Darien started examining the destroyed room, digging through the piles of books spilled across the floor. If he was going to be forced into taking on the role of Cordin Oakstaff, wizard of the castle at Blacklake, he needed to know more than the faint remembrances of a story he'd only partially read.

"What have you done?" shouted a voice from across the room.

Darien looked up from where he was kneeling amongst the scattered texts to find a young man in his early twenties glaring at him. The robes the brown haired man wore were identical to those of Cordin Oakstaff, a green so dark as to be almost black. The expression behind his neatly trimmed beard was equally dark as he took in the destruction all around Darien.

"I take it you're the apprentice?" Darien asked, but he didn't really require an answer as he was fairly certain what it would be.

The apprentice raised his index, middle finger, and thumb on his left hand. He cupped his right hand under his left and began whispering intensely. Before Darien could think to move, the apprentice shoved his left hand toward Darien, pointing his fingers at him like the aim of a crossbow.

Red energy, rimmed with smoky blackness, surged down the apprentice's arm from the shoulder and flew across the room. The ghostly magic reshaped from a red and black tinted fog into chains and shackles that clamped tight around Darien's wrists and ankles, pinning him to the wall. Darien struggled to move, but the metal chains around him held firmly.

The apprentice ignored Darien and walked swiftly to where his master lay dead. After a moment, the apprentice looked back toward Darien with hatred burning in his eyes.

"I can explain," Darien offered quickly, but the apprentice wasn't asking for an explanation.

Running toward him, the apprentice whispered magical words under his breath, and the red and black fog flowed down his arm and formed a long and jagged sword in his hand. Jumping into the air, the apprentice came down with his sword aimed at Darien's heart.

Darien turned his head to one side and closed his eyes, knowing with absolute certainty he was about to die. When he was still alive several seconds later, he cautiously opened his eyes and looked around to find the reason.

The apprentice stood a few feet away, magical blade still in hand but no longer pointed toward Darien.

"There are potent magical wards protecting this place," the apprentice stated. "Causing this level of destruction would require something even more powerful to break through. Had you been responsible, you easily could've escaped my chains when I was about to kill you. Do you know what happened here?"

Darien swallowed hard. Admitting he was responsible for killing the master, even inadvertently, didn't seem the best course, especially since the apprentice had yet to put away his sword. On the other hand, it was possible the apprentice knew the truth already, or might find out at some point, wherein any lie Darien told now would probably result in some form of painful death at the hands of the apprentice. Neither of his options seemed appealing, but Darien knew he had to say something before the apprentice made up his mind on his own.

"I opened a magical book, and some kind of swirling mass of energy pulled me into the book," Darien explained. "I ended up here, and found the room in its current condition."

"So, it was this way before you arrived?" the apprentice asked.

"I wouldn't know," Darien denied. "I can only tell you how I found it."

Darien avoided telling a lie, but he also avoided revealing too much of the truth. It was a habit he'd gotten into when evading law enforcement, spinning the facts around so as to put himself in the most favorable light without doing anything that could get him caught when the truth was ultimately revealed.

"You mentioned a book, what book?" the apprentice asked.

"The Book of Passages," Darien answered.

"Never heard of it," the apprentice responded.

"I don't think it was from here," Darien admitted, but instantly regretted it when the apprentice's eyes narrowed slightly.

"What aren't you telling me?" the apprentice demanded. He took a step forward, adjusting his grip on the sword he still carried.

"I think the Book of Passages shifted me out of my world and into yours, but don't ask me how as I'm no magic user," Darien said quickly. He wanted to back away and put more distance between himself and the magically summoned sword, but the chains and shackles around his wrists and ankles made any thought of fleeing useless.

"Where's the Book now?" the apprentice asked, raising his sword until the point rested against Darien's throat.

"The Librarian took it back," Darien explained.

"Who's the Librarian?" came the question instantly.

"He's the magic user who had the Book of Passages first," Darien answered. He didn't know how to spin his theft of the book without outright lying, and if the Librarian showed up, the lie would be instantly discovered.

"You're a thief," the apprentice sneered. "Clearly, you're not even very good at it."

