The Apprentice In The Master’s Shadow Read online

  THE APPRENTICE IN

  THE MASTER’S SHADOW

  Legends Of The Order, Book 2

  Ian Gregoire

  1st Edition Published 2020

  by

  Lucid Dream

  The Fantasy & Science Fiction Imprint Of Ian Gregoire

  Copyright © Ian Gregoire 2020

  Cover artwork by the design team at Damonza, with images licensed from Shutterstock.

  All characters, locations and events are products of the author’s overactive imagination, therefore fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  ISBN: 978-1-9996009-2-1 (eBook)

  ISBN: 978-1-9996009-3-8 (Paperback)

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Preface

  Author Bio

  Request

  Map

  Chapter 1: Midnight Incursion

  Chapter 2: The Perks Of Being Miss Jayta

  Chapter 3: The Bad Dream

  Chapter 4: Falling Out Of Favour

  Chapter 5: Unresolved Anger Issues

  Chapter 6: Disturbing Revelations

  Chapter 7: Unbearable Slights

  Chapter 8: Blatant Disrespect

  Chapter 9: Woman An A Mission

  Chapter 10: An Eventful Detour

  Chapter 11: Unfinished Business

  Chapter 12: Absent Without Leave

  Chapter 13: The Seventh Sister

  Chapter 14: A Leader Of Men

  Chapter 15: The Face Of The Enemy

  Chapter 16: Intervention

  Chapter 17: One Step Closer

  Chapter 18: An Audience With The Queen

  Chapter 19: A Game Of Cat And Mouse

  Chapter 20: Surviving The Night

  Chapter 21: In Striking Distance

  Chapter 22: The Bound Captive

  Chapter 23: A Strong Connection

  Chapter 24: The Life Or Death Choice

  Chapter 25: The Reunion

  Chapter 26: Reaching An Impasse

  Chapter 27: A Milestone Worth Celebrating

  Epilogue

  DEDICATION

  For Kim Missen

  I didn’t know what true friendship was until I befriended you. I’ll never be able to thank you enough, but I’ll always be grateful. You helped me get through the most difficult period of my life, and you’ve been there for me ever since, just as you promised. This book almost certainly wouldn’t exist without you, so how could I dedicate it to anyone else?

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  A big thank you to my editor, Elizabeth M. Hurst, for doing such a sterling job with my manuscript. I wasn’t sure it could be improved upon, but I was happy to be mistaken. Thanks, again, to the design team at Damonza.com for producing another excellent cover to grace my book. Thank you to cartographer, Soraya Corcoran, for the beautiful map. And, finally, thank you to the people who have supported me and my writing. You know who you are.

  PREFACE

  When I began writing this novel I thought I would have a much easier time than I did when I wrote my debut novel. That proved not be the case. In many ways it was a more arduous experience, and certainly a more time-consuming one. I had intended for the story to be shorter than its predecessor so I could get it into the hands of readers sooner. Alas, it was not to be. The Apprentice In The Master’s Shadow is considerably longer than I envisaged, not least because the characters took the story to places I hadn’t planned for it go. Nevertheless, the end result is all the better for it.

  I am very proud of this book, so all the hardships I endured to finish writing it were well worth it in the end. I learned so much writing this story that will stand me in good stead when writing my next work. Who knows, maybe my readers won’t have to wait quite so long for Book Three.

  Ian Gregoire

  London, April 2020

  PART ONE

  CHAPTER ONE

  Midnight Incursion

  Fay Annis opened the patio doors and stepped out of her living quarters into the night. Moments like this were unquestionably the most appreciated perk of her tenure as the administrator of Antaris campus: she had sole access and use of the roof garden on top of the administration building. It was always a welcome pleasure, at the end of a mundane working day, to stand beneath the stars and bask in the tranquillity of night falling across the world. She strolled languidly to the centre of the roof garden, halting beside a potted geranium. Tilting back her head, she closed her eyes, breathing deep as the mild autumn breeze caressed her olive skin while blowing strands of burgundy hair across her face. Finally, she let out a contented sigh and opened her eyes again as she lowered her head.

