The Apprentice to Zdrell

by David K Bennett

  When Jonny had the fifth stone in the air, The Master took off Jonny’s blindfold and asked him to look at the rock. Jonny opened his eyes and was so startled he allowed the rock to drop. The stone landed with a great crash on the rocks below and split in half. It had been a rock nearly the size of Jonny and must have weighed well in excess of two hundred pounds. Jonny went over to examine the two pieces, and found he could not lift either one by himself. Master Silurian only smiled and said, “Just as I thought.”

  “How did I do that?” Jonny asked in pure astonishment.

  “How indeed?” The Master replied still smiling, though now Jonny could see that he really wanted Jonny to answer the question.

  Jonny thought for a moment, looked at the rock and shook his head in disbelief. “How did I do it?” he muttered under his breath. Walking slowly around the rock then tried to lift it again. It was still too heavy.

  The Master said nothing but Jonny could feel his gaze on the back of his head. Finally, Jonny decided to look at the question literally. “I just closed my eyes . . .” he said, closing his eyes. “Then you told me which rock to lift . . . Ah!” he grinned and looked to The Master, who was looking very interested in the lichen on the side of one rock.

  “I’ve got it! I can see the two halves now and they don’t look that big or heavy with only my sight. That’s it! With my sight things don’t look as hard as they do with my eyes open!” He opened his eyes and fairly danced around.

  “That’s it, isn’t it, Master? I’m right aren’t I?” Jonny asked, jumping from rock to rock with excitement.

  “What do you think, Jonny?” The Master asked, trying to look unconcerned, but Jonny could tell from the quirk of his lips that he was right.

  “If you think that’s right, Jonny,” The Master asked gravely. “Why don’t you lift this half of the rock with your eyes open?”

  Jonny stopped bouncing around. It was easy to learn the truth of something, to have solved the riddle, but now The Master, as usual, wanted him to prove he really understood.

  Jonny took a deep breath and stared at the half of the rock. Immediately his doubts began to nag at his mind, this rock was just too big.

  “No!” he said sternly to himself, he closed his eyes to see the rock again with his sight only.

  The Master sharply said, “With your eyes open, Jonny.”

  Jonny opened his eyes, but that quick look with them closed had been enough. Even though his eyes were open, he concentrated on his sight’s view of the rock and barely noticed what his physical eyes registered. Looking at the rock this way made it seem not really big at all. He quickly set about bending the force lines the same way he had with his eyes closed.

  The rock floated gently up until it was over six feet in the air. “Where would you like it, Master?” Jonny asked, deliberately looking at Master Silurian while still using his sight to keep track of the stone.

  “Anywhere will do, Jonny, now you’ve figured this out. Over there will be fine,” he said pointing to a spot about twenty feet away.

  Jonny casually looked back to the stone and sent it flying. He let it go half way there and it dropped shattering into several smaller fragments. One of them flew back at him and nearly hit him.

  “That will teach you to be more careful, Jonny,” the wizard said chuckling. “Don’t forget that just because you can toss around a stone easily, does not mean it is any less heavy or any less destructive.” He paused and then added thoughtfully, “In fact, with stones just that size thrown a bit higher and with not much more force, many a castle has been defeated. No Jonny, your little trick has now reached the point where you are in many ways a force to be reckoned with,” he said, shaking his head.

  Jonny marveled. He had never thought of his talent as anything but a simple trick, though now he thought on it he realized that what he had done to Gareselin in the market with melons could have been easily fatal if those had been rocks instead. “Wow,” was all he said as the implications of all this started to dawn on him.

  “Now don’t start to get a swelled head,” The Master growled. “Your power is great, but you are still a child and worse you have no idea how to defend yourself. I could bend you over my knee and I doubt there is anything you could do about it right now. You still need to concentrate too much. All I’d have to do is break your concentration or take you by surprise and you would be helpless.”

  Without warning, Master Silurian sprang at him and quickly twisted his arm behind his back while simultaneously wrapping the other arm around the boy’s throat. He whispered in Jonny’s ear, “lift a rock now, Jonny, even a pebble. Do it, or I’ll choke you unconscious!”

  “I can’t,” Jonny croaked, even as he felt his neck squeezed tighter and tighter. He desperately flailed around with his body and mind but he could not focus on anything except the roar filling his ears. The world started to turn red, then black and then he knew nothing until he woke to find himself lying on the ground.

  He looked around and saw The Master standing near, looking down at him. “Do you understand now,” he asked. Jonny only nodded his head, unsure of his voice. “Do you know why I did that to you, Jonny?” Jonny shook his head no.

