The Legend of Man: Book One: Destiny Awaits.

Chapter Four: Bad to Worse (Part Two)

Disclaimer: I had to break each chapter down because some people told me that they were WAY too long (pfft), so each chapter will be divided into three parts.

The past few days had not gone so well for Cayaison and his friends. Classes were canceled, and accidents with other students in the hallways became too common to ignore. Realizing they had to act, they understood Heavstat was no longer safe for them or their friends, the students who didn’t side with Jacobsien.

So, the five of them decided to teach each other skills they had perfected, preparing for the inevitable confrontation with Jacobsien and his gang. During these plans, Cayaison realized that facing Jacobsien might also mean eventually confronting Friidian, a thought that kept him up at night.

The classes were going well. Each of them possessed skills and knowledge unique to themselves, things the others didn’t know well, or at all. Word of their secret classes got out quickly. Soon, many other students came to them for aid. They accepted these other students without hesitation. When Jacobsien heard of their actions, Alixia explained to him that they were just keeping their minds occupied.

With hallways and classrooms becoming increasingly unsafe for everyone, the group decided to keep watch over many of the younger students. Too many had been hurt for the incidents to seem accidental. They reasoned that, if Jacobsien were responsible, he would have to show himself eventually.

The number of students seeking protection and guidance from Cayaison and his friends kept growing. Soon, there were too many for their usual spot, so they moved their classes to the stables. The stable master even joined them at times. Sometimes, Cayaison thought she was holding back or not telling them everything. There were times the group saw her pretending to learn, and other times she stepped in to correct them, showing a better way.

Under the stable master’s supervision, none of the teachers or Masters loyal to Friidian ventured down to interrupt. Even Jacobsien stayed away, providing the group with a sense of safety.

“That is all for today,” Violetta called as the students collected their scrolls and headed for the stairs. She reminded them, “Same time tomorrow. Go straight to your rooms no wandering the halls!”

“I will make sure the younger ones get back safely,” Rameus walked closely behind the group heading for the stairs.

Violetta nodded.

Meanwhile, Alixia gazed up at the great Heavstat towering above. Although it seemed like they stood on solid ground with stones, grass, and dirt, everyone understood they were actually on Heavstat’s lowest platform.

A large platform circled the base of Heavstat. From above, it looked like a person could just walk a few feet and fall off the edge. But, just like the main building, it was magical. Many students had tried to walk or ride their horses to the edge. None had found it. It was magically protected for the students so they could never fall off or get lost. Anyone not welcomed by Heavstat or their students, anyone besides a student, would fall off within a minute of approaching the edge.

Down on the platform, students trained with harmful spells. They also rode horses given to them. Some students liked to wander and stretch their feet. They always found themselves facing Heavstat, no matter how far they roamed. It was a perfect circle.

Below the platform was a significant drop to the abyss. Deep below, the purple, swirling magic powered Heavstat. It allowed the school to hover in the air, perfectly still in one place.

As Alixia continued to stare at the imposing school, she reflected that it was a constant reminder that they had not left the premises.

“What is on that mind of yours today?” Cayaison asked, dragging a dry cloth across his sweaty face.

He had just finished showing a bunch of the students some self-defense techniques he had learned from Master Wong.

“The attacks,” Alixia mentioned, pointing at Heavstat. “I know the magic barrier surrounding it protects the outside. So that is how the white stones stay white, but what about the inside?” she said, turning to face him.

He looked puzzled.

“How does it stay clean?” Alixia turned to face him. “There are thousands of students running back and forth dropping paper, ink and all matters of things. Plus, they are messy. I know I have made a few messes in my time here, but have you ever seen any of it?”

Nearby, Violetta and Dawain overheard the conversation.

“Now that you say that,” Dawain started to say. “A few months ago, I dropped a mug of milk, I went to get a cloth to pick it up, but when I came back it was gone, and the mug was on the table. I thought one of the lunch ladies must have picked it up,” he shrugged.

Violetta turned to face the large school.

