The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume I: Volume I

Senior Magician of the entire Commune.
    “Yes, Apprentice Yaakke, we did.”
    That sounded ominous. No one used “Apprentice” as a title, unless something of dire importance was about to happen. From the frowns that greeted him, Yaakke guessed the worst.
    “We must discuss the matter of your abandonment of a superior in mid-spell.” The magicians ringed themselves in a half-circle beneath the huge window. They held their staffs upright, extensions of themselves, gnarled symbols of their authority. Colored light sprinkled down upon them from the awesome window, turning their faces into masks of ancient deities—most of them malevolent.
    Heat flushed Yaakke’s face. His feet grew cold, and his hands started to shake. They were going to throw him out. He knew it. He’d be stripped of his powers and cast away, like the piece of rubbish he knew himself to be. His brief flirtation with magic was a dream the likes of him didn’t deserve. He clutched his own nearly straight staff across his chest defensively.
    “We could dismiss you from the University, Yaakke,” Jaylor said, not unkindly. “You abandoned me in the void. You were a pivotal part of that spell. When you pulled away so abruptly, I could have died.”
    The dragons tried to keep me, Jaylor’s thoughts added to Yaakke’s mind. “You also endangered the life of our queen. We almost didn’t find her in time.”
    “I’m sorry,” Yaakke whispered. And he was truly sorry. He liked Jaylor, respected him, sort of. And the queen? Well if Jaylor couldn’t find her, then Yaakke certainly never would have.
    “And well you should be sorry, boy!” the oldest of them shook his staff at Yaakke. The old geezer was so ancient he’d retired to a monastery years before Baamin was elected Senior.
    “It’s just that Lord Baamin was dying and I thought I could help him,” Yaakke defended himself. “I loved him.” His words trailed off as grief choked him once more.
    “We understand that.” Jaylor cut off the old man’s attempt to burst back into the conversation with a brief gesture of his own staff. “So you will not be dismissed.”
    Yaakke looked up with hope that died at the sight of the grim expressions of all assembled.
    “There is no longer a University to dismiss you from,” Zolltarn explained.
    “No University? But there has always been a University. The kingdom depends upon it.” That was the most amazing thought of all. He couldn’t conceive of a world without the University. The massive stone buildings were the only home he had ever known, ever dreamed of knowing. “How will we fight the war? Who will advise the king and the lords?”
    “That is an unknown we must all discover.” Jaylor shook his head in dismay.
    “Can’t we just move it?” Yaakke looked expectantly to each of the masters.
    “We have already begun to empty the University of all contents and remove ourselves to a new location, outside the capital.” Slippy looked a little disgruntled at having to explain things to this boy. “The Council has exiled us from the government. We, in turn, will withdraw from the lords. Magicians will move out of palace, manor, and castle into the villages. They will be available to the people as healers and teachers. But we have forbidden them to provide any service—even a simple message relay—to a lord without the express permission of the Commune, as a whole.”
    “Wow!” Yaakke couldn’t say anything else. Those were drastic measures. The Council probably didn’t realize how much they depended upon magicians. The lords weren’t going to be happy at losing one of their greatest privileges.
    “As part of the new University policy, membership in the Commune, henceforth, will be secret. The Council knows about us.” Jaylor pointed to the group, as a whole. “But new masters and students will be as unknown as our new location.”
    “What about the war, sir? We can’t just abandon the army. Simeon’s fighting with magic,” Yaakke protested. Then he blushed in realization of his audacity in questioning these powerful masters.
    “As soon as you show them how, four magicians will transport to the front. We believe King Simeon to be the only sorcerer at our western border. Four University trained magicians should be enough to counter any magical attacks he can launch.”
    “The Simeon is pulling energy from somewhere. It’s got to be mighty powerful to work in SeLenicca. We shouldn’t underestimate him, Jaylor.”