First Apprentice

Chapter 16 Part 2

The man hit the ground with a sickening thud. Surprisingly, he pushed himself up and walked the rest of the way towards the path.

Sealers peeled away until only Saar, his guardians, and a couple remained. I glanced at the couple. Auras tinged gray from exhaustion, they steadied each other as they stumbled across the grass towards me. I didn't dare approach them. If Melantha's magic tugged on mine at an inopportune moment and the seal activated, people would die, starting with them.

"Madness." The woman's voice sounded as exhausted as she looked.

A nearby sealer dissolved his violin and darted forward. He lent her an arm while another assisted her partner. She swayed. Saar reached out and steadied her. She flinched, but let him support her weight.

"Complete insanity," she whispered, "trusting millions of lives to a half-trained sealer from a backwater world whose birth didn't even warrant the standard notices."

"Only because they didn't know what they had," Saar muttered.

The woman started. More gray crept into her aura as magical exhaustion overtook her. She slumped.

Saar handed her off to her volunteer leaning post and beckoned a nearby sealer over.

I eyed the new sealer's aura with interest.

Robin's egg blue with mint and cerise flames indicated power levels comparable to Uncle Manfred's, but no wraith. A false lord, meaning dae-level magics but only three forms.

"Apprentice," Saar barked, "teleport them to the healers. Ensure they confiscate those accursed amulets before the magic drain kills them. Tell the healers we need immediate support for an alpha class summon. Then get yourself to a communication array and call up every marked sealer and guardian regardless of corps. Have everyone except the healers rotate through in ten-minute shifts. One shift per hour. No more, no less. Healers monitor for aura poisoning." Saar turned and pointed to four brick buildings across the green. "Are your families out?"

"First thing Terry did," he said.

"Good. Send someone door to door in case anyone missed the evacuation order."

"Alannah," Joel's voice echoed like the Central Keystone's did when I spoke with the collective, "we need that gate yesterday."

Through the link, I caught a glimpse of the Dracon Gate, magic spewing from her open doors like blood from a severed artery.

Saar cursed under his breath. "Don't come back here. Stay on that array and try to raise the Shedu. If the Dracon Gate falls, they must move Marstallis back into position."

"What about the Dracon?"

"Do you see the clan rebelling? No, they chose this path. On their heads be it." He turned to me. "Master sealer, if you would."

As the apprentice and his cargo turned to smoke, Saar said, "I'll try to keep everyone behind you. Turn and face the sun. Let the dawn hide anything they shouldn't see. All right, people," he shouted, "this is about to get worse than the Battle of Kirnus."

Kirnus where two subplanes collided. The same battle Grandfather said left Saar and Joel both comatose for weeks. A chill swept through me. How many would die if I did this? Would more die if I didn't?

"Assemble and face the rising sun," he shouted. "Journeymen sealers in front. Form ranks behind the journeymen. Monitor your magic at all times." I tuned him out.

Magic pooled in my fingertips as my mind slipped out of my body and passed through the dimensions, seeking the gates. I tilted my head, listening for the Central Keystone's song.