Light & Dark: The Awakening of the Mageknight (40 page)

Looking around, he found the familiar sight
and smell of the dueling room out of place without Sir Syndil. His
eyes were drawn to the wall of weapons displayed before him.
Refocusing, he willed his eyes from the alluring sight and rushed
over to Sir Syndil's large oak desk.

The old desk was clear of clutter,
well-organized, papers piled in neat stacks, complete with a black
quill and ink placed within reaching distance from the chair. Danny
had no doubt that Calador had told him the truth about Sir Syndil's
tendency to be purpose-driven, everything he did seemed to have
some sort of purpose. Searching through the papers and looking
through the desk drawers, Danny found nothing incriminating.
Assuming he even knew what he was looking for in the first place,
which he didn't. He made sure to put everything back just as he'd
found it. He didn't want Sir Syndil's compulsive tidiness to be his
undoing.

Sighing, Danny looked elsewhere, his eyes
lingered on the brass door that marked Sir Syndil's personal
quarters. Figuring that would be the next-best place to look, he
walked over to the door; he was relieved to find it unlocked.
Twisting the doorknob, he forced the heavy door open, it made a
subtle squeak.

The room was rather dim, lit by a single
circular window. To the right, Danny noticed a small but adequate
bed with a brass backing and silvery sheets. A small workstation,
complete with a level desk, lined the back wall, and a large
bookcase filled to the brim with tomes and manuscripts satisfied
the space to the left. Overall, it was just as Danny imagined it,
quaint but functional.

Beginning with the bookshelf to his left,
Danny skimmed through the selections, the majority were about
Shadows and the rest were about swordsmanship and weapons of old.
Toward the bottom of the collection, he noticed a space, a book
should have been there.

Turning, focusing his search on the
workstation, he discovered the missing book, cracked open mid-way
through, displayed upon the slanted desk. Inserting two fingers
between the cracked pages, he closed the book and investigated the
title, written in elegant gold letters on the spine. "
Lore of
The Mageknight
," he read aloud, his voice little more than a
whisper. Turning back to the open page, he read the chapter caption
displayed in bold black letters; "
The Gift of Ghostsight
."
Skimming the text, Danny discovered that the description of the
Ghostsight fit his own ability without the slightest hint of
doubt.

Danny's breath caught in his chest, this book
was proof that Sir Syndil had known about his ability from the
start. Calador’s accusation proved to be correct, for whatever
reason, Sir Syndil was lying.

Unable to pull his eyes from the pages of the
book, Danny read on as the words described the Ghostsight in more
detail. It was written that the Ghostsight was believed to have the
ability to predict the future, even see the past. It seemed that
forecasting the movements of others was only the beginning. Reading
further, Danny realized that the text grew vague. The book hadn't
been written by the Mageknight, it was based upon outside accounts,
incidents of those who'd fought by his side.

"Predict the future or even see the past,"
Danny whispered to the empty room. He suddenly wished for just such
an ability, it would serve him well in his current situation. Then
again, according to the text, he did possess the beginnings of the
Ghostsight. Thus, who was to say he didn't already possess the
ability to foresee events in the more distant future rather than
just a few seconds ahead or even the past?

Making up his mind to try, Danny began the
rhythmic in and out of the breathing technique Sir Syndil had
taught him. Closing his eyes, clearing his mind, he tightened every
muscle in his body, causing his knuckles to clench and turn white
from exertion. Then, allowing his body to relax, he opened his eyes
and jumped back as
a ghostly outline of Sir Syndil appeared in
front of him.

Danny took a step backward, giving the
apparition plenty of room.

The wraith of Sir Syndil was sitting on the
stool in front of the desk, looking down, studying the tome that
Danny had just finished reading.

"What's going on?" Danny asked the
specter.

Sir Syndil stirred, his head arose in
response.

Thinking that the wraith had heard him,
Danny's hand drifted to the sword at his side, fingering the cool
metal of the hilt.

Sir Syndil stood and turned
as Danny
pulled the blade halfway free. However, Danny stopped as
the
transparent eyes of the apparition looked unknowingly past him.
Stepping forward, Sir Syndil walked within striking distance of
Danny's sword, but made no threatening movements.

Hesitating, Danny gasped with shock as
Sir
Syndil continued his advance, passed harmlessly through him, and
continued out of the room.
Loosening the breath he'd kept
pent-up in a deep sigh, Danny turned and followed Sir Syndil back
into the training room.

Sir Syndil moved with determined steps,
passing by his long desk and crossing the right half of the dueling
circle.

Danny followed close behind.

Sir Syndil stopped in front of the far
wall, a slender, ornate dagger decorated the space in front of him.
Reaching up to grasp the weapon, his fingers hovered close to the
hilt. Then, with a twist of the wrist, his hand passed through the
golden pommel and disappeared, along with the rest of his ghostly
form,
leaving Danny alone and confused.

What was that, the past, the future or
something else?
Danny took the few remaining steps toward the
wall and investigated the small gilded dagger that hung before him.
It was a beautiful weapon, made from gold with an inlaid strip of
silver, but not meant for combat. Danny thumbed the edge. Gripping
the hilt, mimicking Sir Syndil’s specter’s actions, Danny gave it a
quick twist to the right.

The dagger turned without much resistance,
stopping tip-down, making a loud click. The sound of gears working
echoed through the wall and the floor. Then, the gritty sound of
stone grinding against stone erupted from somewhere behind him.
Spinning quickly, Danny caught the end of the movement as a slab of
stone, the section that made up the center of the dueling circle,
slid down and to the right, leaving a dark, rectangular hole
visible.

