The Unwilling Apprentice (Book 2)

by Heidi Willard

  "Not that way!" she hissed, but hurried to catch up.

  The three slipped into the room and Fred closed the door behind them. He leaned against the wood and wiped his sweaty brow. "That was close," he muttered.

  Pat was in his face in a moment while the gargoyle stood back and watched them. "We need to take her to my room!" Pat hissed.

  Fred rolled his eyes and gestured around the room. "She'll be just as safe in here! Nobody comes here except Ned and me," Fred snarled back.

  Pat scowled, and grasped one of the gargoyle girl's arms. "What about that chambermaid that told us about the cavern? She came in here." She pulled the girl toward the door, but Fred grabbed her other arm. He yanked them back

  "Only to make my bed. She won't come back now, but you'll have a bunch of girls in there helping you get dressed tomorrow," he replied.

  Pat yanked at the poor girl, and Fred pulled back. "Tomorrow? How long do you think either of us can hide her? We need to get her back to her father before he's driven mad with worry!" she pointed out.

  "Pull any harder and you may have a problem in all of your hands," a voice quipped. All three of their heads swiveled around to the doorway, and Ned stood there with a smile on his face.

  Fred and Pat looked at each other, then back at their gargoyle friend. Her face showed the pain of their tug-of-war with her arms. They dropped her stretched arms, plastered wide, fake smiles on their faces and stepped together so their shoulders pressed against each other. That didn't quite hide the gargoyle girl behind them.

  Ned chuckled and leaned on his staff as he looked the three over. "I suspected you two had something to do with tonight's chaos, but the gargoyle is a nice touch to the surprise."

  "Um, you didn't hear anything about this from us," Fred told him.

  Ned smiled. "In this case seeing is believing," he replied. He stepped over to the young gargoyle and bowed his head. "Good evening, young miss. You look very much like a fellow I used to know. I believe his name was Sampson."

  The girl's eyes lit up. "You know my father?"

  Ned chuckled. "Well, well, indeed I do, and I'm glad to hear he's still alive, but where is he and how did you come to be here?"

  "We reside in a cavern deep beneath the castle," she told him. She blushed and looked at the ground. "And I am the one who caused the trouble this night. If I hadn't been curious to see the fireworks than none of this would have happened."

  Ned kindly smiled and walked between the two youngsters who guarded her. He put a gentle hand on the gargoyle girl's shoulder, and she gaze into his wise old eyes. "Don't trouble yourself too much, young miss. I have yet to hear that anyone was seriously harmed, though there are reports of several being slightly mauled by a cantankas." Fred cringed. That was partly his doing though he had little control over the beast.

  Pat glared at Fred. "Did you let that beast out to attack the citizens?" she scolded him.

  Fred scowled back at her. "I didn't let him do anything, he crashed through the wall and saved Canto and me from the mob."

  "I'm sorry." The small voice interrupted them, and the pair turned to the gargoyle girl. Tears pooled in her eyes and her shoulders shook. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want any of this to happen, and it's all my fault that you two are fighting and the city is in such ruins."

  Ned clucked his tongue and shook his head. "Now look at what you're arguing has done. You've frightened her." He led the girl over to the bed, sat them both down, and took one of her hands in both of his. "Where are my manners? I haven't yet introduced myself. My name is Ned." The two youngsters looked at each other and blushed; through all that trouble they hadn't even gotten her name.

  "My name is Ruth," she replied with a sniffle.

  Ned smiled. "That's a very pretty name. Is this your first adventure outside the caves?" She nodded. "Do you want to go back to your father?" She surprised all of them when she shook her head. Ned raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

  Ruth glanced over to Fred and Pat. "I owe them my life. If they hadn't come to rescue me I don't know what would have happened. A life-debt must be paid with servitude, or I save their lives."

  Fred blinked, but Pat vehemently shook her head and stepped toward the girl with her hands up and waving. "It was nothing, really. You need to go back to your father and the others. It's much safer-"

  Ruth stood stiffly and stared Pat straight in the eyes. "A life-debt can't be forgiven, and I can't return to my people until I have fulfilled my debt."

  Ned chuckled. "Not even to inform your father of your debt?" he pointed out.

  Ruth cringed and blushed. "Perhaps it would be wise to do that."

