The Impossible Wizard: The Aegis of Merlin Book 1 Page 3

  “That’s exactly what we’re trying to figure out. It appears Conryu has wizard potential and we’re trying to determine how that can be.”

  Conryu’s mother stared at him as if seeing him for the first time. “He’s a boy. Boys can’t be wizards.”

  The wizard that had been speaking before his mother burst into the room cleared her throat. “As I was saying, Mr. Koda must have some non-human blood in him, probably demon, probably from long ago. Like a recessive gene, it’s come to the surface after many dormant generations.”

  “Conryu doesn’t have any demon blood.” They all turned to find Mrs. Kane standing in the doorway. She’d traded her kimono for a sharp black pantsuit. “If he did he wouldn’t be able to live in a building protected by my wards. He’s as human as you or I.”

  “Shizuku.” The government wizard’s lip curled in an ugly sneer when she spoke. Definitely some history there. “If it was thin enough I’m sure he could slip past your wards.”

  “No, Clair, not even a drop of demon blood could get past.”

  The two women stared at each other like angry cats. Conryu’s head spun and he couldn’t stop thinking that if anyone else showed up they’d need a bigger room.

  “Clair, Shizuku, please.” Mr. Kane raised his hands in a placating gesture. “The test is simple enough, assuming Conryu is willing to let us take a little blood.”

  Everyone stared at him. “Yeah, sure, help yourself.”

  “You don’t have to do this, Conryu,” his mother said. With her pale and drawn face she looked as worried as he felt.

  “Yeah, I do. At this point, I’m a little curious to see if I’m human or not. I’m not sure what’s worse, that I have demon blood or I’m a wizard. Either one makes me a freak.”

  Maria ran over and hugged him. “You’re not a freak and we all love you no matter how the test turns out.”

  “Thanks,” he whispered in her ear.

  Terra raised a narrow strip of yellow paper and a needle. “Ready?”

  Conryu gently moved Maria aside and held out his trembling right hand.

  Terra poked his finger and caught a drop of blood on the paper. “If it turns black you have demon blood, white angel blood, and blue elf blood.”

  They all stared as the seconds ticked by. Nothing happened. After a full minute Terra flipped the paper into a trash bin. “He’s human, Chief.”

  “That’s a relief,” Conryu said.

  “Actually it isn’t.” Mr. Kane scrubbed his face with one hand.

  “It isn’t?” Conryu asked.

  “No. If you were a human with demon blood and some powerful if limited magical powers, that would fall well within our range of experience. Unusual, but nothing to get worked up about. On the other hand an ordinary, fully human male, with the most powerful magical potential ever recorded…” Mr. Kane shook his head. “Not only is that something the entire world would say was impossible, it totally rewrites everything we thought we knew about wizardry. You, my young friend, are about to cause me a giant headache. When word of this gets out…”

  “Aren’t we overlooking an obvious explanation?” Clair said. “Maybe our testing device is also malfunctioning.”

  Mrs. Kane sighed and walked over to the machine. She grabbed the handles and 1,926 appeared on the screen. “If you check your records you’ll see the power level is the same as my last test. Clair?”

  Clair glared at Mrs. Kane then took her place in front of the machine. 1,754. “Mine is the same as well.”

  “As was mine,” Terra said. “The machine is functioning properly. We simply need to accept the reality that Conryu Koda has the potential to be a wizard and that we may never know why.”

  The wizards and non-wizards began muttering amongst themselves. Conryu didn’t know what to think, but it seemed pretty clear his fate was being quietly decided for him.

  He raised a tentative hand. “Excuse me. The thing is, I’m not interested in being a wizard. Can’t we just forget this ever happened?”

  “I’m sorry, Conryu.” Mr. Kane laid a hand on his shoulder. “But the law is very clear. Anyone with the potential to be a wizard must be trained at the academy. The penalties for failing to do so are quite severe for you and anyone that helps you avoid going.”

  “Why?”

  Mr. Kane sighed. “Let’s take a walk, Conryu.”

