Read Online Apprentice by Eric Guindon - Free Book Online Page A

a rat for at least that long and living here for longer than me, what do you know of the outside world?” countered Benen.
    “I left here for a time after my defeat at the hands of the wizard. I know plenty about the world that is out there Benen, believe me.”
    Benen did believe him then, the rat spoke with such intensity, it was difficult to doubt him.
    Benen put on his best clothes, which weren’t very good considering they were made by Benen himself. The wizard had let him have some cloth over the years and the means to stitch clothing together for himself, but Benen had never gotten very good at it and his efforts weren’t stellar. Still, the clothing was functional. What he considered his best clothes were really the cleanest, newest pair of pants and tunic he had made for himself. His shoes were made of the same cloth and shaped as a sort of bag. For a belt he wore a rope. In this case, the nicest bit of rope he could find. Orafin disappeared for a time while Benen was getting ready. When the rat returned, he was laboriously carrying a silver coin.
    “It’s more than it looks. It’s worth sixteen of the copper coins and one of those will buy you a meal and ale to go with it.”
    “Where did you get it?” Benen asked.
    “The wizard is sometimes careless with his purse,” Orafin replied.
    “His loss is my gain, I guess,” Benen said with a smile.
    “He owes you at least that much in back pay, I’d say,” the rat said agreeably.
    “I’ve never even held money before,” Benen was examining the coin closely. He could read now and tried to understand what was written on it; it didn’t make any sense.
    “It’s a Westren coin, they speak and write differently there,” Orafin told him when he saw Benen’s close scrutiny of the writing. Benen put the coin in his right shoe-bag and tied that one extra-tight. They were ready, all that remained was waiting for the wizard to land the tower. Their hope was that he would land it somewhere near some village or town.
    It was a little bit after sunset, after all tasks were taken care of, when the wizard started landing the tower. It became more and more obvious to the rat and boy, as they looked out the windows and saw the landscape gradually come up toward them. The movement downward itself was imperceptible and there was no jar upon landing.
    Orafin went to see where the wizard was to be found, to make sure they wouldn’t run into him as they were leaving. He came back in an agitated state.
    “The wizard is outside, he’s taking some things left near where we landed!” Orafin said, panting.
    The two made their way to a place in the tower where they could look out and see what was happening on the ground at the base. There were bundles of what looked like supplies in piles on the ground, the whole tidily stacked.
    “That’s where all the stuff we eat comes from!” Benen realized, answering a question he had yet to have asked himself.
    “Tribute, I guess,” said Orafin. “From the villages in his domain.”
    “Why would they give him tribute? Does he hurt them if they don’t?” asked an outraged Benen. He could sympathize with bullied villagers.
    “I think they have an agreement with him. He’s sort of the owner of this land.”
    “Really?”
    The rat nodded, “It’s named after him.”
    “What? Are we still near my home village of Oster’s Gift?” asked Benen.
    “In the same region. This area is Osteria, after Oster, the wizard.”
    “No! Really? But, is he really eight hundred years old then?”
    “I think so,” Orafin said. “Wizards extend their own lives with magic, that much I know.”
    Benen was speechless. This could be him someday. Eight hundred years seemed an eternity!
    “It’s like living forever,” he said, his voice full of awe.
    “I guess,” the rat said, less impressed. “You know the world is much older than you probably think. Millions of years old, some say.”
    Benen laughed out loud at this claim. They spoke no