The Last Wizard of Eneri Clare Read Online Free PDF Page A

return to the present. “I woke up cold and hungry, lying sprawled on the far bank of the pool, sore but unharmed. I had no idea how I had survived the ordeal, or how I had come to be out of the water. Nor how long I had been lying there unconscious. But I took it as a sign that whatever gods there were meant for me to live after all. And if I was going to live, I thought, then I had better be about the business of it.
    “The rest is not so interesting. It seemed as good a place as any to set down roots. I found this clearing, and set about building shelter. It took me the better part of a year, but as you say, it is comfortable and suits me. Plenty of water for bathing and drinking. The woods have been most generous to me, and fortune as well. I have learned to do a good many things that before I would not have imagined myself attempting. I make it a policy not to harm the creatures that live here or to disturb anything more than necessary. It is peaceful and remote, and the chores of survival keep me busy. For the most part, people leave me alone and I get by. It has been a good life for the last eleven years.”
    “Has it?” Xaarus finally responded to the heartbreaking narrative he had just heard.
    Tvrdik shrugged, moving to clear the plates. “My needs are few. It is a beautiful, quiet place. I am content.”
    “And do you never feel called, or driven, to a higher purpose? Do you never dream of fulfilling a bigger destiny?”
    The young man frowned. “I thought once that I was part of something grand and important. Now it all seems a distant dream, an illusion. I am no one of importance. My absence has gone unnoticed, and will not in the slightest affect the great tapestry of history.”
    Now it was Xaarus’ turn to frown. “And are you never lonely here, away from your own kind?”
    Tvrdik met the old man’s gaze evenly, and answered in quiet tones, “Who is there left of my kind? I am alone, if I say it or not. And what did relationships ever bring me in any case but pain and despair?”
    Xaaarus leaned toward him and spoke low, “You loved her?”
    “I…how could I know that? I was young; we were friends. She was the brightest star in my heavens then, so luminous I dared not even reach. And we were all of a kind then, all glorying in finding each other and our power. And you were there…” Tvrdik trailed off, looking at the floor. Then, in a small voice, lips stretched taut and thin, he finished his thought, “It is better to be comfortable with one’s own company, and not to invite such suffering into one’s life again.”
    “Tvrdik,” Xaarus began, choosing his words with care, “what happened to Benjin and Ailianne was a terrible tragedy. But you must know they brought it on themselves. I say this not to speak ill of our departed comrades, but so that you might know for certain that you had no part whatever in what happened.”
    “I might have tried to stop them.”
    “I do not think you would have succeeded. You remember, as your teacher, how many times did I warn you of the dangers of dabbling in arts you did not understand or had not yet mastered? Did I never caution you about dark sorceries that promised much, but came with a high price?”
    “You told us often, Master.”
    “And if they refused to listen to me, what makes you think they would have taken counsel from you? Tvrdik, when you knew what they were about, why did you not go with them on that night?”
    The pale young man’s face twisted in torment. “I was afraid!” he blurted out, wrenching his spectacles from his face. Then, in a hoarse whisper, “I was afraid.”
    “And good for you that you were, my son. There are many things in this universe of which we should be afraid, and chief among them is ignorance, especially combined with haste, and lust. Did you also wish for the powers they thought to conjure?”
    Tvrdik’s hands were holding his head as if it were about to explode. “No! No – I did not understand why