by R. W. Weston
He would wake in fits, his breathing heavy and labored, sweat soaking his pillow and blankets. He would look around, the dim candlelight playing with the shadows. He could not get back to sleep, the fear taking control of him. With nothing else to do he set about looking through the room. Although he had been living in the small cramped room he decided to look around, see if he could find anything of interest. Anything had to be better than sleeping and it was still many hours before the sun would rise.
His mind continued to go back to the times that he spent with Rien. How they would laugh together and work on the different spells. He would love to sit and watch as the light played off her eyes, hoping that the time would never end. He knew that he had fallen in love with her.
He was taken from his memories by a movement caught out of the corner of his eye, next to the fireplace. He walked over and saw a slight displacement in the soot, as though a brick had been recently moved. He reached up and touched it, feeling it give way a little. He continued to push when it fell out of its spot in the wall. He could see there was a hidden hallway. It didn't surprise him that there would be hidden corridors in this place. The wizards always seemed to know what was going on and when.
Now that he knew this was here, he had an idea. He wanted to get out of the room and with the two standing outside of it he couldn’t go that way. The only way that he knew was to find a way to get behind the wall. He tried a few more of the bricks but none of them seemed to move, and now he was getting discouraged again.
He went back over to his small table, putting his head in his hands, feeling a headache coming on. He started to rub the sides of his head, trying to think of a way to get through this. He knew he couldn't break the wall it would make too much noise, and if he used magic, he was sure the two outside would be able to sense it.
If only he had been able to go through the advancement ceremony before this happened he would have a little more leverage to work with. But then again he would probably have some wizards outside his door instead of the patlins.
There had to be a way of getting behind that wall he thought, he went back over to the fireplace to take another look. He looked around more than just where he had displaced the stone, searching the entire thing. The only problem was the fire grate was in the way. He tried to move it, but it kept getting caught on something.
He got down on the ground and found that one of the legs went through the floor, it was so covered in soot that he had never seen it before. He brushed the soot away to see if he could see where it went and how to move it. He shifted it a little in the slot, revealing a hidden door at the back of the room. He went back through it, taking a candle off the dresser. It was very dark and breezy so he figured that it had to lead outside somewhere.
He followed the corridor, winding every which way. He felt as though he had been walking for hours, yet he didn't seem to be getting anywhere. His candle was almost gone, and there was no sign of light anywhere. If the candle went out now he would be lost and probably never found. The further he went he could smell the dust and dank of a place that had not seen the light of day for ages. The breeze that he felt when the passageway opened had long since disappeared, leaving a musty smell.
He tripped over something on the floor. Bending down he was shocked and backed up into the wall. There in front of him on the ground was a human skeleton. He got his mind back and went to look back at it, with a closer examination; he saw several ribs broken as well as a leg.
One leg still had some material on it so he took it, wrapped the material around the joint and lit it with the last of his candle. He continued to walk; now with more light he could see the walls better. They were made out of skulls. He just about vomited. He started to run and before he realized he was outside on the other side of the lake.
He marked the location of the tunnel entrance, then decided to explore through the woods. He was surprised to find various footsteps, going in and out of the tunnel. He figured that they were the footprints of the wizards, as a way of getting in and out of the house. He took his torch back in with him, this time knowing how long it would be. It seemed shorter knowing where he was going and with a purpose. He had to get back to Wizard Petron; he needed to talk to him about what he had found.
The only problem now was how to convince the two standing outside his door that he needed to talk to the headmaster again without letting them know what he had found. He went to the door and slowly opened it. He saw one of the patlins asleep while the other one was standing guard. He turned to see what Roland was doing; he stepped out of the room, holding his head down. "I need to talk to Wizard Petron, its urgent"
The patlin looked down at Roland, an utter look of disgust. He walked over to his friend, nudging him in the leg to wake him up. He woke up to see Roland standing there.
"Now what does his majesty want," he said, glaring at him.
"He needs to see the headmaster, say's it’s urgent," the other one answered. "He wants us to take him now,” he said in a snide manner. “Like we ain’t got nuttin better to do than do what this putrid little snake wants us to do.”
They got up and walked in front of him talking to each other. He knew that they were talking about him, not liking the fact that they had to watch someone inferior in standing to themselves. Or at least that's what they thought. He picked up a little on the wind to listen to what they were saying, none of it important. It didn't take long before they reached the infirmary again.
They went up to the wizard that was standing at the door, telling them what Roland needed. The wizard was more willing to accept who Roland was and knowing the secrets that he possessed. He went in letting the headmaster know what was needed.
The wizard returned quickly, allowing Roland to come in. He took him directly to the headmaster. He didn't look much better to him, but he knew he had to let the headmaster know this new information.
"Headmaster, how are you feeling?"
"Tired my boy, what did you need?"
