The Other Apprentice

13-1 | Defiant

Three Months Later

It was evening in the Tower of Light. Tenet sat at one of the library tables, enjoying the quiet as he wrote notes on parchment from an array of books spread out before him.

Aside from the occasional scribe coming to check on things or to return a scroll to the stacks and one other quiet reader, Tenet was alone in the library.

The other reader was Tenet, as he appeared just over four months ago. Oblivious to the Tenet who was now a full wizard apprentice, Tenet the aspirant studied the tome in his lap, preparing for yet another test in his attempt to become a seeker.

Tenet the apprentice finished his notes from his current tome and closed it softly, preparing to stand and return the tome to the library shelves.

Tenet stopped himself. As real as it seemed, he was not actually in the Tower of Light back in Highhold. He was in the embrance—a quasi-real plane of existence accessible to wizards. Transferring a small amount of power to any doorway would open a physical path into a realm of thought and memory unique to its owner.

After learning the proper method of invoking the entry into the embrance, Tenet had spent weeks organizing his cluttered memories into a realm he could easily navigate. Everything here had perfect detail and was just as he remembered it. To his surprise, Tenet found he could even read the books in his memories, provided he'd read them before. He could not open unread books or turn the page on half-read books beyond where he had finished.

There was no need to return the books to the shelves, since his memory would effortlessly restore everything to how he remembered it. Despite knowing this, Tenet didn't feel right about not practicing proper library etiquette. He rose and returned the tome to its proper place on the shelves.

Tenet had read many books in this library during his time as an aspirant. Months later, he found it a very useful place to do research and collect notes on a variety of subjects in peace.

The peace broke as Widdershanks came running in through the library doorway, chittering wildly and bouncing frantically before heading back to the hallway and turning his head back to address Tenet again with a playful call.

Widdershanks was not part of his memory in this place. The ferret was real. Realizing Widdershanks wanted Tenet to follow, he got up to follow. He left his parchments and ink behind. Those too were real. Tenet had brought them into the embrance, but it seemed anything brought in stayed in place, making it an excellent storage space. Tenet knew it would be there for him when he returned to his studies.

Tenet followed the exuberant ferret out of the library and took a sharp turn through his memory of a wall into a corridor that felt real and solid, despite having no visible ceiling, floor, or walls. As he passed, Tenet saw glimpses of many of his memories: watching ships in the harbor as a boy, reading his first book about wizards, his first nexus crossing, and more.

Widdershanks scampered jubilantly through a glowing doorway carved with sigils. Following, Tenet stepped out into Madrigal's tower. Tenet touched the physical doorway behind him and released the power from the frame, returning it to a simple doorway leading into Tenet's bedroom.

Across the landing, Quinn hunched against a window, peering outward in fascination. She waved Tenet over, making room beside her at the window. "Come here! I thought you'd want to see this, so I sent Widdershanks in after you."

Tenet noticed Madrigal downstairs in his favorite chair, enjoying his pipe. Valryk stood nearby with his arms crossed. Tenet could hear shouting from outside the tower on the same side the window was pointing at. Tenet moved quickly beside Quinn and looked down.