“He got into a fight with Mom.”
A look of concern crossed Aahz’s face. I could see he was wavering.
“That serious, huh? I don’t know, though. If he’s really dying, I don’t see what I can do to help.”
“It shouldn’t take long,” Rupert urged. “He said something about his will.”
I groaned inwardly. Trust a Pervect to know a Pervect’s weaknesses.
“Well, I guess my business here can keep for a few days,” Aahz declared with false reluctance. “Stay out of trouble, kid. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Let’s get going,” Rupert suggested, hiding his triumphant grin. “The sooner we get to Perv, the sooner you can be back.”
“But Aahz….”
“Yeah, kid?”
I saw Rupert’s brow darken.
“I… I just wanted to say ‘goodbye.'”
“Hey, don’t make a big thing of this, kid. It’s not like I was going forever.”
Before I could respond, Rupert clapped an arm around Aahz’s shoulder and they both faded from view.
Gone.
Somehow I couldn’t make myself believe it had happened. My mentor had been spirited away . . . permanently. Whatever I had learned from Aahz would have to do, because now I was totally on my own.
Then I heard a knock at my door.
Chapter Two:
“When things are blackest, I just tell myself ‘cheer up, things could be worse!’ And sure enough, they get worse!”
– SKEEVE
I DECIDED that as Court Magician of Possiltum, my response should be gracious.
“Go away!”
That was gracious. If you knew what my actual thoughts were. you’d realize that. Very few people ever visited me in my chambers, and I didn’t want to see any of them just then.