The Apprentice to Zdrell

by David K Bennett

  Jonny got back to camp without further incident and immediately dived into his tent and got under his blankets. He was shaking from exhaustion, fear, and the realization of how close he had come to being tortured and possibly even killed.

  He was mad at himself for being caught in the first place, and then for being so slow to remember how to defend himself. He was ashamed at how easily he had been caught, just as The Master had warned him. He resolved that he would tell no one what had happened. As soon as he made up his mind to keep the incident a secret, he relaxed a bit and eventually fell asleep.

  Chapter 36

  As Jonny woke, he remembered all that had happened the previous day. He hoped this day would be a little less exciting, but he was to be disappointed. The day started normally enough, he ate with The Master and the other apprentices in the group. Jonny prepared all sorts of explanations in case the incident from the previous night came out, but nothing was mentioned. The journeymen were already off preparing for the final day of journeyman competition and the master rank awarding ceremonies. The other apprentices were eating and talking about how much prestige The Master would gain when Jonny won the apprentice prize. Jonny told them he did not think it was a sure thing, but they just laughed. They were sure that Jonny was the only possible choice.

  The Master said nothing while they were eating. As he finished, he looked at Jonny and told him to be sure his robes were clean and hanging straight. He did not want to have his apprentice look unkempt before the crowd. It took Jonny a couple of minutes to realize that The Master had in his own way been agreeing with the other apprentices. He thought Jonny would be in front of the crowd to accept the prize. Jonny was having trouble concentrating on that possibility. He was still endlessly replaying the previous night’s events.

  § § §

  The prize for the best apprentice performance was awarded with much ceremony. The event began at midmorning with each apprentice being called before the judges and having their performance publicly critiqued. It took nearly as long as the competition the day before, and was designed to be as much a teaching experience as an awards ceremony. There was only one award given but the order that an apprentice was called before the judges declared his ranking with the poorest performer being called first. Jonny knew he would be one of the last called, but even so, he waited and listened to the critique and advice the judges gave each contestant. Much of the advice was the same, but occasionally Jonny heard something that made him consider things he had not before.

  It was well after noon when the judges got down to the last three contestants. They had not taken any sort of a break before the last three, and they only stopped a few minutes before they again commenced. Jonny was now more than a little nervous. In his heart, he agreed with the other apprentices. He felt his demonstration had been superior to the others, but still he was afraid the judges might see things differently. The third best contender was called, it was the boy who had had the wood button and rod from the first day.

  Now it was just Jonny and the apprentice who had done the demon summoning using himself as the offering. Jonny was sweating, and not just from the afternoon heat.

  The critique ended, and the next name was called. It was not Jonny! The boy looked back at Jonny with great contempt as he mounted the platform. Jonny seemed to be in some sort of bubble. The realization that he had won made all his surroundings seem somehow unreal. He could not hear anyone, and so he did not hear his name when it was announced. He just stood there stunned. The apprentice standing next to him had to tug on his sleeve. “Get up there!” he whispered. “You’ve won!”

  Jonny went up onto the stage and still was having trouble hearing anything being said. He heard dimly the congratulations of the head judge and the other judges. He saw the crowd cheering for him, but it was all as if his ears were stuffed with cotton, like he was in some kind of dream.

  It all snapped into sharp focus and sound when two things happened. First, The Master mounted the stage to the cheers of the crowd and the congratulations of the judges. But the second thing was what brought Jonny fully back to reality. Behind Jonny a man jumped onto the stage with a yell. It was the same man who had tried to prove that Jonny was faking his demonstration the day before. The same one Jonny had poured water on. The man was incoherent with rage. He grabbed Jonny by the throat and shook him.

  “Tell me how you cloaked your demons boy!” the man screamed. Jonny could see his eyes bulging.

  “Tell me and everyone here how you did it, or I throttle you here and now!”

  Jonny could not have answered him even if he had wanted to. The man was holding him so tightly Jonny could barely breathe, let alone talk. Jonny had no intention of talking. The man’s enraged face filled Jonny’s vision and for the second time in his life, he allowed his rage flow back at the man. This time he did not use a rock. The man had a flaming red beard and hair, Jonny decided to make it really flame. He concentrated on making it get hotter and hotter. It was not as easy to do as with water, but no harder than wood.

  The beard began to smolder as well as the man’s hair. At first, he did not notice, but when his beard caught fire, he had no choice. He released Jonny and started trying to put out the flames with his hands but then jumped screaming from the stage when he realized his whole head was on fire.

