The Wizard of Time (Book 1) (4 page)
Gabriel tried not to think about too much of it. It was all very confusing. He had lain in bed for an entire day, contemplating it. Only after a good meal and a good night’s sleep had he been allowed out of bed. Too much shock to the system to get up too soon, Sema said. Take things slowly, he was told. Try not to rush. Let your mind and body adjust. Adjust to being dead and then alive and being a Time Mage. Sure. That was easy. Just lie in bed and think about it all.
Sema had arrived the next morning for what she said would be their daily walk together. Mostly she asked him questions about his family. Letting him talk about his loss. He spoke about his mother, his father, and his sister. About missing them more than he had thought possible. About all the memories that flooded into his mind. Random memories. Like the rainy Saturday two years ago when his mother had made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, and they had all spent the afternoon together watching
The Philadelphia Story
on TV. It was his mother’s favorite film. She loved Cary Grant. Memories like that. Sema informed him that his mother, father, and sister all lived long and happy lives. That made him feel better. Knowing they were happy somewhere in time.
When he asked, she told him that only three of his classmates had perished in the sunken bus that day. He had saved two lives. It was good to know that his death had made a difference.
He was in a much better mood by the time Ohin met them. As Sema left them, Gabriel wondered how much of his good mood was due to her magic and how much was the result of speaking aloud his deepest feelings. That could be pretty powerful magic of a different kind, he realized. But none of it really calmed his mind. And seeing the castle gave him more to think about. So much it felt overwhelming. Maybe they were right. Maybe he should have stayed in bed. Best to stick with things at hand. Things that he could think about one at a time.
“Why don’t they ever land?” Gabriel asked, looking up at the leathery, winged creatures in the sky.
“There is an invisible barrier around the castle,” Ohin explained. “It makes sure nothing gets near the castle and no one steps outside its grounds. Another security measure. The Council placed this castle far enough in the past so that it wouldn’t be likely to affect the Primary Continuum, but there is no sense taking chances.”
“And why Windsor Castle?” Gabriel asked, looking around the magnificent structure and its grounds one more time. It had been quite a shock to step from his room in the infirmary and into the courtyard to see the castle. He had recognized it immediately. He and his parents had taken a trip to London when he was eleven and he had spent hours dragging them around the castle and pouring over the guidebook for interesting bits of history. He loved the ghost stories in particular. King Henry VIII haunting the cloisters, the specter of Queen Elizabeth I in the Royal Library, the spirit of Herne the hunter and gamekeeper stalking the grounds with his wraithlike pack of dogs. He wondered if any of the ghosts had been brought back in time with the castle.
“The head of the Council, Elizabeth Palfrey, chose the castle,” Ohin said. “I assume she wanted something that could house everyone. She was born in Victorian London, so maybe it felt comfortable.”
It was certainly large enough. He supposed it needed to be. Hundreds of people lived in the castle. Although the Upper Ward was nearly empty at this time of the morning, he could see several people walking from one place to another on some sort of business. People from different times. Nearly all of them snatched at the moment of their deaths and brought here. People of all different ages, as well. Teenagers to elderly people. He was the youngest person he had seen. But he hadn’t seen everyone. And the older people were older than they had been when they died.
Ohin had explained that Heart-Tree Magic, the magic of living things, helped them recover from the things that had killed them and kept them alive much longer. Ohin had said that he was nearly two hundred years old himself. It was difficult for Gabriel to get his mind around. People from throughout time bumping up against each other in a castle one hundred twenty-five million years in the past. People from every time period. Even people from the future. His future. They looked as though they had come from all over the world. Africans, Peruvians, Europeans, Chinese, Japanese, Samoans, everyone from everywhere. Some wore clothes from different time periods. Or they were clothed in variations on the simple tunic and slacks that Ohin wore.
It was almost too much to take in. But he wanted to take it in. At least part of him did. He had been given a second chance. He had been plucked back from death to be an apprentice Time Mage. It was too much to believe. He would learn to travel through time. To see places and things that others could only dream about. But no one had asked him. No one had given him a choice. Did he still have a choice? He would never see his parents again. Never see his friends. His sister. He was dead to them. What choice would he be given if he didn’t want to become a Time Mage? He wondered if Ohin had felt this way when he had awoken from death to learn his fate.
