Scholar of Magic (Art of the Adept #3) - Michael G. Manning Page 0,120

a form of travel,” said Arrogan. “Not one you’ll be using any time soon, and never in Faerie.”

“So there’s a spell that can move you from one place to another?”

“It’s called teleportation, and generally it can only be done over short distances, either to a place you can see, or a very familiar place that isn’t too far away.”

“How far is too far away?”

“A few miles at best,” said the ring. “There used to be ways to teleport from city to city, but that required a beacon and there aren’t any left.”

Will was enthralled by the subject. “What happened to them?”

“Someone destroyed them.”

The brevity of the answer raised his suspicions. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

“I’d rather not talk about it,” said Arrogan. “Don’t you have something more pressing to worry about?”

“Why didn’t anyone rebuild the beacons?”

“The secret of their construction was closely guarded by the Wayfarer’s Society, which was sort of a specialized wizard’s guild. The last of their masters died during the Terabinian War for Independence.”

“Because you killed him?”

“Listen, I didn’t kill everyone who died during that war. It’s rude to assume. I know I made it sound like I did a lot of terrible things, but I wasn’t the only one involved.”

“But you killed the guild master of the Wayfarer’s Society, didn’t you?” asked Will insistently.

Arrogan growled. “Yes, damn it. Are you happy now?”

“Maybe a little,” admitted Will. “It’s been a bad day, so it doesn’t take much to improve my mood. So, you say I can’t teleport. Can you guide me through Faerie? Tailtiu took me on a journey using multiple congruence points back and forth to get back to Barrowden in just a few hours once.”

“She’s a part of Faerie, so she instinctively knows where all the congruence points are,” explained the ring. “Not only that, but she visits our realm now and then and already knew the two places in our world that you wanted to travel between. Both of those things are necessary to figure out a route like that. Regular humans like you and me—well, like you—have to make do with the few routes we know personally.”

“So, you’re no help at all.”

“You already know my old shortcut between Barrowden and Branscombe. That will shave three days off your journey.”

He needed to get there and back much more quickly than that. Will released the limnthal and continued walking in silence. Not too long ago he’d had a surfeit of allies and resources; now he had none. As he finally reached the congruence point, he saw something move in the tall grass.

Will paused, suddenly cautious, until a familiar gray form stepped into view.

Chapter 27

Gold eyes stared at him without blinking. “What the hell do you want?” Will demanded.

“As you have been useful to me in the past, I thought I would offer you a boon,” said the goddamn cat, completely without shame.

“You left me to die last night. I needed your help then, but you abandoned me! They were eating me!”

The cat blinked once, slowly. “And yet you are standing here. It appears that despite your histrionics you didn’t need my help after all.”

Will growled. “It’s about more than me. I lost one friend and I may still lose another. Janice has lost an eye and half her face. Do you think I care about nothing but myself? They matter to me!”

One of the cat’s ears twitched, but he still seemed unfazed. “Should they matter to me? Have any of them done me a great service? You helped me remove an old enemy, but did they? Am I supposed to care about all of humankind now? You go too far in your assumptions. You were aiding one of my sworn enemies; did you expect my assistance?”

Will glared at the cat for half a minute. He wanted to fault the demigod’s logic, but he couldn’t. Nor could he dismiss the fact that the cat had shown up at the very moment he had been about to give in to despair. Was it a coincidence? Given