I reached out my hand and summoned my staff to me using the Doktur’s Summoner’s Mark given to me weeks ago.

  The staff vanished from its silk coverings and reappeared in my hand. I could summon this from almost anywhere, but the room had been magically sealed. I could call it to me from the elemental realm of water, but nothing could pass through the protections of this room. If it had not been brought inside and left to lean against the wall, I would not have been able to summon it.

  Master Drammult stood abruptly. “What is this? You dare to threaten us?”

  And I did what he least expected. I smiled and chuckled. “No, adjudicator. I am showing you another creation of mine to offer evidence of my sincerity.

  He furrowed his brow and glanced at my staff. I held it high on the wood; all mages present could see dozens of thin copper, silver, and gold bands around it.

  “Each ring you see is a Single Use Spell, capable of being cast by me while upon the staff,” I explained.

  “That is impossible.” He replied.

  “Clearly, it is not. At least, to one who has the correct insight.”

  He stood erect and fumed.

  But I continued. “You stated some antiquated ideas about limits on sockets in rings. I presume you will hold similar views on wands and staves.”

  “What about it?” He said, his face becoming flushed.

  “To one with an elevated insight and intellect, the boundaries that you espouse and hold me to show…a lack of creativity and ingenuity.”

  “You dare?!” He sputtered out. Saliva was flying as he quite literally spat the words.

  He was not accustomed to being spoken to like this, and certainly not by a student. My calmness and words infuriated him even more. He was a dangerous man with a fierce temper. I had already gone too far, and he had no choice but to deny me. I needed him to go at least a step further to invalidate his role. A humiliation that he could never forgive in me. But my options were limited.

  “I do dare. You claim I am a liar, and I claim that you simply are incapable of even considering new insights. Explain this.” And I turned the staff around so he could see the fifteen gemstones placed along the long axis of the staff.

  He stood stunned.

  “Of course, I realize that you are trying to anger me. Quite shameful on your part. A master is not permitted by mage law to challenge an apprentice. Even someone as conceited as you must understand that much. But yet again, you completely missed the obvious.” And I moved my hand down, revealing the seven platinum rings around the staff's top. Each platinum ring represented the most potent level spell capable of being cast in whatever guild I had sought, the Single Use Spell.

  “Your last mistake was assuming that you would prevail against me if I challenged you—a mere apprentice. “I think you would discover that it would not go as you wished. Should the challenge stand, our words would also be short, adjudicator.”

  I crossed the staff before me in an aggressive yet defensive position. “You insisted that all the witnesses depart. Now, you get to vote. Do I pass the minimum expectations for an apprentice to become a journeyman? Do we settle this as master and apprentice or mage to mage? You started and then escalated this. You made the mistake of a direct insult. I am within my rights by mage law to seek satisfaction; am I not correct, Wizard Draconis?”

  “You are indeed. You may not be aware, but as an apprentice, your master is also within his rights to address your insult since such an insult to you is an insult to him. You both have the right to address this issue simultaneously. And as I must ensure the safety of others, I can think of no place safer than a sealed trials room for an outcome of satisfaction.”

  Master Drammult looked from me to my master, who had also stood and had somehow called his battle staff into his hand. “Ichabod, I know there is bad blood. And it may have been my ego that brought you here. But I had not intended this.” But my master’s voice hardened. “But neither will I back down. I will follow the lead of my apprentice. To whatever end.”

  Wizard Drconis allowed a few more moments of mounting tension to grow before stating. “I vote in favor of promoting apprentice Gwydion Istari.”

  The bell upon the table before the adjudicators rang once, loudly by its own accord.

  My master replied without taking his eyes off the other enchanter. “I vote in favor of promoting apprentice Gwydion Istari.”

  The bell rang a second time, equally loudly.

  Master Drammult snarled at me, and for the briefest moment, I thought he would attack. He said, “I vote in favor of promoting apprentice Gwydion Istari.”

  The bell rang a third and final time.

  It was done.

  The AL whispered into my ear. Enchanter Gwydion earns a spell or skill point to be placed as desired for completing the Journeyman Enchanter’s quest. You have earned an attribute point for completing the Journeyman Enchanter’s quest. You have earned an enemy in Master Ichabod Drammult for insults during the Journeyman Enchanter’s quest. Spell and skill points must be reclaimed at a guild hall or sanctuary. Ability points may be claimed immediately. Additions and notes have been added to your Book of Quests that remain unread.

  I thought my answer to the AL. Please place the ability point into magic.

