Will of the Apprentice

Chapter 6: Friends or foes?

"Having Joule join the Stormguard is the first step, the next part involves in your ability, Flicker."

Every evening when the clock strikes midnight, the little Bleeko emerges from the deep corners of the castle and make his daily routine: scouting the area. With the help of fairly-motivated fairies, he was able to crawl and searched in even the tightest air vent. The guards patrolling at night hold no threat to him since he can vanish in mere seconds. However, in spite of his elusiveness, he can't find any hidden passage that suitable for a flank attack. Perhaps the secret tunnel in this place requires a different approach.

"Alright I've search every bloody corner in that building and none is even close to what you demand." – Flicker takes the first words, frustrated as always.

"I don't think that she is stupid enough to lock herself inside that concrete box when the enemy strikes, just keep searching!"

"Aargh...I've absent far too long from my lab, the Meekos probably have some new machines already. Only one more night, if I can't find it then I'm out of this operation!"

"Easy there, I still need you for later on. Perhaps we're thinking this in the wrong way, maybe it can't be opened physically."

Samuel conjures a bright sphere, then it slowly reshapes into an eye with its pupil sending out golden lights.

"When I was about 7 years old, Lyra used to hide sorcery instrument from me by using conceal magic. Later on I learned this technique that can help reveal anything protected or hidden by magic. I'll tell you how to use it, take it with you and find what I need."

As Samuel said, Flicker takes on his final scavenger hunt. The pattern remains the same, only this time, when he comes across a wall in the back library of the castle, the eye suddenly opens. With each of its ray of light pierces through the concrete block unlocks another ancient symbol, or in other words, a spell. When the last symbol is revealed, a crack slowly shaped on the wall, breaking it in half vertically. It is then noticeable that this is the secret path Samuel was talking about. The path leads straight to a forest located behind the building – an easy escape route!

"Bingo!" – Flicker says, eyes fills with excitement.

The next meeting promised to be a game changing one.

"You found it!? Good job, thanks to you, half of our plan is completed. All the tools we required are here, now we just need to execute this smoothly!"

Samuel takes out from his pocket a sack, inside are multiple black marbles.

"Alright, everyone pays attention, this part is crucial."

**********

Fast forward to the destined day, Joule is taking her normal patrol route around the palace where she encounters Selina – the supervisor the other day.

"Good evening sir!" – Joule raises her hand for a salute.

"Hi there rookie, still getting used to this place? And don't call me 'sir', that sounds like an old man to me. Just Selina will be fine."

"Sorry uhm....Miss Selina. It's been two weeks since the day you gave me this uniform, I think I'm starting to get a hang of this place."

"That's good to hear! Well, I'm off duty for the time being, shall we go?"

"Ugh yes sir....I mean Selina..."

The two walks along side the edge of the barrier that surrounds this castle, checking if there's any scuffle with the gate guards. It seems like a normal walk, they are just having a common chat about things they're interested in and quite into it as well. So it is hard to notice that something is lurking under the bushes nearby, especially when it can not be seen by regular sight.