First Apprentice

Chapter 16 Part 1

My calves burned from running up the interminable flight of stairs. I pumped magic through my limbs, forcing my body to continue. An unseen hand guided me through switchbacks, trap doors, splits, and four lethal wards that let me pass after testing the amulet.

The further I journeyed the more Melantha's magic tugged on mine. She wanted me in the Well. Whether as a sealer or food I didn't know nor was I willing to find out.

A spiderweb clung to my nose. I brushed it off, smearing dust and sweat across my cheeks. How much further?

I once overheard Uncle Manfred accuse Endellion of being insane at the end of the first war. At the time, I didn't think anything of it. As I skidded to a stop in front of yet another blank section of wall, I wondered if he was right. The Well, along with its defenses, was Endellion's baby. Conceiving a path this twisted required both madness and paranoia.

I reached another dead end and conjured a light.

The miniature sun rose from my hand and hovered over the wall, revealing a recessed space in the stone. I crouched and slid the amulet into the space.

Earth rained down as the wall slid into the earth. Fresh air rushed in. Then a wall of sound slammed into me.

I extinguished my conjured glow and let my eyes adjust to the half dawn while I picked the discordant melodies apart. Several minutes passed before I found the common thread.

Two dozen variants of the Dracon Gate's summon played in different keys at different tempos. They sounded like an orchestra warming up, but the earth pulsing under my feet told a different tale. Each player was feeding their magic into the Well and thereby to the Dracon Gate.

My gaze roamed over the crowd, noting the exhausted sealers on the fringes. They outnumbered the current sealers three to one. To my left, two dracon and two marstow daes stood side by side. All four bore ripples in their auras the same shade as Melantha's magic – her other guardians. Three easily matched Grandfather's power. The fourth's navy aura appeared black in the half-light. His pipes flickered with red, blue, and violet flames.

A Dracon ferepris.

I cursed Joel under my breath.

In recorded history, my clan produced four ferepris. Two females, two males. Endellion became an ancient guardian. Terry was in the Well. Khalida was dead, which left her twin Saar, the Dracon Emperor. He started the Second Clan War, had a body count second only to Endellion's, and forced Endellion to breach a gate and flee back to the Ancients. She never said how, and Grandfather ensured I knew not to ask.

A scream rent the air as Melantha sunk her claws into my mind and pulled. I steeled myself and marched across the lawn.

Summon the Central Keystone, heal the Dracon Gate, then crawl into bed and sleep without her taking over my dreams. Most importantly, never mention Saar's presence to Endellion. If she asked, I'd shrug and pretend he was in the Well.

When I neared, the pipes dropped from Saar's lips. Delight followed by disbelief flashed across his aura.

"Khalida," he whispered then shook himself. "Tell me," he said in a stronger voice, "how is it you bear my deceased twin's face and an aura darker than any I've encountered before?"

A snarky response hovered on the tip of my tongue. Dark, curly hair and hazel eyes, greenish in my case, were fairly common among those of mixed Dracon-Marstow descent, including Saar, Khalida, and myself. Nothing special or nefarious. I swallowed my response and gave him a respectful, but not deferent, nod. "No idea. I was orphaned as an infant, born and raised on Vinetta, and claimed by the Shedu."

He snorted at the last. "Legal, but it's pushing the farce a bit far."

Too true. I pulled my left sleeve up and shook my wrist. My bracelet slid off the first stripe, revealing all three to his gaze. He turned and whispered to the Marstow beside him then stepped out of the circle and conjured a light. His gaze dropped to my hands.

Knowing what he was looking for, I held still. You can always tell a dracon who uses aes from one who doesn't. Aes is the most volatile of the known magics. Unlike Sumati's lightening, aes can and will turn on the caster. An aes user's hands look like a map complete with rivers, valleys, mountains, and plateaus. In Endellion's time, casting aes was a rite of passage. Children had perfectly smooth hands. The skin on my hands resembled a patchwork quilt – adult hands.

"Schooled in our ways, unlike the whelps." Saar spat over his shoulder then straightened. "Saar, Protector Guardian for the Dracon Gate."

Odd, his power exceeded Donovan's. Did Saar choose to be Donovan's second-in-command or was some other factor forcing him to remain subservient? Better question, how did the Dracon Council prevent him from intervening? Protector Guardians were bound by magic to protect their gate. Given his gate's condition, he should be missing limbs. I made a mental note to investigate this oddity further.

"First Apprentice Alannah Claise," I answered, struggling to keep my tone even. "Have everyone fall back."

"Which gate?"

"The Central Keystone." My magic pulsed into the amulet, notifying Joel about the incoming gate. The mental voices I'd previously ignored stilled.

Saar raised his fist in the air and pulsed his magic into the seal below our feet. Runes lite the grass then faded. Their afterimage lingered over the field. Silence fell as hundreds of eyes turned towards us.

"Disconnect from the Well and move to the pathway. If you cannot shield yourself, either find someone who can or start running," Saar shouted. "Once the gate appears, await instruction."

"I don't take orders from washed up guardians or half-pip whores," a man muttered.

An aes whip formed in his hand as Saar whirled around. It whistled through the air and wrapped around the speaker's throat. The fact the speaker retained his head spoke to Saar's fine control. I sniffed the air. No burning flesh. Make that superior control, I amended. I wondered if his methodology differed from Endellion's.

"Kin slayer," Saar hissed, "did I ask for your opinion?" He flashed his fangs and stalked towards his prey. "You will shut your mouth and obey or instead of a debriefing, we will be attending your funeral," he said and flung the man outside the seal.