Book 1, Chapter 2 Part 2

“What?” The old man growled.  He stepped forward heavily.

The fear rose in me again, but I swallowed it and plunged forward.  “I was sent to help Wizard Eb with his new arranging project.” I paused and blushed in embarrassment, “But I’ve never seen him and I have no idea where to find him.  Do you know where he is?”

The old man clenched his jaw, “I do not need help.  I can handle the efforts to rearrange the library with the staff that is currently available.”  He started to grind his teeth.  “I do not need some amateur’s lackey fouling up my efforts.”

I scowled at him, “Wizard Iustyn is not an amateur!” My fury caused me to ball my fists unconsciously before extending a finger and poking him in the chest. “And I am not a lackey.” I spat the last word out and puffed out my chest.

Wizard Eb’s eyebrows raised just enough that I would have missed it if I hadn’t been starting right at him.  He poked me back, jabbing his finger hard into my chest.  “Fine! You want to prove you’re not a lackey? Impress me.” He grabbed a stack of papers from just inside the door and thrust them at me.  “Reorder these shelves!” He promptly turned around and slammed the door in my face. 

“Jackass” I muttered to myself, clutching the papers to my chest.

“I heard that!” The old man roared from the other side of his door. “I swear to all the gods, if you are out there when I open the door, I will end you!” The latch for the door clicked open.

“Gah! You have hearing like an elf!” I scuttled away, slipping around the corner.  I looked around, letting my heart calm down.  Off to my right, I saw a well-lit stair well leading up to the main floor.  “How in Aldanel’s name did I miss that?” I glanced down at the sheets of paper in my hand and saw a list of shelves that needed to be reordered and new books that needed to be restocked.  “Finally! I can get toooo…” I trailed off as I flipped through the pages and saw the size of the job. “No. no. no.” I shook my head in disbelief, “The job is too big.” I sat down on one of the steps in defeat.  “I won’t finish this for years.  Maybe if I go talk to Iustyn…” I swallowed and played the discussion out in my head.  There was no way that was going to end well, if I was lucky I would end up with another punishment on top of the one I had.

I sighed in frustration and stood up, bracing my shaky legs as I stumbled off to get something to eat.  I went back to my room in order to get my meal chits. As an apprentice, I was entitled to two meals a day, a small stipend, 3 trips to the baths a week and a sleeping cubicle in the dormitory.  It would also cover my tuition if I was at the school, but I wasn’t a student so I was saving the school, and my teacher, money.  If I had done something particularly noteworthy, Iustyn give me a small amount of money but I rarely impressed him that much. 

I wandered across the yard, pausing to watch several of the students practicing throwing spells at a straw dummy. One of the older students summoned a blast of flame and incinerated it.  It was easy to see the toll it took on the man as he staggered about drunkenly.  The rest of the students merely shrugged and sent one of the Initiates to go get another dummy.  I wandered over and checked on the man, making sure to check that he was still breathing.  Accidents like this were quite common and all that was needed was a little rest and some food, but he’d be helpless until he recovered so I dragged him over to a shaded area of the courtyard and propped him up against the wall.

After double checking to make sure that the other student was ok, I hurried to the dormitory.  I wanted to change my clothes before starting work on the shelves.  I knew that it was going to take me a while and I was probably going to end up forgetting to get back here over the next couple of days.   I paced mindlessly through the halls, feeling the odd pulse of magic from several of the closed doors to sleeping cubicles.  It was forbidden to practice magic here in the dormitory, but the residents wouldn’t rat each other out because this was considered one of the few places that lower level students could practice without being prey to the more experienced ones.  I made the last turn to get to my door and put my hand on the door.  With a brief effort of will, I “pushed” on the lock with my magic while my other hand got my key out and slid it into the mechanical lock.  I had invented a small locking spell that was fairly simple one installed, but would take a while to undo even for a more skilled magic user.  The magical lock opened and the keyed lock clicked open, but the door refused to budge.  I tried again, this time I locked the door.  After staring in confusion at my door, I began to check to make sure everything was working properly when I sensed a deeper, more powerful spell on the door.  It was done by a very, very powerful magic used and was holding the door shut.  I stood dumbly in front of the door before realizing that I should check my room’s mailbox, which hung slightly to the right of the door and was stenciled with the number of my cubicle.  I fished around in the box before grabbing a small sheet of paper.

I had to read it several times before my mind started to process what was going on.  The note said this:

Endros-

You have not been fulfilling your duties as an Apprentice.  Therefore, you are hereby barred from your room until such time as you have proven to me that you are worthy of the position. 

                                                                                                                -Wizard Iustyn.

Beneath my master’s name was his mark, an utterly impossible thing to forge.  The entire note was written in the long looping script that I had seen so many times.  I quietly folded the note and numbly marched back across the courtyard and headed back into the library.  I then marched right to the nearest of the library shelves that I had to begin working on and stared at the spines of the books.  I could feel them mocking me, taunting me with their knowledge and the knowledge that I would not end up a wizard. I slowly started to pull the books off the shelves and began to try and find an order to them.

I continued mechanically for several hours before wandering around the library aimlessly, rediscovering the sleeping cells and curling up on one of the empty beds.  I slept soundly.