  “Orin!” his mother said.

  “Sir, I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” the security man added.

  “Adam, Connie, calm down. I think our young friend needs some fresh air. God knows I do.”

  Mr. Kane guided him out of the stuffy lab and into the cool hall. Conryu gulped huge lungfuls of the fresh air. “Thanks. If I didn’t get out of there soon I was going to lose it.”

  “I had a hunch. I’m sorry this has all fallen on you so suddenly. I know you had plans.”

  “I still have plans.”

  Mr. Kane shook his head. “Whatever they were, your plans are gone. In the fall you’ll be on the train to the academy with the other young wizards. The sooner you accept that the better off you’ll be.”

  Conryu couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I’ve known what I wanted to do since I was twelve and first entered Mr. McShane’s bike shop. Now you’re telling me I have to give up my dreams?”

  “You don’t have to give them up, but you do need to delay them by four years. Once you’ve completed your training there’s nothing that says you have to work as a wizard.” Mr. Kane scratched his bald head. “I’ve never heard of a wizard that did some other type of work since wizards can make fantastic money, the strong ones anyway. My point is you need to accept that for the next four years your plans are on hold. You’ve got all summer to make peace with it.”

  Conryu clenched his jaw and badly wanted to hit something. “What’s the big deal anyway? It’s not like I can even use magic as I am now. Why not just leave me like this?”

  “How do you like your truth, ugly or gentle?”

  “Ugly. Nothing about this day has been attractive since I touched that woman’s toy back at school.”

  “Okay, here it is. The state regards wizards as indispensable assets. In a time of crisis the more wizards we have to call on the better our nation’s chance of survival. Even one wizard, especially one as powerful as you will become, might be the difference between winning and losing a war.”

  “So I’m just a weapon in the government’s arsenal?”

  Mr. Kane shrugged. “You said you wanted it ugly.”

  Orin had sent the kids and their parents home and led Adam and Terra from the cramped testing lab to a more spacious conference room. Clair had remained behind to check the testing equipment one more time. He doubted she’d find anything, but better safe than sorry. The door had barely closed when Adam and Terra started going back and forth about the best way to handle the revelation about Conryu.

  He felt bad for the kid. Conryu was a good boy, and he hated to yank the rug out from under him all of a sudden, but the law was clear. Not to mention if he achieved even half his potential he’d end up as the most powerful wizard in recorded history. Orin couldn’t simply throw away that sort of resource.

  As the argument continued Orin only listened with half an ear. He leaned on the windowsill and stared out over the city. Everything looked exactly the same as it did yesterday. Same skyline, same floating island, same everything. Nothing to indicate that the whole world had changed.

  “We can’t let word of this escape.” Adam slammed his fist on the conference room table, drawing him back to current debate. “We’ll institute a total intelligence blackout. Keep it totally quiet, send him to the academy by special flight.”

  “That’s exactly the wrong thing to do,” Terra said. “At some point the media will find out about Conryu’s existence. When they do we’ll be accused of a cover up which will make everything worse. We need to have a press conference and announce that a male wizard has been discovered. We don’t need to provide details, b
ut we do need to get out in front of the situation.”

  “Chief?” He turned to find Adam looking at him, hands on hips. “It’s your decision. What are we going to do?”

  “If there’s one thing I’ve learned after fifteen years in government it’s this: a cover up is always a bad idea, except for national security issues. We’ll schedule a press conference for tomorrow afternoon. No questions, just a brief announcement.”

  “The boy will have to be there,” Terra said.

  Orin nodded. Conryu wouldn’t be thrilled, but she was right, he had to be there. Orin seldom had to ruin someone’s life and the fact that it was a young man he thought of like his own son made it even worse. He needed an antacid from the bottle in his desk.

  The conference room door flew open and an old man with wild white hair wearing a tan cardigan and black pants rushed in. “Where is he? Where’s the boy wizard?”

