Wizard Academies ● Dreamsailor

By Celina Cook

Every Wizard Academy is a little different. But Potent Conch School takes the prize for unusual location: it’s situated high on a cliffside fortress in Scotland; with towers, walls, and façade carved into the face of the cliff. The school is guarded by enchanted springs and streams, sea mage enchantments, and a monster or two. The only way to get there is by Pegasus, Unicorn, or Rainbow Bridge.

Potent Conch was founded by an old Scottish sailor who traveled the world in his youth and brought back various esoteric magick ideas from remote parts of the world. Accordingly, his ideas of the Laws of Magick are a bit different from those of the standard British or European wizard schools. Numerology features in his world view of magick, as does the power of conch shells from Hawaii, the Golden Ratio, and strange and exotic artifacts.

Follow the adventures of Ben Springfate and Rosemary Dochas Grey, student wizards who turn out to be NOT what they seem.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781300781400

Book preview

Wizard Academies ● Dreamsailor

WIZARD ACADEMIES:

The Dreamsailor

By Celina Cook

Illustrations by Lylith

• • •

ISBN: 978-1-300-78140-0

© Copyright 2013 by Alan Lance Andersen

All Rights Reserved

• • •

YOU HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED INTO THE WORLD OF MAGICK.

..

.

.

.

.

.

.

..

.

.

WIZARD ACADEMIES:

The Dreamsailor

By Celina Cook

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

PART I :

The Riddle and the Conch

Prologue

In the beginning, the Cauldron of Bounty provided for the Tuatha who defended the land against invaders. The High King — the Father of all, the Giver of Everything — had created the Cauldron, and upon his death, the Queen created a container to hold the symbol of his power, which was the opposite of the Cauldron: what the Cauldron gave, this one swallowed; only those that were worthy could touch its riches. The centuries passed.

Then, one millennium later, Delisandre le Fay learned of Titania’s receptacle. She did not know just what it was, or where it was hidden — but she knew what it held. With her thirst for power over all the others, Delisandre sent her servants — driven by Curse or Geas or Fealty to obey her commands — from Foxcastle all over the land, looking for any clue, some evidence, some hope that she might one day rule over all Faerie; to have her servants all bowing and kneeling before her, promising her loyalty and fealty forever ... bound by the enchantment of the Symbol of Power.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

CHAPTER 1

Dragons and Caves

Rosemary Dochas Grey saw the hex coming. Katrina Askance had vanished briefly a second before it happened. Pranksters usually vanish under the effects of a Chameleon Spell or hide under an invisibility cloak if they have one, so no one sees them casting a hex. The Shadow Beasts projected by the Bumper Targets are not dangerous; they cannot attack players. But pranksters and gamblers and overproud parents sometimes use powerful and forbidden spells on the Shadow Beasts during a match — as a prank. Only in Katrina’s case, Rosemary was certain it was not a prank. Those dragons were too nasty to be fun.

It was a crisp, sunny May afternoon in the canyon arena of Potent Conch School of Shell Spells and All Other Charms, and cheering crowds filled the bleachers lining the rim of the gorge for the Pêlgwyddon match against Killiecrankitt University. The sport is a combination of pinball, bowling, marbles, and hockey in which the players fly around the arena chasing after the great ball.

This Pêlgwyddon match had started when the huge Pinnaupêl ball was launched into the canyon by the giant Cormeganth onto the Long Track, much like a giant pinball machine. The large ball took off after the track ended, for an ancient spell made it weightless, with no gravity pull whatever; and it had a momentum strong enough to hit the Bumper Targets all through the canyon. When the ball hit the first target, Ben Springfate expected a dragon to appear there; for while there were Bumper Targets in which you scored right away, there were other targets with Shadow Beasts and transportation charms built into them that were worth more points. You might be teleported into another Realm and have to find your way back within in three minutes or lose points. The Shadow Beasts needed to be chased and faded with a spell or charm.

Killiecrankitt had the first Turn, and the Cranks had scored 1200 points.

BONG !!!

The ball hit the first Bumper Target, a green one, and bounced off, careening down the canyon. 25 points. Ben sped after it as it bounced off two other Targets, yellow and blue, scoring only 5 points each. BONG !!! BONG !!! The second of these Targets teleported the Pinnaupêl about a quarter mile up the maze. The team turned and raced towards it, Ben on his wyvern and his Raiders on flying carpets. A Crankie Raider riding a hippogriff sideswiped into Ben and sent him smashing against the canyon wall. Two Conch Raiders moved in swiftly to flank Ben as he recovered. You’re covered, Ben, shouted Sean O’Connerly.

Swot the Pêl — Swot the Pêl — Swot the Bally Pêl ... sang the Cheermongers, who pinwheeled and cavorted on the brink of the canyon in front of the viewing stands.

