by Rain Oxford
The circle fell and Zeustrum stepped forward. I held my wand in my left hand and handed my staff to him with my right. Zeustrum would never take my wand for himself, but he also wouldn’t consider it a threat worth disarming me of. As soon as he took the staff, Bevras and Febarin each grabbed my arms to restrain me.
I didn’t fight them. “Dishonest to the end. You may end up on top, but you’ll be alone.”
He smirked. “That never once mattered to me.”
“You really don’t want to do this.”
“I really do.” He aimed the staff at me and pure black magic burst from the crystal.
At the same time, white magic was drawn out of me, through the wand, and into the staff. The black magic and white magic were one for just an instant, each swirling around each other in a stream between the wand and staff. It was Zeus’s magic, but it was my staff, and a magic staff would never hurt its true master.
The magic struck Bevras and Febarin like black lightning and through the staff, it simultaneously spread down the length of the staff to reach Zeustrum. He convulsed, like the two beside me did, but they collapsed onto the ground and he only went to his knees. The magic then spread to Gibus and Mikron. Thaddeus was nowhere to be seen.
Once all my brothers except for Thaddeus were unmoving and unconscious, the magic stopped. I picked up my staff, oddly upset by the fact that the crystal was pure black. Apparently, my wand was disgruntled as well, because it sent a painful spark up my arm, through my heart, down the other arm, and into the staff. I shuddered, but the crystal lightened considerably, so it was worth the physical discomfort.
“That was quite the display of bravery,” Merlin said.
He was still invisible, so I didn’t bother looking for him. “Not hardly. I would have let him go if he hadn’t tried to kill me. That’s weakness.”
“Mercy is not weakness. You knew the staff would reverse the attack and you tried to talk him out of using it. Showing yourself to them was bravery, and maintaining the spell over me when you needed the power most was friendship. You proved you are a better man than any of your brothers, sorcerer or otherwise.”
“Did you get the syrus?”
“I did.”
The battle was over and people began peeking out their doors and windows to see how much damage there was. Since it would look to them like I was talking to myself, I dropped the spell. Merlin appeared right in front of me with the syrus at his feet. “Was the invisibility spell even helpful to you at all?”
“It was very helpful. A merchant had found it and tried to sell it. I had to sneak into his shop and take it back. When I returned, I considered stepping in, but by then, he had already taken the staff and I knew how the situation would play out. I think you did very well.”
At that moment, people started returning to the streets, seeing my brothers on the ground, and cheering. They were cheering because they thought my brothers were dead. I couldn’t stop the anger from welling up inside. “What is wrong with you people?” I asked. “What could you possibly have to be happy about seeing them on the ground like this?”
Confused muttering replaced the cheering. “They were threatening the city,” one woman said.
“How? Other than being obnoxious hooligans, what did they actually do?” I saw no damage to the city, no piles of bodies, and no rivers of blood.
The crowd looked even more confused. “Well, they were sorcerers.”
I felt… much less shocked than I should have. Yes, that kind of thinking was rare where I was from, but Merlin seemed to be of the mind that people didn’t like sorcerers. There were some places where people were suspicious of magic-users, and some where they only liked particular magic-users, but on most lands, everyone was considered equal.
The people of Akadema never shunned wizards, but there were no wizards living there, so the people turned to sorcerers like my family or another magic-user. Sorcerers were shadier, but people went to them for help more than wizards because, if nothing else, sorcerers were more trustworthy. Sorcerers would always be willing to get their hands dirty for the right price, and they valued repeat business. Wizards never accepted coin, so they only helped someone if they felt it was their duty.
“I am a sorcerer! Sentence people for their actions, not for being alive! If they’ve done something to you or your family, you can cheer when they fall. Otherwise, act like people instead of bloodthirsty animals and show sympathy for a fallen man.” The villagers looked properly chastised and I was about to continue when Zeustrum started to move. “That being said, they’re dangerous and angry so run and hide!” I picked up the syrus, stuffed it into my bag, and then transported us back to the hilltop.
“We must hurry; they will be able to follow us. How far can you transport us?”
“I’m okay to transport us to somewhere I can see. If I can’t see where we’re going, we could end up anywhere.”
“Can you see the previous city in your memory and take us back there?”
“I’m not sure. It would be dangerous to try.”
“More dangerous than your brothers if they catch up to us?”
“No.” At least, I really hope not. I closed my eyes and focused on the inn I had stayed at. I focused on the bar, the tables, and the comforting scent. The only reason I didn’t think of the owner was because I didn’t know if he would be there or not and I didn’t want it to mess me up. Unfortunately, I still hadn’t recovered from all the magic I used and the circle that drained what was left.
I sensed that something went wrong, so I wasn’t surprised to open my eyes and find myself alone in the dark. “Merlin?” I whispered. No answer. I knew my magic had transported him because I felt it, but there was no telling where he was. Or where I was, for that matter.
Even though I was almost painfully exhausted of magic, I still managed to push enough into my wand to light the tip and bathe the room in a dim glow. It was a small study filled with books of all things! I knew then why my spell went wrong; I needed more than magic to defeat my enemy. I started searching the shelves for anything that could help me.
