“No,” said Zahlfast with a smile. “I doubt we’ll add anyone to the permanent faculty for years, though it’s always worthwhile to hear the thoughts of our former students. The Master and I haven’t felt that wizardry needed a more rigid structure-but if there’s a recurrence of newts I may change my mind. Elerius always has ideas; not long ago he even tried to persuade us to teach the magic of fire here on top of everything else.”

Zahlfast and I chatted for a few more minutes, the slightly awkward conversation of two people when it is time for one of them to go, and yet their friendship makes them want to delay the parting.

And then Zahlfast startled me much more than I wanted to admit, by speaking to me directly, mind to mind. “Beware of the Church. The priests hate and fear wizardry, and they seek to destroy you.”

His eyes held mine steadily. I shook my head without responding. Although all young wizards learn in their final years of training to communicate with each other without speaking, telepathic communication is extremely rare at the school. In speaking mind to mind one’s own mental fences are down, and in an atmosphere of unruly students it is usually safest to keep one’s thoughts sealed up securely. All I could think was that Zahlfast wanted to impress his warning on me with special emphasis.

The alternative was that someone was watching us from hiding, and Zahlfast wanted to warn me without him overhearing, but this seemed highly unlikely. Whatever odd stories there might be about priests and the aristocracy resenting wizardry, I doubted it had progressed to spies infiltrating the school.

“Good-bye,” I said, shaking Zahlfast’s hand. “Thank you again for having me here.” I took off flying, soaring high over the City’s spires and then inland, where the dense urban area quickly gave way to the fields, woods, and isolated villages of the western kingdoms.