The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah)

by Morgan, Mackenzie

  Everyone sat down with a plate, and although everyone except Darrell managed to nibble on their food, only Kevin and Chris had any appetite.

  After breakfast, Kevin told everyone to get their weapons and meet him in his room. When Kevin led the others through the second door in his room, Darrell hung back, taking only a couple of hesitant steps towards the door. Chris stepped back beside him and tried to distract him with conversation, but even though Darrell did start walking forward, he and Chris were soon well behind the others. When Kevin and the others reached the compass chamber, they had to wait several minutes for Chris and Darrell to catch up. Kevin slowed his pace after that, but even so, Darrell and Chris lagged behind.

  Once they had all reached the door to Glendymere’s caverns, Kevin picked up the old iron knocker and hit the shield a couple of times. While they were waiting, Chris told them the story of the elf who dropped in to visit Glendymere with near tragic results.

  “As if things weren’t bad enough,” Darrell moaned. “Now I have to worry about him roasting me in his sleep.”

  “Not if you knock first, Darrell. Welcome to Willow Canyon. Would you join me outside, please?”

  “What? What was that? Did I hear something?” Darrell whimpered.

  “That was Glendymere,” Kevin said. “You didn’t talk to Xantha much while we were at Kalen’s, did you?”

  “Only a couple of times,” Darrell said. “Didn’t much like it.”

  “Well, you’ll get used to it,” Kevin said as he opened the big wooden door and led the others through the caverns.

  When they walked out into the canyon, they saw Glendymere circling above. He swooped down, and settled gracefully on the ground about fifty feet from them.

  “You need to do something about Darrell,” Glendymere said to Kevin and Chris privately.

  “What do you mean?” Kevin answered in his head.

  “His mind has shut down.”

  “What?!” Kevin and Chris both exclaimed mentally.

  “I’m holding him up right now. Chris, give Kevin a hand. See if you can set him down against that boulder.”

  “Is he … is he dying?” Chris asked mentally as he and Kevin took Darrell by the arms and gently eased him to a seat on the ground in front of a large boulder. His limbs weren’t exactly stiff, but they weren’t cooperative either.

  “No, he’s just gone,” Glendymere answered.

  “From dragon-fear?” Kevin asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Is this normal? Do many people react like this?” Chris asked.

  “No, not really. Some have a touch of dragon fear, but I haven’t seen a case this bad in several thousand years, not since the last time I was on Earth,” Glendymere answered.

  “How long will he be like this?” Kevin asked.

  “I don’t know. Most come around eventually, but a few never recover.”

  “Never? What are his chances?” Kevin asked.

  “Chances? I don’t know. He’ll either recover or he won’t. In the meantime, you need to pay a little attention to Karl and Joan. They’re still standing, but not by much. Help them sit down or their knees are going to give out. Theresa’s in pretty good shape, just a little nervous. Get her to look after Darrell. Once she has someone to take care of, she’ll be fine. Steve’s all right. No reaction at all other than curiosity.”

  As Kevin took Joan’s arm and led her to a seat beside Darrell, he said, “Theresa, you might want to keep an eye on Darrell. I think he’s pretty close to passing out.”

  Chris helped Karl to a seat beside Joan while Theresa stepped around and knelt beside Darrell. He had clammy skin, glassy and unfocused eyes, a rapid pulse, shallow breathing, and twitchy muscles. Within seconds Theresa had completely forgotten about Glendymere in her concern for Darrell. Meanwhile, Steve was completely focused on Glendymere, trying to memorize every detail.

  “Chris, go get some water for Karl and Joan. Kevin, why don’t you try to distract them? Give them something else to think about,” Glendymere suggested.

  When Chris turned to head back into the cave, Steve asked, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “Come on,” Chris said. “I’m going to get a pitcher of water. You can bring the mugs.”

  After Chris and Steve left, Kevin said, “I don’t have any idea what to do. What would distract them?”

