The Guardian's Apprentice (Beyond the Veil)

by J. Michael Radcliffe

  “Hello, Keegan,” she said with a soft smile. “It’s good to see you up and about after your first attempt at neutralizing a poison.”

  If it were not for the fact that it was physically impossible, Keegan’s eyebrows would have shot past his scalp; “That was you, wasn’t it? You were the raven!”

  “Yes. That is my form for all but one hour of the day.”

  Keegan was about to ask why when he caught a glint of red – a dark ruby pendant hung around her neck. It was exactly the same type of pendant worn by Acamar. “You have a pendant just like Acamar’s,” he said, indicating the delicate silver chain around her neck. “So you’re sentenced to a life of servitude too?”

  “It is my penance, yes,” she said sadly. Clasping her hands behind her, she stood solemnly gazing into the pond watching the moonlight dance across the ripples in the water. “I am allowed human form for one hour each day. If that time is cut short by transformation, then it is lost, until the sun rises again. The restriction is meant to teach one the value of our humanity.”

  “I’m sorry,” said Keegan, as he stood up from the bench and walked over to her. Not certain what to say, he stood silently next to her, watching the moonlight dance across the water.

  “Don’t be. The punishment was just, though someday I hope to earn my freedom again.”

  “If I may ask, what is your name? You never told me before when you visited my room after the test.”

  “Names can be powerful things, Keegan. To know someone’s name, especially their true name, is to have power over them. But perhaps I’m being melodramatic; you may call me Nisha,” she said with a soft smile.

  “Nisha. That’s a beautiful name. It fits you,” he said with a smile.

  “You are too kind, Master Apprentice. I am but a lowly civil servant – pleasantries are not to be wasted on such as me.”

  “I’m not an apprentice,” replied Keegan bitterly, turning away from her as he spoke. “I don’t think I ever will be either. There’s so much I don’t know and don’t understand, not to mention that I’ve almost been killed half a dozen times already!”

  “You will be the apprentice to the Guardian, Keegan and eventually you will be the Guardian. It is your destiny – whether you like it or not.”

  Keegan gripped his staff so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Whirling around to face Nisha, he hissed through clenched teeth, “I determine my fate! Not you, not the Council, not my grandfather and not some damned meddling dragon!!”

  No sooner had he spoken these words than thunder rumbled ominously above. Where the moon had been shining brightly before, now there were swirling black clouds growing thicker by the minute.

  “Look at yourself, Keegan!” snapped Nisha, her eyes flashing with anger. “Magic is in your blood – don’t you see that? Look around you,” she said, gesturing up at the storm clouds overhead. “The night was clear before your little tantrum – don’t you understand? Your magic brought those storm clouds - you are powerful beyond your understanding.”

  Turning away from him, she walked back over to the bench and sat down, her entire form looking exhausted.

  “You can’t escape your destiny no matter how much you may want to. Some things in life are bigger than all of us – if you weren’t so self-centered maybe you could see that not just one but two worlds need you!”

  Ashamed and chastened, Keegan could do nothing more than stare at his feet. The storm clouds above were quickly dissipating, allowing the moonlight to shine down once more. He looked over at Nisha. “You’re shaking; are you alright?”

  “My time in human form is almost gone for today,” she said, her voiced strained. “You must understand, Keegan. If you fail, we are all at risk. If you try to return to your old life, you will be killed – period. At least if you train under the Guardian you stand a chance – to save not only yourself but the rest of us as well.”

  “Why are you helping me, Nisha?”

  “Because I have grown; I am not the person I was when I was sentenced to this punishment.” She was starting to shake more violently; it was becoming more and more difficult to maintain her human form. “I am bound to serve my master, but I am not as short sighted as he is. I know the dangers of bringing our worlds together too soon; it must not be allowed to happen yet.”

  With these last words, Nisha shuddered and with a painful cry of anguish transformed into a large raven. Ruffling her feathers, she cocked her head to one side.

  “I believe in you, Keegan. I believe in the power inside you whether you do or not. You must not fail – for your sake more than any other.”

  Spreading her jet-black wings, the raven flew off into the night, returning to her master’s study.

  ###

  Chapter 24 - Betrayal

  “You lied to me!!” shouted the wizard, so furious that little wisps of smoke were actually rising off of his dark robes.

  Brimstone looked positively bored and continued to examine his front claws, ignoring the wizard’s fury for the moment.

  “Don’t ignore me, damn you! You lied about Talith Nor! When the Great Seal opened I was very nearly killed!”

  Brimstone was still not impressed. This fool of a wizard had easily been tricked into doing his bidding, unsealing the old portal in the mountains at Talith Nor that was the gateway for the Shadow. It would only be a matter of time now before they exacted their revenge on the Alderdrache. After his destruction, Brimstone would rise to command the dragons of the world and cast down the veil for good. He would still have to deal with the wizards, of course, or at least those who were foolish enough to stand against him.

