The Currents of Magic

Chapter Fourteen

Damian did not return that week, nor did Moon. Every morning an apprentice Healer would lead Meyer through an hour of physical exercises, and in the evenings, Master Healer Vayse would probe for lingering effects of the Trance, but otherwise there were no visitors. Meyer wasn't allowed to leave his room, and despite sleeping nearly sixteen hours a day, was left to pass time over many boring hours. He asked the apprentice Healer for books about magic, but the reading material hardly improved his situation. The volumes were dense and esoteric, and Meyer found that even An Introduction To Magic: The Principles of The Currents was well beyond his comprehension. The only change in routine came on the fifth day of his recovery, when the apprentice Healer brought Meyer outside to a small courtyard and instructed him to jog around the perimeter. The excursion was brief, however, and provided little excitement to offset the otherwise monotonous week. Still, the days churned by, and at last, a full week had passed.

When Vayse entered his room, Meyer stood at once. "Will I be able to leave tomorrow?" he asked.

"Very eager, I see," said Vayse, taking a seat next to the bed. "My apprentice reports that you have done well with your physical exercises. From a magical perspective, everything has been fine... If I'm satisfied after my assessment tonight, you are free to go in the morning."

Vayse gestured towards the bed, and Meyer lay down. He tried to relax as Vayse whispered next to him, but as the minutes passed, he began to fear that the Master Healer would make him stay longer. When earlier in the week he had asked if his recovery was advancing according to schedule, Vayse had bluntly told him not to badger him with questions of the sort, and as Meyer lay awaiting the Master Healer's verdict, he became increasingly convinced that he was doomed to further days of boredom.

At last Vayse spoke. "You have recovered very well," he said. "You will be free to go tomorrow."

Meyer sprung upright into a seated position, his fists clenching in victory. "Thank you," he said.

"Do get some rest though," continued the Master Healer, "and remember not to over exert yourself. If you feel weak in the future, please visit me at once."

"Yes sir," said Meyer.

Vayse stood, and with a curt nod left the room.

For the rest of the evening Meyer was in such a good mood, that he struggled through ten pages of An Introduction To Magic: The Principles of The Currents before giving up and preparing for bed. As he changed into his sleeping gown, he didn't feel the slightest bit tired, however, so with a shrug, he knelt to the ground, and extended himself into a push-up position. If he couldn't sleep, he might as well start the process of rebuilding his strength. Master Healer Vayse might not approve, but surely a few push-ups could do no harm. He was just descending to complete his final repetition, when a glimmer caught his eye.

He lowered himself back to the ground, and at once noticed a silver glint from beneath his nightstand. Crawling over to the table, Meyer reached under its base, his fingers closing around a hard object. When he withdrew his hand, he was staring at a silver ring with three green gems embeded at equidistant points around its circumference.

Meyer rose from the floor and sat down on his bed, holding the ring between his thumb and pointer finger. He stared at it a moment, and then placed it on top the nightstand. He would leave it with one of the Healers. They could worry about finding its owner. But as Meyer swung his feet onto his bed, a whimsical urge overtook him, and he picked up the ring, slipping it onto his finger. He extended his arm, bemused by his decorated hand. He was about to take the ring off when suddenly a sharp pain gripped him. The room went black, and his head tilted back. His conscious was being squeezed through an ever narrowing tunnel, sucked deeper into darkness by an endless force. Sounds and colors whizzed by, and all the while the constriction increased—his mind was suffocating...