  Orin groaned. Just when he thought the day couldn’t get any worse. Leave it to Professor Angus McDoogle to make a liar out of him. “I sent him home, Angus. Conryu’s had a long, exhausting day.”

  “You sent him home without introducing me? That boy is the key to proving my theory.”

  “Your theory is garbage, Angus,” Terra said. “Conryu isn’t going to change that.”

  “It is not garbage.” The old professor’s face turned bright red. “Despite what those narrow-minded fools at the Glasgow Institute might say. The Aegis of Merlin is a perfectly reasonable hypothesis.”

  Terra shook her head. “You think the idea that Merlin was not only real, but that his spirit is watching over and protecting humanity is a reasonable theory?”

  “I do and it is. When everyone said my theory was impossible what did they claim as the primary reason? That men couldn’t be wizards. Well, this boy puts the lie to that argument. If one young man has the potential to be a wizard then there’s no reason another one couldn’t have become a wizard fifteen hundred years ago.”

  “Even if I grant you that another male wizard existed and served as the basis for the Merlin legend, that in no way proves his spirit somehow lingered beyond death to watch over the world.”

  “Stay a skeptic if you wish.” Angus tried to smooth his white hair to no effect. “Now that I’ve got evidence to support the first half of my theory, it’s only a matter of time before I prove the rest of it.”

  Terra drew a breath to launch into another argument, but Orin cut in. “You two can continue this argument on your own time. What we need to focus on now is Conryu. It’s up to us to make this transition as smooth and painless for him as possible. I’ll send word to some reporters I know and set it up for three tomorrow. Adam, see about security for the press conference. We’ll have it outside in front of headquarters so we can retreat directly back inside when we’re finished.”

  Adam nodded and left the room to begin.

  “What about me?” Terra asked.

  “Try to think up some reasonable ideas for why a male wizard might have turned up after all this time. We can’t just drop a fact like that on the world without offering some sort of explanation.”

  “I’ll get Clair to help.”

  “Are you sure? She has certain political leanings that may make this difficult for her.”

  Terra stood up. “Just because Clair was a member of the Le Fay Sorority at the academy when she was young doesn’t make her sympathetic now. She’s a professional. I’m sure she can set any personal feelings aside and do her job.”

  “Fine, but keep an eye on her.”

  Terra took her leave and Orin found himself alone with Angus. The bright-eyed Scotsman closed the distance between them. “When can I meet him?”

  “I’ll introduce you tomorrow, before the press conference.” Angus grinned, prompting Orin to raise a threatening finger. “But only if you promise to stay on your best behavior. I won’t have you harassing that boy or turning him into the poster child for your pet theory.”

  “But—”

  “No buts. You put so much as a toe out of line and I’ll see you transferred to the most remote outpost I can find. Clear?”

  “Of course.” Angus spun on his heel and stalked out.

  Orin watched Angus until the door closed behind him. Why did the crazy professor have to end up at his department? Orin’s lips curled in a bitter smile and he rubbed his throbbing temples. Was it bad luck or the spirit of Merlin?

  2

  The Press Conference

  Lady Raven quietly digested the news that a male wizard had been found. She sat on the edge of her soft couch in the richly appointed apartment she used when she needed privacy. Illusion magic blocked out the last annoying shafts of sunlight, leaving her with nothing but the dim, red glow from a pair of drift lights. Though the magic blocked the light she could still look through the window at her city. The Hierarchs had assigned Sentinel City to her because they trusted her to oversee the great task.

  A light floral incense burned in an infuser, filling the room with a pleasant scent. Both the light and the smell served to settle her nerves and enhance her focus. If ever Lady Raven needed to focus, it was now.

  The impossible thing the Le Fay Society feared most had come to pass. To think she’d live to see a male wizard born. It was impossible, yet she’d seen the test results with her own eyes. She could scream, rail at the gods, or deny to her heart’s content, but it wouldn’t change the essential truth.

