The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah) (44 page)

“About an hour,” Taelor answer. “I had no idea until Hayden told me, although I really should have figured it out a long time ago.”

“I’d love to see Mother again,” Landis said wistfully. Then she frowned and asked, “Why isn’t she with you? Is she all right?”

Taelor looked a little pained. Then he took a deep breath and told Landis that their mother had passed away the previous winter.

Tears filled Landis’s eyes. “Why didn’t she come to see me after my father died? Or at least send for me? Didn’t she want to see me?”

“Landis, that’s not it at all. She couldn’t. She wasn’t free to do what she wanted to do. We were slaves. Tsareth bought us both when I was a baby,” Taelor explained. “After he died, Rolan sent my mother to work in the kitchens and made me his personal slave.”

“What?! Why didn’t someone tell me? I could have explained the situation to Rolan. Both of you could have come here to live,” Landis protested.

“No. You don’t know Rolan. And that brings me around to some of the other things I have to tell you.” Then Taelor told her how Rolan had murdered her father and banished all of Tsareth’s other children from Trendon. “I don’t know if Rolan even knows that you exist, but he would probably kill you if you were to show up in Trendon. As soon as he realized how strong your magic is, he would see you as a threat, and he deals with anyone he perceives as a threat quickly and decisively. He kills them.”

“Then what am I going to do? How will I train?” Landis asked. “If I ask someone to let me train with them, won’t I make them a target for Rolan?”

“Probably,” Hayden answered her. “But there are still some sorcerers out there who are powerful enough that Rolan’s anger wouldn’t concern them. Let’s not worry about that yet, Landis. You can’t begin training for nearly a year anyway, and there’s no law that states that you have to begin training as soon as you turn twenty-five. We’ll figure something out. Don’t worry.” Then Hayden turned to Taelor and said, “Taelor, I’d like for you to stay with us, for as long as you like.”

“I appreciate that, but I hate to impose,” Taelor said.

“It’s no imposition. You’re the only family that Landis has left that she can rely on. I don’t know what your plans are, and I can certainly understand if you want to put as many miles between yourself and Rolan as possible, but let me assure you that he cannot reach you here unless he’s willing to declare war on the elves, and I doubt if even he is that foolish.”

“I hadn’t made any plans other than to find Landis and tell her about Rolan. I would love to stay here for a while, but I don’t want to put any of you in danger,” Taelor answered.

“Don’t worry, you won’t,” Hayden said as he stood up. “It’s settled then.” Hayden turned to his wife, stretched and asked, “What’s for dinner anyway, and when are the others going to get here? I’m hungry!”

Chapter 36

Fall Settles Over the Valley

During the month of August, Kevin’s skills progressed faster than he had dared to hope. He could boil a cup of water for tea, or he could heat a large tub of water for a bath. He could pick up anything from a feather to a boulder and move it two feet or two hundred. Not only could he catch eggs on a cushion of air, but he could also catch boulders, and his energy bolts were strong enough to crumble small rocks.

He could soar through the sky beside Glendymere, dive for the ground, catch himself, and land so gently that he left no footprints in the sand. With his ability to catch himself came the confidence to try other tasks while flying. He could move objects, stir air currents, light a candle, ignite a bonfire, or use his seeing eye to peek in on the activities in another valley, all while flying a hundred feet above the ground. And he was getting better with each passing day.

One morning near the middle of September, Kevin and Chris were outside practicing some of Kevin’s skills when Glendymere walked up.
“Mind taking a break for a little while? I’d like to talk to you.”

“Fine with me,” Kevin said as he sat down on the nearest boulder. “What’s up?”

“I’ve asked some elves and dwarves to join us in about six weeks for some mock battles. You need to learn how to defend yourself against all kinds of attack, so I thought we would start with the basics: arrows, knives and swords.”

 “I’m not sure I understand,” Kevin said slowly. “Are you thinking that I’m going to defend myself with a sword?”

“No. Most sorcerers don’t even carry a sword. You’ll have to use non-lethal magic to defend yourself.”

“Are they going to be using non-lethal weapons?” Chris asked.

“No, they’ll be using the same ones they always use. They know that they’re going to be fighting a sorcerer and his guards, so they’ll come prepared.”

“Guards?” Kevin asked. “What guards?”

“You know, the ones you travel with, your friends.”

“Are they going to be involved in this, too?” Kevin asked.

“They’ll have to be if you’re going to learn to fight as a team.”

“Are you going to be there?” Chris asked.

“Of course.”

Chris and Kevin looked at each other.

“Maybe they should get to know you before the battle,” Kevin said.

“That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about.”

“How do you want to do this? Are you going to come to Rainbow Valley, or do you want us to bring them here?” Kevin asked.

