Chapter 1:
Wintermire
In the wee hours before dawn, the castle’s Great Hall was dark and silent. Wintermire’s youngest cadet, Theo, pulled nervously on his large ears before climbing up onto the Great Hall’s dais where the Warlock’s elaborate dining table had been situated for generations. Sliding his stocking feet over the dais’ solid gold floor, Theo’s toes felt the tiny scratches and dents from years of foot traffic.
This early in the morning, everyone in the castle was sound asleep, believing in their foolish dreams that they were safe from the long reach of Ubel Wintermire, fearsome Warlock and Sorcerer Supreme. Although changed into a rat by Deerward, Linc and other rebellious cadets, Ubel remained a powerful magick user. Neither time nor form could change that.
The Warlock now sought his own revenge and Theo didn’t doubt he would succeed. That’s why he had eagerly accepted the Warlock’s offer. Standing next to the dining table, Theo pretended for a moment that he wasn’t just a low-level cadet. On a whim, he sat in the master’s chair and peered out into the darkness of the Great Hall, trying his best to look fierce. Leaning back in the enormous armchair, he imagined himself as a Warlock with unlimited power.
When Ubel Wintermire was ruling Warlock, the chair back had been painted in his unforgettable image. But once Deerward took power, the back of the chair was repainted in a nice, pastoral scene. Theo couldn’t imagine why Deerward didn’t have his own face painted on the chair. If Theo was the ruling Warlock, he would have his face plastered everywhere.
While everyone else seemed delighted with the change in leadership, Theo felt ignored and neglected. Even though two cadets were invited every night to dine at the big table along with a few families from town (chosen by lottery), it wasn’t enough. With a rash of new hires, Theo only dined on the dais twice a month. It was an insult.
Worse, the dinners were now friendly and informal. Maybe a little too much, thought Theo. After all, how can you command without fear? If Theo was ruler, he would dispose of a cadet at least once a month so no one would dare make fun of his large ears or smart off to him again.
Other things were different, too. He rarely spoke to his best friend, Little Max, anymore. After being accidentally hit by the Warlock’s death spell, Max had somehow survived, morphing into a rare, magickal creature called a Lunagast. Now, Max was head of the night guard.
Theo, on the other hand, hadn’t changed at all. At age 10, he remained the smallest of all the cadets, constantly given the grunt work. He was considered too young to be taken seriously and too small to be given any important responsibilities.
At any time, he knew he could pack his bags and go home. Deerward wouldn’t stop him. But Theo vowed he would never return home until he was rich and respected. So, he bided his time. While he might be ignored and overlooked by the new Warlock’s Apprentice, there was another who noticed his drive and ambition.
Theo smiled. For the first time, he would be taller than his boss. Of course, rats weren’t very large. But it proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that powerful beings reside in small bodies.
Dawn was fast approaching and he couldn’t be caught dawdling in the Warlock’s chair. He had no doubt that Max, his one-time friend, would drag him before the governing council if he was caught during this suspicious, late night escapade. Theo shivered, thinking of the humiliation.
Jumping down from the Warlock’s chair, his shirt caught on the arm, scraping the chair across the gold floor. He froze, heart pounding, his large ears flushing bright red. Theo didn’t hear any guards, but he knew how silently Max patrolled.
Quickly, he tiptoed to the northwest corner of the dais and ducked beneath the red velvet curtains that covered all three walls. Theo had always assumed that the wall coverings were just a fancy decoration, knowing how the Warlock loved red velvet. Now, he knew better.
Sliding his small body beneath the curtain, he felt along the wall with his fingertips. There! A few feet from the corner, he felt a small bulge in the wall as if the plaster had been repaired. He pressed on it and a door slid silently open, revealing a tiny elevator concealed in the wall.
Theo stepped inside and the elevator door closed, moving downward. So, this was the secret elevator of the great Warlock! Silly Deerward didn’t even know it existed.
When the elevator door opened, Theo stood on the threshold of a small dressing room. Blocking his way was a wooden stool which he quickly moved aside to enter. As soon as the elevator door closed, the outline of the elevator vanished unless you knew exactly where to look. Theo replaced the stool, making sure it was in the same spot as before. Then he exited the small closet through a plain wooden door, finding himself in the Warlock’s basement laboratory.
It wasn’t a big laboratory and Theo, seeing it for the first time, was slightly disappointed. He had heard all about this place from Deerward and fellow cadets Kace and Linc. As if it was the funniest story in the world, Deerward relayed how Linc had found a hidden door in the back of the pantry that led down to the lab where a vile potion was bubbling on the stove. Every bubble that rose from that potion showed Kace screaming in pain.
