The Apprentice to Zdrell

by David K Bennett

  After Frank and the other boys left, Roald could not contain his happiness. “Well, you sure showed them, didn’t you,” he said, pounding Jonny on the back. “Did you see their faces? You’d have thought they saw a demon coming to eat them or something. They never believed you could do that, but I knew you could. I knew.”

  Roald bubbled on in this vein for several minutes while Jonny ate in silence. He was still embarrassed by the whole thing, and even more embarrassed by Roald’s reaction to it. It was as if Roald had done the magic, not Jonny. Finally, he had enough.

  “Look. It was no big thing,” Jonny said, putting his coin back in his pocket. “It was just a trick. I didn’t move a mountain, or blow up a castle wall, or something. I just made a coin spin. That’s all. Now leave it alone.”

  “You just don’t get it, do you?” Roald said, shaking his head. “That was serious magic. And, you did it without any props, or a demon, or anything. You made that coin spin just by looking at it. I doubt if there’s anyone besides The Master in this castle who could do that the way you did.”

  “But what good is it?” Jonny sighed. “It’s just a stupid little trick.”

  “Jonny. If you can do that, there are probably all sorts of other things you can do once Master Silurian shows you how. Most of the guys here will never do any magic on their own. Only a few can make it work at all. I can’t. You can already do it, and you haven’t even been taught. No wonder The Master made such a big deal about it.”

  It still did not seem all that amazing to Jonny, but he now saw a little of what Roald was getting at. Big or small, he had already proved he could do magic. He was just starting to believe it might be something special. But it felt so much like he wasn’t doing anything strange. He just made a coin spin. No big thing.

  Maybe.

  Chapter 9

  Roald and Jonny were just getting up to leave when a young man poked his head in the room. Jonny recognized him as one of the journeymen from the dinner the previous evening. He saw Jonny and Roald and said, “There you are. The Master just got back from his morning exercises and wants to see you both in his north study. Hurry up, and I’ll go with you.”

  Jonny looked at Roald to see if he had any idea why he was being called back to The Master so soon. Roald just shrugged, and they both quickly put their dishes back in the kitchen and hurried out to walk with the journeyman, Eleander, over to the same study where Jonny had first met The Master.

  When they got there, the door was open and Eleander walked right in and called, “Master, I found them, right where I should have looked in the first place, eating breakfast.”

  “Yes, yes, well that’s fine, Eleander,” The Master replied distractedly from his desk where there were several more books piled than Jonny had seen the previous evening. The Master was reading from a passage in one of the large dusty volumes and looked up towards Jonny.

  “My boy, I have spent a good deal of time thinking and reading about that trick you showed me last night, and I believe I finally understand just what was going on.”

  Jonny was once again feeling embarrassed over the large fuss from his simple bit of magic.

  “Jonny,” The Master continued. “I need you to do your trick again for me while Eleander and I observe you, and you too, Roald. I am fairly certain what I will see, but I need to have this confirmed. It could change the way I do quite a number of things.” He looked at Jonny, smiling, “Can you spin the coin and have it stay in a certain place on the table?”

  Jonny nodded.

  “Good, good, then please do it.” He motioned for Jonny to place the coin on a large table Jonny did not remember being in the study the night before.

  Jonny placed the coin and flicked it to start it spinning, but hit it wrong. It shot across and off the table. He was so nervous at having everyone watching, he was not sure he would be able to do the trick again. He muttered, “Sorry, sorry,” and went to pick up the coin.

  Master Silurian looked at Jonny and smiled, “It’s alright, Jonny. We know you can do the trick. We just want to see how it is done. You are fine. Just go ahead.”

  Jonny set the coin on the table again and deliberately did not look at anyone as he started it spinning. Seeing the coin spin was enough to allow Jonny to go back to the task.

  He stared at the coin, and felt the familiar feeling he associated with the trick and focused on making it spin well. After a few seconds, when he was feeling more confident, he did as he had done earlier; he concentrated on making the coin speed up. It was easier the second time. The coin was soon spinning so rapidly that it looked like a golden ball.