  “Jonny,” the old wizard stated gravely, “you must never forget that no matter how much power you have, no matter what great feats you can do, in one quick moment you can be defeated.” He sighed. “I have seen many very promising wizards over the years who have forgotten that lesson, and it cost them dearly. Many times, it cost them their lives. You are just a small boy now, but you must never forget this lesson. We are all mortal, we can only die once, and in many cases, there are no second chances. I had to be sure you understood that, not in your head but in your soul.

  “However, you must not take the wrong lesson from this experience. You should not be afraid, for fear will kill you more surely than overconfidence. No, you should learn from this that you must always be alert, be careful, and act without hesitation when you are threatened. It is hesitation which allowed me to immobilize you. You must not be caught. So, I think I will have to reinforce this lesson later, and you must be ready. Do you understand now?”

  Jonny nodded, then said, “I think so, Master, but does this mean you will hurt me?” Jonny’s voice trembled as he asked.

  Master Silurian grinned and shook his head. “No, Jonny, I won’t hurt you, at least not more than a bit to help you understand, but you must school yourself to be wary at all times, not afraid, but always looking around,” he pointed at the trees around them, “suspecting that something might be coming for you, for someday that will be the truth.”

  Jonny did not feel reassured. All he said was, “Yes, Master.” The wizard nodded.

  “Jonny, I’m going to leave you now. I want you to start working on larger rocks this afternoon. I want you to tell me at dinner how big the largest one you have moved was. And it better be at least twice the size of the one you had when you first opened your eyes. Any questions?”

  “No, Master,” Jonny replied meekly.

  “Good, then I’ll see you at dinner.” The Master turned and left.

  § § §

  Jonny spent a good long time sitting and thinking after The Master left. He was not sure if he learned the same lesson from the two experiences of the day that Master Silurian had intended, but he had learned. All afternoon he half expected The Master to pop out from behind a tree and attack him again. Which was probably just what the wily old man wanted, but he did not test Jonny again that day.

  Jonny did work at lifting stones the rest of the afternoon. In the end he ended up lifting a stone easily five times the size of the one he had first split. It was a fair sized boulder and there was a family of ferrets living under it, which scattered when he lifted the boulder into the air. Because he did not want to destroy their home, he set the boulder back down exactly where it had been before he lifted it. He also deliberately threw one head sized stone at high speed into another boulder some distance away. A portion o
f the boulder split away and fell apart while the stone fairly exploded. Jonny was glad he made sure he was well back from where the two came together. Pieces of rock flew for over twenty yards in every direction.

  When Jonny reported to The Master at dinner that evening, the journeymen at the table looked on with frank disbelief as Jonny related the size of the largest boulder he moved, the ferrets and the exploding stone. The Master only smiled enigmatically, and the journeymen were flabbergasted that The Master would listen to such outlandish stories.

  The next day he had Jonny move several large boulders from the creek up to a spot above the castle where they could be used in case of a siege. Because the process was nearly silent, the only ones who knew Jonny did it were he, The Master, and two of the journeymen The Master had invited to watch. All were sworn to secrecy, but respect for Jonny among all the journeymen increased significantly. Moving the stones became so easy for him that it was easy to think he could terrorize any person he wanted with a stone; but he knew better.

  § § §

  The Master had Jonny work at lifting large stones for another few days away from the castle. There did seem to be a limit to the size of stone Jonny could move, but it was quite large, and Jonny was not even sure if it really was a limit or if he just could not find a large enough rock to test him too far. He moved a rock that was the size of a carriage, but could not move another that was smaller. He thought this might be because the smaller rock had been too deeply buried in the ground or was possibly attached to a larger rock he could not see.

  Chapter 31

  Grimor

  “The latest reports have arrived from Skryla, Master,” the younger wizard said, as we walked with parchment in hand across the cavernous, room that served as Master wizard Jelnic’s study. A large map of the two major continents, Skryla and Gimor, hung from one wall.

  “So, tell me what they say, Chiz. I know you must have already read them.” The wizard, who appeared to be about forty years old, gestured impatiently at the much younger wizard, who appeared to be in his early sixties.

  Chiz, once again, felt a flare of irritation that someone whose lifespan was measured in centuries, could be so impatient. He allowed none of his emotions to show as he complied.

  “The last major non-demon wizard in Jolondra is dead, Master.”

  “So Beldereth finally died? About time.” He snorted. “He lived long enough to be quite a nuisance. Died of old age did he?”

  “No, actually he died in an experimental accident,” Chiz said, face impassive.

  “Accident? Did you have a hand in it?” the old wizard quirked an eyebrow.

  “Indirectly, Sir. I only arranged for his journeymen to be less, diligent, to attending to his late night experiments. One eventually went awry and there was no one to pull him from the noxious vapors and he expired.” Chiz spoke evenly, as though reading a crop report.

