“Maybe I’ll go for a walk along the lake,” he said to himself, rising from his chair.
He took up his staff and walked out, taking one last glance back at the cat who had barely opened his eyes and then went back to sleep.
***
The sun was slowly setting over the castle, changing the sky into brilliant hues of orange and red, which reflected off the lake and caused an almost eerie double image. As usual, there were birds singing in the background and tree frogs beginning to call in the distance. Phineas looked out across the landscape before him, taking in the beauty surrounding what had been his home for so long. After years of tumult, controversy and political bickering, he had been the longest to serve as Guardian.
It is time. I shall truly miss the place he thought, muttering under his breath. His long, shimmering robes billowed out behind him in the breeze as he strode along the pathway, staff in hand. He turned and walked through the archway into the courtyard, the heels of his boots striking the cobblestones with a harsh clatter as he quickly reached the Great Hall. As he went deeper into the darkness, the top of his staff began to glow with a cool blue-white light, giving his wizened features a more frightening look.
“Acamar!” he shouted. “Acamar! It’s time!”
The door in front of him creaked open slowly, just enough for him to pass. Phineas went through into a small room, in the middle of which sat a large black cat who at the moment was staring intently at him, ears flattened and eyes barely slits.
“Don’t give me that look, Acamar,” said Phineas. “I warned you the time was drawing near when we would have to act.”
Acamar did not say anything, just flicked his tail and continued to stare, as if trying to bore a hole through the old wizard.
Phineas leaned on his staff and sighed.
“I’m tired my friend. My time as Guardian is ending and we must find my successor. I’ve been putting the Council off for far too long as it is.”
Except for an irritated twitch of his long black tail, the cat did not as much as blink.
“If I refuse them again, the various factions will begin bickering and the entire Council will dissolve into chaos. You know as well as I do I have no choice but to accept the position as Chancellor.”
“You know ‘Old Seedy’ will try to stop you,” the cat responded dryly. “He’s been passed over for the leadership position twice before, so a third blackball will really send him over the edge.”
“Now, now, show some respect; after all Councilor Thornback is the head of his order. Cedric and I were educated at the same academy, for heavens sake. If he catches you calling him ‘Old Seedy’ one more time he’ll pull your whiskers out for use in his potions again,” warned the mage.
The cat did not respond, merely flicking his ear at the wizard and flexing his paws so he could more closely inspect his razor sharp claws, as if he had never seen them before.
Shaking his head the old wizard did an about face and took a long, impossibly thin silver key from around his neck and locked the door. Replacing the key around his neck, he turned and pointed his staff at the ceiling. A beam of light shot from the top of his staff and struck a black orb set high overhead. With a deep shudder the floor began sinking downward, carrying them down deep into the bowels of the castle. When the room stopped, an archway appeared in the far wall. Walking through the arch Phineas took his place beside a small pool of water set into the middle of the floor. With a shimmer of light a picture slowly formed in the pool, as he waved his hand over it. It was a picture of an office, at the center of which was a young man probably in his early thirties, sitting at a desk. He had a rather blank look on his face and was obviously so bored he was in considerable danger of falling face first into his half-eaten lunch.
“You can’t be serious,” said the cat, staring intently at the picture in the pool.
“He has potential,” said the wizard, slowly sitting down on a small stone bench near the edge of the pool. “He just doesn’t realize it yet.”
“But he’s not even from this side of the veil,” Acamar hissed. “Just look at the boy – he obviously has no focus or motivation and yet you expect him to guard our world? I doubt the boy could master a card trick much less control a trans-dimensional portal!”
The old man stroked his beard slowly. “He is a wizard Acamar, he just isn’t aware of it yet,” he said softly, glancing at his aide. “He has the potential to be one of the more powerful mages of our time, I believe. That makes it all the more important for me to teach him the craft and how to control it, lest it should awaken too soon and control him. Remember; even though the Whitestone line was one of the founding families of the order of White, that alone will do nothing to prevent his corruption.”
