The Guardian's Apprentice (Beyond the Veil) (35 page)

“You mean Nisha’s alive?!
 
But I saw her fall!
 
She was in her raven form and fell to the floor like a stone!”

“She is much stronger than you might think, Keegan.
 
She is a very formidable witch, though I must say she was near death when I found the two of you.
 
She is resting now and being tended to by Ms. Hoskins.”

A feeling of relief washed over Keegan, as the ache in his heart at the thought of losing her dissipated.

“I’m very proud of you, Keegan.
 
You accomplished something most wizards could not, even if you did sneak away without telling me and almost kill yourself in the process.”

“So, Ducat is definitely dead then, right?”

“Yes, Ducat is dead.
 
But…”

Keegan raised his eyebrows as Acamar turned and paced to the window.

“What do you mean,
‘But…’
?”

“I mean that we no longer believe Ducat was acting alone.”

A feeling of dread began to creep into the pit of Keegan’s stomach as he remembered Ducat’s comments about his ‘master’ and their control over the Shadow.
 
Keegan had thought the old wizard was just insane; the thought that there was someone else out there even more powerful was something Keegan did not want to consider.

“But he was insane, Acamar!”

“Yes, but there is something else.
 
You have been unconscious for almost a week.
 
Nisha and I have had some very enlightening discussions about what took place in Talith Nor.”

“What do you mean?”

“When Nisha awoke in the chamber, she was able to transform and crawl over to see if you were alive.
 
You see, your release of magic was apparently powerful enough that when it tore through Ducat’s curse it freed her of the Council’s enchantment; she is no longer trapped in the form of a raven and can change at will, like me.”

With Acamar’s help, Keegan sat up in the bed; although he still hurt all over, he was slowly gaining strength.
 
Acamar poured a glass of ice water for Keegan from the carafe on the table near the bed and continued.

“She was able to find your pulse and you were breathing, barely, so she knew you were alive.
 
She looked over and saw the remaining pieces of Ducat’s body and thought you were both safe, for the moment at least.
 
That is, until a portal opened and something came through.”

“What do you mean,
something
came through?”

“Because we don’t know yet exactly what that something was.
 
According to Nisha’s description, it looked almost like a scarecrow.
 
It was over seven feet tall, cloaked in black rags with what looked like wooden crossbeams strapped to its shoulders for support.
 
The arms were long and crooked, like branches with cruel talons at the end.
 
The most unusual part was the head, though.”

“The head?”

“It was a large pumpkin, with a scowling jack-o-lantern’s face carved into it.
 
Bright red-yellow flames burned in its eyes and mouth, and it walked with a shuffling gate.”

“Did it attack her?”

“No; it would seem the creature was on a mission.
 
It ambled over to Ducat’s staff, reached down and detached the jewel from the top, then opened another portal and vanished.”

Now Keegan was truly puzzled.

“What was it?”

“I believe it was a minion, an evil construct brought to life by a very powerful necromancer.
 
This is very old and extremely powerful magic, Keegan.
 
Few alive today have ever heard of it, much less practiced or studied it.”

“But why did it want the head of Ducat’s staff?”

Acamar did not answer immediately, instead walking over to the window to gaze down at the valley below the castle.

“Acamar?”

The older wizard let out a deep sigh and turned to face Keegan again.

“Let me answer your question by first stating that I no longer believe Ducat was working alone; in fact I believe he served another.”

“The Shadow?
 
We already knew he was trying to control them.”

“Not the Shadow, Keegan, but rather something or should I say some
one
almost as powerful.
 
I now believe this person was the one behind unleashing the Shadow and was directing Ducat’s actions.”

“But
who
, Acamar?!”
 
Keegan was losing patience and wanted answers.

“A very powerful Necromancer thought long dead by the three ruling castes.”

“Wait, you say that like he wasn’t one of the three main castes; was he a member of the Red Order?”

Acamar smiled grimly at Keegan.
 
“Oh, he isn’t just a member of the Red Order, he was the
founder
of that caste.
 
Master Gu-Dai Ying, to be exact.
 
When their Order was driven to extinction, Ying was thought to have been killed along with the others, but I no longer think that is the case.”

Now Keegan was more confused than ever.
 
All along, he had believed Ducat to be the mastermind behind the attempts on his life.
 
Now, to find out Ducat was just a pawn under the control of another filled Keegan with a cold sense of dread.

“You see Keegan, only once before in the history of our world have minions like the one at Talith Nor been seen.
 
They are almost impossible to create – most wizards don’t have the power and the few that do would never dare to create one.
 
You see, Ying found a way to bind a piece of the Shadow with the soul of a wizard and place it in a receptacle specially crafted to receive it.
 
The result was a powerful, unquestioning minion who could wield magic just like a wizard, but that couldn’t feel pain and had no emotions.”

Keegan was horrified; the thought of binding someone’s soul with the pure evil of the Shadow was almost beyond comprehension.

Acamar sat down on the bed next to Keegan.

“I believe the minion was sent to retrieve the jewel from Ducat’s staff because it was the bloodstone – something Master Gu-Dai would protect at all costs.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask…”

Acamar smiled sadly and nodded.
 
“The bloodstone is one of the largest pure rubies ever found.
 
At the height of his power, Gu-Dai Ying imbued the gem with great power and used it in the creation of his minions.
 
The jewel is said to be able to draw out one’s soul and ensnare it, storing it away to be used later.”

“So, only Master Ying could create a minion and send it to retrieve the ruby, which you think was the bloodstone.
 