  “Have they seen you fly yet?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “All right. Move into their line of sight, rise a couple of feet off the ground, shift around a bit until their eyes are following you. Then, once you’re sure their eyes are on you, rise slowly maybe a hundred feet, hover a little, and then dive for the ground, pulling out of it at the last minute and landing gently in front of them. If nothing else, that should startle them enough to break that empty stare. Once that’s broken, they’ll start coming out of it. In the meantime, I’ll see what I can do with Darrell.”

  When Chris and Steve returned with a couple of mugs and a pitcher of water, Chris handed Theresa a damp cloth. “I thought a cool cloth might help”

  She nodded her thanks and began sponging off Darrell’s forehead.

  “I’m going to try to distract Joan and Karl,” Kevin said to Chris, Steve, and Theresa. Then he explained exactly what he was going to do. “Chris, if they do start to come around, try to hand them a mug of water. They’ll have to focus on the mug to take hold of it and that should help.”

  Chris nodded.

  Then Kevin slowly rose a couple of feet through the air.

  “You’re not in their line of sight yet,” Chris said. “Move a little to your left.” Kevin began to drift in that direction. Once he was lined up right, Chris signaled for him to stop. “Now move around a little, clown it up, do something to shift their focus to you.”

  “Such as?” Kevin asked.

  “I don’t know. Pick up something and juggle it. How about that boulder over there?” Chris pointed to a boulder about the size of a basketball.

  Kevin reached out mentally, picked up the boulder, and then pretended to be dribbling it. Eventually Joan and Karl’s eyes began to lose a little of their glassy gaze. When Chris felt fairly sure that they were at least somewhat aware that Kevin was floating around, he nodded. Kevin mentally held the boulder in front of him as he began to rise. When he was about a hundred feet in the air, he tossed the boulder and then dived after it. When he dived, Steve and Theresa both gasped even though they had been expecting it. Joan let out a little scream and clasped her hand over her mouth. Karl tried to jump up, but his legs wouldn’t work, so he ended up bobbing up and down on the ground.

  Chris put one hand on Karl’s shoulder to steady him and the other on Joan’s. Meanwhile, Kevin mentally slowed the boulder enough so that he could dive past it, come up under it, and turn in time to appear to catch it before it hit the ground. When he gently lowered himself to the ground with the boulder resting on his right hand, everyone was focused on him except Darrell, who remained in a catatonic state.

  “Chris, now you can give Joan and Karl a sip of water. That should bring them around a little more.”

  Chris handed each of them a mug, but their hands were shaking so much, they couldn’t drink any of the water.

  “Kevin, they need to move around a little and loosen up. Why don’t you and Chris show them your room? I know there’s nothing in there for them to see, but the walk will do them good, and it won’t hurt them to be away from me for a few minutes either.”

  Kevin squatted down in front of Joan and Karl. “Welcome back. Let’s walk down to our room in the cave and you can splash some water on your face. It’ll make you feel better.” He stood up as Steve moved beside Joan to help her, and Chris took Karl’s hand to help him. Once they were all standing, Kevin led them toward the caves.

  “Theresa, you can join them if you like. I’ll look after Darrell,” Glendymere said privately to Theresa.

  “Thanks, but I think I’ll stay with him for now,” she ans
wered.

  Once he was in the tunnel, Karl wiped his hand over his face and took a deep breath.

  Chris laughed and said, “I know exactly how you feel. There are no words to describe it.”

  Karl grinned at him and nodded.

  “I can’t believe I reacted like that. I knew I was nervous, but …” Joan said. Then she just shook her head.

  “Like I said, there are no words to describe that feeling,” Chris said. “But it’s over now. When we go back out there, you’ll be fine.”

  “Think so?” Joan asked with a weak grin. “I’m not so sure.”

  After they washed their faces and walked around in Glendymere’s chambers for a few minutes to loosen up, Karl said, “Well, I guess we should go back out there and get this show on the road. Where are Darrell and Theresa?”

  Kevin and Chris just looked at each other. Steve spoke up. “Darrell reacted a little more strongly than you two. He’s still a bit out of it. Theresa’s with him.”

  “Is he all right?” Joan asked.

  “Glendymere seems to think he’ll come out of it in a little while,” Kevin hedged. “Let’s go back and see what he wants us to do next.”

