“Which tunnel do we take?” Chris asked.
“None of those,” Macin said. “We go northeast.”
“Northeast?” Chris frowned as he looked at what appeared to be a solid wall.
“Northeast,” Macin said with a grin as he started across the room.
As they got closer to the wall, Kevin and Chris saw a small dark alcove, about the size of a closet, set back in the shadows. Macin walked into the alcove and seemed to disappear. When Kevin stepped into it, he could see the light from Macin’s torch off to his left. There was a narrow opening in the wall of the alcove, just behind the chamber wall. Kevin stepped through the opening and found that he was in an “L” shaped passageway. After he and Chris turned the corner, the passageway widened and they were at the beginning of another large corridor that extended beyond their torchlight.
“That doorway is the main reason Father asked me to show you the way. It is a rather tight fit for him,” Macin said. “This entrance to Glendymere’s cave is private, so do not tell anyone else about it unless Glendymere says it is all right.”
The corridor was relatively level and straight, and after they had walked about half a mile, Kevin noticed a faint smell in the air. At first it came in whiffs and was too faint to identify, but after a while it became stronger and Kevin recognized it as the smell that lingers after a fire has been extinguished.
Eventually they came to a large wooden door with a heavy iron knocker shaped like a flying dragon and mounted on an iron shield. Macin lifted the knocker, slammed it against the iron shield four or five times, stepped back, and waited.
“What are we waiting for?” Chris asked nervously.
“Several years ago, Glendymere was sleeping when a friend of his, an elf, came to visit. Glendymere is always aware when someone is nearby, but he does not necessarily wake up. When the elf entered his chamber, Glendymere yawned in his sleep and caught the elf’s clothes on fire. It gave the elf quite a scare and shortly after that Glendymere had my grandfather install this door and knocker. We wait for him to answer so that we know he is awake.” Macin reached for the handle and started to open the door. “It is safer that way.”
“I thought you said you waited for Glendymere to answer,” Kevin said with a slight frown.
“He did. He told me to come in and to bring both of you to his inner chamber,” Macin replied.
“I didn’t hear anything,” Chris whispered.
“He was not talking to you,” Macin said quietly.
“Telepathy,” Kevin said. “Like Xantha.”
Macin nodded and led them through the door and down the hall to a fork. He pointed to the right and said, “That leads to Glendymere’s entrance hall, where he receives most of his guests.” Then he started down the left fork. “This leads to Glendymere’s sleeping chamber. Very few are allowed to enter this area.”
The hall led to a large circular room. A football stadium, complete with bleachers, could have been set up in there with room left over. The ceiling was about a hundred feet high and a shaft about ten feet wide opened to the sky directly above the center of the room. Along the right-hand wall was a large rock basin filled with water. Fresh water fed into the basin from a spout in the wall and the overflow drained into an underground stream through a lip in the rim.
Glendymere was curled up like a cat along the opposite wall. His enormous head was resting on his front paws and his tail was wrapped around his body. As the trio entered the room, Glendymere raised his head, cocked it to one side, eyed the two humans and said, “Welcome to my home.”
Kevin stared at Glendymere in awe. He was exactly as Xantha had remembered him, only more so. His movements had a fluid grace and elegance that was animalistic, but his eyes radiated an intelligence that far surpassed anything a human could even hope for.
Chris froze in mid-step. He was mesmerized by the sheer power and imminent threat that Glendymere embodied.
“Macin, would you please give Chris a drink of water before he faints,” Glendymere said with a chuckle. “Myron, I’m happy to meet you at long last. I’ve looked forward to this day, but I always thought Badec would introduce us. I am very sorry about your father’s illness.”
Kevin was a little surprised that he felt relatively at ease in Glendymere’s presence. “Thank you. I wish I had had the opportunity to know him,” he answered. Then after a moment, he continued, “I want to thank you for agreeing to tutor me, but I have to admit that I have absolutely no idea what a sorcerer does, or what kind of powers he has. I’m afraid that you have an impossible task ahead of you.”
