Read Online Apprentice by Eric Guindon - Free Book Online

just be a few more years, maybe three at the most, before we can take on the wizard together. Can’t you just focus for that much longer? After that you will be free!”
    “Okay, let’s just get through this,” Benen said with new determination.
    But it was for nought, he could not concentrate on his work. It was bad enough when he couldn’t follow Orafin’s teachings, but it became dire when he had trouble paying attention to the wizard’s.
    “These are basic star patterns! How can you get them wrong, boy?” the wizard threw the wooden plank at Benen, hitting him on the shoulder. Where it hit, his arm went numb with pain. He cried out. “Cease your whining at once! Make such an error again and it will be back to the knife for you,” the wizard threatened.
    That night, when Benen recounted this to Orafin, the rat paced the room, thinking.
    “You have to get your focus back or you will not live long enough for us to rise up against the wizard together; he will kill you if you fail to learn.”
    “I know, I am trying,” Benen assured the rat.
    “I believe you and I understand, but the wizard won’t and wouldn’t care even if he did.”
    “Then I’m doomed,” the boy said tragically and threw himself down onto his bed.
    “Maybe there is a way for you to leave this place and come back. If you’re lucky you might even meet some people,” the rat suggested this with some hesitation. “It might be dangerous and if the wizard discovers you missing, it will go badly for you.”
    “If I don’t leave here, it will definitely go badly for me!” complained Benen.
    “Then we’ll have to take the risk. Have you noticed a pattern to the landing and taking off of the tower, my young friend?”
    “Not particularly,” Benen said.
    “The spell the wizard uses to levitate the tower relies on The Pinnacle constellation,” said the rat. He was interrupted by Benen’s giggles. The Pinnacle was the constellation common folk from Benen’s village called Feldin’s Cock. This was the constellation Benen had identified for the wizard back in the village so long ago.
    “Sorry. Old memory,” he apologized to Orafin.
    “The point is, that constellation never sets, so the magic supporting the tower in the air can be maintained without cease — in theory.”
    “But not in practise?” asked Benen.
    “No. The moon or the sun sometimes obscures one or more of the stars as seen from here and at those times the flight spell becomes potentially erratic. The wizard knows full well when those times occur and lands the tower for the duration. Sometimes he will even keep it on the ground for an extended period in order to gather more power to himself and do something he hadn’t been able to do while maintaining the flight spell. This might allow you more time.”
    “Why not just teach me how to fly? Then I can come and go without bothering with any timing other than my off-times,” asked Benen. His two instructors had not taught him much in the way of spells so far. As far as Benen could tell, magic was all astronomy.
    “Do you remember when you and I did that spell to inscribe the star pattern into wood that time, years ago? It will be like that,” the rat told him.
    “Really? Haven’t I learnt enough by now to be able to cast a spell like flying without any trouble?”
    “No. I think you underestimate how difficult of a spell flight is, and overestimate your ability to hold constellation information in your mind.”
    Chastised, Benen dropped that subject. The two instead worked out when the tower would land next. This information allowed them to plan and make sure Benen was ready to leave when the time came. Orafin insisted that he be taken along in order to keep Benen out of trouble.
    “What trouble would I possibly get in?” asked Benen.
    “Knowing you, any sort of trouble,” replied Orafin. “You’re a boy who’s been very sheltered for the past few years. You need to be escorted.”
    “Well, you’ve been