Great.
 
I thought with Ducat dead we had won, Acamar,” said Keegan sadly, a tone of hopelessness in his voice.

“Unlike the castes, events in life are never truly black and white, Keegan.
 
You stopped Ducat and sealed the only other portal, which was a great victory, Keegan.
 
You should be proud!”

Keegan got up and steadied himself on the side of the bed.
 
He shuffled over to the window, looking down on the valley below.
 
“So, what now?”

Acamar joined Keegan at the window, placing his arm around the younger man’s shoulders.
 
He smiled sadly at the young man who had learned and lost so much in such a short time.
 

“Gu-Dai Ying must be hunted down and the bloodstone destroyed, before he can create an army of minions.
 
If he has time to build his forces, he will move to seize the Veilstone.
 
If he knows about the oracle stone around your neck, he will almost certainly try to kill you for it.
 
With those two talismans in his possession, he would control our world, the veil and the connection to your world as well.”

Keegan shuddered at the thought of facing another wizard, one far stronger than Ducat.
 
His failure to control his magic had almost resulted in his death and that of Nisha.

“How much time do I have?” he asked, knowing he would not like the answer.

“Not enough,” said Acamar, turning to leave.
 
“You need to rest for now, Keegan.
 
In a few days time, we will begin your training anew – with special attention to your focus and control.
 
Until then, try to rest.”
 

The older wizard bade Keegan farewell and left the younger man to his thoughts.
 
Keegan returned to the window, gazing back towards the valley again.
 
For the first time in many years, he felt he finally had a purpose; he would prove to Acamar, Nisha and everyone else, that he was the Guardian.

###

“There shall come to pass three ages of mankind; the third of which shall be the Age of Reunification – when the practice of Magic shall move out of secret hiding places and back to the forefront of society.
 
It will be the age when practicing the Arts may be done in the open instead of behind closed doors, when the Veil is diminished and the worlds that will have been separated for over two thousand years are to be re-united.

In the not too distant past of human history had been the Age of Enlightenment, when the Ancients passed their knowledge to the Great Druids and first taught humanity the use of the magical arts.
 

The Druids spread out amongst the lands seeking out those who had the talent, teaching them as they had been taught by the Ancients.
 
The practice of magic flourished at first, until those who sought power began to twist and contort its use.
 
Not all humans were able to use magic and those who did varied greatly in their strength.
 
Over time, those who sought to accumulate power for themselves began to venture into the unknown, into areas that the Ancients had deemed off limits or too dangerous for the likes of man.
 
Their craft became known as the Dark Arts and those who sought power and control were drawn to this order like moths to a flame.
 
So it was that the Dark Ones, those who dwelt in shadow throughout the mists of time and sought to spread evil through the blood of men, were awakened and drawn to our world.

           
Sensing opportunity the Shadow used the division that had begun to form amongst men; using it to breed hatred and contempt amongst those who could practice magic and those who could not.
 
Soon a caste system developed, pitting those with powers against those without.
 
Thus began the Second Age of mankind; the Age of Division.
 
As hatreds bubbled and fomented, the Shadow gathered their followers and allied themselves with the Great Dragons of the North.
 
They planted the seeds of fear, whispering that if left unchecked the non-magic would destroy all those who practiced the craft and that as superior humans it was their destiny to rule.

The first attack came in the dead of night, with the Great Dragons winging down from their lairs in the North, burning towns and villages as they went.
 
So appalled were many wizards that a rift occurred and the three sects were formed amongst the mages.
 
The order of Black, who believed in the acquisition of power and knowledge at any cost, supported the Dark Ones in their belief that the non-magic peoples should serve those who knew the craft.
 
The order of Grey opposed the death of innocents, but refused to intervene in matters that they believed did not concern them; thus theirs became known as the order of Neutrality.
 
The order of White viewed themselves as the caretakers of the world and protectors of humanity, even at the cost of their own power or lives.
 
The order of White also included the last of the Great Druids, who possessed the knowledge passed down by the Ancients.

Unknown to the three castes of wizards, a fourth group had arisen from the most fervent believers in the Shadow.
 
Theirs was an order of devout believers, of fanatics who vowed to destroy all those who opposed their masters, the Shadow.
 
Theirs was a religion of chaos and anarchy.
 
It was with the blood of innocents, sacrificed to appease their masters, that their robes became stained with red.
 
Those of the red robes are to be feared most of all.

The Great War with the Mortals that followed lasted for over one hundred years, pitting mortal against magic and order against order.
 
As the War continued the old hatreds and suspicions amongst those that could not practice magic against those that could grew stronger, widening the division between castes.
 
The Dark Ones, feeding on the emotions of fear and hatred, grew ever stronger and became ever bolder.
 
They openly fanned the flames of hatred, for as humanity suffered the raw emotional energy helped the Shadow to grow ever stronger.
 
In the end, realizing that the destruction and suppression of all magic was at hand, the order of Grey brought together the other two factions to form the Great Council.
 
With the signing of the Treaty of Arbroath peace was declared amongst the three orders, with those practicing the Dark Arts and those championing humanity agreeing that the preservation of all magic took precedence over all else.
 
The Council would be composed of twelve members; three from each order were elected by their respective caste members, while the three most powerful wizarding families (one from each order) would retain a permanent seat on the Council.
 
The three permanent members and their descendents were each given a Guardian Ring, and it was from these members that the High Council would choose a Guardian of the Veil.