Chapter 11

The next few days were considerably quiet for Eli. Despite his forced enrollment he tried to make the best of his classes and learn as much as he could.

     Ash had been helping him study and Eli quickly realized Ash was, despite his cool demeanor and appearance, a nerd.

     Whenever Eli asked him a question about a certain spell or magical history Ash's eyes would light up as he went on an hour long lecture about the topic.

     Eli realized Misty and him would be able to spend the whole day talking about nerdy stuff, but quickly grew annoyed at the thought. He hadn't seen or heard from Misty since the visit to Atargatis city, and he was glad.

       Despite her warnings about Ash, Eli had begun to see him as a true friend. He had to have at least one here after all. It also seemed like Alexander wouldn't bother him as much with Ash around, but their bickering was rather disruptive.

     Eli was walking to his specialized magic class when he heard a loud slam in the corridor to his left. He peeked around the corner to see three large werewolfs sourrouding a young blond teen who appeared to have been shoved against the wall.

       "Come on. You're telling me this is all the oh so great Merlin family is capable of?" A large female werewolf in the center snarled. "I've seen pixies stronger than you!" The werewolf's all laughed at the teen, who Eli now realized was Dakota, Professor Merlin's however-many-greats grandson.

      "Can't you at least make an exit for a few minutes?!" The werewolf girl huffed as Dakota shook his head no.

      "Useless sorcerer." The werewolf slapped him across the face before storming off.

      Eli ran up to him, "are you ok?" He asked worried.

     "It's nothing new." Dakota sighed as he stood up, a long slash mark across his cheek beginning to bleed.

      "Oh no! Here let me help!" Eli said and with barely a thought the scratch marks were gone.

      Eli realized just how much his magic had improved in a short time. He barely thought of the scratches and they were already healed.

      Dakota ran his hand along his face. "Wow thank you! That's impressive!"

      "Never mind that, why were those werewolf goons messing with you! You should tell a teacher!" Eli advised

       "Ha! Most teachers at this school look away when it comes to matters of hierarchy. If a stronger student beats up a weaker student, that's just life." The young blonde shrugged

       "Well that's not right, what about your grandfather? Professor Merlin! He's a kind man and you're his family. I'm sure he'd put a stop to it." Eli suggested

      "Please don't tell him!" Dakota's eyes went wide with panic.

      "Why?" Eli asked confused

      "I'm supposed to be a great sorcerer from the Merlin bloodline. I can't let him find out I'm getting beaten by mere werewolfs."

      Eli thought for a second and wasn't exactly surprised by the logic. This whole school, and Eli guessed the whole magical world was like this. Wanting to appear strong, not showing any weakness.

      "But you're a great sorcerer aren't you? You're in the specialized magic class with me and those two numbskulls." Eli said, referring to Ash and Alexander.

      "My dad got me into that class so grandfather could keep an eye on my progression, but in reality I'm lacking in the magical skills aspect of things."

      "Even if that's the case, you shouldn't let others push you around. If those guys or anyone else messes with you again, just let me know." Eli said with a smile.

      Dakota stared at Eli in surprise before responding with a soft "sure."

      "What did they even want with you anyway?" Eli asked

       "Oh, they wanted me to create an exit in the school's magic barrier so they could go out for a Christmas party. Apparently their off-campus passes got revoked."

      Eli was reminded of the holiday just then. He had been going on winter break when he arrived at Atlas Academy. In all the craziness he had forgotten about the holiday coming up in just two days.

      "Is Christmas celebrated in the magic world? And what are off-campus passes?" Eli said with excitement at the prospect of one day away from this place.

      "Well it's not as big a deal in the magic world, but people still throw parties and exchange gifts. For holidays students are issues an off-campus pass and can leave the magical barrier that surrounds our school for the day. You should have already been issued yours." Dakota explained to the brunette.

      "You can ask Principal Desmond after classes, I'll go with you." Dakota suggested as they walked into the specialized magic classroom and took their seats.

      They spent the class practicing how to hide their magical auras, which apparently could be seen by higher level magical creatures. When Eli asked what they look like, Professor Merlin taught him how to see them.

       When he channeled his magic towards his eyes and focused on a single person, in this case, the person was Ash. He could see what appeared to be orange flames surrounding the phoenix boy.

       "Now watch as Ash suppresses his aura." Eli watched as Ash concentrated. Slowly the orange flames seemed to die out and fade until all he could see was Ash himself.

       "Cool!" Eli said, getting excited.

      "What does my aura look like?" Eli asked Ash

      "A mix of purple and gold that sparkles and swirls in a kind of mist around you. Try to conceal it now." Ash responded

     Eli concentrated and tried to imagine the clouds of mist Ash had described slowly disappearing, but instead he found a weird sensation. Instead of disappearing, he felt a heavy weight in his chest. As if he had swallowed a heavy stone.

      Eli gasped for air as if he was drowning and felt the weight lift from his chest.

      "What was that?!" Eli asked through gasps of air.

      "The more magic a person has, the harder it is to conceal and the shorter the time they can conceal it for." Merlin explained

       "Ash here has practiced this technique for quite some time and can now go up to five minutes despite his considerable power." Merlin complimented as the boy in questioned seemed to puff out his chest at the praise.

