The Guardian's Apprentice (Beyond the Veil) (21 page)

“I don’t understand.
 
I was…”

“In the courtyard.
 
Yes, I know,” said the dragon, stretching its wings outward and flexing them, as if stretching after a long nap.
 
“You seem to forget that most of my time is spent coiled around your ring finger.”

Keegan had forgotten that little detail.
 
“Tell me, Nekk’ar.
 
Back in the Council chambers, why did you stop me from telling them about your warning?”

The dragon folded his wings back into place and lay down in front of Keegan, resting his giant head upon his crossed legs.
 
His huge head towered above the young man.
 
“You need to understand, young one, that not all of the Council members know I even exist.
 
Oh, they know about the ring, of course.
 
All of the first families have them.
 
Yet yours is the only ring that is anything more than mere metal.
 
The others have been imbued over the years with various powers, certainly, but yours is the only one that is more than what it seems.”

“But my grandfather knows about you, yes?”

“Oh yes, he knows quite a lot about me.
 
You see I began as his ring but was handed down to his son, when he traveled beyond the veil.
 
The Elder Whitestone felt it best if his line had my protection if they were to stay in the mortal world.
 
He knew that one day you would have to return if he was to have an apprentice.”

The dragon suddenly cocked his head to one side, as if listening to something.
 
Keegan listened but couldn’t hear anything beyond the low hum of power that surrounded them.

“It seems you have a visitor, young one.
 
You had best return before they arrive.
 
Your body is vulnerable while here in this place.”

Keegan turned to look at the dragon but was startled to see that he was gone.
 
Looking down he saw that the ring had returned to his finger, though it glowed with an odd light that made the tiny scales of the dragon’s hide look as if they were moving on their own.
 
Not certain at first how to return, he strained his senses to see if he could find a way back until he felt an odd pulling sensation.
 
Quite suddenly, the world around him snapped back into focus, though now the sun had set and the bright red magical lanterns scattered throughout the courtyard had come to life.
 
He heard soft footsteps along the pathway and looked up.
 
Walking towards him was the woman he had seen with the scrying sphere!
 
If he had thought she was beautiful as seen through the sphere, she was absolutely breathtaking in person.
 
Dressed in elegant black lace robes, she was only slightly shorter than he was.
 
Although the lanterns cast a reddish glow on everything in the garden, he could still make out the soft olive tones of her skin beneath waves of long, ebony black hair.
 
But the most powerful thing about her where her eyes – those lovely almond shaped eyes were so dark that they must be as black as the night itself.

“Hello, Keegan,” she said with a soft smile.
 
“It’s good to see you up and about after your first attempt at neutralizing a poison.”

If it were not for the fact that it was physically impossible, Keegan’s eyebrows would have shot past his scalp; “That was
you
, wasn’t it?
 
You were the raven!”

“Yes.
 
That is my form for all but one hour of the day.”

Keegan was about to ask why when he caught a glint of red – a dark ruby pendant hung around her neck.
 
It was exactly the same type of pendant worn by Acamar.
 
“You have a pendant just like Acamar’s,” he said, indicating the delicate silver chain around her neck.
 
“So you’re sentenced to a life of servitude too?”

“It is my penance, yes,” she said sadly.
 
Clasping her hands behind her, she stood solemnly gazing into the pond watching the moonlight dance across the ripples in the water.
 
“I am allowed human form for one hour each day.
 
If that time is cut short by transformation, then it is lost, until the sun rises again.
 
The restriction is meant to teach one the value of our humanity.”

“I’m sorry,” said Keegan, as he stood up from the bench and walked over to her.
 
Not certain what to say, he stood silently next to her, watching the moonlight dance across the water.

“Don’t be.
 
The punishment was just, though someday I hope to earn my freedom again.”

“If I may ask, what is your name?
 
You never told me before when you visited my room after the test.”

“Names can be powerful things, Keegan.
 
To know someone’s name, especially their
true
name, is to have power over them.
 
But perhaps I’m being melodramatic; you may call me Nisha,” she said with a soft smile.

“Nisha.
 
That’s a beautiful name.
 
It fits you,” he said with a smile.

“You are too kind, Master Apprentice.
 
I am but a lowly civil servant – pleasantries are not to be wasted on such as me.”

“I’m not an apprentice,” replied Keegan bitterly, turning away from her as he spoke.
 
“I don’t think I ever will be either.
 
There’s so much I don’t know and don’t understand, not to mention that I’ve almost been killed half a dozen times already!”

“You
will
be the apprentice to the Guardian, Keegan and eventually you will be
the
Guardian.
 
It is your destiny – whether you like it or not.”

Keegan gripped his staff so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
 
Whirling around to face Nisha, he hissed through clenched teeth, “
I
determine my fate!
 
Not you, not the Council, not my grandfather and not some damned meddling dragon!!”
 

No sooner had he spoken these words than thunder rumbled ominously above.
 
Where the moon had been shining brightly before, now there were swirling black clouds growing thicker by the minute.

“Look at yourself, Keegan!” snapped Nisha, her eyes flashing with anger.
 
