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speak in a measured tone as was expected of a Neophyte, his previous banter
and ebullience a distant memory.
"This is my fault, Erek droned.  I am to tear up all the backdrops and
destroy all the properties myself. Please give me your costumes."
The boys complied, although Madar's reluctance to give up his beloved sweep's
rags was evident.
Erek squeezed his eyes shut, and his voice became harsh.  No more, do you
hear? A Neophyte should not waste his time in idle frivolity. Thank you for
your interest but, please, go! This last was punctuated with a small sob, and
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Grimm found embarrassment competing for his attention alongside confusion and
disappointment.
The Neophyte turned his back on the boys and picked up a hatchet lying on the
floor of the Hall. He walked to the centre of the room with a determined
stride and began to destroy the beautiful props and backdrops, all of which
had been constructed with love and dedication, with a fervour approaching
fury.
Grimm, fighting his own tears, turned and ran from the hall, not waiting to
see if his friends were behind him.
Chapter 16:  A Regrettable Incident"
« ^ »
Kargan strode into Grimm's classroom with his usual boisterous manner,
flinging his staff into the corner of the room with a loud clatter.  Staff,
stand in the corner, he muttered, and the brass-shod stick stood at obedient
attention, heedless of gravity's insistent demands. The boys were impressed,
since they had seen little real magic during their time in the Scholasticate.
The Magemaster turned to face them with an expression of smug satisfaction,
either real or feigned; Grimm could not guess which. He slumped into a casual,
almost bored, pose; one hand flat on the battered desk at the front of the
class, the other resting on his hip, one leg crossed jauntily over the other.
"Gentlemen, he breathed.  Now, you belong to me. The words hung in the air,
ominous and threatening, before Kargan's mouth twisted into its familiar,
manic grin.
"I have the pleasure to be able to tell you, he said,  that I am now the
Magemaster of your form. For my sins, I will be responsible in person for your
success or failure as Students, lowly slugs though you be.
"Lord Thorn has told me that there is altogether too much laxity within the
Scholasticate, and I have been given the solemn task to eradicate it within
this class. I wish it understood right now that I intend to work you to within
an INCH OF YOUR BLOODY LIVES and then, perhaps, a further one-twelfth of a
foot if you do not apply yourselves! I will not tolerate chattering,
smattering, idling, sidling, gossip, banter or sloth!"
Erek could have done with you in his show, Grimm thought, dazzled by Kargan's
vocal dexterity.
"I will have my eye on the jesters and the pranksters yes, I am looking at
YOU, Gaheela! and I will come down HARD on anybody who does not give his
utmost. NOW: IS THAT AS CLEAR AS THE MOST IMMACULATE CRYSTAL?"
The boys were, as ever, stunned by Kargan's sudden shifts from soft speech to
shattering shouts, but a weak, dutiful chorus of  Yes, Lord Mage arose from
the class.
"Goooood, Kargan crooned, his voice sounding as if it came from the far end
of a long tube.  Perhaps then, Turel, you would care to amuse us all with your
addle-pated recollection of the First Family of Runes, laughable though it may
be."
* * * *
Kargan was as good as his word; the workload on the Students underwent a
dramatic increase in quantity and depth. Grimm knew he was not alone in
feeling as if his head would burst with all the studies on rune inflection,
precedence, attributes from primary to tertiary, exclusions and modifiers,
but, after a few months study, the Students all had a reasonable command of
the First Family of Runes. They could recognise, pronounce and write them and,
in his classes, Crohn had even given them some basic instruction as to how
they were used in spells.
The Students soon learned that the forms of the runes alone were only a
starting point. Different accents and joining-strokes could completely alter
the sense of a spell, or render it impotent.
Kargan's classes now encompassed the singing of sequences of runes, and Crohn
explained the vital importance of accuracy and clarity of voice in
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spell-cast-ing. A few months more, and the boys were capable of chanting
simple spells, although mistakes were frequent, due to the hard pace at which
the Students were being driven.
Crohn explained that no magical transformations took place, even when the
chants were correct, because the marshalling and directing of psychic energy
into magical form would not be taught until much later.
In a firm tone that brooked no argument, he told the Students that
undisciplined children could not be trusted to use such power responsibly, and
the consequences of miscast or ill-understood spells could be quite serious.
However, the Magemaster demonstrated each of the spells with their full
effect, levitating small objects, mending broken pottery and producing balls
of coloured light from his fingertips.
Grimm felt considerable satisfaction when Kargan or Crohn congratulated him on
a well-delivered  spell", though such plaudits were few and far between.
Grimm's love of books had been dulled by the constant study of runes, and he
used the Library less than he had before. He threw himself with wholehearted
intensity into physical games with Madar and Argand in the large Scholasticate
yard. He missed Erek's rehearsals, which had been tiring at times but always
enjoyable. To assuage the loss he felt, he threw himself into his friends
games with a reckless, almost desperate abandon. Anything had to be better
than the endless, dull, stultifying repetition of runes!
* * * *
One day, as Grimm's class was trooping to the Refectory for the mid-morning [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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