“Yes, yes, I’m fine. But, you must be joking. This is a joke, right? Did Smythe put you up to it? He’s quite the prankster, you know.”
The clerk put her hands on her hips and spoke with an air of authority that left no doubt she believed the next words she spoke. “Mr. Teryn, sir, as a Knowledge wizard I have one of the best memories in the entire guild. I promise I have no idea who this Valeria person is that you’re speaking of, and I’m not joking. Now can we please get to work?”
The color drained form Teryn’s face at the clerk’s words. He didn’t know what to think. How was it possible that a Knowledge wizard, of all people, could forget an entire person just like that? “I . . . I have to . . . have to go now,” Teryn managed. Before the clerk could grab him by the robes again, he turned and left, leaving the confused and worried clerk to wonder what on Kallor could be going on.
Instinctively, Teryn ran to Valeria’s dorm. He thought perhaps some sick wizard’s prank had somehow worked on the clerk’s mind, but surely Valeria’s dorm mates would be able to straighten things out for him.
Only when he asked them about Valeria’s whereabouts, they looked just as confused. He got slightly belligerent and marched straight to her room despite their protests and, with a quick spell, blew the hinges off the doors. When the dust settled, he peered inside the small room to find a very frightened and confused second-year student screaming and clutching a towel like a shield in front of her.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry!” Teryn blurted out in apology, blushing a deep crimson.
Again, he ran. This time, he didn’t know where to go or what to do. Somehow, it was as if some dark force had made the entire world forget about Valeria’s very existence in the space of one evening. Well, everyone but him, of course.
But how?
He wasn’t aware of any magic spell that powerful. And even if there was, how had it not affected him? None of this made any sense.
He stopped in his tracks at that moment, realizing he’d somehow directed his feet to the Blue Library. Just as well, he thought. If there was a record of a spell of this caliber anywhere, it would be here. He crept inside much more reverently than he had the day before.
With a tiny shred of hope in his eyes, he asked the Book Warden if he’d seen Valeria at all that day. The Book Warden’s confused look told Teryn all he needed to know – the spell had worked on him, too. Whoever or whatever had gotten a hold of Valeria certainly went to great lengths to cover their tracks. But they hadn’t gone quite far enough. And that would be their undoing.
Teryn asked the Book Warden where to find the section on memory spells. The Book Warden mumbled something under his breath and pointed to a dusty section of the library. Teryn headed there and pulled a few particularly dusty tomes off the shelves. He spent the better part of the day reading through every memory spell book he could to no avail. Nothing came even close to what he was experiencing. Try though he might, he couldn’t find anything about a spell powerful enough to wipe out the memories of an entire town. Certainly nothing that would work that fast or that cleanly.
It was well after dark when the Book Warden nudged him and told him he had to go home. Teryn grudgingly agreed after a few minutes and headed back. He knew better than to fight against curfew this time. So, he slumped into his couch and waited for the darkness of sleep to wash over him.
* * * * * * * * *
Once again, Teryn jumped awake to the sound of that same screaming voice. Only this time, it seemed clearer and more certain than it had before. “Who’s there?” he demanded of the voice.
He waited for several minutes but the scream did not return. Slowly, he started to doze off again, only for the scream to pierce his mind right at the same moment that he fell asleep. This time, he was certain the voice was real and trying to tell him something very important.
“Please, tell me what you want!” he yelled, as loud as he could. Again, he waited, only to be denied a response.
He started drifting off yet again. This time, the scream formed into a single word that reverberated over and over inside his head. “Help!” the voice pleaded.
Suddenly, all of the color drained from his face. He recognized that voice. It belonged to Valeria. And she was reaching out to him to ask for help. Was this the power of her ring, he wondered? Would it let him hear her no matter the distance? If so, he was glad for the power, though it did him little good right now.
“Hang in there!” he shouted, hoping against hope that Valeria could hear his reply.
He waited for what felt like an hour after that, but the scream didn’t return again that night. He stayed up as long as he could, casting every spell he could think of on the ring to track the origin or the direction of Valeria’s voice to no avail. Finally, sleep claimed him once more.
* * * * * * * * *
Teryn woke up again the next morning with his resolve stronger than ever. He would find a way to rescue Valeria. How, he had no idea, but he had to help her. Her screams had sounded so desperate last night and Teryn knew she was in deep trouble and that, somehow, he was the only person that could help her now. After all, he was the only one who even seemed to remember her.
He took his time getting ready this morning and headed over
