Abaddon's Gift

Chapter Twenty

Theon picked Naena up at just before six, having arrived at her dorm before she left. He brought with him a traveller's cloak lined with fur and wards. The outside was dyed Pan red, a colour which Theon knew would keep others away from her.

Naena might not have the features of a Pan, but no fool wore Seven colours.

He explained the warding, and then the fact that if someone were to give her another travelling cloak, she was to wear that. The one he gave her was for when they travelled.

They walked out to the front lawns, to the ruins of the Magi Hall, little more than rubble and hole in the ground.

A well the magi had dug in the hopes of creating a pool of magic for everyone to use.

As they walked out there, Theon explained about the course load of first-years and what was expected to pass the first year. They discussed his expectations of her as well because he wanted it perfectly clear that he was no longer grading her on a percentage basis, but his standards were higher than Amos'.

The professors knew how Theon intended to grade Naena and were marking her accordingly, going off syllabus to fail her on purpose.

He didn't explain about the magi, but he saw how Naena looked into the well when he stopped by the stones. Theon set a hand on the stones and watched Naena as she stared into the hole.

"The problem with magic, at its core, is if you use pure magic, instinctive magic, you risk creating landmarks which cannot be destroyed and which resound throughout history," Theon said.

"It's soaked in magic," she said as she looked at his hand, sitting on the stone. "But a commoner wouldn't know that."

"And a mage who sets his hand into the magic of another needs to know how it works," Theon said. "Otherwise it's a boom waiting to go off. Do it wrong, and you might summon a dragon. Summon a dragon, and you have to deal with the Seven. It's not easy to deal with them."

"The Seven?"

"Dragons," Theon countered. "Two things have successfully turned back a dragon in the past. A fully formed coven, and the blood of the Seven."

"And the Magic Bard," Naena said.

"No one has ever recreated what he did," Theon said. "Therefore, there are only two methods of turning back a dragon. The university has covens, yes, but only the faculty coven might be strong enough to turn back a dragon."

"But there's always Seven blood in Amos," Naena said.

"Always," Theon said. "The lower families need to sacrifice their lives to turn back a dragon. Rumour is, Graydon can ride one. Don't rely on that, however."

"Ride a dragon?" Naena asked.

"There is also rumour he has dragon blood in his veins. That I did up a spell which made his mother compliant and so she spread her legs and accepted a drake into her depths. Don't believe that either. Graydon is a throwback, but there is no dragon blood in his veins but for the plant. The two can be interchanged, but that mixed with his background, training, and bloodlines means a very bad time for anyone who tries."

"Only heirs and lords have this in their blood?"

"No, immediate family as well," Theon said. "It's why there is a bride price for the daughters of the main lines, but not for anyone else."

"Is there a woman in this well?" Naena asked with a motion to the stones.

Theon believed Naena asked because some areas told legends of women hiding in wells. He could not recall her home having such stories, however.