The Destiny of Amalah (40 page)

‘What are they?’ Rufus enquired.

‘I do not know. I cannot make out the markings.’

‘Whatever they are we are in the middle of them’

‘Yes.’

‘I see you have now mastered the understatement.’

‘It wasn’t easy.’

‘I can imagine.’

The two boys smiled and Rakan raised his eyebrows in amusement, he enjoyed the verbal exchanges between himself and Rufus and he was glad he was accompanying him to Lansten. The two of them waited in the green for over an hour until all of the teachers returned. The teachers then spread themselves out and formed a circle, as they got into position Rakan, Rufus and all of the other students looked on them with curiosity.

After a few minutes the ground began to vibrate and the students looked furtively around them to ascertain where the noise was coming from and what was happening to them and then they realised that whatever was happening, was happening right beneath their feet.

Rakan and Rufus watched as a red annular beam appeared in the etchings and then pink light began to rise from it, it rose and rose until it was at least ten feet above their heads and formed a complete pink transparent bubble around them and then suddenly, but gently, the bubble lifted off the ground raising everyone and everything inside it. One of the teachers effortlessly levitated into the air, which silenced the students immediately.

‘Welcome students one and all, to the school of sorcery in Lansten. I am Glenwyn Rane, head of the school and you will call me Master Rane. During our journey to the school that is in the far east of Lansten, the teachers will stand where I stand now and introduce themselves to you. They will tell you what they teach and they will tell you of the rules of their classroom. Only three teachers are not present but you will meet them when you arrive. Some you will meet today others in due course.

In our school we teach good magic – light magic! It is a thin line indeed between good and dark magic,’ Glenwyn warned; ‘because there is often a thin line between good and bad behaviour. We expect a lot from you in Lansten, not just in learning the magic craft but in your behaviour; we expect the highest standards of honesty, integrity, decency and decorum at all times.

Many of you will become good sorcerers and sorceresses a few may even become outstanding. Some of you may not be as powerful as you would like but at the end of the first year those of you who are not good enough or those who do not behave in the manner expected, will be asked not to return the following year. I wish you all well and now I will introduce the next teacher.’

Master Rane introduced teacher Rowan, who talked to the students about himself, his class what he taught and what he expected. The teacher came to the end of his speech and another stood in his place and when she had finished on came another; and so it went on, as each and every teacher present took the time to introduce themselves and to speak to the new students. As they spoke, Rakan and Rufus could not help but look beyond the teachers and out of the pink transparent bubble and watch as Lansten passed them by.

‘Incredible,’ Rakan said.

‘Indeed,’ said Rufus.

‘We could have used this throughout Qomo.’

‘If only we’d known,’ Rufus said slightly facetiously.

‘If only,’ Rakan replied mockingly.

When the teachers had all introduced themselves, they began to walk among the students to begin to get to know them, many were drawn to Rufus and Rakan and they were charmed by the two young men; they could also sense that they possessed natural power – how much they did not know – but they hoped that Lansten would discover and cultivate it.

The bubble arrived at the school in the late hours of the evening and the students were shown to a massive dining room on the ground floor. They were given a late supper and then shown to their rooms and most of the students went to bed. Rakan and Rufus unpacked their belongings and decided to take a short walk around the building that they were in.

They prepared their beds and left the room and they made their way to the first floor, where they saw that there were only classrooms and bathrooms on that floor and the second. The third floor was home to the teachers’ rooms and all but one room was deserted; they walked along the corridor until they came to the room that was alight with candles and they stopped and stood at the door where they saw an old man, writing at his desk, peering over papers and muttering to himself. The old man sensed someone was there and it caused him to look up. He smiled at Rakan and Rufus who were hovering at his door.

‘Good evening gentlemen,’ he said pleasantly.

‘Good evening sir,’ Rakan and Rufus said politely, as they watched him stand up and walk towards them.

‘Are you a teacher here?’ Rakan asked curiously.

‘Yes I am. My name is Rail,’ Adriel said, extending his hand out to Rakan.

‘RAIL!’ Salwar said loudly. ‘What kind of name is that?’ the voice inside Adriel’s head asked haughtily.

‘It’s LIAR spelt backwards,’ Adriel replied in a nettled tone, as he halted to answer.

‘I see, childish yet clever and simple. I like it,’ Salwar said, thoroughly amused and impressed.

‘I’m so glad,’ Adriel replied caustically, as he visibly twitched. ‘Can I get back to my conversation now please?’ he asked as the two young men stared at him with curiosity.

‘By all means,’ Salwar said lightly.

‘Pleased to meet you,’ Rakan said, taking Adriel’s hand and shaking it.

Adriel shook his hand and then extended his hand to Rufus who also shook it firmly.

‘It’s so nice to meet students, especially the curious ones,’ Adriel told them.

‘Thank you Master Rail.’

‘Oh please,’ Adriel said. ‘Please call me Rail, everyone does.’

‘Thank you.’

‘Please; come in, sit down. I have a while to spare if you would like to talk with me for sometime,’ Adriel said, closing his door behind the two young friends.

‘That’s very kind of you,’ Rufus said.

‘Yes it is – thank you,’ Rakan added.

‘Not at all,’ Adriel said, smiling a smile of pure self-satisfaction.

Chapter 17

As the new day dawned in Lansten, Rakan and Rufus woke up early and went to explore their new surroundings, they had arrived late at night and their travels had taken much out of them: leaving them in no position to appreciate their environment. Now that the new day had come they wasted no time in leaving the building that they had slept in; dressed in winter clothes and covered from head to toe, they made their way out of the massive wooden doors and into the school grounds.