Book 1, Chapter 2

Chapter 2

                I entered the Library soaked to the bone and quietly crying.  My tears ran down and splashed onto the already soaked cover of the top book.    I sniffled quietly and walked into the library timidly.  I had heard what happened to students who mistreated the books.  The librarian would have my head for this.  Quiet, carefully controlled sobs shook my shoulders as I continued my march to the book return desk at the back of the lobby.  As I got closer, one of the students working the desk addressed me, “Hey, Endros. The book you asked for came in.  I’m surprised you’ve kept up with it, even if it’s written quickly.”  The student’s name was Antony and he was one of the closest things I could call a friend.

I sniffled and mumbled, “Thanks.  Pick it up later.” I had closed the distance to the desk and slid the stack of books onto the desk.  Antony’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he glanced at the soaked books.

“Endros,” Antony hissed and leaned in close. “Do you know what the Librarian will do to you? You know I have to report this.”

“It wasn’t my fault,” I protested weakly.  My head drooped, long bangs covering my face.  “I…” I stumbled over the start of another sentence before being cut off.

“You know the rules, you’re responsible for the books you bring in.” Antony somehow managed to seem like he was yelling even in a whisper. 

“I… I know.” I whimpered, shaking my head.  “ I just,” I felt a whole new batch of tears well up in my eyes. “LEAVE ME ALONE!” I screamed at the poor man and then took off running deeper into the library.  I bolted through the library, dodging the other students and several full blown wizards.  I head deeper and deeper into the growing darkness, taking random turn after random turn until I was in a place that was almost pitch black.  My pace slowed and I caught my breath, glancing around for a landmark to get my bearings.  “Where in the pit am I? I’ve never been here before.” I continued to wander, following the wall lamps.  “How do I not know where I am? I practically live here.”   I paused and glanced around, spinning in a slow circle.  “Did I go down stairs?” I muttered to myself.  “Were there always stairs?”

I continued to wander around, at a complete loss for where I was until I stumbled into a well-lit study cell, the first bit of bright light I had found since getting lost. In it was a desk, a small cot and even a toilet.  “I can sleep here?” Even my own voice sounded weird after the oppressive quiet of the empty library. I sat down heavily on the bed and a cloud of dust whooshed into the air.  The dust sent me into a sneezing fit that took me a while to recover from.  I rubbed at my eyes and curled up on the bed, my head hurting from the crying and the dust.  “I can sleep here.” I yawned, suddenly unable to resist the pull of sleep, nodding off.

I woke up several hours later, the light suddenly harsh on my eyes and fraying my nerves.  I sneezed again and sat up.  Yawning, I extended my arms and legs, only to be greeted by a series of pops and clicks from my joints.  The pervasive, oppressive silence of the library came rushing back in and I poked my head out of the cubicle, glancing around.  The only evidence of passage was the footprints I had left in the dust on my way through.   I had to go find Wizard Eb and, I cringed internally, apologize for the books. I also hoped that he would let me help with reordering the books in the library.  If he didn’t, I’d never be allowed back to help Iustyn. I took a deep breath and stomped off into the library.  “Well,” I said to myself, “I have to do this.  It’s important, so stop being a girl about it.”  

After several more hours of getting, what I could only assume was, more lost, I stumbled on to a heavy oak door with a sign that said “Go Away!” deep in the bowels of the library.  I blinked in confusion at the door and knocked on the door. “Uhm… Hello?” I raised my voice, a timid crack to it.

The door was ripped open and I was left staring down at a short, burly, balding man with a close cropped white beard.  “Are you an idiot?” The man looked up his nose at me, a heavy scowl on his face.

“N. No” I stammered and took a nervous step back.

“You are unable to read then?” He jutted his chin out, crossing his arms over his wide chest.

I blinked owlishly at him, my mouth slowly opening wider and wider. “No?” I stared at him confused, noticing for the first time that he was wearing the blood red robes of a full wizard of the Acadamae. I gulped, “Wizard… Sir.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Are you unsure of your ability to read?”

I shook my head to indicate the negative.

“Then what did you not understand about the sign?” He pointed at it, underlining the words with a finger.  “It says quite simply ‘Go Away’.  So do that now, before I get annoyed, little one.” He stepped over and poked me in the chest, forcing me to take a step back before he whirled on his heel and slammed the door in my face.

I stood rooted in place, utterly confused by the events that had just happened.  “Well, that was weird.” I muttered under my breath.  I stepped forward and moved to knock on the door again.

“You knock on that door again, boy, and I will hurt you.” The old man’s voice carried through the door. 

“I just need some help.” I raised my voice through the door. “I’m lost and” I swallowed, “I have no idea where in the library I am.  I’ve been here for hours and I can’t find my way out or find who I’m looking for.”

“Looking for your master, boy?” The old man’s voice carried through the door and still managed to contain so much scorn in the word master that I was sure that I could use it as a gravy to baste a turkey.

“No, Sir.” I answered back, slowly steeling myself to talk with the man. “I was sent to help Wizard Eb with his new rearranging project.” With that the door was ripped open and the man was standing there, somehow managing to scowl even deeper than before.