nimbly as any arachnid. And the Boots of Speed sitting next to them, the leather new and soft, would let him cover vast distances in moments.
Beside his footwear lay his belt, the useable leather strap adorned with a functional buckle and several folds of light chain to hang accoutrements from.
His wand lay there as well, sitting next to some exotic-looking spectacles. The card attached identified them as Goggles of Minute Seeing.
Caleb stirred on his bed, shifting his reading material.
It was chilly in the room. Dorian had the window open a crack despite the cold because he needed the fresh air to help him keep his focus.
“Do you think they were after your mother?” Caleb asked out of the blue.
“What?”
“The dire wolves,” Caleb clarified. He set his open scroll down. “You and your mother weren’t the only ones to arrive along that road. Your mother is an important woman. I’m just saying coincidence is something that doesn’t happen often in magic.”
“What?” Dorian demanded. “You think someone was trying to get my mother?”
“Does she have enemies?”
Dorian didn’t know what to say.
The truth was, she did have enemies. Plenty in fact.
Father and she had spoiled more than one evil plot against the kingdom. There were also the insurgents on the borderlands, and the politics of court could be scary all on their own.
“I guess.…” his voice trailed off as he remembered the dark figure in the woods, the one that had moved upright and stayed beyond the trees. “Can someone control dire wolves like that? Get them to attack?”
“Sure,” Caleb admitted. “Anyone evil, I guess. A sorcerer maybe. Dires are trainable and respect anything stronger than them.”
Again Dorian recalled the image of the shadowy figure he had seen in the forrest during the attack. He didn’t know why but he couldn’t bring himselfto mention it. It was all too confusing to share at the moment.
He sighed.
Right now a panoply of spell components he’d been instructed to catalog lay spread across his desk. It was deadly dull work, though he felt like he’d already learned how to mix a dozen practical magic applications.
He went back to work
Aldwyns grew quiet as the night grew later.
Outside his window, the moon rose, shedding a cold, pale light that draped the academy grounds in thick, impenetrable shadows.
The ancient stone building was so still it felt like he and Caleb could have been the only ones alive for miles in any direction.
He inhaled some of the bitter chill air and felt his heart beat faster in response to the frigid oxygen. Just as suddenly his heart stopped cold, lurching so hard in the cage of his chest that it hurt.
The howl of a wolf rang out, the lone note climbing and climbing then hanging in the dark night for an impossible moment, shrill and mournful.
The hair on the back of Dorian’s neck rose and goose bumps lifted on the skin of his arms. He was instantly back in his sleigh carriage and seeing the darting forms, hearing their snarls, seeing the blood on the snow.
The long, lonesome howl echoed out of the dark forest surrounding Aldwyns and a chorus of howls answered it from every point of the compass across the plateau. Dorian felt a tightness in his chest as he realized the academy, the village even, was surrounded.
He rose, almost unwillingly, from his seat and leaned in toward the open window.
The fear of what he was going to see when he looked out was so thick and heavy it seemed tangible, like he was pushing his way through cold, murky water.
He remembered his nightmare of just an hour ago. Then the twisted, wailing face of the ghost on the battlements flashed in his mind and he knew if the undead thing appeared here, now, there was no Lowadar to dispel it.
He reached the edge of the mullioned window and looked out toward the dark shadows of the Alchemical Gardens behind the dormitory.
At first his eyes couldn’t adjust and he was unable see anything at all. Then
Beside his footwear lay his belt, the useable leather strap adorned with a functional buckle and several folds of light chain to hang accoutrements from.
His wand lay there as well, sitting next to some exotic-looking spectacles. The card attached identified them as Goggles of Minute Seeing.
Caleb stirred on his bed, shifting his reading material.
It was chilly in the room. Dorian had the window open a crack despite the cold because he needed the fresh air to help him keep his focus.
“Do you think they were after your mother?” Caleb asked out of the blue.
“What?”
“The dire wolves,” Caleb clarified. He set his open scroll down. “You and your mother weren’t the only ones to arrive along that road. Your mother is an important woman. I’m just saying coincidence is something that doesn’t happen often in magic.”
“What?” Dorian demanded. “You think someone was trying to get my mother?”
“Does she have enemies?”
Dorian didn’t know what to say.
The truth was, she did have enemies. Plenty in fact.
Father and she had spoiled more than one evil plot against the kingdom. There were also the insurgents on the borderlands, and the politics of court could be scary all on their own.
“I guess.…” his voice trailed off as he remembered the dark figure in the woods, the one that had moved upright and stayed beyond the trees. “Can someone control dire wolves like that? Get them to attack?”
“Sure,” Caleb admitted. “Anyone evil, I guess. A sorcerer maybe. Dires are trainable and respect anything stronger than them.”
Again Dorian recalled the image of the shadowy figure he had seen in the forrest during the attack. He didn’t know why but he couldn’t bring himselfto mention it. It was all too confusing to share at the moment.
He sighed.
Right now a panoply of spell components he’d been instructed to catalog lay spread across his desk. It was deadly dull work, though he felt like he’d already learned how to mix a dozen practical magic applications.
He went back to work
Aldwyns grew quiet as the night grew later.
Outside his window, the moon rose, shedding a cold, pale light that draped the academy grounds in thick, impenetrable shadows.
The ancient stone building was so still it felt like he and Caleb could have been the only ones alive for miles in any direction.
He inhaled some of the bitter chill air and felt his heart beat faster in response to the frigid oxygen. Just as suddenly his heart stopped cold, lurching so hard in the cage of his chest that it hurt.
The howl of a wolf rang out, the lone note climbing and climbing then hanging in the dark night for an impossible moment, shrill and mournful.
The hair on the back of Dorian’s neck rose and goose bumps lifted on the skin of his arms. He was instantly back in his sleigh carriage and seeing the darting forms, hearing their snarls, seeing the blood on the snow.
The long, lonesome howl echoed out of the dark forest surrounding Aldwyns and a chorus of howls answered it from every point of the compass across the plateau. Dorian felt a tightness in his chest as he realized the academy, the village even, was surrounded.
He rose, almost unwillingly, from his seat and leaned in toward the open window.
The fear of what he was going to see when he looked out was so thick and heavy it seemed tangible, like he was pushing his way through cold, murky water.
He remembered his nightmare of just an hour ago. Then the twisted, wailing face of the ghost on the battlements flashed in his mind and he knew if the undead thing appeared here, now, there was no Lowadar to dispel it.
He reached the edge of the mullioned window and looked out toward the dark shadows of the Alchemical Gardens behind the dormitory.
At first his eyes couldn’t adjust and he was unable see anything at all. Then
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