Unknown Story Chap. 10 part 4

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Knall awoke to the same bright sun he had for the past week. He rolled over from his back unto his belly and attempted to sit up using his elbows. His massive wings stretched out and filled up the room. He pulled them back in and yawned. He ripped off the white, thin coverings and stood on the bed. Knall stretched again and turned to look out at the view of the river swiftly flowing from the place under the tower Knall could not see, and had not yet.

Knall climbed off the bed, dazed. He felt his way over to the kitchen and began to prepare pancakes. The smell of the cooking batter eased him into consciousness as he poured it into the pan with the blazing fire underneath. He grasped the spatula and stirred the contents gently. Knall iced over the fire with a quickly muttered spell and gripped the pan. As he began to walk into the main quarters he turned the massive pan and the fluffy cake dropped into his eager jaw.

Knall scratched his head and exited his room. Knall knew the way from his room to the first room he had seen, which was called The Entering and Exiting Room, and from his room to the practice arena. Any door he had tried to open in between had simply not opened to him. Knall felt fine about this. They did save, house and feed him, it was out of thanks that he did not pry into their business. But there was that one part of him, gnawing to be freed and to break down the doors if necessary.

Knall did not believe Rezlel had completely forgiven him about that one night when he had first met Derez. Even so, he had continued his training and had failed at every lesson. At least that’s what Rezlel called them. The, lessons felt more like Knall had to learn everything by himself. Knall had successfully avoided all shoots, rocks and sudden turns but had still not managed to even touch Rezlel’s black boot.

Knall did not know where any of the other Great Wizards were during the remainder of the day and didn’t much care. Just as long as he kept his distance it was more likely he wouldn’t get in anymore trouble.

Knall eventually made it to the training arena and stepped through the dissolved remnants of the door. The field had already expanded and there was only swirling sand where Rezlel would have been standing. Knall lazily jogged out to the sand pit and beat down. He flew high and felt the wind rush past him. He had been able to go faster than ever now, but was still blocked by that one restriction that he still could not reach out to. Knall saw the rocks fly past him fast and leisurely dodged a few jabbing bamboo spears. He continued flapping and stretched out with his senses, combined with a small amount of magic.

His surroundings were suddenly enhanced and he could easily pinpoint Rezlel. Alright, this is the part I have to focus on. Knall straightened up and began to search for Rezlel. As Knall flew into the shadows near the roof Rezlel came shooting out of them. Knall stopped and dove after him. The two dove and Knall circled around a rock out of boredom. Now Knall purposefully sped up and closed the distance. Rezlel swerved sharply off to the left and Knall followed easily.

Knall was interested now; he beat faster and attempted, and came very close, to touching Rezlel. The man sped up and flew away and Knall, agitated, beat harder, attempting to catch him.

Knall chased Rezlel all afternoon until he was sweating and had to stop do to exhaustion. He landed and fell into the sand, on his face. He heard Rezlel easily land next to him and say, “You’re not even trying even more. If you’re not enthusiastic about the lessons we could always extract the payment.” A muffled retort came from Knall, whose face was still buried in the sand. After sighing Knall lifted his head and repeated, “I am trying! There’s something stopping me from accessing my full potential. I can even fell it! Stopping me, whenever I get close it just pulls me back!” Knall buried his face back into the sand and felt the arena shrink back into its normal size. He sighed again as he sensed Rezlel head for the door. “If you wish to discontinue the lessons, I will understand.” He left the room, leaving Knall alone.

Knall eventually left the arena just to go right back to his room. When he arrived there was a ruffled-looking owl perched on his window. It looked out of breath as he approached it. Knall stroked its soft belly and it began to speak.

“Help! Robbers are attacking our caravan and we’re completely defenseless! Anybody, Help! Our-“The brown bird suddenly stopped and flew off. Knall launched off the window and soared, quickly catching up with the tiny owl. The owl flew for several minutes and the two were now very far away from the tower. Knall looked down and spotted tiny grey and black dots rushing around everywhere. The owl dove and Knall followed. He rushed past the owl and dove towards the attacked caravan.

As he neared Knall saw man in black clothes with black scarves covering their faces. At the moment they were ripping open the wagons and terrifying the horses. As Knall came closer the people began to scream and the thieves began to take out their bows.