Of course, Deerward had saved the day by dropping in a bit of salt, ruining the potion and saving Kace from being tortured by the Warlock. Theo was sick of hearing about it. If someone had bothered to ask him what to do, he might have said to toss in a little salt, too. But no one ever asked him.
The pantry door was now bolted to prevent anyone from sneaking into the lab unescorted, and Deerward had moved the Warlock’s spell ingredients to a new, unknown location. All that remained was the old stove in the center of the lab, its porcelain frame cracked and dirty.
Behind Theo were four identical closets, each 3-1/2 wide x 5 feet deep. He had stepped out from the fourth closet (with its hidden elevator). The purpose of the closets remained a mystery to this day … at least to the others, Theo thought, smirking to himself.
In each dressing room, a rough-hewn stool rested against one wall. Opposite the stool hung a narrow full-length mirror that had gone hazy, faded with age. The silver backing on the glass had worn so thin, it barely reflected any light. Black spots from seeping moisture blossomed along the mirror’s edges and spread like cracks below the glass surface, creating black rivulets of mold.
He entered the first closet (furthest from the elevator) and stared at the edges of the mirror until he spied a small black spot of mold that looked remarkably like a miniature crown. It was just where he was told it would be! Wetting his finger with his tongue, he touched the small crown-shaped spot. Carefully, his fingertip followed a squiggly black line that led from the crown to the center of the mirror.
While the line intersected with others and spread under the glass like a maze, Theo’s finger followed the same black line unerringly until it melded with a larger spot that upon closer inspection, looked exactly like a black heart, tilted slightly to the right.
Almost at once, the black heart began to beat, startling Theo so that he jumped back and fell onto the three-legged stool, barely managing not to topple over. The heart beat slowly at first, spreading to the multiple cracks and lines beneath the glass until each black line and rivulet pulsed as one and the entire mirror throbbed with a deep thud-thump, thud-thump, thud-thump.
The beat grew louder and faster until Theo feared the glass might explode. He closed his eyes, his own heart pounding, merging with the beat of the great mirrored heart. Theo pushed himself back against the wall, wishing he could push back further but the closet was small and there was nowhere left to move. He pulled his knees up to his chest and ducked his head under his arms.
When the deep pulsing finally stopped, it took Theo a moment to realize it. Squinting beneath dark lashes, he was surprised to see the mirror had started to ripple like clear running water. It was happening! He became almost giddy with glee, letting go of the fear and embracing the new Theo, wielder of magick. Soon, his life would be drastically different.
He wouldn’t be a nobody; someone to scoff at and ignore. Unable to take his eyes off the mirror, he waited anxiously, his own breath loud in his ears, until the rippling glass finally stilled, becoming a floor-to-ceiling glass window.
Theo looked out the window, amazed and excited to behold a high mountain meadow, heavily blanketed in pristine snow. Cold seeped through the glass pane and Theo stuck his hands up his sleeves for warmth.
Outside, it was early morning; the sun had not yet peaked over the mountaintops. Deep shadows made the icy ground appear blue. Although a clear path wound between large fir trees, there was no sign of footprints. It didn’t look as if anyone had passed through this meadow in the last several hours, maybe days.
In the far distance, high peaks were shrouded in mist and fog. A harsh wind blew down from the mountains, rattling the trees and tossing so much snow into the air, it looked like a sudden blizzard. For the first time, Theo had second thoughts. He looked down at his stocking feet and thin uniform before peering out the window, hoping to see a messenger trudging through the deep snow with an armful of supplies. He waited, but no one approached.
Time was running out and it was too late to change his mind. Theo stood and took a step closer to the window, feeling the cold more acutely through the thin glass pane. Bending over, he pressed his mouth against the chill window and blew, watching a circle of fog form on the glass. The fog disappeared so he tried again, breathing on the window a little to the left. Nothing. He dipped his head and bent lower down, his lips barely touching the glass as he breathed.
He saw it then, a round knob hidden beneath the fog of his breath. Theo knew as soon as he touched the knob, the tall window would become a doorway, a portal to his new life. Before it could disappear, he reached out to grab it. Slipping his hand into the mist, his fingers clutched the hard-brass knob, but he jumped back in shock. The doorknob was bitterly cold.
There was no turning back now, he scolded himself. Wishing he had worn more layers, he reached out using the cuff of his shirt and gripped the frigid knob, surprised that it turned so easily in his hand. Doing his best to ignore a fleeting sense of remorse, Theo stepped outside into the blowing snow.