"How long have those passageways been behind the walls in the apprentices rooms?"
"What passages?"
"The one's that I found behind my dormitory walls."
"I'm sorry son; I don't know what passageways you are talking about."
This concerned him; he knew that someone had been using the passageways recently, due to the fresh footprints at the entrance to the cavern.
“It’s not that important. I’ll go and find Terinal and show them to him. I’m very sorry I bothered you headmaster,” he said backing away slowly. He decided not to bother the headmaster concerning this anymore, seeing how tired he looked and the stress that he was sure he was under.
He was escorted back to his room. He was still thinking of the passageways when he got permission to go back to the library. The two patlins escorting him didn't seem to mind, they figured they could find out more of what was going on. In the mean time, he could look through the old logs for missing people. That dead person had to of found the passageways, and was possibly murdered. After he returned to his room he decided he would go back in the passage and see if he could pull the skeleton out.
There had to be some clues there, maybe he could find where or how the person died. More importantly who had it been? It kept puzzling him that the headmaster had no idea that the passageway was even there. He figured that he would take up the matter with some of the other wizards in the morning. He was feeling so drained now that he laid down and fell asleep before he realized what happened.
The door opened letting in the smells of fresh breads, and mulled cider. He looked as one of the servant girls brought in a tray of food for him; she was an attractive young lady, smiling at him. He finished waking up, putting on his robe and went to sit at his little table, tasting the refreshing rolls and drink. The excitement of the last few hours had drained him more than he had ever known.
The fresh cider brought a rejuvenating sense with it, filling his body with renewed energy. He quickly ate the pastr
ies and finished off the pitcher of mulled cider. Getting dressed he left his room. It surprised him that the two patlins that were outside his room the night before were no longer there. He brushed it off as a fault in the change. He walked to the infirmary, figuring that's where most of the wizards would be.
He was surprised to find that there was no one in the foyer to the infirmary, especially with the headmaster inside. He went in finding it empty as well, after seeing the headmaster in the shape he was in the night before he couldn't figure that he had left already. All this seemed unreal to him, the breakfast, the patlins missing, and the empty infirmary.
He awoke with a jolt screaming, his bed soaked with sweat. The two patlins ran into the room, both holding the power and looking all around to see what was going on. Roland was pale so they rushed him to the infirmary. The wizards there rushed to his aid casting healing spells trying to help ease his mind and allow his body to relax.
Wizard Recorian, the most skilled in the use of probability was authorized by the headmaster to use the power to try and look into his mind. They wanted to know what was causing the night madness. Never had one so young as he was had been plagued by the madness, usually manifesting in the early wizards. Those suffering usually did not survive, and as far as their extensive knowledge was they could never find the cure for this dilemma.
If this was in fact what he suffered from, they were in a dreadful state. The biggest question being was why he had it. They prepared him for the mind search; the technique was more of a lost art. This was a very risky technique, by entering into someone's mind you risked the possibility of losing yourself to them.
Treglinar Mederi Domanila Eknon Volme as Recorian continued to repeat these words he drifted into a deep trance. He could feel inside of Roland's mind, it was dark, there seemed to be a mental block. It took him several tries to get through it. He could see all of Roland's recent memories as he wandered through his mind. Seeing the passageway, he followed the memory, seeing the same things that he had told the headmaster, knowing this to be a recent memory he continued to follow it.
The boys mind was dark, the past mixing with the future in a way that he had never seen before. For most people it was a clear line from past to a single point of the present, leading to another line not as definite as the past showing the possible future. For him there was no clear definition between the past, present or future. He ran into so many more walls than he was used too.
There was one block that he was not able to get through no matter what elements he put together. It seemed that the harder he pushed at the block the stronger it seemed to get. When he realized there was nothing he could do to get through he turned. That is where he made his mistake. He was struck hard in the side of the head; although he was in a world between worlds anything that was inflicted on someone here has the same results as though it happened in real life.
He blacked out, the most dangerous of circumstances. The wizards standing around him saw him start to convulse they could sense the change in his status. As he started to convulse they severed the links that they could, cutting him off from the power. His body continued to convulse throwing him into spastic seizures.
Both Recorian and Roland remained in the comatose state. Recorian stared muttering incoherent phrases, his mind locked in a turmoil trapped between two worlds. The other wizards had no idea now of what to do, now having lost a wizard to the mind disease as well and not getting any closer to the information that was locked in Roland’s mind.
"Where am I? Hello is there anyone out there?" he kept calling out. He remembered being in this place before. It seemed like it had been cycles since he had had this dream, but he knew now that he was in a dream. There was something different about it this time; he could feel a new presence, something from within. He walked around the room, looking for a way out. He was blocked by something that he couldn't see, touch or penetrate.
