by Rain Oxford
“I saw a pillager running off with a bag of gold jewelry,” I pointed out.
“They were coming from the castle of Hershes. He brought it with him.”
I nodded with understanding and pointed to the loaf of bread in his hand. “A meal would be nice then. I haven’t actually eaten anything other than broccoli and apples in six days.” Before I could say another word, I was directed to a hut, sat forcefully in a chair, and presented with more bread, soup, and roasted bird than I could eat.
I certainly tried, though. I ate until my stomach hurt, but when I tried to thank them and leave, they gave me another gift.
“This has been in our keep for many generations,” the town’s leader said, handing me a small treasure chest. It was made of dark wood and shiny silver metal with gold writing on the front side. Alas, I couldn’t read it.
“What does this say? What’s in it?” I asked.
“Only a wizard can read it and open it. A traveler lost it in a card game, but he told us it contained a creature of terrible power.”
“That’s very interesting. If I run across a wizard, maybe I can threaten him and make him open it.”
The man frowned. “You could… just ask him nicely.”
I ignored him. “Then I can use the creature to help me do my evil deeds. Why give it to me?”
“Well, we honestly don’t want to keep it. There are too many women and children who fear that the monster will escape and even the bravest of our men say they hear the creature trying to get out.”
After that, I was politely invited to leave and not return.
* * *
At nightfall, I went into the woods, gathered some fire kindle, and sat down on a thick tree root. I waved my wand at the pile, concentrating on fire, and… nothing.
“Worthless wand,” I complained, putting it back into my pocket. Still full from eating so much food and getting rather sleepy, I considered going without a fire. Then a howl made my hair stand on end and I groaned. “Annoying werewolves.” The reason I chose to sleep in the woods instead of out in the open was obvious; werewolves were less of a nuisance than ghosts.
The deciding factor was that the wind was beginning to sound a lot like whispers. I searched my satchel and finally found my pair of snapping rocks and my flame-proof dragon-hide gloves. When I smacked the snapping rocks together, sparks rained from them into the sticks and dried weeds. With some gentle nudging and soft blowing, I got a small fire going.
I was used to sleeping outside at night, but there was something very different about this night and it made my skin crawl. The whispering in the wind was growing more conspicuous, yet I couldn’t understand the words.
Right before I fell asleep, I realized what was making me so edgy; there was no wind.
* * *
I dreamed of opening the chest, unleashing a powerful monster the likes of which Akadema has never seen, defeating Magnus, and finally being known as a sorcerer worthy of the Dracre name. I would just have to make sure the monster didn’t hurt anyone. I wanted to cause trouble, not hurt people.
The sound of a very close howl woke me, but I wasn’t worried. My dream had given me an idea. I pulled the box out of my bag and hesitated when I heard the whispers again. Whatever it was inside the box was what I was hearing. Assuming it was some trick in order to frighten me away from it, I pulled the wand out of my pocket and waved it at the chest. Reveal your secrets.
Instead of the chest opening, the inscription changed so that I could read it.
Every choice creates ripples like a stone dropped into a pond. The ripples of many choices merge, alter, and reflect off each other and the bank in unpredictable ways. The greater the choice, the larger the ripples and the more unpredictable the consequences.
As soon as I read it, the box flew out of my hands, the lid opened with a creak, and light spilled out that was so bright I had to cover my eyes. The whispering became louder until it was an unintelligible hissing. It wasn’t out loud, though; it was in my mind. When I heard the lid close and looked at it, my jaw dropped. There was a big wolf with white, grey, black, and auburn fur sitting in front of me.
“What…?” I tried to scramble back only to hit the tree I had fallen asleep under. The wolf snarled. “Please don’t eat me!” I said as I put my arms over my face. I had dropped my wand when I first saw the wolf.
The whispering softened suddenly before forming into words. “I am not going to eat you.” The voice was strange, masculine, oddly weightless, and nothing like the whispers I heard before.
I looked at the animal in shock; it wasn’t a werewolf, skinwalker, or spirit. Actual wolves were rarer than dragons. “Did you just talk?”
His eyes widened. “You can hear me?” The wolf’s mouth didn’t move, yet I heard him very clearly in my mind. When I didn’t answer him, he studied the small chest at his feet, obviously reading the inscription. “I see. You must have said the incantation and used very powerful magic to free me.”
I hadn’t said the inscription aloud and I didn’t have very powerful magic. “So you came from the box? I was told the box held an extremely powerful creature.”
“That was correct, except that this is no mere box. The syrus is an ancient device that can contain even the most powerful magic.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Merlin. I am… or rather, I was a wizard. Unfortunately, I loved the wrong person and was blinded to an enemy I should have been able to defeat easily. Instead, I was turned into this and trapped in the syrus.”
“So, you’re a wizard?”
“That is what I said.”
“Well, I’m a sorcerer, so we’re enemies.”
“A sorcerer? We must be on Caldaca.”
“We’re in Akadema,” I corrected him.
