©1994-2001 Ian A. Ralph & Kelly C. Naylor Chapter I: Betrayal Reger paused at the old man's door. All he heard was the gentle sighs of breathing. He smiled. The master would be asleep for a very long time. More than enough time for him to finish his deed, and be gone before what he had done discovered. The master's other apprentice was out, gone for the day to study with another master mage. Reger nevertheless walked quietly, and cursed the squeaking board on the steps leading down to the master's storeroom. He smiled at himself for the needless admonition, and with more confidence, slid the key into the lock, and opened the thick wooden door. He gave the door a hard pull, and the heavy door swung silently open on its freshly oiled hinges. Reger pulled off the cap of a tube that held a lightstone, and allowed the narrow beam of light to illuminate the chamber. The air was stale and musty. It smelled good to Reger, giving him a sense of adventure in what he was doing. The light flashed over shelves and large chests. He found the box he was looking for up on the top shelf, in the back. With the light trained on the small chest, Reger walked into the room, and felt his foot come down on something soft and heard a soft squeak. He felt a sharp pain in his ankle, and jumped back, yelping, and dropped the light-tube. The tube hit the dirt floor, and the light stone rolled out, brightly illuminating the entire room, and blinding Reger with its sudden appearance. He blinked, and as his vision adjusted, saw the small gray rat that he had stepped on, looking up at him with a disgruntled expression. Reger blinked, noting that it seemed to be unusual that the rat would stick around after almost being stepped on. He glanced at his foot, and saw a thin red streak on his ankle where the rat had bitten him. "Stupid rat. Shoo," shouted Reger. The rat blinked, sniffed in his direction, and slowly walked out of sight. "What? Think you own the place or something?" he asked. He checked his ankle again, and saw that the blood had dripped down his foot, but that the bleeding had finally stopped. Shielding his eyes from the lightstone, he picked up the container, and scooped the brightly glowing stone back into the tube. He pulled out his dagger, and using the hilt, pressed the stone into the wax that held it in place at the base of the tube. That done, he flashed the light around the storeroom again, making sure that he wasn't going to step on any more rats. Not seeing any, he crossed the room, and after setting the light tube down on an adjacent shelf, pulled down the small chest, and placed it on top of a nearby large chest. He angled the light to illuminate the small chest. Like the others in the room, it was devoid of any markings or trappings that might reveal the value of the contents, but Reger knew better. Mage Master Gunstov never used anything fancy. He saw no value in it. Always so practical. Reger snorted and shook his head. He knew the value of such things. However, Reger knew better than to think just because the box didn't look fancy, that the master didn't take precautions. Reger had spent the last six months learning about locks and wards during the free time that he had. Not that there was much of that, as Master Gunstov kept him and Jehane, his other apprentice, and senior by five years, busy with either studying or housework. And, as the younger apprentice, the burden of the housework fell to him when Jehane achieved her journeyman status six months ago. No more washing dishes and floors for him. Reger opened up a small belt pouch and shook the contents gently out onto the top of the large chest. There was a large skeleton key, a crystal oval about two inches long, and a half inch thick, a snuff box, two candles, one blue and the other red, two small brass candleholders, and an incense burner. He set up the two candles, the blue one to the right of the small chest, and the red one on the left. He placed the incense burner in front of the chest, and placed a small pinch of the substance from the snuff box in the burner. He pulled out a small stick of wood from another pocket, and with a word and a gesture, cast the simple spell that ignited the tip of the wood. He lit the blue candle first, then the red one, and then applied the burning tip of the stick to the incense. When it began smoldering, he removed the stick, and shook the end to extinguish the flame. He placed the ornate cover of the incense burner over the smoldering incense, which was giving off a sour odor, and creating a yellow haze in front of the chest. He waved his hands through the thin smoke, uttering a few phrases that he learned late at night when he should have been sleeping rather than reading, and watched as an intricate web began to glow on the surface of the chest. Reger smiled. He thought that was the type of ward that Gunstov might have used. He picked up the crystal oval and held it over the center of the chest. The crystal caught and refracted the light from the candles, causing a multitude of miniature multicolored stars to appear in the room. He turned the crystal until reflections from both candles focused on a central nexus of the glowing web. Holding the crystal steady with one hand, he picked up the key with the other hand, and slowly waved it over the chest, while muttering the key words that would unlock the ward protecting the contents. He did it slowly, being careful not to mispronounce a single syllable, or to joggle the crystal. Being caught in the backfire of a failed spell was not his idea of a pleasent afternoon. As he uttered the final key word, the glowing web flared a little, then vanished from view. Reger sighed in relief, and put down the crystal and key. He put out the incense, but left the candles burning for the extra light. He produced another key, one that he had relieved from his comatose master, and unlocked the chest. Lifting the lid revealed a cloth wrapped bundle about nine inches long, and five inches in diameter. He lifted it out gently, and unwrapped the covering a little to see what was inside. A faint pinkish glow escaped from the covering as he moved aside a flap, and his face widened with a smile. This was it. He wrapped it back up, and glanced in the chest. There was nothing else in it. Setting his treasure down on the shelf next to the light tube, he closed the chest, and returned it to its position on the top shelf, blew out the candles, and quickly placed his spell components back into his belt pouch. He gingerly picked up the wrapped object, and tucked it under his shirt. He shone the light around the room, aware of all the treasures that the master had stored here, but he had found the one that would take care of all his needs for the rest of his life.