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Authors: Nathan Meyer
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background illumination seeping out from the windows of the building shed a soft light on the scene.
A lone figure hugged close to the walls on the cobblestone walkway below. He gasped, sure he had seen a ghost, then was even more stunned when he realized who the figure actually was.
“Caleb!” he whispered quickly, “look.”
Instantly the half-orc was beside him and peering into the dark with his superior night vision. Caleb grunted softly.
Below them, Helene skulked through shadows on some lone mission of her own. She froze in her steps while the wolf howled. As it faded away she again slinked forward. Dorian realized that she would soon be beyond the Tower of Change Magic and into the gardens.
“What is she doing?” Caleb wondered. “Those are dires howling and there are ghosts all over the place.”
“She didn’t seem very scared of ghosts today when we saw one out front,” Dorian said.
Caleb snapped his head back to the boy. “You saw a ghost while you were with her?”
“Yes, just after she found me at Maverick’s.”
He went on to tell Caleb about the eerie experience he had while alone in the student hall with her after Lowadar had left them.
“When I ran into her in the dining hall,” Caleb said, “there was a banshee.”
The boys looked at each other, eyes growing wide. “She doesn’t seem afraid,” Dorian pointed out.
“Like maybe she knows she’s safe?” Caleb asked.
Outside she disappeared from view.
“Come on!” Dorian said. “We’ve got to follow her.”
In a flash he retreated from the open window and hastily scooped up the loose items on his bed and into hisHeward’s Handy Haversack before throwing the backpack across one shoulder.
“What are you doing?” Caleb stuttered.
“If we can prove she’s up to no good, Lowadar will see I’m ready to be at Aldwyns!”
“Lowadar doesn’t think you should be at Aldwyns?” Caleb asked confused.
“No time!” Dorian threw Caleb’s haversack at him. “Just follow me.”
He stuffed his feet into his Slippers of Spider Climbing and scampered easily across his desk, through his window, and down the outside wall.
Chapter 16
O utside the window, Dorian’s heart lurched in his throat and he thought he was going to throw up. He couldn’t believe the Slippers of Spider Climbing could hold him to the wall, much less allow him to walk on it as if it were the floor.
The slippers slid over the blocks of the academy with all the grace of their eight-legged namesake. Behind him, Caleb appeared in the window then followed him down.
Dorian skittered down the two stories to the cobblestone and bent down in the shadow of the building.
His breath plumed out in front of him, forming a silver cloud from the cold. Pockets of the early snow covered the ground, and hoarfrost was on the rock in thick, white sheets.
He looked around carefully.
Caleb shuffled into place beside him, moving gracefully for having such a stocky frame.
“This is crazy,” he whispered. An excited smile split his face. “The faculty will kill us if we get caught.”
“Makes it all the more suspicious that Helene is out,” Dorian replied. “If she’s really comfortable with the ghosts, then she might even be working with whoever was controlling those dires that attacked me and my mother this morning.”
“Like an inside agent?” Caleb asked.
“Exactly.”
To his right Dorian saw the tightly bunched, evergreen walls of the Ever-Changing Hedge Maze, to his left the pavilions and stone tables of the magic market.
Directly before him was the Tower of Change Magic, around which Helene disappeared. Behind that tower lay the Alchemical Gardens.
Dorian had to know what she was up to.
“Come on!”
He ran forward, heard a noise, and instantly spun.
Two figures emerged from the shadowy alcove framing the entrance to the Tower of Change Magic.
Stepping off the pathway, Dorian knocked Caleb over and threw himself to the ground behind some low,
A lone figure hugged close to the walls on the cobblestone walkway below. He gasped, sure he had seen a ghost, then was even more stunned when he realized who the figure actually was.
“Caleb!” he whispered quickly, “look.”
Instantly the half-orc was beside him and peering into the dark with his superior night vision. Caleb grunted softly.
Below them, Helene skulked through shadows on some lone mission of her own. She froze in her steps while the wolf howled. As it faded away she again slinked forward. Dorian realized that she would soon be beyond the Tower of Change Magic and into the gardens.
“What is she doing?” Caleb wondered. “Those are dires howling and there are ghosts all over the place.”
“She didn’t seem very scared of ghosts today when we saw one out front,” Dorian said.
Caleb snapped his head back to the boy. “You saw a ghost while you were with her?”
“Yes, just after she found me at Maverick’s.”
He went on to tell Caleb about the eerie experience he had while alone in the student hall with her after Lowadar had left them.
“When I ran into her in the dining hall,” Caleb said, “there was a banshee.”
The boys looked at each other, eyes growing wide. “She doesn’t seem afraid,” Dorian pointed out.
“Like maybe she knows she’s safe?” Caleb asked.
Outside she disappeared from view.
“Come on!” Dorian said. “We’ve got to follow her.”
In a flash he retreated from the open window and hastily scooped up the loose items on his bed and into hisHeward’s Handy Haversack before throwing the backpack across one shoulder.
“What are you doing?” Caleb stuttered.
“If we can prove she’s up to no good, Lowadar will see I’m ready to be at Aldwyns!”
“Lowadar doesn’t think you should be at Aldwyns?” Caleb asked confused.
“No time!” Dorian threw Caleb’s haversack at him. “Just follow me.”
He stuffed his feet into his Slippers of Spider Climbing and scampered easily across his desk, through his window, and down the outside wall.
Chapter 16
O utside the window, Dorian’s heart lurched in his throat and he thought he was going to throw up. He couldn’t believe the Slippers of Spider Climbing could hold him to the wall, much less allow him to walk on it as if it were the floor.
The slippers slid over the blocks of the academy with all the grace of their eight-legged namesake. Behind him, Caleb appeared in the window then followed him down.
Dorian skittered down the two stories to the cobblestone and bent down in the shadow of the building.
His breath plumed out in front of him, forming a silver cloud from the cold. Pockets of the early snow covered the ground, and hoarfrost was on the rock in thick, white sheets.
He looked around carefully.
Caleb shuffled into place beside him, moving gracefully for having such a stocky frame.
“This is crazy,” he whispered. An excited smile split his face. “The faculty will kill us if we get caught.”
“Makes it all the more suspicious that Helene is out,” Dorian replied. “If she’s really comfortable with the ghosts, then she might even be working with whoever was controlling those dires that attacked me and my mother this morning.”
“Like an inside agent?” Caleb asked.
“Exactly.”
To his right Dorian saw the tightly bunched, evergreen walls of the Ever-Changing Hedge Maze, to his left the pavilions and stone tables of the magic market.
Directly before him was the Tower of Change Magic, around which Helene disappeared. Behind that tower lay the Alchemical Gardens.
Dorian had to know what she was up to.
“Come on!”
He ran forward, heard a noise, and instantly spun.
Two figures emerged from the shadowy alcove framing the entrance to the Tower of Change Magic.
Stepping off the pathway, Dorian knocked Caleb over and threw himself to the ground behind some low,
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