  The crowd stood in stunned silence, and then they burst into applause with several yelling their opinions of Jonny’s assailant after him. The Master came over to Jonny and very quietly said, “Well done, Jonny. Very well done.”

  Jonny had rarely seen The Master like this before, so obviously pleased. The look on his face made Jonny feel better than any other thing possibly could. The medallion he received for winning seemed pale in comparison to the warmth of his master’s approval.

  § § §

  That evening the Council of Elders announced the journeymen who were awarded master status. It was a solemn ceremony where each new master was given a certificate to indicate he had been a judged a master and each was given his master ring. These were special rings that once one person had worn them could never be worn by another. The owner could take the ring off but no one else could put it on, they simply would not go. The magic ring was the surest sign a wizard truly was a master. Certificates could be forged, but a master’s ring could not be faked.

  After the ceremony was over, Jonny went to meet Master Silurian, who had acted as The Eldest and given out the rings. The Master introduced him to another wizard.

  “Jonny, I want you to meet master Gorkonder. Master Gorkonder is one of the finest workers of amulet magic I have ever met.”

  Jonny blushed and stammered out, “I’m very honored to meet you, Master Gorkonder.”

  Master Gorkonder bowed to Jonny making him blush even more deeply. “And I am most honored to meet you, young man. I have seldom seen so powerful a display of force manipulation as in your demonstration in the apprentice competition and your encore afterwards.”

  Jonny did not know what to say, but he managed to stammer out, “Th-thank you, Master. It was nothing.”

  “Not at all, young man. Your master will not say it, but I will tell you that your talents already exceed several of the journeymen we awarded master status tonight. You are not yet ready to be a master, but when you are, I suspect everyone will know your name.”

  Jonny was stunned by the compliment. Now he really did not know what to say and Master Gorkonder easily discerned it from the look on Jonny’s face. He turned to face The Master.

  “He’s humble too, Silurian. You have done well, old friend. This one will go somewhere someday. But, I must go. Before I go,” he said, turning back to Jonny. “I have something I hope you will find useful. I almost doubt you need it, but I think you may find it helpful. Your master will tell you how to use it.”

  He handed Jonny a small amulet. It was silver and shaped like a teardrop with runes etched lightly into the surface and seemed to glow from within with a reddish light. It hung fr
om a simple leather thong, which seemed strange to Jonny for something so obviously valuable. Jonny stammered out his thanks and Master Gorkonder left.

  “You know, Jonny,” The Master said as they both watched Master Gorkonder walk off into the night. “You have just received one of the most important gifts you could have received. This is a demon sight amulet, and Master Gorkonder is the only one I know who knows how to create them. I have known many journeymen who have served him for over a year just to get one. Nearly every master wizard here has one; they are very valuable indeed. You must have greatly impressed him. It has been years since I have seen him give one to an apprentice. Years ago, he gave them to anyone who would ask, but that was long ago. Yes, you must have impressed him greatly.”

  “But what does it do, Master?”

  “What does it do? Why it allows you to see the world as demons see it. It lets you see the lines of force with your natural eyes as well as other things. This amulet will allow you to see the world from a completely different perspective. For many, this is the only way they can see force lines or where to place a portal, or to see through a portal into the demon world. There are many things that can be done with this amulet. I am sure you will learn them with time.”

  “How does it work, Master?”

  “That is the best part of it, Jonny. It is so simple anyone, even mundanes, can do it. Simply grasp the amulet with your eyes closed and then open them while you hold onto it.”

  Jonny did not wait for further instruction. He grasped the amulet between his thumb and forefinger with his eyes closed. Without loosening his grip, he slowly opened his eyes to see a new world.

  Everything around Jonny was tinted red. It was like looking through red colored glass. The first thing he noticed was that while it was full dark outside, it did not look dark at all now. Everything around him glowed with its own inner light. The Master glowed quite brightly and Jonny could scarcely look at some of the rings on his fingers they were so bright.

  At first, he was confused at how things looked and he expected to see force lines the same way he did with his zdrell sight. It took a few minutes before he began to perceive them though they looked nothing like the way he visualized them. They were showing as the general colored haze that he saw. He tried moving a rock and saw the haze around the rock clear and understood that it was just a different way of seeing the force lines he was used to manipulating.

  Jonny closed his eyes and released the amulet. He opened his eyes and looked at The Master. “Is that really how the demons see our world, Master?”

  “Yes, Jonny. That is how they see it. If there were a demon present or a portal open, you would see it very differently than you have thus far. With this amulet, when you look through a portal you can actually see the demon world on the other side. This is a very powerful tool. Master Gorkonder is one of the few left who can create magical objects like this with any kind of ease.

