Magistaire Chronicles: Shadows of the Past

Chapter 6

The Gods have it out for me, Elies thought, pressing his lips into a thin line.

If magic was a divine gift, then he didn't want it, especially if it meant having Yarrow as a teacher. The old chode didn't even have the audacity to take him into the woods, again insisting on using Ashencrane's yard.

Hazelmere's crone of a grandmother growled at Elies when he knocked on her door, choking the life from her cane and cutting her eye at him like he had asked to be there. She only softened her gaze when Yarrow spoke.

"I bear a proposition," the old man said, placing a hand on Elies' shoulder.

"He wants to use you again," Elies interjected. He winced when Yarrow swatted the back of his head.

"I've come to bargain!" Yarrow argued, glaring at him. He stood in front of Elies, blocking his view of the unsightly woman. "Surely you know what little Haze has been up to?"

"Hmph!"

Elies felt the steam puffing from her crow's beak of a nose.

"Ayko's poor judgment is contagious," Ashencrane said. "But what should I care? Hazelmere's old enough to make her own decisions, and I'm far too ripe to beat some brains into her."

"You don't mean that," Yarrow said sternly. "Surely you understand you'll have no one left." He turned to Elies. "And neither will he if we allow those two to come with."

"Mm." Another growl escaped Ashencrane's shriveled lips. She pushed past Yarrow and stood over Elies, the young man shifting uncomfortably when his eyes met hers. "And who will stop my fool of a loved one? You?"

Elies opened his mouth to speak, but Yarrow cut him off.

"He will. I will teach the boy everything within reason," the old man said. "And I ask that you assist me. Surely you haven't forgotten everything?"

Ashencrane scoffed. "You're the only one who'd ask such a stupid question!" She looked down at Elies. "And you," she said, jabbing a finger at him. "If you're our last hope, you had better be worth our time."

The young man gulped and tailed behind the pair of decrepit souls, sitting atop his usual tree stump when they reached the yard. He tucked a cigarette between his lips, hoping to ease his churning gut as the duo looked down at him.

"Well?" Ashencrane placed a hand on her hip, staring expectantly.

Elies darted his eyes to Yarrow, who gave an amused chuckle. "Well, what?" the young man asked.

Ashencrane's face twisted into a frown, to which Yarrow patted her shoulder with his nub of a right arm.

"He's a novice, remember?" Yarrow said. "Elies, cast a spell if you will."

Elies yanked the unlit cigarette from his mouth. Embririere, he uttered, a speck of flame kindling the tip of his finger. He pressed it against the head of his cigarette and took a puff when it glowed orange.

Ashencrane sneered, her dark eyes following the rills of smoke rising into the air. "Boorish."

Elies' brow twitched. He had no idea what that word meant, but the gravel in her voice told him it was an insult.