Chapter Six: Masters

Eventually the forest came into view, we slowed down. I tried not to think about my last experience of this place, it was too fresh and too painful to come to terms with. We rode in as far as the lake, which made things even worse for me.

   ‘Have you ever camped out under the stars before?’

   ‘Yes.’ I camped out quite frequently (or rather, used to). I loved being outside, it always gave me a sense of freedom. Usually I would bring Tristan along, other times all seven of us (six knights and me) would bunk down under the trees’ canopy. ‘There’s a nearby clearing if you want to be further away from the lake,’ I informed him.

   ‘Here’s fine.’ He dismounted and then I did so as well. Landing on the ground I took a deep breath of the sweet air around me. It smelt as familiar as ever. Rose walked off as she usually did. I went and sat nearer to the little shore. ‘Where is she off to?’ asked Delrand. I turned around to see that he was walking after her.

   ‘Leave her alone. I always let her wonder off by herself. She returns to me when I whistle.’

   ‘Strange. You’re a good horse trainer.’

   ‘Thank you. You seem to be too.’

   ‘I probably couldn’t get a horse to do that without magic. And I prefer to just tame not teach or train.’

   Quiet filled in the vicinity. The faint chirping of the forest birds could be heard if you listened carefully enough or the soft swishing sounds of the small waves on the lake. He came and sat beside me for a while; though he kept a decent enough gap between us. I glanced sideways at him; he had his eyes closed in what seemed like concentration. I fully turned my head to watch him. He looked so peaceful, so calm. Any stranger watching him now wouldn’t manage to guess that he was a sorcerer, dangerous and powerful. His breathing was deep; you could tell by the way his chest moved up and down. I looked away again, and gazed over the lake. Ripples appeared now and again as fish neared the surface and quickly swam back down so as not to be seen by any fish-eating predators. Dragonflies danced around the surface, spinning and twirling as graceful as a leaf caught on the wind.

   ‘We’ll camp here for tonight.’ As he spoke he made me jump, I had almost forgotten he was there he was that quiet.

   ‘What about food?’ I asked.

   ‘I can hunt for us.’

   ‘So can I.’ Though I didn’t like it very much.

   ‘Not in the same way as me, I doubt.’

   ‘How do you hunt then?’

   ‘You’ll see.’ He sounded as if he wanted me to ask him questions but I remained silent. ‘Are you at all interested in anything to do with magic, or are you just going to sulk all the way to the school?’

   ‘I’m not sulking. Go and hunt and leave me alone until you get back. I need to think through things a little more thoroughly.’

   ‘Haven’t you had enough time already?’

   ‘Just go,’ I said stubbornly.

   ‘Fine, I will.’ He sounded so childish, but he stormed off anyway.

   In fact, I didn’t need to think it all through again. I just wanted to be away from him at some point today. I went and sat under the shade, it was hot in the sunlight. I folded my arms and tried to think of something else. I decided to focus on my two shields at the time. It was hard, even if I couldn’t tell if the mind shield was working I knew the body one was. I gave up and, feeling quite sorry for myself (selfish, I know), I began to quietly sing a childhood song. It was the one that Beth’s mother used to sing to me when I was very little. I had a good memory, so I knew the words:

North wind blows upon the trees,

Ever gently as a breeze,

Upon the hill, a widow stands,

Gazing eyes seek all the lands.

The lark flies upon the sky,

Gliding there and starts to cry,

Looking down upon her figure,

He calls to her to let it die.

The river curves towards the sea,

She walked home through the rye,

Her head bowed in deepest sorrow,

Will things ever change?

   I sang it over again twice. I was half way through for about the third time when a twig snapped to my left. Thinking it was Delrand, I spoke.

   ‘About time.’ When I turned my head I was surprised to see it wasn’t Delrand that I saw.

   I held my breath and tensed myself so I didn’t move. The first thing I thought of was to scream, but my voice had vanished with the fear. Then I looked more closely at the creature by the tree-line. Its black hair was long and probably would have felt like velvet. Its eyes showed many years of wisdom, though it didn’t look very old. In its jaws was clamped a few freshly caught rabbits. Around its neck the fur was almost long enough to be a mane. Its bushy tail was slowly swishing from side to side.