“Ayden, are you okay?” Merlin asked.
Once again, I answered without thinking about it. “I seem to be. What about you?” It was a very strange phenomenon. I thought the words so strongly that I could hear my own voice out loud, yet I hadn’t opened my mouth.
“I am safe for the moment, only… I appear to be in a young lady’s bedroom and she is very upset to see me, quite possibly because she has no clothes on. Furthermore, it is difficult to open the door with paws.”
I saw a book on magical monsters. Since Livia said there would be a monster at Magnus’s castle, I grabbed it, shoved it into my bag, and left the last of my gold jewelry on the shelf in its place. Then I focused my magic into both my wand and staff to transport me to Merlin. The first thing I saw when the white magic faded was a very naked woman. She stopped screaming when she saw me.
“Hello. I’m Ayden.”
“Open the door!” Merlin demanded.
“Sorry, I’m just here to get my wolf.” When I opened the door, Merlin rushed out. I followed reluctantly, but not so slowly that the woman had time to respond.
We were now out on the main road of the city. I knew it was the right city because I recognized the inn I had stayed at the previous night. And then I suddenly felt so sick that I had to rush over to the side of the road and throw up.
“You are going to cripple yourself if you continue doing magic without food and rest. I suggest we stop for the night.”
“But my brothers…”
“They most likely have no idea where this town is and will therefore have to walk. I also suspect that they will not travel at night.”
“Alright.” I really didn’t want to argue. All I wanted to do was go to sleep. “Where should we sleep?” Lightning crackled in the sky right before it opened up and dumped heavy rain. “That’s just what we need.”
“You need to be in a bed and out of the we
ather. We do not know how many more days our travels will take and you need to be well-rested for what we will soon face.”
“We have no money.”
“After a night of rest and some food, you should be in good shape. You of all people should know that everyone could use some magical assistance. With sorcery and wizardry, surely you can find someone with a spare bed who would accept something other than money in return.”
I thought about it and nodded. “We might as well try the innkeeper.” We entered the inn to find the same man as before behind the bar. I wondered if he was there all day every day.
“Welcome back,” he said kindly. He pulled a small towel from somewhere behind the bar and handed it to me.
“Thank you.” I used the towel to dry my hair. It wasn’t terribly cold outside and it was warm inside, so I wasn’t worried about getting sick. When I started trying to pat-dry my clothes, I noticed he was staring at my hair. “What?”
“Your hair is changing color.”
“What? Oh, no, the ink!”
“Worry about your hair later,” Merlin said.
“Right. I’m out of gold and I don’t have anything to trade for, but I really want to sleep inside. Is there any magic you need?”
He pursed his lips and leaned on the bar. “Can’t say that there is. Tell you what, though,” he said, pointing to another man sitting alone at a table by the window. “I bet he could use some help, and he might have the money to pay.”
“Thanks,” I said. I cautiously approached the man. He was facing away from me, so I couldn’t see his face and get an idea what kind of man he was. He must have heard me when I was about halfway across the room because he turned. “Bralyn?!”
He stood. “Yes, it’s me. You ran away.” He wasn’t happy.
I scowled. “I was angry.”
His expression softened a little. “I know, but I wasn’t the one who lied to you, so you should have at least taken me with you. It took me two days to get here.”
I looked at Merlin. “I run faster as a wolf than he does as a man. If he had shifted, it would have taken him just as long because he would have been sneezing the entire way. Ask him how he found you.”
I did, and Bralyn answered, “Livia. She showed me where you were heading through her mirror. I also saw your confrontation with your brothers. You need to do something about your hair. Come on, I already got us a room.”
We went up to his room, which was the same one I had the night before. Once we were alone, I stripped off my clothes and changed into the only spare shirt and pants I had, then laid my wet robe and clothes out on the chest to dry.
Next, I used the ink-stained towel to dry my staff and wand. “How bad is my hair?” I asked.
Bralyn grimaced. “It’s pretty bad. You would be better off washing it out. It’s all splotchy and gray.”
I wouldn’t say I was vain, but Mother always said we only had one chance to make a first impression. It was better to face Magnus with my normal color than to face him with splotchy gray, black, and blond hair. Bralyn left to get a bucket and cloth to wash out the rest of the ink. “I guess it was a waste of time to use the ink in the first place,” I said.
“Not necessarily. Your brothers probably would have recognized you by your hair and robe in Red Rock the first time, when you would not have had the time to escape. Also, it has reaffirmed in my mind that you look better blond. The black is too severe.”
I sighed. I knew that; I had seen my hair in mirrors after my mother made it black. The fact that it always reverted to blond when I did magic was probably a good thing.
Bralyn returned, filled the bucket with rainwater from the window, and helped me wash the rest of the ink out. Once that was done, he pulled a cloth sack off his belt. “Livia said to give this to you.”
“Did she apologize for locking us up?” I asked, dropping my towel and taking the pouch from him.
“No, she insisted she was trying to help us. She said this was called a dragon’s eye and that it belonged to your father’s father.”
