Chapter 10: Sar'ha

I was able to get off my bed, although the hour was late I wasn't tired — to me this was still the morning that I left with Chris ... Chris? Where was he? I tried to contact him but he wasn't there!

My sister Sop'ha came back to me and began hugging me closely, "Oh Sar'ha I'm glad you're safe. I'm sorry that I caused this to happen." She said but there was something in her eyes that told me there was more to this.

"Sop'ha, what happened during the training? The spell you tried should only have pushed me away." I said revealing my knowledge of Black spells

Sop'ha drew back in alarm, "But that was..." She began

"I've changed sister; I've changed as much as our father has changed things." I could feel the spell that had been placed on my sister and recognised the touch of the caster. I shook my head and spoke the words to remove the compulsion that she was under.

"I wish I could tell you the truth, that the Council planned this to happen." Sop'ha said and then put her hand over her mouth, she looked at me. "You removed it?" She asked.

"I just noticed something was wrong and cast the spell to clear up the situation," I told her. She looked at my arms, they hadn't moved, I smiled, "sometimes the effect can be achieved without movements, it's just a matter of expediency. Now Sister, look at me." I said and then I filled her mind with my knowledge.

My father entered the chamber as I finished and so I turned to him. "Greetings Father, I have returned." I said to him formally.

"So I see daughter. But who has returned with you?" My father asked looking around.

"I appear to be alone; I think Chris has returned to his own world." I said

My father's face dropped, "But that shouldn't have happened. He was supposed to stay with you for us to..." His voice faded as he realised he had said too much.

"You wanted this to happen," I told him coldly, "but it seems that the results are not what you expected. I am here returned whole and Chris will be back on his own world safe from you and the Council." I added.

"Quiet child and you will remain silent about this until I have spoken to Jo'ha, she will know what to do." My father said and quickly muttered a phrase, but I knew what he would do and so my counter spell was already cast.

"No father, you see I am no longer your apprentice. You have misused the Black Scripts for your own benefit and you are aware of the consequences of that because you've told me yourself. 'Any use of spells to directly benefit your own person will fail' and so I'm the proof of that." I told him as he staggered back from the effect of my spell.

"That is impossible for an apprentice. You shouldn't be able to stop me." He said shakily.

"She's done more than that father," Sop'ha said and then turned to look at me, "Sister, here is my work." She said and mentally told me about what had happened and her use of Black/Green scripts.

I smiled at her invention, "Oh well done sister." I said as I quickly entered my library and found that the Black Scripts I had were now starting to turn Green, I returned and smiled at her again. "Now sister while father is wondering." I mentally told her what I wanted; we grasped hands and spoke the same spell.

My father was then encased in a glowing band which held his body tight and there was a gag over his mouth, it seemed that the spell we cast was greater than he could deal with as he was now facing two Adepts of the Art, not the apprentices he had thought we were.

"Father, I have learnt a lot while I was travelling - more than I knew was possible. Chris showed me how to improve and achieve my potential, this I have now given to Sop'ha." A muttered spell and we were in the training area, but I didn't come here to train. I gathered my power, feeling more power arriving from somewhere else, and then spoke. "I, The Traveller, Have returned and call the Council to attend me."

I would like to say that there was a flash of lightening and a crash of thunder as I spoke, but instead the members of the council appeared in the training room, placed around the circle looking surprised, scared and flustered.

Jo'ha tried to step forward but found she was held in place. "What is this? By what right do you..."

"SILENCE, It was by the order of the Council that this family was used to bring about the story of The Traveller ... well I have to inform you that it has gone wrong. I have returned, but I seem to be alone." I paused here for my words to be taken in.

Strangely it was Jo'ha who seemed most affected by this. "But that can't be! The Grey Script was clear, you should have returned with the Stranger and then he was supposed to be able to help us." She said looking around as if to force Chris to appear.

"We should be able to help ourselves, not to rely on others; I told you all that this would have failed to work." Art'n spoke up addressing the Council.

"We had decided that the attempt should be made, by having one of the known apprentices to work with to prevent the enemy from knowing our plans it was the only way to bring The Stranger here, but it could be that the enemy has already learnt of our plans and have diverted him to their side. If that is so then we are lost." Jo'ha said.

"Just why was it that you needed The Stranger anyway? There isn't any force that we cannot defeat if we work together." I said taking Sop'ha's hand and smiling.

"Child, such is the task of the Adepts that we can't waste time with explaining things, we have had to marshal our powers to ensure that the enemy will not take us all, we have to bind the apprentices so that they cannot stray. This is the only way we can protect ourselves" Jo'ha said patiently as if talking to children.

"My father though the same thing, but there may be a way to show you the answer." I said and approached Jo'ha who tried to pull back, but found that she was firmly fixed, "You see Jo'ha there are many things that once revealed cannot be concealed again, you wanted a change in the Art and so here I am, I have returned from the travel you made happen for me, now come and see what you have wrought." I told her and taking her head in my hands I brought her into my library.

