Darkness Rising: Disciples of the Horned One Volume One (Soul Force Saga Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

settles in. When Lon said he found you I was pleased to have a fourth member for the first-year class.”
    Damien blinked. Perhaps he’d misheard. “Excuse me, sir, did you say my class is only four people?”
    The headmaster nodded. “That’s about average. Last year we had five, the year before only two. We currently have twenty-three students in various stages of training.”
    Damien had over thirty in his class alone at The Citadel. “Why so few, sir?”
    The tiny sorcerer chuckled. “No need to add ‘sir’ every time you address me, son, Thomas is fine.”
    Thomas? He’d never considered calling a master by his given name. Damien doubted he could force himself to do it. “Yes, sir.”
    The headmaster shook his head. “We’ll work on it. As to your question, the reason we have so few students is that a sorcerer is born only rarely. In any given year only a handful of children with externally flowing soul force are born, and often fewer than half of them are powerful enough to serve as an effective sorcerer. The biggest first-year class we’ve ever had was six and that was over a hundred years ago.”
    Damien had no idea so few sorcerers were born every year. He’d thought warlords were rare, but compared to sorcerers they were common. “How do you have classes with so few students?”
    “We don’t have formal classes, not the sort you’re used to. Some students learn best with a study partner, others in small groups, and still others benefit from individual instruction. That’s what you’ll be receiving, at least for the foreseeable future.”
    “I’ll be receiving individual instruction, sir?” Were they afraid he’d slow down the other students? He’d never been popular back home, but he liked having comrades to train with, even if, later on, he couldn’t fight at their level.
    “That’s right. I fear you don’t realize just how tremendously powerful you are. Until you can control your power it’s very possible you might accidentally hurt or kill an unskilled partner. Working one on one with a skilled teacher will give you the best chance of bringing your power under control with the minimum amount of danger to anyone else. Okay?”
    Damien couldn’t fathom that these people thought he was powerful enough to be a danger to the other students. No one had ever considered him powerful, much less a threat. “Yes, sir.”
    “Any questions?”
    “No, sir.”
    “Excellent.” The headmaster gestured and the door swung open. The boy on the bench stood up and at the little man’s beckoning entered the office. “Damien, this is Eli. He’s another first year. You two will be roommates and Eli will help you settle in. Once he’s shown you around he’ll take you to Mistress Ann’s training room. She’s expecting you so don’t dillydally.”
    Damien stood, bowed to the headmaster, and slung his rucksack over his shoulder. “Thank you, sir.”
    The little man nodded again. “Off you go.”
    Damien followed Eli out of the office and the door closed behind them on its own. That would take some getting used to. The boys walked back to the entry hall.
    “Sorry for staring earlier. I’ve never seen soul force as dense as yours, not even the masters’,” Eli said.
    “That’s fine.” Damien didn’t know what dense soul force meant, but Eli seemed impressed. He pointed to the right-hand door. “What’s back there?”
    “Meeting rooms. When the masters meet with nobles or merchants or whoever, that’s where they do it. The first floor is the public portion of the tower. Everything above is for sorcerers and students only.”
    Eli opened the center door and behind it waited a curved staircase leading to the next floor. Damien took the steps two at a time and halfway up had to stop to let Eli catch up. The boy didn’t look like he was in bad shape, but he wasn’t warrior trained either. They continued up to the second-floor landing where they found yet another dark wood door. Inside was a