The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah) by Mackenzie Morgan

formed in his stomach. He sat down at the table, took a couple of slow, deep breaths, and opened the letter.
     
    Kalen,
    I regret to inform you that Badec seems to be in a coma. He was fine yesterday, but when I tried to awaken him this morning, I could not rouse him. I sent for Sister Agnes, but she was unable to rouse him either. He is breathing regularly and his heart seems to be fine, but he is unresponsive.
    If he is not up and about by the beginning of April, I will have to report his condition to the Council of Sorcerers. They will not declare him dead as long as he is breathing, but they will vacate his chair in one year if he does not awaken, or if he is too weak to carry out the duties of Master Sorcerer.
    I see no alternative other than to send for Myron immediately. We must get him to Glendymere as soon as possible, yet secretly and safely. I fear for Myron’s life once news of Badec’s condition becomes known.
    I realize that we have not discussed plans for Myron’s introduction to Terah, but there is no way that I can leave Milhaven right now. You have my complete support for any plan that you devise. I wish you luck.
    I have sent a falcon to Duane with a copy of this message and have dispatched a phoenix with a message for Glendymere. I leave it to you to inform Pallor.
    Yours sincerely,
    Laryn
     
    Kalen sat staring at the note until midnight. He had to agree with Laryn. Their only option was to send for Myron. Unfortunately, they weren’t ready. It was too soon.
    He put in an emergency call to Pallor, went into the living room, lit the fire, and sat down to wait for the elf to pop in. Kalen felt like he had only been staring into the flames for a few minutes when Pallor popped into his living room a couple of hours later.
    One look at Kalen’s face and the elf knew something was horribly wrong. Kalen didn’t even seem to know that he was there. Pallor walked to a spot directly in front of the dwarf and asked, “What’s going on?”
    Kalen didn’t answer. Instead he handed Pallor Laryn’s note.
    Pallor sat down on the edge of a chair and read through the note a couple of times. Finally he said, “I’ll try to have Kevin and some companions on Terah in about two weeks.”
    “Who’s going to explain all of this to them? Who’s going to tell Myron what’s going on? Who’s going to tell him that he’s Myron?!”
    Pallor stood up, shrugged, and said, “I guess you are.”
    “Me?! I can’t do this, Pallor. Someone else is going to have to.”
    “Who, Kalen? I can’t. I’ll have my hands full back on Earth explaining what happened to them.”
    “But I’ll make such a mess of it.” Kalen’s face was the picture of misery.
    Pallor put his hand on Kalen’s shoulder and said, “I’m sorry about all of this. Badec wanted to be here and take care of this himself, but now … Look, just do the best you can, and don’t blame yourself for any of this. No one could have foreseen this.” Pallor handed the note back to Kalen. “Why don’t you send for Duane? Maybe he and Xantha can help. I hate to leave you like this, but I’ve got to go. I’ve got a lot to do.” Then he took out his key, gave it a quick turn, and disappeared.

 
     
     
    Chapter 8
     
    Another Search Begins
     
     
    As soon as Pallor was back on Earth, he was hit with the closest thing to a panic attack that he had ever experienced. There was no way he could have Kevin and six or seven of his friends on Terah within two weeks. He had no idea which of Kevin’s friends would even be suitable. He hadn’t started working on that yet. He was supposed to have at least two more years to figure it out, not two weeks!
    Pallor paced around his small office and tried to work his way past the panic. He stopped in front of the window, but nothing out there either relaxed him or gave him any ideas. All he could see were houses, cars, and tall buildings.
    Omaha wasn’t all that big when you compared it to places like New York, Los