  Once they were all back outside, Glendymere spoke to Kevin and Chris privately. “Darrell’s mind isn’t quite as frozen as it was before. From what I’ve been able to gather, he seems to have a strong inclination towards protecting others. The image he has of himself is that of a sword carrying warrior. Is that about right?”

  Both Kevin and Chris nodded.

  “Good. I want to try something with Darrell. I’m not sure that Joan and Karl are quite ready to see me stand him up, so for their sake, see if you can help him into a standing position. I’ll support him after that.”

  Kevin and Chris walked over to Darrell and gently eased him up on his feet. Theresa backed off a little, but she stayed within arm’s reach.

  Then Glendymere said to everyone, “I want all of you to pile your swords over by the cave entrance. Then I want you to back up about twenty or thirty feet. Kevin you need to stand on the other side of the pile. Karl, would you help Chris with Darrell?”

  Glendymere kept Darrell upright while Chris and Karl turned him around and walked towards the cave, supporting Darrell between them. They added their swords to the others and put Darrell’s sword on top. Then they turned him back around and led him to a spot about twenty-five feet from the cave entrance.

  “Chris told me that Palladin made your swords. He’s a master swordsmith. You couldn’t have found a better one. I’m sure he told you that you’d know it when you had the right sword, that you’d feel it, didn’t he?” Glendymere asked. Chris, Steve, Joan, and Karl nodded. “And since then, you’ve worn them pretty much everyday, practiced with them, and probably had them close by when you slept, haven’t you?” Again they nodded. “By now your sword knows you. Kevin is going to lift the pile of swords and toss them about ten feet into the air. When he does, I want you to hold your sword arm out with your hand open. Your sword will come to you.”

  “Are you serious?” Joan asked. The only sign that she was still a little uneasy was that her words were a touch slower than usual. “The swords will come to us?”

  Glendymere nodded. He turned towards Theresa and said, “You might want to step over here, dear. I doubt that you even have a sword, do you?”

  “No,” Theresa said as she shook her head and took a couple of steps towards Glendymere. “Drusilla said that sisters don’t carry swords.”

  “She’s right. With your pendant, you don’t need one.”

  Glendymere waited a few moments for Theresa to move farther away from the others. While Theresa was moving out of the way, Chris guided Darrell’s arm until it was outstretched. Then Chris helped him open his hand.

  As soon as everyone was ready, Glendymere said, “All right, Kevin, toss the swords.”

  Kevin mentally picked up the pile of swords and tossed them into the air. The swords curved off and flew towards their owners, and within a couple of seconds Karl, Joan, Steve, and Chris were armed.

  Joan’s eyes opened wide and a grin spread across her face. “Will it always do that?”

  At the same time, Chris frowned and asked Glendymere, “Did you do that?”

  With a chuckle, Glendymere said, “No, that was your sword. Thank Palladin for that little trick, not me. And yes, Joan, it’ll always do that.”

  Darrell’s sword had struck the palm of his outstretched hand, but his fingers had not closed around the handle. Glendymere mentally caught the sword and held it suspended in the air, not even an inch from Darrell’s hand.

  Karl struck a fighting pose, lunged a couple of times, then straightened back up and asked, “Why didn’t they tell us that our swords could do that? That’s a rather important detail.”

  “For one thing, only a sword which has chosen you will do that. And for another, the sword will fly to you, straight to you, and heaven help anyone in its way. It’s something that really isn’t used very often. It’s just too dangerous. But you’re right, it is an important detail. Watch out if you ever see anyone else start to toss a sword.”

  Then Glendymere concentrated on Darrell. “Reach out and take your sword, Darrell,” he said in a coaxing tone. “A warrior needs his sword. You don’t want it to hit the ground. Just close your fingers. That’s it, that’s right, just a little more and you’ll have it.” Slowly Darrell’s fingers began to close around the handle of the sword. After a minute or so, he held it firmly enough that Glendymere could let go. “He’s starting to come out of it. He should be over the worst of it soon. Let’s go on and see how he does.”

