The Guardian's Apprentice (Beyond the Veil) (15 page)

“That weak minded old worm!
 
My first task after taking the Veilstone will be to destroy the old fool where he sits!”
 
Looking skyward, Brimstone unleashed his anger in a mighty roar that shook the mountain, spouting a blast of fire into the mountainside which sent tons of snow and ice falling into the valley below.
 
He spread his wings wide and with a thunderous clap he leaped into the air, winging his way southward towards the capital.

***

Seba’an sighed deeply.
 
Skyv’tai or Brimstone, as the humans called him, had shown such promise in his youth.
 
At one time, the Alderdrache had even considered him as a successor, but time had shown that Brimstone had a destructive nature and believed in the subjugation of all races to his own.
 
The old dragon raised a claw and made several motions, sketching glowing glyphs into the air.
 
A shimmering disk of flames appeared, casting eerie reflections off the old dragon’s scales.

 
“It has begun, my old friend,” said the Alderdrache to the figure that appeared in the portal.
 
The hooded figure solemnly nodded in agreement and turned as Seba’an closed the spell, snuffing out the disk of flames and leaving the cavern bathed in the dim light of the etherglobes set high above in the cavern walls.

###

“Now,” snapped Acamar as he paced the small office “your test would normally consist of four parts:
 
Potions, Incantations, Portals and Scrying.
 
In your case, since Old Seedy decided to delay your arrival, we are going to consider
that
the Potions part of the test since that is how you escaped from the caverns.
 
Likewise, since you have successfully conjured a portal we’ve covered that base as well.”

“So where do we start?” asked Keegan.

“Well, incantations are relatively basic and even
you
shouldn’t be able to miss that one, so let’s work on your scrying ability.
 
After all, as Guardian you will rely upon scrying to help sense the opening and closing of portals.”

Acamar reached into his robes and pulled out a small silver orb, about the size of a small orange.
 
He tossed it to Keegan, who held it in his palm and noticed that the little sphere seemed to pulse with some sort of heat emanating from within.

Keegan very nearly dropped it in his surprise

“What is this thing, anyway?”

“That my boy is a scrying sphere,” said Acamar.
 
“You feel that warmth?
 
That’s the magical energy that flows throughout everyone and everything in our world.”

“So how do I use it?”

“Place the orb in the palm of your hand and then cup the other hand over it,” said the older man.
 
“Now close your eyes and concentrate on the warmth of the orb...that’s right...now let your mind drift.”

Keegan focused on the orb and tried to feel the warmth pulsating from within it.
 
If he didn’t know better he could swear he felt lighter somehow, like he was slowly beginning to float upward.
 
He tried to concentrate harder and could ‘see’ something coming into his mind’s eye, like the blurry beginnings of a dream.
 
He could just make out someone standing in a garden.
 
They appeared to be waiting for someone when a large black raven suddenly swooped downward.
 
Keegan was astonished to see the raven transform itself into one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.
 
She was bowing to the man in the black robes as she handed him a small tablet of some sort, when the man suddenly tensed.
 
The man turned and glared in Keegan’s direction.
 

Surely he can’t see me,
Keegan thought.
 

The man made a sharp gesture with his hand and a flash of bright light obscured the scene from Keegan’s eyes.
 
A fierce pain shot through his head at the same instant as if someone had jabbed his forehead with an ice pick.
 
He was so startled he stumbled backward, dropping the orb in the process.

“Are you alright?” asked Acamar as he grabbed Keegan by the elbow to steady him.

It was a moment before he could answer.
 
He was covered in cold sweat and could still feel the pain coursing through his head.
 

“I don’t know…I’m not sure what happened Acamar; one minute I could see this beautiful woman talking with a wizard in black robes when he seemed to sense me watching him.
 
He glared at me and made some sort of gesture with his hand, then this bright flash of light came out of nowhere and it felt like my head exploded.”

Acamar helped him to a seat. “What did the woman look like, do you remember?”

“She was gorgeous!
 
Long black hair, dark eyes….the funny thing was that she started out as a raven.”

At this Acamar seemed startled.
 
“A
raven
?
 
Are you certain?”

“Positive.”

“Well that explains the pulse that you were hit with.
 
The woman you saw was Nisha.
 
She is Cedric Thornback’s assistant and it was most likely a very private conversation you interrupted.”

“But how could he know I was there?” asked Keegan.

“Simple.
 
The more powerful the witch or wizard, the more attuned they are to the magic around them.
 
He could sense the presence of the scrying orb and even though he didn’t really ‘see’ you standing there, he could feel your essence and even lash out at you to stop the vision.”

