Path of the Specialist (Book 6)

Cover of Path of the Specialist

## Description

**The moment has come to follow the Path of the Specialist. Will our friends attain the elite specialties they are aiming for?**

Training at the Shelter, led by the Mother Specialist and tutored by the four Elder Specialists, is turning out to be more intense than any of them had expected. The Proficiency Test will determine their future, and they will have to prepare and practice harder then ever if they want to graduate with the highly-valued elite specialties.

But that is not their only concern. They will have to face new mysteries, strange characters, unusual situations, dangerous experiments, bewitched jewels, great predators, conspiracies and murder attempts in a place that oozes arcane power thousands of years old.

Will they achieve all this? Will they solve the mysteries that surround them? Who will reach the elite specialization? Who will fail? Who will survive and who will die?

## Plot

At the Refuge, Sigrid has given the Specialist candidates a week off training after the Harmony Test. Lasgol is practicing his skill of mental communication with Camu while Astrid is talking with him about his Gift and Sigrid's plans to experiment with him and Camu. They are kissing when Viggo and Ingrid interrupt them. One day after finishing their morning duties, Lasgol and his friends are coming out of the Cave of Summer when they see a very short person going to meet with Sigrid and the Elders. Lasgol gets some time to train with Camu as well.

During Wildlife training, Gisli takes his four Specialist candidates to an isolated place known as the Secret Valley. In this valley there are many exotic animals, and a group of Neanderthal-like people called Djoti; Gisli tells them that there are more groups of Djoti in similar isolated areas around Tremia.

Then Sigrid takes them to the Frozen Peak for a new type of physical training. They are ordered to climb up to the first of three ledges on the mountainside, without using ropes. While Lasgol is climbing, two rocks fall from above (where Isgord was climbing) and hit him in the head and shoulder, injuring him. He loses consciousness, and Ingrid and Molak, who had already reached the ledge, have to throw a rope down and pull him up, after Astrid and Viggo tie it around him. When Lasgol regains consciousness, he remembers Isgord smiling down at him as the rocks fell, and he tells his friends. Ingrid, Molak, and Viggo lower him down from the ledge, and Sigrid puts him on her horse and speeds back to the Refuge, where Annika takes care of him. At the Refuge, Ingrid attacks Isgord, and when Bjorn and Molak separate them, Astrid is about to kill Isgord but is stopped by Viggo.

Isgord and Ingrid are taken to talk with Sigrid and the Elders, where Ingrid accuses Isgord of trying to kill Lasgol. Both of them are suspended from training and made to camp in separate areas outside the caves, and the Elders begin investigating the incident. After they finish their investigation, Gisli takes Lasgol to Sigrid, who asks him if he is completely sure that Isgord tried to kill him. Lasgol says that since he didn't see Isgord drop the rocks, he can't be completely sure. Sigrid brings in Ingrid and Isgord and makes them swear that they won't fight anymore and that there will be no attempts on Lasgol's or Isgord's life, under pain of death.

One night, Gisli takes Lasgol to the Pearl (a large, white sphere with magical properties) to give him the Test for Selection of a Familiar. The results of the test show that Lasgol's familiar will be a Snow Panther. Later the Snow Panthers get a message from Gerd, through Milton. Gerd tells them that he found two men who he thought were Zangrian spies, but who turned out to be assassins from the Brotherhood of the Blue Snake, as they were carrying a map with the Camp highlighted and Egil's name on it. They were also carrying an assassination order for Egil, signed with a coat of arms of a bear and a boar.

Later Isgord and Lasgol are assigned to hunt together. Lasgol, stalking more cautiously than Isgord, manages to bring down a caribou. Isgord accuses him of stealing the kill, and they get into a big argument, in which Isgord calls Lasgol a traitor and threatens to kill him. Lasgol warns him that some of his friends are watching out for him, so Isgord wouldn't survive the attempt. At night Lasgol and Astrid spy on Enduald, the very short person who is occasionally seen around the Refuge. They see another Ranger (who they can't identify) give Enduald a satchel, then both of them go their separate ways.

