Wizard's Education

by James Eggebeen

  "Good." The witch called out to her apprentice to bring the water. A young girl came out, carrying a silver pitcher. She was about fourteen summers in age, wearing a dirty but well-maintained dress. She tipped the pitcher and poured water into the silver bowl. It stank of slime and decay as if it had been scooped from a stagnant pond in the graveyard.

  The water swirled around the bowl as she poured. Kelnit took the dagger and stirred the water violently, almost splashing it out of the bowl. She sat back and let the water settle down. The debris and contamination slowly sank to the bottom.

  The witch leaned over it and cackled. Lorit could see a rough pattern form in the sediment as it settled out of the water. It appeared vaguely like the map he carried in his pack.

  "I see a tall mountain peak, protected by a steep cliff and a solid wall of rock cut from the mountain itself. Banners fly from the walls, their golden trim awash in the sunlight that reflects off the snow. The mountain rises out of the Ice Father to challenge the spires of Relynn."

  The air above the water shimmered and took on the shape she described. High up in the mountains a city sat nestled against the sheer granite cliffs. Its walls were made of the same stone that formed the mountain, blending in almost as if the city itself had been formed right along with the craggy peaks.

  "In the city, there is a temple. Not to one of these new gods that are now in fashion, but the old ones, the real ones. There, one held under bondage may be released." The witch waved her hand over the water, wiping away the image.

  "What of Chihon?" Lorit demanded.

  The witch swirled the water in the bowl using the comb this time, setting the debris whirling about violently and once again allowed it to settle. "Let's see what the waters say about your love."

  She leaned over the bowl, searching the sediment in detail. She poked at the water with the comb, occasionally stirring up small local eddies that disturbed the sediment and allowed it to settle again.

  Lorit grew impatient as the witch repeatedly poked and stirred the water in different areas of the bowl, mumbling to herself.

  "What about Chihon?" he demanded. "Do you know where they've taken her?"

  "It's unclear," the witch said. "The signs are muddled. They don't show anything definite."

  "What do you mean, it's unclear? You had no problem locating the prince."

  "There is interference. The spirits are barred from speaking. They know, but they cannot reveal this." She spoke slowly and then looked up at Lorit. "But you already knew this, didn't you?"

  "I knew that she was being hidden from me. That's why I came here." Lorit was growing impatient with the witch. He had been warned that she might prove useless or even harmful.

  Lorit stood up and raised his magic. He leaned in toward Kelnit, grasping the edges of the bowl as he did. "You had better stop lying to me. If you know where they've taken her, or your spirits know, then tell me or I will make you wish you had."

  The witch laughed and sat back in her chair. "You can't command me or the spirits. Your magic is no use against mine. Try to harm me and you will only harm yourself."

  Lorit let his anger rise. He used it to fuel the spell he'd prepared for the witch. He reached out his hand toward her. "Precipio tibi quod mihi verum." He commanded her to tell him the truth.

  Suddenly Lorit felt as if he was falling, and the room went dark.

  "Lorit! Are you there? What happened?" came the voice of the princess out of the darkness.

  "I don't know. Are you hurt?"

  "No, but I can't see."

  Lorit felt a hand strike his face. It felt around until it reached his shoulder and latched on.

  "Is that you?" she asked.

  "It's me." His eyes should have adjusted to the dark, but he was still unable to make out anything. It was blacker than a storm on a moonless night.

  "Incendo ignio," Lorit called forth fire.

  Nothing.

  "What is that?" the princess cried out.

  "It isn't fire." Lorit peered into the darkness but saw nothing.

  "Over there." He felt her hand pulling his shoulder to point him in the direction she meant. Far off in the distance, he could see a small point of light. It grew slowly, almost achingly so, until it was about as large as a head of cabbage. It was a sphere of dark gray light, almost as black as the room, but shining faintly.

