Magus Reborn

I had two different sets, as if I was two different people trapped in one body. Even worse, my spark was somehow greatly diminished from what it once was, barely more than it had been when newly awakened, and my energy channels were feeble. At first, I couldn’t understand what had happened, although things became clearer as I drifted. I wasn’t entirely alone. I could sense another nearby, someone with an awakened spark as weak as my own. I didn’t know who he was, but his concern was apparent, and from time to time he sought to comfort me with words rather than just his physical presence. “You’re going to be okay, Lucian,” he said. The speaker sounded young, perhaps in his twenties, but my semi-conscious mind latched onto the name. Lucian. By then, the duality of my memories was starting to sort itself out, and Lucian Alastair Eldraine was a name I recognized. But I was already thinking of the memories attached to that name, as confusing and disjointed as they were, as not my own. I had another name as well, one that was more distinctly me, although the memories attached to that one were equally jumbled. “The ransom has been paid, you don’t have to worry about that,” my as yet unseen companion continued. “And I have a healer coming, to get you fixed up. So you just lie back and focus on getting better.” I didn’t know the speaker, but Lucian apparently did. The name Adrian bubbled to the surface, along with a designation that mixed the idea of cousin and friend. The concern in the young man’s voice was enough. I accepted him at his word and relaxed. *** Some time later I became aware of a pungent odor, and someone else leaning over me. Instinctively, I turned away, aware as I did so of how weak I had become. “It’s okay, Lucian. This is the healer. He’s here to help.” It was Adrian again, speaking from further away, and the familiarity of his voice got through. I spent a moment assessing the healer, using my mana sight, and saw that he didn’t even have an awakened spark. I found myself, in my semi-conscious state, wondering if this was the best Adrian could find. Without a spark, all I could hope for was a poultice or two thick with herbs – and indeed, this was the source of the odor I’d sensed. It seemed I had to rely on my own abilities to recover from what ailed me. So even as the healer, an older man who muttered under his breath as he worked, continued to fuss, I used the power in my spark to strengthen a few energy channels within me, and start the process of repairing and rebuilding those that were damaged. Before I became Lucian, my spark had been such that this process would have taken just minutes, and I would have emerged anew, my physical body having repaired itself in the process. But with my spark so weak, and me not even being properly conscious, I knew it might take some time… *** “How are you doing today?” Adrian asked. I sensed his presence nearby and opened my eyes for the first time. Just a crack, no more than that, but it was enough to allow me to look around. I was in a darkened room with a high ceiling. While the walls were covered in elegant wallpaper and a few works of art, the plaster cornices were crumbling, and the decor was faded. I noticed that the air was cold and musty. Perhaps Adrian hadn’t stoked the fire and it had gone out, or perhaps this room lacked a fireplace completely. All in all, quite substandard compared with what I was used to. Adrian himself looked as I expected from the memories Lucian had of him. He was a slim, young noble with outrageous red hair and freckles. I knew him to be a cheerful sort, but, for the moment at least, his expression was more serious. “The healer has done what he could, treating your physical injuries. Your kidnappers... I don’t know what you might have said to them, but they gave you a proper beating.” Adrian flashed me a hint of a smile then. “They probably thought you deserved it.” Then his expression grew serious again. “But he could do nothing for the injury to your mind.” He paused for a moment. “If I can borrow a few crowns, I’ll get someone Gifted to look at you as well,” the young noble said, although in truth, he didn’t sound hopeful. I wanted to ask him questions, but the seductive allure of sleep was calling, and I had little in the way of strength to resist. But already, I could see that my efforts were having an impact on my energy channels. If there was anything positive about finding oneself suddenly far less powerful than before, it was that my energy channels were no longer as complex as they had been. Their sheer simplicity meant that repairing them was easier than it might otherwise have been. With Adrian still talking, commenting that I was already looking better, I allowed the darkness to take me again... *** I don’t know if Adrian was ever able to contact a “Gifted” healer or not. All I knew was that my own efforts paid dividends, and it wasn’t long after that I started making real progress. As I grew more and more lucid, I understood more what had happened, my memories becoming clearer.