Lewis closed his eyes as the clearing faded away. When he woke up, he was lying on the bed in the High Mage’s tower and the sun was rising. He sat up, every inch of him aching, but the exhaustion of the last few days had gone. His hands and arms looked human again. He looked at his legs and feet, then touched his face. He was entirely back to normal. For a moment he was worried, but when he looked for it he still felt Amnis’s essence within him.

  The spirit’s words were heavy in Lewis’s mind. He got up quickly, going out into the study. Curtis was there, reading a book at the desk. He looked up and his eyes widened. He closed the big book and set it on the desk gently, still staring at Lewis, who sat across from him at the desk. It took a moment to get his thoughts in order, to figure out where to begin.

  “You’re entirely back to normal,” Curtis said.

  “Amnis summoned me last night,” Lewis said.

  Curtis stiffened.

  “He tried to eat me, and I was about to absorb him, but…” Lewis hesitated. “I don’t think I would have been me anymore if I had. His magic and his essence aren’t the same. His magic was too powerful, would have just made me him since I have his essence. I cast out the magic, but the pact was broken. Amnis doesn’t know if his essence in me is enough that it won’t fade.” He looked away. “If it fades, I’ll become a chimera, and if I survive that, I’ll bring a blight that will kill everything and give Esther’s master more power. Had I taken his power, the pact still would have broken. I don’t know if I would have become a chimera before I would have had a chance to become like Amnis. Maybe that’s what Esther and her master wanted.”

  Curtis was gripping the arms of his chair so tightly his fingers were white. “And Amnis?”

  “He was badly weakened,” Lewis said, “but he survived.”

  Curtis muttered something, closing his eyes for a long moment. When he opened them, he looked no less worried. “The essence is still in you?”

  Lewis nodded. “I think it will surface if I use magic.” Hopefully his fully human appearance didn’t mean the essence was already fading.

  Curtis sighed deeply. “For now, all we can do is see what happens. I hope the breaking of the pact doesn’t have other effects. As for a blight…” He stared at the books past the desk. “I recall reading about a blight, far back in history.”

  “We can read about it later,” Lewis said. “For now, the essence is still there. Have you found out anything about the tunnels under Palegrove?”

  “Not yet,” Curtis said, “but I’ve only just started.” The bell rang. “You and I can continue the search after breakfast.”

  Lewis wanted to get right to reading, but he was starving after so many days with little food and constantly training with Miriam. As soon as he and Curtis joined the others at the table in the dining room, Miriam and Blake stiffened, then looked at Curtis expectantly.

  “I’ll explain after breakfast,” Curtis said.

  “Are you alright?” Lorna asked, leaning forward to see Lewis past Curtis.

  “I’m fine,” Lewis said, hoping his smile was convincing. It helped that he felt better than he had in days.

  After breakfast, the Elder Mages went to the library to talk. Lorna was teaching the first class of the day for Dale and the twins. Lewis went up to the tower and found a book on the history of Palegrove. There were several books about Palegrove in the tower. As Curtis had said, there must have been something about the city Stewart was interested in. Lewis looked up from the book when Curtis returned, but the Elder Mage only sat across from him at the desk and took up the book he had been reading earlier. The two read on in silence.

  The heavy book Lewis held was the driest thing he had ever read. He skimmed, reading only more pages and pages about the city’s architecture, every tiny detail about the stone the wall was made of, what every carving in castle doors meant, and other things he might have found interesting if the author hadn’t seemed so bored by them. Around midday, Lewis set the book aside. He was about to get another when Curtis set his book on the desk suddenly. It was still open.

  “Did you find something?” Lewis asked.

  Curtis smiled. “I did. The tunnels beneath Palegrove were once used in case the royal family needed to escape, but most of the tunnels have collapsed now.” He consulted the book again. “There was an entrance in the castle and an exit in the sewers.” He scooted to the edge of his chair and turned the book to face Lewis. “There’s even a map.”

  The map showed the lines of the sewers beneath the city, a branching system like it was the city’s veins. In darker ink, a route had been drawn leading off a sewer tunnel and through the city, to the castle. Lewis tried to recall the layout of the city. The only landmark on the map was the castle, but based on where the tunnels ran, he could figure out where the streets were.

