by Rain Oxford
“Are you joking? The first girl I knew sneered at me because I refused to give her a poison for her tutor. Women who date sorcerers want strong, violent, dangerous men like my brothers. They don’t want someone with compassion. Women who want love and compassion wouldn’t look twice at me because of my family.”
“Believe it or not, I understand. Although I have no magic right now, I can at least break this curse.”
“But you might betray someone you loved.”
“I will not. Had you cursed those strangers, as a sorcerer would have, we would not be here and I could have kept my secret.”
“I’m sorry. I just wanted the fighting to stop and I didn’t want to hurt the strangers.”
“If you had, I would not be telling you this. I was a stranger to everyone. I traveled the worlds and never looked back. In my younger years, I was compulsive and made a lot of mistakes because I wanted to help everyone, but I also had too much pride. I thought my abilities made me better than other people. When these mistakes blew up in my face, I made excuses. And then, I met an enemy greater than myself. He was wise, powerful, and truly ruthless. The second greatest mistake of my life was challenging him, and it was also the best thing for me. He made me ageless and trapped me in a crystal cave.
“When I finally escaped, I was not the same man. Hundreds of years had passed and the worlds had changed. Before the cave, I believed I had everything. By the time I escaped, I realized I had nothing. Worldly treasures were nothing to a lonely man. For hundreds of years, I was missing, and nobody knew. Nobody missed me. For hundreds of years, I had nothing but time to reflect on the mistakes I had made. When I looked upon the new world, I vowed to never regret. Before acting, I would consider the mark I would leave on the world.”
“So it made you wise?”
“It did. I was even an advisor to young wizards and kings. However, as old as I was, I still had a lot of learning ahead of me. There were women I loved, but when they discovered that I would never age, none of them thought I was worth it, or they believed they could use me.”
“Use you how?”
“Use me to attain immortality. Then I met a young woman named Nimue. She was not rich or powerful, but she was pure of heart. I cannot say why she ever loved me back. She left her family to travel with me and asked that I teach her magic. It was the happiest time in my long life.”
“What happened?”
“Another wizard set his eyes on her. When he failed to sway her, he cursed her so that anyone she felt love for would change into a beast.”
“And he sealed you?”
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
“That is a secret I will keep to myself, which is why I just broke the truth spell.”
I blinked, remembering why we were out here in the first place. “I don’t understand.”
“I know. Just know that Nimue is the reason I am still here today, and I will never betray her secrets. No spell can make me do so, which is how I broke this one.”
“So if I asked you what the seer told you, you wouldn’t be compelled to answer?”
“I would have had to answer had you asked me ten minutes ago.”
I took that to mean he wasn’t going to tell me. “Do you want me to try to break your curse?”
“Not tonight.”
“Do you think I could do it? You can lie to me if you want to make me feel better.”
He smirked. “I know you could break it. Now, we should get back to the others before the pirates and dwarfs start fighting.”
Chapter 11
We returned to the dwarfs and pirates, who were in fact, arguing. It was very inefficient arguing, too, because the pirates couldn’t understand the dwarfs. I waved my wand at them. Break the scramble spell, I thought to the wand. Such spells were child’s play for my wand. Unfortunately, the glittery white magic that was produced bounced joyously into the pirates and dwarfs alike. “Don’t you start acting like the staff,” I told my wand.
Too late, though. The wand’s magic broke the scramble spell, but it also cleaned the men up. They were now all washed, clean-shaven, and their clothes were hole-free. Needless to say, they were not happy. Better smelling, yes, but not happy at all.
“What did you do that for?!” Bloodbath asked, rubbing his short, clean, brushed hair as if his tangled mess was hiding underneath it.
“Sorry,” I said. Merlin made a growling sound of disapproval and I sighed. “I mean I’m not sorry because I’m a sorcerer and I have no sympathy or mercy.”
“A sorcerer with blond hair and blue eyes?” one of the dwarfs asked skeptically.
