The Castrofax Read Online Free PDF

Mages realized what Ryker was really after.”
    “Power?” Robyn posed.
    “Yes. The Head Mage Seat, the most powerful
position known. Are you familiar with the Arch Mages?” She shook
her head. “There were four Class Ten Mages that Ryker worked with
who were instrumental in starting the war: a Creator, a
manipulator, a torturer and a destroyer.” Gabriel and Robyn sat
down on a stone bench. “In Mage terms a Creator is someone who can
fabricate new patterns. Pike Bronwen was Ryker’s Creator. It is
said Ryker was the brains behind everything Pike made, and together
the men created objects that helped their side win the war.”
    Robyn stuck the end of the bow in the soil
trying to unstring it. Gabriel reached to help, but she pushed his
hand aside. After several attempts she succeeded and received a
solid thump on the shoulder from the recoiling bow. “What kind of
objects did they make?”
    Gabriel grimaced. “Controlling devices that
when touched to skin could alter the will or composition of a
Mage.”
    “Composition?”
    “Like, one could paralyze a person, and
another could create illusions, so the wearer would think
everything was fine. But each one prevented the Mage from using his
Elements and allowed another to control them. You could take a
Class Ten Mage that controlled four or five Elements and turn them
into a non-Mage in a moment.”
    “Just by touching these objects?”
    “No, the objects were kind of like shackles,
a neckpiece and two wristlets that would not come off unless the
imprisoned Mage stopped fueling the patterns with their
energy.”
    Robyn raised her brows.
    “Oh, sometimes I forget you do not understand
energy like we do. I meant, the imprisoned Mage had to die. All
moving entities give off energy, which is what Spirit Mages feed
on—kinetic energy.”
    “What do you… feed on?”
    He held his hand out to the plants before
him. “I can feel the earth growing around me. The energy gives me
the capability of using my Earth Element. Without a source of life
around me, I am as useless as a non-Mage. Fire Mages feed off a
living flame, Water Mages off a moving water source, and Air Mages
off blowing wind.”
    “So these objects acted as though you
were far away from your Element.”
    “In other words, yes.”
    “Did they have a name, or do we just call
them objects now?” Robyn asked, lowering her voice as if it
were a joke.
    “Of course they had a name, but I don’t like
to speak it.”
    Robyn leaned in. “Tell me anyway.”
    He fidgeted with the folds of his trousers
and grimaced. “They are called the Castrofax.”
    “How many are there?”
    “Six.”
    “And where are they?”
    “If anyone knows, no one says. Most of us
think Head Mage Casimir has a few in Castle Jaden, but no one knows
for certain.”
    “Then why do you fear them? The Arch Mages
are long dead.”
    He slowly looked up and his blue eyes met
hers. “Not all.”
    The seriousness in his tone seemed to make
the air still around them and Robyn felt her breath hold in her
chest. “Explain,” she finally whispered.
    “Not all the Arch Mages died in the war.
Ryker Slade still exists. See, the Arch Mages were capable of
skipping over years by hibernating with an object Pike made called
an Excellyon that stored kinetic energy. They skipped so many
years, we’re not sure where or when they originated. All
attempts to kill him were thwarted by his Excellyon, and he
hibernated when he realized the Head Mage Seat could not be his. He
could not be moved so they built Castle Jaden around him and set a
multitude of wards to keep him there. We fear he could rise again
and imprison us. That is why we fear the Castrofax.”
    Robyn’s brow furrowed as he spoke. “I feel
like I should have been told this long ago.”
    “Robyn, you are ten years of age—nearly
eleven, I know—but there are many things you will not find out
until you are older. Do not hate me for it.” He shook his hair from
his eyes and gave a