  After a moment of quiet contemplation Fay turned to her left and casually walked towards the south-facing parapet. As she approached, she could see the campus clock tower in the distance, informing her of the imminent arrival of midnight and the associated curfew. Coming to a halt, she rested her hands upon the stone wall and stared out at the sprawling campus before her. As usual during the night, the grounds were lit by the muted pale blue glow of a network of hanging lanterns holding illumination orbs. The scene was the epitome of serenity; the only movement Fay spied below came courtesy of a pair of two-man roaming patrols marching on opposite sides of the campus, plus a seven-strong group of apprentices hurriedly returning to the men’s dormitory before curfew was upon them.

  Fay allowed herself a subtle half-smile. The only thing missing from her late night beneath the stars was a hot drink, so she decided to brew herself some tea. Turning on her heels, she stepped away from the parapet only to stop suddenly after just a couple of steps. Her senses detected the use of Zarantar on the campus grounds below, prompting her to warily peek back over her shoulder. It was by no means an unusual occurrence, given there were literally hundreds of Zarantar wielders resident on campus, but Fay recognised the invocation of Raytandushay. She couldn’t ignore the fact that someone making themselves invisible to move around unseen while most people were indoors, sleeping or preparing for bed, was potentially cause for concern if such a person was an intruder with hostile intent.

  Ensuring she masked her own use of Zarantar, Fay invoked Makfayshulat to levitate on top of the parapet, squatting down to stare at the scene below, intent on pinpointing the source of Zarantar she was feeling. It emanated from near the women’s dormitory, but was moving steadily away from the building, heading south. In an instant, Fay’s disquiet was alleviated. She was familiar with the Zarantar of the individual sneaking around below: it was none other than the level ten apprentice, Kayden Jayta.

  “What are you up to, Kayden?” Fay muttered to herself, brow furrowed as her hooded black cloak fluttered gently in the breeze.

  If Kayden was intending to abscond from campus—breaking curfew—as Fay suspected, she would probably have little difficulty evading the notice of the four Sanatsai sentries posted at the south entrance; the quartet would be focussed on detecting outsiders trying to enter the grounds, not a precocious apprentice sneaking out.

  Fay calmly stood upright then casually stepped off the edge of the parapet, dropping from the top of the three-storey administration building. As she fell, she invoked Raytandushay and Makfayshulat to become invisible while simultaneously slowing down and controlling her descent. If anyone on the campus witnessed the feat, they wouldn’t believe what they saw. It was an action that shouldn’t be possible for any Sanatsai to pull off. The simultaneous invocation of a second application of Zarantar while invoking one of the high-level applications was generally believed to be an impossib
ility.

  Landing gently on the ground outside the back entrance to the building, Fay relied upon her senses to follow in the wake of the likewise invisible apprentice at a discreet distance—bypassing the assembly hall, lecture buildings, storage buildings, the mess hall, the clock tower, the library, more lecture buildings and the communal hall. It looked increasingly like Kayden was going to leave Antaris campus, thereby breaking the curfew that was only a matter of minutes away. If that proved to be the case, Fay had no intention of stopping the apprentice. Instead, she was going to follow Kayden to find out where she went and what she did.

  With the guarded southern entrance looming ahead, Kayden unexpectedly veered away, eastward, seemingly heading towards the stables. Fay was only slightly surprised by the young woman’s caution. While Kayden was certainly arrogant enough to attempt to walk out via the south entrance, right under the noses of the four Sanatsai on sentry duty, she was also aware of the subtle signs that could tip them off to her presence—despite her invisibility. What was surprising was the possibility of the apprentice breaking into the stables. The odds of Kayden successfully spiriting away a horse from campus grounds were so long it would not be worth the risk to attempt to do so.

