"I have told no one, and I don’t believe Merric has either, but Mieka must suspect. She was here when I lifted the rock, and she has been helping Merric train me ever since you left. They have kept me separate from the rest of the students. I don’t attend classes with them. We always meet in Merric’s study. The only time I see the others is when we eat or when I visit the library."
"Well, there is nothing to be done about it now. I am eager to get my people. Are you ready now?"
"Yes," Michael answered.
Micah spoke the words of transport, and they vanished from the rock garden.
Michael looked around. He stood on a white beach beneath a clear, night sky full of stars. As he looked up, he saw a shooting star burn its way across the heavens.
"I guess another magus is born," he said.
Micah looked at him quizzically. Michael merely pointed up and said.
"Shooting star."
Micah glanced up and nodded in understanding. He walked over to a large group of people standing in a cluster near the tree line. Michael followed him. The stars gave off enough light to be able to see their faces clearly. All were dressed in the same white, knee length tunics, gathered at the waist with a black cord of some kind, leather breeks, and low leather boots. Looking around at them, Michael was astonished to see women as well as men. Every one of them carried two swords. Most had one protruding above their right shoulder and one slung at their left hip. A few wore them reversed, presumably because they were left handed. The people regarded him with curiosity.
Micah, indicating Michael at his side, spoke to them.
"This is Michael. He is an apprentice at Kantwell. He is also being instructed in our ways by Branik and Reek." There was a low murmur among the people, and they looked at him more seriously. Michael thought he heard the word covenant uttered several times. Micah let the low voices die down before continuing.
"He is a friend of mine, and very important to our cause. Branik and Reek have both taken the Blood Pact to protect him." Again the murmurs, but this time Michael saw many of them incline their heads to him as if in acceptance.
Michael whispered to Micah.
"What is this Blood Pact?"
"I will explain it to you later, but right now we must get these people to Kantwell." Micah raised his voice again.
"My friends, Michael is here to help me transport the rest of you to Kantwell. It took nearly all my strength to convey those who are already gone. I have asked him to help. If you would gather around us, we will begin taking through as many as we can."
The Avari came forward and gathered close around them. Michael felt slightly claustrophobic with the press of all the bodies.
"Micah, let me try and see how many I can take. If I can get most of them at once, then you can bring the rest through. If not, we can return for the others."
Micah smiled at him, remembering the huge boulder back at Kantwell.
"Sure. Give it a try. Make sure you do not include me, or I will just have to teleport back again."
"Good call. Ok, is everyone ready?" Michael asked. He saw them nod, and then closed his eyes. He spoke the words of transport trying to visualize the whole group and their destination of the rock garden at Kantwell. Michael felt a strong, cool wind blow through his mind and, when he opened his eyes, he was standing in the center of the rock garden with a large group of Avari gathered around him. Michael smiled hugely.
"Welcome to Kantwell."
Micah watched as Michael cast the spell. He was prepared to see maybe two thirds of the remaining Avari vanish, but to his utter surprise, he was suddenly standing all alone on the beach. He threw his head back and laughed loudly.
"We may have a chance after all." Micah spoke the words of transport and vanished from the beach.
Chapter Thirty-One
Michael was eating breakfast with Mieka when a group of students came into the dining hall. They waved at him, and he waved back. He had gotten to know them a little better by now. He tried to take his breakfast at the same time they did, so he could talk with them. They were almost always all together for dinner. Miles always seemed to find him whether he was in the dining hall, the library, or out in the rock garden training with Branik and Reek. Many nights, Michael looked over at Kantwell’s back door and saw Miles sitting there watching him. Michael found it a lot easier talking to Miles since they were both so new to magic. He found Miles’ excitement matched his own in many ways. Neither of them were as jaded about the magic they could perform as the more advanced students were, who took for granted certain aspects that still astounded Michael.
Mieka teased him constantly about his adopted son. Michael still had trouble breathing properly when she was around, but he was finding that his feelings for her were actually being reciprocated. She met him in the dining hall each morning, and they sat talking of magic and of Thelona until the other students arrived. Then they would converse with the students for a while before going up to Merric’s study for Michael's daily lessons. Sometimes Mieka accompanied him, but she often had other duties that required her attention. Michael found that when Mieka was not around, he thought of her more and more.
He spent many nights pouring over the map Merric loaned him and was getting quite familiar with the lay of the land. It appeared that Thelona had only one massive continent. There were a couple of islands off its western coast, and the Portal between the worlds was on a large island in the center of a huge bay near the lower part of the continent.
Michael had been in training for almost a month and was now in the best shape of his life. Branik and Reek still managed to thoroughly wear him out each night, but the aches and pains that assaulted him in the mornings, when he first started, were now a distant memory. Michael did find it odd that he saw very little of the other Avari, but then Merric and Micah had taken small groups of them off to various places. When Michael did run into a few of them on occasion, they were always polite, though never loquacious. Micah was almost never around. Every once in a while he would come out while Michael trained with Branik and Reek. He would give advice or demonstrate some technique. The reverence with which the Avari treated Micah made Michael uncomfortable at times. He felt almost as if he was in the presence of some ancient demigod. He asked Micah about it one night when they were alone in his room. Micah had explained the origins of the Avari to him and told Michael that he had to try and view it from the Avari perspective.