As part of Beast Whisperer training, Gisli and Lasgol spend a night in the lair of a Snow Panther named Ilsa, who has three cubs. While Lasgol, Ingrid and Molak are watching Expertise training, Viggo complains that the exercise he has been given is too dull. Engla duels him with knives coated in Air elemental poison, which causes electric shocks when it contacts the target, and easily beats him; she tells him to practice harder and never complain again. Later the Snow Panthers get a letter from Nilsa. She tells them that Gondabar has made her his personal messenger, and that the King is bringing in many conscripts from the East, as well as Nocean mercenaries. Nilsa says that she overheard a conversation between some nobles about "taking measures" to deal with Lasgol.

Later Lasgol and Astrid are playing with Camu, when Lasgol develops the magical skill of seeing people's auras, including those that come from magic. Then Sigrid calls Lasgol to the Pearl for experiments. The Elders repeat the Harmony Test, and Lasgol manages to pass it for all five Specialties of Wildlife. Sigrid is very excited by this discovery, and wants to plan for training Superior Specialists, those with more than one elite specialty. Then they perform the test with the specialties of each of the other three Schools, and Lasgol manages to pass them all as well.

One night while Lasgol and Astrid are talking, Lasgol manages to activate the magical pendant that his mother gave him. It projects one of his mother's memories, when she is telling Dakon that she has to leave to keep him and Lasgol safe and that Uthar is really a Shifter. One day while Viggo and Astrid are practicing knife fighting, Astrid gets sick and falls unconscious. Viggo and Ingrid bring her to Annika; Lasgol is out training with the other specialist candidates in Wildlife. That night when they come back, Sigrid tells the candidates that Astrid has been poisoned with Dementia Bell, a rare plant that causes dementia and possibly death if ingested. Sigrid won't let anyone in to see Astrid, but Viggo helps Lasgol sneak into the cave and look into the Nature area (where she is being treated) from another area. While most of the candidates think it is an accident, Viggo suggests that someone poisoned Astrid. Lasgol gets very angry at this and is about to attack Isgord, but Viggo stops him and then Molak takes him outside to practice archery. Later Annika tells Lasgol that she is keeping Astrid asleep for three weeks so the poison can dissipate from her body before waking her up, to minimize the risk of damage to her sanity.

A week later the Snow Panthers get a letter from Egil. He tells them that at the Camp he is now allowed to go into the forbidden section of the library. He also has learned from messages he read that King Thoran is preparing an offensive against Arnold, and that the People of the Ice are returning to their settlements in northern Norghana. Annika decides to extend the healing process for another week. After this, she wakes Astrid up and lets Lasgol see her. Astrid is mostly recovered, but she is still weak and has some memory gaps.

Later Sigrid summons all the Specialist candidates to the Pearl, where she tells them that Astrid was deliberately poisoned, apologizes to her, and interrogates the other Specialist candidates using a strengthened Herb of Truth potion in an attempt to find the culprit. The Elders are surprised to find that none of the Specialist candidates admit to poisoning Astrid, even while under the effects of the strengthened Herb of Truth potion, which means one of them has been using an antidote. Sigrid warns the Specialist candidates that they will be watched closely from now on to prevent any more incidents and hopefully unmask the poisoner.

Later during Wildlife training, Lasgol saves Ona's life in a hunt, and this allows him to reach the second stage of Beast Whisperer training: getting an animal to respect him. One night Lasgol and Astrid are experimenting with his pendant. Astrid discovers that the pendant needs Lasgol's tears to activate it. They see one of Dakon's memories, when he met Sven and Gatik as they had just graduated as Royal Guard and Royal Ranger. Later Astrid, Lasgol and Camu discover a secret cave in a place in the Refuge called the Hill of Foam, after Camu was following Enduald around. They go inside and find a large number of Specialist cloaks and medallions, as well as seeing Enduald and another unknown Ranger from a distance.