“Nonsense. You have the power. All we have to do is direct it,” Glendymere said. “I see that you think of yourself by your Earthly name, Kevin. Would you be more comfortable if I were to address you as Kevin?”
“Yes, I would. I know that when I get to Camden, I’ll need to answer to Myron, but for now, I would prefer Kevin if you don’t mind.”
“Fine by me, and if you choose, you can continue to call yourself Kevin after you’re seated, but we’ll talk about that later. Right now, I’d like for you to try to get your assistant moving again so that the two of you can fix up that room over there.” Glendymere nodded towards a small room that was located next to the water basin. “You’ll need a place to work, and there will also be times when it will be necessary for you to stay here over night. You’ll find some human furniture in the adjoining storeroom. Pick out a couple of beds, tables and chairs. When you have the room squared away, we’ll begin.” Then Glendymere turned his head towards Macin, “Thank you for escorting them, Macin. You may leave now if you like. I know you have things that you need to do to prepare for your trip to Abernon.”
Macin nodded to Glendymere, turned back towards the tunnel, and left.
Chris was barely able to move, but he managed to stumble across to the small room that Glendymere had indicated. As he and Kevin started going through the furniture trying to find two suitable beds and a couple of tables with chairs, he began to loosen up a bit.
“I have a feeling that Glendymere had us set up this room to give you something to focus on, something to get your mind off your fear. Are you going to be okay here?” Kevin asked.
“Yeah. Just give me a couple of years to get used to being around something that could destroy me with a snort,” Chris said in a half-hearted attempt at humor. Then he added seriously, “I hadn’t really thought about just how dangerous he is, but as soon as I saw him …”
“I know what you mean, but I keep remembering something that Xantha told me: ‘If he sees you as his enemy, he would be the most deadly force you would ever meet. If he sees you as a friend, you are safer with him than you were in your mother’s womb.’ Those aren’t his exact words, but that’s the general idea. He is dangerous, but not to us,” Kevin said quietly. “Think you can get past this fear thing?”
Chris slowly nodded. “Just give me a little time.”
About two hours later, when they were almost done, Glendymere said, “I forgot to mention that you’ll need a candle. You should be able to find one in the storeroom.”
“A candle? Won’t we use glowstones?” Kevin asked.
“No. A glowstone won’t work for our first exercise. You’ll need a candle.”
Chris walked out of the storeroom with a couple of candles and candlesticks to see which one Kevin wanted. Kevin chose a slender candle and a brass candlestick. He set it in the center of one of the tables and then said to Glendymere, “Well, unless there’s something else that we need to get out of the storeroom, I guess we’re done.”
“Good. Come on out here and have a seat,” Glendymere said. “Kalen sent me a message saying that he had not found a way to tell you that I’m a dragon before you left the Gate House. I wasn’t sure how I was going to let you know before you walked in here. I didn’t want to ask Blalick to tell you because he would have been deeply offended if any of your group had balked at the idea of working with me. Fortunately, Xantha took care of the p
roblem. If he hadn’t, Chris might have had a heart attack. Are the rest of the humans in your group afflicted by dragon-fear?”
“I think Darrell is, but the others didn’t seem to be too upset with the idea,” Kevin said as he and Chris walked back into the large chamber.
Glendymere nodded his massive head. “I guess we need to get down to business now. First of all, we need to talk about magic. I’ve searched through your minds, and neither of you has the faintest idea what it’s all about. No, Chris, we don’t use bat’s wings, spider’s webs, or eyes of newt. I don’t think any of the real sorcerers on Earth ever did either. That’s just something that someone made up to sound good in stories.”
“That’s good. I was dreading having to go out and collect them,” Chris said in a valiant effort to seem at ease, but his shaky voice betrayed him. Now that they were back in Glendymere’s presence, his knees threatened to buckle, so he slowly and carefully sat down on the cave floor across from the dragon.