“If he knows I was there then won’t he come find me to figure out what I was doing?” asked Keegan somewhat alarmed.

“I doubt it,” said Acamar.
 
“You see, that’s the biggest problem with scrying
 
- you don’t necessarily know if what you are seeing is in the past, present or the future.
 
It takes many years of practice and even then it can be largely guesswork.”

Before Keegan could react further, the door behind them was opened and Phineas strode in with a grave expression on his face.
 
“I am afraid, my old friend, that our young apprentice has been summoned before the Council.”

“When?”

“Now,” said Phineas.
 
“We must leave immediately.”

“But Master, we’ve only just begun working on his training.
 
The boy isn’t ready!”

“He’ll have to do the best he can.
 
I’m afraid that the Council’s decision is final,” said Phineas.
 

“But…”

“
Enough
, Acamar.
 
You know as well as I that we cannot push the Council on this.”

Acamar snorted in disgust and shook his head.
 
In one smooth motion, he turned and morphed back into his feline form.
 
Head held high and ears laid flat in anger, he trotted from the room and headed for the kitchens.
 
There was a large rat that had been raiding the pantry that was going to be at the mercy of his claws very soon.

With a resigned sigh, Phineas led Keegan back to the mist-covered portal that had brought them to his office.

###

The Council chamber was brightly lit when Keegan was escorted in by Phineas, who led him to a high-backed chair facing the Council’s table.
 
The Council members were already seated at their respective places, and Keegan could see several of the members engaged in deep conversations with other members of their own order.
 
As Phineas took his place at the table Alexander Ducat, the acting chair for the meeting, brought the others to silence with a burst of green sparks from his staff.

“My fellow Council members,” announced Ducat.
 
“We have convened this session to satisfy ourselves as to the qualifications of the Guardian’s selected apprentice.”

Everyone turned to look at Keegan, who began to fidget under the scrutiny.

“Has the Council determined the examination form?” asked Ducat.

“Aye,” said Master Thornback.
 
“We have concluded that the boy should be given the opportunity to test his incantation skills.
 
Our young friend will be taken to the archives in the library and given a challenge to test his resourcefulness.
 
He will be tasked with finding the correct incantation to fit the circumstances.”

That didn’t sound too bad, thought Keegan.

With a nod in Keegan’s direction, Cedric continued.
 
“Should he prove successful, he will move on to the audience with the Alderdrache.”

“Very well,” said Ducat.
 
“The Council has spoken.”
 

With a wave of his staff, Ducat enveloped Keegan in a swirling mist that within seconds dissolved into nothingness.

***

As the room around Keegan reformed and came back into focus, he found himself in what looked to be an enormous library of some sort.
 
Shelves towered above him towards the high arched ceilings, spanning a hundred feet or more.
 
Each shelf was lined with what looked like ancient volumes, huge bound tomes of God knows what, covered in thick layers of dust.

“S’bout time you got ‘ere,” said a gruff voice behind him.

Keegan whirled around to see a small man wearing wire-rimmed spectacles, a black visor and a pencil behind one ear.
 
The little man, who looked even older than Phineas (if that was possible) stood only two feet tall and was looking supremely annoyed.
 
He was standing there with his arms crossed, tapping his foot impatiently and glaring at Keegan over the rims of his glasses.

“Pardon me?” said Keegan, not certain if this was part of the test or not.

“Two weeks I’ve been waitin’ thank you very much, and not so much as a note to say when you’d finally show up,” he snapped indignantly.

“I’m sorry, sir, but what did you say your name was again?” asked Keegan.

“I
didn’t
say, young master, and I am not sure if I shall!”

“All right, that’s enough!
 
First, I get conned into coming here by some maniacal cat with delusions of grandeur, kidnapped by a dragon, and now dropped into this God forsaken library!
 
The least you could do is tell me your name!” shouted Keegan.

“Oh for Pete’s sake, tell the boy your name,” came the voice of an old woman.
 
Keegan was startled, as he had not heard her as she walked up behind him carrying an armload of books.
 
By the looks of her, she was at least as ancient as the little old man.
 
She was dressed in a simple frock, vest and skirt, but had the same black visor.

“You keep outta this, woman.
 
I’ll tell the ungrateful cur when I’m good and ready,” roared the old man, obviously incensed by her interference.

“You’ll tell the boy now, or it’ll be water and stale bread crumbs for your supper,” she snapped right back.
 
Having dropped her load of books in a cloud of dust, she adjusted the pince-nez on her nose and placed both hands firmly on her hips.
 
This was not a woman to be trifled with.