  Chris reached up and gently took the sword from Darrell’s hand. Then he helped Darrell lower his arm.

  Glendymere asked them to line up in a straight line, with their bows and arrows, facing Kevin. Then Glendymere asked them to fire an arrow at Kevin, one at a time down the line and then start back over until he told them to stop. Kevin’s task was to use his outstretched hand to bat the arrows out of the air before they reached him.

  What if he misses? Joan thought. We could kill him!

  “I’ll be here. If he misses, I won’t,” Glendymere reassured her privately. Then he said to Chris, “You tell them when to fire. Keep the arrows coming.”

  Chris fired the first arrow and as soon as Kevin batted it away, Chris signaled for the next arrow to be fired, and worked his way down the line until he reached Darrell. Karl put Darrell’s bow in his hand, strung the arrow and closed Darrell’s fingers around the notch. Then he helped him pull it back, but when Chris told Darrell to fire, his release was so slow that the arrow fell harmlessly at his feet.

  “He’s coming around. He realized he was supposed to shoot, so he’s hearing you. He’s just operating in slow motion,” Glendymere said as Karl helped Darrell get the next arrow ready.

  The exercises continued for an hour. By the last round, Darrell was able to pull the string back on his own, but his hands were shaking so badly that he still couldn’t notch the arrows, and his release was so ragged that the arrows didn’t go anywhere near Kevin. He kept glancing nervously over towards Glendymere every few seconds, but although he had yet to speak, it was clear that he understood what was going on around him.

  For the next hour, Glendymere had Kevin catch the arrows rather than bat them away and stack them in a pile next to one of the boulders. After that, Glendymere called for a break. By then, Darrell was moving better, but whenever he opened his mouth to speak, nothing came out.

  While they were relaxing near the stream, Glendymere said that he’d like to work with them three mornings a week for the next few weeks. He asked if that would fit into their schedules, and looked straight at Darrell for an answer. Darrell cleared his throat and answered with a very hesitant and creaky yes, but at least it was intelligible.

  Since it was nearly lunchtime, Glendymere said that they had done enough for the first day and suggested that Chris lead the others back to Rainbow
Valley. Then, as they were gathering their weapons and getting ready to leave, Glendymere turned to Chris and said, “You don’t need to come back this afternoon. Take the rest of the day off.”

  Chris didn’t argue, and he didn’t wait around for Glendymere to change his mind. It was his first free afternoon since coming to Rainbow Valley and he wanted to take advantage of it.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  After Kevin had eaten his lunch, Glendymere led him to an arched opening. “I’m going to show you how to weave a protection ward over this tunnel entrance.”

  “What’s a protection ward?”

  “It’s like a magical net. You can use it to seal a door, keep someone else from opening a chest, anything like that.”

  “Sort of like a booby trap?”

  “I don’t know.” Glendymere searched Kevin’s memories for examples of booby traps. “Yes, I guess you could compare a protection ward to a booby trap.”

  “What do I need to make one? Some rope? String?”

  “No. All you need is your own magical energy.”

  Kevin looked puzzled.

  “Think of a long strand of flowing energy, somewhat like a ribbon. You manipulate that ribbon, move it around, and stretch it out. Then you use it to protect a door, or any opening, even a lid on a chest, by weaving the ribbon of magic back and forth as intricately as you wish, and then, to close the ward, you slide the ends together to make one continuous loop. When you want to remove it, you separate the ends and unwind the ribbon of energy. Just be sure that you remove it exactly backwards from the way you put it on.”

  “What would happen if I goofed?”

  “That depends on how strong you made the ward. A weak one might give you a shock, a moderate ward might burn you, but a strong one could incinerate you on the spot. Of course there are any number of levels in between. Keep that in mind if you ever have to remove a ward that another sorcerer has formed. You won’t know its strength unless you break the loop, and then it’s too late, especially if it’s one of the stronger ones.”

  “It sounds a little like an electrical current on Earth. As long as the circuit remains closed, no problem. Break it, and it flows into you. Depending on the current, it might tingle, it might grab you, it might throw you across the room, or it might fry you.”