Chapter 2

"Are we headed into that mountain?" Dev asked Arel a few days later.

"Just into the foothills. Loera Calderling lives with her family in a very old castle there. You know they used to man the walls of the pass, to keep the northern barbarians out of the south?" Arel asked.

"No. I'm afraid I don't know much history," Dev responded.

"Easily solved. About two hundred years ago, a wall was built across the Calder pass. You might note the similarity of names? The pass was named for an ancestor of Loera's. Anyway, they were instrumental in stopping the yearly invasions, so earned the gratitude of he who was then the king of the land. He made the head of the Calderling family a duke. Now the king has the army manning the wall, all year around," Arel explained.

This was even more information for Dev to chew on. First, Loera Calderling had requested and received Devlin Cantor to be released into her service from the army had been a shock to Dev.

He was to receive training while he was with the Calderling's even though he was still in the army. It was hard for him to understand this 'detached duty' he was supposedly on. All his needs would be taken care of by the Calderlings.

Apparently the Calderling family was very powerful within the kingdom if they could get the military to give up one of its soldiers just like that. Dev remarked on this to Arel.

"Actually, it is not as uncommon as you think. Officers leaving for their homes prior to their terms of service being met, are placed on something called, 'leave of absence'. It is a bit unusual for a private to be placed into this category though," Arel replied with a friendly smile.

"Maybe I should be an officer, then?" Dev asked musingly.

Arel laughed.

"You never know. The training you receive will make you a very valuable member of the army, to say the least. I wager you will be able to find a position in just about any household, lord's army, or with a merchant in a city easily enough," Arel stated.

Dev just wanted to finish this training, whatever it was, and get back to the army. In the months he had been in the army, he had grown to like it. The army was a well-ordered place, and he could advance to sergeant, maybe, in a few years... if he did well.

As they climbed higher, it got colder.

"Will we find an inn soon?" Dev asked, rubbing his cold hands together.

"There are no more inns until we get to the castle proper, though there is a little village a short distance from it. We will sleep out, this night, and then make the castle proper tomorrow," Arel responded absently.

"Damn, but it is cold," Dev observed.

"It gets cold up here, long before it does further down the mountain. We have climbed several hundreds of feet up the mountainside already. It is easily enough to feel the change in the temperature," Arel explained

"It didn't seem like we were going up," Dev remarked.

"That's because we did it slowly over the past couple days. We have climbed as far up as we are going to go, though. Come, there is a cave we will sleep in tonight, that is near here. It is most comfortable and has some equipment and supplies within it," Arel said, and led Dev off the track they had been following.

Soon they rounded a hillside, and Dev found himself looking into an opening that led into the side of the hill. Arel dismounted and started heading into the opening.

"Wait! There might be a wild animal or even a bear inside," Dev yelped in warning.

"No. The cave is warded from such beasts. Come, it is safe enough," Arel said and led the way inside, taking his horse with him.

Shrugging, Dev dismounted. With a bit of nervousness, he led his horse into the hillside cave. What he found, once inside, stunned him! The first surprise was the sourceless light that gently lit the interior of the cave. Second was that along both sides of the cave, were beds!

Dev counted, and there were enough beds for an entire file of soldiers! The bedding was rolled, and tied. It lay at the head of each bed. Towards the back of the cave was a place to hold horses. Dev noted a water barrel. When he opened the lid and looked, it was full of water.

While chilly, the cave was still warmer than the outside had been. Dev knew magic had been, and was being used in this place. It made him nervous, as he had never had dealings with anything magical, before.

Dev heard Arel chuckle.

"Take the saddle and bridle off the horses. You will find oats in a bin, back there. Feed the horses, and water them. I will get our supper," Arel said and went out.

Dev did as he was told, but he was very nervous of being alone in this strange cave. He saw magic being used. The sourceless light in the cave, the fact no animals were in here. It was not natural. While he knew magic existed, he had never really experienced it, before.

Soon Arel returned with two rabbits. He had already cleaned them, while he had been outside.

"We will eat well this evening, I think. Tomorrow, we will have lunch at the castle," Arel stated matter of factly.

Dev watched open mouthed as Arel approached a ring of stones, and held his hand over them. Dev was astonished to see them start glowing red-hot. Arel glanced at Dev and laughed.

"Surely you have seen magic done before," Arel asked of Dev.