   Dropping its load, the black wolf stepped towards me. My eyes swelled up in terror. Was I more tempting to eat than its recently rendered meal? Seeing my fear, it stopped and sat down on its haunches. It blinked and turned its head to face over the lake. I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Though I saw it as a threat, my views about it gradually changed over that short time. I reasoned that if it wanted to attack me it would have done by now. I began to see it as a beautiful creature of nature and deserved respect. After all I had never harmed one of its kind, and probably would never have done even if I hadn’t had this experience. I had a small desire to stroke it, as you might a pet.

   After a few more minutes, the wolf got up and walked off into the trees. I relaxed a little more, but wondered where or why it had gone. A minute passed and Delrand came back.

   ‘Elara.’ I turned to face him and smiled. I noticed he was empty handed, then I also realised that the wolf had left its rabbits behind when it went. I thought about it. Delrand must have noticed it on my face. ‘What’s up?’

   ‘Do you have a wolf for a friend or something?’

   ‘No, why?’

   ‘Because this wolf was here a minute ago and it left behind those rabbits.’

   ‘Oh, yes. I can explain but I understand you may not believe me at first.’ He paused for a second or so. ‘That was me. When I turned my head, I was waiting for you to say something. Eventually, when I realised you weren’t going to, I walked off.’

   ‘Prove it, show me,’ I tested him. I narrowed my eyes and waited. He smirked and walked towards the fresh kill.

   ‘Oh, I forgot to fetch some fire wood while I was hunting. Would you mind?’ he asked me.

   ‘Only if you show me you turning into a wolf.’

   He could sense I was eager to find out more. ‘Not today.’

   ‘Then I won’t go.’

   ‘You’re the one who’ll go hungry. I’m not fussy.’

   I got up and walked off into the trees. There was plenty of fire wood around. I carried back an armful into the clearing and started to place it into a pyramidal shape. I placed some dried leaves as tinder underneath and went to fetch some stones. Placing them around the firewood in a circle, I waited for him to finish preparing the catch. He came over with them skewered onto a couple of daggers and noticed that there was no fire.

   ‘Where are the flames?’

   ‘Magic.’

   ‘Magic isn’t always the answer to your problems. Hold these.’ He handed me the rabitted-daggers, grabbed two stones and began to scrape them together to create sparks to light the tinder. Eventually little flames flickered into life. We waited for them to grow before holding the rabbits near to the wood.

   It took quite some time for them to be fully cooked, but they seemed to be edible. I hadn’t eaten rabbit before; I closed my eyes and took a bite. It wasn’t bad; the taste was like a cross between venison and chicken.

   When we had finished, he decided it best to practice on my mind shielding. I explained that I had been practicing earlier.

   ‘Good, then you should have cracked it,’ he said.

   ‘I’m not sure if it’s worked. I mean how am I supposed to know if my mind is protected efficiently?’

   ‘Only one way to check.’ He smirked.

   ‘Isn’t there another way?’

   ‘Not really.’

   ‘Fine, I’m ready.’ I couldn’t feel his mind on mine so it must have worked. ‘I still don’t know if I can keep them going at the same time.’

   ‘Try while I’m here now. And we’ll see.’

   I tried and he tested my attempt.

   ‘You’re good, that took just two days for you to get. I took longer but it was harder for me to get the body shield working. It seems that I have the better mind control than you. However, you’ll get better. All magic involves the mind and its complexity.’

   ‘Are there no magical or ancient words to go with this magic?’

   ‘No. Where did you get that idea?’ he chuckled while chewing on his dinner.

   ‘Merlin.’

   ‘That might be because he wanted to keep the real secrets away from you, for the same reason why we kept the news from you.’

   ‘So, what are you going to teach me next?’

   ‘Up to you. There’s quite a lot to go through, though you don’t need to know too much just because we’re heading for the school. That’s actually why we’re going there. To help me teach you more things than what Merlin taught me.’

   ‘Why’s that do you think?’

