Well, shoot, Terwain said. Better run for it.
“Right,” Teryn said at once. His heart raced and he stashed the sword in his bag and turned to leave, then remembered Valeria had yet to be found. “But I still need to find Valeria first!”
A giant finger stroked the chin of the disembodied head from before. Well, then you better be quick about it.
“Got it,” Teryn said, nodding in agreement. He cast a windswift spell to help him move over the downed shelves and continue his trek through the archives. The alarm was still blaring in the distance, but he shut it out of his mind as he bounded over boxes and other rubble in his way. As he neared the back of the building, he noticed a wall of blackness in front of him, but he was moving too quickly to stop. He ran into the wall at full speed and sauntered right on through like it wasn’t there.
In fact, it wasn’t. The wall had been nothing but an illusion.
On the other side, Teryn spied a giant metal table. On top of the table lay the prone form of a female, strapped to the table in several places and covered by a silky white sheet. He stopped immediately, his heart pounding even harder. This was what he had been looking for. He was sure of it.
Gently, he lifted back the white sheet. From underneath Valeria’s face stared back at him with blank, unfocused eyes. Teryn was all at once relieved and worried anew. He had found his friend, but she was obviously not well. He placed one hand on her chest to confirm she was still alive and breathing. She was, but she was obviously in some sort of magically-induced coma.
“Not another curse!” Teryn cried. “It’s always one thing or another!”
Teryn undid the straps keeping Valeria in place and removed the sheet from her body, but it had no effect. She stayed put, like a statue. He used another havealooksy spell hoping to see what calamity had befallen her, but could not.
“What do I do now, Terwain?” he begged of his mental companion. “I can’t leave without her!”
I don’t suppose she’d fit in that bag of yours, would she?
Teryn glared at Terwain.
Calm down, man, I was just joking. Promise.
It did nothing to calm his mood.
Another nod from the disembodied head. Not ready for that kind of humor. Got it. Let’s think about this logically. She’s in some sort of magical stasis and can’t move, right? Then you need something to counter-act it. Something like . . .
“The scroll of bodilymaneuvers!” Teryn shouted.
And they say you can’t teach a young mage new tricks.
“Who says that?”
Never mind. It’s just a saying. Now I want you to watch closely when you use that scroll. If you try, you might be able to learn the magic for yourself. That could come in handy later.
Teryn rummaged through his bag and pulled out the scroll. He unfurled it, being careful not to smudge the writing within. Slowly, he repeated the words of the scroll over Valeria’s still form, while also committing them to memory.
As he spoke the last word of the spell, the words lifted off of the scroll and started to swirl over her body, unleashing the magic within them. Teryn watched the spell closely, trying to mimic what he saw. By the time it had finished, he was fairly certain he could reproduce the spell on demand.
In the same moment, Valeria took in a deep breath and her body shuddered. She shot up into a sitting position and looked around in amazement. Her gaze met Teryn’s worried look.
“You’re safe!” he exclaimed.
* * * * * * * * * *
Valeria stared at Teryn in disbelief for a moment. She still wasn’t sure where she was, or even what day it was, but the sight of Teryn made her feel safe in a way that she hadn’t for some time. “Where am I?” she asked.
“You’re in the Magic Archives,” Teryn told her.
“What am I doing here?” Valeria asked. As she did, she tried to stand, somewhat unsuccessfully.
Teryn put out a hand to steady her. “Easy now, you’ve been unconscious for days,” he told her. “Best take things slowly.”
Teryn’s words made no sense to her. The last thing she remembered was going in front of the Guild Council to talk about a special mission, and then she had woken up here, in a strange place on a strange table with only Teryn beside her and what sounded like a loud siren going off in the background.
It was enough to drive a person mad, but she was so relieved to see Teryn that she tried to push it all to the back of her mind.
“Oh, Teryn!” she exclaimed. “I’m so glad you’re here!”
Valeria lunged forward into his arms, hugging him. Everything else lay forgotten for a moment as she felt his strong arms wrap around her.
* * * * * * * * * *
Teryn threw his arms around her as well, enveloping her in his grip. He felt her warmth soak into him and fill him with a sense of completeness that he had never before known. Holding Valeria like he was, he felt like he could truly protect her from any threat that might come to pass.
He resolved in that moment he would be true to his word that he had given to Terwain earlier. He would do whatever it took to ensure that nothing bad happened to Valeria ever again, even if it meant tearing down the entire Guild to make it happen.
Teryn looked deep into Valeria’s eyes. “I’m glad I found you.”
She buried her face in Teryn’s chest. “I’m glad, too.”
As Teryn stood there looking down at Valeria, he failed to notice the alarm had stopped blaring or the shadowy form that had approached from behind.
“Well done,” the shadowy figure said, clapping loudly.
The sound of that voice sent shivers down Teryn’s spine. He recognized the tone instantly and turned around