“I think it’ll be best if they come over here. You can bring them through the tunnels.”

“When do you want us to bring them over?” Kevin asked.

“How about tomorrow morning? They can stay until about lunchtime. That should be enough for the first day. And have them bring their swords, bows, and arrows.”

“Okay,” Kevin said. “We’ll tell them after dinner tonight.”

“Good. Now you can go back to what you were doing. I’m going to take a nap,”
Glendymere said as he turned and went back to his chamber.

~ ~ ~ ~

After dinner, when everyone had gathered in the sitting room, Kevin said that he had something he needed to tell them. “Glendymere has set up some mock battles so that we can get some experience fighting together. He’s invited some elves and dwarves to make up the opposing team. They’re supposed to be here in about six weeks.”

Darrell nodded. “Good idea. We need to practice our combat skills. Sparring against each other isn’t going to help us improve that much.”

“I’m assuming that no one is actually going to be trying to kill anyone else, right?” Karl asked.

“It’s a mock battle, but the weapons will be real,” Chris answered.

“What weapons?” Joan asked.

“From what Glendymere said, we can expect to be attacked with arrows, swords, knives, anything and everything except magic,” Kevin answered.

“How do we defend against arrows?” Joan asked. “What if one of us gets hit?”

Chris shook his head. “Glendymere won’t let that happen.”

Joan looked at Chris for a moment, frowned and said, “Huh? What do you mean?”

“Glendymere set this up so that I can learn how to use non-lethal magic to defend us during an attack. I’m not sure what he’s talking about, but I do know that he’ll be there in case I mess up, so everyone will be okay,” Kevin answered.

“Wait a minute,” Darrell said with a deep frown. “What do you mean, he’ll be there?”

“He’ll be watching, from the sidelines,” Chris said.

“Glendymere will be there? Where we are? We’re going to have to fight a battle while he’s close by?” Darrell asked. “Kevin, I don’t know if I can do that.”

Chris said, “I know what you mean, Darrell, but you’ll get past it.”

“No, no, I don’t think so,” Darrell said shaking his head. “I could end up being perfectly useless during the battle.” Then he looked at Kevin. “I don’t think this is going to work. Maybe you better count me out.”

“That’s why Glendymere wants us to bring all of you over to Willow Canyon tomorrow morning,” Kevin said slowly, trying to engage Darrell’s eyes. “He wants you to get comfortable being around him so that he won’t be a distraction during the battle.”

“Tomorrow morning? I’ve got to meet a dragon tomorrow?” Darrell squeaked.

“Darrell, think of it this way, by this time tomorrow you’ll be over your fear of dragons,” Chris said.

Darrell stared at Chris like he was looking at a ghost.

Kevin looked around the group and said, “Glendymere said that he wants to start working on battle skills tomorrow, so take your swords, and your bows and arrows, too.”

“Are we going to be sparring?” Karl asked. “Is he going to coach us?”

Chris shook his head no. “I think he was talking about Kevin’s battle skills. I got the distinct impression that we’re going to be the enemy.”

“You mean we’re going to attack Kevin?” Steve asked with a frown.

Kevin nodded. “I wasn’t too thrilled about that part either.”

Karl stood and stretched. “Well, it’s been a long day. Think I’ll head towards bed. I have a feeling we’re all going to need to be well-rested tomorrow.”

Darrell shook himself a little and then mumbled, “I won’t sleep a wink all night.”

“I can fix some tea that will help you sleep if you want me to,” Theresa offered.

Darrell shook his head no. “I need to psych myself up for this.”

“Do we need to take lunch with us?” Joan asked.

“I don’t think so,” Chris said. “Glendymere said something about working with us until lunchtime. I think he’s planning to send you back around noon.”

“Come on, Karl. Help me gather up the mugs.” Joan held out her hand for Karl to help her up.

Darrell reached for the pitcher and poured himself another mug of scog. “Don’t bother. Go on to bed. I’ll clear up later.”

~ ~ ~ ~

The next morning, everyone except Kevin was in the kitchen by the time Chris walked in. There was hot coffee but there was no sign of breakfast.

“Have you already eaten?” Chris asked.

“No, I think everyone’s too nervous to be hungry,” Joan said.

“I felt the same way the first time I met Glendymere,” Chris said as he picked up a loaf of bread and began slicing it, “but today I need something to eat,”

“Cut enough for everyone,” Joan said. “I’ll slice some cheese. Theresa, get out some jam. Maybe once the food’s on the table we’ll be able to eat a little something.”

When Kevin walked in, Chris handed him a cup of coffee and motioned towards the table. “Have a seat. Breakfast will be on the table in less than five minutes. Come on, everyone grab a plate and sit down.”

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.