Chapter 4 Part 2

When morning finally came, Dylan had managed to drift into a pleasantly deep sleep only to be awakened by the ringing bell in the hall and the shuffling of his other roommates. They had spoken only briefly with him when they had returned from their own studies.

Once Dylan had made it clear that he had no intention of adopting the traditional claiming of prime furniture and bed as was his due, the other two immediately fell into squabbling as to who should get what. Dylan quickly asserted that his decision was not to be taken as an abdication of his place as senior in the room. While the two juniors argued, he banished them from the room bidding them not to return until their differences were settled.

After bathing, Dylan immediately went to his chores. Jerry welcomed him warmly and exaggerated as to how much he had been missed. Dylan of course took the compliment modestly and simply went about his assignment. He counted the hours until the time came for him to go to his lessons.

Dylan hurried back to the room and took another quick shower. He then redressed and headed for Master Tesron’s quarters. When he got there, Dylan found Cindy standing by the door. She explained that she had waited so that they could go in together. She also admitted that she had not slept well the night before either.

Alone, the idea of facing the meeting would have been frightening, but together, the two drew courage from each other’s company and Cindy lightly rapped on the door.
When it opened, it was Sarah, one of Tesron’s senior initiates who greeted them. She smiled at the two students and motioned them inside. There in the study, Cindy and Dylan found Kayla and Gage sitting next to a long table. Next to the window, Master Tesron’s stood quietly gazing out into the gardens below.

“Hello, Cindy. Hello, Dylan,” Kayla greeted them. Sarah closed the door behind them and resumed her task of polishing a mirror on the wall. She smiled only briefly as she passed them. Gage stood and indicated that the two arrivals should stand before the table. Cindy and Dylan complied and stood waiting.

Tesron sighed and casually closed the window. He turned and faced his two youngest charges critically. Then he expelled a satisfied grunt and took a seat at one end of the table.

“I wish to express how pleased I am in the reports I’ve gotten regarding the two of you,” Tesron began. “Your work is exemplary and your studies are progressing far ahead of the standard.”

“Thank you, master,” Cindy said. “It’s our wish that you be proud of us.”

Tesron smiled. “Indeed I am.” He glanced at Kayla and Gage. Both nodded affirmatively.
“Among the other masters, I am in something of a minority around here,” Tesron continued, “in that I believe that there are some lessons that can’t be learned here at the Academy. Therefore I’ve been known to send initiates on short trips in the company of my more experienced students to expose them to more of the world. It’s been my observation that what I get back is a student more open minded and more receptive to my teachings.”

Tesron leaned back and folded his hands lightly on the table. “I usually select older initiates to make these trips, but the two of you are the only students I have who haven’t been on an outing.”

Dylan felt his heart pounding at the thought of what he hoped this was leading up to. He could sense Cindy tensing at his side. He was certain that she had come to a similar conclusion.

“Tomorrow, I’m sending Gage to Keron to deliver some materials to one of my colleagues there. Kayla believes, and Gage agrees that the two of you would both benefit from such an outing.”

Tesron frowned momentarily. “Though I’m not used to allowing students so young out on the road, I’m supremely confident in Gage’s abilities, and therefore agree to dismiss you from your studies.”

Dylan realized he was breathing fast and he could hardly keep from cheering. “This is not an excuse to slack off, mind you,” Tesron warned. “Gage will see to your lessons on the road, and he’ll be totally in charge. I do not expect any disobedience or loafing.”

“Yes, Master,” Cindy agreed.

“Yes, Master,” Dylan added.

“Dylan,” Tesron continued, “I know that you recently returned from a vacation. On your honor, I’m going to ask you if you feel you can take this trip and maintain your studies. It’s been a while since you were in class. I won’t be angry if you feel you need to return to your lessons.”

Dylan swallowed. “Master Tesron, I feel that I can maintain my studies with minimal help from Gage. I would like to accompany him on this trip.”

Tesron stared at him long and hard. Then he nodded. “Very well, you shall.”

Gage stepped behind his charges. He placed a hand upon each small head. “Take the afternoon to pack your things. Bring only what you will need. Go to sleep early for we leave before sunrise tomorrow morning. I will send a messenger for you when I am ready. Now go.”

The two younger initiates walked calmly to the door and left their master’s quarters. When the door closed behind them, they immediately looked at each other with huge smiles. Then they were suddenly clasping hands and dancing in a small circle squealing in delight.

Dylan and Cindy packed their bags together. Dylan assisted Cindy in her room, then she accompanied him back to his place to pack his own things. Gage had sent instructions and had been quite explicit with what they should pack. They were to make a journey several weeks long so they had to bring all their street clothes as well as two clean sets of initiate’s tunics.

They would visit the guilds in some of the major cities that they would pass through, and they were expected to dress appropriately. On the road, however, Gage suggested that they dress comfortably.

