Flight Mage Seraph

Master

Seraph hesitated outside the Master Mage's door. Their first encounter had not been under the best of circumstances, and he doubted that Din had said anything complimentary to Fade about him. At least the old man seemed not to have Din's calculated maliciousness, but Seraph had been wrong before. All he knew for certain was that he didn't want to be on the old man's bad side.

Finally, he knocked.

"Enter, Seraph."

He obeyed and almost gasped when he saw the Master Mage. If anything, Fade looked even frailer than he did earlier in the day, his face more careworn and his blue eyes dimmed. The old man sat on a sturdy chair in his nightgown and slippers. Just behind him was a bed and in front of him a table laden with bottles of medicine, leaving almost no room left for the two cups of tea, a teapot, a milk jug and a bowl of scones. Seraph eyed the scene in confusion.

Smiling, Fade gestured towards the second chair. "Please take a seat. Would you like milk with your tea?"

"Yes please, Master Mage," Seraph said and awkwardly plopped himself onto his chair. Whatever he had been anticipating, it wasn't a supper.

The Master Mage lifted the jug with two trembling hands.

"Please call me Fade, Seraph. I am not the type who insists on formality, at least in social settings.

"I must say, I have heard much about you, from Shadow in particular. If I have not been ill of late, I would have liked to teach a pupil of your—oops!"

Fade had overfilled Seraph's cup, sending tea spilling into the saucer and onto the table.

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

"It's all right," the flight mage lied as he relieved Fade of the jug. "I like my tea very milky. Would you like me to pour some into your cup?"

"Oh, yes, thank you."

The Master Mage continued to talk as Seraph served him. "I have wanted to hear about your experiences with spirit magic, but first, I need to question you on this afternoon's events."

Seraph froze and carefully set the jug down before his own tremors could betray him.

"Did you have any inkling of what was afoot?"

"Some," Seraph replied. "I have complained of Fray's exaggerations and the harassment of East-school teachers, but Din has ignored my concerns. I…" He hesitated.

"You what? Don't worry about upsetting me; I have heard almost everything."

"I believe now that he's part of a conspiracy against the Eastern schools."

"Well!" The Master Mage paused to consider Seraph's words. "Well, well, well. From what I've heard, there was such a campaign, and you were one of its victims. Therefore, given what has occurred, your actions this afternoon were understandable, although unwise." He waggled a finger at the flight mage. "Experimenting with magic in the middle of a battle is dangerous, you know."

Seraph looked down in shame. "Yes, sir," he whispered, "I'm very sorry."

"You're a good child," Fade said, and he flashed him a smile. "Well, as long as you remember that, I'll let it pass.

"Now, about that conspiracy. I have determined that some of Din's closest followers, including at least two teachers, were to blame. They encouraged the children to harass the other students and teachers into leaving, hoping that the Eastern schools would eventually close due to low enrolments or staff shortages, but they overreached today. Several of the younger West-school children were chasing their East-school classmates. The victims found older students from their schools, the bullies ran to other members of their schools, and things escalated from there.

"And would you believe that the conspirators claimed to be doing me a favour? Fools! This Academy must teach all kinds of mages. Should even one school close, I might as well disband the rest, for how could Sentralia rebuild without the talents of all mages? I have fired or expelled the ringleaders, including Fray, and suspended several younger pupils. You and your students should experience no further trouble."

Seraph could hardly believe his luck. "And Din?" he asked breathlessly.

"Claimed to be unaware of and displeased with his so-called supporters," Fade said with a shrug. "I've no proof of his involvement and he's too smart to approve such a reckless plan, so I must take his word for it."

The flight mage stifled his bitter disappointment.

"Too reckless?" he said instead. "What do you mean?"

"Long ago, Din was promised the Master Mage position, to be inherited upon my retirement or death. He is ambitious and would not risk a conspiracy that was likely to fail.

"His prejudice, however, had created the conditions necessary for this afternoon's melee, so I have counselled him to treat Easterners more fairly.

"Now, I would like to hear all your experiences with spirit magic."

Fade truly meant all, from the first time Seraph saw Brian's ghost through to the last spell he'd attempted. Often, the Master Mage interrupted to ask for more details. Even the incidents that the flight mage considered minor were of great interest to the old man. By the time Seraph finished, the bowl was empty of all save for some crumbs and the overly-milky tea was long forgotten.

"Fascinating!" Fade said, stroking his chin. "You need only a demonstration or an explanation to perform the spell. Sometimes, you don't even require these, though the results on such occasions are unpredictable. Was this also your experience with flight magic?"

"Uh, yes."

Seraph hoped he would not be asked to detail these experiences as well.

Fade grinned, apparently losing twenty years in his excitement. "And, do you know what this means?"

"No, sir."

"Your abilities are limited more by your imagination than anything else! Every spirit spell is already within your reach and most likely has been for quite some time. You simply lacked the motivation to use them before your brother's death."

Seraph gaped. "But…no one I know advances so easily."

"Correct. No mage in human history has demonstrated your abilities. Indeed, I believe there is even more to your talents than we've seen thus far, but we'll simply have to wait and see how far they extend.