"No. I know that magic exists, but have never seen it used before this," Dev answered truthfully.

Arel grabbed a large iron spit, and skewered the two rabbits, placing them over the now red-hot stones.

"It will take sometime for the rabbits to cook, so we will talk of magic," Arel told Dev.

They pulled up two small stools that were set against a wall, and sat a ways from the glowing stones. They were putting out a respectable amount of heat, as the rabbits slowly cooked.

"First, everyone has the ability to do magic, though some have more ability than others. For example, everyone can either start a fire with magic, or use that ability to heat the stones as I did. Yet for some reason, most people don't know this. Why?" Arel paused after asking that question.

Dev was at a loss and just shook his head. He had no idea.

"Don't feel bad about not knowing. Most people don't. It is because, a few hundred years ago, there was a great mage war. When it was over, it was decided to stop teaching magic to anyone who asked.

"First, tests were developed to see how much ability a person had. Unless they could reach a certain level of magical skill, it was decided not to teach them. So, since most people do not have the ability to reach that level of magic; they were not, and still are not, taught any magic. Most people are not even tested, now.

"This gave the remaining magic users control over who was going to learn magic. This is why the mage's guild is so very powerful, today. They do not want competition in anything magical.

"Still, there are those who do not agree with the mage's guild, and magic is still taught to those who can learn it. For example, anyone in a noble house may petition to learn magic, and they are never turned away, no matter what the level that they can attain in magic," Arel said and stared at the cooking rabbits.

Dev thought about what he was told and realized something. If he understood what he had been told, then Dev should be able to do some magic! Plus, there was a group out there that did not want most people to even know they could do magic! Why, that was plainly wrong! Also, why had he never heard of this before?

"Arel, how come I didn't know of this magic group that is trying to stop people from learning magic?" Dev asked.

"For the simplest of reasons. What you don't know about, you can't miss or it won't hurt you. They work best in secrecy. Still, most of the nobility still remembers and knows the real reason. Unfortunately, they just don't care, because the guild responds to the noble's causes. That's the guild's protection," Arel explained.

"Is it against the law then, to learn magic?" Dev asked.

"Ah! Good question! No, it is not. However, if someone presents themselves as a magic user, without having gone through the guild, and is not a noble... well, let's just say accidents happen to those people. Deadly accidents," Arel said heavily.

"Why, that's so... so... unfair!" Dev cried out indignantly.

Arel chuckled.

"Welcome to the world of politics, Dev," Arel said, reaching forward for the rabbits.

Arel turned them on the spit. About twenty minutes later, they were ready. The two men tore into their rabbits.

Afterwards, they cleared the remains, and then turned in for the night. As they were lying in bed, Dev heard Arel say something, and the sourceless light went out. Dev slept well that night, and awoke refreshed.

They had been riding for several hours the following day, when they topped a rise and Dev gasped. There, before them, was a huge valley. The land was well tilled, and off in the distance was a castle sitting on a hill. Heavy woods occupied the right side of the valley.

"From here, we are about an hour's ride from the castle. We'd better get moving if we are going to make it for the midday meal," Arel said, kicking his horse into motion.

They both got their horses into a ground-covering trot, and Dev looked around at the little cottages he was passing occasionally. They were tightly made, and seemed to be made at least half of stone. The roofs were made of some sort of slate.

They finally got to a small village. It was at the base of the hill upon which the castle stood.

"Gorling village. It has been here at least as long as the castle. As a matter of fact, the village was built to support the castle. You can visit the village later. Let's get up to the castle," Arel said and they moved briskly through the village then up the hill to the castle.

Dev looked around the room he had been given during his stay at the castle. While he had expected to stay with the soldiers that defended the castle; instead, he was given a set of rooms in the castle, itself.

There was the receiving room, with its fireplace along one wall, and comfortable chairs to sit on. There was a view of the courtyard, and the top of the outer wall, as his room was at the same height as the outer castle wall.

Then there was his bedroom. It had a very comfortable bed, and the fireplace backed to the fireplace of the receiving room. There was a desk by the window, and the view was almost the same out the bedroom window, as in his other rooms.

There was a knock on his door. He went and opened it to find himself confronted by the lady Loera. Dev bowed awkwardly.

"My Lady," he said.

"Nice to see you again. I am sure you are going to find the training you receive here, to be the most interesting of your life," she replied.