�Vekia has refused to grant you clemency; therefore, you have to come with us. She wouldn�t even acknowledge that she had an apprentice,� Suulain said.
Jublis stepped in, he wasn�t going to let his friend go to war if all possible, �But Kitt�s been her apprentice for years, anyone in this town can tell ya that much.�
Suulain looked at the two of them with what Kitt thought might have been sympathy, but it was well concealed by the habit of military discipline, �Look, even if the entire Verac-Noh told us to let him go it wouldn�t matter. We need the master�s statement. Without her permission he cannot stay.� Now, his voice took on a bit more of a sympathetic quality, �Look, son, the best I can offer you is to try and figure it out with her, but other than that, I have orders, and they must be obeyed. I�m sorry, but that�s all I can tell you.� Jublis, who for some reason seemed more desperate about the situation, tried desperately to race his mind for some excuse, and tried his best, �Can�t you forget the orders? Just leave him be, you know he�s an apprentice, why not just let him go?�
Suulain looked to Jublis, sternly, he said, �Boy, I don�t know if you were paying attention this morning, but we have no choice. The Howlers are dangerous, one man,� he looked at Kitt, �may be the difference between victory and defeat, do you understand that?�
Jublis looked down, he knew he was beat, and it was worthless to keep resisting, �Yes, sir,� he half-mumbled, displeased with the answer.
Suulain looked to Jublis, �I wish I could boy, but I suggest you get some sleep, it�s a long march to Bright Ridge. You�re in for a gigantic shock. More men will be gathered in the camp than the entire Bright Ridge hub, it will be glorious, you�ll see.� He looked then to Kitt, who didn�t seem as disturbed by the news as he had expected, �If you would like, you can go see your master, but it would be a waste of a few precious hours of sleep if you failed to change her mind. Good night boys,� and he nodded them goodnight.
Kitt turned to Jublis, �Look, you�d better do as he said. I�ll go see Vekia and find out what�s the matter. I�ll see you in the morning.�
�No, I�ll go with you,� insisted Jublis, �I know her better than everyone in the village, nex� to you of course.�
�No,� said Kitt, who was no longer looking at Jublis, but past him, at nothing in particular. His voice seemed to be in a similar place. �No,� he repeated, �I must do this myself.�
�Are you sure?�
�Yes,� Kitt said with that far off voice again, �don�t worry, just get some sleep.�
�Well alright,� said Jublis, he adjusted the equipment he was still wearing from this morning, �good luck Kitt.�
Kitt walked down the path towards Vekia�s home. It seemed alien now, for he didn�t know if he was to meet the same woman he saw last night. He wondered whether he had been abandoned by the woman who was closest to being his mother, what had made her choose this, she had made it a point that it was important for Kitt to finish his training, why would she do something like this?
So preoccupied was he in these thoughts that he almost passed her home entirely, he doubled back a few steps to walk up the stone path to her door. From the outside the house didn�t look like much, a stone building with one level. Although it was of remarkable craftsmanship, as far a hermit dwelling was concerned. There were rather large window panes, filled with glass, which are rare on stone structures, but other than that little drew attention to the house. No border fence declaring property, no hedgework of any kind, no aesthetic properties of any kind, just a stone dwelling placed in the middle of a forest for no particular reason. Kitt knew better of course, underneath the structure lay an enormous underground cellar, almost three times the size of the house. It was filled with contraptions and ingredients for spells, but mostly, it was an enormous library, full of not only spell books, but atlases, history books, and even a few works of brilliant literature. It was an amazing subterranean structure.
Kitt went up the two steps leading to the front door, as he had done so many times. Will this be my last? He raised his hand, hesitated, and knocked on the door.
�Come in,� a muffled voice said from inside. Kitt could feel his breath caught in his throat, his hand was trembling as he reached for the door handle, he consciously stopped it, but still felt uneasy as he turned the knob on the mahogany door and walked in.
�Oh Kitt, I was expecting you sooner.� Vekia was in a large chair, facing her fireplace. Kitt was in the doorway still, and shut the door. He turned to his left and she was still sitting there, unmoving from her spot, but Kitt could see her arm on the rest, from what little he could see of her with the poor angle he was at.
�Vekia, what�s going on?� Kitt blurted out before he could actually think out his thoughts, �you did not even confirm I was your apprentice, why?�
�Kitt why don�t you follow me,� she said and rose from her chair. She headed for a door directly across from the entrance Kitt had entered. She pulled the handle and headed down a flight of stone stairs, it looked more like a dungeon than a basement. She led him to a room he knew quite well. The underground was where Kitt did most of his training. It was a large area, the size of a horse stable, or at least Kitt would know that if he had ever seen a stable. Along with all the pouches, jars, and books, near the roof along the four walls were torches, every three feet or so, always burning. Now that Kitt thought of it, he couldn�t think of a time he had ever seen a single one out. The light the created though was almost as bright as day, it was amazing. In the middle of the room was a structure Kitt hadn�t seen before. It was all triangles, four of them, pieced together. Kitt couldn�t remember the shapes name, but he had read it somewhere. Pyramid! That was it, pyramid. Three on each side and one on the bottom.