The Compleat Enchanter

Chapter One: Neither for Love or Money

Every journey begins with a single step. Furthermore, the end of one journey only marks the beginning of the next. I'm sure there are other cliches I could rattle off about journeys and traveling but just because they are cliche doesn't make them any less true. It's why they're cliches after all.

The end of one journey had brought me to the gates of a wizard's keep. A journey had only begun at the end of the previous journey through too many years of university tutelage. There is a saying that life is a journey. It's almost right, life is, in fact, a series of journeys.

Staring at the wizard's keep that my journey had brought me to I wasn't thinking about the philosophical implications of a journey's end or beginning. Or perhaps I was thinking of the ultimate end of all journeys on the mortal plane; death.

Wizardly keeps are typically thought of as either dark foreboding places or tumbled down wrecks. Sometimes they are thought to be both at the same time. The reason for this is because that's exactly what they usually are. Wizardly types most usually value their privacy and living in creepy castle ruins encourages the common folk to stay clear.

Even knowing this I couldn't help but shiver. I knew I was expected, knew I wasn't trespassing, knew about wizards and magic, even knew that the dark foreboding aspects of the keep was more to keep the riff-raff away than it was an actual threat.

Even knowing all those things it was difficult to open the gate or even approach the gate. It's one thing to know something and quite another to feel it. Standing at the gate of the keep the only thing I felt was a sense of dread. Yes, the tower of the keep loomed far over head and the walls of the keep were both high, thick and topped with evil looking spikes.

But it didn't explain the sense of dread I felt. It was the end of spring, the weather should have been warm but instead I was chilled, cold fingers seemed to be working their way up my spine at the same time my skin set to crawling.

I fell back a step. I couldn't do this. It was too bad to have traveled all that way but there was no way I could set foot in that keep. I turned to leave, heaving a sigh of relief as I turned my back on my destination and walked away. I would have to return home with my tail between my legs but even the shame of failure was better than going into that horrifying place.

As if to speed me on my way a terrifying howl came from the keep. I broke into a run. I ran with everything I had along the narrow trail that meandered across the open expanse between the keep and forest line. I ran, not stopping until I had reached the tree line.

It's not particularly easy to do a full-out sprint while wearing a backpack containing all of one's worldly possessions but that's exactly what I did. By the time I reached the trees I was exhausted. Bending over to put my hands on my knees and panting to catch my breath I realized that I no longer felt the terror that had put me to rout.

I turned to look back at the keep I had fled from just moments earlier. While the keep still looked quite foreboding it wasn't nearly as terrifying as it had seemed when I stood at its gates. I laughed when I finally realized I had fallen for one of the oldest wizardly tricks.

After I caught my breath I straightened and headed back to the keep. It wasn't until I was standing just in front of the gates that I felt the icy hand creeping up my spine again. Interesting.

I backed away and the feelings of terror subsided. I left the narrow path and walked parallel to the keep. When I reached a good twenty yards I stopped. I still didn't feel anything like the panic that had led to me fleeing back to the woods. I stopped and made my way to the wall. Again, as I approached the wall I felt the icy fingers of dread work their way up my spine.

So the spell had an area effect. I retraced my route back to the gate, stopping well short of the gates. I weaved a hastily constructed ward about my person. When I was finished I strode forward toward the gates yet one more time.

I reached the gates without difficulty. Those icy fingers weren't silenced but they were greatly muted. I grinned, I had met my first test and passed. The gates opened without

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