He was unreadable. Inscrutable. No one could ever be quite certain what he was thinking before he revealed himself.
He lowered his arms out of his stretch and sat down again. He knew all these things about himself. Others had witnessed it often enough that he would have had to be obtuse not to notice their reactions. He accepted what was true about himself but did not much admire any part of it save his compulsion for studying and mastering magic. That meant something. That had value.
Although no longer, perhaps. No longer, when this latest Druid order threatened to throw away all that had been accomplished. Not when the Four Lands were in danger and there might be no one who would come to the rescue.
He shook his head, bitterness flooding through him.
Word of terrible violence had come down out of the Northland, bits and pieces of rumor that filtered through vast distances. The rumors were neither clear nor reliable, because they were carried to him by strange visions sent in dreams and the shrieks of birds and the whispers of winds rustling in the forest. But he was a magic wielder, and he knew better than to discount such signs. His eyes in that part of the world would send word at some point if it were true, a confirmation of the magic’s vestigial warnings. Still, he sensed even now that it was. And his instincts seldom betrayed him in these matters.
The Druids should be wondering the same thing. Especially if the scrye waters indicated magic had been used. The scrye responded to all magical disturbances in the Four Lands, and one of this size could hardly have been missed. Surely, the waters of the reading bowl had recorded it, and someone would be sent to investigate.
He would have gone to Paranor to inquire if he had thought for one minute anyone would admit him. Or even listen to him. Just to hear what they had to say about it and what they intended to do would ease his concerns. Doing nothing ate at him, yet what choice did he have? He was no longer one of them. He was no longer welcome at Paranor. Balronen had made sure of that when he assumed the position of High Druid. Never one to leave anything to chance, he had banned Drisker from the Keep on the spot, proclaiming him a Druid no longer but an outcast. He was making sure that Drisker could not change his mind at some point and choose to return.
In truth, Ober Balronen was afraid of him—and not without good reason. Drisker had always found Balronen to be little more than a political animal with ambitions that far exceeded his abilities. When he had come to Paranor to ask for admittance to the order, Drisker had voted against it. But enough others were persuaded to embrace it that his veto was overridden. Years later, when Drisker decided to step down as High Druid and depart Paranor for a new life, Balronen had been quick to seize the opportunity to claim his position and find a way to persuade the majority of Druids that he was the right choice for the job. Drisker had never imagined Balronen would have been accepted as High Druid or even have the audacity to lay claim to it. If he had known, he would have thought twice about giving him the opportunity. He would have held on to his office.
But he knew that wasn’t the truth. He would have left anyway, so maybe Balronen’s ascendency was inevitable in any event. Balronen was the epitome of what was wrong at Paranor. Wasn’t he representative of the many reasons Drisker had chosen to leave in the first place? Wasn’t he just another of those men and women mired in self-indulgence and inattentive to the needs of others who had soured him on the Druid order? Wasn’t he another example of the recent failure of Druids to adhere to a commitment to finding and protecting magic for the betterment of the Four Lands rather than as a way of gaining personal power?
All true, but the extent to which Balronen and his kind had abandoned this professed cause was stunning. It troubled him to think he had left things in such disarray. It haunted him even as he tried to tell himself it didn’t matter anymore.
A slight movement in the trees to his right caught his eye. Pretending not to notice, he picked up his book and began to read again.
Someone was out there.
He waited patiently. He felt the other’s presence, sensed rather than saw or heard the movements. Someone. But who, exactly? Who would come sneaking around like this? The movement continued, a sort of shifting from one place to another, almost taunting him with tiny reveals between long gaps marked only by stealth and swiftness as one position gave way to another. Whoever was responsible was extraordinarily skilled.
It occurred to him that maybe this was one of his enemies come to bring him down, but he abandoned the idea almost as fast as it surfaced. That was ridiculous. What would be the point of the small reveals? If his enemies wanted to harm him, why would they hesitate like this? Besides, he didn’t sense any ill will in what was happening, and he could almost always tell.
Still, better to make sure before he took anything for granted.
He put down his book once more and looked directly to where he had last sensed his uninvited guest. “I know you’re there.”
“I wanted you to know,” a voice answered coming from a different place entirely. “I need your help.”
A girl, her voice still young enough to make her recognizable as such.
“Well, now that we both know you’re here, why don’t you come out of hiding so we can say hello face-to-face?”
“No. I have to prove myself. Do you think you can find me?”
He hesitated. What was this about? “Why would I bother?”
“To prove you can.”
He stood up, looked over at the woods, and shrugged. “Seems like I ought to be the one testing you, not the other way around.”
“You are testing me,” the voice replied, now coming from another new place. “This is how I can prove to you I would be a good student.”
“I don’t want a student.”
“But I need you to teach me. Why don’t you see if I’m worth it? Test me.”
“You won’t like how this turns out.”
“Maybe not. Let’s make a bargain. If I can sneak up on you, you agree to teach me how to better use my magic. I do have magic, in case you were wondering. But if you get the better of me, I’ll walk away.”
“You sound very confident of yourself.”
“I’m not confident at all. I’m desperate. Will you test me?”
“You’ll be walking away however this goes. I don’t teach anyone these days. I am retired. Do you know who I am? I guess you must.”
“I know all about you. I knew of you before I came to find you. People were more than willing to tell me where you were once I reached Elven country. It’s not a big secret. Come on. Test me to see if I am worth teaching. You are famous for your magic skills. Try to find me.”
She was somewhere else by then. He smiled to himself. He admired her audacity. She was good at shifting her position without showing any movement when she did so. He hated to admit it, but he rather enjoyed the idea of a fresh challenge. It had been awhile since he had faced one.
“All right,” he said. “How do we play this game?”
“You see me and call me out before I can get close enough to tap you on the shoulder.”
“And are there rules?”
Her laughter was muted. “What do you think?”
Drisker Arc smiled in spite of himself.
SIX