Twisted Magic by Barbara J. Webb

Author:Barbara J. Webb [Webb, Barbara J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Frontiers

* * *

A good night’s sleep did help. Korin woke refreshed, clear. Things were making sense again.

He was late enough down to breakfast that all the rest of the boarders were gone, so he ate in the kitchen, listening to the girls chatting as they cooked. They talked about family, about plans, about the actor who kept coming around to flirt with Lily, about Verania’s sister who had moved north. Korin didn’t contribute much, but he felt included and welcome, and that was wonderful.

The afternoon, he spent back in his room, studying, but with much greater focus than before. He no longer felt like he was flailing, but with clarity came a sharper sense of the gaps in his knowledge and a growing conviction of where he needed to go.

Twice, now, he’d been in the academy and both times he’d been driven out. The first time he’d been unprepared and the second time he’d been ambushed. He needed to go back and he needed to make sure he had time to get a solid feel for the place.

These things he knew: the blight that had affected both Dustin and Shaiera had been caused by a person. There was no other explanation. It was contagious, but it had responded to Korin and to his magic with an aggression that a less experienced, less capable healer would not have been able to overcome. It had intent—something no natural or accidental disease could have.

What else Korin knew: that there was some power in the academy that shouldn’t be there. It hadn’t caused the blight, but it was connected, somehow.

It was getting harder and harder to see any explanation other than that there were still knights alive. That they were here in Triome. The power behind the blight, it wasn’t normal magic. It wasn’t like anything Korin had ever seen except on the battlefields of Ulek.

The one thing that kept Korin from locking his theory down was that he still hadn’t had a chance to get a real sense of the power at the academy. Nikki had interrupted last time. The first time he hadn’t known yet what to look for.

So he was almost certain. But all logic implied a tie between the Academy and the blight. Which was why he needed to go there.

This time, Korin made an effort to pay attention as he got close. Especially once he got into the deserted neighborhoods, he stopped and looked around, listened, made certain he wasn’t being followed. Making sure no one was around to interrupt him.

In daylight, the academy looked harmless. As before, it seemed to be inviting him in. Korin stood in the entry, but didn’t yet step inside. Instead, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath. He sank into himself, focused on his body, listening to his thoughts, reminding himself of himself. Who he was, who he wanted to be. Not what this strange place wanted to make him.

Then he stepped inside, opened his eyes, opened himself.

With slow, but deliberate steps, he traversed the grounds.

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