  However, sneaking away from campus on horseback was not Kayden’s intent. Fay sensed the apprentice bypassing the stables entirely, making it clear she would be going over or through the campus perimeter wall behind the building. Moments later her assumption was confirmed when she felt the invocation of Makfayshulat that allowed Kayden’s invisible form to levitate up and over the six feet high wall.

  The clock tower began to chime, announcing the arrival of midnight. The auditory intrusion coincided with an abrupt end to Fay’s pursuit of her apprentice, but it wasn’t the cause of her sudden stop. Glancing to her left, she was disturbed by the Zarantar she could feel pooling at the opposite end of the campus.

  The fourth chime from the clock tower was followed immediately by all the lighting across the northern quarter of the grounds being extinguished, plunging the administration building, staff residential buildings, the men’s and women’s dormitories, and the assembly hall into darkness. In an instant Fay was sprinting northward, all thoughts of Kayden breaking curfew gone. The lights going out was the result of malicious intent; she could feel the presence of twenty unknown Sanatsai invoking Raytandushay to infiltrate Antaris campus invisibly.

  As the eighth chime sounded, Fay was alarmed by the lack of commotion up ahead. She was forced to consider the possibility that the four Sanatsai guarding the north entrance had been caught completely unawares, and were in all likelihood dead. Seeing one of the campus’ roaming patrols marching obliviously towards her, Fay ceased her invocation of Raytandushay, taking the Sanatsai pair by surprise when she became visible once more. “Intruders! North entrance!” she said, breezing past the man and woman who promptly gave chase.

  Moments later, drawing ever closer to the darkened area of the campus, Fay’s senses were still honed on the twenty unidentified Sanatsai she could feel moving stealthily past the administration building that would be partially in her field of vision if the lights hadn’t gone out. She invoked Kiraydan, unleashing a lightning flash orb that zipped up and away into the night sky where it silently detonated, lighting up the campus below like a lightning strike. It would do nothing to make the infiltrators visible, let alone stop them, but it should let them know their presence had been detected. With any luck it would also cause them to panic—at least long enough for Fay to intercept them before they could do whatever it was they were planning to do.

  Fortunately, the intervention seemed to have the desired effect; Fay sensed the group come to a standstill. In response she invoked Sinjaydan, releasing half a dozen illumination orbs into the air, their unusually intense pale blue glow chasing away the darkness. Her prompt action didn’t delay the intruders for long. Almost immediately she felt them resume their stealthy path, taking them further beyond the administration building towards the women’s dormitory on the western side of the grounds, just as she rounded the corner of the assembly hall, bringing the administration building into full view.

  Fay came to a sharp halt, forcing her two Sanatsai subordinates following close on her heels to do likewise. “Hold position, here!” she ordered them, without looking back. Wasting no time, she thrust out a hand, invoking Yuksaydan to instantly render the twenty-strong group visible. Again, the intruders halted in their tracks, this time turning to catch sight of her as she began marching aggressively towards them. It was impossible to miss the perturbed expressions on each of their faces; they clearly couldn’t believe that the ‘unseen hand’ of a single individual was strong enough to simultaneously neutralise the invocations of Raytandushay by twenty people.

  The discomfort of the all-male group, uniformly attired in well-worn, dark brown leather fatigues, was short lived. The expressions on their faces shifted once again: they looked resolutely determined to proceed with their objective. That they had been discovered simply meant they would have to shed blood to accomplish it, and to Fay they certainly looked like a capable outfit. As she advanced towards them, she saw twenty seasoned warriors, ranging in age from late-twenties to early-forties, all armed with swords at their backs and daggers at their hips. The experience showing on their grim faces told a tale of a combat-ready collective, well drilled, and accustomed to putting their lives on the line. It was an impression they wasted little time confirming. In unison they invoked Balatlaydan, unleashing a heavy barrage of incendiary orbs at the singular assailant closing in on them.