Flying on Ivyn, Ben soon outdistanced the Raiders on both teams and swotted the Pinnaupêl at a Red Bumper Target. BONG !!!

Drive, Pêldwyn, Drive !!! Gwannnn ... !!! screamed the Cheermongers.

It was at this point that Katrina Askance hexed the game.

This Target scored 75 points, but three dragons appeared and attacked Ben as the Pinnaupêl bounced back up the canyon pursued by the Crankie Driver. Okay, three dragons, not just one — and they were attacking Ben. Shadow Beasts aren’t supposed to do that! The Potent Conch Raiders were just catching up, harassed by the Crankies. Ben had his Dragonfade Charm ready to Fade the Shadow Beasts as they closed on him.

But the three dragons that had just been spit out by the bright red Bumper Target on the canyon wall were no Shadows. They were huge, real, and breathed ice, fire, and acid ...

Yikes! Gotta get away from these boys.

Ben and Ivyn flew into a maze of stalagmites on the canyon floor. His wyvern found a narrow cavern in the rocks and dove into it. The first dragon was close behind spitting acid, and Ben tried to escape, darting out of the cave and up the narrow canyon where the Pinnaupêl had bounced. The acid dragon flew after him, hitting several spots on the canyon walls in front of which Ben had been a thousandth of a second before.

Then Ben saw another cave in the rocks at the end of the canyon, just before the Lakes, and decided to take refuge inside. There was no telling how deep the cave would be, but anything was better than being hit by dragon acid. He swooped past in front of the cave once, the dragon dissolving rocks all around him. Ben thought he could see light at the other end and realized the cave was a tunnel.

The ice and fire dragons were in front of him now, having flown higher than the acid dragon and closing in from the other end of the canyon. The tunnel now was the only way out, and Ben dove into it like a rabbit hunted by three wolves. The acid-spitting monster got stuck in the cave entrance as Pendragon the Hunter flew past on a gryphon and banished the acid dragon to the Bestiary — the parallel world where dangerous beasts could be trapped. As Ben flew the length of the tunnel, he tried to figure out who might have hexed the Shadow Beast and brought forth such powerful dragons. These were not illusions! But he had no time to lose. Ben banked the wyvern and dive-rolled to avoid a spurt of acid.

Ben emerged from the other end of the tunnel, totally breathless, the wyvern Ivyn using his tail to sting the fire dragon and cold drake waiting at that exit. The two dragons were soon in hot pursuit after Ben, singeing his hair or freezing his blood. Pendragon the Hunter launched a spell against the cold drake, which ducked and sent a heavy freezing mist towards the Hunter. Pendragon instantly froze in mid-air and crashed to the canyon floor, together with his gryphon. Now Ben faced the two dragons by himself.

Mutates Mutandibum! Ben snapped his fingers, and a sizable circle of green light appeared at their tips. He hurled the ball towards the fiery beast, grabbing his wyvern’s reins and turning abruptly, casting the spell so quickly that the flames that had just erupted from the huge mouth of the fire dragon could not protect him from it. Ben dove into some burning shrubbery and made his way back into a tunnel again. That fire dragon couldn’t follow without getting stuck like the acid dragon at the other end.

But the cold drake was also still out there, waiting, after getting rid of the Hunter. Ben emerged on the other end of the cave — and there was the cold drake, ready to freeze him. Ivyn flipped and dove back into the tunnel; the Fire Dragon was waiting on the other end. What now? Ben could not go out, and the two dragons could simply breathe ice and fire into the cave and either freeze him or roast him.

• • •

Ben had not been able to grasp the concept of Mathmagick right away when Professor Aristho, a funny-looking rail-thin wizard with a mustache and a very small pince-nez which were always threatening to fall off his nose, had tried to explain it.

Suppose the animal pictured on the blackboard is within reach of your, ahem — ‘Personal Magick Demesnes —’ said Professor Aristho, and calculate what points you should hit on the animal to scatter a spell uniformly over his body to obtain the expected results. Also calculate which points you should leave out so as to avoid imperfect results. Professor Aristho thought you should always know how to do it wrong in order to learn how to do it right (whatever was the logic in this seemingly irrational principle).

The Novices had thought life at Potent Conch would be like a day at the beach, shouting spells and turning stones into doves. They had thought they would never need to study Math anymore. It was so unfair!

Time to use my Mathmagick knowledge, thought Ben, looking at the fire dragon as he approached that end of the cave. He wanted to get closer to the beast, although he knew the dragon was ready to attack. He was so close now that he could be scorched by the flames. Then, as he expected, the Fire Dragon breathed fire!

Ben’s back was freezing cold from the ice breath from the dragon at the other end of the tunnel. Just as the fiery breath burst from the scaly lips, Ben mentalized the right spellcasting points on both dragons, mentally crossed his fingers, and murmured: Statua Draco!

