“Yes, sir,” Aeron said, fairly bursting with excitement. He was an apprentice!
“Good.” Master Doronal slid a small piece of parchment across the desk to Aeron. “Here are the next spells you are to study. Pay particular attention to the bind components of the last two. There will be questions.”
Aeron picked up the parchment and glanced over the spells listed.
Master Doronal opened another drawer and removed something before sliding the drawer closed again. “Seeing as you’re now an apprentice, you have earned this.” He handed a small pin to Aeron, his apprentice pin. It was like his mother’s, but this one bore the Magic Craft emblem, and at its center was a small green emerald, indicating apprentice rank.
Aeron took his pin reverently. “Oh, sir. Thank you.” He admired it for a moment before quickly attaching it to his right shirt collar, where rank pins were worn.
“You’ve earned it,” Master Doronal said. “Go ahead and take the rest of the afternoon off. It looks like you’ve got about an hour and a half until dinner.”
“Thank you!” Aeron said. He grabbed his primer and headed out of the office, a large smile on his face.
As he walked down the hallway, Aeron touched his apprentice pin. He was a Magic Craft apprentice! He raised his arms into the air, jumped, and let out a whoop of joy.
Aha! Sharrah finally found the information she had been looking for. She smiled and wrote down some notes. Her original estimates for the average gestation time and weaning time for a bison calf were correct, but having actual references for the data was best. She looked over her notes once more, and seeing that she had everything she would need, she gathered the various studies and reports she’d been reading over and took them back to storage.
She didn’t actually need that information for her summary report, but she wanted it in case she was allowed to do the comparative analysis. As she prepared the summary, she was coming across all kinds of data that were giving her even more ideas about things she wanted to be able to track from report to report.
She smiled as she made her way back to her desk. The summary report was coming along quite nicely, actually. The study team had been gone for what, six days now? One week. And she was almost done with the data gathering portion of her task. Once she finished gathering the data, she’d have to organize the summary and decide the best way to present everything. She’d probably end up following the format of the various summary reports she’d come across, with her own little tweaks thrown in, of course.
“You seem pretty happy about something,” Jorge said. He was looking over at her from his own desk where he had been going over some report or another.
“Well yes, I am,” she said and kept smiling.
Jorge looked at her a moment, and when she just sat there smiling, he chuckled and said, “Care to share?”
Sharrah laughed and said, “I was just thinking about how great my report is coming along. I’ll probably be done in a day or two. Right around a week, which is what I had initially estimated.”
“Very nice. Master Canneth will be glad to see his trust was well placed.”
“To tell you the truth, I’d also love doing the summary of the teams’ upcoming report as well as the comparative analysis of the two.”
Jorge whistled. “Wow, you’re really into this, huh?”
“It’s actually fun,” Sharrah replied. “I mean, it is time-consuming, but the information in the team reports is great. And being able to track the bison’s progress and see how they are faring out there is very interesting to me.”
“Well, I’ll tell you what. I’ll let Master Canneth know, but it will be up to him, of course.”
“Oh gosh, I wasn’t telling you all that so you could tell—”
“No, no,” Jorge interrupted, laughing, “I know. You’re not that type of person. You definitely have passion for it, though, and I’m sure Master Canneth will want to know that.”
“Well, alright. If you say so.”
He smiled. “I do. Now, it’s just about time for dinner. Off with you before you starve to death amongst your beloved files and reports!”
And to her complete embarrassment, her stomach rumbled.
“See! Scoot!” He waved her to the doors.
Laughing and blushing, Sharrah headed off. As she passed out of the barn, she heard Smoke bark. She looked over to him and saw him standing next to his food bowl. He was whining.
“Oh no, Smoke, I am so sorry!” she said as she ran over to him and gave him a hug. “I totally forgot about your food this morning, didn’t I boy? I’ve been concentrating on that report so much I’ve been completely ignoring other things.”
She lifted his face, looked at him and said, “To make up for that horrible oversight, not only will I bring you the tasty scraps from Mallory, but I’ll also bring you a nice bone. How’s that?”