  The past six to eight hours have granted me multiple new spell or skill points to use, as well as new ability points. I had some exciting decisions to make.

  Wizard Draconis said, “As outside guild mage, I congratulate and welcome Journeyman Gwydion Istari and grant him all rights, privileges, duties, and responsibilities of his new rank and station.”

  My master replied. “Ordinarily, there would be cheers and applause. Please accept these adjudicator gifts in their place.”

  Tradition held that each adjudicator, upon successful promotion, offered the newly promoted a gift worthy of the rank. These usually involve a gem and some new knowledge, such as a book or scroll.

  Master Drammult reached into his pocket, withdrew a 14pt topaz, and tossed it onto the marble table. He opened a belt pouch and withdrew a thin book far too large to have fit inside. The book was titled Charms and Their Uses and was written by Master Drammult himself. He then flicked his wrist, and his carpet appeared before him. He got on it and flew over to the door, commanding it open with a word. I heard surprised shouts as he flew up the stairs, through a crowd of mages of all ages and ranks, and presumably out of the guild hall and on his way back to the capital.

  Wizard Draconis walked down the two short flights of steps to me. “I am so very sorry and so very proud of you.” He handed me a 14pt diamond and a book titled Counterspells and Undetection, written by him. “This text was written and designed for advanced work with wizards. We are often hunted and attacked by the forces of evil and corruption. We learn how to be hard to hit and hard to find. I hope this serves you well. Sooner is probably better than later for you to start on these lessons. You have a true enemy in him. He will try to strike you soon, but it is unlikely that he will attempt it himself. He will want plausible deniability.” And with that, he patted me on the shoulder and departed.

  My master sat down heavily and motioned for me to sit by him.

  “I am desperately sorry I dragged you into this, Gwydion. I truly had no idea. My arrogance and pride nearly ended you.”

  “I could have defended myself,” I said.

  He smiled. “My boy, you have amazing skills and talents and far more potential than any student to have passed through this hall in centuries, but you did not intimidate him. He could have destroyed you. There are powers you still have no idea that exist, and Ichabod is a schemer and a planner. He would have defended himself well against me, and you would have been an afterthought.”

  “Way to boost my ego, master,” I said as I slumped into the chair Maser Draconis had vacated.

  He laughed. “No, what saved you and probably me was his surprise. He was unsure of himself because something happened that he had not foreseen, and he fled. He is a coward at heart but a dangerous one.”

  He laughed again. “But enough of that for now. We have a celebration and a lot of people are waiting for you. They can’t eat the cake until you show up.”

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  It was my turn to smile. “So what’s next?” I asked.

  “I have several gifts for you. But first, please remove all your Single Use Spell rings and hand me your staff.”

  I gripped my staff and concentrated. The forty-nine rings expanded slightly in size and dropped to the floor with a tinkling clang. They stayed stacked atop one another in a single pile. I then handed him my mage staff.

  “Do I need to remove the gemstones as well?” I asked.

  “You can remove them without causing them damage?” He asked, surprised.

  “Yes, but each one would cost me a casting point. Fifteen points total.”

  “Yet another impressive feat. No, it will not be necessary.” He scrutinized the staff. “The wood feels different somehow. Is that part of your doing?”

  I smiled and began to answer.

  He interrupted me. “Not here and not now. Perhaps not at all. We will have to see. I should not have asked. Sometimes, I can’t help myself around you.”

  Master Glimmerblade turned the staff over in his hands a couple more times and said, “Here is what I would like to do for you. First, in atonement for the risk and introduction of a powerful enemy far earlier in your life as a mage than was due, I will attune this staff to you.”

  He looked at me with a smile in his eyes.

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  “Ah, of course. Apprentices are not introduced to this kind of magic. It is an advanced enchantment. You know its effects through readings, but did not know what it was. By attuning yourself to a magical staff, and I can sense a lot of magic in this staff of yours, it becomes an extension of you and your casting ability. The staff will grow as you grow. It will allow you to cast any spell from it that you know and will have a daily casting reservoir equal to the cost of casting points of the spells you have mastered.”

  “So it doubles my casting ability?” I asked, surprised but thrilled.

  “Not exactly doubling your casting, as I believe you have more magic points than the number of spells you know. It is less than your maximum casting but still significant.”

  “So if I know twenty of the first arcana spells, the staff gives me twenty casting points each day to use as I see fit? It is like the training staves, but a little more overpowered?”

  “Exactly. Do I have your permission to proceed?”