  “The entrance is under the market, in the center of the city,” Lewis said.

  Curtis nodded. “The entrance to the sewers isn’t there, but the way into these old tunnels is.” He closed the book. “I’ll show it to Miriam and Blake later today, after they’re done with lessons. Then we can make a plan to get your father back.”

  It was finally happening. They were no longer completely in the dark about who their enemy was or where his father might be. Lewis glanced out the window at the midday sun. The hardest part would be waiting to tell the Elder Mages about this, waiting for the plan, and walking three days to get to Palegrove before they could attempt a rescue. Curtis got up and disappeared into the bedroom, returning with the bowl of water. He set it on the desk between them.

  “We need to be sure you can still use your magic as well as before,” Curtis said. “If we have to fight the mercenaries, you’re going to need it.” He sighed. “And it will help pass the time until we can talk to Miriam and Blake.”

  Lewis focused on the water, trying not to think of what had happened the last time he did magic. What would have happened if Blake hadn’t stopped him? He took a deep breath, clearing his mind, focusing on the water. It really was harder than using his spirit magic, but even that felt distant. It felt strange, just like the resistance as he tried to manipulate the water. A small ball of water broke free, rising from the basin to hover in the air just above the surface. It splashed back down into the bowl. The familiar cold tingling spread along Lewis’s left arm, leaving his hand and part of his arm with salamander skin. He and Curtis said nothing, watching as the salamander skin slowly returned to human.

  “You went back to normal much faster than usual,” Curtis said, “but it looked like you were having trouble with the magic. Are you still worn out from your days with Miriam?”

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  “A little, but I don’t think that was all,” Lewis said. He didn’t want to say it, but the feeling wasn’t going away. “Something’s wrong with my magic. I don’t know what it is, but it feels different. Distant maybe? Like something is blocking it.”

  Curtis’s brows furrowed.

  Lewis looked at the water again, focusing on the center. A small drop rose, hovering for just a moment before plopping back in. “It was easier that time, but it still feels strange. My spirit magic feels strange too, but in a different way.”

  Silence settled between them.

  “Hopefully it’s just lingering weariness from training with Miriam,” Curtis said, but he sounded no more convinced than Lewis was.

  The two spent the rest of the day searching the tower books for anything more about the tunnels beneath Palegrove. The book with the map was the best source of information. They found nothing new in the other books. At dinner, Curtis launched straight into telling Blake and Miriam about the tunnels. He didn’t mention Lewis’s trouble using magic, and neither did Lewis.

  “Who’s going to Palegrove?” Lorna asked when Curtis finished, or he may have just been pausing to breathe.

  “We don’t know what Martin’s next move will be,” Miriam said. “Someone needs to remain here with the students. I think it best more than one of us stay.”

  Blake nodded. “I will go with Curtis and Lewis.”

  Miriam frowned at Lewis. “I don’t suppose we can convince you to stay behind? We don’t know what the breaking of the pact will do to you.”

  “I want to help get my father back, however I can,” Lewis said. “I can still use magic.” If Amnis’s essence faded, could he still use water magic?

  Curtis sighed. “It will be suspicious if people see the High Mage entering the city, and the court would no doubt hear about it. The court hasn’t summoned you, and you have no requests there. You are, of course, allowed to go there anytime. It’s just that we don’t want Martin suspicious.”

  Lewis dreaded where this was going. “Then I have to stay behind?”

  “Of course not,” Curtis said quickly. “It’s an easy problem to solve. Most people don’t know how many mages we have at Birch Hall. You will simply be dressed as an Apprentice and keep your hood up.”

  “We’ll leave at dawn,” Blake said.

  Lewis slept little that night, worried they would be too late. They knew his father was badly wounded. He had held on this long, but how much longer could he? Between that and the worries about his magic, he barely slept. But neither did he dream about the wolves. That made him worry only more. Why had the dream stopped now? Was it because the pact had broken, or something else? In the morning, Curtis brought him the brown robes of an Apprentice. After breakfast, Lewis, Curtis, and Blake left Birch Hall, setting off through the pale trees toward the city. Lewis didn’t practice his magic on the way, so that he wouldn’t be tired when they reached the city.

