Free Forest of Illusions (The Broken Prism) by V. St. Clair Page A

looked around distractedly, as though expecting to see a roomful of people with him. “Oh, you mean the glass dust…” he gestured at the pile around his feet, stepping carefully out of it and attempting to clean off his pants and shoes with his wand. “No, it’s not a bad time. I was just experimenting with something and the results were rather unexpected.”
    “Oh,” Hayden stood carefully away from the pile of glass grit, not wanting to pick up a thousand tiny cuts from getting any of it on his skin. “Is that why your hair is white?”
    Master Laurren gave him a puzzled look and said, “Is it?”
    “Uh…yeah,” Hayden confirmed, watching the Master pick up a mirror fragment from his desk and examine his reflection.
    “Oh, good. That makes everything much clearer,” he sounded genuinely relieved. “I was beginning to think the reaction was unbalanced in some horrible way.”
    Hayden was going to have to take his word for it, because nothing about this conversation was clear to him so far. Changing the subject he said, “I finished looking through those books you recommended.”
    “Ah, yes. And did you find anything helpful?”
    “Not really, no.” Hayden frowned. “I was wondering if you had any other ideas, since you’re the Master of Abnormal Magic and what happened to me seems like a prime example of it.”
    He didn’t really expect Laurren to have any other ideas for him, so he was surprised when the Master pursed his lips and said, “Well, there is one thought I’ve been toying with…but I’m not at all sure it’s wise.”
    Since most of Hayden’s good luck in life sprang from his own idiocy, the thought of doing something risky and stupid actually raised his hopes.
    “What is it? I’m not afraid of taking risks; I figured I’ d have to at some point, given that I’m researching the most dangerous mage the world has seen in at least a couple centuries.”
    Master Laurren gave him a small smile and said, “I don’t question your bravery, just the advisability of my idea.” He frowned thoughtfully.
    “Well, you could tell me about it and I’ll let you know if it sounds like a good idea to me…” Hayden suggested, trying to conceal his excitement.
    Laurren gave him a flat stare and said, “Sure, because you’re the most objective resource to consult in this matter, and fourteen year-old boys are historically excellent judges of morality…”
    Even Hayden had to laugh at that one, which seemed to relax the Master because he motioned for Hayden to sit down.
    “Alright, I’ll tell you what my thought was. As you’ve rightly noticed, I am indeed the expert on Abnormal Magic at this school. In my studies, I’ve come across an herbal concoction that has been shown to assist with recovering suppressed memories.”
    Hayden leaned forward in his seat so that he was perched at the very edge. “But that sounds like exactly what I need! If I could get back my own memories of the day my father showed up to blow up my house, it would be a huge step towards figuring out what happened to my Foci, and why my Source is so weird!”
    “Yes, but it’s still highly experimental and controversial,” Laurren explained patiently. “In some people it produces very strange side-effects, and while they’ve proven to be temporary, they’re dangerous enough that I would never encourage a person to try it if I thought there was any other option. Besides, it only works in about half the people it has been tried on, and sometimes the memories you recall are not the ones you were searching for.”
    Frowning at Laurren’s lack of enthusiasm, Hayden insisted, “But it might work for me. And you said yourself that even the bad effects were temporary, so if you have to lock me in a padded room for a day or two I swear I’ll make up my lessons afterwards.”
    Master Laurren was silent for a long moment, staring pensively at Hayden, who didn’t dare speak in case it broke his focus. Finally the Master