  “Of course, master!”

  He concentrated and cast his Attunement spell. He held the staff out at full arm's length and parallel to the floor. “Come here and grasp the staff with both hands on either side of my own so that your hands are between mine.”

  I did as he said. “I had to attune the staff to myself for this to work. I am now releasing it to you.”

  I felt the staff grow warm beneath my hands. A surge of energy went out of the staff, through me, and back into the staff once more. It glowed a golden yellow color and flashed quite brightly.

  My master let go. “Well, that was faster and more dramatic than any attunement transfer I have ever done. The staff knew you were its creator somehow, and while it permitted my attunement, I am unsure if I could have fully utilized its features. Very interesting. Your staff may be more than a construct; it may be an artifact.”

  “But what does that mean, master?”

  “I do not know. The construction of artifacts is both highly regulated and nearly forgotten in our age. I would keep that suspicion to yourself for now.”

  I nodded my head. “Yes, master.”

  He cleared his throat. “Now, as I said, my gift of Attunement for you was in atonement, not a promotion day gift. This next gift is to apologize for granting you too much latitude around your enchantment. You should not have attempted nor been permitted to create a staff such as this at your rank. It brings into the realm an unknown and potentially unstable element and puts a target on you that goes well beyond Ichabod’s envy. Many mages would kill you for your staff.”

  My master was very serious, and his words had some heat. “And so, I will bind your attuned staff to you so that none but you can use it. If you die, it will be destroyed. A binding is a step deeper than attunement, and when joined with an artifact,” he paused, “the effects are unpredictable, and I may not be doing you a favor. But, nobody else will be able to use it, and any future attempts to discern its powers will be nearly impossible.”

  Master Glimmerblade cast another spell, causing the staff to glow warmly in my hands and pulse golden yellow more gently three times.

  My master cleared his throat again. Something he did when he was nervous or frustrated. Perhaps both were in play right now.

  “The spell I used is a first arcana spell, but it is forbidden to teach below the rank of journeyman.”

  “Is it dangerous, master?” I asked with concern in my voice.

  “Dangerous?” He laughed. “No, it is irritating to masters. It is not meant to be used on an object that is not significantly magical. But it will work on any object. If every apprentice knew the spell, they would bind objects to themselves left and right. Always forgetting your pen? Bind it. Need an extra set of boots? Bind it. It drives masters crazy, and its teaching was banned across the realm below the rank of journeyman centuries ago. All new masters agree not to teach it to any under the rank of master without good cause.”

  “In any event, I did not teach it to you; I merely used the spell and made you aware of its existence. So, I was technically in my rights.”

  He thought for a moment and said. “The next gift I present to you is because of your patron status in the guild. I am empowered by the guild master and faculty of masters to award such a gift upon achieving the rank of journeyman.

  “Because you will need to keep your staff hidden as much as possible, I will cast a spell that was very popular when I was younger and in previous centuries, but has gone out of favor in these past few generations. With your permission, I will transform your staff into a ring you can wear and transform it back and forth between those two forms at will.”

  “Yes, that sounds cool!” I exclaimed.

  “Go ahead and place all your rings back on it first. I will wait.”

  I moved the staff over to the stack of single-use rings, and of their own accord, they all flew up and settled in places across the staff. I let out a surprised shout as they did so.

  My master took a step back. “How did you do that?” He asked.

  “I didn’t, master. At least, I don’t think I did.”

  The staff glowed yellow once more, holding its colored hue longer than it had before.

  “I see.” My master remarked. He hesitated and then said, “The spell I have in mind is simply called Morph, which has a wide range of options available across guilds. But the version I want to use functions quite well with rings, and since they are your specialty, we shall keep with that theme.”

  He cast a far more powerful spell. I could sense its power building and felt it when he released it upon me and the staff.

  Instantly, my staff morphed around my left hand and became a wrapped metal ring made of wires of copper, silver, gold, and platinum elegantly wound around a wooden base. It was a beautiful ring, and it settled on my left ring finger. It was as if we were wed to each other.

  At that last thought, the ring flashed golden once, giving off another gentle warmth.

  I looked up at my master, who had been smiling, but saw that something had happened. “What is it, Gwydion?”

  “Nothing, master. But I think your spell worked well.” The ring pulsed again, but more lightly this time, the yellow light fading almost into a drowsiness.

  He looked at the ring and then into my eyes. “Oh dear. I may have made it worse, not better.”

  I examined the ring again. “But how do I-”

  Even as I began to wonder how I could make it a staff again, the staff morphed out of its ring shape and expanded quickly into the full form of my staff.