  The globe hovered in the air in front of him and stopped. He reached out to touch it, and it backed away. The gray changed into a swirl of color that twisted and turned across the face of the globe, growing progressively lighter. As his eyes accustomed to the faint light, it started to form an image.

  The image began as a swirl of red and yellow, slowly setting into the visage of a little girl in a red dress. She had light hair brushed neatly and tied in ribbons. She sat on a blanket underneath a tree next to a picnic basket.

  As the image grew clearer, Lorit felt fingernails digging into his arm. Suddenly there was a piercing scream. "No!"

  The globe fled into the distance fading away until they were once again left in the dark. The pressure on Lorit's arm released, and he heard the princess drop to the floor, sobbing. He felt around until he found her and sat down next to her. He reached out and took her hand.

  "What's wrong?" He could feel her shaking, and her skin was sweaty and clammy.

  "No!" was all she said between heavy sobs.

  Another globe appeared in the distance. It went through the same stage of clearing as the first apparition had, but this time the image was of a young boy. Lorit peered into it as the image sharpened.

  It was him.

  He was sitting at the table in the kitchen back home. The image drew him into it until he felt himself sitting at that table. It was larger than he remembered. His legs swung in the air as he kicked them freely. They were too short to reach the floor. He suddenly had an overwhelming sense of being alone. Totally and utterly alone. There was no one else in the world but him.

  The fear welled up inside of him just as it had on that day so long ago. His mother had left him sitting on the chair in the kitchen. She had been gone forever, and Lorit knew she was never coming back. Who was going to take care of him? Who would make his meals and help him get dressed?

  His lower lip started to tremble. He could feel the tears overflowing his eyes. He kicked his legs hard, but there was nothing but air. He fought back the tears when he heard a voice off in the distance say, "Is that you?"

  It was the princess. She had not been there the day that his mother had left him.

  "Lorit, is that you?" she asked again.

  "Yes, it's me. I was small, maybe five summers old. My mother left me all alone in the house. She said she'd be right back, but she was gone all afternoon. One of the kine had been in trouble with a birth. She had to run to help. She forgot all about me. I thought she had left me alone forever.

  "The dogs got in through the open door and growled at me. I thought they were going to eat me. I climbed up on the table and cried until she came back. It was getting dark, and the dogs growled at me every time I tried to get down and go find her.

  "When she came back, she was covered in blood and dirt. She saw me there crying, and she just scowled at me. She didn't even say why she was gone. She just went over to the sink and started washing up and told me to grow up; that I was being a baby.

  "I was afraid she had abandoned me. I was little and I didn't understand why she left me all alone that day when she said she would be right back or why she was so short with me. I learned later that despite her efforts, the kine and calf had both died. It was a great loss to our family."

  As Lorit told the story to the princess, the globe portrayed it before him. When he reached the end, it became brighter and brighter until it burst into a shower of sparks with a pronounced pop and plunged them into darkness once again.

  Lorit wondered what they had gotten themselves into when another sphere appeared. This one came on quicker and sharpened immediately. It hovered in
front of the princess. Lorit could see her face by its light. She cringed in fear, throwing her hands up to hide her face. "No!" she shrieked, and the globe sped away, leaving them in the dark once more.

  Far off in the dark, another vision arose, this one was of a young woman. As it became clear, Lorit saw it was Chihon. She was sitting in a chair, looking as if she were fast asleep. A woman stood over her with a razor. The woman lifted Chihon’s curls in one gnarled hand and deftly sliced them away. She dropped them on the floor, adding to the accumulated tangle.

  Chihon soon sat there completely bald, her head white and angry from the abuse she had just suffered. The woman brushed her off and motioned her to stand. A priest in black robes entered the vision carrying a black robe with silver piping.

  Lorit saw Chihon slip her arms into the robe and turn to face him. She was impassive, emotionless.

  He reached out to her. "Chihon!" He tried to touch her magic, to call out to her in his mind, but she was far away and unresponsive.

