The Undertaking

Part 9

I woke up to the sun in my face. Though I slept on the hard ground, it had to havebeen the best night of sleep I had gotten since I had been on my own. As I sat up I could feelthe breeze move through my hair, looking to the left I saw my Terrin grazing ten yards away.I stretched and walked over to the animal, checking it for another frog that could haveattached itself during the night. Finding none, I relaxed and went to grab a roll from my bag.Reaching into the far corner of my bag I felt my hand brush up against something squareand thick. I pulled it out of my bag. Looking at it I could see it was a small notebook.Opening it I realized it was our mentor's personal notebook.Before reading it I grabbed the last roll and tore it in half. Placing one half back inthe bag I ate the other one. I then mounted the Terrin and began forward again. The sunwas still low so hopefully I might be able to make it to the caves before it got real dark.Getting used to the pace, I decided to take out the notebook and see what was written.I opened to the first page. When asked what the Call entailed the first mages wouldonly say that it would be the lowest point in a mage's life. After completing the Call, I wouldagree, though it is much more than that. While I cannot yet prove it, due to not being able tospeak about your trial, I believe it is a glimpse into the future to your hardest choice youwill ever make. I have not made it to my own choice, but I feel it is coming... I could not helpbut fear what I would see.As the day continued, I continued to read through the priceless book of knowledge.Our teacher had many thoughts on how the Vigenere's involvement in politics wereweakening the core. He also had many theoretical notes on the use of gold for magic andpossible substitutes. While I could not understand almost all of it, I still read through itthoroughly to pass the time.Turning the page, I noticed that he began a new section. Taking a closer look, itseemed to be dedicated to the apprentices that were on this journey, his thought on eachone, and who would pass the test.Aaron – he is rather quiet, and while most would see a child who is unable to payattention, I see a child who is bored because he is more intelligent then would be givencredit for. Still even though he is quite intelligent I fear that his own logical thinking will notallow him to hear the Call in the first place...Looking back, I realized that I to was guilty of underestimating Aaron due to hisquiet nature. I also realized that to answer the Call you must be more than smart. I feltsomewhat afraid that due to my condition of a loss of emotion I would be unable to hearthe Call. This thought did comfort me somewhat because I was at least feeling something,even if it was fear. I continued to read.Corrina – in complete opposition to Aaron, Corrina is full of energy and is headstrong. This however does not mean she is unintelligent; she does tend to think of asolution before charging in. I would not be surprised to see her pass the test...As I read through the book, I began to feel more relaxed. The stress of facing the Callseemed less imposing as I read more about it. Turning the page, I looked at my own name.Erik – he is in tune with other people's thoughts and feelingsLooking down I saw there was no more righting on me. Turning the page, I saw thatit was empty. I flipped through the rest of the book to find it empty as well. I groaned indisappointment. I was jostled out of my thoughts by the sound of thunder. Looking forwardI saw the sky was a dark grey. By the looks of it I was still a few hours from the mountain. Ithought about trying to find some shelter but decided against it as the storm seemed to bequite large and would take hours to pass.I began to feel drops of water land on my hands and hair. It began to pick up ratherquickly. Soon a solid downpour of rain and wind was upon me. Luckily, the storm did notseem to be very violent and I could still navigate the Terrin forwards. Deciding to use therain as an opportunity I grabbed an empty canteen from my pack and let it rest on my lapfacing upward, allowing the rain to fall into the canaster. It would not be a whole lot ofwater, but any amount would be helpful.I traveled like this for the next couple of hours. The rain finally stopped when thesun had nearly set. The mountain looked to still be a short ways away, and as much as Iwanted to get there as soon as I could, I knew that it would be best to face the test with agood night's rest. With that resigned thought I got off of my steed and found a patch of grassto lay on. As I gazed up at the stars my thoughts drifted to what I had read, before finallyfalling asleep.