   ‘Do you remember when I told you that no one could be able to challenge him over power?’ I nodded. ‘Actually, that’s not true. I have more power than him, or so he says but he can’t exactly teach me what he doesn’t know himself.’

   ‘You mean that you are the most powerful sorcerer in the country?’

   ‘Yes, unfortunately.’

   ‘What do you mean unfortunately? You should be proud of yourself, you should show yourself some more respect, and then everyone else will.’

   ‘But Merlin’s my master, I can’t challenge him. It’s not that I don’t want to, I can’t.’

   ‘Why not?’

   ‘It’s etiquette.’

   ‘That’s not really an answer,’ I noted. If only I knew more magic. Then I remembered. ‘Didn’t you say there were rules and restrictions to this magic?’

   ‘I did. What about them?’

   ‘Explain them to me, please. So I know what to be like at the school.’

   ‘Well. First, you mustn’t use it to control others minds or manipulate them. Secondly, and this is why I didn’t use magic to light the fire. Don’t use it to complete tedious tasks, they might test you on that.’

   ‘Who are they?’

   ‘The masters at the school. For example, don’t use to it to make a piece of paper travel into your hand from a desk. You waste energy and they see you as lazy. Thirdly, don’t use it as a first action. Only use it when you find it a necessary action.’ He finished.

   I fidgeted with the tip of my now empty dagger. ‘Will they see me as the princess or another student?’

   ‘Depends on them and you; but knowing you as I do, probably as another student. If you show them respect, they’ll respect you. But we’re not going to be around them much. I wish to look in the library after we arrive.’

   ‘Do I just follow you around then or can I do my own thing when I’m there?’

   ‘I think it best if we stick together, so neither of us gets into any trouble. I hope you forgive me if I’m too pushy with my teaching. As I said the other day, I have no idea how to teach. I’ll try to teach you as similarly as Merlin taught me, but I may do my own thing now and again.’

   I felt he wanted to be as open as possible towards me, and I felt the same towards him. I could see a future friendship together. ‘After all this teaching, do I still have to call you my master or am I classed as independent of my magic?’

   ‘That’s up to me, really. I may decide to dismiss you from my watch, but then again we may end up being close friends and would like to be together as much as possible.’

   What he just said caught me a little off guard. What did he mean exactly? We may end up being close friends, wasn’t that just what I had thought about? ‘Are you reading my mind?’

   He looked at me with sudden wide eyes. ‘I wouldn’t dream of it without your consent. Why?’

   ‘Because I just had a similar concept before you answered my previous question.’

   ‘Speaking of reading minds. Do you have your mind shield up?’

   ‘You’re changing the subject. But no I haven’t.’

   ‘You’ll have to start practicing keeping it working at all times, even your body shield; because once we get to the school there are many wizards who would wish to see into you. Without the shields, you’re vulnerable.’

   ‘But it’s so hard to keep up and I use energy so I start to feel tired.’

   ‘If you start now then it will all become second nature to you. You won’t even need to think before its working at top protection.’

   ‘How old are you?’ I couldn’t stop myself from asking him.

   ‘Personal questions already,’ he joked. ‘Twenty years.’

   I left it at that and stared at the flames. I concentrated on keeping my shields working. I was happy that I could keep them up, even if not as efficiently as I wanted.

   The sun set behind the trees and it gradually grew dark. The stars came out. I went to sit against a tree to fall asleep while propped up. I fell asleep, eventually, and I dreamt of wolves, wizards and, mostly, magic.

   Suddenly my dream changed to a nightmare. The last nightmare I had was when I was eight or nine, but this was much worse than those childhood fears.

   I was deep in a forest; mist shrouded the ground from view. It was silent; not just the absence of sound, but the silence made by something trying to be inconspicuous. The mist grew thicker until I couldn’t see the nearest tree trunks. I watched and waited. Nothing happened. The mist was the only movement. The air was cold to breathe and chilled my lungs. I was watching, waiting, but for what I didn’t know.

   Beyond my vision in the mist I heard something; just barely, it was so quietly spoken. The mist spiralled around me and the trees. In the near distance before me a shadowy figure paced soundlessly through the mist.

   A crow flapped away, though the visibility must have been poor.