Both dragons instantly turned to stone, the flames and ice hanging like stone bridges in the air. Ben ducked under the frozen flame, crawled out under the belly of the fire dragon, and helped Ivyn squeeze through. As soon as he found himself safely outside, he turned again to the dragons, and concentrating cast the following spell: Animatae Draco!

The flames and ice reformed and continued on their original paths, each hitting the opposite dragon.

After some minutes, the Hunter, now unfrozen, took care of sending the monsters to the Bestiary, the Fire Dragon frozen stiff and the Cold Drake looking rather barbequed. Ben looked up and saw the bleachers exploding with roaring students jumping up and down and doing The Wave all around the Pêlgwyddon Canyon Field — for he had just disintegrated a trio of heavily-hexed Shadow Dragons and won 4500 points for Potent Conch against Killiecrankitt, 1500 points for each dragon!

Hats and pennants and all kinds of other objects were thrown into the air by the Potent Conch fans. A conch shell hit Ben on the head, and he saw that, inside it, Rosemary had written: Right on, Ben! No pain, no gain ...

Ben scanned the bleachers while he waved, then he saw the prima donna. Katrina Askance, her right arm still outstretched, apparently furious about something, and Charles Cabby by her side, as always. Ben would bet his whole breakfast basket of fruits (which was as big as a cornucopia), that she was the one who had hexed the Shadow Dragons. Where could Katrina have gotten a spell that powerful ... ?

CHAPTER 2

Over the Rainbow and into the Tunnel

Before coming to the Potent Conch magick academy, Rosemary Dochas Grey could not even tell the difference between people who know that magick exists and the Mundaes who don’t. Now she was doing magick.

Each person, once they become magickally aware, can develop his or her own particular powers to the highest levels, Rosemary read in the book Basic Concepts about Magick Powers, written by the Headmaster of The Potent Conch, the intrepid but somewhat quizzical sea captain Owen McBaha. Rosemary closed the book and recorded her thoughts in her Journal of Magick Skills, something that all students are required to keep. The journals contained all the notes on spells and counter-curses necessary for their lives as wizardesses and wizards later. Rosemary grew nostalgic, remembering the day she had first received the news she was magickal ...

• • •

The day had been warm and sunny, and the sky luminous and blue as the sky will be on the finest of autumn days. Rosemary had just turned eleven, and her mother was in the kitchen of their croft in the Scottish border country preparing lunch for the young girl to take with her to the school she attended with all other children of the other farms in the area. Her mother was a tall woman with a greyish complexion who always wore a long green dress. Until that day, Rosemary and her mother had lived as ordinary people. Maybe not so normal — because Rosemary suspected that she herself was a faery turned into a human. And for some reason, her mother had never let Rosemary see her legs. But even so, they were a relatively normal family. Or so Rosemary thought ...

On that fateful day life got much more colorful. Rosemary looked out through her bedroom window and spotted a magnificent animal grazing on their front yard. She walked out of the house through the kitchen door and went around to the front yard to see him better. His mane was the purest white, and the tail was the longest she had ever seen; but when she looked at it up close, she noticed it was not exactly a horse tail. More like a lion’s tail. The animal also had the elegant, smooth and graceful lines of a deer. Rosemary started to suspect something was quite different. She had always loved horses, although she had never ridden one. Nevertheless, she approached this creature with apprehension.

Hey, com’ere, Rosemary said, offering a sugar cube to the animal and talking to him (at least she thought it was a him) as she had always talked to any animal that happened to cross her way. You are so beautiful ... what is it, are you lost?

She was inching closer to the ‘horse,’ but stopping every few steps to glance at the weird tail. And the hooves! The rear ones were like those of any horse, but the front hooves were cloven like a deer’s. His head was turned away from Rosemary, but when he turned to look at her, she put her hands to her mouth so not to scream. The ‘horse’ had a long colorful spiral horn right in the middle of the forehead.

It was a unicorn!

Am I crazy? Am I awake? whispered Rosemary, pinching herself hard.

Gladys Grey, Rosemary’s mother, appeared at the door and ran to the girl. The unicorn stood calmly looking at them. Suddenly they both heard a silvery voice in their minds.

Rosemary is to go to the School of Shell Spells and All Other Charms. She is a very special child, and cannot be hidden here forever. Her fate awaits her.

Gladys winced, shaking her head. She turned to grab Rosemary’s hand. The girl’s eyes were the size of saucers, scanning her mother’s face and gazing at the unicorn.

Yer nae goin’ ta thet schule! Gladys yelled, grabbing Rosemary’s arm. I brought ye away fra all thet, and yer nae faery yerself. Ye’ll nae be goin’ ...

What did you say? asked Rosemary, really puzzled now. I was brought from where?