“You’re very quiet,” Ohin said, placing his hands behind his back as he walked.
“What if I don’t want this?” Gabriel asked. “What if I don’t want to be a Time Mage? What if I don’t want to travel through time and fight some war?”
“That is the moral quandary we are faced with every time we extract someone from the timeline,” Ohin said.
“That isn’t much of an answer,” Gabriel said.
“No,” Ohin replied, “There are no good answers. If you choose not to become an apprentice Time Mage, and you choose not to help in the war between the forces of Grace and Malignancy, then you will be given the opportunity to live out your life here in the castle. You might become one of the attendants, those who take care of the grounds and do the cooking. Or you could become a librarian or a museum scholar.”
“So my choices are librarian or wizard of time,” Gabriel said. “Will I go to school to learn magic?” Gabriel asked.
“A school for magic?” Ohin said, cocking his head to the side. “What an amusing idea. No. There are no schools here. Although your studies will continue. History especially. As for magic, all mages apprentice with a mentor, a skilled and superior mage. It will be my responsibility to train you, to teach you how magic works and how to move through time. And to teach you how to bear the responsibilities of being a mage, particularly a Time Mage.”
“What sort of responsibilities are there?” Gabriel asked.
“The responsibility for the Primary Continuum, for one,” Ohin answered. “And for the actions that we mages take within the Continuum and its branches. All of our actions have consequences. And we must accept the responsibility of our actions.” It was sounding like being a Time Mage might not be as much fun as he initially imagined it to be.
“Will it just be you and me, or will there be other mages who I’ll apprentice with?”
“You will apprentice with only me,” Ohin said, “but you will join my unit. Mages are assigned to magic circles, teams of six that carry out missions together. Every team has a name. Our unit is called the Chimera Team.”
“Why six?”
“There are six kinds of magic,” Ohin said, “And each person can only accomplish one of them. So mages work together in teams of six.”
“When do I begin?”
“We will begin soon,” Ohin answered. “But there are introductions to make first.” He gestured with his hand to where Sema walked back across the yard with a man and a girl.
“Oh,” Gabriel said. They probably made you wait forever to get to the good stuff. Just like all teachers.
“Today you will meet the rest of the team,” Ohin said. “Tomorrow you will travel through time.”
Gabriel smiled at the thought of that. Traveling through time. Just a few days after being dead. It could make your head whirl if you thought about it too much. So much new information. So many extraordinary facts. So many wonders. And all coming so quickly. He felt like he had no time to breathe between revelations. But he had no more time to think about it because Sema was waving as she walked up with the man and girl.
Not a man and girl. While the one was a slender Hispanic girl, the other was an exceptionally tall Chinese woman. Not as tall as Ohin, but she stood at least six feet. Her long black hair was in a ponytail, which was why Gabriel has mistaken her gender at a distance. They wore the same white tunics Gabriel had seen most people in the castle wearing.
“Hello again, Gabriel,” Sema said.
“Hello,” Gabriel replied, smiling at Sema and the woman and girl.
“My name is Teresa,” the girl said, extending her hand. She looked to be about fourteen, and was an inch or so taller than Gabriel. She had an oval face with a button nose and hazel brown eyes. He wondered what time she was from as he shook her hand. She had a powerful grip for a skinny teenage girl. The tall woman also extended her hand as she smiled.
“Welcome to the team,” she said. “My name is Ling.” While Teresa possessed the gangly energy of a young colt, Ling seemed all fluid symmetry and grace, her height and slender build combining to give the impression of a tiger at rest. She had high cheekbones and an almost masculine chin. He thought she might be in her late thirties. As she bent down to meet his eyes, he noticed she wore a Taoist yin-yang symbol dangling from a necklace.
“These are two more members of our team,” Sema said. “You’ll meet the others later today. Everyone plays a different, but essential role.”
“Sema plays mother hen,” Teresa said.
