Arcanius by Toby Neighbors Page A

laughter as he closed the door behind him. His father’s chamber was dark and smelled of sickness, sweat, and human waste.
    “ Fulsi ,” Tiberius said and felt felt the portal of magical light open above him.
    He let just enough light through so that he could see. He went past the large desk and around the sitting area. There were still coals in the fireplace, and the room was warm. Tiberius found a stool and moved it to his father’s bedside. Earl Aegus had been a big man, but now he was thin and frail. His hair was completely gray and thinning so that his scalp showed through. His hands looked like nothing more than skin and bones, but they clutched the covers tightly.
    Tiberius had no idea what ailment was killing his father or if he could do anything to help. But there was a chance, and if Earl Aegus were ever to accept that Tiberius was now a wizard, Ti knew that healing him would help. Still, as he sat looking at the man whom he had loved and feared his whole life, he began to doubt that healing his father was a good idea. The earl was not the kind of man to take lightly. He had ruled Avondale with an iron fist and rarely showed any concern for Tiberius. Earl Aegus didn’t love his son; in fact, Tiberius doubted that his father loved anyone. But then the first principle of magic, as listed in his book The Essence Of Magic , stated that magic was for the benefit of all mankind, and Tiberius couldn’t shake the feeling that he was ignoring the most basic tenet of his craft by not helping his father.
    Tiberius closed his eyes and began to connect with the magic around him. The more advanced healing spells in the First Order of magic required the wizard to focus his mind on the patient’s body. It was a way to understand the depth of the injury or illness, and it was what opened up the wizard to the Corporeus Adfectus , the magical empathy that, while causing Tiberius pain, also helped him know if his magic was healing the patient as it should.
    “ Acies Penetralis Deprimo Sano Crudus Viscus ,” Tiberius chanted softly.
    Instantly the magic around him began to move and flow, like water moving more swiftly through a narrow channel in the stream. Tiberius moved his mind down into his father’s body, and almost instantly he felt an excruciating ache in his lower back and stomach. His loins hurt terribly, and his thighs felt like logs in a roaring fire. He could sense the numerous growths that filled his father’s intestines and internal organs. It was almost as if a group of wild mushrooms had grown up inside his father’s body.
    The spell he was chanting was meant to heal cuts deep in the body and stop bleeding. Tiberius was soon shaking and sweating from the pain he felt. It was almost more than he could take, but he stayed focused. If he could somehow remove the growths, he might be able to heal his father, but none of the Sana Magus spells were meant to remove the unnatural growths. He needed something strong but controlled to consume the disease.
    He decided he could take a chance. His father was dying and in great pain, so Tiberius altered his spell. “ Acies Penetralis Deprimo Sano Crudus Accendo ,” he said. This time the portal of fire was tiny and located inside his father’s body. It was difficult to stay focused both on his father’s physical condition and on the portal of flame, especially while his body was aching from the magical empathy he felt. Still, he was determined to help, and so he moved a small but focused flame onto the nearest growth. The pain made him shudder, and it was as if he were holding his hand over a candle and letting the heat burn him. But the growth was recoiling from the heat and Tiberius pressed forward. He let the flame burn the growth until it was nothing but ash. The spell was working, but it was also burning his father’s healthy organs. It took an hour to burn away all the growths, and the entire time Tiberius chanted his new spell.
    Finally, with the growths gone,