Magician Interrupted Read Online Free PDF Page B

for the
gates and out into the hills. As he neared the edge of the forest
he couldn’t stand anymore and, with some difficulty knelt, placed
his food and drinks on a tall rock, and fell over.
    He rolled onto his back. He lay like a banana
on it trying to get out. No, more like an overturned turtle. He
started laughing realizing what a sight he must have made.
Eventually he got out and puffing slightly he gulped down some hot
chocolate and ate his food. Wiping the last of the crumbs off his
top and pants, and stuffing the cloth in one of the many pockets on
the pack, he stood and finished drinking. Close to the end there
was a funny taste so he poured the rest out on the ground and
burped.
    He was a marine!
    And apparently an officer.

Spell Five – Disappearing Act

    Paris felt there had to be a way to magnify his own
spells. Why couldn’t he produce spells that had at least a little
oomph in them? And why hadn’t he considered this earlier? Laziness,
that’s why. He hated the Trinity pit but was apathetic while there.
Now he was free … if he ignored the contract with Career Worlds… A
strange feathery sensation nudged at his mind, and a creepy feeling
frizzed up and down his spine. It soon became apparent that he was
being watched. From high above the narrow canyon he’d been walking
down he was sure he saw narrowed green eyes encased in a fur ball
following him.
    “Don’t be stupid. She isn’t anywhere near
here.”
    Still, he nervously picked up his pace but it
slowed again with the weight of the pack. He finally exited the
canyon glad not to be surrounded by rocks, which might be used as
missiles. After a good half hour, he began to relax again and
wandered aimlessly, shuffling down a wooded lane which ran parallel
to the coastline.
    He was lost in thoughts, shivering with the
cool damp breeze when pain pierced his face, flashes of claws
filled his vision as they raked him from his forehead to his chin.
Losing balance, he fell back and screamed trying to get the fur
ball off him. Hearing an all too familiar shriek Paris realized his
cat had tracked him down. Path would be unbearable for days when in
this mood. He hadn’t meant to leave her but the marines weren’t any
place for cats. Wrestling with his wild cat proved futile. She
seemed to have attached herself to his head. Giving up the
struggle, and trailing blood, he tried to pet her panting body. She
hissed. He managed to roll to the side, get out of the pack and
pushed himself off the ground feeling Path shift on his head, neck
and shoulders digging her claws in. He headed for a mossy log and
sat, leaning forward slightly, waiting. Clouds swept across the
skies.
    “Path?”
    Hiss.
    Before too long Path disengaged from his
head, her hind feet kicked him in the nose and eye before she
landed gracefully on the log. He grimaced but stared at the ground
hoping he looked remorseful enough. Hard to do when you were
spitting out cat hair. Blood trickled down his face and he found
the cloth from the bakery to stem the bleeding. When her tail
stopped swishing he knew she either had decided to forgive him or
she’d seen something more interesting. The cloth wasn’t working so
he risked a spell and waved his hand across his face, the flowing
blood disappeared, and cuts were sutured and minor claw marks
healed. The cat was a menace but the day he bought her from an old
witch who seemed, now that he thought about it, far too happy to be
rid of the irksome feline, had marked a change in his life as a
Spell Caster. Paris looked overhead, the light had dimmed and air
became cooler. He always lost time when casting spells.
    Ever since he was little he could perform
spells. Early training by a local warlock had raised his family’s
status. Was the training of an inferior mind the reason why Paris
needed a Magnifier? Or was it some conspiracy by the Community and
Assembly as to why power was distributed across three people? It
was ironic how magic was censored but