Chương 20: 20 Loop 0, Part 20

I held aloft my illuminated marble as I walked into Thane's classroom. The desks were empty, and the practice dummies had been shoved into their corner. For some reason, Monday's lesson was still on the blackboard, the chalk diagram for [Access Ward] half-erased where Thane had given up on cleaning it. I knelt beside the podium, on the ground where Flag was: third from the left, second row back. [Soul Sense] had activated on its own as I came close, so I could see him even in the low light of the room.

I placed my hand flat on the ward above his stone and pushed a thread of mana into it, just enough to open the link. Hey, Flag, I said. He took his time answering. Lazlo? Oh, hello, Lazlo. I was having the most wonderful nap. You know, nobody's stepped on me since yesterday. I think he's learned. Or maybe he forgot I was here. Either way, it's been absolutely lovely. Is it a holiday? No. My ward's still active, so nobody could step on you even if they wanted to.

Oh, that's brilliant, though I was hoping it was a holiday. Holidays mean no boots. Do you know how many boots walk across me on a normal day? Forty. I count every time. Forty boots. That's twenty people who could have chosen any other tile to step on, but they chose me. I laughed at the exuberant stone. Flag, I need your help. The warmth pulsed once and went still. His sleepy chatter dropped away, and when Flag spoke again, he was eager. Okay. What do you need? I need you to come with me.

I need your help blocking a door. A door? Like last time, when I knocked over the loud man? Close. Except this time, it matters more than anything has ever mattered before. Oh. Oh, well, yes, then. Absolutely, yes, I'd be happy to help you. I am very good at blocking things, Lazlo. I'm a stone. It's literally what I was made to do. Let's go immediately. Unfortunately, Flag could only hold one enchantment at a time. An object his size didn't have the capacity for two.

I needed him warded at the infirmary, not here, so I cancelled [Access Ward] and cast [Move]. [Move — Enchantment] Cost: 20 mana. Enchants a solid object to follow the caster at a set distance. Duration: until dispelled. Flag lifted from the floor with a soft grinding sound, dust falling from his edges. He wobbled once, twice, and then steadied. He hovered at knee height. Whoa, I'm flying, Lazlo, I'm flying! This is so wonderful. I can see the tops of the desks. I've never seen the tops of the desks before.

Take me over to that one. Flag, we don't have time for this. Come on. Is that a window? I've heard about windows. Can I see it? Flag. Right. Yes. Door. Important. Let's go. Popo was waiting for us in the corridor. She took in the floating flagstone, then me.

"Don't," I said.

"I didn't say anything."

"You were going to."

"It's a rock, Lazlo."

"He's a flagstone. And he's sensitive." I like her. She seems nice. A bit judgy, but nice. Didn't you say that about Sara? The infirmary stood ahead of us, two stories of pale stone with lit windows on the ground floor. It was the only building on campus that still had lights on. [Wideview] opened the inside to me, and I was right: The front desk was empty, but two guards in government robes stood at the far end, outside a closed door. I stopped at the corner, and Popo drew up beside me.

"Two guards," I said.

"They're definitely Creed's people. Do you have a plan?"

"You'll know it when you hear it. Get ready to run." She walked toward the infirmary entrance at an easy pace, nothing in her stride to mark her as anything but a normal fourth-year checking on a friend. The guards watched her come and turned back to their conversation. I pressed against the wall with Flag hovering beside me. In [Wideview], Popo crossed the main corridor toward the guards and stopped ten feet short. Her mouth moved, and [Subtitle] pulled the words to me.

"Hi. I need to get inside."

"Ma'am, this wing is restricted. No visitors."

"I'm not visiting. I left my bag in one of the examination rooms this afternoon."

"There's no bag in there."

"It's a small bag. You probably missed it."

"Ma'am, nobody is allowed past this point." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Popo's voice had taken on a quality I recognized. She was a great actress; I almost believed the desperation in it.

"It's very important. I have a paper due tomorrow morning. I'm going to fail if I don't have it." The taller guard looked at the shorter one.

"Just let her check, Jasper."

"Louis, the orders said nobody."

"It's just a small bag, I promise."

"The orders didn't say 'nobody except people with bags,' Louis. The orders said nobody."

"It'll only take, like, ten seconds."

"And if somebody asks, what do I say? Oh, we let a student through because she lost her bag? That's how careers end, Louis. That's how people get reassigned to border patrol."

"Dude, it's just a student with a bag. Chill. It's not like she's a security breach. I mean, look at her."

"Everything is a security breach if you violate orders." Before they could react, Popo raised her wand. She didn't say a word. She was silent casting. I didn't know she could do that. Three ghosts appeared in the corridor. The first rose through the floor between the guards. Its face stretched smooth where its eyes should have been, and its mouth opened on a silent scream. Behind Jasper, a second dropped from the ceiling and wrapped translucent, spider-like arms around his shoulders.

The third surfaced inside Louis's chest like some macabre creature devouring him from the inside out. Louis screamed, high and ragged. Whatever the government had prepared him for, it was not this.

"WHAT IS THAT? WHAT IS THAT, LOUIS? WHAT IS THAT? HELP ME!" Louis fired a [Force Bolt] through the ghost in his chest. The bolt passed through the construct without resistance and splashed against Jasper, who yelped. The ghost stayed where it was, rotating.