  "I imagine that isn't easy, or my two bold companions here would have sent you back already," Ned commented.

  "The secret entrance is beneath the kitchen," Fred informed him.

  "We planned to take her down there later tonight," Pat chimed in.

  Ned pulled at his beard and shook his head. "Sounds risky, especially as I heard the guests for your birthday party have insisted on doubling the guards inside and outside the castle."

  Pat threw up her arms. "Then do you have a better plan?"

  Ned jumped up onto his feet and pointed his staff toward the gargoyle. "Actually, yes. Just hold still, Ruth, this won't hurt a bit."

  Before any of them could argue, particularly Ruth, a beam of light shot from his staff and struck her on the head. It exploded into a million dazzling glitters of light that rained down over her entire body. Each small piece of glitter touched her skin and changed the color from dark to pale. Her pointed ears lowered and morphed into human ears, and her tail and wings completely dissolved. The feet flattened and split into ten toes, and her clawed hands developed long, slender fingers. The only gargoyle aspect of her that remained the same were her red eyes, though the color dulled. Ruth looked down at herself and screamed. Fred, Pat, and Ned jumped forward and clapped their hands over her mouth. Pat glared at Ned. "What the hell have you done to her?" she hissed at him.

  He sheepishly grinned. "Not quite the thanks I was expecting, but you will be able to take her through the castle without any problems."

  "And how is she supposed to turn back?" Pat asked him.

  Ned scrunched up his face, dug into his cloak with his free hand, and pulled out a small, golden necklace with a round piece of glass in the center. Inside the glass lay the colorful sparkles like those that had changed Ruth. "This should do the trick. A rub on the glass and she transforms right back. At least, I think it will."

  "You think it will?" Pat repeated.

  Ned shrugged. "It's been a number of years since it's been tried, and the results were, well, not satisfactory." Ruth's eyes widened in horror, and Pat growled.

  "What the hell does that mean?" Pat questioned him.

  "Well, let us just say that the gentleman in question later gave birth to five healthy children."

  Ruth squealed, and Fred noticed her face turn a terrible shade of blue. "Guys, I think we're suffocating her."

  Ned and Pat turned their heads and noticed the gargoyle was too terrified to do anything but listen to their conversation. They pulled their hands from her mouth and, by habit, she took a deep, gasping breath. She turned her pleading eyes on Ned. "I'm not trapped in this human form forever, am I?"

  Ned pursed his lips together and slid the trinket over her neck. "There is only one way to be sure."

  Ruth took the necklace in her shaking hands and pressed her fingers against the glass. She lightly rubbed the surface, and a bright light shot out of the center. It engulfed her in a rainbow of colors for a few seconds, and sucked back into the glass just as quickly to reveal Ruth back in her true form. She looked down at herself and her face lit up with a bright smile. "It worked!" she exclaimed.

  Pat looked over to Ned and narrowed her eyes. "It better have or Ned would have had some explaining to do to Sampson," she grumbled.

  Ned coughed and straightened. "Yes, well, a happy ending is a happy ending. Rub the glas
s to revert to your human form, and no one will be the wiser." Ruth rubbed the glass again, and the transformation worked as before only quicker and with less flare. She laughed and switched between her two forms in a swirling mix of colors and an amalgamation of gargoyle and human. Ned jumped forward and put his hand over the trinket. He stopped on her human form. "Best not switch too quickly. You may become permanently stuck between both forms."

  Ruth paled and dropped the trinket onto her chest as though she'd been burned. Pat slipped behind Ruth and pushed her toward the door. "Let's leave before he has other bright ideas."

  CHAPTER 9

  The girls escaped Ned, but Fred wasn't so lucky. After all the excitement he wanted food, but he only had a chance to turn toward the door when a heavy hand fell on his shoulder. "A moment, Fred," Ned requested of him.

  Fred cringed and looked over his shoulder. The old man's firm, unamused tone told him he wasn't going to like this talk. "This is about the earthquake, isn't it?" Fred guessed. Ned nodded, and the boy turned to him. "I didn't mean for it to get so big. I just didn't know how to stop it."

  Ned sighed. "And that is precisely the problem. You used the staff without knowing how you created the magic, nor how to cancel it out."