Kevin sat down beside Chris. “So what do I need?”
“Only yourself. The power of magic is all around you, but the best source is within your own body. You’re very fortunate. You have the best of two worlds, the elven world and the human world. From the elves, you have a unique relationship with nature, one that humans without elven blood cannot hope to achieve. And you also have the magical power that resides in the mind of certain humans: the seeing eye, the outstretched hand, and the energy bolt,” Glendymere said as he studied Kevin. “How much do you know about elves?”
“Not much at all. We’ve only met two, Duane and Paul, but we didn’t know that Paul was an elf until we got to Kalen’s house,” Kevin said. “Actually, Kalen called him Pallor, but Paul is the name we knew him by.”
Glendymere nodded. “Elves are elementals, as in the four elements of nature: fire, water, air, and soil. An elf can project a part of his essence into the forces of nature. For example, an elf can become one with the wind and clouds. As long as the clouds are already there an elf can join with them, pull them together, influence the wind to stir things up, and create a storm, but the basic elements must already be in place. Going the other way, an elf can join with a violent storm system and settle it down, but an elf could not make it simply vanish.” Glendymere stopped because Chris’s mouth suddenly dropped open. He waited for Chris to speak.
“I’ve got a question. That tornado, the one that triggered the key that transported us to Terah, seemed to come out of nowhere. There was no way that Paul could have counted on a tornado forming at that precise time and place. That’s been bothering me ever since we got here. Did he cause it?” Chris asked.
“I’m sorry, but I have no idea what you are talking about,” Glendymere said. Then, as Chris opened his mouth to describe the sudden storm, he added, “No, no need to explain, just let the memory surface. I’ll look at the memory and see what happened.” After a couple of seconds, Glendymere nodded and said, “Ah, yes, I’d say that tornado was definitely Pallor’s work. And a good job of it, too. He didn’t have a whole lot to work with, just a few clouds and a little wind. He did a fine job of controlling it. I doubt if I could have done much better myself,” Glendymere said in such a way that Kevin and Chris both knew that he had just paid Pallor his highest compliment. “Do you see what I’m talking about when I say that an elf can join with nature?”
“For the sake of argument, let’s say that I can sort of imagine something along that line, especially since I was in the middle of that storm, but that does not mean that I think for even one minute that I could do it,” Kevin answered.
“Fair enough. I’ll accept that for the moment. Now, about the human magical powers … let’s see, maybe a little demonstration would help. Come with me.”
Kevin and Chris stood up and waited for Glendymere to get up. As Chris watched Glendymere slowly unwind and stretch, his eyes got bigger and bigger, and by the time Glendymere was standing, Chris’s face had gone chalky white and he was swaying on his feet. Kevin took hold of his shoulders and gently eased him back to the ground.
“Take a deep breath, Chris,” Glendymere said gently. “You’ll be all right in a moment.”
Chris nodded his head in jerky movements and said, “It’s just … that … you’re … you’re so big.”
Glendymere chuckled and said, “Guess I am compared to you. Would it help any to know that I’m not the largest dragon around? In fact, I’m almost a runt.”
Chris shook his head. “No, that doesn’t help at all.”
“Didn’t think it would. Now, do you think you can stand up again?”
Chris nodded and slowly climbed back on his feet. He wasn’t swaying, but he didn’t feel all that steady either. “I think I’ll be okay now.”
“Good. Let’s go then,” Glendymere said as he led the way down the huge passageway that led out of his chamber.
They passed through several large rooms before they came to a massive cave that opened into the canyon. The cave was almost square and large enough that several dragons could lie down comfortably without crowding each other. There was a small alcove near the cave opening that contained chairs ranging in size from one that would fit in a child’s dollhouse to one that would suit a giant. Three bronze gongs, one small, one medium, and one large, stood near the alcove, and a dozen mallets, from tiny to huge, leaned against the wall. A flying dragon was engraved in the center of each gong.