   I focused back on the figure, it was nearer now. The space between us was gradually narrowing with each step it took towards me. The voice was more pronounced, but what it was saying I still could not decipher. It was in a different language.

   I walked slowly backwards, carefully stepping down so I wouldn’t trip.

   ‘Elara.’ I heard my name. The voice was harsh and really deep. So deep that the owner sounded as though he was speaking from under water.

   I continued to pace backwards. The figure continued to advance on me. Still shadowed but human shaped. My hands touched something hard and bumpy. I had reached a tree. Still the figure advanced. It raised a hand as if to gesture for me to go with him.

   ‘Elara. Come to me.’ It was the same voice again. It was chilling, more chilling than the air. The forest and air seemed to grow colder. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t even scream or shout. I must have frozen in the freezing breeze.

   ‘Elara,’ the figure spoke again. ‘Elara.’ It kept repeating my name over and over. All the time it still approached me. Again and again I heard my name being spoken in that evil-seeming voice. By this time, he was almost on top of me, and there was nothing I could do. My hand automatically rose, palm faced forwards. I so wished to say ‘Stay back’ or ‘Keep away’, but my voice was broken.

   I felt a pulse seize my arm; it travelled down my limb to my finger tips. It wasn’t my heart beat. It felt different. It prickled slightly. My eyes fell onto my hand, then flicked back to the figure. He had stopped, hand still raised.

   The pulse increased, the figure stepped back one pace. A hoarse snarl emitted from his throat. The pulse still increased, eventually it became too much to bear. My knees buckled and I fell to the ground. I used my hands to stop my body from hitting the hard earth. My head fell down to watch my fall and balance. I hit the floor and the pulse disappeared.

   I looked up, the figure became aware of my disadvantage. He began to advance, quicker than before.

   ‘No!’ I screamed and I shut my eyes.

   It became suddenly warmer.

   ‘Elara, wake up!’ he shouted at me as if I were far away.

   I felt that I had gained a cold sweat out of fear. I began to regain my senses. The first thing I felt was that he had his arm around my shoulders. I could smell the pine needles. I could hear the birds high up in the trees. I couldn’t see anything, for I didn’t want to see his face.

   ‘Elara, wake up,’ he said more softly than before, but still a bit too loud.

   I took in a deep breath and opened my eyes. I looked at him quickly and then turned away. I shrugged his hand off. ‘What happened? Are you alright?’ he asked out of friendship. I knew he wanted to help, but what could he do? After all, it was just a dream, wasn’t it? ‘Elara?’ he asked gently.

   ‘I’m fine. I had a nightmare, that’s all,’ I eventually mumbled.

   ‘Tell me about it. It might help if I knew.’

   ‘Might? There’s nothing you can do to help me. It didn’t change me in any way. I’m fine. Just leave me alone.’

   ‘Have you had this nightmare before?’

   ‘No, I haven’t had one in years that was so scary.’

   ‘At all?’

   I shook my head in answer.

   ‘I think I should know, you should tell me.’

   Folding my arms stubbornly, I turned my face away. ‘But I’m not going to.’

   ‘If it happens again I’ll know about it.’

   ‘How?’ As soon as I asked I had already guessed.

   ‘You were shaking and screaming. It was a good thing I decided to keep watch last night.’

   ‘Last night? You mean its morning?’ I felt like I had only been asleep for an hour, barely that.

   He nodded. ‘We had best be moving on. I want to get as far as the nearest village by midday. We need some supplies.’

   It took us about two hours to get to the forest’s border, at gallop speed. The horses managed the load; they had most of our travel clothes and weaponry shared between them, plus water bottles and bread. All the while the sun traced its path through the sky.

   As it neared midday the intended village came into view. We stopped off outside a butchers and Delrand went inside to buy some meat. I stayed on Rose and waited. I looked around me and the villagers took no notice. That was a change from the town inside Camelot’s walls, where every child and adult knew who I was straight away. Here everyone probably saw me as a traveller passing through. I might look completely different through their eyes without my father, the knights and all our guard around me. To be honest, I preferred it that way, to be unnoticed. If only that could happen in Camelot, but that won’t be the case when I return.