Jo'ha was surprised at my actions; once in the library she found that she could now move and made a gesture to vanish but I gave a laugh. "You cannot leave here because you are fully here; your body is now in my library, not just your mind." I told her with a laugh.

"But ... but that's impossible, the only way you can achieve that is to -" she broke off her words as she realise that Black Scripts might be involved and also that she was aware of this.

"Normally yes, but thanks to Sop'ha's discovery it's now simple." I showed her the Green script that Sop'ha had converted when she shared her knowledge with me. I looked around the library noticing that my supply of Black Scrolls had all transformed into Green Scrolls, except for one, but it wasn't a scroll it was a book - just like the ones Chris had in his library, except the colour was iridescent. I examined the book; the title was 'Essence of Earth'. I tried to open it but found it was firmly closed.

Smiling I put the book onto a plinth that I conjured, Jo'ha came over to look at the volume. "Just what is that?" She asked me.

I shook my head, "Just a remembrance of the world I visited." I told her walking away from the plinth.

Jo'ha went to touch the book but she couldn't reach it, a barrier seemed to rise around the book, she looked at me. "I'm sorry but there are some things in here that you're not supposed to see." I said smugly, although I had no idea why this happened.

Jo'ha turned to me, "So what is it I'm supposed to learn here? Tell me and remember that while you are here you're unable to lie to me?" She added with a smile.

I returned the smile, "That was what I first thought, but then I noticed the effect of the spell that you cast when you first came to my library with father, you were surprised at the appearance of a Black Script, do you remember that time?" I asked her and stood back as a younger version of me appeared in the library.

With that version of me was another Jo'ha and my father, they looked around the library and Jo'ha nodded, "You were correct Twine'n your daughter does show the potential, the evidence here shows it, but we cannot allow her to progress too quickly, she might even exceed our powers." She said and made a gesture while she spoke there was a flash of power that surrounded my — the child that was me - head.

"It seems a pity to restrict our children from their true power, is there no way that we could... ?" My father said sadly.

Jo'ha shook her head, "Not if we are going to keep the Accord, she'll have to have a fear of the Black scripts and in trying too hard with her casting, like the others she will have no knowledge of what has happened here. Now for the additional spell - the one that will ensure that she remains true to the Art." Jo'ha made a sign and spoke, "From now on when you are in this library you will not be able to lie, in time this will become fixed for you, you will not remember this spell nor be able to reveal this."

My father shook his head, "I still feel that we are doing wrong." He said

Jo'ha regarded him, "This is what we have always done, have you decided on the type of her scripts yet?" She asked him

My father smiled, "I rather like the formation of Scrolls - I think they will appeal to her sense of fun." He said and then the group faded from view.

"You see Jo'ha, when the spell was broken for me everything that was holding me was broken - even that of the Accord!" I told her coldly then I waved my hand, the Library shivered and the plinth holding the book vanished.

Jo'ha moved back in shock, "But you can't go against the Accord! You're of the House of Grork'n, one of the greatest houses in the Art." She protested.

I shook my head, "The Art has held us back; The Accord was first devised to keep the planet safe until it was able to maintain itself ... but how long ago was that Jo'ha?" I asked her but didn't wait for her to answer, "I learnt about the Accord when Sop'ha and I joined, oh yes I forgot to say that she's now immune to your wiles. She made the link between siphoning powers from others to increase the spell's power, that is what makes the difference, the energy we use comes from us, not the world's but us. We should be learning how to use this, not tying down our children to force them to follow our mistakes; we should be showing them how to be better in the Art."

"No, we have to prevent them from straying over to the enemy. The Accord has to be followed for the sake of the planet." Jo'ha tried to pacify me but I wasn't listening to her.

"In Chris Beaker's world they don't have The Accord, they rely on physical solutions to problems, they also have knowledge of something called 'Human Nature', which is about how people will react to certain things, like how do you think our Apprentices will react when they learn that you have stifled their development, all for the sake of some outdated agreement with the planet. Hasn't anyone asked why this had happened?" I questioned her.

She frowned, "You know the history of the world, how we nearly destroyed the planet with our wanton use of magic's, we drained the world of the power for our own gratification and due to the wars raged in the name of power. We are the cause of the problem that's why the Accord was created, to keep the planet safe, we have to keep the technological and magical development at this level so that we never have the ability to cause such destruction again." She was starting to pace the library as she spoke.

"I've seen what technology can do to a planet, but if everyone is aware of what can happen then they will try to ensure that it won't happen again. The people on Earth have a saying, 'he who ignores the past is doomed to always repeat it'" I told her.

She gave a shrug, "That's all very well, but what does it mean?" She asked in a bored tone.