After packing, the two students grabbed a bite to eat and then headed out to the garden. It was the first time in months that they had found the time to spend together. They went at once to their special secluded place without a word and immediately kicked their shoes off. Sitting on the warm outcropping of granite, they dangled their feet in the cool water.

“You never did tell me how your trip home was,” Cindy told him. “Was your family glad to see you?”

“Yes,” Dylan answered. He told her about the banquet and his being asked to sit at the head table.

“I wasn’t raised on a plantation, but I think I can imagine how important that must’ve been. Did you see your friends?”

“Yes I did,” he said. Dylan knew Cindy too well. She was trying to sneak something past him.

“Were any of those friends girls?” Cindy asked casually making an almost convincing show of not really caring what the answer would be.

Dylan was immediately alert. He had long learned the warning signs and knew more or less what he should or should not say.

“Not really,” he answered. “There were some girls at Sandy Cove, but I was never really friends with any of them.” Dylan smiled as he noted Cindy’s concealed sigh of relief. He should have left it there, but without thinking he ad-libbed an addendum. “And none of the girls back there have boobs like yours.”

The water, which Dylan had judged to be pleasantly cool on his feet was reevaluated as it closed over his head. He was certain that the water was actually cold. He should have foreseen the shove that sent him into the pool, but he had been too busy congratulating himself for the smart-alec remark that he never saw Cindy turn red and push him off the rock.

When Dylan surfaced, Cindy was fuming, but her eye held a glint of mischief. “Oh, so not only have you been looking at my body,” she accused, “but you have been comparing me to other girls!” With that she stomped away.

Dylan stood up. The water was up to his shoulders at that part of the pool. He shook his head in wonder. “She can dish it out, but she can’t take it,” he muttered to himself.

Suddenly without warning, Dylan flew upward out of the water and drifted on a warm breeze back to the granite outcropping where he lightly touched down. A quick search of the area revealed the mage, Ultrecht, sitting under a tree near the edge of the hedges.

“Another swimming lesson?” the tall man asked him.

Dylan wrung his tunic. “Good morning, sir,” he said politely. “I was just teasing her, and she totally flew off the handle.”

“She can’t take her own medicine?” Ultrecht repeated what Dylan had just said.

“Exactly. She tried to trap me into admitting that I’d been around other girls, so I tried to avoid a fight by telling her ahead of time that she was better than any girls back at Sandy Cove.” Dylan sat back on the sun warmed rock. “I just don’t get it.”

“You made a good try,” Ultrecht assured him. “The problem was that your friend is nervous and was determined to have a little fight. No matter what you said she was going to get mad.”

“Why?”

“I’d guess she’s facing something unknown,” Ultrecht suggested. “Is she about to take a test or something like that?”

“She and I are accompanying out master’s journeyman, Gage, to Keron tomorrow,” Dylan told him.

“That’s probably it then,” Ultrecht decided. “She’s facing something unfamiliar so she picked a fight with you. Quarreling with a friend is a familiar thing and made her feel comfortable.”

Dylan shivered. “But did she have to push me in the water?”

“Probably not,” Ultrecht guessed. “I suspect that was done more out of affectionate mischief than anger.”

Dylan sat thinking about what Ultrecht had told him long after the mage departed. By the time Dylan retired to the dorm to go to sleep, it was well after dark.

The next morning, Cindy came by and knocked quietly on the door to Dylan’s room. It was far too early for the others to be up, but an older initiate had dropped by in the predawn and awaken him.

When Dylan answered the door, Cindy smiled and acted as if the previous afternoon’s battle had not taken place. Dylan made a mental note to seek out the advice of Master Ultrecht concerning any further difficulties that he had with Cindy. Though the mage may deny it, the fact that he had lived so long may have given him time to actually get to understand women.

“Are you ready?” the girl asked.

Dylan hefted his bundle and stepped out the door. “I think so,” he answered.

“Then let’s go,” Cindy urged excitedly. “Gage said that we were to leave before sunrise and it’s already getting light in the east.”

Dylan and Cindy carried their things to the stable entrance of the Academy grounds where they had been instructed to report. There they discovered a covered wagon hitched to a pair of sturdy mules. An initiate assigned to the stable was adjusting the harness.

“Is this the wagon Journeyman Gage is taking to Keron?” Cindy asked.

“It is,” the initiate answered. “Are you the two additional passengers we were told to stock supplies for?”

“We are,” Dylan confirmed.

“You guys’re really lucky,” the stable initiate told them. “I wish my master believed in sending us on trips.”

Dylan and Cindy climbed in the back of the wagon and stowed their belongings. There were several large crates many of which held supplies such as meal, well packed vegetables and even some salted meat. One crate was locked and sealed with a wax insignia. That one they wisely left alone. All initiates learned early how to recognize things which were off limits.

