A Life Less Ordinary by Christopher Nuttall Read Free Book Online

training took on a more focused nature, although Master Revels insisted on grounding me in all forms of magic. I learned how to cast small spells that used tiny amount of magic, although the more powerful spells remained beyond me for the moment. Master Revels explained that all new magicians were poor at casting powerful spells at first, although the more talented could sometimes cast them in times of desperate need. I needed to work on developing my reserves and using them to power my magic. It was like a muscle, Fiona added; the more I used it, the more I could do with it.
    As the days passed, I also learned how to study and use a spellbook safely. Master Revels, after reminding me about what happened when I had used a spell without checking it first, helped me to learn how to work out what was missing and how to fill it in without accidentally causing a disaster, or killing myself. Magic tended to work by natural selection, he warned; stupid magicians rarely remained alive very long. I was taught to always ward myself against anything getting out of control, just to limit how badly I could be hurt by an accident or my own stupidity.
    “Respect magic or you will end up burned,” Master Revels said, at the end of every session. I nodded in understanding. I’d been studying some of the more complex charms and all of them had at least some danger for the unwary user. A charm to gain the seeming of another person – one that would be far more convincing than a simple glamour – could become permanent if due care was not observed.
    Fiona had her own pithy comment. “It is like playing with fire,” the dragon observed, “except you can get burned before you light the match.”
    A month after I started studying in earnest, Master Revels led me through the corridors and down into a small room. It looked alarmingly like a cell, although there were no chains or barred windows. Light seemed to flicker out of nowhere, casting eerie shadows over the stone walls. There was, naturally, a big wooden door blocking all escape.
    “All you have to do,” Master Revels said, “is get out, escape from this room before lunchtime.”
    Without further ado, he pushed me into the chamber and locked the door behind me. I looked around, but I didn’t see anything to worry about, apart from the fact the light was failing. I muttered a spell under my breath and generated a globe of light that lit up the entire room. A moment later, it started failing too. I reached out, opening my senses in the manner I’d been taught, and realised that the walls were literally sucking all of the magic out of the air. They might not be able to drain me, yet...I cast every spell I could think of, only to see them all fade away. Desperately, I looked down at the door. It had remained resolutely solid...
    “Oh,” I said, in dawning realisation. The lock was exposed and I could pick it! I pulled a pen from my pocket and used it to twist the knob, finally opening the bolt and allowing me to leave the room. Laughing, I ran back up the stairs and into the dining room. “I made it!”
    “The moral of that story,” Master Revels observed, “is that magic isn’t the answer to everything.”
    He chuckled as he waved a hand and my plate filled up with bacon and eggs. “Eat up,” he urged. “I thought you would like to go on a trip this afternoon.”

 

    Chapter Five
    When I’d been a schoolgirl, I had practically haunted the West Port and the bookshops hidden away there. They brought back images of a bygone age, before the internet and massive chains of bookstores had taken their trade away. I loved them dearly, for they were cheap, comprehensive and their owners actually knew something about books. And now, not entirely to my surprise, they were glowing with magical light. I wanted to go look into them and see what new wonders had been revealed, but Master Revels was keen to walk onwards towards the Grassmarket. Reluctantly, I followed.
    The Grassmarket is