“So, what are you thinking Alixia?” she asked.

“The Caretakers,” she said with a look of curiosity.

They all smiled. It was a rumor as old as Heavstat. Supposedly, retired Masters who didn’t find their calling or students who did not make it to graduation could volunteer to be Caretakers of Heavstat. The story said that these people were permanently enchanted to be invisible to the eye. Their job was to maintain Heavstat and even enforce its rules.

No one had seen or heard them. Many had tried to see one or get a Caretaker to show themselves, but nothing had ever come of it. So, it stayed a rumor.

“How many things have we all done to prove they exist?” Cayaison smiled.

“Countless,” Violetta answered with a smirk. “Too many!”

Cayaison and Violetta had done many things to get the Caretakers to show. They had dropped things to walk away and hide in a corner to see if some magic person would show up to pick them up. Or they would try to break one of the rules to see if someone would show up to stop them. Most of the time, they would get caught by one of the Masters.

“Hear me out,” Alixia persisted. “Maybe the Caretakers don’t act fast because they know we’re watching. What if they’re right here among us,” she looked among her friends as they stared back at her, “as students or Masters?”

This made the others quiet, each lost in thought as the discussion took a serious turn.

“Wilkins!” Violetta and Cayaison blurted out at the same time.

“He has been here as long as I can remember, he has never graduated although he has been a student as long as any other,” Violetta explained.

“I have never seen him in any class,” Cayaison added. “I just thought he was just not picking up the art of magic,” he shrugged.

They sat together, recalling names of people who’d been around the school for years or never seemed to age or participate much in the classes or any particular events. Talking and compiling their list of possible Caretakers, they continued until the sun set and the moon rose, ending up with more than fourteen names.

“We’ll look into this more tomorrow. It’s a great start. Good thinking, Alixia!” Cayaison said as they hurried up the stairs before nightfall.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Morning arrived as usual. Cayaison, already awake, waited until he could quietly slip to the main hallway. There, Violetta soon caught up with him.

“Sleep well?” she asked, fully knowing the answer.

“No. Did you?” Cayaison replied.

“Not at all!”

All night, Violetta’s mind returned to the Caretakers. If they were always present, could they be behind the accidents? And why would they side with Jacobsien? Sensing those questions, Cayaison laughed.

“Been asking myself those same questions all night.”

They reached their usual bench and waited for the others. As usual, Rameus was the last one to show.

“Alixia, have you done any more thinking about how they are doing all this?” Dawain asked.

Alixia shook her head. “I came up with the problem,” she said. “Up to you to solve it.”

“I will solve it right now,” Rameus unfolded his muscular arms and walked away from them. “Menan, can I have a word!” he shouted at one of the people on their list.

The old man looked back in shock. Usually, the students ignored him.

“Of course,” the old man replied, uneasy.

The others got up and walked over.

“Are you a Caretaker?” Rameus asked; he was never one to be subtle.

“What?” Menan looked around, clearly worried.

“A Caretaker,” Cayaison intervened.

The look on the man’s face told it all. He was scared.

“You shouldn’t ask such questions,” the man muttered, trying to leave.

Menan turned to walk away faster, but Dawain blocked his path. There were not many students around, especially since classes had been canceled.

“That’s a yes,” Violetta grinned as Menan protested.

Menan looked back at her with shock.

“No… I did not say that,” he stuttered, shaking his finger at her.

“Why are the Caretakers attacking the students?” Alixia asked.

“We would… I mean, they would never do that. Whoever they are,” Menan stuttered. The students were surrounding him, and he didn’t know where to turn.

He shook his head in defeat. It was not the first time a student had found the truth about their secret, but usually, a Master would appear and help them out of the situation. No Master was going to come to his aid, not now anyway.

“Someone has been using our spell and has been causing the accidents. We have tried to find out who, but they are good at hiding their tracks,” Menan admitted with a deep sigh.

“Give us the spell, we can find them,” Cayaison volunteered.

The others nodded. Even Alixia had grown tired of playing it safe. All of them wanted to go on the offensive for a change.

