Flight of the Nighthawks Read Online Free Page A

visited it frequently.
    Caleb’s father’s relationship with the ruling council of the Academy was strained, at best. Caleb had heard Pug complain about them frequently enough to fully understand the reasons behind the estrangement, but they were his father’s reasons, not his own. Magnus, his older brother, was a magician like their parents, but Caleb had been the odd child out—the one who possessed no magical ability at all.
    The rest of his family viewed Stardock through a haze of political strife, but Caleb saw it simply as the place where he used to have fun as a child. In Stardock he had found children like himself—ordinary boys and girls who were concerned with ordinary things like growing up, learning to love, to hate, and to forgive, trying to avoid workand finding playmates. All the day-in, day-out things that Caleb had never encountered before.
    Caleb had benefited from his unusual upbringing in many ways. Much of his childhood had been spent attending tedious classes designed for students with magical ability. Only now could he see the wisdom in this, for unlike most people without ability, he could at least sense the presence of magic. And, as the most powerful enemies facing the Conclave of Shadows were magicians, Caleb counted this ability as a good thing.
    The children of Sorcerer’s Isle, and even those he lived with on the island in the Great Star Lake, were caught up in magic—even their play involved it, often to the annoyance of their teachers. For most of his childhood, Caleb had been a solitary child. While he was a good runner and as adept with a ball as any boy his age, he often stood alone, watching others play the games of illusion in which he could never partake, except as the object of a cruel child’s joke. His possessions often moved away when he reached for them, or items suddenly appeared to trip him up without warning.
    The wounds of childhood were, at times, the deepest. As he grew, Caleb became less isolated from the other children, as their interests shifted from one thing to another. But even when he was at the heart of the mischief, he still felt different.
    There had been only two places where Caleb had felt free and at peace as a child. In his tenth summer, he had been taken to Elvandar, where he lived with the elves for five years.
    Caleb had learned of elven ways, and had been tutored in the sword by the Queen’s consort, Lord Tomas, Warleader of Elvandar, and was taught the use of the bow by Prince Calin and his half brother Prince Calis. Although Caleb lacked the natural skill of Talwin Hawkins with the sword, he excelled as an archer. Both Tomas and Prince Calin had often remarked that Caleb was the equal of a man named Martin Longbow, who they claimed had been the finest human archer ever known to the elves.
    Caleb knew the elves were not prone to flattery, so he took the compliment as a mark of his achievement for long, hard hoursof practice. It had taught him that even an impossible goal could be reached if enough effort and sacrifice were made. He also realized ruefully that the elves had never seen Talwin Hawkins shoot; he was undoubtedly Caleb’s equal, if not his better. Though being the second finest human archer was still no mean feat.
    Caleb held deep affection for the elves and their magical home in Elvandar, and he could speak their language well. But it was in Stardock that he had learned his first lessons about ordinary life.
    He made his way through the bustling town square. If previous festivals were any indication, the boys would now be with the other youngsters near the fountain.
    He acknowledged greetings from many of those he passed, for they were the same children he had played with thirty years earlier. Some of the men had grown stout and others had gray in their hair—if they still had hair. The women whom he had known as girls had matured, and those who hadn’t got fat had the gaunt, lean look of too much