Kaecilius was familiar with Kamar-Taj, so avoiding the various alarm traps in its magical arrays was easy. But sneaking into the Library wasn't. He had to take a long, winding route to get there.
Kaecilius first slipped back into his room, then waited patiently for everyone at Kamar-Taj to fall asleep. He had no intention of making a scene. His target was the Book of Cagliostro in the Library.
Not long ago, Kaecilius had been the Sorcerer Supreme The Ancient One's prized disciple. He was exceptionally gifted and trained with great diligence. He had followed The Ancient One's every command, never daring to question her.
The Ancient One had repeatedly warned him that the energy of the Dark Dimension was impossible to control. Anyone who drew on it to cast spells would attract the attention of Dormammu, the ruler of the Dark Dimension, and eventually fall to darkness.
Kaecilius had once believed that was the truth. But he'd never imagined that the teacher he respected most was drawing on the Dark Dimension's energy to sustain her own immortality. It felt like discovering that a national hero who had fought the Japanese was actually a Japanese spy. It was as disgusting as eating dog shit.
Kaecilius couldn't take it, so he left Kamar-Taj. But a month away hadn't calmed him down. If anything, his resentment toward The Ancient One had only grown.
Now that he was back at Kamar-Taj, he meant to steal the Book of Cagliostro, which The Ancient One had selfishly kept to herself, and learn the forbidden spells inside. It was like a child doing exactly what the adults had forbidden, just to show how unhappy he was.
Kaecilius was already a middle-aged man, but compared with The Ancient One, he really was just a child—a child who'd