  “Wonderful. You’re getting fairly crafty after only a couple hundred years.”

  “You have taught me to take the long view, Master.”

  “Indeed, yes, but what of our other endeavors?”

  Chiz glanced at the parchment. “With the elimination of Beldereth, Jolondra is no longer a threat. This brings us to eleven of the seventeen Skrylaran city-states that will pose little if any objection to our imminent dominion.”

  “That assumes,” Jelnic sneered, “that they don’t see our taking control as an invasion.”

  “Quite, so, my Master,” Chiz said, bowing his head, annoyed at his master’s need to point out the obvious.

  “And how long until your various intrigues have the continent ready for our, dominion?”

  “If things continue to plan, five to nine years, barring something unexpected.” Chiz looked up, carefully.

  “Which states still have a significant number of practicing wizards that refuse demon-work?” Jelnic said, pulling on his beard and staring at the map of Skryla.

  “Ardalan, Giltrup, and Floric still have several non-demon practitioners. Chezney has two of note, and then, of course, there is Salaways.”

  “Salaways, bah!” Jelnic spat as he paced in front of the map. “I should have taken a more direct role in preventing that fiasco. But who knew Silurian could not only conquer the most disputed land in the continent, but hold it, prosperous, for this many years?” He stabbed his finger at the center of map where Salaways lay. “He gives those other fools encouragement to avoid the demon path, and he has a strong enough hold on that land that only journeymen demon-wizards dare spend time there, and I am loathe to have them do it. He has turned some of my most promising recruits.”

  “Why not move directly against him now, Master?”

  “Why?” he whirled to face Chiz. “Why? Because the whole point of these last centuries has been to eliminate other practices of magic without an overt struggle. I have been working on this for over one thousand years, Chiz. I cannot have this, this, Silurian, or his allies interfere when we are so close.” He held up his hand with thumb and forefinger held close together to illustrate his point.

  “Master, you have told me before, but I cannot see how being somewhat more direct would be a problem.”

  “Chiz, how can you not see? But you have not lived any time among the Skrylarans. Here in Grimor, the people accept the natural supremacy of wizards and demons. They have had over fifteen hundred years to become accustomed to it. It is not so in Skryla. Wizards there live with varying degrees of welcome, from gratitude to contempt, and demon wizards are held more in the latter category. The rulers of those fractious little states know they need wizards to stay in power, but they are also worried by our power, as well they should be.

  “Things are best when wizards rule, but mundanes never believe until we force the issue. We will be vulnerable in Skryla until wizards rule there as they do here. Moreover, we cannot assure our rule until the other modes of magic are subservient to demon work. Have I made this clear yet?”

  “Quite clear, Master.” Chiz carefully kept his face neutral. He knew he shouldn’t goad Jelnic like that, but at times he could not resist. The old wizard was very dangerous, but so was Chiz, and he felt his comparative youth gave him an advantage in dealing with the situation in Skryla. When the invasion was complete, or maybe just before, Chiz would see if the demons would show someone else their appreciation.

  Chiz let none of this show as he lay down the reports and left his master muttering, contemplating the map of Skryla.

  Chapter 32

  The Master put Jonny back into his more regular studies, while he decided where next to develop Jonny’s talent. Jonny spent more and more time reading from books written in Klathar. He also took to keeping two or three small pebbles in the air all the time while he was studying, both as an exercise and as a way to be ready when he was attacked.

  And he was attacked. The Master had made good on his promise to reinforce his earlier lesson. He had assigned the journeymen to periodically “attack” Jonny to keep him on his toes. All an attack consisted of was them getting Jonny immobilized, without Jonny hitting them with a pebble. It became quite a game, both for the journeymen and for Jonny. Master Silurian made it very clear that no one was to be hurt in any way during the attacks, so the journeymen were careful not to be too rough with Jonny, and he was careful not to hurt them when he hit them with his pebbles.

  In the beginning, Jonny rarely was able to stop a journeyman from tying him up, but with time and practice, he found that better than two thirds of the time he could hit them with a pebble before they could immobilize him. Even then, he found he could still hit them after they had him down, but they still counted that as a win for them.

  § § §

  After a couple of weeks The Master had a new area for Jonny to study.

  “Jonny, I’ve just obtained an old manuscript that contains some tantalizing concepts I would really like to see you incorporate. According to this manuscript, the world all around us is composed of particles so small that they a
re invisible to the eye. It also seems that though we perceive things to be solid and still, these little particles are constantly in motion within their realm. When we perceive something to get hotter, it is these little particles vibrating at a higher rate of speed. When we see something cold, it is actually that these particles are vibrating at a slower than normal rate.