They exited the wagon just as Gage and Kayla were approaching.

“Good morning,” Gage greeted them as he spied the youths. With a nod, he dismissed the stable initiate.

“Are you two ready to go?” Kayla asked playfully.

“Are you going with us?” Dylan asked hopefully. The thought of traveling with both Kayla and Gage was very fanciful.

“Sorry, kid,” the apprentice answered. “I have something very pressing to take care of, so I’ll have to stay here.”

“Is it your test?” Cindy asked.

Kayla looked surprised. “Now how’d you know about that?” she asked. “I haven’t told anyone that I was testing for journeyman.”

Cindy glanced around uneasily. “Gee, Kayla,” she started. “I mean you’ve been studying those scrolls an awful lot lately, and you’ve been an apprentice for quite a while. You said so yourself.”

Gage chuckled. “You are very perceptive and observant, Cindy,” he praised.

“Yes,” Kayla admitted. “I’m going to be taking my test for the rank of journeyman while you’re gone.”

Dylan rushed up to the young woman who had taught him almost everything he had learned at the Academy. He gave her a big hug. He was quickly joined by Cindy.

“Good luck,” Dylan offered as the friendly embrace was broken. His wishes were echoed by Cindy as well. The extemporaneous outburst made the apprentice’s eyes water and she gave them both a pat on the head before turning her back and heading towards the main building. She paused only long enough to wave a fond farewell before going inside.

“It is time to go,” Gage announced as he mounted the wagon and took the driver’s seat. He lifted the reigns as the two youngsters climbed into the wagon behind him. Then when they were settled, he snapped the reigns and the wagon got under way.

They rode through the relatively quiet streets of Allentown on the East West Trail which was the primary trade route overland between the far west and the eastern cities. They traveled eastward watching the ever lightening sky as they rode.

Gage remained silent with the exception of occasional commands to his team of mules. Cindy and Dylan lounged in the back of the wagon on blankets and bags. The gentle rocking of the wagon and the silence soon bored Dylan to sleep and when he awoke, they were far out of sight of Allentown. He could see that Cindy was still asleep, so Dylan quietly crept up to the front of the wagon and peeped over the driver’s bench.

Gage glanced down at him momentarily and then motioned an indication that Dylan should join him on the bench that served as a driving seat.

Dylan looked around. The road was well traveled and the wheel tracks were deep furrows of packed dirt. “Where are we?” Dylan whispered so as not to awaken Cindy.

“We are several leagues east of Allentown, Gage answered. “You two slept all morning. I decided that it would not hurt to let you be a little bit lazy, since your chores will last long into the night.”

“Chores?”

“You will have to gather firewood, tend the fire, cook and clean the pots and pans after dinner. Then there are the mules to tend to and clothes to wash.” Gage smiled at the disappointed face on the youngster. “Did you think this trip would be all sleeping, eating and playing?”

“No,” Dylan admitted. “But I didn’t have to do all those things when I went home.”

“Ah, but then you were a paying passenger,” Gage pointed out. “This is quite different.”

“I’ll say,” Dylan agreed.

Gage sat silently for a few moments. Finally he glanced at the sun and then nodded to himself. “Are you ready for some lessons?”

Dylan sighed. He knew that he would not be able to avoid lessons, so he may as well get on with it. “I suppose so,” he answered.

Gage chuckled. “The first lesson today is very simple, but it will help you learn some things about numbers. I want you to make a list for me showing the first one hundred primary numbers. Then I want a brief report describing any shortcuts or patterns that you discover in determining whether or not a number is a prime number.”

Again Dylan sighed and grumbled as he turned to his pack and began searching for his slate. He did not see the elf laughing silently behind him.

As he rummaged through his pack, he went out of his way to accidentally wake Cindy. If he was going to have to work, then so should she. She sat up and smiled sweetly at him as she wiped her eyes. Dylan immediately felt guilty.

Cindy was given a reading assignment so that Dylan could use her chalk slate as well as his own in the mathematical exercise. The work lasted well into the morning. Around noon, Gage pulled the wagon into the shade beneath a tree. Then he instructed his students to suspend their studies long enough to have some bread, cheese and water.

After lunch, they sat and rested as the mules grazed lazily in the grass on the southern side of the trail. Dylan and Cindy sat together watching the clouds and observing their shapes and how it reminded them of everyday objects.

“That one looks like a farmer’s plow,” Dylan casually mentioned. He pointed to a particularly small cloud in the eastern sky.

“Hmmm,” Cindy agreed. “I guess it does.” She leaned back on the grass. “Did you ever do much plowing on that plantation?”
“No,” Dylan answered. He drew his knees up and rested his chin on them as he sat. “I was too young to work in the fields.”

“It must be very hard to do that kind of work,” Cindy wondered.

“It is,” Dylan agreed. “Even the boys who’re old enough to start working are only allowed to work half the day until they got used to the heat and labor.”