I laughed, "It means that you've always tied your apprentices down to known ideas, you don't allow them to improve as you're scared that it might jeopardise your position. Due to your restrictions ideas such as Sop'ha's would have been ignored, these are ideas that would ensure the safety of the planet. The policy has to change." I looked at her in the eye, "The task of families training their children also holds back the chances of saving the world. You say that the Adepts cannot spare the time to show the apprentices what they need or how to work correctly. In Chris's world they send their children to schools to learn about life, this should be how we would work, the history of the Art can be discussed and ways to improve our power safely could be devised in these schools."

"But that would take the training of the Apprentices away from their families, how would they be able to maintain the demands of their houses?" Jo'ha protested angrily, as if this was the end of the world, which to her it was going to be.

"They should be concentrating on the demands of the world. We should be formalising the training of apprentices, not leaving it to the haphazard ideas of their families, we have been neglecting the planet by concentrating on families instead of people, there are hundreds of potential apprentices out in the world who could do with training, except the families will not look outside of their own clique. We are blinkered, we're like the farm horse that can only see ahead not to either side." I said not really understanding what I was saying but it sounded right.

"You have no idea what you are proposing; such a thing will never work." Jo'ha said, "The other families would revolt before allowing their children to meet with others."

I shook my head, "Then this world will be doomed. I don't agree with your decision and I will take the time to create this place of learning." I told her

She sneered, "And who will be the leader of such a place, you? Your father? Would you place your family at the head of this new power?" she asked

Again I shook my head, "You have much to learn. Do you think this is done for material gain? I tell you the first rule of the Art, 'Spells cast for personal gain will fail and backfire', and such will be the case here. The Leader, or head of the school, may be decided on by the Council, but will have no voice in the council so he cannot be swayed by decisions made in the council chamber, the other teachers will also be independent of outside influence. The petty squabbles of the Council have no place for us." I told her.

She looked at me, "Us? So you're sure that you're going to be involved in this?"

I nodded and smiled, "Oh yes, I'm going to make it my duty to make this school work, and I'm the one best suited for this. Don't you agree?"

Jo'ha looked shocked, "But you're from one of the major houses, how can you claim to be independent?"

I stood upright and regarded her, "True, I am from the House of Grork'n. But from now on I am from the Planet first, you say the Accord should not be broken, very well it won't be, but my sister and I are no longer bound by the Accord all due to your trickery." I said to her watching as my words registered, she turned and tried to find a door out of my library, she gave up and then turned to me.

"So you are joining the enemy and going against the Accord, you're going to bring down the whole of the Art with your actions." She accused me.

I laughed and reached into the air, pulling down a large scroll, this was in a grey colour. "This is the legend of the Accord, how it was created and what was actually banned. It also defined the creation of the Scripts, when the knowledge is available and the timeframes for such events." I gestured again and another grey scroll appeared, "This is the true legend of the Traveller, including what the person should be told before she is sent to The Stranger's world. This is what you should have told me, but no, you created a shorter version of the scroll and placed this into the world's domain."

Jo'ha shook her head, "That wasn't me ... I mean this was not done in my lifetime, and where did you find The Accord, the true document has been lost for years."

I conjured two chairs and sat in one of them, in a way this reminded me of what Chris had done, and I examined the script. "No, I was wrong it was one of your ancestors who did this again to maintain his place on the Council, it was he who made such places hereditary thus closing the Council to innovation, it also allowed those against the Accord to prosper at the cost of everyone else, and divisions have emerged even within the Council, they would have been the ones plotting to stop Chris had he arrived with me."

Jo'ha looked at me in shock, "What do you mean, even in the Council? We are all loyal to the Accord." She said

I gave a small smile, "Do you really believe that? Deep in your heart can you tell me that all the people on the Council are honest?" I asked her.

She opened her mouth to speak but then found she couldn't she tried and tried until all she could say was a very soft, "no, there are those we suspect but cannot prove anything." She looked at me, "What have you done to me?" She asked in a normal voice.

"Only what you did to the children, made it impossible for you to lie in the libraries, but it will be true for all people when they enter this place they will be unable to lie. You see this is not just my library for it's the Library of the Accord and I have brought you into here to learn the truth about your fellow Councillors'." I told her.

Jo'ha frowned, "But that is impossible. The Library of the Accord was a myth created by the Council to make the apprentices feel that they were drawing their scripts from a single place. It doesn't exist in the real world." She protested.

I gave a mocking laugh at that. "You didn't realise, or our ancestors didn't realise, that belief can create things, all those Apprentices over the years have had their faith in the Library so that they added to the World's knowledge through an unconscious link, and this created the Library in actual fact, so now the Scripts come from the Library and more than that..." I gestured to a corner where a form was now visible, "This is the guardian of the Library, and his name is Ichabod Crane." I don't know where the name came from but I could feel a smile in my mind. 'Chris, are you there?' I asked silently but received no reply.