Arrows flew towards Knall and he dodged them quickly. He fell faster and soon the scared faces of the travelers were visible. Knall opened his wings wide to slow his landing and dropped on a thief, knocking him out. He gave out an ear-piercing roar and the travelers were silent. About twenty thieves circled Knall and drew swords.

All lunged out simultaneously and Knall twisted around, knocking most back with his wings. Knall caught one as he flew through the air and hurled him at another thief, knocking both out.

Soon all the thieves were disposed of and Knall launched back into the sky. Hearing the cheers of the caravan he smiled as he soared higher. He spotted the owl dive past him as he flew higher and flew back for the tower. When Knall reached the tower, he just realized this was the first time he had seen it from the outside.

The river was coming from under the tower and flowed North-East. The tower basically looked like the tip of a needle. It came to a fine point at the top and was colored deep red. Knall dearly wanted to follow the river and discover where it ended, but thought he was already going to be in to much trouble.

Remembering what his view was like from inside the tower, he easily discovered which his room was. When he landed his room was empty. I thought all Four would be here just to accuse me of things. Hmm. Knall walked over to the door and peeked out. There were no angry wizards storming towards him and there wasn’t any sound of them either.

Knall peeled away from the door and sat at his couch. That one tiny event had sparked something inside Knall. Something different from the usual lessons or nothingness. He was excited because he didn’t know what was coming next. The mystery and adventure. It was as if he had been saved, for only a couple of minutes.

The next morning Knall awoke with a feeling of revelation. He felt that one event sparked that part of him that was hiding behind the invisible barrier. Without breakfast, Knall headed for the arena. He marched through the halls and found the door. As he stepped through it, the arena had just stopped expanding and the rocks were still stretching to the ceiling. Rezlel looked taken aback by Knall’s early entry and was about to fly away. Knall ran forward and launched into the sky mere seconds after Rezlel.

With new determination Knall pushed the limits of his ability. He beat faster and harder and was on Rezlel’s tail the whole time. He swerved left and right to try and avoid Knall but he followed and stretched out one clawed hand. Rezlel looked back and his eyes widened.

He stopped and dove fast. Knall followed, victory in reach. The ground sped closer and closer. Knall screamed and reached out…

His clawed hand grasped Rezlel’s ankle and held tight. The two hit the sand hard and at full speed. Knall jumped up and shouted, “Yes! I did it!” Rezlel levitated himself to stand in front of Knall and replied, “Yes. I congratulate you, Knall. You have passed the first lesson in your apprenticeship.”

“What?” Asked Knall, disappointed. “You mean that wasn’t the end?”

“It was the end of your lessons with me. Your apprenticeship will continue tomorrow with Myvel, The Fourth.” Knall drooped he head and his antenna lowered.

“Yea, well… I’m done with these lessons right?” This question was more or less directed to himself but Rezlel answered, “Yes. I do not know what plans Myvel has in store for you but it is no longer my responsibility.” With this, Rezlel left the arena as it shrank. Knall smiled and left as well.

When Knall entered his room he sat at the couch and gazed at the shimmering, setting sun. Knall reached into his chest and retrieved the small piece of mirror. He gazed at it, only now realizing that when he had found it, it had chunks of other rock and dust on it. Now it was a solid piece of mirror and he held it up to the horizon.

The sun shone through it, lighting up the room brilliantly. Knall smiled and closed his eyes, felling a light breeze on his face. Knall replaced the mirror and slept…

When Knall awoke there was a sheet of paper resting on his face. Without moving he ripped it off and looked at the looping marks on the page. It was spelled in the language of man and took him a minute to read it. It said,

Knall,

I am sure you are as excited about our lessons as am I. It is tonight at 6 o’clock. We will be meeting in the Library. I attempted to draw you a map but I’m not sure it will be much help. If that is the case, it is on floor 12 and is the seventh door to the left. Please do not be late and be prepared. This will be very different from your first lesson.

Best of luck,

Myvel

There was a bad excuse for a map underneath the note and Knall couldn’t make any of it out. Knall read the note over again and agreed it would be very different from the stern, hard lessons he had received from Rezlel. Myvel had seemed nice enough he just wondered what type of material they would be studying. I’ve already mastered use of my wings; I wonder what he’ll teach next. Knall stood and glanced at the clock silently ticking on the wall above the door.

It read 8 o’clock. Knall scratched his chin, wondering what he could do in that time and thought it would be easier to think if he was eating something. So Knall prepared himself bacon and scrambled eggs. He ate them whole and read part of, Advanced Spells for Beginners.