  “I did not lie to you, I merely gave you the information you were seeking. You asked the location of the Great Seal, not what lay beyond it.”

  “You knew about the Shadow you damn, double-crossing beast!” he shouted as he paced back and forth, venting his rage at the dragon. Brimstone merely watched as the wizard continued his tirade.

  “You knew when I opened the seal they would come forth into our world unhindered – they were supposed to be held at bay until summoned. How can I control them now?”

  “The Shadow cannot be controlled, you fool,” sighed Brimstone. “They existed before all others, except the ancients. Do you really think that your petty powers would give you control over them? Their magic is from the dawn of time; they travel between the dimensions and can control things that you barely understand. The Shadow cannot be so easily stopped.”

  The wizard, still pacing back and forth in anger, turned towards the dragon. “That’s not true, dragon.” He stopped his pacing and glared at Brimstone, some of his anger dissipating – although a few wisps of smoke still curled upwards from his darkening robes. “They were stopped once. They were banished from our world and set behind the great seal. If it could be done once it can be done again, only this time they will be controlled instead of banished.”

  This apparently got the dragon’s full attention, as the great beast shifted to face the wizard and brought his toothy snout down directly in front of him. If this fool actually figured out how the Shadow had been banished he would have to be killed, immediately. Brimstone could not afford for this amateur to interfere and possibly even disrupt the plan that the dragon had so carefully devised.

  “Now you listen to me, wysard,” hissed the dragon in a menacing tone, using the dragon’s ancient term for those humans with magical talent. “You have done all that I require. If you try to interfere with what I have set in motion, you will be dealt with, understand? If you are wise, you will follow my lead and support what happens next. You will be in a position of power and can rule over the others of your kind.”

  The wizard did not appear to be frightened by the threat; rather it seemed to make him even angrier.

  “I have dealt with your kind before, dragon, and I will not be stopped by a youngling!”

  The wizard made a quick motion with his hand and snapped “Sk’lath,” sending a shower of bright gree
n sparks which engulfed Brimstone’s nose.

  With a snarl of anger, the dragon jerked his head back to avoid the sparks – more out of surprise than pain, although a dragon’s snout is one of the more tender parts of their armored hides.

  “I am not your pawn,” sneered the wizard. “On the contrary, it is I who has controlled you all this time. You have done my bidding and will continue to do so, unless you want that pendant around your great scaly neck again!”

  Great wisps of smoke curled from Brimstone’s scorched nostrils as his internal fire stoked in anger.

  “Listen carefully Skyv’tai,” said the wizard as he pointed a long finger at the dragon’s nose, giving particular emphasis to the dragon’s true name. “That’s right dragon, I know your true name. How else do you think I broke the charm that held the Council’s pendant around your neck?”

  A flicker of surprise lit the dragon’s eyes. Although taken aback by this knowledge, Brimstone was not flustered for long. This would merely delay his plans, not stop them. Narrowing his eyes until they were barely slits of gold against the deep red of his scales, he snarled at the wizard. “And what, pray tell me, would you have me do oh mighty wysard?” said the dragon, his words dripping with sarcasm.

  ‘You will do as you are told,” snapped Ducat. “First I must do more research into the Shadow and how they were banished; I’m sure you already know but I have learned not to trust the word of a dragon.”

  “You would do well not to delve too deeply, wysard,” came Brimstone’s reply. “You are dealing with powers you do not understand.”

  Infuriated, the mage’s response came in the form of another shot of green sparks aimed at the dragon’s snout, but this time Brimstone was ready. The dragon’s counter charm shielded his head and the sparks danced harmlessly off to one side, skittering across the floor until they burned themselves out.

  “When I cast the summons, you will respond immediately – unless you want the prisoner’s pendant back around that scaly neck of yours,” snapped the wizard. Turning from the dragon, the wizard conjured the portal that would take him back to his chambers. With one last baleful glance at the dragon, he stepped through and was gone.

  Hmph, thought the dragon. I will respond when you summon me wysard, and when you have served my purpose I will roast your carcass over a spit for my dinner.

  The dragon’s snout still tingled from the sparks; only magical fire could actually burn a dragon’s hide, as it is naturally fireproof against their own flames. He had refrained from incinerating the man only because he still needed the fool for the time being. If he killed him now, the entire Council and that damned Guardian would hunt him down. No, he had to wait until the Shadow had dispensed with the Alderdrache. The Council would be too busy with the chaos that ensued to stop him then. Satisfied he could do nothing except wait, Brimstone curled up on the stones like some great red, scaly cat and went to sleep.