      "Big deal." A grumpy looking Alexander said with his arms crossed. "Some of us have too much magic power to conceal it all." The dragon huffed as Eli could see his aura of red steam was still hovering around him with no signs of fading.

      "Now now young man, no matter how powerful a being is, with practice they can learn to conceal their aura for at least a minute. Professor Merlin explained as they finished class.

     "Oh and Eli," Merlin called as the other students filed out of the room. "May I speak to you for a second?" Merlin said with a calm voice.

      "What's up Professor?" Eli asked

      "Have you given any more thought as to the question I asked you on your first day? Have you figured out what the core of your magic is?" Merlin said expectantly.

     Eli felt uneasy. He had thought about it, and didn't quite like the answer.

      "I'm afraid Alexander may have been right Professor. It seems my magic is more powerful when I am helping others." Eli said with a hint of agitation in his voice.

      "And why does this seem to bother you?" The old warlock questioned with an air of amusement.

      "Well of course I don't mind helping others of my own accord, but the idea that someone else gets to decide what my magic is used for scares me." Eli admitted

      "I assume you know about my past Eli? I know it's been a few centuries but from what I hear I'm somewhat of a legend even in the human world." The wizard asked with a smile

     "Of course, the Legend of King Arthur. You helped him rule Camelot." Eli said recalling the old story from his childhood.

      "Why do you believe I did such a thing? Wouldn't it have been easy for a sorcerer such as myself to rule Camelot? That is what many of my coworkers and magical acquaintances believe." Merlin prompted Eli

      "Did you not want to rule the kingdom? Being king seems like a hard job." Eli asked uncertainly

     "That is a humble and wise answer, but not quite right. I would have taken the thrown if I believed it to be my place. Hard work or not, I wanted the best person for the job and that just happened to be the young prince Arthur who I foresaw would be a noble and just king, and I was right." Merlin explained with a far off look in his old blue eyes.

        "So throughout his reign I used my magic to help him rule. No one forced me to use my magic, I did it because I wanted to help." Merlin explained

      "So you're saying I should find someone I would want to be a king and help them?" Eli asked confused

     The warlock burst into laughter, "HA! You take things very literal my boy." He said after his laughter had subsided a bit.

      "We are two different people with different circumstances. I am not a genie whose magic can be bound, so I was more free in my decision making. You have to decide for yourself what the best course of action is."

     "Then why are you telling me all this?" Eli asked

     "You seemed disheartened by the fact your magic listens to others more than you, but that is not inherently a bad thing. Magic is like a tool or a weapon. It doesn't care about its users intentions. It does not see good or evil, it just wants to be used."

      "I'm sorry professor, I'm afraid I still don't understand." Eli said still confused

       "You like cars don't you Eli?" The wizard said after a thought.

      "Yes sir." The genie responded, thinking the warlock must have heard his conversations with Ash about his favorite sports cars.

      "If a race car was sentient, it wouldn't care who it's driver was. It would just want to race, thus it wouldn't care who held the license, but rather who was the best race car driver. It would seek out that racer and leave the person holding the license in the passenger seat." The wizard finished with the metaphor and looked expectantly at Eli.

      "So you're saying, my magic wants to be used by the most powerful magic users, not just me?" Eli said slowly, starting to realize what the old teacher was getting at.

       "So what would you do if you had to choose a racer to give the race car to?"

      "I guess I'd want someone who wouldn't crash it or be reckless. I'd want them to care about it as much as I would and use it to win races." Eli answered thoughtfully, trying to compare the analogy to his own circumstances.

      "So if my magic is a race car, and I'm the license. I need to find a responsible driver? But why can't I just be the driver? Why can't I use my magic myself?" Eli said a bit frustrated.

     "I'm afraid that is we're this metaphor and your circumstances differ." The warlock sighed

"Genie magic does not want to be contained by the genie. It wants to grow and fulfill wishes of those with strong determination. It will answer your own wishes if you have the strength, but it will always seek out others until it has a strong anchor, such as the binding ritual." Merlin explained

       "So in short, you're saying I'm gonna end up bound to someone anyway, so I might as well pick the person I believe is most qualified?" Eli said warily.

      "It may not be ideal for you, but I believe it may be the only change you have at exercising your own control and decisions on this matter." Merlin said with the finality of someone who had thought this over a great deal.

      "I understand, thank you for the words of wisdom." Eli said half-heartedly as he left the classroom.

     He wanted to be angry at the Professor. He spent all that time with his story just to say Eli should give in and obey, but he knew the warlock had a point. He wanted Eli to have some say in the matter, and to an old wizard who was hundreds of years old and had spent his life devoting his magic to others, he must know more about Eli's predicament then almost anyone, other than another genie. Eli thought bitterly about his captured father, wishing he knew where he was.

      Eli thought about the conversation all throughout his other classes, and when he walked out of his final class for the day, a voice snapped him out of his own head.

     "You ready?" Dakota said with a grin

     "What?" Eli asked

     "To go see the principal to ask about your off-campus pass?" Dakota said "You ok, you look like you have a lot on your mind."

    "Yeah," Eli answered, shaking his head to clear his thoughts, "let's go talk to the principal. I think getting away from this place is exactly what I need right now." Eli said as walked with Dakota and let himself imagine a whole day without magic.