“I understood that!” another exclaimed happily. He then sniffed his shirt and gagged. “I think I preferred the scramble spell. I smell like a woman now; all clean and proper. I’m going to go and roll around in the mud.” All of the pirates and dwarfs except for Jevwen were in agreement and headed off somewhere to dirty themselves.
“Wow,” Merlin said. “You ended their fighting with just one little spell.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“The truth spell must be over,” Jevwen said.
“Try to move the ship,” Bralyn suggested.
“It might be a better idea to do that with us on it, in case I transport it too far away. Besides, it has been a very long day and I need a nap.”
“Speaking of which, I could do with some food.”
So Merlin ran off to hunt while Jevwen and Bralyn gathered wood for a fire. It was my intention to start a fire with magic when they returned, but I fell asleep before they did.
* * *
I woke to the sound of manual labor, which immediately made me want to find a hole to hide in. Two things I always avoided were my brothers and hard work. I opened my eyes and saw Merlin sitting next to a dying fire. With his snout, he indicated a crudely shaped ceramic plate beside him with roasted meat on it. “Eat.”
I did. It was very different from tofu and I was very hungry, so I devoured it like I hadn’t eaten in days. The sound of work was actually the pirates and dwarfs trying to move the ship on their own. I knew they couldn’t budge it, but it seemed to make them feel better to try.
“Are you ready to finish this?” Merlin asked.
I nodded, still watching them. “I don’t know if I can do it, though. You were right last night; there’s no way I can defeat Magnus when I couldn’t even curse the dwarfs. Maybe I should give up.”
“Give up and do what?”
I shrugged. “Go back home and hope my mother is quick about it.”
“Knowing your mother would kill you, why would you go back home?”
“She wouldn’t let me be free. I think the only reason she hasn’t sent something to hunt me down and kill me yet is because if my brothers are killed fighting Magnus, then I’m the only one left. I don’t know why she hasn’t killed me before.”
“I suspect it is because you are the seventh son. You are useful to her.”
I disagreed, but I didn’t feel like talking about it. Fortunately, I didn’t have to, because Bralyn joined us. “Are you going to lend a hand or let these men continue to humiliate themselves all day?” He then sneezed and had to move further away from Merlin.
I rolled my eyes, grabbed my staff and wand, and stood. I imagined the ship lifting until it was hovering just off the ground. Magic raced through my body and out of the wand and staff. Like before, the magic merged into some beautiful blue energy that surrounded the ship and lifted it, just as I had imagined.
“It is interesting how neither your wand nor staff does exactly as you say, but together, they respond flawlessly. Did you notice that?” Merlin asked.
I nodded. Although the magic required to levitate an object was pretty simple, the force required to lift something so massive was taxing. For the pirates and dwarfs, it was suddenly weightless, so they began pushing it easily. I was out of breath before I could even see the beach, but I persisted. The energy grew darker blue every passin
g moment until my vision started becoming dark and a stabbing headache formed.
Then, just when the ship started to falter, I felt new energy. Merlin was giving me his strength through the weird psychic connection we had. It felt like much of the pressure was off of me, so I was able to hold it up for that last thrust the pirates and dwarfs needed. Soon, they couldn’t push it any further, so the pirates climbed up the ropes and I let the water guide it to the drop-off. When it was finally far enough in the water, I let it go.
“Great, now how do we get in?” Bralyn asked.
“We swim.”
“I will not,” Merlin said.
“Fine.” I waved my wand upward before either of them could argue. White, glittery magic surrounded us in an obscenely pretty fashion, and then we were on the ship. Bralyn gasped with horror and tried to brush off the excess glitter from his clothes and skin. “Yeah, it does that. Sorry.” Merlin was even more horrified, and it was completely called for.
For some reason that I could not fathom, the wand thought he needed a pretty pink bow around his head. There was death in his eyes as he gave me a glare that I was sure even my mother felt. I carefully tugged on one end of the ribbon until the bow came loose and then tried to brush the glitter away from his face.
