The Mage of Trelian by Michelle Knudsen Read Free Book Online

seemed to hold any promise was his jumping spell, the one he’d used to travel to where Maurel had been taken by Sen Eva. But he would only be able to go short distances at a time, only transport himself to spaces he could actually see before him, and the land around the castle was dense with trees. He wouldn’t be able to see very far at all. Which meant that it would probably be very easy for Mage Krelig to catch up with him.
    There was one more option, but he knew it wasn’t one he should even think about. That was the idea of jumping all the way back to Trelian. He was pretty sure he could do it, in theory; he’d transported both Meg and himself a great distance that first time when he’d cast the spell by accident. But Serek and Anders had explained later on that Calen had been very, very lucky. That there were all kinds of terrible things that could happen when a mage transported himself to a place he couldn’t see. Not the least of which was that something else, or even some
one
else, could already be in the place you were transporting to. Which meant that when you appeared, you might . . . overlap. You could end up partially inside a wall. Or a person.
    In his head, Calen heard Anders’s gleeful voice whisper:
half-embedded.
He shuddered.
    No. He couldn’t try that. Even if he was desperate. Because even if he was willing to risk his own life, he couldn’t know that he wouldn’t be risking the life of someone else.
    Unless he could know for sure somehow that the place he was transporting to was empty . . .
    No.
    Besides, he was pretty sure that Krelig had some sort of wards placed that would prevent him from transporting himself out of the castle. Probably also wards that would alert him if Calen just walked out. Calen had tried to detect any such wards, but so far he hadn’t had any luck. He could see his own wards when he cast them, but then even those faded into invisibility once the spell was done.
    Well, you have to figure out something,
he told himself angrily.
    Of course, the reason he hadn’t figured anything out so far was also the other reason he didn’t like to think too much about leaving. He hadn’t learned enough yet. He was sure there was so much more he could learn from Mage Krelig — maybe once he learned enough, he’d be able to cast his way out. His way home.
    He just wasn’t ready.
    But you might not have much time. Not if he’s losing his mind completely. If he gets mad enough, he might just kill you.
    I know.
    Calen got up from his bed and went out to his balcony. Some of the little cheerful birds were there, perched along the outer wall. He’d started remembering to tuck away pieces of bread from breakfast, and he took one out now, holding it out in one hand toward the nearest bird. The bird hopped cautiously toward him, paused, then darted closer and snatched the bread from his hand before flitting back away. Calen laughed.
    “I’m not going to hurt you, little friend,” he said. He watched it finish off the bread, then leaned his forearms on the wall and looked out over the treetops. A dark shape flying in the distance made him catch his breath for a second, but he realized almost immediately that it couldn’t possibly be anything as large as a dragon. After a moment, he could make out the shape more clearly: it was just a crow.
    He watched it swooping in seemingly aimless patterns above the trees. Looking for good places to find a snack, maybe.
Sorry, crow,
Calen thought.
I’m out of bread for today.
    He went back inside. He was about to lie back down on the bed when he heard a deep ringing sound, like a bell, only he knew it wasn’t really a bell. It was something Krelig did to summon Calen to him when he wanted him.
    Calen looked unhappily at the door to the hallway. He did not want to go back out there. But he had to. Disobeying was not really an option. Especially not when Krelig was already angry.
    Maybe he won’t be anymore.
That was a possibility. His moods