The Guardian's Apprentice (Beyond the Veil) (9 page)

“What was it?
 
The last thing I remember was feeling dizzy and confused, then the next thing I knew I woke up beside the body of that
thing
.”

“The creature that tried to kill you was called a reaper.
 
They are solitary hunters who trap their prey by confusing their senses – that is why you passed out.
 
It was closing in to drain your life energy when I killed it.
 
It could have been much, much worse believe me.
 
You could have stumbled upon a herd of mongers or worse yet a haggle; a herd of mongers and we’d both be dead.”

Keegan could not believe half of what he was hearing.
 
He felt a hundred questions swimming through his mind but struggled to decide what to ask first.
 
He was still at a loss for words when a loud gurgling sound emanated from his stomach, protesting the fact it had been nearly a day since he had eaten.

“Ah, where are my manners,” said Kust.
 
“I should’ve known you weren’t provisioned for a trip through Ebonwood.”

Taking a small cloth from his pouch, he unrolled it until it was a three-foot square of material lying by the fire.
 
He murmured a phrase under his breath that Keegan didn’t quite catch and snapped his fingers.
 
With a sudden flash of bright light and a popping sound, a bottle of wine and basket filled with cheese and bread appeared, sitting neatly in the center of the cloth.

“You needn’t worry boy, I was sent to find you and find you I have,” the creature said. The little man uncorked the wine and poured himself a large goblet full, gesturing for Keegan to join him by the fire.
 
Keegan tentatively accepted a goblet of his own from the elf and settled down across him.

“Who sent you?”

“Your Master or should I say soon-to-be Master, the Guardian of the Veil.”

Kust nibbled at a piece of bread while he spoke and began slicing pieces of cheese.
 
“He got wind of what Old Seedy was up to and sent me out to give you a hand.”

“Old Seedy?”

The elf just rolled his eyes and sighed.
 
“My apologies.
 
I should have said Master Cedric Thornback, Honorable Wizard
(if there ever was such a thing)
and Head of the order of Dark Arts.”

Keegan still looked puzzled.
 
“Why did you call him ‘Old Seedy’?”

Looking somewhat amused, Kust explained.
 
“Well you see, it all started innocently enough.
 
When the Council passes a decree, all of the wizards place their initials at the bottom of the scroll.
 
Cedric of course would place his initials ‘
C.T.’
in big bold letters so most of the clerks and scribes started referring to him by those.
 
It started out as ‘C.T.’ and then gradually became ‘Old C.T.’ and finally
‘Old Seedy’
because for one thing, it suits him.
 
He always looks rumpled and worn, never lights the fire in his chambers – for Ancients’ sake you’d think it would kill the old man to buy a decent set of robes for a change!”

Somewhat relieved, Keegan attacked a sandwich with more vigor. “Mmph…sorry….Ah, where exactly are we?” he asked between mouthfuls of food.

“We are just within the fringe of Ebonwood, at the base of the Dragonsback, a range of mountains that spans the length of this continent.
 
Normally the forest is a place anyone with an ounce of common sense would avoid.”

“I didn’t really have much choice in the matter,” said Keegan, somewhat resentfully.

“Yes, yes, I know; you were dropped here by the courier dragon.
 
By chance, do you know what his reward was?
 
It must have been significant, for him to willingly breach his contract with the Council.”

“Freedom, I suppose,” said Keegan.
 
“This guy in dark robes did something that made the amulet snap in half and burst into flames.”

“Did he, now,” muttered the elf.
 
“That would certainly be worth the risk, though I doubt he’s truly as free as he thinks.
 
If I know anything, Old Seedy put a curse on the unbinding spell that will bring the dragon into his service forever.”

“Why would he do that?” asked Keegan

“Because he’s sneaky, underhanded and well,
evil
- most of the dark wizards are like that, you know.
 
Besides, a dragon in your service would be very useful.”

“But why is he so intent on me not reaching the Council?
 
I’m not even a real wizard!”

“Lord Thornback will do his best to eliminate
anyone
he perceives as a threat, be it real or imagined.
 
You just happen to be the most obvious one at the moment.”

Kust got to his feet and brought his two small hands together with a surprisingly loud ‘clap’ and the remains of their dinner vanished in a puff of smoke.
 
“Now lad, we need to get you North before the Council convenes.
 
On your feet!
 
You’ve got a long way to go.”

Keegan stood as well, brushing the crumbs from his robes.
 
“Can’t we just fly or conjure a gateway, or something?”

“Old Seedy can’t know that I’m helping you so, no, we can’t use magical means to get there faster - you’re not supposed to know magic very well yet, remember?
 
I am to act as your guide only, so I will start you in the right direction and then come back to check on you from time to time,” the elf replied.
 
“Now, you need to follow the path through the forest towards the North until you come to the White River.
 
Once you reach the river, you will come to a small village where you can purchase transportation.
 
There will be a transit station where you can buy a portal ticket to the capital city, where the Council convenes.”
 