Glendymere continued through the cave and walked out into the sunlight that filled the small canyon. The floor of the canyon extended about fifty yards on each side of a gentle stream that ran down the middle of the canyon. Small bushes and wild flowers dotted the rocky ground, but the only trees in sight were the willows that grew along the stream banks. The little valley was surrounded by steep mountain walls, giving it the appearance of a box canyon.
By the time Glendymere stopped and turned towards them, Chris was feeling almost normal again. Glendymere glanced over at him, gave a quick nod, and then turned towards Kevin.
“See that dead tree trunk over there? The one next to that big boulder. Watch it closely now,” Glendymere said as he indicated a tree trunk about three feet in diameter and four feet long lying on its side.
Kevin and Chris both turned to look at it. A couple of seconds later they saw a bright flash and the tree trunk disintegrated into dust and ash.
“What happened? What did you do?” Kevin asked.
“You might say I threw a lightning bolt at the tree trunk, although it really isn’t lightning. It’s more like a bolt of pure energy. Now watch the boulder next to it.”
The boulder rose slowly through the air, floated to the other side of the stream, and settled gently on the ground beside one of the willow trees. Neither Kevin nor Chris spoke. They just stood there, staring. If either of them had held onto any lingering doubts about magic, they were gone now.
“That was what we will call the outstretched hand for lack of any better description. I picked it up by reaching out with my mental energy, moved it, and set it back down. Now, let’s see if I can come up with a demonstration of the seeing eye.” Glendymere looked around for a bit. Then he said, “Chris, I want you to pick three different color flowers about the same size.”
Glendymere nodded as Chris started to pick three flowers. “That’s right. Just make sure they’re different colors. Now I want you to walk around to the other side of that boulder and face me.”
After Chris was in position, Glendymere continued, “I want you to hold the three flowers behind your back. Now throw down two of the flowers.” Glendymere paused for a moment while Chris did as he asked. “You’re still holding the pansy with the purple head. Kevin, check it out.” Glendymere waited while Kevin walked to the other side of the large boulder.
“You’re right,” Kevin said. “He has the purple pansy in his hand. The other two are on the ground.” Chris picked up the two flowers that he had dropped and then he and Kevin walked back out in the open to join Glendymere.
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“I guess the best way I can explain that one is that I projected an extension of my own sight through an imaginary eye that I held over Chris’s head. I can guide the eye anywhere I want it to go. I can see what’s on the other side of that boulder, what’s going on in the sitting room in your caverns, or who has entered the next valley and what they’re doing.”
“This is all really great, but I can’t do any of this stuff,” Kevin said.
“No, not right now, but given time, you will.” Glendymere paused and gazed into Kevin’s eyes. “Kevin, you have the ability, you were born with it. Forces of magic are everywhere, all around you, and I can feel it flowing through your body. But it’s in raw form. To learn to channel it, to control it, to make it work for you will take a great deal of effort on your part. At the level that you’ll be competing, victory will go to the one who has devoted the most effort to refining that control. And if that’s you, you’ll survive. Otherwise, you won’t.”
“I don’t have long, Glendymere. I have to be in Camden by the middle of March. From what Kalen said, most sorcerers spend at least ten years learning how to do all of this. I have eight months. It seems like a losing proposition to me,” Kevin said honestly.
Glendymere nodded. “I understand your concern, but I think maybe you’re confusing time with effort. They are not the same thing. It’s going to be hard, and the hardest tasks will be the first ones. It will get much easier with use and practice. We’ll begin with four small tasks, and then, after you master those, we’ll move on to bigger and better things. But first and foremost, you must believe in yourself. Magic comes straight from your mind, Kevin, and the secrets to powerful magic are confidence and focus. Doubt and distraction are your worst enemies.
“One of the tasks that I want you to work on is to create a mental spark that will light the candle that you put on your table. To do that, you must see it happening. See the candlewick burst into flame. Feel it happening. Concentrate the energy in your mind into a flicker of flame that extends from your mind to the top of the candle.
The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah) Page 37