Menan looked at them. “I will have to ask some of the others. But I do not see a problem, most of us like what you have been doing with the other students,” Menan said.

“Meet at the stables tonight, and we will have your answer,” a voice said from nowhere.

Menan smiled. Another caretaker had been listening to the conversation. Menan waved as he disappeared.

“How?” Cayaison was stunned. They all looked around, but there was no one there.

Then he remembered Jacobsien and two of his friends had done the same thing.

“Jacobsien and his friends must have taken the spell,” he said out loud. Everything was finally falling into place.

“Shh!” Violetta slapped his arm.

Alixia shot him a glance. He nodded.

“We should get some rest. If we are to find out whoever is doing all of this, I am sure they meet at night,” Rameus whispered.

To which they all nodded their agreement.

~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The group woke up near nightfall. Each of them was secretly getting out of their rooms and heading up to the meeting place at the top of the staircase of the students’ bedroom hallway. They made sure no one had followed them. When they were sure they were alone, they walked slowly down the stairs to the stables. Together, they walked into the stables. No one was there, but they could feel a significant presence.

“Anyone there?” Alixia asked.

Slowly, figures came out of nowhere, standing in a large circle around them. They were all dressed in black robes with their hoods up. Cayaison remembered this was the same attire that Jacobsien and his friends now wore. One of the hooded figures stepped forward.

“You already know one of our members, and since you know who it was,” the figure walked around them. “We had to let him go,” the figure told them. There was no remorse in his voice.

“Where did he go?” Alixia asked.

Another walked forward.

“That is not your concern, he is no longer in Heavstat,” she said as the previous male backed into her place in the circle.

“We are the caretakers, we have always looked after Heavstat, as well as the students and Masters,” she continued.

“It is not the concern of any of the occupants to know who we are, or how we conduct our duties,” another took her place, walking around them as she backed into the empty space.

They were talking long enough to get the message across without talking for too long, so the students could pick out who was beneath the hood or find their identity. The Caretakers could be anybody.

“However recent events have made us realize that we cannot handle this threat to Heavstat,” another male stepped forward.

Cayaison had had enough of this cryptic talking and stepped forward, just as one of them was about to start talking.

“Someone has found out how you go unseen and is using it against you?” Cayaison said.

To which there was silence.

“You cannot go after these people without giving up who you are,” Cayaison added. He knew something was wrong if they weren’t taking care of it themselves.

Again, there was silence.

“Show us how, and we will find out who they are, then you can…” Dawain began to say.

“When you find them, let us know,” one of the figures said.

“We will deal with them,” the rest said as one.

One of them dropped a small parchment on the hay-covered floor, and then they all disappeared.

Cayaison reached down, picking it up. It was a spell, a very easy spell. They gathered around him, each nodding as he began to speak the words on the parchment. Nothing seemed to happen; they were still in the stable.

“Did it work?” Alixia asked.

“Let us find out,” Rameus shrugged as he walked toward the staircase. They slowly followed.

“Anyone feel like they are moving faster?” Dawain asked.

The rest of them acknowledged that they did feel like they were moving faster. It felt like they were floating, but they could feel the floor under their feet. When they reached the main hallway, no one was there, which was not a surprise, as it was late.

They did not realize how late it was until they saw a Dark Man walking the hallway. It looked around, then went down another hall.

“It did not see us,” Cayaison noted.

They nodded back at him.

“So where would Jacobsien and the others be?” Alixia asked.

They stood in the hall thinking for a moment; none of them could come up with an answer. Then it dawned on them: It was very late, and everybody, including Jacobsien and his friends, would be sleeping.

Cayaison nodded. He re-read the chant. Nothing seemed to happen, but then the Dark man came back down the hall. It made a face, baring its teeth.

They all stood their ground, knowing that together, they could defend themselves. It nodded its defeat and disappeared. The friends chuckled amongst themselves for a moment, and without any more words, they went to their separate rooms, making sure the magic seal locked them inside.

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