“So, good news and bad news,” Bloodbath said. “The good news is that we found out from the dwarfs where we are. The bad news is that we are now two days away from the Island of Light.”
“Please tell me you’re joking.”
Jevwen handed him two wooden swords. “And look what we found safe below deck.”
* * *
We were approaching the island from the other side this time, so we hoped we wouldn’t have to deal with another monster. At about sunset, I went below deck to ask Jevwen if he had any books on the Island of Light, only to stop at the bottom of the steps. Behind some of the crates were Jevwen and Bloodbath arguing about the teen’s future. Jevwen wanted to learn magic, but he didn’t think he had any abilities. Bloodbath wanted his son to pursue that dream, but he was afraid that it was too dangerous.
I returned to the upper deck and found everyone stuffing their mouths with the fruit that the dwarfs gave them. It was odd to me that a pirate could be so concerning about his son, since I always thought of pirates as magic-less sorcerers of the sea, but I never knew sorcerers to care about their children like that. It was almost as if my family was the exception.
Merlin sat beside me. “You’re not going to eat fruit?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I am a wolf.”
“Well, you weren’t always one.”
“Correct. Before I was cursed, I lived quite happily on vegetation, fruit, and grain. I always felt that it made me a better wizard to deny myself flesh. However, the mere thought of anything other than meat makes me feel ill now. If I had no choice, I could sustain myself on other food temporarily.”
“Oh. I can live on anything as long as it’s not every day. Or tofu. I don’t think I could live on tofu.”
The next morning, I used the ink Merlin got at the seer tournament to color my hair black. Bralyn and the pirates thought it looked great, but Merlin said it didn’t suit me.
* * *
When I saw the island in the distance, I felt less prepared than ever. I had the box, magic, and sort of a plan, but a huge part of me doubted if this was the right thing to do. There would be no going back from this. If I defeated Magnus, my family would have no choice but to respect me and I would never be a disappointment to them again. But would I ever be able to sleep at night knowing that I attacked someone like this? What choice do I have? I was born to be a sorcerer. Sorcerers always prevailed. They were respected.
If I fought Magnus and failed, if I was killed, at least my mother would believe I wasn’t a coward. To die at the wizard’s hands or my mother’s… Magnus would be merciful and make it quick. That’s what wizards do. I wondered if Merlin ever felt torn between being a wizard and acting on selfish desires. I wondered if he ever wished he could be a sorcerer, because then it wouldn’t be so wrong to wish that I had a choice.
If I were born of a lesser-known family, a magic-less family, or any family at all that wasn’t in sorcery or wizardry, I would have a choice.
“Is your family’s respect for you worth more than your own self-respect?” Merlin asked as he joined me.
I hadn’t realized I was standing at the edge of the deck, watching the island for a long time. “This isn’t supposed to bother me. Everything about sorcery makes sense to me. I just don’t know why I don’t want to be like my brothers. I would rather read books and create potions that make everything taste like sweet berries than steal and create poisons. I wouldn’t mind having lots of money and… and all that other stuff that we get, but why? We have magic. We can trade things and do favors and yes, we may get stuck with bad deals. Sorcerers never allow themselves to be taken advantage of, but I’ve been traveling with you for days and we haven’t needed money or been wronged. It’s dangerous sometimes, sure, but it’s so much more fun than…”
“More fun than what?” he asked eventually.
“My life has always been about trying to match my brothers. This is so much more fun than hiding in my room or cooking potions. I’ve made friends. Nobody liked me before because I was such a failure as a sorcerer.”
“I do not believe you ever needed me to teach you to be a sorcerer. You obviously have the power and you know what choices a sorcerer would make. I think you just wanted someone who would believe in you long enough for you to start believing in yourself. So tell me what you want to do.”