  The image exploded in a shower of sparks, leaving Lorit and the princess in darkness once more. Lorit sat frozen. Was this reality, the past, the future, or just some ruse to anger him? He desperately wished he knew what had happened to Chihon and how to reach her.

  A new sphere appeared. There was a young woman of about ten summers portrayed in its light. It was the princess again. This time she was seated in a chair beside a large canopy bed.

  Lorit felt her hand grasp his. "Please, I don't want to watch this."

  "I don't think it will hurt you," Lorit told her. He squeezed her hand as the image came to life. A short fat woman in servants' garb entered from the side, carrying a large spoon. She approached the young princess, tapping the spoon in her hand as she did. When she reached the princess, she said something that Lorit could not hear, but the princess squeezed his hand even tighter.

  "What's happening?"

  "Please. I don't want to see this." The image of the princess held out her hand timidly. The woman struck it repeatedly with the spoon until it was red. She reached for the other hand and repeated the beating, finally storming off.

  "What happened?"

  "I was caught stealing treats from the kitchen. That was the cook. She beat me so hard, she broke one of the bones in my hand. I could not use it for weeks. I told everyone I fell down and hurt it. I was never so ashamed in my life. I hurt so bad, but I didn't want anyone to know that it was for being bad."

  As the princess explained, the globe became brighter and brighter. It popped and disappeared just as the earlier one had.

  Far off and faint, the next sphere appeared. It grew in size and intensity until Lorit could see that it was the little girl sitting under the tree. The princess grasped his hand so hard he thought it would break. She shrieked, "No!" and the globe sped away once more.

  "What is that?" Lorit asked. "What happened that day?"

  She turned and laid her head against his chest, crying. "I just can't bear it."

  Lorit waited for her breathing to settle down. "Maybe this is how we get out of here. These are our fears, and we have to face them."

  "Not that one." She shook as she cried.

  A sphere arrived showing Chihon in priestly robes. This time, she was standing beside an altar. Lorit recognized the altar. It was in the temple. A small animal was tied on the altar and Lorit could feel that it had its own magic. It lay there quietly as Chihon stroked its fur. Lorit saw the sunbeam moving slowly across the altar. He knew once it struck the statue, the sacrifice would begin.

  Lorit saw Chihon raise the sacrificial blade and lay it against the throat of the creature. "No!" Lorit screamed, but it had no effect. When the sunbeam touched the statue, Chihon drew the knife across the animal’s throat.

  Blood gushed forth, mingled with a purple sparkling cloud that swirled around Chihon. The cloud spun faster and faster and contracted until the magic was absorbed. He saw the figure of Chihon throw her head back and let out a silent shout of triumph.

  "No!" Lorit shouted. He reached for the sphere, but before he could touch it, it exploded into a shower of light and sparks and died out, plunging them back into the deep darkness.

  Lorit hung his head and cried. Had he just witnessed Chihon take the magic of a magical creature? Was this real? If she had actually done this thing, would he have felt it? He wanted to find her, and these images only fueled his rage at the witch for lying to him.

  Again, a sphere arrived. This time it was Lorit who appeared inside the glowing light. He looked much as he did now. The image showed him Chedel, the young wizard he'd rescued from the temple. It displayed his rescue and how Lorit had entrusted him into the care of the sorceress.

  He watched as Chedel snuck away from the sorceress to meet with the priests. His anger rose as the extent of the betrayal Chedel had engaged in was revealed to him. He knew the boy had turned out to be his enemy when he had believed him to be a confidant. The boy had been reporting their every movement to the priests from the time they had met.

  As the final conflict appeared, Lorit couldn't contain himself. He was shaking with rage at the extent of the betrayal. He felt fingers grip his arm. "What is this?" the princess asked. "What happened?"

  "That was Chedel. I rescued him from the temple and mentored him. I took care of him and made sure he was safe. All the time he was plotting against me."

  The image revealed Lorit bound to the table in the temple.

  "I was tortured by the priest and Chedel sat there taunting me all the while." His voice shook with the anger of the betrayal.