Releasing his hold on the golden dagger,
Danny crept to the middle of the circle and peered into the secret
opening. Kneeling, he could see only darkness. Freeing his
dragon-hilted dagger, he held the blade before him, the soft glow
of the brand created just enough light for him to spot a triangular
wooden box glazed with a reddish finish sitting just below the
surface. Faltering for a split-second, he steeled his resolve and
removed the box from its secret storage compartment. It was heavy
and smooth to the touch.

Placing it just to the left of the hole,
Danny fiddled with the silver latch that held the box shut and it
opened with a click. Prying the top open, he found a spherical
object sitting there wrapped in a piece of soft black leather.
Nearly the size of his head, Danny was surprised by the weight of
the object. Unwrapping the leather covering, he held a large globe
of black glass in his hand. Upon closer inspection, he watched as a
mass of shadows swirled within, like sheets of dark fabric
fluttering in the wind.

However, what truly amazed him was that the
twirling shades inside seemed to extend beyond the barrier of the
glass, as if something within wished desperately to reach out and
touch him.

Danny was mesmerized. Against his better
judgment seemingly not of his own volition, his right hand moved
closer and closer toward the black globe, causing the dancing gloom
within to flap with an increasing flurry. Just before he touched
it, a hurried rattle echoed from the double doors behind him,
breaking his concentration, causing him to spin toward the
sound.

"Sir Syndil!" Danny whispered as his breath
caught in his throat in sudden fear.

"Danny, are you in there?" a familiar voice
asked from the opposite side of the twin doors.

Danny sighed with relief as he recognized
Anthony's deep voice. "What is it?"

"Sir Syndil is on his way back. You need to
get out of there."

"Okay, give me a second," said Danny,
twisting back to the mysterious black orb. Regretfully, he
re-wrapped the sphere in soft black leather, closed the top of the
box and latched it shut. Hefting the box back into its secret
compartment, he ran to the wall and rotated the golden dagger to
its original position. The sounds of gears grinding and stone
sliding reverberated through the floor as the slab of stone glided
into place, making the dueling circle whole once again.

Rushing, he made his way to the double doors
and unlocked them from the inside. Then, after opening them, he
re-locked them before shutting them behind him and sprinted to the
small alley across the street.

"Did you find anything?" Anthony asked.

Danny had no time to answer as he spotted Sir
Syndil round the far corner, just a short way down the street.
Ducking deeper into the shadowy alley, he pulled Anthony with him.
They watched from their secreted spot as Sir Syndil walked up to
the double doors with an even pace, unlocked them with a shiny
silver key and disappeared within.

Danny allowed the breath he'd been holding to
escape slowly. "That was too close."

Moments later, Chris joined them, a relieved
expression on his face. He was glad that Anthony had warned Danny
in time.

"Was Sir Syndil up to anything?" Danny
asked.

Chris shook his head. "He simply went for a
walk. …Nothing out of the ordinary that I could see. What about
you?"

Danny dropped his gaze, he wasn't sure what
he'd found or even how he'd found it, for that matter. Confused by
the events unfolding around him, he simply said, "You could say I
found something."

back to top

he next day, just after dinner, Danny met
with Chris, Alonso, Anthony and Matt in a secluded corner of the
common hall.

"Where is Doug and Briza?" Danny asked,
looking around.

Anthony simply shrugged, denying any
knowledge.

"Haven't seen them," commented Matt, pushing
up his glasses.

"Last I heard, they were following Calador,"
Chris added.

"I told you we couldn't trust that Elf girl,"
chimed in Alonso.

Danny had called this meeting hoping that
some helpful information had been discovered. He had news of his
own and he wanted to begin a detailed search into the origin of the
object he'd found within Sir Syndil's classroom. However, it wasn't
like Doug to be late, especially with Briza in his company.

Danny had picked this quiet spot next to the
fireplace to meet for Briza's benefit, since females weren't
allowed to venture into the boys' side of the barracks and vice
versa. Looking around, he noticed that few remained in the common
hall. Some had already wandered off to bed, tired from the long day
of training. He was sure they wouldn't be overheard.

"We will just have to continue without them,"
Danny said after a long pause. "One of us will fill them in
later."

"You said you found something in Sir Syndil's
classroom," said Chris in a questioning tone.

"I…" However, his voice cut off as he saw
Calador enter the common hall with Doug and Briza in tow, pushing
them forward, stern hands on their shoulders.

Matt let out a shallow gasp. "That's not
good," he said, putting Danny's inner thoughts into words.

Forced forward with Calador behind them, Doug
and Briza radiated utter failure. Their eyes said it all. They had
been caught.

Calador stopped them just before the rounded
table that Danny and his friends had claimed for their own. "Is
there a reason these two have been following me around for the past
couple of days? Do not get me wrong, Squire Hollinger is quite
skilled in the art of stealth, as are most Elves, however, I could
hear Squire Garrett's breathing from nearly a mile away."

Doug's gaze drooped even further as the
details of his capture became evident.

"Well?"

"I had to be sure we could trust you," said
Danny.

"You cannot trust me," said Calador,
releasing Briza and Doug, allowing them to take their seats at the
table.

"Sorry," Doug said glumly as he sat down.

"My apologies," added Briza with a slight
bow.

"I am a stranger to you," continued Calador,
crossing his arms. "I have given you no reason to trust me, nor any
reason not to trust me. That is a decision you must make on your
own. However, having two inexperienced squires risk themselves
against a superior opponent is not the best strategy." The tall Elf
paused for a moment. Then, leaning forward and placing both hands
on the table, he said, "Please tell me that you have not been
trying to follow Sir Syndil around as well."