The latter was carried out by the council with each new awakening. The test recorded the color of the aura and the trace as well as the strength of the base magic.
In the following days, knowledge about magic would manifest in Alexander Kent. Before, she had to teach him about the magic world, the wizards and their history. That was often a huge shock, because it required an extraordinary change to a newbie’s world view. Usually, euphoria about their newly obtained powers would alternate with depression. Magic always demanded a price.
"What’s he like?" Chris asked. He sat on the edge of the table with his arms crossed, the tip of his tattoo peeking out from under his t-shirt.
The twins were quite different in character. Kevin enjoyed his relationship with Max and was monogamous in every fibre of his being. Chris didn’t seem made for anything steady, he kept having affairs. But he treated them with respect, so Jen wasn't bothered. But woe to anyone who dared call his manliness into question. That’s when the alpha male came out in full force.
"He’s an arrogant little macho," she murmured. "He immediately flirted with me and muttered something about the fact that he's getting lucky after all. He’s from a bad London neighborhood." She buried her face in her hands. "I miss Mark. And then a macho ass like that gets his sigil." She shook her head. Memores of her father's sneering laughter swam to the surface of her mind. She gritted her teeth. Yesterday was gone. "Just go and meet him."
Silence hung heavy in the room.
Kevin leaned against the back of her seat and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "What exactly happened on your mission?"
Jen realized that she hadn’t told the group anything yet. She reported what had happened in the manor house.
"Guardians?" Clara interrupted. "Wait a minute." She disappeared between the shelves and returned with a massive directory. "Let’s see the symbol."
Jen held up her smartphone.
After a short search, Clara said, "Nothing. Whoever they were, their group isn’t in here."
Chris took the book and paged through it. "The council must have considered the guardians so important that they deleted them from the directory."
"Or, more likely," Jen said, "what they were guarding."
"This folio," Kevin said. "But now the weirdos with the cloaks and the eye on their forehead have it. Was that thing really carved in? They’ve got to be crazy."
Jen felt her anger rise at the thought of those bastards. They were responsible for Mark’s death. Jen would make them pay for that. Her grief was suppressed by anger – for now. She couldn’t keep it up forever, but she had to be strong for the time being. Each of them had to. "The council?"
"It’s worth a try," Clara said. "But whatever it is with the folio, we have to get it back."
"I could use the globe," Kevin said. "The signal has already been strong enough to reveal its whereabouts to us before. If they try to access the magic again, maybe we can locate it."
"Okay, Kev," Jen decided, "Give it a try. Clara, can you please compile Mark’s latest notes? For the archive?"
"Of course."
"Chris, get us a jumper."
"Yes, ma’am."
As soon as the energy channel appeared on the globe, they had to act. Using a gate would only get them in its general vicinity. But, unlike regular wizards, jumpers could establish portals on short notice using their own power. These were only temporary, unlike the portal network that had developed over centuries.
Unfortunately, there were only five jumpers and they were in constant demand somewhere. They would take groups to destinations and pick them up again, helping them to infiltrate black magic facilities or salvage artifacts.
"What are you going to do?" Kevin asked.
"I'll be holding our newbie's hands." Jen rolled her eyes. "Maybe I’ll strangle him, too. We’ll see."
She left the library.
A veil of sorrow hung over the Castillo. The corridors were full of wizards who were rushing out on a mission or who had just returned from one. By now everyone knew that one of theirs had died and a new team member had been awoken.
Jen took a detour and stepped out to one of the balconies. She breathed in the biting cold air. Winter was was coming, thanks to a magical spell. Normally there was no snow or ice in this part of the world. All around the Castillo, there were trees and bushes that had dropped their leaves. In the distance, she saw the ripples on the surface of the pool caused by the leaves as they landed on the water. She looked through the barren treetops at the lake on the property, a spot that was full of life in summer: Wizards who’d go horseback-riding in the forest or enjoyed some well-deserved time off poolside.
Now everything was dead.
A tear rolled down her cheek, landing on her lips. She noticed its salty taste. Anger and grief found a companion in guilt. If only she’d stayed, maybe Mark would still be alive. They could have combined their powers and cast a common spell …
"He’ll have a hard time taking your place," she muttered.
By now, the cleaning team had examined the manor house. Normally, Mark's essence wand would be salvaged and secured. But in this case, there was nothing left. The enemy spell had not only triggered the sigil fire, the wand had also been burned. So Alexander Kent would receive a new one. Another challenge she had to face. They’d have to see the essence wand maker. That was something she could have done without.
Jen left the balcony and went straight to the council chambers. The massive portal made of witchwood was closed, the ornamented symbols having sealed it off.
Jen leaned against the wall with her arms crossed.
"Luckily, I’ve got nothing better to do."
7. The Aura’s Light
That can’t possibly be true. I'll wake up any minute now.
Alex sat in a wooden chair in front of a curved desk. Six chairs were lined up behind it, only two were occupied.
After waking up on a rather uncomfortable bed, cared for by a sexy nurse – Don’t stare at my chest. And no, I am a healer, not a nurse! – they had brought him here. While his brain was still busy accepting the fact that such a thing as magic actually existed, a series of events happened in quick succession.
He almost expected to be woken up by his mum coming home in the early hours of the morning. Normally, she’d make coffee, suck on a cigarette butt in the vain hope of getting the last hit of tobacco, and turn on the TV. Alfie was mostly out in the streets somewhere.
But nothing like that happened. Instead, he was stuck here in a dream that felt damned real.
A strawberry blonde woman sat on one of the chairs. She seemed full of energy, strong, imbued with an inner fire. "Glad you you could join us, Mr Kent," she said with a smile. "The journey seemed a little bumpy."
"Yeah, there was this old woman… I don’t know…"
"We call them parasites," the woman explained. "They feed on magical essence. Very dangerous creatures."
"Parasite. Magical essence," he repeated, half-muttering. "Sounds totally realistic."
"You’ll understand soon. You'll be assigned someone to answer all your questions. But first we need to test you."