"I got away with the Book," Darien protested before his common sense could rein in his pride. "If it hadn't contained a magical portal inside, I would've made a clean getaway."

"If this Librarian followed you from one world into another, the book most likely had a locator enchantment on it," the apprentice said in a bored tone as if explaining something even the most primitive mind should've known already. "No matter where you were, you still would've been caught."

Darien realized how stupid he'd been. In all his planning for the heist, he'd never taken the time to consider what he was going to steal, if he could even sell it, and what defense there might be of a magical nature. If there'd been a transformation spell on the books, he might've been turned into an insect or rodent. He'd made extensive plans in the beginning but had tapered off too soon. Now, he was trapped in another world with a magic sword held to his throat. He so desperately wished this was all a bad dream.

"Why did the Librarian leave you behind?" the apprentice asked, lifting the sword so the point was under Darien's chin. "You stole a powerful book, and after tracking you to another world, no punishment was delivered? I don't think so."

"The Librarian left me here," Darien countered. "He said the death of Cordin Oakstaff disrupted the natural progression of things, and I was to take the wizard's place until his story was complete."

"So, you were responsible for his death," the apprentice snarled.

Darien winced as he hadn't intended to give away that particular piece of information.

"I see no reason not to kill you this instant," the apprentice said while increasing pressure of the sword against Darien.

"The Librarian wanted me to finish Cordin's story," Darien said as fast as he could. "Everything he was going to accomplish will never happen if I don't compete it for him. Kill me now, and his life's work will fall to dust."

"What do you know about his life's work?" Scoffed the apprentice, easing the pressure of the blade slightly.

"He becomes known as King of Serpents," Darien told him.

The apprentice lowered the sword.

"He actually brings the serpents to heel?" the apprentice said in awe. "No one had ever bested them."

"Apparently, he was going to," Darien speculated.

"Very well," the apprentice relented. "I shall help you complete his work."

The sword abruptly swung back up under Darien's chin.

"But, I warn you, Thief," the apprentice growled. "I shall never forgive the death of my master."

Darien nodded his understanding. He'd require the apprentice's help to familiarize him with the story in order for Darien to know what he was supposed to do. The apprentice also needed Darien's help if he wanted to advance his former master's goals. It remained to be seen if Darien had what it would take to finish the story and if the apprentice could look past his hatred of Darien long enough to accomplish anything.

"I can't call you apprentice because you aren't mine," Darien said out loud. "What's your name?"

"Lendus," the apprentice answered. He curled the fingers of his right hand into a claw shape in front of Darien while whispering a few words. When he relaxed his hand, the shackles and chains pinning Darien to the wall dissolved away to nothing.

"Thanks," Darien said. He massaged his sore wrists.

"Where do we start?" Lendus asked. He let go of the sword and it dissolved before it hit the floor.

"What was he teaching you before this happened?" Darien asked, trying to gather information without reminding Lendus too much about Darien being the cause of their current problem.

"He was having me gather information on an artifact," Lendus explained. "It was an amulet able to give anyone the ability to wield magic or to amplify the power of those who already possessed it."

The small pouch in Darien's pocket suddenly felt heavier. Cordin Oakstaff had used his dying breath to instruct Darien to deliver it to his apprentice, but Darien wondered if he should. If Lendus gained more power, he might not need Darien any longer and make good on his earlier attempt to kill him.

If Lendus found out Darien possessed the amulet and had kept it from him, it would certainly not go well for Darien, but with the alternative not being any better, he decided to keep the pouch to himself for the time being. Darien intended to look it over when he was alone and see if the pouch contained the amulet.

"We should also try to find out about these serpents," Darien suggested, steering the conversation in a different direction. "If he was going to be their king, we should probably know more about them to give us an idea of what he might've been planning."

"I'll check his journal," Lendus offered. "You can start cleaning up your mess."

Lendus departed for the desk across the room, but after sitting down, he glared over his shoulder at Darien. In the depths of his soul, Darien knew the moment would come when Lendus would try again to kill him, and Darien also knew Lendus would probably succeed.