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Alex was certain that whoever was watching him was under that dark cloak. He feared that the watcher had noticed his gaze. Did the watcher know that he was trying to follow him? There was no way for Alex to be sure, so he readied his magic, just in case.
As he emerged from the crowds, Alex caught sight of the person he was trying to follow. He was leaving the square, heading down one of the narrow roads that led deeper into the city. Alex quickened his steps, trying to close the distance between himself and the cloaked figure. He could feel his magic growing as he hurried forward, and he let a little of it move ahead of him, looking for possible traps.
His magic didn’t find anything, and Alex relaxed a little. The watcher must not know he was being followed. Alex wondered if he should try to catch the stranger, or simply follow him to see if there was something more to discover.
“Do you have a reason for following me?” A deep and strong, yet oddly soft, voice questioned.
Alex spun around. The figure he’d been following was behind him, and even with his magic at the ready he hadn’t noticed until it was almost too late. Without thinking, Alex summoned up his defensive magic to protect himself from both physical and magical attacks.
“Oh, very good,” said the stranger, a smile in his voice. “So fast to defend, yet holding back any attack until you know what you face. You’ve learned a great deal, young man.”
“Who are you?” Alex demanded, a spark of anger igniting inside of him. “Why have you been watching me?”
“For the obvious reasons of course,” the figure answered. “I wanted to see you, to see what magic you have, and to get some idea of what you might become.”
“Who are you?” Alex asked again. He didn’t like being watched, and the answers the cloaked figure had given weren’t answers at all. Alex hated it when adults gave meaningless answers: “Because I said so”; “That’s how it is”; “You’ll understand when you’re older.” Alex had heard all those answers many times before. But today that kind of answer would not be enough. Today Alex wasn’t just another teenager asking questions. Today he was a wizard in training. Today he would get a real answer, whatever the cost.
“Then again, you may get no answer at all.”
“Wh—what?” Alex asked in surprise.
“Control. That is your weakness. You let your emotions run wild, and you lose all focus.”
With a wave of his hand, the cloaked figure brushed away Alex’s defensive magic as easily as brushing away old cobwebs. For a moment Alex was too stu
Rage surged though Alex like an electric shock. His anger blinded him, and his magic went wild. Without thinking, he attacked the figure in front of him, attacked to make the laughter stop. It felt like a thousand little needles poking him, a thousand little voices jeering and making fun, but anger was all Alex could feel.
“Enough!” The cloaked figure said, and Alex’s magic shattered like glass.
Alex felt as if he’d been doused in ice-cold water, water that simply washed away his rage. He shivered and stumbled forward, only to be caught by the strange man.
“You had better learn some control if you want to survive,” the figure whispered, lowering Alex to the ground. “If you can’t control your own emotions, how can you ever hope to reach your full potential?”
“Who . . . who are you?” Alex asked once more in a desperate tone.
“Another time, young one. When you are ready.”
“It was you. It was yourvoice I heard when I confronted Otho.”
“Yes,” the figure answered. “You were about to let something terrible happen, and I could not allow that—even if that fool deserved it.”
“I don’t understand . . . Why?”
The figure turned and started to walk away, but Alex still wanted answers. He focused his mind, pushed away all of his emotions and questions, and reached out with his magic alone.
“Wait!”
It was a demand, not a request. Alex’s emotions were completely under control as he focused all of the magic he could muster toward the stranger. He tried to capture the figure with his magic, just as he might capture an object in his hand, but again he was surprised. There was nothing there, nothing at all for his magic to hold. The cloaked figure stopped dead, however, and turned slowly to face Alex once again.
“The day may come when you can hold me with a word, but it is not this day. Learn your lessons well, young wizard. If you manage to survive long enough, we will meet again.”
“But . . .” Alex started, stopping short.
The figure that had been so solid only a moment before suddenly changed to smoke. As Alex watched, the smoke began to drift away, and when he blinked, it was gone. There was no sign of the stranger he had followed, not even the smallest trace of magic. Then a soft whisper came to Alex’s ear, a whisper that seemed to come from all around him and inside of him at the same time.
“Be careful, young one. Evil is already close to you. If you do not learn to control your emotions, they will destroy you. When you send word to Vankin, tell him the Watchers have seen you. He will try to explain.”
* * *
It was a long time before Alex was even able to move. He felt completely drained. Slowly he got to his feet and leaned against a nearby wall. He closed his eyes for a moment as he tried to recover his strength. The sound of hurried footsteps forced his eyes open once more, and he turned to see Val heading toward him.
“Alex, are you all right?”
“A bit winded, but no harm done.”
“Sindar said you were checking on something, and he seemed worried,” Val explained. “I told him I’d come find you. You don’t look so good.”
“The emotions of the day,” said Alex.
“Yes, of course. I’ve heard that wizards often feel the emotions of others, and with so many people in the square and emotions so high . . .”
“I haven’t learned enough to control it all yet,” said Alex, not bothering to correct Val’s assumption. “I’ll be fine now. We should return to the party.”
Val nodded and walked with Alex back to the main square. The dancing appeared to have ended, and the wedding feast was about to begin. Alex wondered how long he’d been gone. He couldn’t seem to remember.
The feast was grand and long, and Alex’s strength slowly returned. He was glad that Sindar didn’t ask any questions when he sat down beside him. It had been a far more interesting day than Alex had thought it would be, and there were far too many things for him to think about. Besides, he already had enough questions of his own.
As the sun began to set, the wedding guests formed a line to present their gifts to the new couples. Alex suddenly worried about what Skeld and Tayo would think of his gifts. Tayo had been badly injured when they had fought Slathbog, and he hoped his gifts would not bring back bad memories for his friends now.
To Alex’s relief, Skeld and Tayo were pleased with the brooches and impressed by his design. Both Lilly and Indigo beamed at Alex as they pi
That night before Alex went to bed, he wrote another letter to Whalen to let him know what was going on, but the more he wrote about his encounter with the cloaked figure, the more worried he became. Alex thought about everything the cloaked figure had said, including the promise that Whalen would try to explain who or what the Watchers were, but Alex felt certain that no explanation in a letter would be enough.
Alex felt even more unsettled about the fact that the cloaked figure had been able to brush away his magic with no real effort. The warning about evil being close was easy enough to understand, but not at all comforting. Alex didn’t know where the evil was coming from, and even worse, he still didn’t know how to control his emotions.