After a relaxed evening Knall had an hour to find the library and thought he might start looking. Knall went down to the 12th floor and went to the seventh door to the left. As he approached the door did not open and he tried the few around it. He reluctantly knocked. There was a large amount of ruffling, banging and a muffled scream. Knall waited penitently and soon just corner of the door dissolved.

A tiny, white face appeared in its place. “Oh, Knall! You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that!” The entire door dissolved and Knall stepped in. Inside was the largest library Knall had ever seen in his entire life. But considering the fact that he had spent most of his life in the Black Mountains, he hadn’t seen many libraries.

The room was about one hundred yards tall and two hundred yards wide. There were massive silver bookshelves covering both walls to the left and right of Knall. The area in front of Knall was split into two pathways by an elegantly curved bookshelf. There were shin-high tables and comfortable chairs scattered around the rest of the library.

Myvel rushed back to where he was sitting and began to read a book that he had left on a stack of various colored books. He glanced up and said, “Go on, sit down.” Knall sat in a white chair across from Myvel. He sat around, not knowing what to expect at all. Myvel glanced back up and said, “You can read can’t you?” Slightly offended, Knall reached across and picked up a book at random. He noticed Myvel was still watching him and hurriedly gazed at the cover.

The book had a black spine and a deep blue cover. On the cover in silver letters said, Casting Binding Summoning and Darkness. It also had a black clasp that seemed to have something swimming in it. He leaned closer and saw that there seemed to be thin blue veins rippling across it beautifully. He leaned in so close that his eye nearly touched the clasp.

The veins suddenly stopped and gathered under his eye. Knall had just begun to wrench back when the veins jumped out of the clasp and landed on his open eye. They blocked his vision and climbed into his head.

It felt as if his head was on fire and as if hot wire was being pushed against his brain. Knall held his head and roared. He tried to remember a spell, any spell, but his mind was suddenly empty. While falling to the ground he muttered, “.” He felt a sharp pain in his head and the world grew dark…

When Knall awoke he was on a soft bed with white covers pulled up to his chin. He felt weak and couldn’t move his arms. He attempted to make a sound but he could only breathe out simple air.

He was eventually able to make a feeble groan but no one answered. Knall only gazed at the light red ceiling. He strained to try and sit up but the sheets were pulled to tightly. He heard footsteps and someone pulling off the sheets.

He also felt a hand on his back as he tried to sit up. Soon Derez came into his vision just as he saw a swarm of red dots. They soon faded away and he looked at him more closely. “How are you feeling?” Knall put his hand on his head and replied,

“Incredibly sore. But other than that… What happened?” Derez stepped back and sat on a chair that was near the bed. He sighed and slowly answered.

“That book that you were about to read was protected by several dangerous spells. Without the special requirements met, those spells will be triggered.” He leaned back and sighed, rubbing his head, disturbing the neat flow of his hair. He matted his hair back down and continued, “You’re lucky Myvel got to me as fast as he did. If I hadn’t got there and cast the type of healing spell I had, you would be dead.” Eerie silence followed this comment and Knall swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood.

Wavering for a moment and soon regaining his balance, Knall was able to remain standing easily. He put a hand to his head and replied, “Do you have any idea what kind of training that was supposed to be anyway?” Derez laughed and said,

“Myvel said it was supposed to relax you. Get you calm before he starts the real training.” He laughed again and said, “Where are we?”

“Oh, sorry.” Derez snapped and lights suddenly flickered to life. Knall’s room was lit and Derez stood. Exiting the room, the two went into the kitchen. Derez gestured for Knall to sit and he did as well.

Derez pointed at a cabinet and it flew open. Two glasses and a jar of milk followed closely. The glasses gently set themselves down next to Derez and Knall. Derez touched the jar of milk and ice crystals ran across it, now instantly cooled. He poured a fair amount in each glass and it flew back towards the cabinet which snapped shut.

Derez held his glass and said, “.” It was not said with magic and meant, “To life.” Knall held up his glass and repeated. They drank and Knall felt the liquid travel down his throat. “How long was I asleep?”

“About a day.” Answered Derez. Knall held his head again and said.

“I think I’d like to rest. Sleep, not unconsciousness.” Derez nodded and directed the glasses over and they rested at the bottom of his sink. Derez followed Knall back to his room and said. “Goodnight.” Knall nodded and Derez left. Knall curled up in his bed and closed his eyes…