grumpy mage Solas heard the Guild Master's decision, he was forced to step aside and let the kids in. He gave Maren and Magnus one last sour gaze, while they, surely surprised by the Guild Master's benevolence, could finally cross the doorstep of the castle. Solas didn't utter another word, but then again, there was no need to. His gaze spoke for him very clearly.
As soon as Magnus crossed the threshold of this majestic building, he sensed a wave of various strong energies. Both he and Maren felt as though they had entered a completely different world. It was a place like no other.
Their eyes, bulged with amazement, surveyed the huge entrance hall with a high ceiling that was decorated with beautiful vaults. It would be impossible to guess how it looked inside before they actually entered.
“Solas, close the front door,” said the Guild Master Zimbadur when he invited his guests to follow him, making a gentle gesture with his staff-free hand. Maren and Magnus didn't want to spend a second longer in Solas' presence, therefore they both rushed in front to follow Zimbadur on the way to the reception chamber.
Solas banged the door shut, muttering something under his nose, and for the luck of them all, nobody heard what he said. He shuffled away in a completely opposite direction, to the wide spiral stairs leading up to the library. That was probably the place where he spent most of his time. Before he vanished from their sight, Maren made a taunting grimace at him, but he couldn't see it any more.
While Zimbadur was leading his guests through the halls of the Mages Guild, Magnus got flushed by a very strange and strong sensation that something had led him to Ragna because of this very place.
*
Not only the Guild Master Zimbadur was taking his work seriously.
General Xanthar didn't blink his eyes for the whole long night. He was sitting in his armchair behind the desk, piles of books and documents towering on either side and clearly he didn't even move the curtains since yesterday, because the whole office was utterly dark. His head, full of thoughts and worries about the “scarecrow Magnus”, was resting on his left hand, while the fingertips of his right hand were impatiently tapping on the table. Obviously, he was waiting for something.
Directly before him lay his luxurious telepathic device. It seemed that somebody had just called him because he could hear a loud ringing echoing in his mind. Finally what he had been waiting for.
In one of the many aisles near the Merry Pigeon inn, Jackal was bragging to Eagle about his great discovery.
“ Still, you don't know if it's really his,” Eagle said in a highly doubtful tone.
“ What's wrong, Eagle? D' yeh envy that I've found what yeh with yer renowned hawk sight couldn't see?” chided Jackal at his colleague. “Just wait till I show it to the general. I'm sure he'll promote me right away,” he continued in his day-dreaming. Those were however really mere dreams, because the General Xanthar had never promoted anyone in his life. On the other hand, he was sacking people quite often.
Eagle rolled his eyes. Jackal's bragging was getting on his nerves, but he had to admit that he did envy him a little. “It's just meaningless trash that's been dumped here by someone messy. You should learn to recognise the reality from dreams, Jackal.” Eagle's face reflected unspoken anxiety that Jackal could trace Magnus and grab all rewards for the work. If there was going to be any reward, of course.
It appeared his slender colleague was already flying somewhere in the clouds, as usual. “When the general promotes meh, I'll be workin' at the police station watchin' the whole Ragna from the top of the watchtower, while yeh be boilin' and gettin' bored down at the town gate,” Jackal said dreamily while gazing lovingly at his “precious” discovery, as though it was a pile of gold. “And that's not all. Since I'll wear the police uniform, I'll be
Jodi Redford
Roderic Jeffries
Connie Mason
Walter Dean Myers
Beth Ashworth
Jean Bedford
Jo Summers
Alexis Alvarez
Donna Fletcher Crow
Julie Rowe