'I ignored the details in the depth of my concentration,' Alodar replied. 'Though in truth, master Lectonil, I do not see how they can matter.'
'They are important because they illustrate my point,' Lectonil said, stabbing his index finger down against the deck. His hair was white and covered his head like a fuzzy bush growing on top of a rocky mound. Deep-set wrinkles furrowed his broad face with age and his eyes always frowned, regardless of what he said. He wore a black robe covered with a pattern of many tiny silver rings, the logo of the magician.
'What you were attempting was not magic, but a ritual nonetheless,'' he continued. 'And it is by ritual that all magical objects are made.' His frown deepened and he examined Alodar's expression critically as he spoke. 'These rituals must be performed with utmost precision. Utmost precision or else they will fail. One hasty step or sloppy motion and all the labor that went before is instantly undone. A ring already priceless can become no more than the one in the nose of a bull.'
'I was most careful as I proceeded,' Alodar said.
'Yes, to construct a house of cards, each one must be precisely placed,' Lectonil said pulling his lips into a grim smile. 'But you must satisfy the boundary conditions as well.'
Alodar did not reply, but glanced around the small bare hut and then quickly through the single window to the landscape beyond. The terrain sloped uphill, much steeper than the Fumus Mountains. Except for one well-worn path, the rough ground was untouched by the mark of man. The summer green of hearty shrubs stood out brightly in the midday sun, but farther back vague shadows shimmered and faded like reflections in an agitated pond. Except for this single shack, the entire palace was hidden behind that curtain. Periac was right about the secrecy of the magicians. A hard hour's climb from the village in the valley below, admission to the grounds only when accompanied by someone who knew the way through the shimmering veil, and acceptance on a permanent basis that depended upon satisfying arcane criteria hidden by these tests.
Alodar looked again at the dancing images, some soaring high like runs of rope dangling in the air. Others hugged the ground like giant slugs. The larger structures must be buildings, he thought, and the smaller blobs people moving between. He squinted and tried to discern some detail, but nothing resolved in the blur.
'Precision is the essence of magic,' Lectonil continued, waving his arm towards the window. 'Even for the most menial of tasks, one must have sufficient control. But you have fared well in the preliminary tests of the others. And my exercise with the cards shows your hand to be steady and your mind quick enough, despite the error at the end.' He studied Alodar and his eyes narrowed. 'Quick enough to execute properly a long and complex list of instructions, once you have learned to follow exactly the direction of a master magician.'
'Do you mean that I am admitted as an initiate?' Alodar asked.
Lectonil raised his hand palm forward. 'Our roster of initiates is complete,' he said, 'and until one advances to an acolyte, the Guild is reluctant to accept more. I offer you now the position of a neophyte only.'
'If I have aptitude, as your examination has indicated.' Alodar asked, 'then cannot I somehow profit from your instruction nonetheless?'
'My day is quite full with research and direction as it is,' Lectonil said. 'I have no time to waste on one not of my persuasion.'
Alodar wrinkled his brow in puzzlement but Lectonil continued. 'Of that I make no secret,' he said. 'Beliac opposes me openly in the council. He proposes new lines of investigation, new experimentation with rituals as yet untried. They might hold the glitter of excitement for the younger masters and some of the acolytes but they present much peril as well. We have prospered over the centuries with objects of great tradition and modest embellishments carefully researched. What need do we have for radical dissipation of our resources on tinkering that may produce no return at all? Had Beliac shown the proper respect when he received his black robe, I might have nurtured him along. But immediately he attacked my ways; no heed did he pay to my station. With each passing year his boldness grew as he subverted more to his cause. Such is not a proper way for a master to act. He should have pride in his Guild, of which I am the senior member.'
He spat. 'Beliac! How can he be so blind to what I have accomplished, the reputation I have established through years of carefully planned research? I would not doubt he is demon possessed, so destructive is the direction in which he tries to convince us to go. Yes, demon possessed. If it can happen to some uncultured outland baron, then why not a learned master magician as well?'
