“Bad news?” she asked gently.
“Yes. My old friend Beldereth is dead. He was probably one of the finest materials magic practitioners alive, and now he’s dead, and who knows how much knowledge lost with him.”
“How did he die?”
“It says he died exactly the way he always cautioned me about. He was alone and an experiment went awry, and he asphyxiated. If he had had an assistant with him, he probably would have been saved, but he was working late in the night, alone. Oh, what a loss.”
“His passing strengthens the demon camp, doesn’t it?” she said, staring into the fire.
The Master, too, stared into the fire and answered slowly. “Yes, it does. Nearly all the younger masters have been thrown in with them. In some ways I can’t blame them, demon magic is so much simpler and the rewards are greater, if you can stomach the price to be paid.” Silurian’s expression turned grave. “It makes me sick, to see what demon magic does to its wielders. They don’t even think of their sacrifices as human, they can’t afford it. I’m not sure how human they are after years of it.”
“They are quite human, my dear Silurian, and that is why you loathe them so completely.”
Chapter 19
Jonny never would have believed that learning could be more work than being a slave, but sometimes he found himself longing for the simplicity of cleaning out a crawlspace. He was learning a lot, but it never seemed to be enough for The Master. He learned reading and writing in Herglish, the common language of the continent, figuring, geometry, and history. All of this, in addition to time he spent spinning objects in more and varied combinations, and learning the theories and history of magic.
When Jonny asked why he was learning so many things, so much faster than any other apprentice or journeyman in the castle, The Master replied, “Because there is little time, and because you can learn these things, and because you must learn them soon, before there is no time.”
The response puzzled Jonny even more, but before he could ask again, The Master continued. “No more delaying. Tell me the five major branches of magic, with each of their sub-branches.”
Jonny sighed and recited, “The five major branches of magic are: Material, Demon, Divination, Power manipulation, and direct manipulation, also called sleight of hand.”
“Good. Continue,” The Master said, and Jonny did.
§ § §
One day, during history class, taught by Feldor, Roald asked a question that was to have great significance.
“Sir,” Roald said, raising his hand to interrupt Lord Feldor’s detailed explanation of a battle in The Great War. “Sir, why do we spend so much time studying The Great War? It happened over a thousand years ago. There have been lots of wars and battles since, so why do we spend so much time on it?”
“Roald, I could ask you the same question, but I won’t. The Great War was unique. It was the only time the Grimoridans attacked our continent of Skryla. It was the only time in the history of Skryla that all of the seventeen city-states of Skryla have been at war with a common enemy. And it lasted a very long time. How long did it last, Larin?”
Larin suddenly became very interested in his feet. Feldor looked around. “Jonny?”
“Twenty years?” Jonny answered uncertainly.
“No. Roald?”
“Ninety three years?”
“Correct, Roald. In the more than one thousand years since that war, there have probably been fewer battles fought, put together, than in The Great War alone.”
“How did it finally end?” Larin asked.
“Does anyone know?” Feldor said, scanning the room.
“No one knows for sure,” Jonny said quietly.
“Correct, Jonny. The exact cause is unknown, though there are more theories than you could know in a lifetime of study. The simplest reason is that the Grimoridans simply could not hold their land here and couldn’t forever supply their armies across the sea. That explanation does not explain how they could maintain the war for nearly a century and then suddenly not be able to.
“That will be enough on this topic for now. Now, who will tell me why this battle,” he said indicating the diagram on the wall, “was lost by the Grimoridans?”
§ § §
The next morning, both Jonny and Roald were surprised to find the coins, rocks, knives and the other objects on Jonny’s worktable were gone. In their place, there was single, large, very ancient book, and a basket filled with small river rocks. Jonny examined the book, and could not figure out any of the strange curled script that adorned its cover and pages. He did not recognize the letters, let alone the words.
The Master came in as Jonny was closing the book in puzzlement. “I would wager you are wondering what happened to all of your things, Jonny, and why this book is here,” Master Silurian said with a small smile.
Jonny nodded.
“It’s there because it is one of the few books I have that was written by a wizard who could do zdrell, and was trying to explain how it all worked. It is very old, and is written in Klathar, the old High Wizard tongue. It is still the best reference I have. This copy is over five hundred years old, but it is what I need to help you, Jonny.”
“Boys, as of today we are done with spinning things. It is time to move on to the next level.”
Both Jonny and Roald were shocked. It seemed to Jonny that spinning things was all he would ever do. In the first days he had been there he thought The Master would rapidly run out of things to do with spinning, but nearly two months later he still seemed full of variations for Jonny to work on. Now, suddenly it was all over. Jonny was both amazed and relieved, but not for long.
