Circles, Chapter 1.1

Circles
Chapter 1.1
Maze of Madness


Alissa pulled out her pipe and packed it with derva leaves. She called up a flame and lit it.

"I don't know how you stand that stuff," I said, pulling enough power to create a wind to blow the smoke away from me.

She shrugged. "Reminds me of home."

I reminded myself again to never visit Nola Scrone. Bad enough that her home was mostly swamp, but if everyone smoked derva, it would stink to the heavens.

"Why do you think the Mages are sending groups of five?" Alissa asked.

"Because we have 50 Aspirants," I said glibly. "Makes 10 groups."

She snorted. "Answers like that are what makes Mage White dislike you so much."

I disliked the Geomapper as much as he disliked me.

I shrugged. "In three days, it won't matter."

Then she looked at the small Testing building. "I suppose not." She blow out three perfect smoke rings. Despite myself I was impressed. She hadn't used magick.

"Why does the Empire want us dead?" she asked. "It's different in the swamps. Witches are revered. We heal people. We call the fish. We clean the water."

I had great difficulty imagining any of the Mages doing such menial tasks. I certainly wouldn't. Or would I? I hadn't thought much about what I would do if I survived the Testing. I would probably be employed by a noble or merchant. That's the lot of most survivors.

"It's not a matter of wanting us dead," I said slowly. "They want us controlled." It had been explained to me by my father when my magick first manifested itself. "Magick is a finite resource. Too many mages drawing on it leaves too little for anyone to use. So it makes sense to winnow out the weak and stupid."

She shook her head, her charms tinkling. "I don't believe that. In the swamp, the magick is mighty. It's a torrent."

"Because you have fewer mages and more wildlife," I said. "Life generates magick."

"I know that," she said impatiently. "But magick is powerful here, too. I think it's not that we have fewer mages, but we simply have more life. Your cities are so ... lifeless. Other than humans, of course."

"Well, maybe," I said, not willing to argue but disagreeing. "But there are political reasons, too. And it's good for the Mages. We get paid more for our services."

"Do you repeat back everything they tell you?" Alissa asked. "Have you never really thought about it? In three days, we will be Tested. And even in groups of five, most or all of us won't survive."

"A fourth of us--"

"Bah," she sneered. "The numbers are closer to one tenth."

I turned to her. "That's not right."

"Yes, it is," she said. "I've been here four years. I counted the number of Aspirants who survived each year. One in ten became a Journeyman."

"Perhaps they were poor groups."

"Four years in a row?" She arched an eyebrow. "You truly could believe that? What about eight years in a row?"

"Eight?"

She puffed on her pipe for a few moments.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Her face lost all expression.

"My sister Lelisa didn't return from Testing," she said finally. "She died the year before I came here. But she also keep track of those who survived."

I leaned against the iron railing. My stomach clenched. One in ten. The Mages never spoke of the odds of surviving the Testing, but I had heard that a fourth survived for most of my life.

"It's not only Mongarth," she said. "The other Circles are the same."

"It can't have always been like that," I said. "People would have noticed."

"The Mages keep it quiet," she said. "And it hasn't always been like that." She stepped over close to me. "My sister broke into the Archives."

"Gods," I breathed. Only Mages were allowed into the library Archives.

Alissa conjured a protection shield around us.

"She found out that almost everyone survived the Testing in times past. It's only been in the past two hundred years that Aspirants began to die."

"That can't be right!" I said. "It can't be."

Alissa dropped the shield and moved away from me. "It was in her last letter. She sent it to me the day before her Testing. She never returned from the Maze."

"What are you saying?" I asked. "What does this mean?"

"I don't know," said Alissa. "But let me tell you a terrible thing. The Mages don't know, either." She shivered. "Something is killing off Aspirants, and they can't do anything to stop it."

Copyright 2011 by Stephen B. Bagley. All rights reserved. No copying without express written permission.

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