Wizard's Heir (A Bard Without a Star, Book 1) by Michael A. Hooten Read Free Book Online

be your next plan of action?”
    Again, Gwydion took the time to
think before he answered, looking at the mountains patched with the deep green
of late summer, but seeing the grey stone and brown dirt of the training yard
instead. “I will practice all I can,” he said finally, “and learn to be so good
that nobody notices it, not just in the claymore, but in all weapons.”
    “To what end?”
    “To fool both my enemies and my
friends, keeping the one unsure of my true abilities, and the other
unthreatened by them.”
    “Excellent,” Math said, leaning
back and crossing his hands over his beard. “You have learned well. And
because of that, your restriction to the tower is ended.”
    “Thank you uncle.”
    “Don’t thank me yet. Tomorrow
your magical training begins in earnest.”

Chapter
5: Deer
    As always, the next morning started with a run, and as
usual, Math floated alongside, peppering Gwydion with questions. Gwydion
noticed that Math quizzed him more closely on what he had learned of magic so
far, but even in his exertion, Gwydion remembered not to mention anything about
bardic magic.
    Breakfast was followed by
weapons training, lunch, and then to the tower. This time, though, instead of
standing at the foot of the dais looking up at his uncle, he stood beside him,
looking down on Goewin.
    “For magic, you need a new
perspective,” Math said. “Does my foot holder look different from this angle?”
    “Of course,” Gwydion said. “She
doesn’t look so disapproving when she looks at you.”
    Math’s beard twitched with a
fleeting smile. “Do you see anything else?”
    “I can tell that her hair has
more red in it than I thought. I see more of her profile and less of her
face. I can see a large mole on her right hand that I normally don’t see.”
    Goewin looked at him sharply,
but Math chuckled gently. “Very good. What benefit is the change?”
    “She’s more attractive from
here.”
    “Any other reasons?” Math asked
with a slightly exasperated tone.
    “I have a more complete idea of
what she looks like, and how she holds your feet.”
    “Excellent,” Math said. “That’s
why a wizard needs new perspective often, to gain a better understanding. Are
you ready for this next step?”
    “Yes,” Gwydion said, still
looking at Goewin. He saw a flash of red from the corner of his eye, and
turned just in time to see Math bringing a rowan wand down onto his head.
    It struck him, and he bent over
double in pain. His insides churned like a pot of boiling water. His skin
began to itch, and then sprout hair. He watched in horrified fascination as
his hand melded together into a cloven hoof, and his forearm thinned and
lengthened. He thought he was falling to his knees, but realized that he was
still standing, just on all four legs. Frightened, he backed away, but his
nose lengthened in front of him, brown with a black tip. He tried to speak,
but the sound that came out was a mournful low.
    “Peace, Gwydion,” Math said. “I
have given you the form of a deer to gain another perspective.”
    Gwydion pranced off the dais,
shaking his head, saying no , but only hearing it in his
head.
    Math understood. “A deer you
will remain until your lesson is complete,” his uncle said, lifting the wand
again. “You will not come to harm, but that is all I will promise. Run the
woods, and learn.”
    The wand came down, and the
tower disintegrated into a stand of white birch, tall and straight. Gwydion
was immediately assaulted by his new senses. He could smell the bark, which
made his stomach rumble, but he could also smell the earth, and the mice and
insects scampering across it. He smelled water somewhere nearby, a cool scent
laced with moss and stone. And he could smell other deer.
    He started to trot through the
forest, amazed and bewildered by the assault on his senses. He had never known
how much life there was, and how it all called to each other. Squirrels tucked
nuts away in piles of pine needles,