   We rode on through the main village street and onto the road that led the way to the next town or village. We travelled for about a mile then turned off into the country again. We were riding at a slow trot by now.

   ‘What to teach you today?’ Delrand asked aloud to break the silence.

   ‘What is there to know?’ I asked back.

   ‘Heaps of things. It’s just finding the stuff that you’ll prefer to learn.’

   ‘To turn into an animal,’ I hinted at him.

   ‘I want to teach you that type of magic a bit later on, but you will learn it. It is very good in aiding your views of the surrounding area without having to interfere with the mind of a real eagle or fox. Would you like to learn about mind-talking?’

   ‘What’s that about?’

   ‘Talking to other magicians through the mind, instead of speaking. It’s very simple after the first try.’

   ‘Sounds fun. Go on.’

   And so he taught me for the rest of the day in how to find a consciousness to speak to. I could easily find his because I had felt it many times before when he was testing my mind-shielding skills. Once I had managed to get that right, he began on Summoning. That was to do with getting objects to travel to you or to appear in your hand if they are in another place.

   ‘You’ll find that at the school the students will show off to each other about how big a thing they can summon at a time,’ he explained. ‘Don’t encourage them. I call it laziness to use magic to make a book on the next desk to travel to you rather than getting up and getting it by physical means. It takes less energy out of you than magic.’

   It began to grow dark, and we hadn’t found anywhere sheltered to camp that night. Delrand decided we should just camp off anywhere. He also said that we were passing through another village and a small woods the next day. He estimated it would take us about a week to reach the school. Where it was he didn’t actually tell me, but by whatever information I could get out of him I concluded that it was in the wilderness and nearby there was a huge forest and a river. He explained that the walls were protected by powerful shields and charms. These prevented students or enemies from leaving or entering. The only way in would be through the front gate, heavily guarded, access was only permitted by a specific, complicated hand signal. He taught me this and various other secrets about the school and its foundations.

   The days gradually passed. On the last course of our journey, we topped a hill and the school suddenly came into view. It was impossible to remember the route after all the training and nightmares (I had had more than one experience of that first nightmare). We rode on and as we got closer I found that the walls were as high and thick as Camelot’s. I could also feel a gentle tickling vibe coming off them, (Delrand had taught me loads of magic in the last week). He had taught me how to feel if something is protected by a magical field.

   Rose and Volareus had managed the journey without so much as a scratch. They had built up on their muscles with all the cantering we had made them do.

   The walls loomed above us now. We stopped short of the gates, and performed the hand signal together. The wooden, bolted doors creaked open. We walked through into the open courtyard inside. It was beautiful. There were trees and flowers. We dismounted and Delrand led me and the horses to the stables. We placed them into two unoccupied stalls and walked back to the huge main building that was the school itself. At first I was nervous about meeting the teachers and masters of the power, but Delrand assured me they’d be more afraid of me. I could guess why. Also over the past few days, I had become more aware of the strength I now possessed within me. I am always aware of it now, pulsing through me and around me. My body and mind were now completely impenetrable from magical spells. As Delrand had said some time ago, it is now second nature to me to keep them up.

   As we walked to the front doors I took a slight interest of the few students sat on the benches in the courtyard. They were all boys, boys of various ages and ability (I had also learnt how to sense the power of those around me). They all watched us as we walked by, they would probably all know Delrand, but would they notice who I was or would they see me as another student or his sister. I had a minute feeling that I was the only female student inside the walls.

   Inside the oak front doors was a hallway with many doors going off that would, no doubt, lead into the rest of the inconspicuous building. We walked on in silence; I began to feel more confident with every passing second. We passed all the side doors and headed for a pair of thick set, engraved pine ones on the far side of the hallway. We walked through the archway (the doors opened by Delrand by magic).

   The room inside was enormous; obviously it was where all the meals were held each day. It had about the same space as Camelot’s Front Hall and Main Hall put together. How many students, I wondered, called this place home? Surely there couldn’t be that many wizards and magicians in the Kingdom. There might be or there might not be. However, there were two long wooden tables with wooden benches alongside and one of shorter length at the head of the room.

