*****
It was thus that I learned how to devise potions to cure or kill; spells to cause forgetfulness, to aid memory and to bring love; the secret incantations whereby one could gaze into a mirror and see all possibilities and how to manipulate objects with only my mind and a willow staff. Kendruin was an excellent teacher and I was a voracious student, eager to drink every last drop of knowledge from his vast memory.
For fifty years I stayed with him but it seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Many long hours I spent learning spells and incantations from both Kendriun and his precious books. (Several of these, I must admit, ended in complete disaster and I very nearly blew the room off of the tower on at least one occasion.)
Kendriun never lost patience with me and I know that must have been difficult at times. After all, the only previous experience I had in application was solely with herbs. Spells, incantations, star gazing, scrying, yes, I knew about them but I had never actually tried any of it. (Perhaps if Kendriun had realized this he would have thought twice about recruiting me for his apprentice.)
However, I did learn quickly although I was no match for Kendriun's superior knowledge and experience. He always told me that experience was the best teacher and there were many things that I would not understand until I had done them myself. "There is only so much you can learn from a book, Mikal, the rest must be applied," he would say sagely.
He and I became very close during these years and he was like a second father to me. We kept no secrets from each other. Not that he couldn't just look into my mind if he so desired. It was most difficult for me to conceal my thoughts at times and it was my weakness.
I was always with him in court and watched as he counseled kings and magistrates, in awe of his foresight and steady hand in volatile matters. He was revered by the people and respected by the king and his nobles. What more could a man strive for? I would often wonder. And yet he seemed sad and remorseful at times, lamenting that he would never learn the elvin secrets of mithril or immortality before he left the earthly realm.
"Not that I would want to live forever, you understand, my boy," he would tell me as his gnarly hand grasped my shoulder. "No, I am well-deserving of a rest. However, I would like to have a mithril shirt," he would say and laugh heartily as if it were the best joke in the world.
******
Looking back, those were the best days of my life. The calm before the storm as it were. And then HE came. Oh, how many times have I gazed into that mirror to see what the world would have been like without him? How many nights have I cried to Eru in my agony begging for answers? But none ever came. Instead, a shadow fell over our fair land and it all started with an innocuous visit from Annatar, the self-styled "Lord of Gifts". Had I only known his true guise, I would have destroyed him or perished trying.
Alas, the signs were there but I was too confused and frightened to pay proper attention. And that was my undoing.
****
It was thus that I learned how to devise potions to cure or kill; spells to cause forgetfulness, to aid memory and to bring love; the secret incantations whereby one could gaze into a mirror and see all possibilities and how to manipulate objects with only my mind and a willow staff. Kendruin was an excellent teacher and I was a voracious student, eager to drink every last drop of knowledge from his vast memory.
For fifty years I stayed with him but it seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Many long hours I spent learning spells and incantations from both Kendriun and his precious books. (Several of these, I must admit, ended in complete disaster and I very nearly blew the room off of the tower on at least one occasion.)
Kendriun never lost patience with me and I know that must have been difficult at times. After all, the only previous experience I had in application was solely with herbs. Spells, incantations, star gazing, scrying, yes, I knew about them but I had never actually tried any of it. (Perhaps if Kendriun had realized this he would have thought twice about recruiting me for his apprentice.)
However, I did learn quickly although I was no match for Kendriun's superior knowledge and experience. He always told me that experience was the best teacher and there were many things that I would not understand until I had done them myself. "There is only so much you can learn from a book, Mikal, the rest must be applied," he would say sagely.
He and I became very close during these years and he was like a second father to me. We kept no secrets from each other. Not that he couldn't just look into my mind if he so desired. It was most difficult for me to conceal my thoughts at times and it was my weakness.
I was always with him in court and watched as he counseled kings and magistrates, in awe of his foresight and steady hand in volatile matters. He was revered by the people and respected by the king and his nobles. What more could a man strive for? I would often wonder. And yet he seemed sad and remorseful at times, lamenting that he would never learn the elvin secrets of mithril or immortality before he left the earthly realm.
"Not that I would want to live forever, you understand, my boy," he would tell me as his gnarly hand grasped my shoulder. "No, I am well-deserving of a rest. However, I would like to have a mithril shirt," he would say and laugh heartily as if it were the best joke in the world.
******
Looking back, those were the best days of my life. The calm before the storm as it were. And then HE came. Oh, how many times have I gazed into that mirror to see what the world would have been like without him? How many nights have I cried to Eru in my agony begging for answers? But none ever came. Instead, a shadow fell over our fair land and it all started with an innocuous visit from Annatar, the self-styled "Lord of Gifts". Had I only known his true guise, I would have destroyed him or perished trying.
Alas, the signs were there but I was too confused and frightened to pay proper attention. And that was my undoing.
****