembered Telemon’s story and the description of the grove of trees surrounding Hecate’s cave.

I walked slowly down the steps, still surprised at not feeling any effects of the testing and made my way towards the trees. As I stepped into the grove the sun literally disappeared. I don’t mean it was hidden behind the treetops. I mean it disappeared. It went from bright daylight outside to the darkness of a moonless night in the matter of a couple of steps. I used a small bit of the power and brought a light into being in the palm of my hand.

I walked through the woods following a trail that just appeared out of nowhere in front of me. I made my way through the woods to a clearing, stopping at the edge of the trees and letting the light die as there was a glowing circle of stones lighting the clearing. I looked around the clearing but didn’t see anyone in it.

As soon as I stepped into the clearing I heard a rustling and turned around to see that the trail I followed into the clearing had disappeared. I liked this less and less and so I reached out and drew on more mana to have a spell ready to throw if I needed it. I opened my eyes to view the clearing with astral perception and immediately had to close them again. The clearing was bright beyond belief with magic.

I returned to normal vision and looked around as I walked on into the clearing. Knowing I was surrounded with magic I began to build up the amount of mana within me to have for my defense in case it was needed. “I am here. Who are you?” I asked still looking around. “Hell, where are you for that matter?” Unfortunately though I didn’t hear any answer to my question, only the silence of the grove.

I slowly made my way around the grove, eyes moving constantly. I didn’t want to offend Hecate by preparing a spell against her. Folks who offend one of the deities like Hecate were not known to have long life spans. Instead I just kept a spell in mind and kept the mana to power it held close at hand.

I spun around hearing a voice behind me. “I am right here, Tre. That covers where I am. As for who I am, well, you know who I am.” Without thinking I released the spell I had in mind. I worried for a split second as I saw the huge gout of fire explode towards the woman standing only a short distance away.

My fear turned to shock as the flames merely died away, disappearing into nothingness. She didn’t even move or bat an eye but she did away with my spell. As I began to prepare another spell I felt a wall slam down between my mind and the mana. I could sense the mana but could not touch it to draw on it to create a spell. My shield disappeared as well with no mana to power it.

“Now you know that your magic cannot harm me, Tre. You also know that I can take your magic away from you as it pleases me to. Do not try to attack me again or I will make it so you can never touch the mana again.” She smiled at me but I saw no warmth in her smile. Her dark eyes flashed with irritation as she turned her back and began to walk around the clearing.

I tried to reach the mana, first using a delicate touch to the process and then just trying to batter down the wall blocking me from it. Neither worked and both only drew a soft chuckle from the figure walking around the grove. I quit trying to pull on the mana and fought down the rising fear within me as I stood there watching her moving around the glowing circle of stones.

She suddenly stopped and turned to look at me. “If you will give me your word not to attack me again I will drop the shield and give you access to your magic once more. Do you promise that?”

I nodded slowly. “Yes I promise.” With those words I again felt the ability to touch the mana flood through me. The sensation was almost too much to take and for a moment it was all I could do to remain standing steady as I looked at her. I had never been cut off from my magic before nor had I ever even heard of that happening to anyone except those who burn themselves out.

I finally took the time to notice the way the woman looked. She was shockingly beautiful, her long black hair reaching down to her trim waist. Her hips and breasts strained against the gray silk dress in the Greek fashion that she wore. Her black eyes were seemingly bottomless, the pupils unable to be seen in their depths. It may have been my imagination but it seemed as if I could see her power glowing in her eyes.

She stood still for my inspection, her head tilted with a slight smile on her face. “You did very well in your testing, Tre. Telemon did not expect you to be able to defeat that last spirit that he summoned.”

“What?” I almost yelled. “That spirit could have killed me. It almost DID kill me. If he wanted me dead he should have brought some of the other Order members that don’t like me and done it himself.” I felt myself quivering with anger and fought to keep a low growl from escaping me.

She held up a hand to quiet me. “Tre, he was ready at all times to banish that spirit back to its home plane. He wanted to see your power. He wanted to see the true extent of your power. The only way for him to do that was to put you into a situation where you had to reach for that secret reservoir of power within you.”

Looking at me she stopped, her dark eyes flashing for sure now. “He knows the reach of your power now. He thinks he knows the limits of it as well. But, as a result of that testing, your power has grown even more.”

“What do you mean he knows the reach of my power? What are you talking about?” I asked confusion evident in my voice and on my face.

“You are one of the ones that listens aren’t you?” She smiled and laughed softly. “You have a power within you the likes of which has not been seen for millennia. Telemon only wishes that he had the power within him that you do, Tre. You are so close to surpassing him in power that it is amazing. You cannot match him in skill with only a few decades of experience to his experience of over two thousand years but in power soon you will pass him.”

