Do you know Cal Xavier?
«Look, you can only trust a few people you already know well,» Seventh continued, tearing open Liam's shirt.
«What about Nood, Rashid, and the Third Elder?» Cal asked.
«These people are on our side,» Seventh said and went into the other room.
Cal leaned over Liam, examining his lacerated wound and pale face. Fear raged inside, but there was also hope.
«No one is going to die so easily in this special place,» Cal believed.
Seventh returned with the medicine and set to work.
She used her spiritual power to connect the edges of the wound, and they immediately fused. Then she used tinctures and a compress of spiritual plants.
It all looked like magic, but the man was no longer surprised. His crystal lit up again. This time it was the abbot.
«Change of plans, you infiltrate the school immediately. You will receive instructions from the Twelfth.»
Cal had barely stopped talking to the abbot when the crystal flashed again.
«Mr. Cal, we're very grateful for your quick response. Thanks to you, the Head is out of danger, and we have decided to bring you into the Academy amidst the noise of this story. Rumor has already spread among the teachers and students that you saved the Head and were the first to help him. In this way, you have won over the majority. Your name is Leon Duval, you are 28 years old and a student of mine. Do you understand?»
«Am I French?» The man asked.
«Didn't you like the name?» Twelfth spent a lot of time coming up with an alias for his apprentice.
«No, it's all right, but what about looks?» Cal wondered if the Head would like him.
«It's up to you, but decide soon.»
Cal left the room in search of a mirror. He wondered what Seventh had made him look like. Looking at his face in the reflection, he was satisfied.
«I never pictured myself as a brunette with honey skin, but it looks damn good. Mistress Seventh has great taste!» thought Cal, no, Leon Duval.
He hurried back to Liam's room. The man was still unconscious, and Seventh asked for help to carry him home. There Cal stayed with the Head until morning, giving him medicine and adjusting his blanket.
At daybreak, he left to fetch Unner for a moment. He came stumbling out of the valley with an egg in his hands. Cal scooped him up and brought him to the Head, ordering the apprentice to sit quietly.
His eyes widened as he stared at his pale mentor, afraid to move.
Liam opened his eyes and found himself at home. The familiar surroundings were disturbed by the presence of two, or rather three creatures. One apprentice plus one dragon egg and one unfamiliar man.
«Who are you?» Liam asked coldly, looking at the stranger.
Cal bowed demurely and told him his name, explaining that he was a new apprentice, had arrived yesterday and had lost his way when he found the wounded Head.
«Who is your mentor?» The Head asked again.
«The Twelfth Elder,» he said, as agreed.
«Well,» Liam relaxed, «thank you for your help,» and his eyes warmed a little. - I'll assume you're the Protector.
«I am,» Cal nodded.
«You had a good Master, and I hope you will find a worthy Mentor among the teachers at the Academy.»
«I always wanted to be your student,» Cal said bluntly, «I ask you to do me the honor.»
«We will return to this conversation later. I can accept no more than one apprentice a day, and today one has already been honored,» the Head looked at the boy with the egg, «Unner, you got yourself a dragon after all,» Liam smiled and the boy melted away.
Sigh, Unner ran up to the Head and, falling to his knees, began to tell him how a yellow dragon had come out of the lake and how the monsters were chasing it, but he wasn't afraid and protected the egg.
He gasped with excitement and awe.
«In that case, you are worthy to be my apprentice, Unner,» said the Head solemnly, and touched his apprentice's hair. «Now go and take care of the egg. The dragon will appear within three days, you may stay with it in your room. Students are allowed to skip classes while the dragon is maturing. Go now... and ask someone to supply you with food.»
The cheerful apprentice jumped up and ran out of the Mentor's room. Cal took a tincture from the table and dissolved a few drops in warm water, then lifted the Head and helped him drink the medicine.
Care and attention were key to the Head's heart and so he didn't resist.
Cal opened the window and let the fresh air in, then adjusted Liam's pillows and blanket.
Suddenly, without warning, the Elders burst into the room, pushing Cal into a corner. They surrounded the Head and clucked. He held up his hand, silencing them all.
«Did you find our crystals?» He asked.
«No, not yet, but we are searching.» The Elders kept their eyes hidden as no one was really in charge of the search.
«Bring me another crystal and enroll Unner from the first year as my apprentice.»
«Okay, but what about security at the Academy?»
«A patrol of ten is to be on duty around the Academy and change every six hours. Responsible for each shift is one of the mentors, you decide who to choose.»
«Will do,» this agitated crowd gradually came to its senses, feeling the firm hand of the Head.
«Get me some food, and,» he looked at Cal, «for this student, too. «
«Have no one but him come into my room from now on, until I come out myself.»
Everyone stared at Cal in surprise, but with no reason to object one by one, they left the room. Half an hour later there was a knock at the door, and a younger student brought a basket of food.
As Cal spread out the food from the basket, Liam watched his movements and thought about something.
«What year on earth is it now,» Liam asked.
