More Problems

The next morning Drindle was up before Lionel even opened his eyes. Lionel rolled over and cracked his sleep crusted eyes. Staying up late the night before wore on him. The old man was nowhere to be seen. The only sign that the man had been there was a note pinned on the blanket the man slept with.

Lionel stretched as he sat up. He could smell sausage, and looked around. On his nightstand where he left an empty plate the night before sat a plate of delicious looking meat patties. Beside the plate was a tankard with a light brown liquid.

'I guess Molly must have got our dishes and brought some breakfast. I wonder if it's still warm" Lionel thought while grabbing the plate. He ate quickly and took a drink from the tankard. The wooden cup was filled with a spiced apple cider. Lionel had never drank the beverage before but he was surprised by the warm flavor the liquid conveyed to his taste buds.

'Man, I can get used to this' the boy thought while setting his plate down to grab the note on the other blanket. He sat back down to read it.

'Ank, I went to the castle to see Sophie. I will be back around noon or later. Do not leave this room. Remember the books I gave you in the wagon? They are under my bed you will need the 'Lexical Codex of Magus' it is the dark red book. you probably won't be able to read it so use my cypher copy. Study the Codex book it is the first step to summoning Velthums and becoming a full fledge Enthraller. PS. DON'T Leave The Room'

Lionel sighed audibly and spoke. "That man always dodges my questions. Guess I'll just study and wait until he gets back to get my questions answered." Lionel still had many questions he needed answered. He wanted to know why it was so easy for him to do magic. He also wanted to ask the geezer if it was normal for a Velthum that had been absorbed to give a 'Gift'. "And I still want to know why he told the guards at Fort Le'alla that he used a potion on me."

Lionel grabbed the two books from under Drindle's bed. The dark red book had text on it's cover that he still couldn't read so he decided to use the cypher book to translate it. It took him almost half an hour of flipping through the cypher back and forth to finish one word 'Lexical'

"Phew.. This is gonna take forever" Lionel spoke out loud. 'guess I just have to do it.' the boy lowered his head back into the book before continuing on

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Lionel translated for hours his head was starting to hurt. He had spent the time completing only one sentence before he laid flat on the bed and stared at the window. It was almost nightfall.

'I know Drindle said he would be back by noon or later but its almost night time."

a knock at the door made Lionel sit up quickly. "'cuse me, sir" a female voice rang out on the other side of the door. "I brought you dinner"

Lionel thought for only a second, he had been working so deeply he hadn't paid attention to the hunger pangs coming from his stomach. He got up went to the door and opened it. A small girl maybe eight or nine entered the room and set a plate of smoked meat and braised vegetables down on the nightstand while taking away the breakfast dishes. "Will you need anything else sir?"

Lionel felt weird being called sir. It was something he felt only rich or high class people should be called. He hadn't ever been either, so it felt strange. He shook his head while replying, "No, thank you though"

The little girl smiled and tried to perform a clumsy curtsy as she walked out of the door. When she was gone Lionel couldn't help but smile at the failed attempt. He had just sat back down on the bed before the door burst open and Drindle walked in with a grumpier than usual look on his face.

The old man took a look at where Lionel sat with the plate of food before speaking. "Too busy eating, I bet you haven't even finished a page of translation yet?" the geezer spoke then moved to sit on the bed. "I hate bureaucracy"

Lionel couldn't help but slink away from what the old man said. He felt bad for eating when he hadn't even completed a single page of translation. He used the man's hate of bureaucracy to keep the subject off of himself and lack of progress. "What happened at your meeting at the castle today?"

The ancient man threw himself back into the bed like a little kid throwing a tantrum before speaking again. "The Queen is trying to get the advisory council together, but that nimwit Galorian won't agree to meet."

"Why does he have to agree to meet?" Lionel didn't understand what the tall skinny man had to do with the Queen's advisory council.

"You dolt, He is practically half of the council. There are fourteen members on the council. Including the heads of the twelve noble families, Galorian, and Queen Sophia." The old man grumbled under his breath some more before continuing. "Five of the noble families hang off Galorian's butt hairs. He farts they flock to it. Wish that idiot would have died already. Can't believe they named him Archmage"

The old man's sour mood didn't keep Lionel from asking more questions. "What's the deal between you and Galorian?"

The bushy brows of the nearly, bald man rose in an exaggerated manner as he spoke "Oh, didn't you know? We're long lost lovers" The old man rolled his eyes before continuing on. "He is just a whiny baby."

Lionel could tell by Drindle's mannerisms that he didn't want to talk about the Archmage anymore, so he decided to change the subject. "Drindle, I've been meaning to ask you, am I supposed to be able to do magic this easy?" Lionel spoke while feeling the flow of energy from his mind into the environment. In front of the boy floated a ball of crystal clear water condensed from the air.

Drindle sat up abruptly and looked at Lionel intently. "To answer your question bluntly, No." The old man's serious face seemed to grow even more determined. "When you actually did magic in front of the queen I nearly shat me'self." Drindle wore a consequential expression as he asked his own query. "When did you become so proficient?"

Lionel told Drindle about the vision he had seen on the night the stable blew up. He even told how the dark figure from the Lonely Peaks had been appearing in Lionel's mind at different inopportune times. The boy told the geezer that the dark figure's name was Dextera and continued to talk while Drindle asked questions. He omitted the part where the Velthum mentioned that Drindle was a kind person, he didn't want the old man to get any more grumpy than he already was. Finally Lionel told Drindle that Dextera had given him a 'gift' that seemed to make it easier for Lionel to use magic.

Drindle's face was one of pure bewilderment. "Why didn't you tell me that the being made contact with you? That shouldn't have happened for some time yet."

Lionel felt a sense of dread coming from the old man's words. "I don't know it just never felt like the right time." Drindle's expression changed to one of anger so Lionel quickly added "And you aren't the most approachable person you know."

Anger flashed on the old man's face before it quickly changed to one of incredulity "You accepted a gift from a Velthum?" The same stunned look was stuck on the ancient man's face. "Are you stupid?!"

Lionel sat dumbfounded. It seemed like Drindle was saying it was a bad thing to accept a gift even though it had helped Lionel. "I don't understand, is it bad to accept a gift from one?"

The geezer's face showed worry as he spoke again. "This is bad, I should have trained you sooner. Of course it's bad, nothing is given freely by those vile creatures."