“You know he’ll never believe me,” said the cat as it sat next to the pool, tail wrapped tightly around its paws and looking quite cross.
“He will my friend, in time,” said Phineas. “He has to; the balance of our world and his life depends on it.”
Muttering an incantation under his breath, Phineas sketched glowing silver glyphs in the air above the pool. When completed, the glyphs fell like stardust into the image, sparkling as they disappeared into the shimmering water.
“There – that should do it, I think.”
“What did you just do?” the cat asked suspiciously.
“I have awakened his ring Acamar, and with it his destiny.”
###
Chapter 3 – A New Position
Keegan yawned deeply as he stared at his computer screen. He was bored. Not that it was unusual mind you, but today seemed somehow worse than usual. It was another day of reading the same reports, eating the same lunch and going through the same routine as every other day in his dreadful existence. He shook his head and tried to focus. Staring at the details of the spreadsheet on his computer screen, he absent mindedly spun his signet ring. The ring was a beautiful design – crafted from gold it was in the form of a coiled dragon that wrapped around his finger. In the mouth of the dragon was a white stone of some unknown type that had an opalescent quality about it. If one looked closely enough, a symbol could be seen etched in the stone – Keegan always thought it looked like a number eight laying on its side. The ring had been his only inheritance from his father. He had not spoken with his father for years – then Keegan had learned about the man’s death when he received a strange package in the mail. It had been a small parcel, containing a gold ring and a hand written note on an old-fashioned piece of parchment. The note had simply read:
April 9th, 2002. I regret to inform you of the passing of your father, Richard Noah Whitestone. Enclosed you will find the Whitestone family ring, which is your birthright. Guard this with your life, as it will guide your destiny and determine your fate. With my deepest sympathy, A.T.W.
Keegan’s mother had raised him alone, his father having refused to acknowledge the boy as his own when Keegan’s mother had turned up pregnant. When Keegan was just nine however, his mother had died of an illness never identified by the doctors. After her death, his father had reluctantly taken him into his home, although the hateful old man had pointedly told Keegan that once he reached the age of eighteen he was on his own. As he grew older, he discovered his father to be a self-centered and hateful old man who saw no good in anyone or anything. It was this poisonous attitude that had finally destroyed what little relationship they had, as Keegan’s father had shut him out of his life.
Keegan found himself staring unblinking into the eyes of the dragon on the ring. He tried to focus; shaking his head to rid himself of his dark thoughts like a dog shakes itself free of water. Taking off his glasses, he rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms, trying to force away the fog that was clouding his vision. It was then that he noticed an itching sensation coming from his ring finger. Putting his glasses back on he looked down at his hand and was startled to see that the stone in the dragon’s mouth appeared to be glowing.
Oh, this can’t be good.
He tugged at the ring but it refused to come free as he pulled and twisted.
That’s odd, it slipped on easily this morning.
He pulled harder, but the ring simply would not budge. He leaned back in his chair and sighed. He glanced out his office window and noticed a large black raven perched on the ledge outside. The glossy black bird cocked its head to one side when it saw Keegan watching and quickly ruffled its feathers, leaped into the air and was gone.
Hmph. That’s the third day this week that stupid bird has been there. If I didn’t know better I’d swear the thing was watching me.
Getting up from his desk, he decided a quick walk in the small park across the street would help clear his head, and on the way back to the office he could stop at the corner store and pick up some dish detergent to slip the ring off his finger.
“I’ll be back in a minute Tim,” he said to the assistant at the front desk in the lobby. “I need a breath of fresh air.”
“Certainly, Mr. Whitestone. I’ll forward all your calls to voicemail while you are out.”