  ###

  Chapter 25 - Research

  The Great Library of Innenstadt actually consisted of several buildings, having grown and expanded as necessary to accommodate the ever-growing collection of scrolls, tomes and other ancient writings. The Central Repository was the first and largest of the buildings, having started out as the original library several thousand years ago. Originally built in Egypt during the time of the pharaohs, the Council quietly moved the library in the middle of the night when the veil first separated the two worlds. The great domed building’s main floor housed some of the oldest writings in the collection, although it was the lower levels of this building that interested the visitor the most. He walked quickly through the marble halls, looking for the entrance to the sub-library that was located in the basement. The lower levels were off-limits to all but the highest officials as they contained the histories, spells and writings of the most powerful (and in some cases evil) of witches and wizards. Those in government deemed this information too dangerous for the masses and had locked it away, banishing it from prying eyes in hopes that the powers this information had previously unleashed would never return. It was here he hoped to find the secret of the Shadow. Slowing his pace, he finally located the entrance to the lower levels. The passageway was behind a large bronze statue of Cerberus, the three-headed, dragon-tailed dog who stands guard before the gates of the underworld.

  Sensing the wizard’s approach, the middle head of the statue looked down at him.

  “Those seeking passage beyond this gate must pay the price,” said a deep voice that resonated through the empty hallway.

  Knowing the ceremony by heart, the wizard took out a pure silver dagger and bared his wrist. He winced as the sharp blade cut through his skin. Carefully, he let the blood gather along the blade and then inserted the dagger up to the hilt into a small slit in the black granite base of the statue. Looking up at the great bronze head watching him intently, he intoned the required response.

  “I pay the price of my passage in my blood, my magic and my life. Return within the hour to reclaim my down payment I must, lest I be struck down and payment taken in full.”

  As he finished the response, the dog bowed its third head and a rectangular opening appeared in the black granite base as the stone slid away. Alexander retrieved his dagger and hurried down the stairs that appeared in the passage as the stone slid back across the opening. The stairs and passages below were lit by the golden glow of spellbound orbs along the walls. He had to be quick, as he only had one hour as the ceremony stated. When the library had been moved to its present location, a failsafe had been put in place to keep the curious at bay and prevent some witch or wizard from researching the darkest of secrets for too long. If an hour passed before he could return to the entrance, Charon, the boatman for the dead, would come to collect his soul. As payment for his passage to the underworld, the boatman would drain every drop of blood from his body and leave his body a withered husk.

  However, he had no intention of visiting the underworld just yet – there was far too much to do before his time was up. As if to emphasize the point, he nearly fell over the emaciated husk of a wizard at the bottom of the stairs. As he nudged the body with his boot, the robes and body within crackled like dry parchment and crumbled to dust. Covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve, he hurried down the passageway. In his haste, he failed to notice the small, red eyes that peered at him out of the darkness not far from the body of the wizard over which he had just stepped.

  Passing along the shelves that lined both sides of the cavernous room, he scanned the stacks of scrolls and books looking for the sign of the ancients. He finally found the symbol carved in the keystone of an archway at the end of the aisle. The symbol, signifying the infinite wisdom of the ancients, was etched in the stone as well as on the large bookcase below. Scanning the contents of the shelf, the wizard finally located a large, black leather tome. Reaching up, he took the tome from the shelf and laid it open on the table in front of him. As he pulled the book from the shelf, a trail of thick black smoke followed it. The shadowy chain was attached to the base of the book’s spine at one end and the shelf at the other. This tether was to prevent the dark information contained within its pages from ever leaving the bowels of the great library.

  The binding on the book crackled as the wizard pried it open. Eagerly Ducat scanned the pages for any reference to the Shadow and their banishment from this world. After several long minutes, he finally found the information he needed. The passage was written in what appeared to be dried blood. The writing was thin and spidery, and the words appeared to crawl across the page as he read them.

  The passage told about the final confrontation with the Shadow and the creation of both the Oracle and the Blackstar Amulet. This was his answer! The amulet was the key to everything! Eagerly he devoured the words in front of him, words that told of how the BlackStar Amulet was forged by the Ancients using and trapping the essence of the Shadow.

  This is it! This is how I bend them to my will and rend the Veil to pieces. All I have t
o do is take the Amulet from its resting place in Pahret T’pur, place it in the keystone of the first portal located in the depths of the castle and complete the incantation.

  Beside himself with glee, the wizard was so busy wringing his hands and chuckling to himself that he failed to notice the small, dark hand that darted from the shadows. The hand made a small gesture and a noise sounded down the aisle behind the wizard. Startled out of his reverie the wizard whirled about with his wand drawn, eyes scanning the dimly lit rows of bookshelves. While he was still trying to find the source of the noise, the hand darted forth again. With a small flash, it sketched a silvery glyph that settled into the page Ducat had been reading. The page shimmered slightly and the hand quickly and silently tore it from the book.

  Oblivious to what had been stolen, the wizard took out his silver dagger again and muttered an enchantment. As he finished, the blade of the dagger turned a dark blood red and a faint hissing noise came from the razor sharp edge. Moving quickly, he sliced through the smoky chain attached to the spine of the great tome, freeing it from the shelf. Checking one last time to make sure he still alone, he gathered up the book and pocketed it in the folds of his robes. With only a few minutes to spare, he bounded up the stairway and inserted his silver dagger into the base of the statue of Cerberus.