Read Online The Castrofax by Jenna Van Vleet - Free Book Online Page A

it
screeched opened. Adrenaline raced as he threw out a
muffle-pattern, hoping to catch the sound waves before they reached
the end of the hall.
    It was well known that the Head Mage and his
Council wore rings connected to different parts of the castle, so
if a ward was tripped, they would know. However, Nolen carried a
rare treasure to ensure his success. In the hem of his trousers,
pressed against his skin was a medallion he had gone to great
lengths to procure. After countless rumors and more than one false
lead, he found it in a collection of ancient relics owned by the
Duke of Iosburg.
    The medallion was little more than a round
coin with its center punched out and its edges ribbed. It felt as
old as it looked—a relic from the Second Age when the land used
different coinage. When the coin made skin contact, the bearer
could unravel patterns and dispel wards. Any prevention the Mages
of old took to keep this hall closed was for naught. It had taken
some time to prove the relic was the real Medallion of Unwind, as
its creator Arch Mage Pike Bronwen called it, but after Nolen
passed through the wards of Castle Jaden without alerting the
vigilant Council, he knew its authenticity. Nolen had even used it
a few times to pass through the wards protecting the coin vaults of
Kilkiny Palace.
    ‘ There is no going back,’ Nolen
reminded himself, a mantra he developed on his way here. ‘Perhaps I should think myself a bad person.’
    The hall took several turns and flights of
stairs that wound him deeper into the rock. The air became colder.
He expected to find another soul in the catacombs, but no sound
reached him but for the occasional drip of water that puddled the
floors the further down he went. On his last turn he spotted his
destination. A deep cavern with a slender path led to a simple door
that was undoubtedly heavily warded on both sides. But as Nolen
approached, nothing terrible befell him. Putting a hand on the
ancient latch, he unlocked the four bolts set into each side and
pulled it open.
    His candle gave a shutter as air sucked into
the room. For a moment he thought it would die and leave him
trapped in the belly of the mountain, but the light held. Catching
a stale breath, he stepped into the warded room.
    He could see nothing, not even the edges of
the expanse, but to his true horror he felt the ever-pulsing flame
of his Element vanish.
    He instinctively took a step back outside the
room and felt his Air Element rush back to him as if it never left.
Any good palace or castle had a similar room with incanted stones
that blocked the Elements. It was an excellent way to innerve and
distract a Mage.
    He moved forward, listening to his bootsteps
slowly echo through what sounded like a tall room. All was silent
but for him, and he wondered if he had erred horribly, but then he
saw a pair of boots come into the circle of light. Raising the
candle, he revealed a man.
    The man stood still with his eyes closed,
seemingly in a trance. Even his breast failed to rise and fall. His
skin was so pale it looked dead in the flickering light, and the
hollows of his eyes were dark. He was of average height, a good
five inches shorter than Nolen, with deeply-set eyes, a square jaw,
and a large straight nose. His brown hair banded back and fell to
his slender shoulders. He dressed in breeches and stockings,
wearing a coat with a hundred buttons up the side of the chest, and
a mountain of lace spilling from his throat and wrists. The
clothing was Age-old, and looked as though it may flake off if
touched.
    Nolen heard stories of this man as far back
as he could remember. The man was a legend in the Mage world, and
even educated non-Mages whispered his story to their children.
Class Ten Mage Ryker Slade was reportedly as mad as he was
powerful, and stories of his power were enough to frighten even the
Head Mage. Nolen knew the stories well. Cunning and skilled with a
magnetic personality, he drew people to him; people he lured to
their