7
Caire did not return to his room as he probably should have, something held him in the hall, some inexplicable sense of things about to happen; he knew his curiosity was getting the better of him and prayed desperately for the strength to resist it and return to his chamber, but he found himself crouching in the shadows a few doors down, watching Griff’s door intently. He heard someone moving about and some muffled words, then the door opened slowly, a figure emerged and fled silently down the hall. Intrigued, Caire waited until the fugitive had disappeared around the corner and then entered the room. He was not surprised to find the strange Student dead in his bed; he smiled eagerly, wondering if the enigmatic figure would soon rouse again from the grave. But he lay there as still and silent as death, much to Caire’s disappointment.
His more sensible side suddenly reminded him of a certain promise he had given to One he dared not defy; he shivered in dread, offered up a chagrined prayer for forgiveness, and turned to go, but froze in terror to find the door blocked by a man in the uniform of the Brethren. The stranger’s eyes quickly scanned the room, taking in the unmoving form in the bed and the anxious apprentice wishing that the floor might open up and swallow him.
Adan stepped fully into the room, closing the door behind him. He found a candle and lit it, silently studying the awkward apprentice further as he did so. Setting the candle down, he sat in the room’s sole chair, met Caire’s discomfited gaze, and said with a grim smile, “do you mind telling me what is going on around here?”
Horrified, Caire glanced about desperately, looking for some escape or hiding place, but there was nowhere to go, nothing to do, but confess. Adan took pity on him and motioned towards the empty bed, that he might sit and speak as a confidant, rather than as a condemned man before the magistrate. With a sigh of relief and a grateful glance, Caire sat and began his strange tale, “it has been a most unusual day. Word came from Umboria that the Prince had been murdered upon the orders of a certain great lord, but a terrified soldier also arrived at the gates this morning claiming that his master, another great lord of Umboria, had had the same Prince killed, which is quite odd, as I am, or rather was, the only Prince of Umboria.
How is it that two different people can think that they have had me killed when I have not left the castle during the whole fiasco?” He turned grim eyes to the silent figure in the other bed, “but that is not the strangest thing I have seen this day.” He paused, wondering if he could proceed, knowing protocol demanded that he obey this man, but also knowing if he violated his vow, it might have dire consequences. Said he quietly, “I do not know how much more I can tell, the Master Himself has bound me to secrecy upon this matter.”
Adan raised an eyebrow, “bound you to secrecy and also forbid you from looking deeper into the matter. How is it you are here when you should not be?”
Caire looked at him with wide eyes, “you know?!”
Adan smiled slightly, “let us just say I am in on the secret, you may tell me all you have seen with no fear of breaking your promise.” He grew grave, “but what of your presence here?”
Caire hung his head, “I initially came to this room at the behest of some of the Students who had been wakened by a ruckus in this chamber. I entered to find one of the boys wounded and abed and the other antagonizing him. I cautioned them about the noise and then withdrew, but something kept me from returning to my own chambers. A few minutes later the door opened and the second boy fled, so I decided to look further into the matter. And so did you find me.”
Adan shook his head, “what is it that restrained you from going back to bed? Your own curiosity or something else?”
The boy frowned, “I am not sure. I was certainly curious, but I don’t think that was the reason I lingered.” He sighed heavily, “I cannot keep this up. I will have to resign from the Brethren and withdraw to some distant corner of the world and live a hermit, else I will further betray my vow.”
Adan said wryly, “it is a heavy secret to keep lad, especially when you have no idea what it is you are protecting, but I do not think you must act as rashly as all that.” His smiled deepened in remembrance, “I was once an inadvertent witness to a rather distressing act that was not at all what it appeared to be; I completely understand your predicament.” He said quietly, “I do not think it a coincidence that you have seen and heard all that you have.” He stood and approached the corpse on the bed, smiling grimly over his shoulder at Caire, he said, “and I doubt this will surprise you in the least.” He placed a firm hand on Jace’s chest and wakened him from his lapse into death.
Jace gasped back to life, smiled up joyously into the face of his friend, and was suddenly on his feet, greeting his long sundered companion. Only then did he realize they were not alone. He exchanged a puzzled look with Adan, “how much does he know?”
Adan smiled wryly, “only enough to cause him trouble but not enough to put his mind at ease. Remind you of anything?” They shared a reminiscent smile and then Adan said solemnly to Caire, “you have a decision to make.” There came a flash of light and two ancient tomes appeared suddenly in his hands, “take these books back to your chambers, study them well, and think upon the implications to your own life.” Caire’s brow furrowed in consternation and Adan said quietly, “they will explain much, but not all.” The boy nodded slowly, took the books, made the appropriate bows, and fled the room.
Jace raised an eyebrow, “him? I was sure the Master was calling my gifted but egotistical roommate into the Shadow.”
Adan smiled ironically, “perhaps, but it sounds to me as if he has answered with a resounding no. Was it not he that slew you?”
Jace laughed, “technically it was Hawk this time, but he did accidentally kill me twice prior to that.”
Adan gaped, “twice? When?”
Jace snorted, “earlier this evening, it has been an eventful night.” He frowned, “what has come of him?”
