TST

CHAPTER 1

Once again, it seemed the fates conspired against the young sorcerer; taking his home, his friends, and anything that brought him happiness. Azerick already lost his father, home, and the future he had planned because of someone’s greed and thirst for power. He lost his mother, his friends, and his second family to evil men with nothing but avarice in their hearts.   Finally, just when he thought his life was back on the proper path at The Academy, he must leave his home, education, and friends behind.

Had he meant to kill Travis? Azerick certainly felt he had reason and possibly justification, but in his heart, he knew it was an accident. Azerick would not mourn Travis’s death. Every loss, every hurt inflicted upon him Azerick took like a hot sword under the hammer of a blacksmith. Every ringing blow tempered him, made him stronger, harder, and more lethal to those that sought to harm him.

Azerick crossed the night-shrouded city and went straight to the docks where several ships stood moored. He had to make several inquiries before he finally found a ship that was leaving that night. Most outbound ships had set sail with the coming of the tide, but the
Sea Star
had been delayed when the large cargo hoist had to be repaired after snapping its boom before the rest of the cargo could be loaded and the ship could set sail. Azerick approached one of the sailors assisting with the loading of the last few shipping crates that needed stowing aboard.

“Excuse me. Do you know where I can find the captain of this vessel?” Azerick inquired.

“He be checking the storing of the cargo below decks. Best you wait until he is done a’fore pesterin’ him, boy,” the sailor responded.

Azerick waited patiently as the last cargo net full of crates was hoisted over to the open hatch of the ship. Several minutes passed after the last load was stored in the ship’s belly before a man swung over on the returning boom arm clutching onto the limp cargo netting. As the boom swung over the dock, he released his grip and dropped lightly to the wood planking.

“One of my mates says you want to see the captain,” the man stated.

The ship captain looked to be in his mid forties perhaps early fifties, sporting a thick but well-groomed beard going from blond to mostly grey. He wore oiled, knee-high leather boots with the tops rolled down below the knee. His face showed the harshness of years of abuse from the sun and saltwater but he was surprisingly fit and agile.

“Yes, sir, my name is Azerick and I would like to request passage on your vessel.”

“This isn’t a passenger ship, boy; it’s a merchant ship; my merchant ship.”

“I’ve sailed before, Captain, and I will work as hard as any man on board,” Azerick promised.

“I’ve got a full crew and need no more hands and more importantly, no more bellies needing filled for this trip.”

“Sir, it is very important that I leave tonight on your ship. You can put me on half rations. I brought a lot of my own food and can catch my own fish if I run out,” the young sorcerer said persistently.

“Sounds like you’re running to me, lad. You wanted by the watch, is that it?” the captain asked, a hard frown deeply creasing his face.

“No, sir,” Azerick answered honestly. Technically the watch probably was not looking for him yet. “I just have urgent business I must attend to.”

“And where might that urgent business be?”

“Where are you sailing?”

“North Haven, after a round about loop through the Black Sand Isles,” the captain answered.

“Perfect, that is where I have business.”

“I don’t know what kind of trouble you’re in, boy, but I don’t need it on my ship and I want no part of it,” the captain said with finality, turning to retire to his ship.

“Peg knows me well and will vouch for me, Captain!” Azerick called at the departing sailor’s back.

“You say you know old Peg do you?” the captain asked eying the young man that stood before him trying to see if a lie hid behind the youth’s eyes.

“Yes, Captain, I do, he sailed with my father.”

“Wait here and I’ll go have a word with old Peg. If you are lying to me, boy, you had best not be here when I get back. I don’t much appreciate having my time wasted, particularly when I’m already behind schedule.”

With that said, the old sailor walked towards the row of shops and buildings that faced the docks and the open ocean. Azerick prayed that Peg would vouch for him. The old sea dog had already done him so many favors for nothing in return. It was a stretch claiming he knew Peg but the man had said he sailed with his father. Nearly thirty minutes passed before Azerick spied the captain appearing out of the darkness and walking back to him.