   At the far end stood a small crowd of older looking men. As soon as I saw them I knew that these were the professors of the school. Merlin wasn’t there.

   ‘Masters,’ said Delrand. He bowed, as did I.

   ‘Delrand, glad you could make it. And the princess has decided to join our ranks,’ said a man near the centre of the huddle. He had a sallow face and his eyes were grey-blue, he wore circular spectacles that rested on his long nose. He wore the same robes as the others; the same linen or cotton material dyed brown.

   ‘Yes, she has. And I hope Merlin has relayed to you that she is now my apprentice.’

   ‘He did a few days ago. We were a bit surprised he appointed you, and so soon after your relinquishment.’

    They both smiled. All the time I watched them, they had an aura of authority about them that couldn’t be hindered by even the smallest remark.

   ‘Your highness,’ spoke the sallowed face wizard. ‘How was your journey?’

   Before I answered, I looked at Delrand; he nodded as if to say I could answer. I wanted to prove to them that I was respectable and I could be different in a different situation or company.

   ‘It was very tiring, but I have learnt lots of magical enchantments over the week.’

   ‘Do you not know that you and Delrand are sorcerers?’

   ‘I do, but there isn’t any difference is there?’ As I spoke, it was more to Delrand than them.

   ‘Sorcery is a stronger force of magic compared to our wizard magic.’ This was spoken by another man; he was a little shorter than the others. He was bigger boned as well, but looked slightly older.

   Delrand, are you going to introduce them to me or do I have to ask myself? I spoke through my mind and focused on his. I knew he would hear me. We had practiced on the connection between our minds, and made private communication much easier, rather than whispering. Delrand quickly explained that wizards don’t have quite the same abilities at their disposal. It took them longer to learn a sub-section of magic than those who possess sorcerer magic.

   Good thinking, he said at the end. ‘Elara, as you might have guessed already, these are the masters of the school. They teach the students the different categories under magic itself and its properties,’ he briefly explained. ‘This is Master Valzhur, the headmaster of the school.’ He gestured to the central man with the sallow features. He went on through the other masters’ names; I didn’t remember all the names, just one or two. I wasn’t going to spend much time around them. I wanted to get back to learning more about sorcery. I still could not truly comprehend that I had this power, this destined potency.

   We stood in awkward silence for a whole minute, listening to nothing. A bell chimed loudly from the rafters of the connected building. The doors behind me and Delrand opened and students began to file in.

   Dinner bell, we were just in time then, Delrand commented. I looked at him and he had a faint grin on his face. I had to admit to myself, I couldn’t hold it away from me any longer. He was charming, sweet, funny, caring, understanding and much more. We had grown to live with each other closely through the last week. Now, whenever I was near him, I felt secure and safe. I couldn’t help but feel this around him, it seemed to be a natural effect.

   During the nights of our journey we would take it in turns to keep watch of the surrounding area while staying on the small camp site. On my watches I always noticed that he looked so peaceful in his sleep; less troubled than in the day. If his eyes were open I guessed that they would be much softer than the harsh green I first saw. We joked more often, and told each other about episodes in our lives. I was open, but he had already told me back at Camelot about his childhood. Sometimes I would wonder how long we would stay as master and apprentice. Would he be there beside me after my father’s death and after my coronation? Or will he release me from his appointed clutches, like Merlin had done to him so easily?

   Elara, would you like to eat now or later? he asked into my mind.

   Now; I’m starving.

   We walked after the masters and sat at the end of their head table. I could feel the pressure of dozens of eyes upon me. When I sat down, I looked up to see the number of students the school catered for.

   Are all these boys from Albion?

   No, some are transferred here from other countries or regions, because their powers are too great for their own standards.

   Later that night, I was shown to my room. I hoped my ‘nightmarish vision’ (as Delrand had called it when I had briefly told him) would subside now I was in safe housing again.

   You can never help what you dream, but this was a very personal one. I dreamt of Delrand. He was teaching me as he does in real life, but on the skirts of my sight there stood a shadowed shade. Whenever I checked around me it disappeared then reappeared after, just at the corner of my sight. Though Delrand’s dreamy presence doused out the fear.