Adan shook his head, “the apprentice said he fled shortly after you expired.”
“This cannot be good,” said Jace, as a feeling of unease suddenly grew in his heart, “not good at all.” He dashed from the room.
Adan followed, “where are you going?”
Jace said worriedly, “to find our initiate!” Adan groaned as understanding dawned but did not slacken his pace.
Caire returned to his quarters, his mind reeling with wonder and dread, eager to delve into the books and the mysteries they contained. What was this strange conspiracy even the Master Himself seemed intent on hiding? What did it have to do with him? He darted into his darkened chamber and shut the door behind him. He lit a candle and gasped, for the sudden light revealed a grimly smiling Griff sitting on the bed, smirked he, “it is about time you got here. I hate waiting, what kept you?”
It took Caire a moment to realize he outranked this impertinent Student and that the boy was sitting in his chambers far past curfew and had been involved in several questionable incidents of late. Drawing himself up, Caire said, “you are the one who should be explaining things, not me.”
Griff’s smile became malice itself, “oh, I think not. You are privy to things I would rather not have widely known, that and I’ve suddenly taken an interest in those books you carry.”
Caire glanced down at his burden, suddenly nervous in the presence of this threatening individual who did not seem to know his place, said he quietly, “I am afraid you won’t be allowed to look at them.”
Griff snorted, a knife suddenly in his hand, “oh, come now! Either way you end up dead and I get the books so you might as well make it as easy upon yourself as you can.”
Caire reached desperately for the doorknob behind him, but his hand met thin air; he glanced back in a panic to discover that the knob had inexplicably vanished. A chill wind gusted through the chamber and plunged them both into darkness, as a horrid voice scoffed, “don’t kill him,” there was a dreadful pause and the voice said in anticipation, “yet.??
?
The next moment the door flew open, but the chamber was empty as Adan and Jace arrived too late. They exchanged a grim look and immediately hastened to the courtyard where their unicorns waited eagerly with Caire’s distraught mount, who could only sense cold and darkness and evil when he tried to touch his master’s mind. Hawk joined them briefly in the dull grey light of predawn, said he worriedly as they mounted, exchanging a significant look with Jace, “he’s at his most vulnerable right now, this is when the Enemy will try to corrupt or destroy him before he sees another recruited into the Shadow. May the Master ride with you, my friends!” He slapped Jace’s unicorn on the rump as they galloped out of the courtyard, watching silently as they were swallowed up by the misty streets, praying that they would be in time, and that the lad’s trial would not be as horrific as his own had been.
There was darkness, hoarse laughter like wind moaning in an empty tomb, bitter cold, and a pall of palpable evil all about him; this was the only reality Caire knew, had ever known. It was the price for breaking his vow, for betraying his promise, this eternal banishment to the Abyss. He shook himself, moaned in agony, and there came a lessening of the darkness about him. The mocking laughter fled, the cold receded, and the shroud of malice lifted. He sat up slowly, blinking in disbelief at the miraculous commonality of the night dark wood about him. He found his hands and feet cruelly bound, but he was able to shift into a sitting position, leaning against a tree for support, as he studied his situation.
Griff looked up from where he sat on a stump across the clearing, a mocking smile on his face, “awake are you? It is about time! But it gave me all day to read your precious books.” He laughed scornfully, “you haven’t even had a chance to read them, have you? Interesting stuff, that! And to think I once laughed at the very idea, but I think it is my destiny, my very purpose for being.”
Caire said quietly, not knowing from whence the words came, “it was your calling, but you have rejected it. Another has been called in your stead.”
“What? You!” laughed Griff all the more, “you might be a fair hand with a sword but you are nothing compared to me! Your precious Master would be a fool to choose you over me.”
Caire shook his head vehemently, “it is not a matter of skill but of heart. You have rejected the Master and thus His calling on your life. Your skills will come to naught.”
Griff shrugged, “or so you think, the Master is not the only one with power. How do you think we got out of Astoria? I need only choose whom to serve: myself or something greater.” He mused ironically, “I never believed there could be anything greater than myself, but I’m happy to be wrong.” He snarled at the disbelieving Caire, “and I certainly want no part in your pathetic conception of the so-called Master. His so-called Enemy is far more interesting, not to mention powerful. All he wants is a little blood, which is where you come in.” His smile turned cruel, “of course you have the chance to recant of all your foolishness and seek the true power behind the worlds.”
Caire gaped at him in astonishment and outrage; Griff smiled condescendingly and said, “I thought as much.” He frowned thoughtfully at his captive, “you don’t even know what it is you are missing out on, do you?” Caire shook his head as Griff’s frown deepened, “that really takes all the fun out of it.” With a sigh, he hefted one of the books in one hand and a knife in the other, “here,” said he, cutting the ropes binding Caire’s wrists and placing the book in his lap, “learn what it is that you will be deprived of.”
Caire frowned, “what are you doing?”
Griff laughed harshly, “I want to wring as much despair out of your soul ere you die as I can. There is nothing like showing someone what their future might have been had they lived to see it, to thrust them into the depths of despair. Read on and then I’ll kill you.”