“Magic is in your blood – don’t you see that?
 
Look around you,” she said, gesturing up at the storm clouds overhead.
 
“The night was clear before your little tantrum – don’t you understand?
 
Your magic brought those storm clouds - you are powerful beyond your understanding.”
 

Turning away from him, she walked back over to the bench and sat down, her entire form looking exhausted.
 

“You can’t escape your destiny no matter how much you may want to.
 
Some things in life are bigger than all of us – if you weren’t so self-centered maybe you could see that not just one but
two
worlds need you!”

Ashamed and chastened, Keegan could do nothing more than stare at his feet.
 
The storm clouds above were quickly dissipating, allowing the moonlight to shine down once more.
 
He looked over at Nisha.
 
“You’re shaking; are you alright?”

“My time in human form is almost gone for today,” she said, her voiced strained.
 
“You must understand, Keegan.
 
If you fail, we are all at risk.
 
If you try to return to your old life, you will be killed – period.
 
At least if you train under the Guardian you stand a chance – to save not only yourself but the rest of us as well.”

“Why are you helping me, Nisha?”

“Because I have grown; I am not the person I was when I was sentenced to this punishment.”
 
She was starting to shake more violently; it was becoming more and more difficult to maintain her human form.
 
“I am bound to serve my master, but I am not as short sighted as he is.
 
I know the dangers of bringing our worlds together too soon; it must not be allowed to happen yet.”
 

With these last words, Nisha shuddered and with a painful cry of anguish transformed into a large raven.
 
Ruffling her feathers, she cocked her head to one side.
 

“I believe in you, Keegan.
 
I believe in the power inside you whether you do or not.
 
You must not fail – for your sake more than any other.”
 

Spreading her jet-black wings, the raven flew off into the night, returning to her master’s study.

###

“You lied to me!!” shouted the wizard, so furious that little wisps of smoke were actually rising off of his dark robes.

Brimstone looked positively bored and continued to examine his front claws, ignoring the wizard’s fury for the moment.

“Don’t ignore me, damn you!
 
You lied about Talith Nor!
 
When the Great Seal opened I was very nearly killed!”

Brimstone was still not impressed.
 
This fool of a wizard had easily been tricked into doing his bidding, unsealing the old portal in the mountains at Talith Nor that was the gateway for the Shadow.
 
It would only be a matter of time now before they exacted their revenge on the Alderdrache.
 
After his destruction, Brimstone would rise to command the dragons of the world and cast down the veil for good.
 
He would still have to deal with the wizards, of course, or at least those who were foolish enough to stand against him.

“I did not
lie
to you, I merely gave you the information you were seeking.
 
You asked the location of the Great Seal, not what lay beyond it.”

“You
knew
about the Shadow you damn, double-crossing
beast!
” he shouted as he paced back and forth, venting his rage at the dragon.
 
Brimstone merely watched as the wizard continued his tirade.
 

“You knew when I opened the seal they would come forth into our world unhindered – they were supposed to be held at bay until summoned.
 
How can I control them now?”

“The Shadow cannot be controlled, you fool,” sighed Brimstone.
 
“They existed before all others, except the ancients.
 
Do you really think that your petty powers would give you control over them?
 
Their magic is from the dawn of time; they travel between the dimensions and can control things that you barely understand.
 
The Shadow cannot be so easily stopped.”

The wizard, still pacing back and forth in anger, turned towards the dragon.
 
“That’s not true, dragon.”
 
He stopped his pacing and glared at Brimstone, some of his anger dissipating – although a few wisps of smoke still curled upwards from his darkening robes.
 
“They were stopped once.
 
They were banished from our world and set behind the great seal.
 
If it could be done once it can be done again, only this time they will be controlled instead of banished.”

This apparently got the dragon’s full attention, as the great beast shifted to face the wizard and brought his toothy snout down directly in front of him.
 
If this fool actually figured out how the Shadow had been banished he would have to be killed, immediately.
 
Brimstone could not afford for this amateur to interfere and possibly even disrupt the plan that the dragon had so carefully devised.
 

 
“Now you listen to me,
wysard
,” hissed the dragon in a menacing tone, using the dragon’s ancient term for those humans with magical talent.
 
“You have done all that I require.
 
If you try to interfere with what I have set in motion, you will be dealt with, understand?
 
If you are wise, you will follow my lead and support what happens next.
 
You will be in a position of power and can rule over the others of your kind.”

The wizard did not appear to be frightened by the threat; rather it seemed to make him even angrier.

“I have dealt with your kind before, dragon, and I will not be stopped by a
youngling
!”

The wizard made a quick motion with his hand and snapped “
Sk’lath,”
sending a shower of bright green sparks which engulfed Brimstone’s nose.
 

With a snarl of anger, the dragon jerked his head back to avoid the sparks – more out of surprise than pain, although a dragon’s snout is one of the more tender parts of their armored hides.

“I am
not
your pawn,” sneered the wizard.
 
“On the contrary, it is I who has controlled you all this time.
 
You have done my bidding and will continue to do so, unless you want that pendant around your great scaly neck again!”