Pegasus In Flight: A Musimagium Story (The Pegasus Enchantment Book 2) Page 3

  I relaxed, panting from exertion. My muscles shook and I leaned against the filly to remain upright. The weight had to be several times that of the fallen shed, though it did give me an idea of what the equines and I could do together. “Can you see them?” I peered through the settling dust.

  “Yeah. I think we got them.” A moment later two workers carried a man, his leg clearly mangled, out of the pile. They laid him on the ground and the on-site mage immediately began to look over him.

  “We need help with one more bit of debris. A beam is in the way.” A voice called from close to the other side of the pile.

  “Okay.” I glanced at Etta. “You ready?”

  She nodded.

  I focused on the beam, on the direction where the man’s voice came and sent another Subvolo spell in that direction, backed up by Etta and the two pegasus. The beam wobbled, then lifted just enough for someone to pull the man free.

  “Got him!” I heard. “Safe!”

  With that, I let the beam fall, unable to sustain the spell any longer. I leaned against the filly. There’d be tea when I got home to restore myself, and I suspected we’d need to work on magical fitness. I made a mental note to email Paul and see if we could add that as a class at the academy. Who knew what the students would find themselves needing to do in the future?

  I turned to the mage. “Do you have it from here?”

  “I think so. We’ll call an ambulance and have these men taken to the hospital. I’ve done what I can to triage them.” A large first aid kit sat open next to him. “Thank you for your help. I’d like to talk later. That was an impressive bit of magic that you’ve done, and it might be useful to have something like that on other work sites. I’m not sure what happened though. Everything indicated that it was structurally sound.”

  The idea of sabotage crossed my mind, though I felt like some kind of tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist for thinking it.

  “Are you going to be the new Dean once this is operational?”

  One of the workers had dispatch on the line and asked for medical assistance for two injured men.

  “I am. Once this is settled, let’s talk. We better go before the ambulance arrives.”

  “Yes, you should. Thank you for coming to our aid.” The man turned back to the two workers.

  The filly allowed me to mount and a moment later we were ascending into the sky, followed by Kestara. We landed near the porch, and I dismounted, getting my cane from where I’d leaned it against one of the posts. “Thank you,” I told the filly, too tired to talk mentally with her. I ran my hand down her side. “Can I get you anything before I rest?”

  I am fine. I have all I need. Take care of yourself. She nuzzled my shoulder gently, pushing me in the direction of the house.

  Taking that as a sign, I wobbled across the patio and went inside, sitting down in the computer chair just as my legs gave out. Something about the magical exertion affected my RA, and I felt as if I’d single handedly raised those beams. Etta came in a few moments later and immediately filled the electric kettle with water and set out two mugs. The herbal blend of tea filled the air with its aroma, and I breathed deeply, already improved.

  Etta sat down on the couch while the water heated. “Do you really think it might have been sabotage?”

  “Yeah, it could have been. I don’t know by who or why, but from what I understand the mages assigned to construction sites are kind of all-around workmen, though they have an affinity for buildings and construction. They’re there to help steady beams and such when that is needed. Maybe I should talk to him about the idea of a magical stamina type teacher at the academy. I feel as if there are those of us who were trained, but not really as working mages.”

  “That makes sense. I don’t think very many people know about the academy.”

  “I don’t think so either,” I replied, listening as the kettle began to boil. “Which means if it is sabotage, it’s either an inside job or happening for a completely different purpose.” I yawned. “I’m not sure who would want to do that. I’ll email Paul and let him know what happened from my point of view while I sip my tea.”

  “Good plan.” Etta stood and a few moments later returned with the mugs. She set one down beside me, my cue to swivel the chair to the computer and open a new email.

  I drafted an email to Paul, letting him know about the boom that shook the house and that Etta and I flew to the building site. I described what I saw, what had happened, and that we were able to perform Subvolo to lift the debris and free the men. I passed along my thoughts on magical stamina training, as well as the mage’s idea that equine-mage teams be stationed at most building sites in the event of accidents. I also let him know that both Etta and I considered sabotage, though we had no facts to back that up and we didn’t know who would want to do such a thing.

  I sent the email just as I emptied my mug. Etta had gone to her room, so I used the cane to stand and with a final check on the equines, dozing on the patio, went to my bedroom for a well-deserved sleep.

  ~* * *~

  The next morning brought a flurry of activity. A knock on the door startled me as I was making coffee. Thankful I wore a t-shirt and pajama pants, so would be presentable, I answered the door to see the mage I’d met last night.

  “I hope I’m not too early,” he said. “Construction has been halted while some experts from Albuquerque come and see what may have happened, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to talk to you. I’m Jeremiah, by the way.”

  “Sonia.” I offered my hand. “Come in. I was just starting coffee. Would you like some?”

  “Thank you. That would be great.”

  I gestured to the couch and closed the door behind him. I went to the kitchen and took down two mugs. “Cream? Sugar?”

  “Just a little cream or milk. Please don’t go to any trouble for me. Are you injured?” He glanced at my cane.

  “Rheumatoid Arthritis. It hurts worse in the mornings.” I smiled. “No trouble at all.” I added cream to both of our mugs, then returned to the living room and sat down. “How can I help you?”