  “But enough of this for now, you have had enough excitement for a day. Tomorrow we begin our trip back to Salaways. Best we both get some sleep.”

  Chapter 37

  Three wizards stood on the city walls watching as the last caravan left the now nearly deserted former conclave grounds. The center wizard was of middle height, with blue eyes and red hair cut much shorter than he was accustomed to. His red beard, a trademark of his features for the last thirty years was notably absent.

  The taller, dark haired wizard to his right spoke, still looking out over the valley. “That’s the last of them.” He paused and turned towards the middle wizard. “Not quite the triumph we hoped for, eh, Feltran?”

  The middle wizard, Feltran, continued looking out over the valley. “No,” he answered crossly, “not the triumph I had planned at all. Blast Silurian!” he said pounding his fist on the top of the wall. “He wasn’t responsible for the failure of that fool apprentice of mine, but everything else that has gone wrong can be traced back to him.” He spit over the wall. “This conclave has set our cause back at least two years, maybe more. Curse Silurian, curse Salaways, and curse that little rodent of an apprentice of his!”

  The two wizards on either side, shot quick glances at one another. Neither seemed willing to say anything, afraid of becoming the target of Feltran’s wrath. Finally, one spoke. “Do you think Silurian’s apprentice was really doing direct force manipulation?”

  “What, zdrell?” Feltran asked, contempt in his voice. “No. I don’t believe it. Silurian was running some sort of game there. There was no way that boy was doing anything himself. He hardly even moved or talked, except for that stage prattle. No, Silurian has found some way to do what we saw, while passing it off as the boy. He had to have an accomplice hidden somewhere controlling things. I don’t know how, but I know that old man has more tricks than most have dreamed of.” These last words were a grudging mutter.

  Again, the two wizards flanking Feltran shared a glance. The one rolled his eyes and gave a small shake of the head. They both turned away from the outer edge of the wall and walked to the stairs heading back towards the center of the city. Feltran remained, silently brooding.

  § § §

  The trip back to the castle was uneventful. In truth, unless bandits had attacked them, anything would have seemed tame after all that had happened at the Conclave. The journeymen and apprentices treated Jonny with nearly as much respect as Master Silurian, though Jonny could sense that some of the journeymen were frankly jealous. The Master treated Jonny as he always had. The pleasure he had shown at Jonny’s performance was displaced by his usual detached manner towards him. Jonny suspected The Master was thinking of new things for him to learn.

  He was right.

  Chapter 38

  When they had returned to Salaways, Master Silurian gave Jonny two days to continue the studies he had been working on prior to the conclave, then summoned Jonny to his main study.

  “I have some new things for you to study, Jonny,” The Master began. “I suspect you knew this would happen, after your performance at the conclave.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  “I think after the incidents there, something should be very clear to you.”

  “What is that, Master?”

  “You are still young, still vulnerable, and will continue to be for some years yet, but you have already made some powerful enemies.”

  “I have, Master?”

  “Oh yes, Jonny, you have indeed. Do you know who that wizard was you humiliated twice, in public?”

  “I heard he is called Feltran, that’s all.”

  “Well then, you need to know more. As you may have guessed, he is a demon master. Frankly, he is not that proficient of a wizard, but he is a mouthpiece for a number of other wizards who are quite powerful. By humiliating him, you essentially made an enemy of that group of wizards who rely on demon magic alone.

  “In a sense, you have made yourself more my apprentice than any other before. By doing this, you are allied with me, not just because you are my apprentice, but also because you have made enemies of those who despise me. However, there is still a significant difference between you and me. You are a young apprentice, and I am a rather old and respected master. Many, who would not dream of attacking me, would not give a second thought to attacking you. It has already happened twice, eh?”

  Jonny had told no one of the first attack, but was not surprised that The Master somehow knew of it.

  “Ah, I see. You thought I did not know about you almost becoming an offering? Well, I am glad you came out of that passably, but again you managed to humiliate someone who will not soon forget it. The journeyman who could not complete his summoning because of you, did not achieve master status this conclave. I can assure you he will not forget you either.

  “All this brings me to my main point, Jonny. You have a great deal of offensive power with your talent, but you still cannot really defend yourself, not against a determined attack by a master wizard, and that is who you must be prepared to fight.

&n
bsp; “From now on I am going to have you focus on learning magics which will enable you to better defend yourself, and the first area that you need to learn is how to move people and animals the way you can move rocks or wood.”