"You see me as a man, Michael. You have only known me for a little over a month and, though I look like any other man, I am not. Oh, I am no god, but I am immortal. Your memory of me only goes back thirty days or so. The Avari’s memory of me goes back centuries. I have always been there, a walking testament to their way of life. And though they know I am not a god, they know I am not human, either. I have known their fathers and their father’s fathers. I have trained them all down through the ages. There has not been a single generation of Avari that I have not had a direct hand in teaching. I attend their tournaments and their feasts. I tell them stories of their ancestors. I help them build, plant, and harvest. I am as much a part of them as the land around them. I have always been here for them, and the Great One willing, I always will be. They are my children, and I am their Lord. What you feel from them towards me is not worship, for I would never allow that. It is love and respect, nothing more," Micah explained.
Michael pondered this for several days before he realized Micah was right. He had never seen the Avari prostrating themselves before Micah. It was always a respectful bow or inclination of the head, and they always spoke to him as one would an honored elder. All of these thoughts he reflected on as he walked to Merric’s study. He had taken to walking instead of teleporting, initially to help him build up his stamina. Merric’s study was on the fourth floor and the steps were a good way to do that. Now, he did it to have time to himself to think and order his mind. Michael always tried to leave thoughts of Mieka at the door. Micah had been right about that, too. She was
a distraction. One that he could not afford to let affect his studies. When the current situation was settled, then there would be time for the two of them.
Michael came up to the door with its familiar brass plaque and knocked. He heard Merric’s voice telling him to come in. He opened the door and was surprised to see Martin standing in front of the desk. He could tell something big was up when he saw the huge grin on Martin’s face, mirrored almost as broadly on Merric’s. He couldn’t help but smile back at Martin who looked as though he was about ready to explode.
"So, what is going on?" Michael asked, thinking there was only one thing that could put that big of a smile on Martin’s face.
Martin ran over to him and clasped his hand, shaking it roughly in his excitement.
"Thank you, Michael. You were right. When I realized you were right, it happened. I opened the fifth door. I woke up this morning, and it all fell into place. The talk we had last night at dinner set me to thinking. I had been trying so hard to find the key to open the fifth door that I failed to try the obvious. It was all so clear this morning. I woke up and just knew. And it worked! Thank you, Michael. I have to go tell the others." Martin dashed out the door laughing.
Michael looked at Merric with a puzzled expression. Merric simply shook his head and smiled, gesturing for Michael to take a seat. Michael sat down.
"Ok, I give up. What was that all about?"
"Well, from what I could piece together, whatever you said to Martin last night apparently helped him find the key."
"I gathered that, but I only said that maybe he was trying too hard," Michael told him.
"It is an odd piece of advice, I will grant you that, but it seems to have worked," Merric said, shaking his head again.
"Maybe for him it was like trying to remember a name. It’s right on the tip of your tongue, but for the life of you, you cannot seem to recall it. The more you think about it, the more it eludes you. Only when you move on to something totally unrelated, and quit thinking about it, does it come back to you," Michael explained.
"However it worked, he is one very happy man this morning. You might make a good teacher one day, Michael. He has been struggling with that key for a long time. I am almost as happy about him finding it as he is. He is a good man, and it troubled me to see him struggle so. I thank you as well."
Michael shot him a smile.
"I’m not proud. I will take the credit. It’s nice to be able to help those who have helped me. It makes me feel like I actually contributed something."
"Careful, Michael, you may just be falling into following our law," Merric chided him.
"Nah, all I did was talk to him."
"Many times, that is all it takes, a willing ear and a fresh set of eyes. Many problems can be solved in this manner."
"If only they were all that easy," Michael sighed.
"Well, what have you got for me today?"
"I thought I might teach you how to scry today. It is a very useful tool, and we could always use another person here who can do it."
"Oh, cool. Now I get to see how he did it," Michael replied.
"See how who did it?" Merric asked.
"Mortow. At least, that’s who Micah told me it was. I had never seen the man before, so I described him to Micah. He said it was Mortow," Michael explained.
Merric’s eyes narrowed, and he leaned forward resting his arms on the desk.
"Where did you see him?"
"In the bathroom mirror at Micah’s house, back on my world."
"What did he look like?"
"Big square jaw, long hooked nose, pale blue eyes, and long black hair."
"That certainly fits his description. And you say you saw him in a mirror?"
"Aye. I was splashing cold water on my face and, as I stood looking in the mirror trying to sort through some of my confusion, the mirror went dark. Then I saw that face looking at me. Something inside of me told me that he was an enemy, so I stared back. I don’t know what I was trying to do, but suddenly his face changed. He looked shocked. I could feel him trying to withdraw from the link he had established. I tried to hold it. The mirror went black again, but I could still feel the connection, so I kept trying. Finally, the mirror shattered, and the connection broke. I thought I sensed an explosion on the other end, but that could have been my imagination. That was also when the seventh door opened for me."