«Before I was displaced it was 1937.» Cal turned around.
«And I haven't seen you in sixty-five years,» Cal mentally added sadly.
Liam blushed and covered his face with his hand. «So long... Can I hope that Cal is still alive?» He thought.
«Tell me, Leon, what country did you live in?»
«I've traveled, but mostly lived in Belgium,» the man decided to tell the truth.
Liam rose abruptly from his bed and asked:
«Then maybe you've heard something about... Cal Xavier?»
Cal coughed in surprise and stared at Liam.
«What, you know him?» Liam asked hopefully.
«And you, Mentor, did you know this man?» Cal slyly said.
«Yes...» answered Liam sadly, and Cal's heart gave a painful twinge, «it was a long time ago. What do you know about him?»
Cal coughed because it's not easy to characterize yourself.
«He's a very rich and famous man. He made billions, he was constantly at the forefront of progress, and he was considered a visionary and an oracle. Whatever he took on, everything turned into gold...»
Liam listened with a smile that showed pride in his friend.
«And his... family?» Liam asked cautiously.
Determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past, Cal told it like it was. Without going into detail, he told the sad story of Cal Xavier, a successful businessman who lost his only friend and has been alone ever since.
He finished his story by saying that Cal Xavier was last seen on that very bridge, after which he disappeared.
Liam closed his eyes. His face felt stony, and his nervous hands clutched the blanket tightly. A clear tear slowly dripped from the corners of his eyes.
«Holy shit!» Cal jumped up, «What have I done again?»
Unaware of what he was doing, he pulled his sleeve over his palm and began to wipe away the Head's tears, cursing himself to death.
Liam didn't fight back. It was the first time in years he'd met someone who knew his Cal.
He'd talked to hundreds of students before, but all of them said they'd never heard of the man.
Maybe he should take Leon as his apprentice. With him, he could talk about how the land had changed and how «his Cal» had left his mark on it.
«I hurt my friend,» Liam thought aloud, «when my uncle took me away, I was only able to send him a letter once, and then we moved to the Aether, and I became like a prisoner here, with no way to return to earth.»
Cal struggled to keep his composure, trying not to give away his raging feelings.
«He must have been very angry with me, and I shudder to think that he changed his mind about me, perhaps hated me...» Liam shuddered at the frightening thought.
«From what you said, Mr. Xavier was a sincere friend of yours. I'm sure he suffered deeply all his life for his separation from you...»
«Oh, you don't know him,» the Head exclaimed, «He could not be alone, much less think of me. Who am I? I am a worthless, dull, boring man. And he... there are no such people anymore. He always knew what to do and knew how to help me, even though he could communicate with the elite of society, wasted his time on me. He did me a great honor by being my friend, even though I didn't deserve it!»
Cal had to turn away to hide his emotions. It was just as he thought, there was no way this naive man could believe he liked him and made a million excuses to stay away.
Trying to impress Liam on his first meeting as a businessman, Cal overdid it and for a long time remained in his friend's mind as someone great and unattainable.
«I met Mr. Cal once,» he decided to lie.
«How did that happen?» Liam's eyes shone more than a child listening to a fairy tale.
«It was at the hotel. He'd brought a pillow with a pattern of plum flowers on it. He said it was his special thing and he only slept on it. The pillow looked very old, but it was very dear to his heart.»
Liam closed his eyes with his hands. He realized where that pillow had come from. It was very dear to him, too. Plum flowers were the symbol of the Glynier family, and after the castle was robbed there were hardly any things left with the symbol, except this pillow and a couple of trinkets.
This pillow was the last surviving one. Realizing that Cal had slept on it all his life, remembering him, he burst into tears.
«I'm so sorry, so sorry.»
Cal quietly walked up to him and stroked his Head. This simple movement made him feel a storm of emotion. He suddenly wanted to take Liam in his arms and rock him like a baby.
But he couldn't. Instead, he filled a cup with water and put some sedative drops in it. After getting the Head to drink them, he put the rest of the lunch in a basket and left it outside the door.
During his preparation for this mission, Cal and everyone around him thought it would be very difficult for him to restrain himself in Liam's presence. Everyone believed that he was bound to snap and give himself away or wanted to get close as soon as possible.
But it turned out that the last few years as if the last few years did not exist, and their relationship was still in the stage of uncertainty.
Nothing has changed! Liam is still the same, and he, Cal, is still timid and hesitant, too.
The only thing that has changed is that now he's not obsessed with making all the money in the world, and hearing the breath of a man two steps away from him is enough.
Liam was asleep. Cal sat down beside his bed and stared at his features for a long time. It turned out to be very pleasant.
He looked and looked and fell asleep, leaning his head on the edge of the bed. When Liam opened his eyes, he noticed the student who had fallen asleep.
To avoid waking him up, he lay quietly for a while, but there was a knock at the door.
The student jumped up and looked out into the hallway - there was a basket of food again, and a bouquet attached to it.