The feeling that there was someone with him was coming from the other side of the obstruction. The presence was there one minute and then seemed to disappear; the only feeling was one of despair, as though whoever it was was now in trouble.
"Hello, is there anyone out there? I can feel you, but I can't hear you or see you. Are you out there?" he continued calling out.
Chapter 13
Mind Spells
he nightmare continued for what seemed like an eternity. The wizards were struggling with all their cures to bring an end to the night tremors that he was having. They didn’t dare send another wizard into his mind, losing one was dangerous and costly as it was, loosing another would be insane.
Fortunately, Wizard Recorian was improving, the seizures had stopped and his rest was becoming more relaxed. The herbalist had tried every type of herb and medicine that they knew of to calm him and hopefully make his transition into reality easier. Seeing how this had not been done for centuries there were no wizards left living that knew of the consequences of what happened. All they had to reference were the history manuscripts.
And all they told was of the destruction of the mind of the wizard. The longer he was out of pure reality the harder it was for him to accept the truth. Soon he would begin to accept the dream state as his true reality. It had been several weeks now that he had been unconscious. Just recently they had been able to make progress. He was now opening his eyes, although they were still not focused his mind was not completely lost, they could still bring him back to the true realty.
The hope was that if he could see some familiar faces, as well as hear familiar voices that he could find his way back. What they didn't know was how his mind was being held captive by a mind sweeper. Until he could break free of this evil incarnation he would never be truly free, and the longer that he was held captive, the greater risk of falling to the dark.
"Roland, can you hear me?" asked the headmaster. "It’s time apprentice. The advancement ceremony has come, you must return to us to proceed."
He started to stir, still lost in his dream. He could hear the headmaster calling him, the words forming in his mind, but he couldn’t answer. The more he yelled, the tighter his throat became, he felt that he was losing his voice. He reached for the power of the elements, trying to weave anything he could.
That was no use, he could see it, feel it all around him, but it would not form anything. Something was blocking his abilities. He never gave up as he continued to fight against this unseen power that was holding him. He kept looking for the weak spot he had been told about to find the one way that the barrier could be broken.
As he heard the voice of the headmaster, it was something new; he started wondering if somehow the barrier was weakening. He wove together his greatest strength, fire and water. Although they were two contradictory elements he found that by blending them in the right way he could make a powerful tool.
He bound the two together as strong as he could, but with the block on his power it was still weak. Throwing them at the invisible wall, the weave spread out, seeking the weakest point. He could sense something different this time; the wall was not as strong. As the weave continued he sensed a weak point. Focusing all the energy at that one minute area he could feel it start to grow, as the weave broke through, it became stronger, growing; eventually the pin sized hole grew. The bonds growing stronger and stronger, he could feel it, sense the increasing power, causing him to smile almost laugh with hysteria.
He added earth and wind to the bond now that he could control more of it. With the last two elements added the barrier shattered, the power flying back at him, almost consuming him. He was physically thrown back from the force of the power, releasing it as quickly as he could. The light in the room grew in intensity; he walked out feeling the presence even stronger.
Recognizing the passageways, he followed his senses, the feeling growing stronger. Turning a corner into what would have been the apprentices' common room he saw what appeared to be the apparition of one of the wizards lying on a table. He was bound with cords made of pure
darkness.
Standing next to the wizard was a shrouded figure; he could hear him whispering incantations. He walked up quietly behind the figure, not knowing for sure what would happen. He took a candelabrum from the table, raising it high above his head. He brought it down with all his strength on the back of the person.
The figure fell to the ground in a limp mass. He pulled the hood back to see who was now laying there. The face now contorted from pain, he looked pale as if the very essence of its life was seeping away. As the man started to disappear, he could see the bands around the wizard getting thinner and vanishing as well.
He stepped over the vanishing person and walked over to the wizard. He could see the look of torment and pain in his face, his features pulled tight with a look of despair in his eyes. Roland shook him gently; he put his hand over his heart and could feel it strong, as though it was trying to break through his chest. His pulse started to slow down, and the wizard's breathing became easier, he could see the life returning.
He sat up on the table, looking around seeing the robe lying on the ground with only the feet left and even they were quickly disappearing. He looked lost and confused, not knowing exactly where he was. He looked at Roland remembering now where he was, and surprised that he was still alive.
"A dream sweeper, very dangerous and vile creatures," he said, looking down at the robe. He kicked it only dust rising from it.
"Where are we?" he asked the wizard.
"We’re in your dream that is how you were able to destroy it. They enter into dreams and take possession of the mind, most of the time when someone has a night terror they are the cause of it. Generally they only keep a person’s mind captive for a night, feeding on the fear they create. I was not prepared when it hit me, taking control of my body. Had you not destroyed it, it would have destroyed me," he told him.
"So how did you get in here?"