Caire shook his head, “I’ll gladly read, but never shall I despair. I am in the Master’s keeping and have nothing to fear, in life or death, whatever your fell master promises or threatens.” Griff shrugged as if it were no concern of his and settled back on his stump while Caire strained his eyes, trying to read in the wan light of the moon. What he read thrilled his heart and he silently prayed that it might yet somehow come to pass.
Adan and Jace drew rein just outside the clearing in which Caire’s unicorn said his master lay as dawn crept into the woods a full day after they had left Astoria. The unicorn said that the darkness had lifted and that his master, though a little afraid, was growing more eager and resolute by the hour, over what the creature could not say, but his would-be rescuers found this an encouraging sign. The pair exchanged a nod and then vanished from sight, one circling to left and the other going right.
“It is time,” said Griff, eyeing the rising day uneasily. He had drifted off to sleep unintentionally and knew he should have been well on his way already, the fell deed over and done hours ago. Caire looked up with red, bleary eyes from his book, knowing the moment had come, moment for what he did not know, but something was imminent, whether it was his death or something greater, it was about to be revealed.
Jace revealed himself on the far side of the clearing not far from Griff, who gaped at the apparition that suddenly appeared out of thin air, recognizing him as the Brother that had so recently fallen to his death. Griff stuttered, reaching for his sword in terror, “I did not think the Brethren believed in ghosts!”
Jace snorted, “who said anything about ghosts. Release your captive and repent of your evil.”
Griff scowled, his sword in hand, “let us rather see if your skills are as great as they were purported to be. The winner may decide what comes of the captive.” He frowned in understanding, “those stories, you are one of them, a Shadow!”
It was Jace’s turn to start, “you could read The Legends?!”
Adan appeared suddenly at Caire’s side, easily freeing the boy from his bonds, said he grimly, “the boy was Called, thus the books would reveal themselves to him, even though he Refused.”
Griff snarled, “you can’t just steal my hostage!”
Adan grinned, “who will stop me?”
The clearing grew dark, as if a sudden storm had blown in and covered the new risen sun, as a great raven landed in a nearby tree and laughed harshly, “I will, you fool!”
Adan exchanged a horrified look with Jace before grabbing Caire by the shoulders and driving him to his knees, said he in a desperate whisper, “it is now or never lad, there is only One that can protect us from such a Fiend.” Caire’s eyes were wide with terror but he nodded eagerly. Adan gave him an impish smile and released his firm hold on the awful light that composed his being. The light blazed forth in all its dreadful glory, the pure and unfettered power of He who had wrought the stars, instantly burning everyone and everything in that clearing to nothingness.
The Fiend could not abide that light and fled forthwith while the three Brethren and the unicorns were suddenly flung into the Master’s presence, all but Caire finding themselves instantly in the waking world once more. As for Griff, all his renowned skill and confidence could not save him from that awful light, or even from death, which is the eventual lot of all mortal men; neither could his new master spare him from the Abyss, for all of his boasting of power unimaginable and life unending were nothing but empty promises.
Jace exchanged a wondering look with Adan, neither ever tiring of even the briefest glimpse of their Master’s presence. After a long, joyous silence, Jace said with a grin, “that is one way to end an argument!”
Adan laughed, “you are the one who could barely control himself at the first; you shouldn’t be lecturing me about control.”
Jace chuckled, “who was lecturing you? That was quite impressive actually! If only I had thought of that when I encountered the Enemy on that fateful ride back to Astoria.”
“You might have blinded him for a moment,” said Adan thoughtfully, “but an apprentice of the Shadow has no such ability, it is
too dangerous to be left in the hands of one not fully bound to the Shadow.”
Jace nodded, “you are right,” and added with a smile, “I would have only annoyed him further. A pity, it might have spared Jared’s life.” They shared a merry laugh at the memory but sobered as they remembered Griff’s grim fate.
Adan shook his head, “he refused, even at the last.”
Jace nodded sadly, “it is ever our choice to do so.”
As they mounted for the long ride back to Astoria, Jace asked rakishly, “so how are we going to explain this to my sister?”
Adan smiled benignly, “explain what? Caire should be back soon and Griff left of his own accord. She need know no more than that, save that we shall be telling her with whom to apprentice the boy.”
Jace raised an eyebrow, “and who will that be?”
Adan shivered, “I am afraid it will be me.”
Jace grinned, “are you ready to be all grown up and responsible then?”
Adan snorted, “far more than you, at least I’ve had a few years of experience while you were on vacation.”
“You’ve always been and will always be the most responsible of the two of us,” said Jace half amused, half proud, “is that any surprise? But it is strange that you’ve been at this far longer than I have yet I was recruited before you!”
Adan laughed, “at least you won’t be the least experienced amongst the Shadow any longer.”
“As long as I don’t have to impersonate a Student for a while, I will be well content,” said Jace.
“But you are the best suited to it,” said Adan with a grin, “and I fear it shall always be so.”
Jace said in faux gravity, “we shall see, dear friend, we shall see.”
“We shall indeed,” said Adan with a laugh, urging his mount to a faster pace, hoping to reach Astoria before Caire’s return.