  Fred's shoulders drooped, and he hung his head. He couldn't argue with Ned, the truth was out there in all the wrecked buildings and injured people. His voice was hoarse and trembled. "I know I shouldn't have done it, but I couldn't think of any way out of there. We were surrounded by these guys and-"

  "-and you used your staff," Ned finished. Fred nodded, but didn't look up. There was silence between them for a moment, and Ned sighed. "What will you do now? You can't protect Pat if you risk her life performing these spells."

  Fred's head shot up and he glared at the old man. "You think I don't know that? On that roof she looked at me like I was-I was-"

  "-some kind of monster?" Ned suggested. Fred whipped his head away and closed his eyes; the truth hurt. A heavy hand settled on Fred's shoulder, and Ned spoke in a softer tone. "Knowing all these things, what will you do?"

  Fred bit his lip. "I...I need to learn how to control it." He lifted his eyes and met Ned's steady gaze. "I need to become your apprentice, if you'll still have me."

  A smile slowly slipped onto Ned's face, and he gave a nod. "I will be glad to have you." Then Ned stepped back, pulled at his long beard and looked the boy over. A twinkle slipped into his eyes that made Fred wonder what he'd gotten himself into. "But perhaps a change of wardrobe."

  Ned pointed his staff at Fred and a rainbow of light shot out at the boy. Fred held up his arms and shut his eyes, and a tingle ran through his body. That disappeared in a few seconds, and he felt heavier than before. Fred peeked open an eye and found Ned standing before him with a smirk on his face. "Admirable, and very becoming," Ned complimented.

  Fred blanched and glanced down at himself. His eyes bulged out when he saw he wore a sky-blue cloak with glowing stars over the front and back. The sleeves dragged the ground, and he sported a long, snowy-white beard. A long, floppy hat slid down over his eyes, and he yanked it up to see it had a pointy end. He shifted his feet and bells jingled from the end of his pointed slipper shoes. His head shot up and he glared at Ned; even his eyebrows felt bushy.

  "What the hell have you done to me?" Fred exclaimed.

  Ned chuckled. "Merely gave you the necessary clothing for an apprentice." He reached out and pulled on Fred's beard. The long hair popped off and Ned showed the clips that had hung it over Fred's ears. "All of it is an illusion, but that is perhaps the most useful tool for castors." Fred tried to walk, and stumbled over the hems of both his sleeves and the lower part of his cloak. The hat slid back over his eyes. "Careful you don't get the sleeves dirty," Ned teased.

  Fred stiffened, lifted up the hat, and glared at Ned. "You know I hate you, don't you?"

  Ned smiled sweetly and adjusted the hat. "It helps me sleep at night, but if you don't wish to have such fine clothes, you may take them off," he teased.

  Fred happily complied, and with each divestment the material disappeared in a poof of glittering smoke. "I didn't know castors could really do small magic. You don't seem to use it that often," Fred pointed out.

  Ned seated himself on the bed and leaned on his staff as he looked over the boy. "The loudest castor is generally the worst. What he lacks in skill he makes up for with showy parlor tricks."

  Fred sat himself beside Ned. "So don't show people what you can do?" he asked the old man.

  Ned smiled and gave a nod. "Precisely. Your adversaries won't know your full potential until you choose to reveal it."

  "Adversaries like Canavar?" Fred guessed.

  The old castor's eyes flitted over the boy. "You haven't heard much of him, have you?"

  Fred raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

  "Because very few people would toss his name out as you did without at least a tremor of fear," Ned replied.

  The boy scrunched up his face in thought. "I know he made all those creatures we met on the way to Galaron, and that he wanted to kidnap Pat to use her, but I don't know anything else about him."

  Ned pursed his lips together and his bushy eyebrows crashed down over his eyes. "Lord Canavar is a very dangerous man. He has ruled a kingdom in the far south near the ocean for well over half a century, and caused trouble for good folks for far longer than that."

  "Why does he cause trouble to anyone? What does he want?" Fred wondered.

  A small smile slipped onto Ned's lips. "If I said he wishes to rule the world it would be very cliched, and wrong. Lord Canavar's ambitions currently lay in manipulating others to further his ambitions as a castor."

  Fred blinked. "Wait, so he's a castor?"