  “I wanted to talk to you about yesterday. The men will be fine, though I’m afraid they couldn’t rebuild the one workman’s leg. There’s a good chance he’ll lose it.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  “Without you they both would have died. Please don’t feel bad. You helped more than you know.” He paused. Something weighed on his mind. He took a deep breath, then continued. “I believe it was sabotage. I made my regular checks both during and after construction and the bridge was sound. It would have held up to an elephant walking across it. We deliberately built things extra sturdy with the knowledge that it would be used for a training facility. Those of us closest to the project knew about the pegasus.” He glanced out the patio door where the setup was visible in the morning light, though the equines were somewhere else. “There also was grumbling that pegasus would bring additional attention to us. Attention we didn’t want. You are aware that some states are trying to pass laws against magic being in public spaces.”

  I gasped. “No. I guess I stay too much to myself these days.” I frowned. That kind of sentiment would bring out people who wanted to hurt us. We’d been taught that had happened throughout the years. Since the Great Dividing, it had gotten worse.

  “Yes. We carefully review the backgrounds of those we hire, but I also think it wouldn’t be difficult for someone to slip through the cracks. I’m glad you came, don’t get me wrong. You saved men’s lives. I also worry that it may have made you a target.”

  The coffee pot gurgled as it finished, and I took the opportunity to stand and fill our mugs. “We’re no stranger to that, Jerimiah.” I handed him his mug, then returned for my own. I briefly relayed what the filly and I had gone through with the teenagers. “Though that was more youthful pranks gotten out of hand than any deliberate attack.”

  “Rumor has it that Aquari Testimoni and Noctis are growing bolder. Someone is coming
from Albuquerque with the inspectors to question the men.”

  Someone from the Musimagium. Most likely Armis. He didn’t need to say anymore.

  “Thanks for letting me know. Do you think I’ll be needed? If not, I’d just as soon stay out of the way. Other than my fly overs I’ve tried to let you guys handle the building without any interference from me.” I sipped the coffee, sighing as the dark, delicious aroma tantalized my senses, followed by the rich taste.

  “No. It’s probably best if you stay here. While I did include your involvement in my report, I’d just as soon no one knows exactly what you have and what you can do. There’s… some concern over what we’re doing here.” He parsed his words carefully.

  “I suspected that. I also reported to my contact what had happened. We’re going to try something new. People always balk when they think things are changing. And if the anti-magic sentiment is at the levels that you’re saying it is, I can see why.” I shrugged. Even on the concert track, when I played a new interpretation of an old classic, my manager reported people telling him that they didn’t like it, and why couldn’t I just keep things the way they were, as if I had any say in what music was placed before me. I chose some of the pieces, but others were also provided in advance by the venue from my catalog of titles depending on their audience.

  “We’re going to increase security. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to hear more about how you were able to accomplish what you did last night. I do feel it’d be invaluable to other construction projects.”

  “Of course.” I sensed no malice in Jerimiah, nothing except a sincere need to find out exactly how I’d helped the local workers. We talked over coffee, and then I brewed a second pot. Etta stepped out of her room, then took a travel mug outside.

  Chapter Five

  Paul’s arrival two days later didn’t bother me. Not when Jerimiah and I had spoken for a few hours, finally parting close to mid-morning with commitments to keep in touch about what was happening. I spent the time with the filly, while Etta stayed with Kestara. The unicorns hovered nearby, never quite leaving their sight. As before, I sensed they knew things we didn’t, were tapped into different frequencies. Even Radio Arcanum remained quiet with only normal conversation over the airwaves.

  Paul had shown up around midmorning, letting me know he’d be here for about a week to oversee construction. He obtained a motel room in town and I was welcome at the building site, though it might be best if we drove over. More rumblings about a special class of mages had infiltrated the Musimagium, and Paul reported the talk had spread to Albuquerque and other far off auxiliaries.

  I frowned. “We’re going to have our work cut out for us. What do you need me to do?” I sensed the filly’s curiosity in the back of my mind, the muted buzzing of her reaching out to “listen” through my ears when she was farther away. I didn’t mind. Not in cases like this. I hated to see her excitement for the academy dimmed, but I also believed she needed to know the truth.

  “Right now. Stay tight. I’ve got some more resumes to send you and while I’m here, I’d like to hammer out a proposed list of classes. We’ll probably need to work them into a three or four year curriculum. Most of our schools take students when they’re fourteen or fifteen and bring them into adulthood. There are some classes that we don’t teach until they’re adults.” Paul drank his coffee.

  “Can I have a proposed list of classes. Maybe some class schedules from the school in Albuquerque or from Melody itself? I don’t suppose we have any educators on staff to review such things?” I finished my mug and refilled it.

  “That’s an adaptation I’d like to bring along. Right now it’s not standard practice.” I listened between the lines. Those who ran Melody felt that the way things had been done for years didn’t need to be changed and wouldn’t change without good cause.

  “Understood. Perhaps that’s something you and I can work on since the academy is unlike anything the Musimagium has done in modern times?”

  “I like that. Yes.”

