Free The Magi (The Magi Series) by Kevin M. Turner

annoyance with the teacher. Elijah thought for sure the boy was done for, but to Elijah’s surprise, Master Corgan smiled just slightly.
    “Come with me,” Corgan said softly. The student slammed his science book down, picked up his stuff and walked outside with Master Corgan. He never returned to class. In fact, Elijah found out that the student didn’t come back to Saint Phillip’s Academy. When he asked other students about the incident, Elijah learned that there had been outbursts in Corgan’s class before, and each student met the same fate—being ushered out and never seen again. To make matters more curious, with each dismissal, Master Corgan would miss the next day’s class. Elijah had witnessed outbursts in other classes. The students were usually sent to Chancellor Hawthorne and returned holding their hands, so it was very peculiar to see Master Corgan react the way he did.
    The highlight of Elijah’s week was always his meeting with Master Roddick. Roddick would always check in on Elijah to see how everything was going. Elijah would start by telling him how his day was and what he learned in his classes. After a few sessions, however, Elijah and Roddick developed quite a close relationship. Roddick would help him with his homework, but he would also listen to Elijah when he wanted to talk about his parents. Elijah never mentioned the names of his parents or his uncle, but he knew when the time was right, he would talk to Roddick about them more specifically. Some things were just too personal to share at the moment. Many sessions were very casual, and they just talked about nonsense. He shared conversations about school back home, and he even told Roddick about the research he had done at the library when he lived with his uncle. Some conversations, however, were very serious. Roddick seemed like he genuinely cared about each session, regardless of the topic.
    One blustery day just before Christmas, a horrific shock came to Elijah. He walked into his literature class and took his usual seat. He always sat in the front so he could hear Master Roddick clearly. Elijah wanted to do well in Roddick’s class, even if he didn’t really care about 19 th century poetry. Instead of a cheerful Roddick coming into class, a man by the name of Pennington walked in. Master Pennington seemed very friendly, but his first words to the class made Elijah melt in his seat.
    “I’m sorry to inform you, class, that Master Roddick will not be teaching for the remainder of term. I will take his place until he returns.” Elijah thought he should be used to feeling abandoned at this point, but it still hurt. After class, Master Pennington caught Elijah on his way out.
    “Mister Hawk?”
    “Yes, sir?” Elijah answered, still feeling upset.
    “Can you stay a minute?” Elijah stayed and Pennington waited until the other students left. He obviously wanted them to be alone before he addressed Elijah. When the last student was gone, Pennington walked close to Elijah. He talked very softly.
    “Master Roddick wanted me to relay a message to you.” Elijah perked up. “He told me to tell you that he is sorry for the abrupt ending to your meetings this term, and he hopes you’ll understand.”
    “Why is he gone?”
    “I’m not sure I can answer that, Elijah. But he did ask me to give you this.” Pennington handed Elijah a folded piece of paper. “I look forward to seeing you in class.” Pennington walked out the door and left Elijah alone. Elijah immediately opened the paper and read.
     
“ I’M SORRY TO LEAVE ON SUCH SHORT NOTICE. I KNOW IT’S NOT WISE TO ABANDON SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN ABANDONED TWICE ALREADY, BUT I WILL TRY TO EXPLAIN WHEN I SEE YOU NEXT. I KNOW ASKING A FAVOR OF YOU NOW MAY BE A BIT MUCH, BUT IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR ANSWERS, TRY RETRACING YOUR RESEARCH.”
     
    Elijah was sure this was some kind of code for him. “Try retracing your research.” The only place he could think of doing research was in