  Both Curtis and Lewis wore a belt with two flasks of water, ready for a fight against the mercenaries. Blake had Firerock in his pockets, an easy source of fire for him to wield. The days in the forest passed uneventfully, though there were dark clouds on the second day. There was no rain at least. When the city was in sight among the trees, at sunset on the third night, Lewis raised the hood of his robes. He felt more at ease in the Apprentice robes. Hopefully these would be the robes he would be wearing regularly soon. Hopefully they could put an end to the lie of him being High Mage soon. More than that, he just wanted to find his father and get him safely back to Birch Hall.

  Lewis, Curtis, and Blake quickly found the entrance to the sewers, in a far corner of the city opposite where the castle was. After making sure they were truly alone in the alleyway, they climbed down the ladder into the sewer tunnels. It was damp and musty down there, but there was no water flowing through this part, dirty or otherwise. The three of them followed the tunnel, consulting the map Blake had copied from the book by the light of a small flame he summoned. He put the flame out before they continued on their way.

  Firelight came from up ahead, from what appeared to be a main tunnel through the sewers. Torches had been spaced far apart along the tunnel, giving just barely enough light to see by. They left the light behind again soon, moving deeper into the network of tunnels. Lewis heard running water in the distance, but their path didn’t take them through the waterways. At last, they reached a rusted metal door with a torch burning dimly beside it.

  “This is it,” Curtis whispered.

  “What business do you have down here?” A man’s deep voice came from right behind them.

  The three turned sharply to find four people coming out of a side tunnel. All four wore a leather cuirass and had swords at their belts. Were these the mercenaries?

  “We’re here to retrieve our High Mage,” Blake said calmly. Was it an act, or did he really think the three of them could handle four armed mercenaries?

  One of the mercenaries, a woman who looked hardly older than Lewis, looked away. “I told you it was only a matter of time…”

  A man stepped forward, drawing his sword with a sigh. “Let’s get this over with.”

  “We don’t have to fight,” Curtis said. “Please, let us leave with Stewart and get his wounds tended to. We don’t have to be enemies.”

  The man’s grip on his sword tightened. “Much as I would like that, we have been paid. And the man has friends in high places and very low ones. I wouldn’t be protecting my people if I turned against him now.”

  The other mercenaries drew their swords, rushing at Lewis, Curtis, and Blake. Curtis already had the cap off a flask of water and flung it at the lead mercenary. The water formed a ball, slamming into the man’s chest, throwing him against the tunnel wall hard enough he dropped his sword. Blake threw a Firerock into the air, fire bursting forth from the shell, hovering in a tight sphere just in front of him. A mercenary stopped just short of him, watching the flames warily. Lewis tried to do what Curtis had done, but the water simply fell to the floor in front of him when he reached out to it with his magic.

  Something was wrong. His spirit magic stirred, but it felt different. Darker. He cried out as the darkness swept through him, everything blurring out of focus. He was being torn apart, pulled in many directions at once. The two mercenaries coming at him stopped. He saw their pale faces, their swords clattering to the ground, then they and the other two mercenaries ran back the way they had come. Lewis felt wild. Hungry.

  “Lewis!” Curtis called his name again.

  The hunger and the darkness retreated. Lewis was on his hands and knees, but one hand had large claws and scales and the other had talons and fur. Slowly, painfully, his body returned to normal. His hands and arms were the only part that had changed. When it was finally done, there were a few bruises, but no other wounds. Nothing appeared to have been broken, but he knew what had happened. It had only been for a moment, but he had become a chimera. He looked at Blake and Curtis quickly, but neither was hurt.

  “What did I do?” Lewis asked, his voice shaking. “Everything was out of focus.”

  Blake’s fire went out, leaving them with only the dim light of the torch. “You scared off the mercenaries.” His voice shook despite his calm face. “We need to get Stewart and get out of here.”

  “For now…” Curtis helped Lewis to his feet gently. “For now you shouldn’t use any more magic.”

  Lewis could feel it. “Amnis’s essence is fading. I think my magic is becoming what Esther’s master wanted it to become.” Just not as strong as it would have been had he absorbed Amnis.

  “Is the spirit magic still separate from your water magic?” Curtis asked.

  Lewis nodded.

  “Then perhaps we can find a way to remove the spirit magic,” Curtis said.

  Blake turned to face the door of rusted metal bars. “First, we need to get out of here.”