Merric rose and began pacing the room.
"That is much too elaborate to have been completely imagination. Your description of Mortow is too accurate for never having seen him. Obviously, he was trying to scry on you. I don’t understand how you were able to see him. Scrying is a completely passive magic. It is undetectable."
"That’s what Micah said as well. All I can tell you is that I did. You know a lot more about how this is supposed to work than I do," Michael replied.
"In some areas, yes, but in others, I am apparently and sadly deficient." Merric threw his hands up and returned to his chair.
"I suppose, for now, we just add it to the growing list of unexplainable phenomena surrounding you. I guess we should head to the scrying chamber. Maybe you will be able to figure out what you did when you know more about what Mortow was doing."
"Don’t hold your breath on that. I would hate for you to turn blue and pass out on me."
"Shall we find out?"
"I’m ready when you are."
Merric spoke the words of transport, and suddenly they were in the corridor outside the dining hall.
Michael looked around.
"Strange place for a scrying chamber."
"I brought you here so you would have a point of reference, that way you will be able to find the chamber on your own. I have noticed that you seem to prefer walking to teleporting. Anything I should know about?" Merric asked.
"No, I just needed the exercise. Reek was killing me with all the running. I figured taking the long way would help build up my stamina."
"Ah, I am glad that is all it is."
"Why, what did you think?" Michael asked.
"I was uncertain. I thought perhaps something had happened that made you not want to teleport unless necessary. Sometimes, the more you learn about magic, the scarier it can seem. I am pleased this is not the case."
"Oh, no, nothing like that. So where is this chamber?"
Merric started walking down the corridor, passed the dining hall, headed in the direction of the bathing rooms. Just beyond the men’s bathing room, at the end of the corridor, was a hallway leading to the right. Merric guided him to the end of this hall where it again turned right, heading behind the bathing rooms. Although there were no windows in this part of the castle, the corridor was lit by shining glass globes set atop brackets in the walls. They were spaced about twenty feet apart on alternating sides. Merric saw Michael look at them with curiosity.
"Those are light globes. Magical lights that we use in closed places like these. The heat and smoke from torches would make it stifling in places with no ventilation. Not to mention having to be replaced all the time."
Michael reached up cautiously and gently touched one. He felt no heat. In fact, the glass felt cool against his finger.
"Interesting. Why don’t you use these everywhere?"
"They require magic to maintain them, so we only use them where they are absolutely necessary. In times when we had more magi living here, they were more widely used."
"Is it a complicated spell?" Michael asked.
"Not at all. I will teach it to you when we are finished with your scrying lesson. We have plenty of the globes in storage."
"Does it require the globes to work?"
"No. They are merely an easily created object that is aesthetically pleasing. You could cast the spell on any object and it would work just as well."
They walked to the end of the corridor where Michael saw a door. Merric opened the door to reveal a staircase leading down.
"The scrying chamber is underground?"
"Yes. It
was built down here so that those using it would be away from the noise and activity of the rest of the castle. Although scrying is not especially difficult, it does require a certain level of concentration, and that concentration must be maintained."
"What key is required to be able to do it?"
"It requires transmutation, so you tell me. What key would that be?"
"Fourth. What is required for the light spell? Elemental creation?"
"Very good. Yes, you must be a sixth key to create and maintain the light globes. That is why we use them in so few places. Only myself, Mieka, and Mathis can maintain them. Once I show you, you will be able to help us keep them lit."
"Cool. At least I can start being useful around here. I feel like I should be paying rent or tuition or something."
"You can be the most useful by learning how to use your magic so we can end this war."
"These past couple of weeks, I have been so absorbed in my training, that the war seems very far away. The Avari are so quiet, and the elves almost never come up to the castle. Everything seems so calm."
"Trust me, Michael. The war is going on out there. The dwarves fight to hold their borders. Just because King Brose’s knights wiped out the band of ogres running lose in Branna does not mean it is over. They were only a small part of a much larger struggle, and those ogres killed a lot of innocent people before they were run to ground. They destroyed six villages and almost all of the people who lived in them. They would have killed more if Drakkin hadn’t stumbled upon them while hunting."
"I know. I just feel like I should be doing something more. You know, be more involved with what is going on outside these walls."
"You are not ready for that yet, Michael. You still have a lot to learn before you can truly be of help in that respect," Merric said with a sigh.
"Mortow is not going to sit around the twenty years it will take me to catch up."
"No, he is not. That is why we have to make the most of the time we do have. There is no way you will ever be as ready as I would like for you to be, but the more you learn, the better off we will all be when the time comes upon us." Merric began to walk down the stairs.
The Chronicles of the Myrkron: Book 01 - The Nine Keys of Magic Page 42