  The boy existed, and in her city no less. That made it Lady Raven’s responsibility to deal with him. Such an abomination couldn’t be allowed to survive. It wasn’t natural. In fact he was an insult to the natural order.

  No man had the wit or grace to wield magic safely. All they were good for was brute labor and producing the next generation. If not for the latter necessity she would have wiped them all off the face of the earth without a second thought. Lady Raven pitied the poor women forced to endure their crude touch. She would happily cut her own throat before she let any man lay a hand on her bare flesh.

  She stood up and paced, unable to focus despite her efforts. Plans needed to be made and Conryu Koda needed to die. Luckily Lady Raven had made allies for just such an eventuality. Not that she ever imagined needing to kill a male wizard, but the zealots would be happy to kill any wizard, including her, if they learned who she really was.

  Lady Raven laughed and went to her casting chamber. The witless males would never guess the truth. She’d never even met them except on an encrypted online forum. It sickened her to think how many of the psychopaths wandered her city, but a good craftsman used the tools at her disposal.

  The casting chamber held even less decoration than the almost-empty living room. No windows to offer distraction, no comfortable seats that might lessen her focus. All she had was a simple wooden desk and hard-backed chair. On the far wall a full-length mirror hung in a black, rune-scribed frame.

  Lady Raven frowned at her reflection. When had she gotten so old? It seemed only months ago she’d been young and beautiful. She snorted at her useless thoughts. Who wouldn’t trade youth and beauty for knowledge and power? Besides, looks were easy enough to fix.

  She chanted, weaving words of water and light to shape an illusion around her wrinkled body. Her face smoothed and lifted, lips plumped, and teeth cast off their yellow stain. When the spell concluded, the youthful face of her favorite persona stared back. Once she changed into an appropriate outfit, men would stare as she walked past, drooling like the dogs they were. Though she cared nothing for their opinions, Lady Raven enjoyed the power her new look gave her over the weak-willed fools.

  Ten minutes later Lady Raven stood in front of her apartment building dressed in a short skirt, torn stockings, and half-buttoned blouse. With her magically enhanced figure and revealing outfit it didn’t take long to flag down a taxi to take her to this persona’s so-called job.

  When they arrived at the internet cafe Lady Raven paid the cabbie and climbed out. The cafe occupied an old, run-down building t
hat drew so much electricity through its under-maintained electrical box it was a wonder the place hadn’t burned down long before now. Not that she had any intention of letting anything happen to the place until she’d finished with it.

  “You’re late, Lacy!” a fat thug said, playing his part as her obnoxious boss to perfection.

  She’d told the man when she hired him to shout at her and run her down at regular intervals and he seemed to take a certain joy in the task. Once he’d dared to lay a hand on her and that offense had earned him a lesson in pain he’d never forget. It certainly hadn’t happened again.

  “Sorry, boss,” she said.

  Lady Raven rushed down between two rows of tables, each supporting four computers. They had a good crowd tonight, only three empty stations. Most of the men—it was always men in the cafe—were staring at cavorting nude figures and touching themselves under the tables. It disgusted her, but she expected no better from them.

  She slipped into the back room where the routers and servers sat in their racks and shut the door behind her. Her laptop rested, closed, on her tiny station. It whirred to life when she opened the lid. When it finished booting up she activated a program that would disguise her current location and logged in to a private chat room where her dupes liked to hang out and talk tough.

  As usual, the vitriol directed at women in general and wizards in particular on the site was truly horrific. If they didn’t have a part to play in her plans, Lady Raven would have been thrilled to murder them all.

  It took a bit of searching, but she finally found one of her pet zealots. She struck up a conversation, playing the part of a wizard-hating true believer. After a bit of back and forth using particular phrases that established they were who they claimed Lady Raven tossed out the bait, mentioning a rumor of a male wizard.

  Disbelief greeted her pronouncement. No surprise there. She insisted it was true and the idiot argued that it was impossible. They went back and forth some more before Lady Raven said there was going to be a press conference at the Department and if he wasn’t a gutless coward he’d be there to kill the abomination.