  “Good. And Jerimiah, the mage working at the construction site, said that he’d be happy to talk to me about magical stamina training that his type of magic worker receives to see if we can adapt it. Helping to rescue the workers took all my energy. Many of us simply aren’t taught how to work in situations like that.” I stirred some creamer into my coffee.

  “I thought your points on that were excellent. I like the idea.” He paused, making me wonder if he were thinking of something and trying to find a way to say it.

  “Am I overstepping my bounds? I know I’ll be the new dean, but…” I let my words trail off.

  “No. Not that at all,” Paul reassured me. “It’s just we may need to take things slowly. There are too many both on the Council and closer to us, who believe we’re chasing follies. I’ve relayed the story of how you helped the workers, of just what a pair would be capable of doing. I’m not sure that helped our cause or reassured anyone. There’s still talk of war. Rumblings of legislation being passed and magic being outlawed. Something’s shifting as Noctis and Aquari Testimoni try to gain people who aren’t in our world to their cause. It may be working.”

  His words chilled me. Since reading about Olivia in the Radio Arcanum Times, and then conversing with Rose, I thought the unicorns were well accepted. And maybe their presence was. Though I knew some members of the Musimagium treated those with socius differently from mages who worked with instruments. Some mages needed neither, able to tap into the elemental energies directly. Talk about Mad Bards had died down, though I heard they, too, were still ostracized by the Musimagium. I sighed. At some point the magical community would realize that it needed to be more inclusive. By creating these barriers between us, we only harmed ourselves.

  “Do you think we could open up the school? Make it something beyond and maybe out of the reach of the Musimagium?” As soon as I asked the question I knew how radical it was.

  “I don’t know.” He didn’t outright dismiss it, which I took as a good sign. “All of the funding and coordination is coming from the Musimagium though. To take things away from them at this stage might not be the best thing.”

  “If we want to see the school finished. I understand.”

  “Exactly.” Paul stood. “I need to get to the building site and see what happened there. I hope to touch base with you later today. Please feel free to drive on over.”

  The way he emphasized drive made me think there might be more to his visit than a conversation. “Have there been any threats against me or the equines, Paul? I need to know.”

  “Nothing concrete or substantiated. But yes. There’s been rumblings.” Paul admitted.

  “Thank you for telling me. You’ll pass on any information you receive.” I worded it not as a question, but an order as the new dean of the school.

  “Of course. I’m sorry I’ve kept so much from you already. We’ll catch up this evening. I really do need to see what is happening over there.” He went to the door.

  I stood and walked with him, opening the door. “Keep me informed. Thanks for stopping by.” I kept my tone light, a smile on my face. Deep inside, I seethed. I closed the door after him, listening until he started the car and drove out of sight. Then, I took our mugs to the kitchen and went to the one place that could calm me. The patio.

  The filly trotted up. Are we in trouble? Her ears flicked back and forth.

  “No, sweetheart.” I stroked her neck. “Some people aren’t happy with what we’re doing in building the academy. You and I did nothing wrong.”

  She nuzzled me, seeking reassurance. I stood there, leaning on my cane as I petted her, not able to dismiss the churning in my gut. Paul had told me plenty, just enough so I knew what he hadn’t said weighed far heavier on my mind. We’d visit the site, and I’d be damned if I drove.

  ~* * *~

  That afternoon Etta and I drove over to the site in the truck. She insisted. I would have flown over, wings outstretched magic blazing a rainbow ac
ross the sky. The idea that there were people who wanted to destroy what was happening, after I’d seen the beauty of the pegasus up close, well it made me madder than I’d been in a long time. Probably since my RA diagnosis when I realized that my own body fought itself and had stolen my career from me.

  Etta reassured me we weren’t giving in by driving over, and since we’d left the pegasus sleeping under the patio, I admitted not wanting to wake them up. We pulled up next to several vehicles, and I surveyed the scene. A bulldozer had removed the debris from the fallen bridge. New beams and building materials sat on the flatbed trailer of a semi. Several men in hard hats used a crane to lift a new beam into place while men in slings hung off the side of the buildings to weld it into place. Jerimiah stood on the ground, looking up, ready to assist at any moment.

  I opened the truck door. “Let’s do this,” I said more to myself than Etta. “Just want to say hi to Jerimiah and make my presence a bit more known.” I picked up the hot pink hard hat we’d purchased online, handing Etta her purple one. Just in case we wanted to stand out even more amid the sea of white hard hats on site. Jerimiah wore a yellow one, presumably so he’d be easy to find.

  I stepped out of the truck and slid my cane from behind the seat. Putting my hard hat on since I’d seen the signs plastered over the work area that one was required to enter, I strode forward, Etta by my side. I wished we’d brought ear plugs. The noise of the construction site overwhelmed me. Maybe safety glasses too when I saw all the protective gear the men wore. I wondered if perhaps I shouldn’t draft a document and send it to Paul so others wouldn’t be caught off guard as we had been.

  I waited until the beam slid into place and the men had begun welding. Jerimiah nodded. He must have sensed us because he turned. “I see you decided to visit,” he yelled over the din. “Let’s go this way.” He gestured toward a trailer, looking around probably for pegasus.