“Will you have to do that when you finish studying at the Academy?”

“No, I’ll work with my father. He’s the quartermaster of the plantation. That’s an important position as he has to keep the supplies and ration it out according to need and availability. He also has to trade our surplus with other plantations to get things we need.”

“I didn’t know living on a farm was so complex,” Cindy admitted.

Dylan did not reply. Instead he lay back in the grass to gaze at the sky. “You know they say that once there were two suns, and that the winter season was almost ten years long.”

“I know,” Cindy said. “My grandmother used to tell me stories about the gods and the two suns and all that stuff. It’s sometimes difficult to believe all that.”

“I know,” Dylan agreed. “On the way back from home, I heard a bard telling a story about a mysterious being in the upper Orkon region of the Deep called the Forester. I’m sure that it was just a tale to amuse children, but the minstrel swore that it was a true story.”

“Many legends are based in fact,” Gage interrupted as he stood and fetched the mules. “You should never dismiss something as being untrue unless you have a reason to believe it is so. Far too many people who have done that have realized their error too late.”

“Do you believe in the Forester?” Cindy inquired amused.

Gage sighed. “I am from that area,” he told them, “and though some people believe in the Forester, and others are unsure as to what to think, there can be no doubt that some one or some thing does roam the upper Orkon range. Never has an innocent life been threatened by this so called Forester, but many a villain has been found dead.”

“So there really is a Forester?” Cindy asked amazed.

“That is what the folk of that region believe,” Gage answered.

“The bard told me that he thought that the Forester was one of the gods that had been overthrown and was living here among the mortals,” Dylan recalled.

Gage smiled. “Oh, I would not go so far as to say that,” he announced. “If the Forester does exist, he is probably nothing more that a wise old man who knows enough magic to best common brigands.”

“Maybe Master Tesron’ll send us to the Tycarian region one day and we can find out for sure,” Dylan mused.

“I doubt that Master Tesron will send the two of you anywhere else after this,” Gage informed them as he finished hitching the team. “By the time another trip becomes necessary, there will most likely be another initiate or two in our little family. Then it will be their turn.”

By the end of the first day, Dylan had concluded that the trip did not hold as much excitement as he and Cindy had expected. Throughout the day they had only seen one other traveler. It was an old man hauling a cart of onions to Allentown for trade. With the exception of disclosing his destination and reassuring himself that the trio were of no danger, the old man made no other attempts to be sociable.

Dylan finished his mathematical exercise around mid afternoon. Gage corrected a minor error in his logic, but stated that otherwise the task was well done. He then gave Dylan a reading assignment while he worked with Cindy on her math lessons.

Dylan reflected that the lessons on the road were much different than those Kayla taught in the classroom. Instead of the usual reading material which usually consisted of old records of meetings and clerical functions, Gage had given him a book of history to read from. He was to read a chapter relating to the rise of House Rigel to the Throne of Keron. It was the history of the royal family.

Dylan read late into the afternoon. Even after Gage gave him permission to stop, Dylan continued on until it became too dark to see. It was at that time that he suspected that he had made another social blunder by getting so involved in the book that he accidentally ignored Cindy.

His first clue came when she refused to talk to him during the evening meal which they prepared together. The second clue was more obvious. When he asked her to fill his cup with water, she quite deliberately poured the dipper full of cold water in his lap. Gage pretended not to notice even as Dylan did an improvised dance around the fire in response to the cold wetness in his lap.

“Oops,” was the first and last thing that Cindy said to him that night. She added insult to injury by turning in for the evening and leaving Dylan to clean the cooking utensils alone.
All the time, Gage sat back and watched the episode with a hint of a smirk on his face. Dylan did not miss the audience. He considered saying something, but finally decided to just drop the whole thing and hope it got better the next morning.

“Do we have to stand watch?” he asked finally. Dylan was wide awake and if he was going to have to stand watch, he wanted to take the first shift.

“There is no need,” Gage told him as the journeyman began to unroll his own bedroll. “I set a few wards up to warn us if anyone comes upon us in the night.”

“What about animals?” Dylan wondered. He was not as much afraid of bandits as he was of things that might decide to invite him to breakfast permanently.

“The wards will keep wild creatures away,” Gage told him. “As for intelligent beings, the ward will awaken us in plenty of time if they approach.”

Dylan glanced at the history book and decided that the fire did not give off sufficient light to read properly. So he saw no reason why he should remain awake.

Dylan placed his bed roll by the fireside and glanced up at the sky. “I wonder if it’ll rain?”

“It will not rain,” Gage told him confidently.

Dylan lay back and studied the twin moons for a few moments. Then without warning he was sound asleep.

Gage sighed. The spell was very simple and easy to cast. It was also very useful. He wondered, however, if his master would have approved of him using magic to put the two initiates to sleep.