I shook my head, still feeling the anger of her revelation within me. “You still haven’t explained what you mean by the ’reach’ of my power. I know I will be strong. I have always been strong.”

She smiled again. “Patience, Tre. All will be revealed in time and now is not the time for you to learn. Just know that on top of all of the strength that you have gained since joining the Order there is a wellspring of power within you that, for now, you can tap if direly needed.”

I opened my mouth to ask another question and she held up a hand, stopping my question without a word. “I can teach you to tap into that power at will, not just when your life is in danger as you can now. Once that is accomplished there will be none who can match you. But that will wait for another time, Tre.”

She looked me dead in the eyes and I could see nothing in their blackness. “I know you have learned a lot from that spirit that calls herself Arianna. I can teach you skills to make those pale in comparison. I can teach you things not seen in hundreds, even thousands, of years.

“Like how to cut someone off from magic?” I laughed softly.

My laughter was cut short when she nodded. “That would be one of them. In fact that would be one of the easiest to show you. I could show you so much more than that. I will show you some things that have fallen from common knowledge, either because the people who came up with them died before passing them along or because mages agreed that the powers were too dangerous to be used. I can teach you all of these Tre.”

I thought back to my training and my research trying to remember spells that had been deemed too dangerous for use and only able to think of a few. I looked back at her and she was nodding. “That’s right, Tre. I can teach you those and more. I can show you so much. And the powers I can show you are just the beginning. I can give you strength the likes of which no one, not even that hag Freyja on her best day, can match.”

I thought about her offer. All of it was tempting but the last part really got my attention. I knew that Freyja was strong and skillful. She also had the ability to grow more powerful with her use of blood magic. I might be able to beat her in a stand up fight right now but I wasn’t sure. She, like Telemon, had a lot more skill than me.

She smiled as she saw me obviously thinking about her offer. Something didn’t feel right about it though. I couldn’t be sure what it was, but something was off about her offer. Something about it just nagged at me, tugging at the back of my mind. I shrugged slightly. “I will think about it. I appreciate the offer though.”

She nodded and stepped forward closer to me. “I can understand that, Tre. I understand your reluctance. The power I am offering you has not been equaled in a very long time. The abilities I am offering you have been long unused. Accept my offer, Tre and take your place as the foremost of the Order.”

I tensed slightly as she stepped up beside me. “Relax, Tre. I am going to show you the first of the powers I can offer. The power of blocking is very simple to use and it only becomes easier with practice. With this power you cut someone off from the mana.” Her dark eyes flashed as she looked at me.

“You know how someone touches the mana.” She smiled as she spoke, reaching back to touch my head right at the base of my skull. “Right here is where the connection to the Astral is. Here is where you pull mana into your body. It’s also where you slip out of your body into the Astral plane.

“For a new mage or someone who isn’t so strong in the power, this connection is slight. It’s steady but not strong. It is easily blocked off. For someone, like you for example, who is very powerful, the connection is strong and hard to sever.” She thought for a minute and then continued. “Imagine it like a straw. The stronger the person is in the magic, the thicker the straw. It can be a thin straw for someone weak or a thick hose for a powerful mage.”

She held up two fingers joined into a circle. “Imagine this is the very spot where that pipeline joins to the mage’s body. Blocking is simply a matter of doing with the mana channel what can be done to any pipeline. You merely use your mana to block off that channel and keep them from reaching the Astral to gather up mana for a spell. Once that is done they are effectively blocked.”

She laughed softly. “You can visualize it any way you want. The important part is seeing that connection, for which you will need to be watching the Astral plane, at first anyway. As time goes on you will be able to visualize it well enough without viewing the Astral to be able to do it with normal vision. Once you see the connection just use magic to block it off.” She brought her hand back from my head and dropped it in front of the circle, blocking it off.

“That is really all that there is to blocking, Tre.” She moved her hand and looked around, tilting her head as if listening to something. “I’m afraid that will be all I can tell you about blocking for now, Tre.” She reached out and rested the fingertips of one hand on my forehead. “This will explain further and show you everything you need to know. Remember what you learn here, Tre.”

I felt a spark of electricity and jumped back drawing a small laugh from her. “Consider that my gift to you, Tre. You now have the full knowledge of blocking. You can cut almost anyone off from the magic now. Spirits and the like you can’t block from magic. They are creatures of magic, given form by magic. Most of them you destroy if you block them off from magic. There are some rare few that can be successfully blocked. All of that is in your mind now.”