  "Then what?"

  "Then I killed him," Lorit said. The sphere stayed where it was. Lorit had thought that telling the story was what had made the sphere burst, but it just stayed where it was.

  The sphere showed the bright violet light emanating from Lorit. It twisted around the boy, drawing a dark purple light from him, twisting it into a sharp lance, and driving it into the priest. The scene froze at that instant and remained where it was.

  "Why doesn't it disappear like the last one? You told me what happened."

  "I don't know. I was being tortured. I used Chedel's magic to attack the priest. I'd protected the boy and worried about him, and he betrayed me."

  "Why is this important to you?"

  "It's the final battle with the temple in Veldwaite." Lorit recalled the day. He grew tense at the memory, his fists tightening until his fingernails bit into his own flesh.

  "You killed him? He looks like a kid. Surely he wasn't much of a threat to you."

  "He wasn't a threat; he was a betrayer. I was angry with him for turning on us. I was angry with him for sitting there taunting me while the priest tortured me. I was angry that he was a turncoat all along and that he lied to me from the very first."

  "So, you killed him out of anger?"

  "I...He...I," Lorit stuttered. Had he taken Chedel's life more because he was angry than because he needed his magic? Had he acted out of rage and not out of self-defense, as he had tried to convince himself?

  "I killed him out of anger," Lorit finally said, admitting what he saw. "I murdered a boy because I was mad at him and he was taunting me."

  The sphere brightened and shattered into sparks that flew everywhere and quickly died, plunging them back into darkness.

  The next globe to appear contained the image of a young girl sitting at a table, watching a woman cooking. It was Lorit's sister, Onolt. The girl got up from the table and left the room. Lorit could almost feel the room around him; the smell of his mother's cooking caressed his senses and brought him back to the home he'd left so long ago.

  The door burst open, and a priest appeared. He struggled with Lorit's mother, who fought back with her kitchen knife, landing a few blows, leaving the priest bloodied before he overcame her.

  "What is this, Lorit? Why isn't it showing you something you did?"

  "I don't know. This is my sister Onolt and my mother. This must be the day the priest killed them. Why is it sh
owing me this?"

  The priest left the room and quickly returned, dragging the girl behind him. He lashed her to the kitchen table and pulled out a ceremonial knife, caressing it as he walked around her. Lorit cringed in anticipation. He remembered the pain, but why would the sphere show him this scene from his past?

  He felt the agony as the priest tortured the girl, slicing away at her tender flesh, carving arcane symbols into her skin like a whittler carving a soft piece of pine. The priest paused in his torture when Lorit's mother awoke from her beating. He pulled her up off the floor and pinned her against the table.

  Lorit turned his face away from the image. He didn't want to witness this. He knew what had happened. He knew he had caused this, but he didn't have to watch it unfold in front of him.

  "The image has stopped," the princess said.

  Lorit turned back to the sphere, and it resumed its gruesome depiction.

  With Lorit's mother, the priest had been mercifully quick. He made a few swift cuts and opened her throat and wrists letting her blood run across his sister and onto the floor. He held her there until the blood stopped spurting from her wounds, then he cast her back on the floor.

  Lorit turned away again.

  "It's stopped again," the princess told him. "I think you have to watch it." She reached out and put her hand on his arm.

  Lorit watched as the priest drew more symbols on the exposed flesh of his younger sister. He recalled how they had shared a bond of closeness that allowed him to feel what she felt and how it was severed that day. He watched, unable to take his eyes off the image.

  The priest smeared his mother's blood on the table, carefully drawing geometric figures on the polished wood. Finally, he lifted his staff and passed it over the girl. A heavy, glowing mist formed and contracted until it enveloped her, wrapping her in a dense tangle of mesh that formed from the retracting illumination. He felt her presence diminish as the mesh tightened about her. He could see the pattern of ropes that now bound her, and his heart sank in him.

  He screamed in rage and frustration.

  The sphere dimmed and started to back away.