  “That’s excellent, Jonny,” The Master said. “That’s even better than what you showed me yesterday. Can you make it move around the table and still keep it under control?”

  “Yeah, I guess so,” Jonny replied, and started thinking about having the coin move across the table, as he had earlier. Slowly the coin edged to the side of the table. Once it got close to the edge, Jonny willed it back to the center.

  “Wonderful, Jonny, perfect, just perfect,” The Master exclaimed. “It is just as I understood, though I’d never have figured this out without seeing it. Eleander, do you see it?” he asked, turning to the journeyman.

  “Alas, no, Master,” Eleander said, sadly. “I see he is bending force lines, but I cannot see how he is doing it. He has no tools or props, uses no gestures, and makes no incantation. I don’t understand it, but I see it happening,” he said, frustration in his voice.

  “His mind is the tool, my boy. Don’t you see? He is moving the force lines with his mind. It is phenomenal. He is using the lost magic of Zdrell. And now I see how he is doing it, I think I could do the same.”

  Jonny had been listening to this exchange while still keeping the coin spinning. When he heard the last thing The Master had said, he momentarily stopped focusing on the coin and it flew across the room and bounced on the floor, rebounding off of books and chairs before it finally came to rest.

  “You really didn’t believe me when I said you had taught me something new, did you, Jonny?” The Master asked, chuckling. “Yes, it is true. Even one as old as I, still feel like I have so much to learn. And you, yes you, will be my teacher, as I will be yours.”

  “But, Master, it is only a coin, a trick . . .” Jonny pleaded.

  “Only a trick?” Master Silurian snorted. “Jonny, Eleander here is one of the more talented journeymen I’ve had in the last several years, and he could not duplicate your trick. He has enough talent to see what you are doing, but he has no idea how he would go about doing it himself, do you, Eleander?” The Master said, turning to look at the journeyman.

  Eleander bowed his head and said softly, “No, my master. I could not do this myself and can see no value in creating an incantation or invoking a demon to do it for me.”

  “You see?” The Master said turning back to Jonny. “Eleander is a competent wizard, nearly ready to become a master, and he couldn’t do what you already can. This is most significant.”

  “Roald,” The Master called to Jonny’s friend who had been sitting at the side of the room. “Fetch Jonny’s coin from the floor over there. It is time I put my enlarged understanding to a test.” He turned and winked at Jonny. “We’ll see if the old man here can do as well as his apprentice. Maybe I can even teach you a thing or two,” he said laughing.

  He was laughing, but Jonny sensed there was an edge under the joviality, and it worried him.

  “Now set it up on the table and get it spinning like Jonny did,” The Master said to Roald.

  “I can start it, Master, but I don’t know anything about keeping it going,” Roald said, with a quaver in his voice.

  “That’s all I ask, boy. I should be the one to keep it spinning this time,” The Master said. He paused as Roald set the coin up. “Start it spinning, boy. Spin it fast,” The Master said, excitement in his voice.

  Roald flicked the edge of the coin and it spun true. Suddenly without warning
, the coin slued sideways and shot off the table as if it had been kicked.

  “Arrgh, I almost had it,” said The Master, with disgust in his voice. “Well, I suppose it wasn’t a bad first try.” He grunted. “Roald, set it up and let’s try it again.”

  Jonny was awe struck. Here was the greatest wizard in the land, and he was having trouble with Jonny’s trick. Not only that, but he did not get it on the second or the third tries either. On the fourth attempt, it spun for a moment and then fell. Finally, on the fifth attempt the coin spun in place for over a minute.

  “There, I believe I’ve got it now,” The Master said, panting slightly. “Yes, I think I have this now. Let me rest a moment and we’ll see if I can repeat it.” He got up from his chair, walked to the window, and stared out for a moment.

  “Jonny, I foresee great things for you, and great danger as well,” The Master said, still looking out the window. “Yes, I will have to train you as I’ve not trained anyone in over one hundred years. There is no time to waste, none at all.”

