THE ROOM WAS QUIET.
No one said a word, probably too stunned by Ty’s sudden outburst. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t exactly how I had meant to say that. I actually had this
nice little speech prepared, but . . .” He didn’t know what else to say so he shrugged.
His mother reached over, patted him on the arm, and smiled. “We know.” Ty raised his head. “What? What do you mean you know?”
Ty scanned the faces around the table. They all seemed to share the same sympathetic expression. Did everyone know? How did they find out? He had been so careful in keeping it hidden. Until recently, he had only used
his ability in the seclusion of the forest.
“Ty, there’s something you need to know about how you first came to live with us.”
Ty started to feel a little nervous, especially with so many unfamiliar
people sitting there staring at him. He fought back the urge to prattle on as he often did when he found himself in an uncomfortable situation. Instead,
he forced himself to remain calm and listen to what his father had to say. He had a feeling that whatever it was, it was going to change his life. He just wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.
“We told you that you were given to us by an elderly gentleman who had found you lying in a basket outside his home. We said that he had no idea who had left you there and because of his age he didn’t feel he could properly raise a child, so he decided to give you to us.” His father took a deep breath and sighed. “Well, that wasn’t exactly the whole truth.”
Ty looked at the other members of his family. Each one glanced away when their eyes met.
“The truth is, Ty, the man who gave you to us, his name is Nyalis, and he’s a wizard.”
A wizard? Did wizards still exist? Ty didn’t know what to think. He wasn’t even sure what he was feeling: excited at having learned some new
secret about his birth, relieved at having finally shared the burden of his magic, and terrified at what all this could mean.
“In fact,” his father continued, “he could be the last of the wizards.
When he first arrived in Easthaven, you couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old. He looked like he’d just walked out of the Pits of Aran’gal after spitting in the Defiler’s eye. He said he had rescued you from some very evil wielders who worked for the White Tower.”
“The White Tower?” Ty was stunned. “Why would there be wielders working for the White Tower? I thought you said the White Tower purges wielders. Wait. Did they know I was a wielder? Were they trying to purge me?”
“It’s a little more complicated than that. Nyalis said the White Tower has begun collecting wielders instead of purging them. They’re raising some kind of wielder army. Those that submit, pledge their allegiance to the new Arch Chancellor, and those that don’t . . .” his father shifted nervously in
his seat. “Well, you get the idea.”
“Why doesn’t somebody do something about it? Why doesn’t the High King put a stop to it?”
“He probably doesn’t know. There are few who do. We knew nothing of it until Nyalis showed up.” His father waved his hand. “Regardless, the point is that the White Tower is looking for you in particular. They want you for some reason. You’re special.”
If Ty wasn’t afraid before, he certainly was now. “Me? They want me? Why am I special? I’m nobody. I’m not some powerful wizard. I can only talk to animals; why would they want me?”
“You can talk to animals?”
The other members of the council scooted forward in their seats.
“Well, yes, sort of. It’s not like they talk the same way we do, but I can understand their thoughts and communicate with them.”
“That’s very impressive, son.”
“Not really.” Ty rolled his shoulders. “It’s not like I can summon fire or conjure a windstorm. Although, I did have something happen to me during Performance Night that I’d never had happen before.”
“Oh? And what was that?” Adarra asked while scrawling some additional notes in her pad.
“What happened, sweetheart?” his mother asked, more out of personal concern than educational interest like his sister. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” He caught himself rubbing his hand over the mark on his upper right arm. It was close to covering the entire shoulder now, and from what he could tell, was beginning to work its way down his arm. “I don’t know what happened. I was in the middle of playing my pipes when . . .” He bit his lip as he stared at the table.
“When? When what?” Breen asked.
Ty wasn’t sure how to explain it. He didn’t understand it himself. “Well, speak up, boy! Don’t just leave us hanging!” Feoldor’s face
looked ready to pop.
“When . . . I sort of made the East Inn disappear.”
The look of astonishment on everyone’s face made Ty slink back a little further in his seat. Even Adarra’s pen had halted in its scribbling.
“You did what?” The sleeves of Orlyn’s robe flopped across the table as he moved to the front of his seat.
“I don’t know. One moment everyone was sitting there listening to me play, and the next, we were all sitting in the middle of the Sidaran Forest.”
The tall apothecary studied Ty. His bushy brows hung low over his eyes.
He reached up and gave a tug on his beard. “What happened next?”
“Well, at the time, I was sure I was about to be arrested for wielding, so I . . . uh. I closed my eyes and started praying that everything would go back to normal and that no one would remember what happened.”
“And did it?”
“I probably wouldn’t be sitting here if it hadn’t.” “Ah, good point.”
“I don’t remember any of that?” Breen said, clearly perplexed by the situation.
“Do you know something about this, Orlyn?” Ty’s father asked. “I believe I do. I think Ty is both a pusher and a puller.”
His mother looked concerned. “A what?”
“I believe Ty can plant thoughts in people’s minds as well as extract them—a pusher and a puller.”
“That’s amazing, Ty!” his sister said. Her eyes never once left her parchments.
“It’s a very dangerous weapon to possess,” Veldon said from the head of the table as he wiped his hankie across the top of his head. “I’ve never known anyone to have such a gift.”
“Aye,” Orlyn cut in. “That was a skill the Defiler was rumored to have used against his enemies, those whose minds were weak enough to be
controlled.” Ty didn’t like the sound of that. Being compared to Aerodyne was hardly something to boast about. “Be very careful how you wield that, young man. If used in the wrong way, you could cause great damage.”
“So, do you think that’s why the White Tower wants me?” “To be honest, Ty,” his father said, “the wizard was a little less
forthcoming than we would have liked. What he told us was that you were special and that we were to keep you safe.”
Ty’s mother poked her husband in the side with her elbow. “Tell him the rest.”
“I would if you’d give me a chance.” His father sighed. “Nyalis also said that when the time was right, he’d be back to get you.” His father lowered
his gaze, clearly finding the last bit somewhat hard to get out.
“Get me? What do you mean he’s coming to get me? You mean leave here?”
His father wiped his hand across his face. “I’m not really sure. He didn’t exactly specify.”
“What if I don’t want to go?”
“Don’t you worry about it, Ty,” his mother said. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Ty’s head was reeling. He felt like everything was spinning out of control. Here he had been worried this whole time about telling his family that he was a wielder, and now he finds out that not only did they already know, but they had been keeping an even greater secret of their own. He
didn’t want to leave his home. He didn’t want to leave his family. Who was this wizard anyway? If Ty was so important then why hadn’t this Nyalis person raised him himself? Why had he left Ty to grow up in Easthaven?
Orlyn stood from his seat and grabbed his uniquely designed staff. “It’s getting rather late and I must be up early to open my shop. Besides, by the look of it, I think our young Ty here has had quite enough good news for one night.”
“I believe you’re right, Master Orlyn,” Ty’s father said as he followed the older man up. “I think we could all do with a good night’s sleep.”
Feoldor stifled a yawn and scratched at his side whiskers. “Mind if I walk you home, Reloria?”
The sweet shop owner twisted her hat back and forth on the top of her head to make sure it wouldn’t be flying off with the first decent gust. “Well, since you asked so politely.”
The rest of the council said their goodbyes, all except for the strange white-haired lady who had somehow managed to sneak out while no one was looking.
Ty was in a daze, his mind struggling to accept everything he had been told. Yet, above all the noise and confusion, one thought seemed to repeat itself over and over and over again. Why couldn’t I have been born someone else?