“You might have saved me some time by telling me straight away who your father was, lad,” the captain grumbled. “Although if my brain wasn’t so full of seawater, I suppose I would have picked up on the name. Darius talked about you all the time. He was a good captain and a good friend. Grab your bag, I’ll show you where you can store yourself and your gear. The name’s Captain Zeb, by the way.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Azerick said as he shook the boat captain’s calloused hand.

“You will still work, make no mistake. I don’t allow no freeloaders no matter who their father was.”

“Yes, sir, it will be my pleasure to work on your ship,” pledged Azerick.

“If you think it’ll be a pleasure then you haven’t spent much time on a boat, especially mine,” Zeb said with a grin that promised hard work in the days to come.

The captain gave Azerick a footlocker and showed him to a bunk in a tiny room under the forecastle. He was forced to live in the cramped space since all other bunks on the ship were accounted for but he did not mind. The space had no porthole for fresh air but he enjoyed the privacy. He could conjure a light that would allow him to study the few books he had brought with him.

As soon as he stored his gear, Azerick was ushered back onto the deck and instructed to help pull in and stow the mooring lines. Once the thick ropes were secured and the ship underway, Captain Zeb assigned a sailor to teach him everything he could.

He recalled how Peg had been teaching Bran about knot tying, which apparently was a vital skill for any sailor working aboard ship. Perhaps if his nerves had not been so frayed by the night’s events, he would have recognized the captain’s name as the same man that Bran had shipped with on his quest to rescue Andrea.

Azerick enjoyed the salty air and the wind in his face. Memories of sailing with his father flooded his mind and brought a rare smile to his face until he remembered that he would never again sail with his father.

*****

Rusty stood before the headmaster, the entire teaching cadre, the Chief Constable, and Travis’s father.

“Now, Franklin, tell us everything you can about what happened last night if you would, please,” Headmaster Dondrian instructed.

“I talked to Azerick earlier that day. He said that if anything should happen to him that he wanted me to have his alchemic set. It was an odd thing to say and it is a very expensive set so I asked him if anything was wrong. He said that he had to leave to take care of some things and that he might be gone for a while.”

“Did he say where he was going or what he had to do?” Chief Inspector Lazlo asked.

“No, sir. I asked but he said he didn’t want to get me involved; and then he changed the subject.”

“Tell us more of what happened last night in the clearing,” the headmaster directed to the young student.

“I knew something was wrong so I waited until he left and followed him out to the clearing. Azerick and Travis faced each other in mutual duel. Azerick’s spells were completely absorbed by some kind of shield that Travis had. He must have been wearing an enchanted item because no spell he knew could protect him that effectively.”

“I object to that statement, sir. This student could not know what kind of power Travis could weave into his casting. He is a Beaumonte. Unlike others, the blood in our family has run pure for generations, ” Lord Beaumonte insisted.

Magus Allister’s gruff voice filled the room as he interrupted the nobleman.

“No, Franklin could not, Lord Beaumonte, but as one of your son’s teacher’s, I can assure you that a spell shield with that kind of power was far beyond the ability of all but the most experienced students here and Travis was only a mediocre wizard at best despite the
purity
of his blood,” Magus Allister clarified.

Lord Beaumonte shouted as he jumped to his feet. “I will not stand by and have my son’s memory slandered, sir!”

“Truth is not slander,
sir
. It is obvious, that given the testimonies of Franklin and your son’s friends that Travis did indeed use a scroll or item that granted an unfair advantage in accordance with the proper rules of dueling,” Magus Florent said in support of Magus Allister. “Go on, Franklin, what happened next?”

“Azerick must have realized that none of his lesser spells were able to touch him, and having been struck several times by Travis’s own spells, used a more powerful spell hoping it would be able to pierce whatever protection Travis was using. He cast a lightning bolt and knocked Travis to the ground. He then turned to face those three over there,” he said pointing at Travis’s friends, “because he knew they would shoot him in the back if he got the upper hand on Travis.”