Smoke barked and licked her face.
“Good boy,” she said laughing. “You just hang on here, and I’ll bring you your dinner right after I finish mine.” She gave him a final pat on the head and headed off to the Dining Hall.
She felt terrible! How could she have forgotten to feed Smoke? What else had she overlooked or missed because she was so involved with the report? From now on, she vowed, if she wasn’t actually working on the report, she wasn’t going to think about it. She lifted her head, straightened her shoulders, and walked with purpose along the road to the Dining Hall.
“Aeron, is that an apprentice pin? It is! Congratulations!” Mallory’s eyes were alight, and she had a large smile on her face.
Aeron blushed, but he had an equally large smile on his face as he said, “Thank you.”
“Well, that means yeh deserve a couple more fried pies, I think.” And she removed two more of the delicious apple-filled pies from the warmers, which kept them piping hot, and placed them on his tray.
“Oh, excellent! Thanks Mallory!” He couldn’t believe his fortune. He absolutely loved the tasty fried fruit pies.
“Hey,” said the boy in line behind Aeron, “I’m an apprentice, does that mean I get extra too?”
“Harod, yeh got extra when yeh got apprentice, and yeh know it!” Mallory said, smiling and pointing her serving tongs at him.
“I know, I’m just teasing.” Harod flashed a wicked smile at Aeron, who laughed.
As he headed out into the dining room, Aeron didn’t see either of his friends anywhere. He didn’t want to take too long looking either, as he wanted to eat his first pie while it was still warm. So he quickly found a spot at a table with room for more and sat down.
He gingerly bit into the crunchy crust of the first pie. The warm, sweet apple filling was exactly perfect. He took his time enjoying the delicious pastry and sighed in delight when it was finished, licking his fingers. Aeron grabbed another pie and dug into it. And it was equally as tasty as the first, if not a bit cooler.
“Don’t you just love fried pies?” Willem asked excitedly as he sat down next to Aeron.
“Oh my, yes,” Aeron replied, licking his fingers.
Willem grabbed his pie and bit into it. A look of supreme happiness made its way across his face. “And absolutely up to Master Tallah’s standards too,” he said around a mouthful of the delicious pastry.
“Boys!” Sharrah said as she sat down. There was a lot of disgust in that one word. “Why do they always eat dessert first?” She looked at Aeron and then at Willem and said, “You’re going to ruin your appetites.”
“Sharrah, it’s fried pies,” Aeron pointed out. “You have to eat them first. You don’t want them to get cold, do you?”
She looked at Aeron a moment, glanced at Willem, and then looked down at her pie. “You do bring up a good point.” She glanced back at Aeron and quirked her mouth. “A very, very good point.”
After she finished her pie, she looked guiltily at Aeron and said, “They really are quite delicious.”
Willem had a large grin on his face. “Yes they are,” he agreed.
Aeron nodded, smiling. “Mallory gave me extra pies as a reward for finally getting this.” He pointed out his apprentice pin.
“Aeron!” Sharrah cried. “Congratulations!”
“Golden!” Willem exclaimed and grabbed Aeron’s shoulder, shaking it. “Good job!”
Aeron smiled and blushed. “Thanks,” he said. “I’m so excited to finally be on my way to learning more about magic.”
Sharrah started eating her dinner and asked, “What was the apprenticeship examination?”
“Yeah,” Willem said, digging into his dinner as well. “I don’t know anyone else in magic and have no idea what kind of testing is done in that craft.”
Aeron eyed his last pie, but Sharrah had been right. He should eat his dinner now and check whether he had room for the pie after. And even if he didn’t, it would make a great snack for later!
“Four spells,” Aeron said, putting a spoonful of stew in his mouth.
Sharrah and Willem looked at him expectantly. He quickly chewed, swallowed, and continued. “I had to cast four spells correctly: Dagur’s Gleam, Kasia’s Nullification, Meturato’s Gloom and Xing’s Levitation.”