She stepped back and began walking around slowly again. “Also it is harder to block someone who is already holding on to mana. If you are stronger than they are though, as you will be with most people, you should still be able to with some effort.”

I thought about what blocking entailed and amazingly the knowledge of how to do it was right there in my mind. Each and every step was complete in my memory along with memories of what would happen to different kinds of spirit beings if they were blocked. I closed my eyes and let the new knowledge swirl through my head. It was like I had known all along how to use the ability to block people off from magic.

I opened my eyes and saw the woman looking at me with a small smile on her face. “You see, Tre? With but a thought I have shown you how to do something that none have known how to do since before Alexander conquered the Persian Empire. There have been a few attempts to do this in recent centuries, but none have researched it in depth.”

I looked at her curiously. “Why not? You say this is the easiest of the powers that you can show me. Why has it not been researched any more?”

She nodded. “Yes it is the easiest to learn. It is also the easiest to abuse. There are a few alterations to the power that can be made that some so-called evil wizards were using it to eliminate their rivals. So a group of wizards got together and set out to eliminate every wizard that had the knowledge of this power. They did a wonderful job too. Within a decade all who had knowledge of blocking and the similar powers were dead and all of their libraries were destroyed. The use of it ceased since none remembered it.”

“If none remembered it,” I asked her. “Then how do you know it?”

A soft laugh preceded her answer. “It is magic. It happened in my realm of knowledge. I remember everything that happens in my realm.” Again she tilted her head as if listening before looking back at me. “Return now to your room, Tre. I have things I must do. You will remember everything that you learned here but tell no one. The Order will remember the last time this power was used and will try to eliminate you as the other wizards were eliminated.”

She disappeared from in front of me and suddenly she was behind me tracing one finger up my neck and along my jaw as she whispered in my ear. “There will also be… other… bonuses to our working together. Bonuses that are not mana oriented but no less magical and wondrous. And all of it will be yours in time. Think hard on it, Tre. Now you must go.”

With that she simply vanished and the path appeared. I shook my head a bit and walked back down the path, eventually stepping out of the grove of trees in sight of the Chapterhouse. I made my way back over to the steps still looking around for someone, anyone.

I walked through the doors into the building and stopped at the receptionist’s desk. Where it didn’t before a curiosity to see what day it was gnawed at me. I looked at the date and saw that three days had passed since my testing. I was amazed that I had been unconscious for that entire time with the magical healing that I knew the Order would have given me.

I looked around for any sign of someone and shook my head when I saw and heard no one. Turning back down the hallway to the infirmary I made my way carefully along. Nowhere in the building did I see any signs of the people that should be there. I pushed open the door to my room and walked inside. I frowned when I still didn’t see Arianna there. Feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on I walked back over to the bed.

I climbed back into the bed, my mind awhirl with the new knowledge I had gained and the questions that knowledge had brought to mind. I gave a small shake of my head and closed my eyes, laying back to sleep hoping that Arianna or someone was around when I woke up.

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Arianna sat beside Tre's bed watching him worriedly. He had not stirred in the more than three days since the testing. She had received word of the battle at the Villa and was happy to hear that no one had gotten seriously injured. She was worried about the one who was having to stay in the magical circle to heal but was more concerned that, despite magical healing, Tre had not regained consciousness.

She knew that the healing spells the Order Initiates had given Tre would not help him with the mana burn and the hemorrhaging from it. She had seen mana burn many times throughout the centuries she had worked with mages and knew that only time could heal that. He still should have awakened though. She knew that he was in excellent shape and that his body would heal quickly but he had never been unconscious like this before.

Her mind wandered back to the messages that she had gotten on the voice mail of her cell phone. The Houngans she worked with had warned her of some dangerous stirrings among the spirits. They said that their loas had told them about something but wouldn’t tell her exactly what the spirit guides had said. That alone worried her but the fact that she couldn’t contact any spirits on her own because she refused to leave Tre’s side made that worry even worse.

She rose and went over to the window, looking out on the city passing by below as she thought. There were lots of dark things that could be stirring or waking. How many of them would actually cause ripples among the spirits by doing so though? Some of the Demon Lords might, as might some of the darker deities.

She tried to think of which of the so called ‘Dark Gods’ might have been absent but drew a blank. She knew that Hecate was, despite the good things her Order had done for magic, considered one of the Dark Gods. But Hecate had been around for a long time and caused no such stirrings. She also drew a blank on the Demon Lords but the majority of them were bound in one way or another, refused access to this plane. Tre had a list of them and most of them were locked away by the Order.