Page 20 of Runaway Magic
The thing he found most interesting was that none of the spells actually hit the pair. They were bouncing off and dissipating entirely or coating the area around the two but leaving a neat little hole where the intended targets sat. When the boy moved around, the shield stayed in place, but when the soldier moved, it inched over, echoing his movement. Marshall was pretty sure the shield was centered on the man, which made no sense. It was clear from the moment Marshall saw him that the man was a norm. His aura was a pure, unbroken black, and no magic user carried weapons like this guy did.
“Why does the kid keep doing that?” Clayton’s voice interrupted. “I didn’t notice the first time I watched this, but—look, he did it again!” He walked over and pointed to a flare of pink that went from the boy to the soldier when he touched him, causing the man to fall over into a lifeless heap.
“Why would he want to incapacitate the only person who could help him escape?” Samantha’s voice was incredulous. “Maybe he’s stealing the soldier’s essence to power a spell?”
“No.” Marshall’s sense of magic was better than most, so now that he was paying attention, he could see exactly what was going on. “He’s not doing it on purpose. The soldier is sucking it out of him. And look, it only happens when they touch. I think the boy is an empath.”
Samantha raised her eyebrows. “An empath? I’ve never heard of one strong enough to knock someone out with a touch.” Watching the fight had taken away her public relations persona and replaced it with who she really was—a librarian who loved a good mystery. “At this boy’s age, he should be trained enough to keep from accidentally spilling out into another person like that. Who is he? Do you recognize him?”
Neither Marshall nor Clayton had and said as much.
“Why is there no sound?” Marshall knew air sprites were able to zero in on any sound for miles in any direction, and he wanted all the information he could get for this investigation.
Clayton looked at the sprite for a moment and cocked his head, clearly hearing something Marshall and Samantha couldn’t. “He said today is a silent day for him. Sometimes he likes to go quiet for a while just to change things up.” Another pause and then he said, “We’ve completely ruined it for him today, and he’s pretty mad about it.”
“My apologies, Fzzt,” Marshall said, aiming for somber. It was important to be respectful to elemental sprites.
Marshall’s attention was jerked back to the scene before him when a deep, blood-orange magic joined the silver and rust that had been pelting the couple. They all watched in fascination as the air sprite moved backward to encompass the whole battle, probably having had enough of spells flying through and around him. The spells wouldn’t hurt Fzzt—nothing much could—but they would be irritating.
The ‘screen’ jerked sharply, and the three watchers could now see who was attacking the unlikely couple. “Stella Blaike!” Samantha exclaimed.
“And Sterling and little Helen, too,” Marshall confirmed.
“The boy looks a bit like them, doesn’t he?” Clayton squinted. “A long-lost relation, perhaps. Come to watch the fight for the family mantle? I’ve heard Matriarch Elanor isn’t doing terribly well these days.”
“For the gods’ sake, niño, stop touching the poor man!” Samantha yelled at the same time Clayton said, “Aaaand he’s out again.”
When the three witches huddled together, Marshall knew things were about to get ugly. He found himself rooting for the boy and his soldier and tried to stop. Even though the boy lookedsmall and helpless, he knew it meant nothing. Marshall had been mistaken before, and the price was too dear to pay ever again.
When the building collapsed behind them, it was clear the witches, at least, were not on the side of the angels.
“This has gone too far.” He jumped to his feet and began to pace, wanting to do something, but he also knew he needed to see the rest of the fight before he could act.
“What is he doing now?” Clayton was referring to the gestures the boy was making with his hands.
Marshall focused on the boy. “I would say he’s casting a spell, but there’s no magic behind it.” That wasn’t quite right though. There was something churning up inside the boy, but it was unfocused and kept dissipating before anything could happen.
When the soldier scrabbled away from the boy, Samantha cheered. “Soldier boy finally got the memo!”
Marshall noted when the soldier pushed away from the boy, he took his shield with him. But when he saw the pink firestorm erupt from the boy’s body, wild and unconstrained, Marshall lost his train of thought. The boy was definitely not an empath—they were notoriously bad at combat spells.
It was starting to look like there might be no good guys in the fight after all. Family power struggles were always messy. They were rare though, because no one wanted the attention of the Guard.
Too bad for the Blaike family. They had his full attention now.
Then Marshall thought of the soldier, who might as well have hadnormplastered across his forehead, and began to feel sorry for him. If anyone in this mess was innocent, it might be him. But if so, how was the man creating a shield? Marshall had too many questions and needed to get into the field to start finding answers.
“Wait, can you pause, Fzzt? Back up to… Yes, right there. Thank you.” He walked closer to examine the boy’s face when he saw the devastation his spell had created. He looked horrified at what he had done. “Does that look like the face of a person who knew what he was doing?”
“He looks like a frightened child to me,” Samantha said softly. “I don’t think he has any training at all, Marshall.”
“Thank you, Samantha. Okay, you can keep playing, Fzzt.”
The frozen ‘screen’ got sharp around the edges and quivered slightly.
“Fzzt feels it is important for you to know he isn’t a machine and has better things to do with his time than to act like one.” Clayton delivered the message with the air of a person expecting to be bitten.
Clayton’s shoulders relaxed from their position by his ears when Marshall smiled wryly and said, “Of course you do, Fzzt. We are all grateful to you for helping us right now, and I’m deeply sorry for offending you. Would you be willing to stay long enough to let us see the end?”