“Even to those of us who have been mothers ourselves,” Ling added, her eyes narrowing as she grimaced.
“Well, you all need some mothering,” Sema said, standing a bit straighter. “Someone has to look after all of you.”
“That’s supposed to be my job,” Ohin said.
“Yes, but you’re too nice about it,” Sema said.
“So Ohin is in charge of the, what did you call it, the Crimean Team?” Gabriel asked.
“Chimera,” Ohin said with a frown as Teresa giggled. “It’s a Greek mythological creature with the heads of a lion, a goat, and a dragon. Each team chooses its name, as well as its leader. It is often the Time Mage, but not always.”
“He doesn’t want to hear all the boring rules of team organization,” Teresa said. “He’s a boy. He wants to see some magic. Like this.” Teresa turned slightly to the side and raised her arms out before her, the palms of her hands facing the sky. In the blink of an eye, a lightning-blue ball of fire the size of a beach ball burst into existence above Teresa’s hands.
Gabriel’s eyes went wide and Teresa gave him a mischievous grin. He knew it must be true, since he stood in a castle with dinosaurs outside its walls, but until that moment, he hadn’t been sure if he believed it. Now he believed. Magic was real.
“If you’re going to be a showoff,” Ohin said, “you should at least explain how it works.”
“Right,” Teresa said as Gabriel blinked in wonder at the fireball floating before her. “First off, there are six kinds of magic.” As she spoke, the fireball broke into six small balls of flame and assumed the shape of a hexagon floating in front of her. “First there’s Fire Magic, which as you probably guessed, is my specialty. Each mage can only work with one kind of magic.”
“Unless they are a True Mage,” Ling interjected. “Then they can use all six forms of magic.”
“But there are only six of them,” Teresa said, “so that doesn’t really apply to mages like you and me. As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, there are six kinds of magic. Fire Magic, which is the best kind of magic if you ask me, although I doubt you will, because no one ever asks me what I think, controls energy. Any form of energy. Fire. Lightning. You name it. If there is energy to be magicked, I’m your gal. Then you have Wind Mages, like Ling, and they control the elemental forces of the universe. Such as…Such as. Hey, what are the forces of the universe, anyway? They sound really boring.”
“You know very well what the forces of the universe are,” Ling said, glaring slightly at Teresa’s teasing. “They are the forces that allow the universe to function. Like magnetism and gravity.” As Ling said the word ‘gravity,’ Teresa rose into the air and hovered there a foot and a half above the ground. Gabriel’s jaw dropped open. He snapped it shut. He might be shocked and amazed, but there was no need to look like a bewildered bumpkin. Teresa smiled down at Ling.
“You’re so easy to manipulate,” Teresa said. “I wanted to be floating.” Ling raised an eyebrow in skepticism and Teresa slowly rotated until she hung upside down, her ponytail pointing toward the grass, fireballs still suspended in the air before her hands. “And you cannot believe how much I love being upside-down.”
“Ling,” Sema said, a hint of disapproval in her voice. “What if she scorches the grass?” Gabriel looked over to see Ohin shaking his head. It seemed this sort of thing went on quite a bit.
“You know I never lose control of fire,” Teresa said. At that, Ohin coughed and looked at her. “Well, except for that one time. How was I supposed to know the room was filled with explosives? No one told me. No one ever tells me anything. Besides, if something happens to the precious grass, Marcus can fix it.”
“Marcus is one of the other team members,” Ling said as she watched Teresa slowly spin back to the upright position and gently land on the lawn. “He is a Heart-Tree Mage, which means he has power over living things, like plants, animals, and humans. Heart-Tree Magic can heal and change living matter.”
“And he can grow things,” Teresa added, letting the fireballs fade away. “Like bodies that look exactly like ours, but aren’t really alive. Very handy when you’re plucking people out of time at the moment they die. Police like to have a body.” Sema glared at Teresa in a way that suggested she was being rude or insensitive or both. Teresa ignored her.
“And inanimate matter,” Ling said, pretending she hadn’t been interrupted, “like rocks and metal, are controlled by Stone Magic,”