I stared at the island for a moment. “We’ll go in, meet the wizard, and see if he can remove your curse. If he can’t, we’ll trap him in the box and bring him to my mother. If he can, we’ll trap him in the box and not bring him to her, until I can come up with something else.” It was silent for a moment as I thought of all the magic I did since beginning this mission and how my magic never did anything actually harmful to anyone. Then I laughed. “I made a bunch of swords into flowers.”
“You made the captain of a pirate ship, all his men, and seven dwarfs smell like flowers.”
We both laughed for way too long, until it slowly faded into an awkward silence. We got closer and closer to the island. It was not a large island by any means; it was only large enough for the castle and a small collection of trees around it. The castle was beautiful, tall, and white as the purest magic, with slender towers and large balconies that overlooked the sea.
Sorcerers were supposed to be the caste that had it all, yet our family lived in a little cabin in the woods. Maybe it isn’t so bad for wizards after all. “Stop here,” I said to Bloodbath. “It’s best you don’t get too close because we don’t know what Magnus would do if a pirate ship got too close to his land. I’ll transport Bralyn, Merlin, and myself to the island.” I turned to Bralyn. “That is, if you’re sure you want to do this.”
He shrugged. “You saved my life. It is my honor to fight alongside you, or die as it might be in this case.”
I really appreciated his confidence in me. “Thank you all for helping us get here,” I told the pirates.
“Thank you for giving us food other than fish to eat. If you ever need a ride again, we’ll be around. You can find us by magic, right?”
“Probably.” I held my bag and staff in one hand and waved my wand with my other. I envisioned us appearing on the beach before the castle. Once again, sparkly, lavish magical energy surrounded us, blocking out everything, and then left us right in front of the castle. This time, fortunately, my wand hadn’t seen the need to give Merlin a bow or cover us with sparkles.
“Are we going with the original plan? Merlin and I will distract him while you trap him?”
“Yes. You two try to get Merlin’s curse removed. I’ll wait until he either breaks the curse or refuses to.”
“Maybe we should wait to…” Merlin began.
“Wait to what?” I asked.
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He hesitated. “Never mind. Let me take a quick run around to see where it is best to sneak in.” He left without another word.
“What’s he doing?” Bralyn asked.
“Avoiding me,” I answered. We waited as he took far too much time scouting the place. I started to become seriously worried.
He finally returned. “I cannot use magic, but I can sense it. Every door and window in the back except for the garden entrance is guarded with a ward over it. If you get too close to one of the wards, Magnus will sense you.”
“Then I’ll have to go through the garden. What kind of traps and monsters will I face?” I imagined everything from more rabid rabbits to mutated glob monsters.
“That is what worries me; there is nothing there. It feels like a trap. There is a wooden fence around the garden, but it is unlocked. I managed to peer into the garden and there was nothing threatening, just some rose bushes and wild flowers.”
“Maybe he just isn’t expecting anyone to be foolish enough to try to infiltrate his home. Besides, he’s a wizard, not a sorcerer, so I wouldn’t expect him to have the traps that sorcerers set. Give me a reasonable amount of time and then go in the front. I’ll do my thing as long as I’m alive to do it. If nothing happens, just leave as if everything was normal.”
Bralyn nodded, but Merlin still looked very worried. “Ayden, I need to tell you what the seer told me,” the wolf said.
I considered the sun, which was getting low in the sky. “Is it really that important? Can’t it wait?”
He looked even more worried, so I left before he could argue.
I made my way through the trees, keeping a safe distance away from the castle and the stone wall around it. I knew I could get over the wall, but I had no idea what wards there were. Eventually, I reached the back of the castle and found a wooden gate. Since it was the only one I saw, I figured it was the garden gate, so I opened it. And I gaped at what I saw beyond.
It was the gate to the garden, but the garden was not as Merlin described. The “rose bushes” were huge hedges far taller than me with blood red roses and terribly sharp thorns. They were shaped in such a way that a person could get lost trying to make it through. “Of course.” This was exactly what I expected of a magic-user, wizard or otherwise. I let the gate close behind me and started into the maze.