As he finished his dinner, he recounted his examination, including a description of what the spells did. Both Willem and Sharrah found various parts of the story quite interesting. “They’re fairly simple spells, and I was given as much time as I wanted to study them,” he finished. “Now I have four more spells to learn.”
“It must be a comfort to have Master Doronal watching with the bracelets in case something bad happens,” Sharrah said.
“In a way it is, in a way it isn’t,” Aeron replied bobbing his head from side to side.
“What do you mean?” Willem asked.
“Well,” Aeron began, “it’s a double-edged sword. As Sharrah said, it is nice to have him watching in case I do something wrong. But then, he sees when I do something wrong!” Aeron laughed. “Even if I catch it myself and correct it before moving on to the next step, he’s seen the mistake I made.” Aeron looked a little sheepish. “It also makes me feel like a babe, with someone holding my hand along the way.”
“I can see that,” Sharrah conceded. “But better that, than something horrible happen.”
“Yes, that’s true,” Aeron agreed, nodding.
Willem glanced around and then whispered, “Speaking of something horrible, have either of you heard about Cotter’s Grove?”
“What’s Cotter’s Grove?” Aeron asked.
Willem shushed him, indicating he should lower his voice, and Aeron moved closer.
“A village several days east and south of here,” Sharrah replied. She had also moved closer and lowered her voice. “What about it?” she asked Willem.
“I heard someone was killed there about a week ago,” Willem said.
“Killed?” Sharrah asked. “That’s horrible!”
“By a nahual,” Willem said.
Aeron’s body jerked and he sat back.
Willem chuckled and asked him, “Are you alright? You jumped nearly a foot.”
“I’m fine,” Aeron said, though his skin crawled. “It’s just . . . for some reason, whenever I hear about them it really creeps me out.”
“Are you sure it was a nahual?” Sharrah asked.
“Yes,” Willem replied. “Though the victim was mortally wounded, he was able to kill the nahual.” He looked at Aeron. “The victim’s apprentice found him, the dead creature not far from his master’s body.”
Aeron shivered. “Where do they even come from?” he wondered aloud.
“There are a lot of ridiculous theories about where they come from,” Sharrah said. “What worries me though, is the fact that Cotter’s Grove is not really that far from here.”
“That is alarming,” Aeron agreed.
“How did you hear about this?” Sharrah asked Willem.
“On the way over, I passed the barracks, and I overheard a couple of guards talking. Apparently Cotter’s Grove wants to start a garrison because of the attack and is looking to hire a few men.”
“That’s actually a great idea,” Aeron said. “But what about people out on their own, far from the nearest settlement?” Aeron shivered again. “I’m glad we live in the Caer.”
Willem nodded in agreement and Sharrah said, “Me too.”
All three friends sat quietly at the table, lost in their own thoughts about the deadly mysteries of nahual.
“Now I feel bad for bringing up the attack,” Willem eventually said. “I didn’t mean to take away from your apprenticeship news.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Aeron said. “An attack that close is important to know about.”
“Yes,” Sharrah said.
Willem watched Aeron sidelong for a bit, then he brightened and asked, “Hey, can you do a spell for us?”
“Oh, yes,” Sharrah said, smiling. “Can you?”
“Sure,” Aeron replied. He looked around the Dining Hall and said, “But can I show you the spell in my room? I’d feel less self-conscious there.”
“That’s fine by me,” Willem said.
“Yeah,” Sharrah agreed.
“Great,” Aeron said and smiled. He glanced at the plates in front of him. They were empty except for his last pie. “Oh no,” he said, sadly.
“What?” Sharrah asked, a concerned look on her face.
“My last pie,” he replied, crestfallen, “it’s cold.”
Willem burst out laughing and Sharrah joined him.
“Laugh all you want,” Aeron said, “They aren’t as delicious cold.”
Willem reached for the pie. “Well, I’ll take that terrible cold thing off your hands, then.”
Aeron quickly grabbed it. “I don’t think so!” He took a bite from the pie. “It’s still tasty, just not as heavenly.”