As he strode outside and headed for the park he let his mind wander. As it often did, his thoughts turned to his years spent with the company. He had started with Fischer & Sons as a simple clerk working his way through college, then decided to stay on with the company when he graduated. Since then, he had worked his way up to a more senior post, but the position had no challenge any more and left him empty. It had been only a few months since his thirtieth birthday, and Keegan had been brooding ever since. He was successful by most standards, with a promising career and a nice apartment on the good side of town, but he was alone. He was a handsome young man of average height, with dark hair that was probably a bit longer than his superiors would prefer. His most striking feature however was his eyes, which were a smoky grey in color. He never had a problem socializing while in college and dated a number of nice young women, but it never seemed the right fit. Now past thirty he was beginning to wonder if solitude was his destiny.
Walking across the green commons area of the park, Keegan headed for his favorite section – the small hedge maze. He had always come here to study and now used the small courtyard at its center as an escape from the monotony of his daily routine. He began coming here at lunch because of the peace and quiet the spot offered. He had never been the type to socialize with his coworkers much, preferring instead to keep to himself and read. While the others in his office would go to the local pub for lunch and gossip, he would come here and read or think.
Sitting down on the small bench, he looked down at his ring again. It did not seem to be glowing any more, although it could just be the glow was lost in the bright sunlight. His finger seemed to have stopped itching as well. Chalking the whole thing up to his imagination, he leaned back and closed his eyes, relaxing in the warmth of the afternoon sun.
“You know, you really should try and socialize more; you’re leading a dreadfully lonely life,” said a voice from out of nowhere.
Keegan sat bolt upright and looked around, but saw no one. He leaned back and started to relax when the voice spoke again, only this time much closer.
“It’s not polite to ignore someone when they speak to you. If you’d be so kind I’d like to have a word.”
He sat up again, quite perplexed and noticed a large black cat sitting next to him on the edge of the stone bench. He must not have noticed the cat sitting there before, although it should have been hard to miss thanks to its piercing green eyes and the blood red jewel that hung around its neck.
“Yes, I’m the one that spoke,” said Acamar. “No, you are not dreaming. Happy now?”
Keegan just stared at the cat, not believing what had just happened. The cat had talked to him! The beast’s lips moved and everything; if this was a trick, it was a damn good one, he thought.
Acamar jumped down off the bench and walked over to face Keegan, sitting down directly in front of the young man.
“I told my master that you would never believe I could talk, so he said I could choose another more believable shape.”
As Keegan watched, the big black cat transformed before his eyes into a rather tall, older man wearing black robes and wire rimmed glasses. Keegan also noticed the same blood red jewel now hanging as a pendant around the older man’s neck.
“I suggest you close your mouth; it’s not a very flattering look for you, not to mention that you may very well swallow a bug,” said Acamar as he sat down beside the flustered young man.
Keegan, not realizing his jaw had dropped, clamped it shut and flushed a bright red. He could not believe what he just saw!
“I must be asleep; cats don’t talk and they certainly don’t turn into people,” he muttered to himself. He shook his head as if to clear the dust from his thoughts and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.
“Technically speaking I’m not a cat,” said Acamar. “I’m actually a person just like you only I have the ability to turn myself into other things, in this case a large black tabby cat. When I was assigned to my current position as an assistant to the Guardian, the Council decreed that I spend most of my time in the form of a cat. On the positive side, I tend to attract less suspicion from mortals like you when I am on this side of the world. A bit ironic mind you, given I’m dreadfully allergic to the damn beasts.”
Keegan stood up quickly, dusting off his suit as he stood.
“Right! I need to wake up and get back to the office before I’m fired.”
He smacked himself soundly on the cheeks with both hands, but Acamar merely sat on the bench with his arms crossed, looking rather amused as he gazed at Keegan over his spectacles.
“I assure you that you are not asleep, my boy,” said Acamar. “In fact, I need you to be quite alert and pay attention, as I have been sent to summon you before the Council.”
“Excuse me?”
“The High Council of Magic,” said Acamar. “They’re the ones who set the rules and insure that balance and order are maintained.”
“I don’t understand - the balance and order of what?”