He rolled his wolf eyes. “Akadema is an island. Caldaca is the name of your world. I traveled to many worlds, and only Caldaca is so divided in magic to differentiate between wizards and sorcerers. I was under the impression that sorcerers did not have blond hair on this world.”
I grimaced. “Yes, I know. I’m really weird. That’s why I’m out here; I’m on a quest to prove that I’m a powerful and malevolent sorcerer.”
“You want to be malicious? Do you like hurting people or are you just trying to gain riches?”
“I don’t want to hurt anyone. It’s just that my family is known for being sorcerers and they’re all ashamed of me. I’m going to defeat the great wizard, Magnus. The problem is that I’m very bad at being a sorcerer. Whenever I try to cause trouble, my spell messes up.”
“Your magic reflects who you are inside.” He was silent for a moment. “Nevertheless, I think we can help each other. In this cursed form, I cannot do magic. It occurs to me that this great wizard can break the curse, but getting to him alone will be difficult and communicating my needs will be even more challenging. I propose a deal.”
“I don’t work with wizards,” I said.
“On my world, there is no distinction between wizards and sorcerers, as I have never met a wizard who is entirely and inherently good. I have, however, met many vicious villains on my travels. If you assist me in finding this wizard and convincing him to turn me back into a man, I will teach you how to be the most malevolent, successful sorcerer in all of the lands.”
Chapter 2
Obviously, I accepted Merlin’s offer. First of all, Merlin was experienced in magic. Although he was a wizard, he did say that wizards were not all good on his world. Besides, I could learn from him even if it was how to counteract wizardry. Second, Merlin was a wolf; there were few monsters I had to worry about with him next to me. And third, I had no idea how to find Magnus, let alone defeat him.
“Before I begin teaching you, I need to eat,” Merlin said.
Excited to be useful for once, I picked up my wand and pulled my last lump of clay out of the bag. “What is it you want?” I asked.
“Meat, obviously.”
My excitement was doused. “
Oh… well… meat isn’t very good for you. Are you sure you wouldn’t like---”
“I am a wolf, young sorcerer.”
“My name is Ayden Dracre.”
His eyes widened. “Interesting. You are not by chance related to Ilvera Dracre, are you?”
“That’s my mother. You know her?”
“I might have… heard of her. If she is your mother, then… oh, yes. Caldaca has a matriarchal society.”
“I read that it used to be otherwise, but then sorceresses and witches rebelled and created a widespread curse so that all the women of the land could only have daughters. When the first generation of daughters reached the age where they had to fight each other for the few men left, the curse was broken. My father said it cut our population in half and set us back by hundreds of years, giving magic a chance to shape the world. My mother said men were insufferable and didn’t deserve to rule anyway. If I got married, I would keep my name, but my children would have my wife’s family name.”
“I applaud your knowledge of your world’s history. Anyway, young sorcerer, if you would be so kind as to conjure my meal, we can begin our excursion.”
“Alright.” I set the clay on the nearby high root, closed my eyes, and waved my wand. Please give me meat. Please don’t embarrass me. Change into meat.
“Hmm,” Merlin said thoughtfully.
I opened my eyes and groaned. A green apple and three stalks of broccoli were in the place of the magic clay. “I told you I’m a bad sorcerer. I can’t even conjure any food other than this.”
He studied the food thoughtfully. I studied him thoughtfully. “I see your predicament,” he finally said. “Did you make your wand, buy it, or inherit it?”
I noticed he didn’t ask if I had stolen it. My brothers stole their wands from the best-known wand-maker in all of Akadema, but I could never do that to the poor old man who made his living by providing high-quality, intricately carved tools of magic. “I made it.” I explained exactly how I tried to make it and how it transformed the first time I used it.
“I see,” Merlin said. “I cannot understand how anyone could use a wand they bought. Your wand is created with your magic and uses your magic. Conjuring meat is the same as hunting; it requires a sacrifice of life. The magic inside you is incapable of that, so your wand is incapable of that.”
I clenched my teeth to keep my mouth shut until I could keep the whining out of my voice. “There is no wizard in my entire family, so I can’t possibly have light magic!”
He sighed in my mind. “I know that occultism on Caldaca is unique, but you seem to misunderstand the foundation of magic. I see that I have much to teach you before you can face Magnus.”
“If you want Magnus’s help, why are you helping me knowing I want to defeat him?”
“I have my ways, young sorcerer.” He then nodded to the apple and broccoli. “Eat while you can and I will hunt for myself.” He disappeared into the darkness of the forest without another word.
I grimaced and scooped the apple and broccoli into my satchel for later, along with the magic box.
* * *
Soon, the sun peeked over the horizon and Merlin returned. Light streamed through the gaps in the leaves of the trees above and glowed softly against his multi-colored fur. As if he realized how the light accentuated his arrival, he posed for a moment.
“What’s the first step in making me a better sorcerer?” I asked.
He sat on his haunches. “Are you trained in fighting?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I’m very good at running away and hiding from my brothers.”
He tilted his head a little bit as he considered this. “Very well. To defeat the wizard, you will need to know enough magic to defend yourself and to fight, as well as some powerful weapons and some minions.”
