Prologue
"Do you think it wise, master, to be so trusting upon this one boy? He is merely a half ghost, his other half mortal at that."
"Be patient, Arravak. The time is drawing closer, I can sense it. He will not disappoint us."
"Master, I feel you speaking the truth. However, I have to ask, why must we wait for this boy? He may not be alive at all, not when we need him to be so. I have sensed more dangers coming his way, and, well-"
"Do you think I do not know, Arravak? I know all that has happened to that boy in the past fifteen years of his young life, and I am sure I sense also new fears facing him. Perhaps he will not make it, or perhaps that theory is wrong."
"You would not tell me, I wager, either way."
"No."
"But, master-"
"Perhaps if you were put in charge of many a life, you would understand the consequences of letting another know time's secrets. Even knowledge can be fatal. You, at least, should know that."
"I understand. But the dangers I sense- and you too, of course- are different. Almost- well, set up to mock the boy. Are they- are they connected with the boy's uncle?"
"Arravak, I do not wish to disclose anything else. I will say only this: that man will never be the boy's uncle. It makes me laugh... almost. Young Daniel has better chance for life than with him. Believe me, that is valuable information… very, very valuable, indeed."
"Yes, of course."
The ghost turned around and floated slowly away from the room, deep in thought. The master had made mistakes in the past… but the past was just another piece in the puzzle to him… an ever-growing jigsaw of eternity. He said everything would smooth over in time...
But if he was wrong…
Uncountable miles of thought and time away, a fifteen-year-old ghost fell out of his bed with a start, as he found himself staring into a pair of glowing red eyes, blinking at him, glaring. Then they vanished.