Free Under the Shadow of Darkness: Book 1 of the Apprentice Series by James Cardona, Issa Cardona Page A

leaving the only girl he ever loved to become a wizard (of course, all magicians were required to take an oath of celibacy) and the knowledge that he would never see her again gnawed his flesh. He couldn’t understand how Kerlith and his master flaunted the rules so casually. He couldn’t understand why he had to leave the girl he wanted to spend his life with while these two could go out cavorting whenever they pleased. “But what if you got caught? Aren’t you worried about the ban?”
    Kerlith eyed Bel quickly then looked back at the courtyard. “My master doesn’t seem to be. Why should I?”
    “I don’t know. I was kind of glad when my master pulled me upstairs.”
    “Yeah, I was in the game; you were tucked in your bed like the child you are.”
    Bel bristled but before he could respond, a young boy that stood in front of the two wizards in training interrupted them, “Masters? Sirs? Might I ask a question, sirs?”
    Kerlith replied first, “Sure kid, what are you looking for? An autograph or something?”
    “No, sir. I was wondering if you could tell me something about magic. We don’t get many wizards in these parts. And when we do they tend to be old. One day, I would be a wizard. At least that is my dream.”
    Kerlith puffed out his chest. “Sure thing. See this kid sitting next to me? You can call him wiggle-farts. So wiggle-farts and I went to Lasaat. Ever heard of it?”
    Bel’s forehead was burning bright red. Wiggle farts was a nickname he got in his first year. One of the others saw him shake once when he had gas and the rest was history. He hated that name; he thought it might disappear when he left Lasaat but now Kerlith was perpetuating it.
    “Yes sir. The Academy of Arts and Magic?”
    “That’s the one. You have to be selected to go. Don’t know how exactly it works, but they can see something in you. The scouts, I mean. Some are found when they are ten or eleven, others are not found until they are older, even as old as sixteen or seventeen.”
    A falcon landed on the building edge, its feet grasping the gutter edge tightly, and looked down at them with a glint in its eye.
    Bel added, “Oh, I remember that day like it was yesterday. They showed up in my tiny fishing village and made a beeline for my house. Caused a great stir, they did. All the villagers followed them, wanting to know who the strangers were looking for. By their dress everyone knew exactly who they were. You know the ones, right?”
    “Yes, sir,” answered the boy.
    “It was quite a shock for my parents, of course. What with my father expecting me to join him on the waters. He was a fisherman, you see.”
    Kerlith interrupted, “Yeah, me too. I was only twelve and here these two men were, asking me to leave everything, to never see my family again, my parents, my brothers and sisters and my kin, to never return to my village, to never see my people again. I cried for two nights. I’m not embarrassed to say it. Yeah, I cried. I was just a kid, understand? Don’t laugh or I’ll smash you. But yeah, it was a lot for a little kid to take in. The rest of the village wanted me to go because they thought I would be coming back after the schooling to be their wizard, to protect them. But no, that’s not how it works. I haven’t seen my family since.”
    “I see,” said the young boy. “And the school, is it hard?”
    Kerlith smiled wide and said, “Kid, most people take five years to graduate—”
    Bel pounced, “Shut it, Kerlith. Shut it before—”
    “Before what? Before you get mad? Oh, I’m getting real, real scared, I am. I’m like shaking all over. Oh, I hope a fart doesn’t come out. Oh, I’m wiggling, I am.”
    “Jerk! I took six years only because of you! It was all your fault I got left back!”
    “Really? It was you who took the challenge. You didn’t have to. You could have kept your big mouth shut. But no! You had to look like the big man in front of the others. And it was your spell that