"In any case, you seem to have no trouble mastering spirit magic, so I am ordering you to concentrate on your teaching duties."

"Sir?"

"And skip the spirit classes."

Seraph blinked. Skip classes? How many times had he wanted to do that, back when he was a child?

"That's great," he finally said, "but what of the theoretical classes? Surely the ethics of spirit magic is important."

Fade stared and then stroked his chin again. "Oh, I didn't mean that. I've always intended to give you evening theory tutorials, since it's vital that you understand the limits of our spells, but why does ethics interest you?"

"My experiences during and after the war convinced me of its importance," he said cautiously, aware that his words could alienate the Master Mage. "As a student and as a soldier, I was taught that magic must be used to help, not harm. You were taught this too?"

Fade frowned. "It is a lesson that every Western mage is given. Did you think we were so degenerate that we would not teach such basic decencies?"

"Several of my teachers have said so; however, after meeting you, Combustion and Cat, I don't believe it anymore. What I do believe is that mages on both sides considered the Mage War an exception to the rule. I was told to drop bombs on Western civilians to protect my own family. Spirit mages, meanwhile, forced ghosts to kill those on their side, traumatising these spirits years after their own deaths. During the Angel Festival, one even sent a thirteen-year-old ghost after me!

"I think today's brawl clearly illustrated how the war has sullied the gifts the angels gave us, and this has been obvious in my spirit lessons as well." Seraph paused, suddenly aware that he was speaking to another spirit mage. "I'm sorry if I've upset you—"

Fade waved away the apology. "No, no. Well, yes, it does disturb me, but I did not gain my position by refusing genuine criticism. What of these lessons?"

"Basically, my classmates spend a lot of time and energy forcing their will onto ghosts when a request or gentle persuasion may be more successful."

"Is that so?" the Master Mage said with a small smile.

"Yes. I've found that wrestling the two ghosts who appeared during the Angels Festival more exhausting than summoning hundreds of them by request."

"Really?"

Fade leaned forward with wide, eager eyes, and Seraph wondered how even the Master Mage could be ignorant of this.

"Yes, sir. In fact," he said with a flash of insight, "I think trust is as important as technique. The reason that I've had relatively little trouble bringing and then keeping spirits in this realm is probably because I've earned their trust. Generally, I haven't forced or mistreated them, at least…" He sighed. "At least not until today."

Fade reached out and patted Seraph's hand. "I'm sure they understand your actions. But what is all this leading to?"

"I…I must ask for the opportunity to use my spirit powers ethically, so I don't abuse it as I have my flight abilities. I'm ashamed of what I did during the war, and I know I deserve the disdain of other mages." Seraph paused to blink away his tears. "I can't lose the trust of the dead too!"

Fade sat in silence while Seraph tried to compose himself. He was an idiot, he knew, to cry in front of the Master Mage. If Fade hadn't been disgusted before, he had every reason to feel that way now.

"Here."

Seraph looked up to see a handkerchief in the Master Mage's steady hand.

"Thanks," he said, and he dabbed his eyes with it. "I'm sorry if that sounded selfish. It's not just about me; I'd like every spirit mage to earn that same trust."

Fade nodded. "Legends say that centuries ago, many were able to summon and control ghosts as easily as you do. I thought that's all they were: legends. But perhaps it's all true. Maybe we lost some of our abilities during the war. Maybe we need to return to our distant past, to relearn how to ally ourselves to the spirit world. It will require large changes to the curriculum, but if you're right, the effort will be worthwhile.

"Now, I must go to bed. I do, however, intend to continue tutoring you or, ha ha, being tutored by you. Will you return at the same time every week?"

"Yes, sir. Goodnight—and thank you for the supper."

Only when he'd closed the door behind him did Seraph dare breathe a sigh of relief. He'd not only kept his position, as he had hoped, but he'd also found a caring Master Mage in Fade. As he pushed himself from the door, he began to whistle.

---

Seraph's joyful tune carried into the Master Mage's chamber. Smiling, Fade looked at his hands. They had stopped trembling long ago, and he wondered if the young man had noticed. Probably not.

Fade looked at the door again. So this was Seraph, the greatest potential threat to Daylight, the one who'd so memorably attacked the palace during the Angels Festival, the man who—no, not there. Fade shook his head, trying to clear his mind of the memories. He didn't want to reflect upon the towns and villages destroyed by legions of flight mages, nor on the day that his entire family died.

Fade had been afraid to meet Seraph, even though he knew that the flight mage could not attack while under the charm's control, but the young mage had comforted him with his remorse. Seraph was actually…likeable.

Forthright too. Fade had not expected Seraph to hold a mirror to the spirit mages. Abusing his powers, huh? He supposed he'd done that many times, such as when he forced two ghosts to attack Seraph on that Angels Festival. And he had been the one who'd advocated the use Easterner's spirits to assail and demoralise the Eastern army. Seraph had no idea how that accusation stung.

Nevertheless, the young man obviously had the insight, talent, courage and determination of a future leader. If he could be persuaded to side with Daylight…

"Beware, Din. I know what your new name is, and I know how vulnerable you are. Step out of line again and you may be displaced."