The Apprentice to Zdrell

by David K Bennett

  Roald and Jonny headed up the staircase that took them to their room. They recounted the whole thing back to each other a couple of times whenthey got ready for bed.

  Once in bed, Jonny turned to Roald and said, “Thanks, Roald. You really saved me. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”

  “Thanks, Jonny,” Roald replied quietly. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had too. G’night.”

  “Good night, Roald,” Jonny said, and drifted into a dreamless sleep.

  § § §

  “Well, Alira,” Master Silurian said as he entered his bedroom suite. “I believe we gave Boregond a bit of a shock tonight.”

  “Silurian,” she said with mock indignity, while she sat in the high-backed chair embroidering, her long gray hair in a braid down her back. “What have you done now, my foolish husband?”

  Master Silurian smiled mischievously as he began changing into his nightgown. “I only let our new little Jonny show him what a real wizard can do.”

  “Do you think that’s wise?” she said quirking an eyebrow at him.

  “Yes, I believe it is more than wise. Boregond has no business being here. He claims he is only taking customary hospitality as he journeys back north. Such an obvious lie. I’ve heard him claim he never travels by carriage if he can avoid it. He prefers to have demons cart him here and there in the blink of an eye. He has always said no self-respecting master should even own a carriage.”

  Master Silurian finished tying the draw string at the neck of his nightgown and began pacing. “My guess is that the pack of demon wizards he associates with decided to send him through to test my mettle again. They are like a pack of vultures waiting for me to weaken enough for them to move in and take over Salaways.”

  “Dear, don’t work yourself into a state, or you’ll never get to sleep. It is already quite late.” Alira locked eyes with him for a moment, and then he lowered his gaze.

  “You are right, dear. But, oh you should have seen his face when little Jonny had that dagger spinning. I thought he would die of apoplexy,” he said chuckling.

  “But will he guess the truth? Couldn’t that pose a threat to Jonny, and you too?”

  “No, he won’t,” The Master said as he came to kneel by her chair. “You see, he didn’t believe his eyes. He will infer I have come up with some new spell and a way to activate it and only used Jonny as a ruse. The man is incapable of believing the boy is a future zdrell master.” He stood, and walked slowly to the bed they shared, and lay back.

  “His own pigheadedness protects us. He does not know what he saw, and so he will report that I am still too strong, and we will be left in peace for another few years. I only hope it is long enough to get Jonny ready. When they finally do believe he is a zdrell master, they will stop at nothing to destroy him.”

  § § §

  As Roald and Jonny were finishing breakfast, Eleander came and sat down with them. “I wonder if you two might be interested in a bit of news,” he said, stealing a piece of bread off Roald’s plate. Both boys looked at Eleander expectantly. After chewing on the bread for several seconds to see if they would beg him to tell, he continued. “It seems our visitor, Master Boregond, who was going to be staying for two days, changed his mind and left early this morning. He didn’t even have breakfast before he was in his carriage and on his way.”

  Roald and Jonny looked at each other, then back at Eleander, who had a faintly amused expression on his face.

  “You don’t think that had anything to do with us?” Jonny asked, sounding worried.

  “I don’t know . . . ,” Eleander said coyly. “But unless The Master said something to offend him after we left last night . . .”

  “Do you think The Master will be mad at us?” Roald asked, beginning to tremble.

  “No, I don’t think so,” Eleander said smiling. “In fact,” he stared straight at Jonny. “He might even be happy. I don’t think he really wanted to host Master Boregond all that much in the first place. If you two gave him a reason to want to leave in a hurry, I think he’ll welcome it.”

  Roald looked very much relieved that The Master would not be upset with him. He let out a large sigh. “That’s not nice Eleander. You really had me worried. I don’t know what I’d do if The Master was mad at me.”

  “Well, it’s still not certain he isn’t, but you’ll both find out soon enough. He just sent word he wants to meet with both of you this morning. This time, I think he’s going to work directly with you, Jonny. So, you both better finish up so we can get going.”