  “Oh,” I said.

  “I also have gifts for you for your second and third patron statuses. There is no rule for or against these awards, but I believe that the guildmaster and faculty of masters would approve under the circumstances.”

  He rolled up his robe sleeves and showed me two twin silver bracers. They were etched with several magical glyphs and stylized depictions of creatures, such as a dragon on one and a unicorn on another.

  “I made these years ago as a master. This one, with the symbol of a dragon, grants you the spell ability of Ward Against Four Elements. It requires activation by your will, but once activated, you will be immune to damage, spell, or mundane, inflicted by air, earth, fire, or water. Its effects last seven minutes and will take twenty-four hours to recharge.”

  He handed it to me, and I placed it on my left arm around my biceps, in the exact location where he had worn it.

  Master Glimmerblade removed the second bracer and handed it to me. “I saw that Wizard Draconis gave you one of his books. Studying it will be most useful, especially the section on counterspells. But this bracer will help you with the other area he urged you to learn: detection. Specifically, non-detection. When you wear this bracer and its Ward Against Detection, it will make you undetectable by passive, magical means. It does not make you invisible, and people around you will see you no differently, but so long as you wear it, no magical scrying, reading, telling, or location spell by other means could be used to locate you.”

  I thought about the Farsee spell Davon had used to watch me during the orb encounter and wondered if this bracer would prevent such actions.

  I placed the second bracer on my right upper arm. “Thank you, master, these are wondrous gifts.” I was awed by his generosity and became more concerned about what my future held, that powerful mages such as he and Wizard Draconis feared I would need such things.

  “Now, as to my gift from master to journeyman. I am restricted in what knowledge I am allowed to offer you, so I used the rules as I did to help prepare you for the future. But in addition to a 14pt diamond typical for success in these trials, I offer you the choice between two books. You may only choose one.”

  I accepted the diamond but was more interested in his chosen texts. The first book had a new black leather cover, which was a typical thickness for a mage text with around a hundred pages or so. The second book was triple the thickness, a little longer, and had a worn brown leather cover.

  I opened the black book and read its contents. It was a book on sockets and would teach me, over time, how to create sockets in objects from one to seven when I mastered those arcana levels.

  The second book was written by my master by his own hand and was titled simply Arcana Wards. In looking at the contents, the text held over twenty ward enchantments across all seven arcana levels. It was a compendium of a life’s work. My master was well respected for his personal and area of effect wards. He was sought after by adventurers, nobles, and other mages for his talent and knowledge. This appeared to be his personal spell book on wards. It even had a glowing introduction by the archmage himself. I had never seen this published before and was not sure that it ever had been, despite the remarks by Archmage Menaplisken.

  “Master, I cannot accept this.”

  He grew indignant. “Would you accept the other book over this one?”

  “No, master. But this, this is a life’s work. I could not presume-”

  “I said that you may choose one. And I mean that you may choose one.”

  I stared at him and then at the two books.

  I reached out for the new book on sockets. His eyes grew sad, and I pushed it back toward him. “I thank you for this offer, and I would sincerely like to learn even more about sockets, but this book,” I gently stroked the worn cover of the thicker book, “is a treasure of immensely greater value, not only because of the magic it could teach but because you wrote it.”

  His eyes teared up momentarily, and he said gruffly. “Well, I thought for a moment you were- never mind. You made your choice, and I think it was the wiser. If your defense is strong enough, and you are well prepared, you can handle almost anything that comes your way.” He said by way of explanation.

  He put the other book back in a shoulder-slung satchel that he had brought with him. Given the nature of this meeting, I wondered what other trinkets he had in there in case his rival went even more sideways than he had.

  “Before we go upstairs for your overdue party, here is some final advice. Seek companions you trust. Your mutual lives depend on each other. Search for and collect even more powerful gems for your staff. Learn to augment your staff in power and attributes, in attack and defense. Be vigilant. Be unpredictable. Be scarce. And remember that payment for spells does not have to be in coins. A master collects many favors and knows many spells because he chose the path of knowledge over gold. There is more than one way to become rich.”

  He placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it gently. “I am very proud of you, " he said, and we both walked across the room and up the twisting stairs together.

  However, our smiles were wiped away in mere moments as we entered the atrium at the top of the stairs and into a storm of chaos and shouting. Amidst the confused words and apparent fright, we both heard the single word, “Deathlight.”

  Our city was under attack by a necromancer.