  He turned from the window and sat in his chair again. “All right, Roald,” The Master sighed. “Let’s do it once again.” Roald started the coin spinning and The Master closed his eyes. “Yes,” he said. “I should have thought of this earlier.” He smiled. “Yes, I do have it now.”

  The coin, which had been spinning, now began to speed up. It initially stayed in the same spot then slowly started moving around the table. First, it moved in a circle. Then it described a square. Then it started to move in a figure eight. Master Silurian chuckled. “Watch this, boys.” As he said this, the coin continued spinning as it left the table. It moved slowly higher and higher until it was more than four feet above the table.

  “Hah,” The Master chuckled, now obviously enjoying himself. “I told you I could show you a trick or two there, Jonny.” The coin now moved in the air until it stopped in front of Jonny. “Hold out your hand.”

  Jonny slowly reached out his hand and held it palm up in front of him. The coin, which had been spinning in front of him abruptly stopped spinning but continued to hang suspended as if by some invisible wire. Then, suddenly, the coin dropped into Jonny’s hand. He nearly dropped it he was so startled.

  “There you have your coin back, Jonny,” The Master said, opening his eyes and smiling warmly at him. “I would have paid many gold coins to have learned that trick years ago. Ah well, better late than never, right?”

  No one said anything. The three young men seemed stunned by what they had witnessed. The Master looked at each of them and laughed. “You are all so solemn. You look as if someone died. This is a time to celebrate. It’s not every day I come across something this wonderful,” he said with real feeling.

  “No, I know what you need. You need to get out and play a bit, yes that is it,” The Master said to Roald. “Roald, you and Jonny are released from any duties for the rest of the day. Go and show Jonny all the places you boys play when you should be doing your lessons or chores. Get out now, the both of you. Eleander and I have things to discuss.”

  He motioned for them to leave. Roald did not hesitate, and Jonny followed.

  Chapter 10

  “Was that really zdrell, you and Jonny did, Master?” Eleander asked, after the younger boys had left.

  “It was indeed, Eleander.” The Master stared off into space.

  “But, I thought it was a lost art.”

  “It is, or was until now.”

  “How is it, you can do it now, Master, when you couldn’t before with all your studies and experience?”

  The Master chuckled, tiredly. “I can do it, because I’ve seen it. It is not so terribly hard, once you see it, but you are mistaken if you think I can really do it.”

  “But that coin, it just flew.”

  “The coin was nothing, Eleander. With no training, Jonny could do nearly as well, and I doubt those boys knew how much energy it cost me to do that. I shall have to rest the remainder of the day, just to recuperate. I doubt Jonny felt tired by it at all.”

  “So what does this mean, Master?”

  “What indeed? This changes many things, and it could not have come at a better time. Yes, it changes many things,” he said, still staring into space.

  § § §

  “Did you see that?” Roald said excitedly as soon as they left the room. “The way that coin just flew up off the table like it had wings. And then, the way it stopped spinning right there in front of you and dropped. Wow!”

  “Yeah,” Jonny said, though not with the enthusiasm Roald had. “That was really great.”

  Jonny was not thinking about the last part. He was still thinking about the four times The Master had tried before he got the hang of Jonny’s trick. It still amazed him that The Master had needed to work to learn the trick.

  In a way, it scared him.

  Roald was oblivious to Jonny’s discomfort. “This is the best, Jonny,” he began. “Not only do we get to spend the morning watching some of the most prodigious magic I’ve ever seen, but we get the rest of the day to play!” He practically danced down the steps out into the main courtyard. Then he suddenly stopped. “We better go tell Lord Feldor The Master gaveus the day off, or we’ll be put to work.”

  They went to the steward’s office where Feldor sat at his desk. He looked skeptical as Roald told him what The Master had said. Then he looked at each of them for a moment and said, “Very well, I accept your story, Roald. But you know what the penalty will be if you are making any of this up.”