  Jonny and Roald looked at each other again. Jonny shrugged, then they both set to work quickly finishing off what was left of their breakfasts.

  As soon as they left the mess, they had to walk fast to keep up with Eleander who was plainly in a hurry. He took them to a back part of the main keep that neither of the boys had visited before. The room they finally entered was the largest Jonny had ever been in. The ceiling arched more than twenty feet up, and a skylight in the middle of the ceiling went much higher.

  Several large work tables spread around the room. Not one of the tables was empty. They were piled with books, cauldrons, blocks of metal, wood and other substances Jonny couldn’t identify.

  In some parts of the room, the dust was thick, as though no one had walked there in months or years. Other areas showed recent use, including one table covered by a slowly spreading smoking puddle that was dripping onto the floor. Several journeymen occupied different parts of the room. All of them made a show of not noticing Jonny.

  From the doorway, Jonny looked around the room in wonder. After several moments Eleander said, “Come on. I know it’s a bit much the first time you see it, but you two don’t know how lucky you are. This is The Master’s main workshop. Most apprentices never see it. This is where The Master does all of his real work, and he wants you close at hand, Jonny.”

  Eleander led them over to a table, which only had a couple of books on it. When they got closer, Jonny saw that next to the books was the dagger he had spun the day before. Eleander pointed towards it, noticing Jonny had seen it. “I bet you can figure what you need to do with that,” he said grinning. “I’m not sure what else The Master wants you to do, but I’m sure he’ll tell you soon enough himself.”

  No sooner had Eleander spoken than Master Silurian came in. He was carrying a canister, which he opened as soon as he got to the table with the spill, and began sprinkling its contents over the smoking puddle. He continued, ignoring the boys for several moments, then said, “That’s about got it. Nasty stuff acid potions, especially when they are done wrong, which this one was, eh, Alexander?” He nodded towards a young man who had been sitting at one of the tables reading a large book ever since they had come into the room.

  “I swear I had everything in the right portions according to this book, Master. I’ve just gone over it all again and I did everything exactly as it’s written here,” he said gesturing harshly at the book. He was a tall young man, who appeared to be in his early twenties or very late teens. His hair fell in a loose mop that was beginning to recede at the forehead. He stood up and walked over to The Master.

  “Well, I’ve warned you often enough, Alexander,” The Master began. “Most of these books are copied by scribes who haven’t the foggiest idea what is in them, and who frequently seem quite careless about numbers. I have had enough problems myself with that sort of thing. This is why I am always telling you that you must always check the numbers yourself to see if they make sense. Too big or too small, and it can all end in disaster. This was only a small explosion. Imagine if it had been bigger. There have been more than a few wizards and alchemists who have lost a hand, an eye, or even their lives over this sort of error.”

  The Master glared at Alexander, who looked stricken. He motioned at the now congealing dust covered puddle and said, “Now clean this up, and do be careful. This neutralizing agent has slowed it down some, but that acid is still potent. You know how, right?”

&n
bsp; “Yes, Master,” Alexander sighed.

  “Then get on with it,” The Master snapped. Then he wheeled on Jonny and barked, “And what are you doing here standing and gawking? There’s work to be done!”

  Jonny started to stammer something, but The Master cut him off. “Yes there’s work to be done, but at least now that windbag Boregond is gone, it can be useful work. And I suppose I have you to thank for that,” he said smiling. “But don’t think it will get you out of any work. Why, if your friend here hadn’t bailed you out, you would have ruined my little surprise for Boregond.” He paused and looked thoughtful, “Though it did end up being very dramatic in its own way, didn’t it?

  “After what he said when he thought you couldn’t perform, he couldn’t stay around much, could he?” The Master chuckled, “Just thinking of the look on his face does my heart good.”