Lectonil's cheeks flushed and his eyes glowered. 'And so I show my favor only on those who side with respect and tradition,' he said at last. 'Respect, tradition and what is proper as well for the future of the Guild. How you would align in the matter I cannot tell from tests such as these. I must wait and observe your actions over a period of much longer time.'
'But if I perform my tasks and do not get involved in such abstract affairs,' Alodar persisted, 'what then of my chance to learn the craft as well? Without such opportunity, my best course may be to seek admission with other magicians farther to the south.'
'The border is troubled,' Lectonil said. 'You would have a difficult time in passing through.'
'Nevertheless, it is an option to consider.'
Lectonil scowled and looked down at the cards scattered about. 'Oh very well,' he said, with a wave of his arm. 'My need for someone not encumbered with study is pressing. Work for a few months as I instruct and then if you prove worthy, I will elucidate some of the art as a suitable reward.'
Alodar hesitated for a moment, trying to decide whether to speak of the two spheres he carried with him. Perhaps they would interest Lectonil enough so that he would cooperate to mutual benefit. Both Periac and Saxton had been quite open with instruction; if the magician saw an advantage, then he might also teach.
Alodar looked intently at Lectonil's uncompromising features and then to the shimmering curtain which hid the palace from view. He thought of the cryptic tests and how little he had learned from questioning the villagers in the valley below. Finally he frowned and moved his hand away from the pouch at his side.
'Is a few months two or three?' he asked at last.
'Oh, it may as well be two,' Lectonil growled. 'We will discuss it in more detail later. For the moment, follow me through the curtain. I will see that you are properly robed and lodgings assigned. If you make haste, you will be in time to witness a part of one of the major rituals, which emphasizes the importance of what I have said here.' He stopped and gritted his teeth. 'And were it not for Beliac, I would be there as well.'
Alodar ran his hands down the sides of the long brown robe. How strange, he thought for the fifth time in as many minutes, that there are no pockets. The acolytes and magicians he could understand, but even the covering of the neophyte was as uncluttered as the rest.
He shouldered his way through a wide doorway with the rest of the crowd and searched the stands rising from either side for seats still empty in the rapidly filling stadium. He saw a row of brown in the midst of the motley colors of the onlookers and climbed to join it.
'A new man,' a voice called out as he neared the group. 'Welcome to the neophytes of the Cycloid Guild. I am Hypeton and these are your fellow strugglers for truth.'
Introductions bounced around as Alodar found a place on the rough bench. He looked about the structure and reestablished his bearings. To his rear, the air oscillated in the curtain and he followed the shimmering overhead, squinting briefly into the disk of the moon. Rather than a perfect circle of light, it appeared like a large drop of silvery oil undulating on the surface of water and casting diffuse rays in all directions. His eyes tracked across the sky, in the direction behind other buildings of the Guild, he could see the protective veil again bend to earth. The large rectangular stadium floor was walled in on all four sides with many doors around the periphery, but only on the two longer ones did the seating rise into the air.
'You join us at a most propitious time, Alodar,' Hypeton continued, pushing back the shock of brown hair which tumbled down his brow. 'Did you note the closeness of the evening stars to the rim of the moon yesterday eve? They will certainly occult tonight, the six hundred and twenty-fifth day since the last total eclipse. It is the perfect time for a fifth striking and we are lucky to see one in our lifetimes.'
Alodar started to question the meaning of Hypeton's statement but remained quiet as three trumpet blasts from below silenced the crowd in anticipation. From an opening low in the wall opposite, a slow procession began to make its way onto the stadium's floor. In the front, three heralds, long trumpets thrust ahead, marched in step with the drummer a dozen paces behind. Following them, twenty white-robed initiates pulled a large wheeled cage. As it came into view the crowd murmured with excitement.
Alodar stared into the cage to see a green-scaled beast, winged and resting on powerful thighs, a long forked tongue whipping idly between rows of large, serrated teeth. Saucerlike eyes sat unblinking atop the flat snout, and
