Hardstahd held the letter in his hand, frustrated. Grel had written and the mercenary was apparently not happy. Some of his men had died trying to apprehend the Fellow brat. Now was threatening them, saying that Hardstahd had cost him several men and that extra payment was due. Ridiculous! The boy was harmless. Mostly, except perhaps for that demon. He balled up the letter and threw it into the fireplace, watching it burn with very little pleasure.

The boy was definitely heading to the Academy that he had brayed about constantly for the last five years. If that was the case, he was going by the Capital. A boy his age on his own was certain to invite inquiries. And if that happened, well, the hall of records was right there. He couldn’t risk an inquiry. No, Kel would need to be recaptured before he reached the Capital. The Hardstahd fortune must be protected. And Derry. Gods, Derry couldn’t carry on alone if they happened to fail. He would be lost without his father.

“Derry!”

The boy hung around the house mostly now. His fair-weather friends were shunning him after the business in the tower. Hardstahd was thinking about moving to the city when this was over. Somewhere a bit more refined. Sure, they would have less space, but they could start over and retain their farming tenancies from here. Perhaps make Derry some friends with real class.

The boy lumbered into the room, glowering. Sitting around all day was making him sullen. Time to fix that.

“Ready yourself - we’re going into town to have a word with the prisoner.”

“Do I get to help this time?” His pudgy face brightened.

“You do. We have to see this through and things might get a little rough.”

“I’m okay with that, Dad.”

“I know you are, son.” Gerald patted his son on the back. It was time to speed things up using the one advantage they had: old man Caaron.

Kel made his way back from the kitchen and up the stairs, his stomach full after a midnight snack. Max had loosened his restrictions as he had progressed in his lessons; he was now allowed to walk about the mansion, provided he avoided some pitfalls that Max had pointed out to him. Proceeding through the hall, he was trying to avoid a particular spot where the floor could sometimes apparently disappear when he thought he saw someone in his periphery.

He turned, but didn’t see anyone there. Curious, he strode to where the hall took a nonsensical turn to the left and peered around the corner. There was someone. A girl with black hair in a strange silvery dress. She was there for barely a moment, looking straight at him, then she was gone around another corner. “Wait!” he called and tried to follow her. Aside from Jasper and Max, he had no one to really talk to in this place. Who was she? None of the rooms at that end of the hall bore any results. Kel was confused. Why had she run? Was there another ghost in the house? As he turned back toward his room , Kel again felt a flicker in the corner of his eye. There she was!

He gave chase, following the ghost-girl through a labyrinth of hallways until he neared the west wing, where Max resided. He turned another corner and she was gone. This wasn’t much of a surprise - he had expected a ghost and that was what he had gotten. Still, it was strange - she had stopped right at Max’s door. His skin prickle. He wasn’t necessarily scared, but something was off. It was an eerie feeling, like he had been in this situation before.

Kel knocked timidly on the door.

“Enter,” his mentor’s voice rang from inside.

He had not, to his knowledge, been in this room during his whirlwind tour of the mansion. Nor had he been invited there during any of his tenure studying under her. It was dark, lit by candlelight rather than the strange artificial lamps that dotted the hallways of the mansion. Grim was barely visible, curled up on a red velvet mat by an empty fireplace. There were rows and rows of walnut bookshelves and a large latticed window that faced out upon a barren looking moor. Against an eerily violet sky, he saw what seemed to be a large yellow moon. Except it had an iris. The sudden realization that he was looking at a giant raven’s eye startled Kel almost as much as the fact that it was gone in a blink. What was that?

“Did I just see…?”

“Did you just see what?” Max looked up from her reading and raised an eyebrow.

“It looked…nevermind.”

“You have seen and will see many strange things in this place, Kel. You had a conversation with a ghost just this afternoon. This is a nexus of energy. It lies tucked between no less than five planes. It would be unsettling if you didn’t see something unusual from time to time. Now then, what’s this about?”

“Er…I think I saw a ghost. Another one.”

“Another ghost. Hrm.” She seemed perplexed, pretending to think. But definitely pretending. Was she being sarcastic? “I suppose there could be other ghosts in the mansion it is old…” Grim sat up and sniffed the air, its head turning curiously toward the bookshelves. “It’s okay boy. Rest,” Max tossed the great hound a chunk of some kind of meat, which it chewed greedily before lying back down.

“But you didn’t see her? She came right by here. I’m pretty sure she was at your door…”

She shrugged. “Nope, didn’t see a thing.”

“Oh well…er. Sorry to bother you I guess.” Kel kept his face neutral. What was she hiding?

Before he could ponder much further, Max slapped her book closed and stood. “It’s good that you’re here. Our timeline is moving up a bit.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that we’re going to need to accelerate your education. Things are in motion that I did not anticipate.”

This seemed unfair and strange. It was very sudden. “What kinds of things?” Kel asked.

“No questions right now. From now on, every breath counts towards your goal, Kel.”

“But -”

“No buts! Now, we’ve gotten to the basics of what makes a simple spell. Now let’s work with something a bit more complex: invisibility. I believe you’ll find it quite useful,” she put a hand on his shoulder and led him over to the open area by the window. "Let's begin."

Elsewhere in the room, sitting cross-legged by one of the shelves, a black haired girl in a silver dress watched on with a blank expression. Invisibility was, in fact, quite useful indeed.