The Apprentice's Apprentice

Part 16

Cora was ready when Warren appeared at her locker. Without a word she fell into step beside him as they headed outside. The sun was partially hidden by the clouds and it looked like they might get the rain they'd been promised sometime in the evening. Cora only hoped she was home before it decided to let loose. She hadn't brought an umbrella, mostly because her mom had nagged her all the night before about it. Everyone else seemed to have similar thoughts, since they saw few people out and they were all hurrying.

She frowned as a thought occurred to her and looked at Warren. "Is Selena like your mom or grandma or something?"

He jerked and stared at her. "No! Why would you think that? She's my master."

"Well, you live with her, so I thought you must be related."

Warren made a face. "People almost never apprentice under their parents. It's a bad idea in case the parents have been spoiling the kid, or they have incompatible strengths, and a whole bunch of other reasons. And apprentices always live with their masters. It makes it easier for them to teach them and because most of us are pretty spread out. Only the big cities generally have more than one or two mage families living there."

Cora considered it for a moment. On the one hand she understood the spoiled kids part and the parents having difficulty teaching their own children. God knows every time her mom tried to help her with school work she always ended up making it worse. On the other, she was glad she was a Wild mage and hadn't been sent off as soon as she started being able to do magic. "So how do you find a master? Do you pick them or do they pick you?"

"Neither really. When someone reaches the right age to apprentice, their parents send out a call through their contacts to see who's willing to take on an apprentice. Generally most families have a tendency towards strength in a particular magic and even if not, most parents have a good feel for what they're children will end up being good at. My master..." Warren's expression flickered and his jaw tensed. "My first master was a good friend of my mom's. They'd apprenticed together."

Everything about Warren's rigid posture screamed "Don't pry further" and for once, Cora decided to leave it be. They were still getting to know one another and poking at this would be like poking a sleeping bear in the eye with a stick. And as much as she hated to admit it, right now Cora needed Warren. She'd already had one bad dream about her setting everything around her on fire, unable to control the power. Though she wasn't sure if that was because of the magic or because she'd watched Hellboy last night...

"So you and your mom use the same kind of magic then?"

Warren nodded, his shoulders slowly draining of tension as he spoke. "Yeah. Our line runs pretty strongly to spellbreakers. I've pretty much mastered that aspect of my power and the rest I can pick up from Mom. Selena's teaching me visualization, or at least, she's supposed to be."

Cora mostly understood spellbreaker, but even after the explanation yesterday, she had no idea what visualization in magic really meant. She supposed she'd find out soon enough but right now she was just confused. "So what can you do with that stuff? You said you knew one guy who could fly?"

"Yeah, he had a pure specialization in transference and it's not like he could do it for long before he would exhaust himself. Well, visualization should help me in my spellbreaking once I master it. I'm hoping to able to break spells before they're even completed, turn it into a kind of weapon and defense all in one."

Something about his tone made Cora shiver slightly, despite the intense humidity of the day. She watched him for a moment, but his face was normal. Not Mr. Sunshine, just what she was beginning to think of as normal Warren. Her thoughts were interrupted as they reached Selena's house. It was time for Cora's first magic lesson.