"IT'S INSIDE ME, JASPER! THERE'S A GHOST INSIDE OF ME!"

"IT'S NOT REAL! IT CAN'T BE REAL!"

"THEN WHY IS IT LOOKING AT ME FROM INSIDE MY OWN RIBS?" Jasper swung his wand at the ghost on his shoulders. The wand passed through the construct and cracked him in the nose. He stumbled forward into Louis, and both of them went down in a tangle of government robes and ghosts.

"SHOOT IT!"

"WITH WHAT? EVERYTHING'S GOING THROUGH IT!"

"THEN SHOOT SOMETHING ELSE!"

"WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO SHOOT?" The ghost between them split into six smaller ones, each the size of a cat, wearing the same eyeless face. The ghosts scattered; three flew straight into Jasper's face, the others for Louis. Jasper made a sound I didn't know the human throat could produce. Both guards broke and ran. Jasper sprinted for the far exit, slapping at his own robes. Louis scrambled up and ran the other way. He went straight past Popo, who stepped aside to let him go.

"Well, that was easy," she said, dusting off her hands. I ran. My ankle screamed, and continued on it anyway—in through the entrance, past Popo, and into Corwen's room. Flag followed me in. My uncle lay on the bed. He looked smaller than I had ever seen him. His clock talisman was nowhere to be seen. Creed's people had stripped him of everything — even dying, they'd considered him a threat. They weren't wrong. A wand or talisman was just a focus, a way to channel and concentrate mana more efficiently.

You could cast without one. I'd been practicing silent casting for a year and a half, and the principle was the same: the magic came from the mage, not the tool. But a focus made everything cleaner, more precise, less wasteful. Without one, spells cost more and hit softer. Magical monitors on the wall showed his vitals: 0 mana, and a heart that was beating far too slow. Shouting carried from somewhere else in the infirmary. Jasper and Louis were either still running or had found help.

Either way, I needed to get to work. I set Flag on the ground, canceled [Move], and cast [Access Ward]. [Access Ward — Enchantment] Flag took the enchantment without a flicker of hesitation. The ward energy sank into the stone and spread out in concentric rings of pale blue light. His soul pulsed warm and bright beneath. Oh, this is wonderful. I remember this. The loud man fell over. Is someone going to fall over? Unfortunately, nobody's going to fall over, Flag. But it's still important.

I need you to hold this door. Don't let anyone through. Can you do that? Hold the door? Lazlo, I have been sitting in a floor for longer than anyone in this building has been alive. I have held things you cannot imagine. I once held a professor's lectern for decades. I don't remember when, but it was cold, and there was a beetle. I can hold the door, I promise. Good. I pushed Flag toward the doorframe, and the flagstone settled against the wood with a thud. The ward took, and the door sealed.

A body slammed against the door from the corridor, but Flag held. That tickled. The door took another hit, and voices came through the wood.

"Sir, the door is warded. Someone's inside." Shall I let them in?

"No." Excellent. I was hoping you'd say that. I turned to my uncle. Corwen looked wrong. He had shrunk somehow under the thin infirmary blanket, grey and still, his breath shallow and uneven. The man had taken on a monstrous dragon and split it down the middle, and yet now it looked like I could snap him in half. His channel integrity was dropping. The longer I waited, the less chance this would work. I checked my mana: 229 out of 335. [Soul Tether] cost 280. I was 51 mana short. Mana exhaustion wasn't a mystery.

Everybody learned the thresholds in first year, right between "don't eat enchanted food" and "fire spells in the common areas will result in expulsion unless your last name is Creed." When a mage cast beyond their pool, the mana had to come from somewhere, and it came from the body. Vitality, healers called it. Life force, if you wanted to be dramatic. The thresholds were simple. Overdraw by less than five percent and you'd feel like you'd run a marathon. Unpleasant, but survivable.

Past five percent, the body started to shut down: loss of consciousness, muscle failure, the kind of damage that took weeks to heal. Past twelve percent, you went into a coma. Past twenty-five percent, you died. I was 51 mana short. Fifty-one out of 370 was under 15 percent. Just short of the coma line. Probably. I stared at the number too long, and my uncle's vitals dropped another tick. A loud thud thundered against the door, but Flag soaked it up without shifting an inch.

The door shuddered again, harder, and more voices came up behind the first ones in the corridor. They're getting insistent, Lazlo. One of them keeps kicking me through the door. It's not effective, but it is very rude. Corwen's chest lifted and settled, then lifted again, each rise shallower than the one before.

"You're so stupid," I said. He gave no answer.

"How could you let your mana run out? You, of all people. You knew what would happen. You know what happened to my parents. You told me what it looks like, what the channels do when they burn out. How the scarring starts, and then the fraying, and then the rest of it. You told me all of it so I would understand, so I would never push myself too hard. And then you flew into a dragon and spent everything you had, because you couldn't help yourself."

"You're just like them. They worked themselves to death in a factory, and you worked yourself to death because you thought other people were more important than your own life. You think you saved me? You damned me. I either save you or I go out trying. Look what you've made me do." I raised my wand. The door behind me cracked down its center, but the people trying to get past couldn't push through my ward. I set my wand against my uncle's chest, the tip against his sad, tiny, fraying soul, and cast [Soul Tether].

Everything went white. End of Loop 0