Chapter 129: Illusionist

MARIUS

We walked for quite some time, heading away from the field where the festival was being held—all the way into the woods where I recalled looking for Skylark with Briant once, during Instructor Knox’s class in the early days.

And here we were again, but this time with Thomas and Isabelle, to talk about the same Skylark who—

“Here will do,” Thomas said when we reached a small clearing. There would be no one around here at this time, considering that everyone was at the festival, but still, he looked around to check and make sure that we were alone.

“You had something to say about—”

But I stopped myself as my eyes met Isabelle’s.

“I’m sorry. I should have asked first—how are you?”

“Not the best day of my life,” she said, sounding tired.

“Cut the crap and let’s get to the point. It’s not like you care, Marius,” Thomas interjected.

“That’s not true,” I protested.

“Let’s just… drop it, guys,” Isabelle said.

Thomas and I nodded in agreement, perhaps not with each other, but with Isabelle.

“So what did you want to say?” I asked.

“You saw it yourself, Marius,” Isabelle said, then continued, “the fire—the fire that didn’t burn.”

“I noticed. Yes.”

“And during the survival mission—water that didn’t get wet,” she said.

“Yes.”

“You may not have read it, but those are the exact verses from the book Tales of Witches and Folk Magic—a book that I had given to Leo to read, but he didn’t.”

I had my thoughts, but I decided I’d hear her out fully first.

“The fire from the night before. That wasn’t just a strange occurrence. That was Leo’s doing.”

“I can see that is a reasonable conclusion, but still just an inference,” I said.

“I am very sure. I tested Leo’s magic before all this happened.”

“Tested?”

This wasn’t something I had heard before.

“I put my hand into a fireball he made. It wasn’t hot at all.”

Thomas shook his head, as if he had heard it before and still couldn’t believe Isabelle did that.

“That’s the proof that Leo can make fire that doesn’t burn.”

“I… suppose it is… but—what could it even mean?”

“I don’t know, to be honest with you. But it certainly is a special ability, an extremely unusual ability, and you know who else we saw that could make heatless fire and moistureless water?” Isabelle asked.

“The magician from Hoffberg,” Thomas said before I could answer, then stabbed me with further words.

“And do you remember what happened to him? Oh, wait… YOU put the bag over his head and carried him away with the other Knights, Marius,” Thomas spoke, almost growling with bitterness.

I felt a chill down my spine.

Hoffberg.

The magician.

And Skylark drew the scene too.

“What more do you know about this magic?” I asked. Because that was all I could do.

“Nothing much. Even the book was vague about it. The author of the book literally said he didn’t dare to write about it.”

“What exactly is a ‘fire that doesn’t burn,’ though?” Thomas asked this time.

“It’s just as you’d seen, Thomas. The ‘fire’ looks real—frighteningly real. So real that it causes a stampede as people try to run away from it. But it’s not hot and it does not burn.”

Thomas shook his head.

We all saw it, but there seemed to be no way to understand it.

“How is Skylark doing this?” I asked.

“I have no idea,” Isabelle admitted.

“One thing is for sure—that Falken KNOWS. I don’t know how much he knows, but he KNOWS Leo can do something really extraordinary. Something that no other mage students, even the most talented ones, in the Academy can do. A dual mage is rare as it is, but someone who can conjure up fire and water that aren’t even real? I can’t even get my head around it,” Thomas said.

Extraordinary.

Skylark had always been extraordinary.

Right from the first time my eyes found him.

I knew—

I knew he was extraordinary.

But to Falken… he was extraordinary in a different way.

“Marius, how much do you know about Falken?” Isabelle asked me.

I kept my eyes on her, but I could feel Thomas’s eyes trying to burn my skin away, determined to see through any lies he thought I might put up.

You may think I’m a rat, Thomas—

But I’m not a liar.

“I just know that he has a very important job, and he seems to be in a rather commanding position. We saw how he could simply summon an entire Company on demand at Hoffberg.”

“And all for the magician who was possibly the closest thing to what Leo is,” Thomas grunted.

“Marius, if there is something you aren’t telling us…”

Isabelle spotted a waver in my eyes.

She knew.

Not exactly what, but she knew there was something.

“Spit it out, Marius. We saw what he did to someone ‘like’ Leo,” Thomas pressed on.

“He seems to be a good friend of my Father.”

“Oh, isn’t that just great? Marius, what’s wrong with you and your—”

“Thomas, cut it out,” Isabelle raised her hand.

“Now, Isabelle—”

I had something to ask her as well.

“What do you know about the Imperial Welfare?”

Isabelle went quiet for a moment. Then she bit her lower lip hard, let go of it after a second, then spoke.

“I… just heard from my Mom that I should be mindful of them.”

“What does your mother know about them?” I asked.

“I don’t know—she just said, when I was joining the Academy, if I ever came across anyone working for them… do not get involved, but do not resist. Don’t lie because they will know, but don’t show anything they don’t know about you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?!” Thomas erupted.

My mind was racing.

It was clear that Imperial Welfare and Falken had extraordinary authority, for an organization and a man who did not wear uniforms. Yet, he had access to everyone and could command everyone.

And Father would not be friends with anyone who wasn’t of importance.

“So how does Skylark’s magic work?” I asked. Perhaps to change the topic, but at the same time, understanding his ability might give us some idea about why Imperial Welfare took an interest in him.

“I don’t know… on a surface level, I guess you could call it a magic trick. Like tricking your eyes. But… I—I just think there’s something more to it than that,” Isabelle said, her eyes darting around.

“I feel like… it’s not just ‘showing’ you something that isn’t there. It feels like a dream, a very realistic dream. We didn’t just ‘see’ fire, we—and everyone in the room—FELT there was fire. People were gripped with fear, as if we were all having an… illusion…?”

“Illusion?” Thomas and I asked in unison.

“I… suppose you could call him an… illusionist…?”

Isabelle had said it.

But none of us had ever heard that word before in our lives.