  The Master walked over to the table where both Jonny and Roald were standing, afraid to say anything. Neither had seen The Master in this type of a volatile mood before, and they did not want to say anything that would get his anger directed at them. He balanced the dagger on its tip and held it with one finger. He looked directly at Jonny and said, “Make it spin, now, no hesitation!”

  Where the previous night Jonny had been afraid of not being able to perform, now he was afraid of disappointing The Master. This had just the opposite effect on Jonny. Without even pausing to think, he reached out with his mind and immediately started the dagger spinning rapidly. The Master had to remove his finger hastily because of the friction building up between the knife and the tip of his finger. He laughed.

  “Just as I thought! All you needed was the appropriate motivation. I knew if your mind wasn’t allowed to dwell on your fear, you could perform.” He stared at the dagger for a few moments, and then looked up. “Eleander tells me you can spin a coin while keeping the dagger spinning.”

  “Yes, Master,” Jonny said not looking up from the dagger. “But it’s easier if the coin is where I can look at it and the dagger at the same time.”

  “Oh, it’s easier if it is . . . ,” The Master said with a tone Jonny was beginning to dislike. “Then we’ll have to make sure it isn’t very close then, shan’t we?”

  The Master extracted a coin from his belt pouch and put it down on the table at the opposite end from where the dagger was spinning. Jonny was alarmed at the distance, but said nothing.

  “Roald,” The Master began. “Come over here and spin this coin for your friend. And I want you to stand right here,” he said indicating a spot where Roald’s body would hide the coin almost completely from Jonny’s gaze.

  Jonny grew more alarmed by the second. It was bad enough The Master wanted him to spin the coin while he was spinning the dagger. It was even worse that he placed the coin so far from the it, but now he had Roald standing so he could barely see it. How was he going to make it work? The dagger started to wobble.

  “Concentrate, Jonny,” The Master said, taunting. “We wouldn’t want to make the dagger fall, especially when we haven’t started the coin. Come, Roald. Spin the coin for Jonny so we can see if he really can do as advertised.”

  Jonny did not like the edge in The Master’s voice. This whole thing had seemed like a dream come true just moments before, but now it was starting to feel like a nightmare. He wished he could find someone to wake him. Roald flicked the coin with practiced ease and suddenly Jonny did not have time to be afraid.

  He shifted his focus momentarily to the coin and sped it up quickly, then shifted back to concentrating on the knife, which had already begun to slow. He kept up the effort for several moments, shifting his attention back and forth between the two, keeping them both in motion. It was tiring, but he was doing it.

  “Good, Jonny,” The Master said. “This is well done, but now we need to make it more interesting.” The Master took a large square piece of leather from another table and gave it to Roald. “Roald, my boy, hold this on its edge right here,” he said indicating a spot just past the coin.

  “But, Master,” Jonny blurted out. “If he puts it there I won’t even be able to see the coin.”

  “That’s the point, Jonny,” The Master said with a kinder tone. “You can barely see it now with Roald standing where he is. I want you to see if you can still spin it, even when you can’t see it with your eyes.”

  Jonny’s fear, which had receded when he had gotten the two objects under control, now came back with a great rush. “I can’t do it, Master. I have to be able to see it.”

  “Nonsense!” The Master roared at him. “Boy, you don’t even understand what you’re doing here. How do you know you must see the coin in order to make it spin? You know nothing of the sort. You only know you have always needed to see it before, but before yesterday, you would have said you could not spin two things at once. Today you are spinning them both and you will learn to spin something without seeing it. Put the panel where I showed you, Roald.”

  Roald placed the leather panel down while looking helplessly at Jonny. Jonny did not see the look. He was desperately trying to get the coin to spin as fast as he could while he could still see it. Then the panel came down.

  Jonny shifted his focus to the dagger to get it spinning faster as well, and then tried to focus back on the coin. He tried to touch it with his mind and thought he did. He asked, “Is it still spinning, Roald?”

  The Master did not give him a chance to answer. “Say nothing to him, Roald. What do you think, Jonny? Is it still spinning?”

