“Of course,” I said, my anger dissipating as eager curiosity resurfaced. Excitement lit inside my chest at the idea that I might finally be able to unravel the mystery that was Fenris. “We won’t tell a soul, right Annia?”
“I swear by the Ur-God,” she said promptly. “Your secret is safe with me.”
“Very well.” Fenris stared up at the starry sky peeking through the tree branches, and I wondered if he was just gathering his thoughts or looking for guidance. “The truth is that I was not born as a shifter at all. I was born a mage, to a wealthy Federation family in Nebara.”
“That’s impossible.” I gaped at him, dumbstruck. Nebara was two states north of Mexia, located almost directly in the center of the Federation. “Mages don’t become shifters. Why the fuck would you do something like that?”
“In order to escape a death sentence.”
Annia frowned. “But you said you were from a wealthy mage family. What could you have possibly done to earn a death sentence that they couldn’t have saved you from?”
Fenris snorted. “Money and status doesn’t protect you from everything, Annia. And besides, I wasn’t just a mage from a wealthy family. I was the Chief Mage of Nebara.”
“No fucking way.” Annia’s eyes nearly popped out of her skull. “You mean Polar ar’Tollis? The one who was sentenced to death by the Minister’s Office for helping prisoners escape?”
“I believe that’s what I just told you,” Fenris said dryly.
“By Magorah.” I sat down in the dirt, overwhelmed with what I’d just heard. Everybody knew about Polar. He’d helped a human family whose child had tested positively for magic escape across the northern border to avoid execution, and the Federation had decided to make an example of him by executing him in the child’s place. “I can’t believe it. No one was ever sure if you’d escaped, or if the Federation had decided to kill you quietly.”
Fenris huffed. “The Federation wanted to make my death a public spectacle to discourage other mages from following in my footsteps. They would have succeeded had Iannis not intervened.”
“I can’t believe I’m hearing this.” I leaned my head back against the tree trunk and pressed my palm against my forehead. “Are you telling me that Iannis turned you into a shifter?”
“Keep your voice down!” Fenris hissed, glaring at me. “If anyone overhears that and word gets back to the Federation, they’ll have us both executed.”
“You’ll have to excuse us if we’re a little shocked,” Annia said, shaking her head. She sat down on a small rock in the middle of the clearing and stared at Fenris with something akin to awe. “It’s not every day that we meet a shifter who used to be a Chief Mage.”
“I didn’t even know there were any mages around that still knew how to pull that off,” I muttered. The practice of creating shifters had been banned nearly a thousand years ago, a long time ago even by mage standards.
“The act may have been banned, but the spells still exist, and are even practiced in secret in certain countries that choose to flaunt the Great Accord.” Fenris sniffed at that. “Using an old and dangerous spell, Iannis and I managed to fake my death, and he transformed me in secret. I was in hiding for over a year before I came to live with him at Solantha Palace. You’ll understand why I keep well away from naturally born shifters.”
“Wow. That’s incredible.” My heart swelled with emotion at the thought that Iannis would do something so utterly selfless. I wished he were here so that I could throw my arms around him and hug him for it. The more I learned about him, the more I realized just how different he was from the stereotypical mage. “I guess you two must have been good friends.”
“Yes…you learn who your true friends are when you’re desperate. We met years ago in Manuc when I was traveling overseas, and kept up a correspondence. I backed him when the Federation was voting on his appointment as Canalo’s next Chief Mage. When he heard I was in trouble, he didn’t hesitate.” Fenris’s shoulders slumped. “I suppose that’s part of the reason why I lost my temper. Iannis saved me, and now that it’s my turn to save him, I’m failing.”
“We’re not failing,” I said firmly, taking his hand in mine and squeezing it. “We’re hitting a few roadblocks, that’s for sure, but we’re not defeated and we’re not going to be. As long as this thing is still glowing, we’re going to keep searching.” I pulled out the serapha charm that was tied to Iannis’s soul, and light burst from it once more.
“You still haven’t explained how it is that you can do magic,” Annia said, frowning a little. “If the Chief Mage turned you into a shifter, shouldn’t that mean you can’t do magic anymore?”
“In theory you would be right,” Fenris said, his lips quirking into a smile. “But shifters naturally have some magic at their disposal in order to shift, and Iannis tried to preserve as much of my power as possible during the transformation. I do not have the magical strength that I once did, and my skills are not what they used to be, but I still retain my knowledge and can do some spellwork.” He closed his eyes as he wiped a hand over his face. “It is exhausting though, especially large bursts of magic such as frying someone with a lightning bolt.”
“Here, let’s eat.” I pulled Fenris and Annia away from the stench of the charred body, then pulled out some dried meat for Fenris out of my backpack. We’d smuggled food from the pantry into our packs, stretching our supplies out a little longer. “We should replenish our strength as much as we can before we head out.”