“That’s where I recognized it from!” I said, pulling the multi-colored crystal out of the pouch. “I saw it in one of my father’s books when he was teaching me to read. It has to do with dragon training. I have no idea what it does, only that it’s powerful.” It felt almost warm in my hands.
“I can sense the magic in that,” Merlin said.
“Can you sense what kind it is? Like sorcery or wizardry?”
“I can, and it is nothing as simple as that. This is dragon magic.”
* * *
We were back on the road heading north by sunrise and I felt much better. Fortunately, although the ground was muddy, the rain hadn’t lasted the night. With a vast amount of walking to do, I went over the different monsters that the book talked about. Basically, we tried to memorize a plan of attack for each of the creatures we faced. I stopped when I reached the page on dragons. “I was serious about what I said before; I’m not going to fight a dragon,” I told Merlin. “Dragons are amazing creatures that have been unjustly hunted to near extinction, if not full extinction.”
“What if Magnus’s creature is a dragon?”
“Then we’ll come up with something else. I am against fighting dragons.” I turned the page stubbornly. “How about I skip the ones that a wizard wouldn’t use? There’s a reptile that is about the size of a bear and spits acid. No wizard would keep such a vulgar guardian, so we shouldn’t waste time learning about it.”
“There is no such thing as wasting time learning something,” Merlin lectured.
“Fine. It spits acid, so if we face it, we’ll die.” I turned the page and laughed. “This one emits radiation, so we would die.” I turned the page again. “Stuns its victims with a pulsating light and eats them, so we’d die.”
“Are there any nice magical monsters in there?” Bralyn asked.
“The unicorn,” I said.
“Well, I wouldn’t want to get impaled by its horn.”
“But they’re friendly.”
“Only if you’re a child or virgin,” he said. I blushed and turned the page. “Don’t worry; I’m a trained warrior. I have faced many monsters and they were all the same in one way.”
“What’s that?”
“They all lost to me.”
That was simultaneously the most ghastly and inspiring thing I heard since I left home.
* * *
We walked until the sun was high in the sky and the road was long gone. That was when we came to a cliff. “Well, this is a problem.” The cliff was basically a huge hole in the ground. My staff pulsed violently. “I don’t understand. The staff is acting like the castle is right here.”
“Ayden, I sense very powerful magic. I am going to teach you something that is not sorcery or wizardry. Close your eyes.” I closed them without arguing. “Do you know how when you exhale on a cold day, you can see your breath?”
“Yes.”
“Yes what?” Bralyn asked.
“I’m talking to Merlin.”
“Imagine that, but imagine it is your magic being exhaled.”
“That’s a waste of magic,” I protested.
“No, it is not, because you are going to pull it back into yourself soon. Do as I say. Inhale deeply, as deeply as you possibly can, until you feel like you will choke on it, and then hold it… Good. Now let it out, and as you do, release your magic along with your breath. Exhale every bit of air in your lungs and wait for as long as you can to inhale. Hold… hold… and breathe. Imagine that as you inhale, you are inhaling the magic.”
I did as he said and when my lungs were almost refilled, an image came to mind. It was as unclear as a cloud, but there was definitely something massive right in front of me. “What is that?”
“It will become clearer with practice. What you see before you is something shielded in magic.”
“The castle?”
“Most definitely.”
“What’s going on?” Bralyn asked
.
In answer, I pocketed my wand, aimed the staff in front of me, and released my magic. A gust of wind and red magic swirled together and crashed into the open air in front of me. I heard the sound of metal creaking before the invisible gates opened… revealing a massive wizard’s castle.
Chapter 15
“It’s a castle in an invisible bubble,” Bralyn said needlessly.
“Yes, it is.”
“The castle of Magnus the Great is in an invisible bubble.”
“Yes.”
“The castle of Magnus the Great that is guarded by a monster.”
“Right, maybe we should be careful. I knew he was powerful, but I didn’t know a person could be this powerful. Our plan isn’t going to work. We’re all going to die.”
“Stop being so negative,” Merlin said.
“Fine.” I gave him my best fake smile. “We’re all going to die,” I said with a sarcastically joyous tone.
“That is better.”
“Never enter a battle expecting to lose,” Bralyn admonished. “That is the surest way to fail.”
Not wanting to get a lecture from Bralyn, I asked the next question in Merlin’s mind. “What if the monster is invisible liked the castle?”
“That is unlikely.”
“Why?”
“Because I believe that is the monster coming towards us now.”
I looked back through the gates and groaned. It was definitely not a dragon.
Of all the magical creatures I had ever heard of, this was the second-worst one. Aside from being terrifying in appearance, strong, and fast, it was also invulnerable to magic. It had the head and body of a lion with large tan-colored, feather wings and a goat’s head protruding from its back, and a snake for a tail. The description of the creature sounded ridiculous, as if the gods were bored one day and decided to create a combination that couldn’t possibly make since. I imagined even they were shocked at how perfectly designed the chimera was against a magical opponent.
It had spectacular eyesight when there was light and could see body heat in pitch blackness. The creature’s sense of smell was so precise that people believed it could smell what someone was going to do before they did it. It also had the strength of a lion and the speed of a serpent. It’s only natural enemy was the dragon.