Work in Progress

He set forth not checking whether Alboni was with him or not. He had only taken on his apprentice a few months ago after the unexpected demise of his predecessor. He was just getting used to working with his new trainee. As far as he was concerned, the youth would just have to learn how to cope. Like keeping up with him. He strode across the quadrangle.

“Master, will you be needing me more tonight?” It came from just behind him.

Derexam briefly considered the lad’s question. “You may turn in. Be up early as we’ll be making a journey.”

“A journey, master?”

“Are you a complete imbecile? You surely have been places. A trip, we’ve got to go on a trip.”

“Oh.”

Derexam could hear Alboni’s mind at work. Everyone knew that he never went anywhere. And now he’d informed the lad he was embarking on a journey. He let the youth out of his misery.

“The king’s given me permission to leave the castle.”

“And you want me to come with you.”

“Are you not my apprentice?”

“Yes, master.”

“Then where the master goes, so does his student.”

They had arrived at the entrance to his quarters.

“I’ll bid you goodnight, master.”

“Sleep well. Come early. We’ve a lot to do before we can be off.”

The lad disappeared into the darkness.

Derexam stepped towards the door and then stopped. Something was not right. He couldn’t put his finger on it. He concentrated and sensed his wards. These seemed fine. But he still felt something was not as it should.

He gestured a complex pattern with his right hand. In front of him a circle materialised in the air before him. It blazed a bright ultramarine. Several lines radiated from its centre and between these were shapes and arcane writing. Derexam studied the sorcerous image seeking the source of his discontent. Everything the spell showed was as it should be.

He was about to dismiss it when he spotted something. Two of the words were misspelled. No not wrong, just not written the way he wrote those words. Immediately on his guard, he dismissed the image.

He tried to remember the last time he’d changed his wards. He’d seen no need to as he was well protected within the castle. Searching his memory, he realised it was several years since he’d reworked the spell. The fact didn’t help him much in identifying the possible tamper.

That someone had infiltrated his ward and modified it was deeply troubling. It required great magical skill of the order that only a first-rate wizard could apply. The deception had nearly worked. Which worried him even more. He’d been about to go into his quarters with he didn’t know what awaiting him.

Derexam realised he was sweating. Taking a deep breath, he considered what to do. Blundering in was not a good option, even if he sent someone else. Where were Kaia and Jareth when he needed them? He had to know what he faced before he entered.

He drew in the air with his finger while at the same time chanting under his breath. A black orb about a hand’s width in size and darker than the night, materialised in front of him. With a gesture, he sent it flying at the door. It passed through and disappeared.

After about two minutes the orb reappeared. It came to a stop hovering in front of him. Derexam tapped it with his finger. Images of his rooms flickered across its surface.

He gazed attentively at the pictures. All was as it should be. Perhaps he’d been mistaken. Then he spotted something. Quickly, his fingers tapped at the sphere. The images stopped moving. He caressed the orb gently, the image moved back. He peered intently at what he saw. His eyes hadn’t been mistaken. Hidden in a corner of the room was a man. The lurker blended in so well that, had he not been paying close attention, he might have missed him.

He resumed scanning the images. These eventually showed there were three men waiting for him in his rooms. That there was more than just the one indicated they planned something unpleasant. Of that, he had no illusions. He’d commissioned enough similar undertakings to understand what they wanted of him. Rather, that they were there to kill him. There was no middle ground with a magician.

Given how they had substituted his ward, he figured at least one of them was a magic maker. But they’d not reckoned on him discovering their trap. Raising his voice somewhat, he intoned a complex spell. Satisfied with the result, he opened the door and went in.