Fizz Good question There you are Fizz Aleetha helped me to my feet Quit fooling around I was too sore to yell at Tank And she probably would have been too busy putting out the fire in her backpack to hear me anyway 4
Aleetha helped me out of the harness She was a wizard but she unbuckled the straps with the speed of an engineer Well okay she was a wizard-in-training She had gone to our school until she left to learn magic at the Shadow Tower Now she liked to surprise us with her tricks as well as help us solve mysteries The look on her face told me something was very wrong Aleetha unsnapped the last buckle and flopped onto a rock She looked sadder than a goblin on the last day of summer vacation That goblin being me Tank took the helmet from me and turned to Aleetha What’s wrong My teacher is missing Aleetha sounded like she was going to cry So what’s the problem I said If Mr Mantle disappeared I’d throw a party Fizz Tank said Old Tentacle-Face isn’t so bad Then why have I got a stack of math homework taller than me at home Maybe if you actually did the homework it wouldn’t be a giant stack Aleetha said An interesting concept I’ll take it under consideration 5
Seriously though Tank said Why are you worried about your teacher She’s a grown wizard who can take care of herself True Aleetha said She went to the lava pits of Gornash to gather data for her research project on the fire lizards that live there It’s hatching season and she is counting their population Sounds like fun I said I know Aleetha said totally missing my sarcasm I made a mental note to work on that She was supposed to be back yesterday but she hasn’t returned I’m still waiting for the part where this becomes something to worry about I said Aleetha turned to me I know this is hard for you to grasp Fizz but some monsters actually like school For them it is fun I’m not even going to try to grasp that The little guy does have a point Aleetha Tank said Your teacher is a bit late returning from a research trip What’s the big deal The big deal is the Wizards Summit Aleetha said It starts today Wizards from all over Rockfall Mountain have come to the Shadow Tower Professor Lasalan is supposed to be there 6
Maybe she’s just late I said She’s still counting baby lizards or something Aleetha shook her head slowly I don’t think so Something isn’t right Yesterday I got this in the mail She pulled a small metal cylinder from her wizard’s robes I ducked behind a rock Mages like Aleetha can do strange stuff with the things they pull from their robes Like turn goblins into rock slugs It’s all right Fizz Aleetha said with a chuckle It’s I stepped out from behind the rock Then what not a spell is it I don’t know It arrived yesterday with my name on it It’s from Professor Lasalan The cylinder was about as long as Aleetha’s hand the color of muddy water and round at each end The surface was completely smooth with no markings or writing Maybe it was a gift I said Some sort of magic present I don’t know what it is Aleetha said I’ve cast every spell I know to identify it and I keep coming up with nothing 7