Willem smiled at him. “Well, I have to make a stop at the Leather Craft Hall first, so I’ll meet you both at your room.”
“Alright,” Aeron replied, a bit of crust on his lip.
Willem had a mysterious smile on his face as he stood, taking his tray with him.
“And I have to stop at the barn to feed Smoke,” Sharrah said. “I feel just terrible that I forgot to feed him this morning, so I am going to ask Mallory for a nice bone along with his scraps.”
“Oh! I’ll go with you, if you don’t mind,” Aeron said. “I haven’t seen Smoke in a while, and I’d like to say hi.”
Sharrah smiled. “Sure!”
After busing their dishes, they walked over to the door leading to the kitchens and asked for Mallory.
“I suspected so,” Mallory said, smiling, when she saw Sharrah. “I missed yeh this morning and knew ye’d be back tonight. And hello again to yeh, Aeron.”
Aeron smiled and nodded hello.
“Yeah,” Sharrah said, embarrassed. “I completely forgot about feeding Smoke this morning and I feel horrible. In fact, I don’t suppose you have a nice meaty bone to spare that I can give him, extra?”
“I do believe I have just the thing,” she replied. “I’ll be but a moment.” She quickly disappeared into the kitchen and was gone less than a minute before she returned carrying a metal bowl filled with meat scraps and a nice big bone that Smoke was sure to enjoy.
“Oh, thank you, Mallory,” Sharrah said as she started to reach for the bowl, “that will do perfectly!”
“I can carry that,” Aeron said and took the bowl.
“Thanks so much,” Sharrah said to Mallory.
“No trouble at all,” Mallory replied. “And don’t yeh worry about bringing the bowl back tonight, yeh can bring it by when yeh stop in in the morning.”
“I will. Thank you Mallory,” Sharrah said.
“Now off with yeh both, don’t keep Smoke waiting.” And with a smile, Mallory turned back to the kitchen.
As they walked down the steps outside the Dining Hall, Sharrah said, “I do feel terrible about Smoke.”
“I don’t mind helping out with his feeding
, if you’re ever busy in the mornings,” Aeron said. “Just let me know at breakfast, and I’ll get his scraps from Mallory and feed him.”
“Oh, would you? That would be great. There are actually some mornings where I am swamped, and that would take a load off my mind.”
Aeron smiled. “Just let me know.”
When they got to the barn, Smoke was waiting. He barked excitedly when he saw them.
“Hey, boy,” Aeron said. “How’ve you been? It’s been a while since I saw you.”
Smoke jumped up and down and whined happily, his tail slapping both their legs with its wild wagging as he spun around in his excitement.
Sharrah, laughing, said, “You better put those scraps in his bowl before he goes crazy.”
Aeron, also laughing, agreed and quickly transferred everything to Smoke’s food bowl.
Sharrah disappeared into the barn a moment and came out with a watering can. While she topped off his water bowl she said, “You know, now that I think about it, I need to be sure to get him more bones every now and then.”
“Oh?” Aeron asked.
“Yeah. He’s already an adult, so it’s not quite as important as if he was still growing, but even so. You see, most carnivores, or meat eaters, get their calcium from bones. Calcium is extremely important for their bones while they are growing, and is still needed as adults to maintain their bones and for proper health in general.”
Aeron nodded as he watched Smoke devour the scraps. Does Smoke breathe while he eats? he wondered. It almost didn’t look like it was possible, the way he wolfed his food down. “And what about us? We don’t usually eat a lot of bones.”
Sharrah laughed. “No, except maybe in those tasty little fish that are almost pickled.”
“Oh, yes. Sardines,” Aeron said. “I love those.”
Sharrah nodded. “Well herbivores, plant eaters, get calcium from different kinds of greens, and legumes, and nuts, as do we. We also get a lot of our calcium from dairy, like milk, cheese and such, and we also get a little from some fruits.” She gestured to Smoke and smiled. “He doesn’t eat many fruits and vegetables or much dairy, so bones are his main source.”
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