“Okay, but I don’t have any money other than what I brought from the other side of the Veil.”

The elf took out a few coins and handed them to the young man “This should be enough to get you there.
 
Mind you, I expect your Master to reimburse me once you reach the Council!
 
Now pay attention - the gold ones are Crowns, the silver are Shillings and the small copper ones are called Fens.
 
There are ten Fens to the Shilling and five Shillings to the Crown, got it?”

Keegan took the handful of coins and tucked them away in an empty pouch.
 
“Got it.”

“Well then, off you go!
 
You don’t have much time,” said the elf as he pointed Keegan down the path.

“Hang on a minute,” said Keegan, turning in protest.
 
“Its pitch dark out here.
 
How am I supposed to see the pathway?”

“Use your ring.”

“How?”

 
“For a light to walk by hold your ring up and say ‘anstrahlen’ or for a bright light say ‘solarus,’ mind you though, that last one would blind a troll.
 
To extinguish the light, just say ‘umbra.’
 
Now why don’t you give it a try?”

Keegan glanced at Kust, then down at his ring, and said “Amstrelun.”

The elf shook his head and gave a deep sigh.
 
“No, no, no; ‘
An-STRAH-len.’
 
Now try it again, only this time like you know what you’re doing.”

Somewhat annoyed, Keegan tried again by pointing his ring towards the path and saying clearly, ‘
anSTRAHlen
’ as Kust had instructed him.
 
This time he was rewarded with a blue ball of light about the size of a baseball hovering just above his hand.
 
Keegan muttered ‘
solarus’
next and the ball of light vanished and was replaced with a bright beam that completely illuminated the pathway for a good twenty feet or more.

Kust smiled and nodded his approval.
 
“Much better, lad.
 
Now off with you and try not to get killed - you’re worth fifteen hundred Crowns to me, but only if you’re alive.”
 
With a sharp nod of his head toward Keegan, the elf turned and vanished into the woods.

 
Just lovely… not only am I lost and alone in a strange place, but now some maniacal wizard is out to kill me to satisfy his political agenda.
 

It had become quite dark now, so Keegan raised his hand and said “
anstrahlen,”
and conjured the small blue ball of light again.
 
He stared at it for the longest time, watching as it hovered above his hand, glowing bright enough to see the path ahead but giving off no heat.
 
He stared at the ghostly light until he felt like he was falling inward towards its center.
 
Shaking his head to clear it, he cast one last longing glance at the bright little orb.
 
All of his life he had dreamt about magic and now that it was literally in the palm of his hand, he still couldn’t quite believe it.

Gathering up his fire beetle from the ashes, he set off down the path that Kust had indicated.
 
The path snaked downward through the valley, taking him deeper and deeper into the dark reaches of the forest.
 
Keegan was no longer able to see beyond the sphere of light coming from his ring, which made him feel extremely exposed and vulnerable.
 
Turning his ankle on a loose stone, he stumbled.
 
He reached out in the darkness and grabbed a small tree for support as he pulled himself to his feet.
 
Attempting to remove his hand, he was startled to discover that he could not release his grip from the small sapling!
 
He pulled harder, but it accomplished little.
 
Bracing his feet against the base of the small tree, he pulled as hard as he could, and with a sudden loud SNAP! his hand pulled free.
 
He landed hard on his backside, and was just sitting up when he suddenly heard a loud guffawing off in the dark.

“Who’s there?” he shouted.

The only response was the sound of even harder laughter.
 
Keegan finally snapped; jumping to his feet, he whirled in the direction of the laughter.
 
Pointing his ring toward the sound he screamed “
SOLARUS!”
and with a sudden jolt a hot, white beam of light shot into the darkness, illuminating everything within a hundred feet.

“Aaaayeeaahh!” came a scream from somewhere in the center of the beam.

“Blinded us, he has!” came a second voice, shrieking in panic.

Unfortunately, Keegan couldn’t see the source of the voices as his beam of light had blinded him as well.
 
Shielding his eyes, he tried to peer into the distance where the sound came from.

“Show yourself!” he shouted in the direction of the voices.
 
“Show yourself and I’ll turn off the light.”

“Curse you!
 
Curse you, all right!” shouted the first voice

“Fine, we gives up just turn down the light!” came the second.

Hesitating just for a moment, Keegan said “
Anstrahlen
” and the light dimmed considerably, shrinking back into a small orb above his hand.
 
He could now make out a large figure standing in the woods.
 
It had large beefy hands covering its eyes to shield them from the glare.
 
Suddenly Keegan’s jaw dropped as he took a closer look at the creature.
 
Now that it was near the path he could see the creature had not just one head on its shoulders but
two!

“Ya didn’t have to blind us - we was only havin’ a bit o’ fun”

“Who are you?” demanded Keegan “and why were you trying to trap me?”

As the creature shuffled closer, Keegan could see it stood roughly two heads higher than him.