  “I don’t, I don’t know,” Jonny said. “I’m trying to spin it just like always, but I can’t tell if I can’t see it.”

  “See it with your mind, boy,” The Master commanded. “Feel it. You have to feel it to make it spin in the first place. Use that same feeling to let you know what it’s doing.”

  Jonny continued to work at keeping the coin spinning, but was starting to panic at not being able to tell if it was working or not. Suddenly he was distracted by the sound of the dagger falling down. He had been concentrating so hard on the coin he had forgotten about it.

  “Ignore it, Jonny. The dagger is unimportant. If you can figure this out, then you will be able to do two again. This is just a matter of practice. Now, is the coin still spinning?”

  “I, I think so,” Jonny moaned. “But I’m not sure. I just don’t know.”

  “Lift up the panel, Roald,” The Master commanded. “Let Jonny see with his eyes for a moment.”

  Roald lifted the panel out of the way, and the coin was spinning right where it had been before, only now it was spinning much faster. Jonny was so happy, but The Master left him no time for celebration.

  “Now, make it move a little closer towards you,” The Master said.

  Jonny concentrated and the coin moved several inches closer.

  “Now, put the panel back down, Roald,” The Master said dashing Jonny’s hopes that the ordeal was over.

  “Move the coin back to where it was before, Jonny,” The Master said, staring straight at him.

  Jonny said nothing. He knew complaining would do him no good. He tried to move the coin back to where it had been before. He did it totally by feel. After a few moments The Master said, “Roald, lift up the panel and let Jonny see.”

  Roald lifted the panel out of the way again, and Jonny saw the coin was nearly back to where it had started. He laughed, “It worked, it really worked!”

  “Yes, it did,” The Master said, obviously pleased. “Now let it drop. Rest for a few moments and then we’ll work up to more difficult things.”

  Jonny did not know whether to be happy or sad. He had already done more than he would ever have thought possible, and here was The Master telling him it was only the beginning. Now he knew what Eleander meant when he said The Master would make him work harder than he had ever dreamed possible.

  Before the day was over, Jonny could spin both the coin and the dagger at the same time while blindfolded. It was the start of The Master’s relentless program to deve
lop Jonny’s talent.

  Chapter 18

  The next day, and the days that followed settled into a routine. In the morning, Jonny worked on his tricks: spinning more and different things with variations in the combinations and complexity as suggested by The Master. Roald was there to assist Jonny and function as a gofer for The Master and any of the other journeymen, if Jonny did not actively need help.

  In the afternoon Jonny and Roald were tutored in another part of the castle by one of the journeymen, on reading, writing, and figuring. Sometimes this happened with other apprentices, other times it was just Jonny and Roald.

  In the late afternoon, or evening, Jonny and a few select apprentices were tutored by The Master, or senior journeymen on the theory and practice of the various forms of magic. Jonny soon discovered that the other apprentices were those The Master and the journeymen referred to as “brights.” When he asked, Jonny was told that the brights were apprentices who showed some aptitude for magic, and had a real chance of becoming journeymen.

  There were never more than two or three brights with Jonny, even though there were nearly fifty apprentices at the castle. No one would answer when Jonny asked how they figured out who was a bright and who was not.

  § § §

  “A message arrived while you were at the city council meeting, Silurian,” Alira said, as she sat knitting by the fire. The Master was changing out of the formal purple and gold robes he used for government functions.

  “It must be important, dearest, or you wouldn’t be teasing me with it. Out with it, why should this message be any different than the other twenty I’m sure are sitting on Feldor’s desk?”

  “I wouldn’t know, but it’s written in Klathar, and sealed with a master’s ring.” She smiled at his excited reaction, and before he could protest further pointed with one of her needles at the sealed scroll on the night stand beside the bed. “It’s over there.”

  Silurian picked up the scroll, opened the seal and quickly began to read. His excited expression faded as he read. He was soon frowning.