  Ned chuckled. "How else do you think he was able to attack us with those creatures?"

  The boy shrugged. "I just thought maybe he had somebody else do it for him."

  "Unfortunate for us that Lord Canavar himself controls the magic. Anyone else would have a conscious and could be turned away from such plans," Ned replied. Fred detected a hint of bitterness in Ned's voice.

  "So have you met Canavar?" he asked Ned.

  Ned closed his eyes and gave a nod. "Yes, I have met him several times, but those were all a long time ago. Before you were born."

  Fred glanced at Ned and narrowed his eyes. "How do you know when I was born?"

  "Lord Tramadore told me, and I believe he heard from you," Ned informed him.

  The boy blinked. "Oh, right." He remembered telling Tramadore his age. "So Canavar is trying to become more powerful to do what?"

  Ned sighed and rose to his feet. "The one best able to answer that would be the lord himself, and if I were you I wouldn't go looking for him," he advised the young man.

  "I don't think I'll ever have a reason to go looking for him unless he gets Pat," Fred replied.

  "Pat will be relieved that's one trouble you won't get yourself into," Ned teased. "Especially since you must finish the one you have with Ruth. The kitchen staff retires at midnight, and arises at four, so you have a narrow window to return her to her father."

  "What about that whole life-debt?" Fred reminded him.

  Ned chuckled. "I'm afraid that's one problem I can't help you with. Gargoyles are very stubborn and proud, and even Sampson will have a difficult time convincing himself that Ruth's oath must be broken to keep her beneath the hill."

  Fred frowned. "Especially since you gave her that necklace that keeps her form hidden."

  The old man turned his eyes to the ceiling and gave a small whistle. "Yes, quite short-sighted of me to aid her in her foolhardy oath. I must be more mindful next time to avoid doing that, but for now what say we start your training?" Fred's stomach replied with a loud growl; the boy blushed and Ned smiled. "An excellent point, Fred's stomach. No castor can properly work his magic without food. We will have a lesson and procure ourselves of the king's kitchen at the same time."

  Ned led the boy down
to the entrance to the kitchen. The hour was eleven and none of the guards had returned from the inner city to fill their posts inside the castle, but there were still a few servants in the kitchen employed with fulfilling the whims of guests who craved late-night snacks. Ned slipped beside the entrance and held out his hand against Fred's chest to keep him from passing into the room. He nodded at a platter with half a cake still on it, and dropped his voice to a whisper. "For our first lesson you will float that cake over to us."

  Fred glanced between Ned and the cake, and blinked. "How am I supposed to do that?" he asked him.

  "First call forth your staff," Ned advised. Fred fumbled for the stick and concentrated hard; nothing happened. Ned sighed and pulled them off to the side away from the kitchen entrance. "You try too hard. A castor's abilities come from the natural gift inside themselves, and you must use that to release your staff, not this." He rapped the top of Fred's head.

  Fred waved away Ned's hand and rubbed his head. "How am I supposed to do that?"

  Ned smiled and pointed a finger at Fred's chest where lay his heart. "It's in there waiting for you to find it. Can you feel it beating in your heart?"

  Fred wrinkled his nose. That sounded like something a girl would think up. "Isn't there a more manly way?" he asked the old man.

  Ned chuckled and leaned in close while his eyes twinkled with a dark light. "I could scare you into using the staff," he suggested.

  Fred gulped; the threat sounded serious. "I-I think I'll try the heart way, but how am I supposed to know when I've found it? Is there some sort of feeling I'm supposed to, well, feel?"

  Ned rubbed his chin and pondered the question. "I would describe it as the same sensation as releasing a very good burp."

  The young lad's face drooped. "Are you serious?"

  "Am I not ever serious?"

  "All the time."

  "Well, this time I am serious, and you are not concentrating," Ned scolded him.

  "All right, all right," Fred grumbled. He closed his eyes and held the stick in his hands. His mind searched through himself for that special feeling, and before long he felt something bubble up beneath the surface of his being. The stick in his hands quivered and twitched, and he concentrated harder on that feeling. He didn't expect the range of emotions that washed over him as the power built up inside of him. There was joy, grief, and a solace he'd never before felt. When Fred opened his eyes he held not two broken bits of stick, but his staff. "W-whoa..." he murmured.