Chapter Five - Tres Magna

Flint felt horrible as he regained consciousness. He realised that he was back in his room with no recollection of how he got there or how long he had been unconscious. His vision was blurry, but he could hear voices just outside his room. There were some voices that he recognised - his parents, Professor Kalyani, Professor Gaiane - and some that he had never heard before. Flint wondered why his professor and headmaster was in his house. He could only hear snippets of their conversation, but he had to concentrate really hard, and it wasn’t worth the headache it was causing.

Flint let out a loud groan, and the chattering outside stopped.

The door burst open and the first person he saw was his mom, who ran straight in and pulled Flint into a tight embrace, much to Flint’s discomfort. “Oh, I’m glad you’re okay,” said Theodora through her sobs.

Flint could make out six other figures standing around his bed from over his mother’s shoulder. His dad was there,  looking worried, but kept his silence as he usually does. Professor Kalyani and his headmaster, Professor Gaiane, on the other hand, looked more puzzled than worried. Probably the outcome of what they were chatting about before I woke up. Professor Kalyani was still in her same blouse and skirt she was wearing in class. Great, I haven’t been out for more than a day, thought Flint. His eyes then fell upon the three unknown figures, each in dark long robes decorated with intricate golden runes.

“Flint,” began Professor Gaiane, “these are Tres Magna, the leaders of Galdur.”

Flint’s heart started pounding. I did something horribly wrong, didn’t I? Oh no, oh no, what did I do?! Flint started to panic and Theodora released her son from her hug.

Tres Magna. The three most powerful magicians in Galdur. They keep the country safe and they govern the country fairly. But the thing about Tres Magna is that people rarely ever see them. They only ever stay in the Magicians’ Tower, where they, and the rest of the government, reside and command. The only times they ever left the Tower are for official businesses or emergencies. Flint figured that he must have screwed up really bad to get Tres Magna come straight to his house. It was only his first day of school and already he is fearing the risk of expulsion.

“Calm down, young magician,” the deep voice of the man in his early forties with white hair and beard reverberated around the room, even though he seemed to have spoken softly, “you did nothing wrong.”

“With all due respect, sir,” Flint said in a weak voice, “why are the three of you here in my house?”

“We heard of what happened in your class,” this time it was a female voice, coming from a blonde woman who also looked about forty, “Professor Gaiane told us, and we came straight over to see if you were alright.”

Flint suspected something fishy. He doubted that the three ruling magicians would go out of their way just to check on a boy who fell unconscious during his first day of school

“We healed all of your bodily injuries, which were mostly burns,” said the last of the three, a man with electric blue hair, clean shaven, and who also looked around the age of forty. Even though all three of them looked middle aged, Flint could not really be certain. Their eyes looked ancient. “However, you are still weak from what happened today. We are able to replenish your energy by channeling energy into you, but you must be the one to accept the energy. We are not able to feed your body with energy without your consent. Seeing that you have broken your magical block, this procedure should be fairly simple to accomplish. Will you grant us permission?”

Flint nodded, agreeing.

The man approached him and touched Flint’s forehead with his forefinger. Flint felt a rush of energy flow through his entire body for a split second before the man jerked back his finger.

Flint breathed in, feeling a lot better. “Thank you,” he said while looking up.

The man said nothing as he took a few steps back to the other members of Tres Magna. Flint could’ve sworn he saw a glint of confusion in his eyes, but it disappeared quickly.

There was an awkward silence as everyone was just looking at each other. The forced looks of indifference on the members of Tres Magna’s eyes gave Flint the feeling that there was something very wrong.

Before anyone dared break the silence, the sound of footsteps drew everyone’s attention to the door that stood ajar. A few seconds later, a man in a red robe who was clearly a high-ranking magician, appeared by the door. “With respects, Tres Magna, I bring news. The other men and I have managed to bring in the other one.” Tres Magna replied with a unison nod. The man bowed and left.

“We must apologise, but we have to take our leave now,” said the blonde woman, “Gaiane, Kalyani, we have to talk to the both of you outside.”

A few seconds later, the room was only occupied by Flint and his parents.

“How’re you feeling, dear?” asked Theodora.

“A lot better. I feel brand new, in fact. Their magic did wonders,” Flint said hesitantly.

“What’s wrong?” his father asked, finally speaking.

“Where is Kiara?” asked Flint.

“She’s in her room,” Theodora answered. “She wasn’t allowed in. Official business, they said.”

“What official business?” Flint asked, a bit too harshly. “What did I do that was so bad that it had to involve Tres Magna? What were they doing here anyway?”

“We haven’t a clue, and that’s the thing that worried us so much,” said Theodora, engaging in another bear hug. “We thought you were going to be expelled, but thankfully they were just here to heal you.”

Flint still had a heavy feeling in his heart. Tres Magna would never go through all that trouble ‘just to heal a boy’.

Theodora finally let Flint out of her arms. “With all this talk of a coming war, you could use every magical knowledge you are to learn from school.”

Flint’s eyes widened.

“What war?”