The ground was well covered in thick white snow and when they ventured further into the grounds, the snow came up to their knees and they flinched and grimaced as the white flakes melted against their body heat and seeped through their clothes and into their legs.

The two young men stood in the grounds and swung round in circles as they viewed the buildings that made up the school of Lansten, there were six imposing circular white towers with sharp black spires making up a circle, which were joined by a perfect circular black wall, which was in stark contrast to the snow and its surroundings.

‘Amazing,’ Rakan said.

‘Why so many towers?’ Rufus pondered.

‘I do not know,’ Rakan replied.

The two of them ventured inside and outside the grounds and through five of the six towers but the sixth tower was forbidden to them leaving them to contemplate what could possibly be inside.

They returned to their own tower and climbed the stone steps to the very top and once they reached the deserted common room, they gazed through the windows and all they saw for miles around was a blanket of unspoiled white snow. No matter which window they looked out of, all they could see for as far as their vision would let them – was snow.

‘It’s very isolated,’ observed Rakan.

‘No distractions,’ Rufus said.

‘Not from the outside anyway.’

‘I wonder how we will fare here?’

‘Well – I hope so anyway.’

‘As do I,’ Rufus mused. ‘I think Gaerwen has taught us a lot.’

‘Let us join the rest of our fellow students who are here and see how they are finding the school so far.’

The two young men descended the stone steps and went in search of the other students that had arrived with them; they had arrived with over two hundred other students, they made an effort to get to know some of the boys and girls, especially those who were located on the same floor as they were. Before long they had befriended six others and between them, they settled in to the school well and found everything that they needed.

The first week was mostly a blur to Rakan and Rufus and the rest of the students. Rakan and Rufus and the students were re-allocated rooms which meant them moving to another floor and getting to know new people all over again. They then attended all the introductory classes where the teachers’ introduced themselves and their classes and handed them books that they had to read before they came back to the next class. They had classes’ everyday, and each day they had new things to learn.

‘I have to learn the magical powers of the herbs of Santeb and know their equivalent in the other eight nations,’ Rufus groaned.

‘Not to mention the four spells that they insisted that we know by heart,’ Rakan added equally grumpy. ‘We’ll help each other,’ he insisted.

‘I think it’s the only way.’

The two of them set to work and studied throughout the night. The work was plenty and some of it difficult but both of them ploughed on until they were done; satisfied that they knew what they needed to know and that they had completed the work that needed completing. When the next day came they repeated the process: they went to classes by day and worked under the candlelight and the stars by night and that was to be their new life from now on, but they did not mind.

Rakan and Rufus loved magic and they loved the school and before long, they were the teachers’ favourites, as they worked hard to show their talent, dedication and power. The two worked consistently hard during the week, but Saturday’s were the days when the time came for them to rest. On Saturday’s they would play sport or relax or roam the towers of the school.

After a month of them being there, Adriel – who was still posing as Rail –took the two boys to one side after he had finished one of his classes and asked for a few moments of their time.

‘The teachers have noticed how hard you both work, they also notice you have a great deal of power as well.’

‘We have been working hard,’ agreed Rufus.

‘It has paid off, but more importantly you have a great deal of power, power that you haven’t tapped into yet. Power that needs to be used, under guidance and control.’

‘But we only do the magic that the teachers ask of us and we are always careful,’ Rakan said defensively, as Rail began to remind him of his father when he had controlled his magic.

‘But you can do so much more,’ Rail said to their surprise.

‘When I speak of control I mean that you each have to be able to control your own power and know how to use it properly. In no way am I trying to stifle you or stunt your magical growth,’ he said sincerely. ‘When I speak of guidance, I mean that going from the young men you are now to fully fledged sorcerers with great power will not be easy and should not be undertaken alone.’

Rakan and Rufus looked at Rail unsure of what to say next but before either of them did Rail spoke again.

‘What troubles you?’

‘Nothing,’ Rakan said quickly. ‘It’s just that this is so different from Amalah where everyone, including my father, would not let me use magic without supervision.’

‘It’s understandable,’ Rail said.

‘Really?’ asked Rakan.

‘Yes, of course you have a lot of power – it scares them.’

‘But I am Garrick’s son and they at the palace have known me all of my life – as they have Rufus.

‘They have known
you
all of your life, not your power. When someone is different from everyone else it can make them behave differently. Here everyone accepts and embraces your magic because they have it too. There in Amalah, they do not. It makes them scared or jealous or resentful.’

‘No it does not,’ Rufus said in strong disagreement. ‘I know my parents, I know Garrick, Michael, Häkan, Raynor and Thaddeus and our four friends. They are not jealous or resentful people, I have known them most of my life and they are not traits that they possess, I know that.’

‘Perhaps you are right,’ Rail replied in a placating tone. ‘You are in a better position than me to know, but although they may not be resentful or jealous, your powers must scare them. They might not say it aloud but their actions surely speak louder than words.’

‘Even if that were the case,’ said Rakan. ‘Why are we here now?’

‘Because I have a proposal,’ Rail said simply. ‘A proposal you can accept or decline – it is entirely up to you.’

‘And what would that proposal be?’ Rakan asked.

‘That I be your guide, let me help you to tap into your power. I’ll show you how to become the most powerful sorcerers, teach you everything you need to know.’