“Of this planet dear boy,” said Acamar in a slightly exasperated tone, gesturing around him with his arms. “They keep these two worlds of ours in balance.”
“Two worlds?” asked Keegan, who was beginning to feel rather confused. After all, it’s not every day that one sits down in the middle of a maze and has a discussion with a man who moments before was a large black tabby cat.
“You really don’t have a clue, do you?” asked Acamar as he leaned forward and squinted at Keegan as if he were an unknown life form.
“About what?” Keegan snapped, his head starting to spin.
“About how this world works and your relatively important place in it,” said the mage.
Keegan snorted and looked askance at the man in front of him.
“I think I have a pretty good idea of how this world works. My position in it is about as far from important as it gets!”
Turning on his heel, he started to head for the exit to get away from this obviously insane man who kept babbling on about magic. He made a mental note to himself to alert the security guards at the office to be on the lookout for this idiot. Suddenly, Keegan came to an abrupt halt. The exit from the courtyard that led out into the maze should be directly in front of him. The only problem however, was that it was not there any more. The place where the hedge parted for the pathway just moments ago now looked as if it had grown together fifty years ago. Where there should have been a cobblestone path were now brambles, underbrush and a very large oak tree.
“It isn’t going to hurt you to listen, and you might end up even liking your new job,” said Acamar as he rose to his feet.
Standing a good head higher than Keegan, he towered over the young man. His black robes made him that much more imposing. He stroked his grey streaked goatee as he paced back and forth.
“You see my master is one Phineas Whitestone, your grandfather. He has determined that you
are to be apprenticed to him, to learn his secrets and become Guardian, the Keeper of the Amulet.”
“Wait a minute. I admit that my grandfather was Phineas Whitestone, but he’s been dead for years.”
“I don’t recall him saying anything about being dead,” said Acamar. “I do believe he would’ve mentioned it and he appeared to have all his faculties about him when last we spoke.”
Sitting down on the bench next to Keegan, Acamar looked over the rim of his glasses at the young man. “Keegan, do you know how old your father was when he died?”
“He had just turned 60. Why do you ask?”
“Because he was older, Keegan. Much older, actually. You see, we have much longer life spans on the other side of the Veil. Over here, without as much magic surrounding us, our lives are much shorter. Your father was closer to the age of 150 or so when he passed. Master Whitestone is much older even than that. My boy I promise you that I could not be more real and I assure you, Master Whitestone is most certainly alive. I realize this is all a bit sudden, but the Guardian can explain in much greater detail than I. Just come with me and meet with him, and you will be free to ask as many questions as your heart desires.”
Keegan looked straight at Acamar.
“Go where? I told you, he’s dead! Even if I thought there was some chance he had lived to be over two hundred years old, do you think I should just trust you and go running off to God knows where? You’re a total stranger who talks nonsense about some mystical Council and a Keeper or ‘Guardian’ of God knows what - hell I don’t even know your name!”
“My name is Acamar. Acamar Troelus Wycroft, and that’s Keeper of the Amulet or if you prefer, Guardian of the Veil,” the older man said. “I have been assigned to the Keeper for the past three hundred fifty years, and the Blackstar amulet is what separates our worlds and keeps them safe. The heart of the amulet focuses the energy necessary to maintain the Veil between our worlds. That is why you do not see dragons flying down Broadway or goblins selling newspapers. You see, when I mentioned our ‘two worlds’ a moment ago, it may have been misleading. There really is only one planet Earth, but there are two separate realities sharing the planet; one is magic and one is not. Think of two planets separated by a tether of magic, only instead of orbiting each other side-by-side one exists in another plane of reality. Your magic will function just fine here and now on this side of the Veil, but it would likely get you locked up and dissected by some government agency. Your magic would also not be as strong over here, as the Veil traps most of the magical energy on the other side, where we exist. The Veil cloaks our world from non-magic outsiders – those who don’t understand us, never will and would persecute us had they the chance.”
The Guardian's Apprentice (Beyond the Veil) Page 2