“Jonny, as of today you begin learning how to make things fly,” Master Silurian said simply.
Jonny looked at Roald who only shrugged his shoulders. “Master,” Jonny began. “How does making things spin have anything to do with making them fly?”
“I thought you might ask that,” The Master said, grinning. “Jonny, when you spin a coin, or a knife, or a book, what are you doing?”
Jonny was confused by the question. “Uh, spinning it?”
“Yes, Jonny,” The Master said still grinning, but obviously less than pleased with the answer. “But, Jonny, when something is spinning is it moving or still?”
“Moving, Master,” Jonny replied, still not getting where The Master was leading with these questions.
“That’s right, Jonny, it’s moving. When you spin something you make it move, and you even know how to make it stop and start again, don’t you?” Jonny nodded. “So, you already know how to make things move. Flying is just a particular type of movement,” The Master said, as if that settled everything.
Jonny stuttered, “But, but, but flying and spinning are lots different, Master. I couldn’t possibly,” he began, but The Master cut him off.
“It’s all right, Jonny. I know you could not just go right out and start to make things fly, but I believe that soon you will be able to do it. I have the progression all worked out. Just as you started by making one coin spin, and now you can spin twenty. This is the same thing.”
Jonny was not convinced, but he had learned that The Master did know more about this stuff than he did, so he did not object. “So what do we do, Master?”
The Master grinned. “First, we take this and put it here,” he said, taking a large basket he had been carrying and putting it in the middle of Jonny’s work table. “Then, we see how good a shot Roald is,” he said, taking a handful of small stones out of the basket and handing them to Roald, who was looking very concerned.
Roald was relieved to find out that all Master Silurian wanted was for him to practice throwing stones into the basket until he could do it reliably from ten feet away. While Roald practiced this, Jonny practiced getting the feel for the same rocks by rolling them around on the table, so he could move them the same way he spun coins. When he thought no one was looking, he tried to make the stones lift off the table, but rolling wa
s the best he could do.
In just under an hour, they were both ready for the next step. The Master had Roald throw the stones, and all Jonny had to do was to make them miss the basket. For long minutes, a frustrated Jonny could not divert the stones even a small amount, but then he managed to push one. By lunch time, Roald was the frustrated one because Jonny would not let a single rock go where he threw it.
Master Silurian had been supervising some of the journeymen in the other side of the cavernous workshop, but he kept glancing over and occasionally walking by to gauge their progress. He could see Roald’s growing frustration and told the boys they could break and go with him to lunch. This was unusual, as The Master usually ate alone or with Lord Feldor. To their greater amazement he casually mentioned that their old tormenter, Frank, would be serving them.
Roald and Jonny were both shocked. Roald recovered first and started laughing. “Oh this will be sooo good! Thank you, Master. I just want to see the look on his face. Thank you!”
The Master chuckled. “Now, Roald, don’t be too hard on him, at least no more than he deserves.”
“You can be sure of that, Master. Yes, you can be sure he’ll get no more than he deserves,” Roald added with an evil snicker.
Chapter 20
The lunch they ate was as good as Jonny had ever eaten. It tasted all the sweeter for seeing their previous tormenter forced to play the part of servant to them. Roald seemed to be even more clumsy than usual. He knocked plates on the floor two different times requiring Frank to clean up the mess. He might have even done it again except The Master made it clear enough was enough. While they were eating, The Master asked Jonny about his family and how he ended up with Murdoc. It didn’t take long for Jonny to tell the story. The Master then asked Roald about his family. Jonny was very interested since Roald had always been reluctant to talk to Jonny about his family.
Roald said his father was a land owner on the northwest edge of Lake Sharafleg. Roald was the third son and there was nothing for him to inherit. He had been apprenticed to The Master because it was hoped The Master would find a noble profession for him, not because they had thought he was in any way magical. He had been at the castle for six months before Jonny arrived, and during that time had only shown an aptitude for horses. Now working with The Master, he confessed he found all the books fascinating and really enjoyed organizing the workshop.
Finally, Jonny mustered his courage and asked The Master about his past and his family. The Master answered. “Boys, it has been so long, I can scarcely remember what I was like at your age. It seems I have been an old man forever. My parents have been dead over three hundred years.”
“How old are you, Master?” Jonny asked timidly.
“Well,” he paused, “you will turn eleven this week, won’t you?”
