Mageborn The Line of Illeniel Michael Manning (novels to read for beginners txt) 📖

swear the girl is half wild-cat. “You’ll be less pleased next time,” she warned.

“You mean in an hour?” he smiled at her.

She lost her fire, “What?”

“From here on we’ll be training every evening. While we travel you’ll train during the rest stops as well. You showed some good instincts, a quick eye, and a lot of spirit, but you fight like a child. That must change.”

“I don’t understand why she has to be trained like a soldier,” I put in. “We can form the bond without any need for that.”

Cyhan raised one eyebrow, “It has everything to do with the bond, but not for the reasons you might think.” He stood up, “Follow me; it’s time for your second lesson.”

I winced, I had a feeling this would hurt.

Back in the yard Penny and I stood side by side, for some reason he wanted us both there. I stared at him uncertainly, “Alright, so what do you plan to teach us, oh wise master?” My sarcasm was legendary. It didn’t seem to faze him though.

“Let us assume, for the present, that you and she are already bonded. Why do you think that Anath’Meridum are taught to fight?” he said.

“Presumably to protect their wizard from unscrupulous thugs,” I said, giving him a pointed look. “But I don’t need someone else’s protection. My magic shields me more effectively.”

The big warrior chuckled, “It does eh? Prepare yourself then, I’m going to try to kill you. Put up your defenses and show me how impossible it is.” His confidence was unnerving.

I already had a shield around me but I reinforced it just to be sure. As long as he didn’t fling me into any more stone walls it would be very difficult to wound me and if I was using magic against him he would never get the chance to do that again.

“Ready?” he asked. I told him I was.

He went from motionless to blinding speed almost before I realized it, but I was prepared nonetheless, “Shibal,” I said as he came at me. Nothing happened.

Rather than strike me directly he stepped past and his arm came up. He’d put one leg behind me and his arm swept me from my feet with very little force. I hit the ground hard but my shield kept me safe regardless. “That sort of thing isn’t going to be enough,” I snapped at him as I rolled away. He didn’t reply, but I heard a sharp yelp from Penny.

My eyes took in the scene quickly and I felt a fool. He still stood where he had tripped me but his hand held a sharp blade to Penny’s throat. He looked at me without moving the cold steel, “You’re dead.”

I stared, uncertain while my mind worked out what had happened. His attack on me had been a decoy while he got close to her. Finally he removed the knife and stepped away. “Now do you understand? Anath’Meridum are trained, not to protect you, but to protect themselves. Once you form the bond the easiest way to kill you will be her, and there are a thousand ways to do it.”

“Why would any wizard consent to such a thing then? It makes no sense,” I blurted out.

“Because they were going mad… she’s your only hope for sanity. The bond will anchor your mind to hers. Madness drove Jerod Mordan to form a pact with Balinthor and nearly destroyed our world. That is why they agreed to it, to prevent such a thing from ever happening again. The bond will not only ensure your sanity, but will make it impossible for any being to enter either of your minds again. Tell me the truth Mordecai... you’re hearing voices already aren’t you?”

I stared at him blankly. What he said was truth, I’d heard it before, but I hadn’t realized he knew about the voices. “Well... no, not exactly.”

“The bank shook while we stood inside. I don’t know what you told that fat banker, but I’d guess you threatened to destroy the entire place. That’s not the sort of thing a sane man would say. Just an hour ago I saw you muttering to yourself when we came in... talking to things only you could hear. Don’t lie to me; your sanity is hanging by a thread. What will you do when it is gone? Who will you kill? You might even hurt your friends. That is why your ancestors agreed to the bond.”

I listened and even as he spoke I could hear a massive drumbeat beneath us. The earth was alive, even if I was the only one that could feel it. Lies; do not listen, they want to geld you. You cannot trust their words. I closed my eyes, wishing I could shut out that voice but then the voice of the wind began whispering to me again. In my mind I could see the forest beyond the city, where the wind was capering among the trees while the birds kept up an incessant chatter. Maybe I was going insane.

Chapter 14

We spent the night at the Lancaster’s house. Cyhan began Penny’s training in earnest while I spent considerable time in the room I had been given. I meditated, hoping to calm my mind and shut out the voices that seemed to swirl around me. Most of them were soft and diffused, like the wind, but one voice seemed much stronger, the one warning me against being bonded. That voice was strong and clear, as if someone stood beside me speaking in my ear. The others, I tried to name them according to where they seemed to come from, the wind, the trees, and the giant beating heart of the earth, those voices were less well defined. They weren’t human and they used a language that couldn’t be understood in words, it was more primal.

The wordless ones calmed me, for they seemed natural and without motive, but the other voice frightened me. It was too human and it had definite opinions. I