"Really?" Harold asked.
I was surprised that Aahz had wanted to start there, but it made sense. We had to map the energy patterns, and starting where we knew a lot was being tapped seemed logical.
Suddenly I realized what I had been thinking about.
"Map," I said aloud.
Everyone sort of turned and stared at me.
"Map," I said again, smiling at them. I reached into my pouch and pulled out the magik map we had used so often to get into this fix. If it got us here, it just might be able to get us out.
"Oh, heavens, yes," Aahz said, smiling at me. "Great think ing, Skeeve."
That was the third time he had complimented me on some thing to do with the map. I was going to have to keep this parchment with me at all times. Aahz hadn't given me that many compliments in the last year.
I opened up the map. It was completely blank. Nothing on it at all. For some reason, that wasn't what I was expecting. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but a blank parch ment just flat wasn't it.
"Perfect," Aahz said, looking at the empty sheet.
I handed it to him, flashing it so the others could tell it was blank as well. If he liked a map with no lines, he could have a map with no lines.
"Was that the map the cartographer did?" Harold asked. "The one that got you here?"
"Sure was," I said.
"What happened to it?" Harold asked.
"It got us here," Tanda said.
"Oh," Harold said.
"Tanda," Aahz said, "do you know how to do a mapping spell?"
Tananda shook her head. "Beyond me, I'm afraid."
"Glenda?"
"Nope," she said. "When I needed a map I went to a cartographer's booth on Deva and bought one."
"Same with me," Harold said.
Aahz turned and looked at me. "Guess it's up to you, apprentice."
"Okay," I said, "but don't you think I need a little practice at this spell first?"
Aahz held up the paper. "This is the only piece of magik paper we have. You only get one shot at it."
"No pressure," I said.
"If I didn't believe you could do it," Aahz said, "would I be wanting you to try?"
I didn't think I should remind him he had offered the job to everyone but me to start with. No point in ruining the mood when he was trying to boost my confidence. He did that less often than he complimented me.
"We'll be back shortly," Aahz said to everyone as he mo tioned for me to follow him, "I hope with a map."
"Yeah, me too," I said.
Aahz headed us across the carpet of grass. We had to side step around a pile of cow droppings on the way. I guess that Harold didn't have a man with a golden shovel standing be hind him at night. At the hidden entrance to the skull room Aahz stopped and turned back to Tanda.
"Are we going to be shielded out there?"
"Doing magik?" Tanda asked. "Some, but it might show through."
I didn't like the sound of that. The last thing we needed up here was the posse.
Aahz stopped and thought for a minute. "How about in the back library area?"
"That's so shielded, nothing could get out," Tanda said.
"I agree," Harold said. "It would be much safer to do spells back there."
Aahz indicated I should follow him and again we went around the pile of cow droppings, across the room and through the bathroom to the old library. I had spent so much time in this room already, I really didn't want to be in here again. Aahz pushed the door closed behind him, then laid the empty paper on top of the desk he had sat at last night.
"This is going to work even better in here," he said. "I want you to do this in two parts."
"Give it to me clearly and I'll try."
My mentor nodded. "First, we're going to imprint that ceil ing map on this paper."
I glanced up, then back at Aahz. "Good idea. How do I do that?"
"This part is going to be pretty easy," Aahz said. "Simpler than flying or doing disguise spells."
I nodded. I liked the sound of simple at this point. Since I was only getting one try, simple was the best.
"Open your mind, take in the energy as you have practiced, controlling the flow to a medium level."
"Now?" I asked.
"Now," he said.
I did as he instructed. Since we had been together I had practiced this so much it had become almost second nature to me. I could do it almost instantly when needed. When we first left my old mentor's cabin, Aahz had told me that would happen, but back then it had been so hard to do I didn't believe him.
Now, reaching out with my mind and getting energy was easy, and with this much energy flowing around me, the trick was getting only enough so that I could control what I was doing.
"Got it," I said after a moment. The energy flow was mov ing through me, ready to power anything I told it to.
"Now, in one motion," Aahz said, "without a break, picture the map on the ceiling and then picture the same map on the paper."
I did it, letting the energy help me get a clear image of the ceiling map, then a clear image of the same lines and shapes and words on the magik paper.
I let go of the energy and opened my eyes. "Perfect," Aahz said, actual excitement in his voice. I glanced at the roof. The map was still there. Good, I hadn't harmed it.
Then I looked at the paper, almost afraid of what I might see. The same map was reproduced there, only the lines were much clearer, and there were words on the paper that I didn't remember even seeing on the ceiling. And none of the dust and dirt obscured it either. I couldn't believe it. I had done a new spell perfectly the first time!
"Now don't go getting a swollen head," Aahz said, as if he could read my thoughts. "That was the easy part."
I didn't care. I had done it, and done it right the first time. For the moment that was all that mattered.
"So what's next?"
"We do the same spell with energy lines," Aahz said, "im printing them on this map of the castle."
I knew that was what he was going to want, but doing that meant stepping out of my mind to look down on the energy lines through the entire area. And the last time I had tried that I almost hadn't made it back inside my own mind. Of course, Aahz didn't know I had even tried. I didn't want to tell him because I knew he'd be angry.
"This is" going to take some preparation," Aahz said.
"I'd hoped it would."
He put the map on the floor and had me stand right over it. "See the images there?"
I nodded, staring down at the map I had just created. It was a beautiful thing indeed. "Now, when we start," Aahz said, "I want you to imagine yourself floating above the energy lines, above the castle if you have to, in the same fashion you use to reach out for the energy lines in a spell."
"Okay," I said, still staring down at the map at my feet, "but isn't there a risk I will just float away?" Standing above the map like this, it almost felt as if I was already floating.
"Good question, apprentice," Aahz said. "Just put a string on your foot."
"A what?" I looked up into my mentor's eyes. I could tell he was concerned with me even trying this. I didn't know if the concern was for me, or for what would happen if I failed, but at least he was concerned.
"A string, like a kid's balloon string," he said. "Imagine one tied from the foot of your real body to the foot of your imaginary body as it floats upward. Then when you want to return, just go back down the string."
I nodded. That was such a simple image, even I might be able to handle it.