“Yes, Master, tomorrow.”
“Well, Jonny, next month it will have been three hundred and fifty two years since I turned eleven.”
“Wow,” both boys said simultaneously.
“Yes, it is true. I have been around for a long time. Boys your age think anyone over thirty is old, but in my case, I really am ancient. There are wizards out there older than I, but not more than ten in all of the continent.”
“Tell us, Master,” Roald said. “Have you seen many battles? Is it true you led the armies that drove out the northern chieftains, and created Salaways as a kingdom of peace?”
“Yes, I had a hand in the creation of Salaways, Roald. And yes, I’ve seen many a battle, and found glory in none. No, truth be told, I only created Salaways as my kingdom because I was tired of war and political intrigue interfering with my studies. Never forget boys, there is never glory in war. It is to be avoided at all costs, and won quickly when it must be fought.” He looked out the window thoughtfully and then continued speaking. “Yes, Salaways has been the best thing I have ever built, and I certainly cannot claim credit for all its creation. Many good men have died to make this country, but it may indeed have been worth it.
“Now, if we can just convince the madmen from the north it isn’t worth their while to try and take it from me.” He sighed, “But that is no concern of you boys. You have other concerns. Let’s finish up here, and then we can see if we can enlarge your talent a bit more this afternoon, eh, Jonny?”
“Yes, Master,” Jonny replied happily and they left Frank to clean up as they went back to the workshop.
§ § §
When they got back to the workshop, The Master let Jonny and Roald know his plan. Now that Jonny could make the rocks miss the basket, The Master wanted him to miss in a single direction. When that was mastered, he would have Jonny work until he could change direction and height, and even hold the rock suspended in the air.
The next day when Jonny and Roald came to the workshop, The Master said that since it was Jonny’s birthday, as soon as Jonny could demonstrate making rocks miss to any side he asked for, they would have rest of the day off. Now it was Roald’s turn to pressure Jonny. The weather was cold, clear, and the sun was out for the first time in weeks. Roald really wanted to go outside, and so did Jonny.
As usual, Jonny was able to pick up work at his best performance the previous day. In fact, Jonny felt things were coming much easier that day. Within two hours of arriving, Jonny was ready to demonstrate for The Master. He knew Master Silurian would try to throw him off, but he was ready. He had spent the last half hour going over everything; having Roald try various tricks like throwing the rocks quickly, or unexpectedly.
When he called The Master over to watch it was actually rather anticlimactic. The Master called off directions and Jonny diverted rocks off in the requested direction. He made no mistakes, and The Master did not seem surprised. His only comment was that if he had known Jonny would get done this early, he would have made the task harder. However, he smiled and sent them on their way.
§ § §
Jonny and Roald spent the rest of the day out playing in the woods near the castle. They tramped around, chasing each other, squirrels, and birds. Even though the water was icy cold, they tried a few times to catch fish with their bare hands. They had no success, and soon decided throwing rocks in the water was more fun. They could not catch the fish, but they could scare them. Jonny even secretly tried pushing some of the rocks Roald was throwing to see if he could make them go where he wanted. Roald soon figured out that something was going on, and told Jonny to stop, which he did.
Jonny started to think of some interesting uses for being able to change the direction of something being thrown, but he did not mention it to Roald. He tried to make a rock fly without being thrown, but had no success than he had had previously. He still could not get the right feel for the rocks.
At the end of the day, they came back to their room at the castle, tired and cold but very happy. They took the time to bathe, since they had both gotten quite muddy from all their play. When they went to bed that night they both fell instantly asleep. For once, Roald did not wake up in the middle of the night screaming.
Chapter 21
Things went back pretty close to what Jonny had come to think of as normal, except now instead of spinning things he was pushing around rocks when he wasn’t involved in his other studies. At first, his control increased rapidly, but after four weeks, he was still only able to move rocks after they had first been thrown.
Jonny was feeling frustrated, both because he had not made much progress with the rocks, and because The Master was driving him hard to learn Klathar so he could read the book on zdrell. So far, Klathar made no sense to him, half the words didn’t even seem to translate to Herglish.
One day Jonny was making more embellishments on the flight of a rock Roald had tossed, when he noticed The Master standing and watching with a scowl.
“Jonny, I think it’s time you stopped playing around and started to really use what you can do.”
“Don’t look so startled, Jonny,” The Master said in an almost soothing fashion. “I think it is t
ime to let Roald get on with his studies, and for you to give up this silly notion that you need your rocks thrown for you.”
The Apprentice to Zdrell Page 10