“Weapons? Like swords?” I asked, hoping I never had to tell him that I turned a bunch of swords into flowers.
“No. You are not ready for that. I am referring to magical weapons. Your wand is an instrument of your magic that will be incapable of doing anything malevolent unless your soul itself is cruel. Therefore, you will need tools that have their own essence.”
“We can go to the wand-maker.” I pulled the jewelry out of my bag. “I have something we can sell to buy a new wand.”
The wolf looked at the jewelry and sighed heavily. “You understand what being cruel and devious is, right?”
I frowned. “Right. I’m supposed to steal. But do we have to steal every time? Lorthton is a kind man who doesn’t make a lot of money.”
“I will not force your hand; I will only tell you what you must do if you want to be a malicious sorcerer. I personally think you would make a better wizard.”
I glared at him. “Don’t call me a wizard.”
“As you wish. What is it you plan to do as a sorcerer?”
“Well, I want to be scary and have lots of gold and women and make my brothers afraid of me and… you know… sorcerer stuff. Hey, maybe I could just steal from rich people. That’s bad, and I could just say that everyone else doesn’t have enough to interest me. If I get too much, maybe I can give some of it to---”
“Stop right there,” Merlin interrupted. “I can live with myself after shaping you into the most powerful sorcerer this world has ever seen because that is the way of the land here. I will not, however, bring about the next Robin of Loxely. Finish that thought and I will rescind my offer to assist you.”
I slipped the loot back into my bag as I made a mental reminder to never mention it again. Apparently, wolves despised charity more than sorcerers did. “Okay.”
Merlin decided we needed a place to practice my magic where I didn’t have to worry about people getting hurt. He then said that he knew where we could go, but wasn’t in the mood to tell me where, so we got back to the dirt road and started the journey to somewhere. It seemed like he forgot about me getting a new wand, which I was secretly glad for.
That was until I found out what he had in mind.
* * *
Most of the day was spent in silence. I wanted to know about Merlin’s world, but he wasn’t in a talkative mood. I hoped it was because he had just escaped from the syrus and not because this was as friendly as he got.
“What was it like in the syrus?”
“Like I was asleep,” he said easily.
“How long were you in there?”
“There is no way to be sure until I return to a world that keeps an accurate calendar system. It does make world-travel difficult.”
“So you’re saying you don’t know?”
“Yes, that is what I am saying.”
“How many times have you been to Akadema?”
“While I have not been to this particular area before, I have been to this world twice. Of course, twice was quite enough. I find the fact that nearly everyone on your world has magic of one form or another tedious. Necessary for your way of life, yes, but tedious all the same.”
Although it really sounded like he was insulting everyone on this world, he didn’t seem to realize he was doing it. “What’s wrong with magic? You’re a wizard.”
“Yes, well, that is quite different here. If you fall ill, you go to a mage. If you get pregnant, you go to a seer to find out what gender the child is. If you want to speak to long dead loved ones, you go to a necromancer.”
“Actually, if I became pregnant, I wouldn’t be going to a seer. I don’t know about your world, but men don’t get pregnant here.”
He gave me a look that simultaneously irritated and confused me, as if he was judging me and wasn’t terribly impressed. At that point, I decided not to talk any more.
* * *
The sun was low in the sky when the path abruptly ended at the gates of a massive, old, rundown mansion.
A massive mansion which hadn’t been there a moment before.
I looked behind us, then back at the mansion, then behind us again. It was not something I could have missed; it was massive.
“You have friends?” I asked, earning quite the blood-chilling glare in return. He didn’t answer and instead motioned for me to go through the gate. I did, but not without the appropriate amount of complaining and begging that we run as fast as we could in any direction that was away from the mansion.
The gate was old and opened easily, since it didn’t have a lock. Merlin’s friend probably thought he would never have a problem with bandits on account of the mansion being so creepy that any sane man would run as fast as he could in any direction that was away from the mansion… like we should have been doing.
A cracked stone walkway, overcome with weeds, led to a very grand porch. Thorny vines tried to wrap around my ankles as we made our way to our certain and painful deaths. “Merlin, your friend isn’t a cannibal, is he?”
Merlin frowned as thoughtfully as a wolf could. “Not the last time I saw him.”
I opened my mouth to ask why that didn’t reassure me, thought better of it, and shut my mouth. We reached the porch, which was also cracked and overgrown. When Merlin looked at me impatiently, I reached for the brass knocker on the solid, huge, and faded wooden door. The sound echoed loudly. Slowly, the door opened on its own. “I am not going in there.”
“Suit yourself. Stay outside with the rabbits.”
“Rabbits?”
“Of course. What else would a powerful magician use to guard his estate?”
I shuddered at the thought of being attacked by a vicious rodent with sharp teeth and claws before stepping into the dark interior. The door slammed shut behind me and the fireplace lit itself.
The room was grand, with a high ceiling and dark colors. Bookshelves lined two of the walls, there were two chairs in front of the fireplace, and a large painting of a black dragon hung over the fireplace. On the wall to my left were two doors. On the right was a staircase that led to a balcony.