  Roald started to look a little bit worried, but then he brightened. “Sir, I swear to you, The Master truly did give us the day off. You can check with him if you want.”

  “I shall not trouble Master Silurian with this now. He has other concerns. Nevertheless, that does not mean I will not talk to him about it eventually. You have both been warned,” he said, with a stern stare at each of them. “Go on, both of you. Get out before I change my mind,” he said as he looked down to the papers he had been reading when they entered.

  “C’mon, let’s go,” Roald said, and they both ran out of the office.

  They spent the rest of the day, with Roald showing Jonny all the different parts of the castle and then the woods up the hill from the west side of the walls. Twice older apprentices, who obviously wanted to put them to work, challenged them. Roald clearly loved telling them how they were at liberty on The Master’s order and that Feldor would verify this. Both times when The Master and Feldor’s names were invoked, the boys backed down. The two had a thoroughly fun time all afternoon and into the evening. Feldor only required Roald to run some errand without Jonny at lunch time. Jonny took the opportunity to take a nap.

  Finally, Jonny asked, “Don’t you think we’d better get back or we’ll miss dinner, won’t we?”

  “Nah,” Roald replied. “Dinner’s not usually a formal affair like last night. Unless you get invited, you eat in the mess just like we did for breakfast. That means scut boys like us eat last, after the big fellows have eaten and cleared out. It’s easier to avoid trouble if you wait till later.”

  “Do you get into trouble very often?” Jonny asked. He was still curious about some of Roald’s dark hints.

  “Not very often now,” Roald replied. “When I first got here, I swear that was all I got into. I didn’t have anyone to tell me what to do or anything and it was . . . bad, for a while,” he said with a shudder. “But that’s all past now. And I’ll make sure things go well for you, Jonny. Friends?” he asked, grabbing Jonny lightly by the forearm.

  “Friends forever,” Jonny replied, grabbing Roald’s forearm as well.

  “Let’s go eat,” Roald said. “I’ll make sure no one messes with you.”

  “Sure,” Jonny laughed. “You can do the fighting for us both,” he joked as they walked slowly back into the castle.

  § § §

  Dinner was uneventful. The food was mostly gone, but there were more than enough scraps for them to eat their fill. For Jonny, even th
ose scraps were wonderful. For the last two years, he could not recall two days in a row when he went to bed with a full stomach.

  As they headed up to their room, Jonny’s thoughts turned again to trying to sleep with Roald’s screams. “Do you, um, scream, ah, every night, Roald?” he asked as they entered the room.

  Roald did not look happy to have to talk about it. “Really, I don’t know. I know I wake everybody else up, but I almost never wake up myself. As a matter of fact, it’s usually when I don’t scream that I wake up.” He turned away and looked at the floor. “On the nights when I don’t scream that’s usually because I’m having nightmares, and they wake me up, but I usually don’t scream.”

  “Roald, what happened to you?” Jonny asked, unable to contain the question any longer. “I mean, you don’t just scream. You beg for someone not to do something to you. What happened?”

  Roald spun around and looked at Jonny for just a moment with hate in his eyes, then the look faded, replaced by some kind of shame. When he spoke, Jonny could tell he was holding back tears, and the effort made him sound mad at Jonny. “I—don’t—want—to—talk about it! I, . . . there’s nothing anyone can do about it now. It’s in the past. Just leave it alone.”

  “Alright,” Jonny said, holding up his hands. “If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s Okay. I just thought, since we were friends, we could talk about those kinds of things. But if you don’t want to, that’s okay. I didn’t mean to get you mad.”

  Now Roald did begin to cry, not loud, just little shuddering gasps. “I’m sorry, Jonny. I didn’t mean to get mad at you, but I can’t even think about it. It just hurts too much.”

  “That’s all right,” Jonny said, unsure of what to do. “If I’d have known it would get to you so much, I wouldn’t have brought it up.” He sighed, “But if you ever do feel like talking about it, I’ll listen.”