  Sensing the attack before it was initiated, Fay invoked Yuksaydan to divert the orbs straight up into the night sky where they detonated harmlessly. Instantly she regretted her error of judgement. It was unwise to make it so apparent that she was at pains to prevent any structural damage occurring to the campus on account of the late night raid. If the group subsequently scattered in all directions, they could cause a considerable amount of destruction before being apprehended; she couldn’t be in twenty different places at once.

  To Fay’s relief the intruders held their ground to unleash a second volley of incendiary orbs as she continued to stalk towards them. This time her invocation of Yuksaydan neutralised the five dozen orbs, causing them to blink out of existence before they’d even traversed a quarter of the distance towards her.

  Obviously drawn by the sounds of hostilities being initiated, three of the four Sanatsai sentries from the north entrance came into view from around the far end of the administration building, preventing any possible retreat in that direction. Maybe the intruders hadn’t entered campus grounds via the north entrance after all, Fay suddenly realised. For the briefest of moments she also thought the group were about to forgo further confrontation by dashing onwards along the western side of campus grounds, forcing her to give chase. But the arrival of the four Sanatsai sentries from the south entrance, plus the other two-man roaming patrol blocked their path.

  “Whatever you were hoping to accomplish,” Fay called out, “it’s over!” She slowed to a halt, staring pointedly at the twenty intruders. “You cannot defeat us! Surrender now! You will not be harmed!” Her tone was calculated to ensure swift compliance of her demand.

  The group had little room for manoeuvre. It would be foolish of them not to submit. They couldn’t advance further through the campus without a fight, and their window of opportunity for retreating the way they had come was quickly beginning to close: two of Fay’s most trusted Sanatsai colleagues—Solen Basanta and Darrian Lanza—had just emerged from the rear entrance to the administration building, along with her Jaymidari counterpart, Sister Elsa Renzi. If the intruders attempted to flee, they’d be hard-pressed to get very far.

  Worryingly, the twenty men look unconcerned that their infiltration of Antaris campus was quickly unravelling. If anything, the difficulty they were now faced with seemed to stiffen their collective resolve. Something unsaid passed between them, and promptly they al
l drew their swords.

  Fay began reaching back over her shoulder to draw her own weapon before remembering she was unarmed. Unruffled, she heard the sound of swords being unsheathed behind her, reminding her that she had subordinates on the scene. She gestured for them to advance towards the intransigent group, and likewise signalled for the Sanatsai quartet from the south entrance, and the trio from the north to move in also.

  “Take them alive… if you can.”

  Much to Fay’s surprise, each of the armed intruders slowly laid down their swords at their feet before taking a couple of paces back, hands raised in the air. It appeared they were surrendering without a fight… a little too easily. But she ignored her suspicion. She was more than happy for the situation to be resolved without bloodshed.

  “On your knees! Hands on your heads!” she instructed the detainees. They willingly obeyed, and eleven Sanatsai closed in to apprehend them. “Don’t take any chances with them,” she advised. “If anyone makes a sudden move, or does anything you don’t like… You are authorised to kill.”

  Glancing towards the administration building, Fay beckoned her three cohorts gathered outside. Both Solen and Darrian promptly marched towards her, leaving Elsa trailing slowly in their wake, warily eyeing the twenty kneeling men being stood over by the campus sentries. Observing the trepidation on the middle-aged Sister’s face, Fay couldn’t help but worry that Elsa had grounds to be perturbed. She wasn’t at all certain that the situation had yet been resolved—their uninvited guests gave up far too readily for her liking.

  Her two male counterparts halted before her, standing to attention, and Fay wasted no time in issuing orders. “Solen. Darrian. I don’t know if this incident is over yet. I need one of you to check the north entrance and find out why one of the sentries is missing. The other I want covering the south entrance, which is currently unguarded. Grab whoever you can to assist you.” She spoke more quickly than either of her colleagues was accustomed to hearing. “Once Isko gets here I’ll have him take charge of increasing security in and around the campus.”