Read Under the Shadow of Darkness: Book 1 of the Apprentice Series for Free Online

enchantment.”
    The old mage said, “No, I will do it. Go in and rest. Kerlith, start a fire. Fifth Year, can you help him? We are still in the forest. This is my charge. I will take care of our protection spell.” After the events of the day, no one could protest. They were all exhausted.
    It was a strange structure and it struck Bel as odd that such large logs were used to form its walls. But it would keep them safe from ghouls. There was a pile of wood ready near the hearth so they could warm up and dry off too. And maybe they would sleep. Maybe. The building was constructed of large round logs standing on end and supporting a roof of slats. The cracks between them were stuffed with twigs and a mud-like mixture. Inside sat a table and two chairs and not much else, but the dirt floor in front of the fire looked very comfortable right now.
    As they prepared the fire, Kerlith baited, “Something’s wrong with you.”
    “Why?”
    “Your master doesn’t say much to you. I am guessing the old wizard can detect your incompetence?”
    Bel did not return his gaze. “Shut up, fool. He will when he gets the chance.”
    “I’m just saying what I’m seeing.”
    “Listen Kerlith, we started this trip nice and all and I haven’t brought up our history back at the academy so I was just going to let that go. But if you start acting ignorant with your stupid comments like you did back when we were kids then we are going to have a problem.”
    Kerlith chuckled and didn’t respond.
    Muolithnon slumped down next to Kerlith and Bel, leaning his back against the single center post, and crowed, “Now this reminds me of the time that South Be’ershore was overrun with marauders. When I showed up to save them they were all huddled in a shack much like this one. Of course I had to save them, the poor pathetic lot. I always take care of the little people.”
    Bel, wanting no more of Muolithnon’s stories, went outside, stood on the front steps and looked up at the sky. It spooked him for a moment when he didn’t see any stars in the blackness but he quickly realized that the eternal night, whatever it was, would eat all forms of light, not just daylight. The sky was pitch black. There was not a star in the sky.
    Nes’egrinon completed his enchantment and climbed the stairs to stand next to Bel and look out into the woods. “Do you hear that?” the old mage asked creakily.
    Bel focused his hearing. He heard nothing initially then noticed a sound in the distance. It sounded like the ocean. Bel recalled his childhood in Lavaala; he could always hear the crashing waves of the ocean from his home and it reminded him that his father was out there somewhere. The noise was kind of like that but somehow different; it was a kind of soft roaring, like ocean but also somehow like wind. It was the kind of noise that was subtle enough to fall into the background din. “Is that... the ocean? Are we close to the ocean?”
    “It is not the ocean. The ocean is far away. Guess again.” The old man said.
    Bel tried to not think about it and it quickly disappeared, as if it was hiding. Bel focused again, trying to detect what could possibly be causing the sound and it became louder as he listened attentively. The young apprentice looked at the leaves on the trees and saw that they did not stir. “I don’t know. It sounds like wind but the leaves do not stir.”
    “Wind? Indeed. It is wind. But not the kind you think of. The air is still.” Nes’egrinon looked over at Bel and answered the question that he did not ask. “Reach out. Touch. Reach out with your mind, your spirit; touch that which is still living. Tell me what you find.”
    Bel calmed his spirit and closed his eyes. He sent out his spirit, calling, calling to all that was living, looking for an answer to a question that he could not ask. He had done this before, many times in fact, looking for life, calling for the light to come to him, other times looking for information. He used