Then Sigrid and the Elders take Lasgol to the Cave of the Frozen Dragon to continue their experiment with him. They give him a slightly different test and Lasgol manages to pass all the Specialties from all the Schools. Sigrid is very happy about this, since it means that her goal of training Superior Specialists is possible. Lasgol goes back to the cave and tells his friends. Viggo says Lasgol is always getting into these kinds of situations, and Astrid says that means he is very special.

Near the end of autumn, Gisli takes Lasgol to finish the third stage of Beast Whisperer training: the test of trust. In this test, Lasgol takes Ona away from Ilsa and her brothers, and she stays with him, making him pass the test. Gisli and Lasgol bring Ona back to the Shelter, where she stays in the Autumn Cave. While Lasgol is practicing with Ona, he uses the pendant again and sees one of his father's memories, in which he also participated in an experiment to make Superior Specialists. Dakon barely survived the experiment, and another Ranger who participated with him was killed.

Later Lasgol finds Milton, who has returned with a letter from Egil. Egil tells them that Thoran's army has forced the Western League to retreat to Estocos, where they will likely be besieged come spring. He says he has been warning Arnold about the movements of the Eastern armies, but their numbers have overwhelmed the Western forces. One day, Lasgol follows Enduald to the secret cave, where he sees him talking with the mysterious hooded Ranger again. He knocks both of them out using an arrow tipped with Summer Slumber sleeping gas, and then Sigrid comes in and tells him angrily that Enduald is her brother and the hooded Ranger is Loke. Enduald is an Enchanter and he makes the Specialist cloaks and medallions.

Later Lasgol and Viggo take Ona to meet Camu; despite Viggo's predictions that they will attack each other, they get along quite well. While Lasgol is with Astrid, he activates the pendant again and sees a memory of his mother meeting with Asrael and Izotza, two powerful mages from the Frozen Continent. He discovers that Izotza gave his mother the pendant, the magical ring to translate languages of the Frozen Continent, and Camu's egg.

The next day is the Proficiency Test, which will determine if the candidates will be given their specialties or will have to come back and try again. Molak, Isgord, Ingrid, Astrid, Viggo, Erika, Luca, Lasgol, Elina, Frida, Sugesen, and Gonars pass the Test. In a conversation during the tests, Lasgol finds out that Erika has an extensive knowledge of antidotes. After the tests have finished, while Sigrid and the Elders are debating who will pass the tests, Viggo sneaks into the Cave of Winter (where Sigrid the the Elders live). Lasgol follows him to stand watch. In a locked room, they find a carving of a massive dragon, which Viggo decides is evidence that the whole cave system is the home of an ancient dragon.

Then comes the Graduation Ceremony. All who have passed the tests are granted their Specialties, except Isgord, since Sigrid considers him to be immoral. Afterwards Sigrid asks Lasgol if he will stay at the Camp so they can continue experimenting to try to make him a Superior Specialist; he refuses, saying he just wants to be himself. Sigrid is sad, but tells him he is free to leave and to take Camu with him. Lasgol is on his way to get Camu when Erika attacks him.

Erika reveals that she was the one sent to kill him, and that she tried to poison him with Dementia Bell but Astrid ate the poisoned food by accident. Erika shows Lasgol a coin with the symbol of a bear and a boar and tells him that she is part of the Dark Rangers, and that she has been taking an antidote to the Herb of Truth potion the whole time, disguised as medicine. Erika is about to kill Lasgol when Isgord arrives and kills her. Isgord tries to kill Lasgol, but Camu attacks him and gives Lasgol time to recover and throw his axe, killing Isgord.

Three days later, Lasgol comes to in the Cave of Autumn, with Sigrid and the Elders surrounding him. He gives them an account of everything that happened with Erika and Isgord. A day later, Astrid, Viggo and Ingrid are allowed to see him, and he tells them all that happened as well. A week later they leave the Shelter. They open their orders to find out where they have to go. Ingrid is sent to the Western front, Viggo to Duke Orten's castle, Astrid to the capitol to serve the King, and Lasgol to the north to assist in scouting the movements of the People of the Ice.