Wandmaker's Apprentice

by Ed Masessa

  There wasn’t a shred of doubt in Henry’s mind that the castle contained secrets beyond his wildest dreams. He had seen doors with complex locking mechanisms, and they teased his imagination. He hoped that what was behind them lived up to his expectations.

  Coralis led Henry into the rear of the castle through a large teakwood door swinging on well-oiled hinges. Within moments, Henry was hopelessly lost. It had taken weeks before he was able to navigate his way through the mazelike hallways to arrive at dinner on time. At one point, he’d resorted to dropping bread crumbs, but only succeeded in doubling back over the crumbs he had already deposited, apparently having walked in one big circle. There was nothing magic about it. It was just that Henry’s internal compass wasn’t quite level.

  Serena, on the other hand, had no such problem. She had an uncanny knack for navigating the halls with ease. “I had excellent teachers who were experts in tracking both animals and humans,” she had told him with a sly smile.

  He worried again about her encounter with Forest and hoped her tracking skills were as good as she said they were.

  Three left turns and two right turns later, they emerged onto what Henry called the den. It was the closest thing he had seen to an office, although there was no desk to speak of. Two of the walls were lined with shelves that housed numerous volumes of leather-bound books and hundreds of artifacts ranging from misshapen skulls to odd pieces of driftwood to the mummified remains of creatures Henry could not identify.

  Currently, however, and much to his surprise, there were two additional items—both human.

  “Henry, allow me to introduce our two new guests, Luis Saenz and Katelyn O’Neill.” Coralis then turned to Henry and raised an expectant eyebrow.

  “Oh … I’m … my name is Henry Leach.” He stumbled over his words.

  A short laugh, more like a snort, came from Luis, who quickly covered his mouth.

  Henry immediately took a dislike to him. “What’s so funny?” He meant to be firm and confident but his voice betrayed him and cracked—something that had been happening more and more frequently.

  “Where I come from, a leech is a bloodsucking worm,” Luis said defiantly, accepting Henry’s challenge with a tone of disdain.

  Henry had become better at reading a person’s aura. He could sense anger seeping from every pore of the boy’s body, and he suspected there was much more to it than Henry’s presence. The boy was slightly taller than him, with shoulder-length jet-black hair and skin a shade or two lighter than Serena’s but darker than Henry’s. He wore a dark green button-down shirt and black cargo shorts that came to his knees. His many pockets bulged in shapes that Henry could not identify, but about which he was mildly curious. Well-worn, thick-soled shoes that had seen many months of hiking completed the jungle explorer look.

  “Luis is from Ecuador.” Coralis mercifully spared Henry the humiliation of having to come up with a retort. He hadn’t been bullied in a long time, and his comebacks were a little rusty.

  Henry knew three things about Ecuador. He knew it was located on the equator, that it contained part of the Amazon rain forest, and that the Galápagos Islands (one of his favorite places to read about) were about nine hundred kilometers off its coast. He decided to start over, and this time he’d take a friendly approach. “Have you been to the rain forest?”

  “Ha!” Luis laughed incredulously. “I live in the rain forest.” He spoke perfect, if accented, English, and his mockery came across loud and clear. He even went so far as to stand taller and puff his chest out.

  This time it was the girl’s turn to snicker as she took in Luis’s posturing with a sidelong glance. Henry immediately liked her.

  Luis turned to her with his lip curled in a sneer. Henry prepared himself to come to her defense, but she gave Luis a disarming look that sapped all the bravado out of the air.

  Henry had not seen a look like that since his encounter with Bella, also known as “the Amazing Zeppo,” who many months ago he’d witnessed holding an entire crowd under her command. He knew there must be much more to Katelyn than her diminutive appearance implied. Her skin was very pale, as if never touched by the sun, and her face was framed by curling locks of auburn hair that fell halfway down her back. In complete contrast to Luis, she wore a simple white blouse and light khaki trousers.

  “And where are you from?” Luis asked. There was still a snide undertone, but none of the anger he had projected toward Henry a moment earlier.

  “I hail from County Clare in Ireland.” If her look was mesmerizing, her voice was captivating. Her delicate Irish accent perfectly complemented her small features, which were highlighted by a button nose speckled in tiny freckles.

  Henry felt a blush coming on for no apparent reason and was once again rescued by Coralis. “You can do better than that, Katelyn.”

  “Aye. I grew up on the Aran Islands, a wee bit off the coast.” Her brow wrinkled as she stopped abruptly, unwilling to share any more.

  “Hm,” Coralis mumbled. “Since none of you wish to elaborate, and Serena has been momentarily detained, perhaps we should save the rest of the introductions for later.”

  “Who’s Serena?” Luis asked, suddenly interested.

  “She’s an apprentice, like me.” Henry was surprised by his forceful venom. There was something about Luis that instinctively irritated him and made him feel that he had to prove himself superior.

  Unfortunately, Luis seemed to pick up on Henry’s insecurity. “Maybe I should take a hot bath before those introductions. It’s been a long trip and I’d like to look my best for the apprentices.” He winked knowingly at Henry.

  “We wouldn’t want to have any odors at the dinner table that would ruin our appetite,” Henry snapped.

  Coralis watched the exchange with growing confusion. “Gretchen!” he yelled.

  “Yes, Coralis.” She appeared instantly at his side.

  The Wand Master flinched at her sudden appearance. “Have you been eavesdropping?” he growled.

  “Oh, no, sir. I was just passing by,” she said with a broad smile.

  “Well. Please show our guests to their rooms.” And he added with a mischievous smile of his own: “Take the long way.”

  Serena’s muscles ached, her arms were covered in shallow cuts, and sweat dripped down her body. Despite years of outdoor activity in the Navajo Nation and her rigorous training at Castle Coralis, nothing had prepared her for an afternoon at the mercy of Forest.

  There was no point in fighting it. Every time she stopped to protest, it quickly grew in around her, forcing her forward. In one particularly stubborn moment she had held her ground and allowed Forest to consume her. It reacted angrily, growing thick brambles that she had to fight past, tearing her clothes and accumulating many cuts and scrapes in the process. From that point on, she’d obediently moved forward.

  Several hours later, she encountered a steep incline covered in rocks and boulders, with only a few sparsely spaced shrubs to assist her climb. When the vegetation ran out, she was reduced to a difficult crawl.

  Serena paused to catch her breath. She sat heavily, cursing the fact that Henry had their only water supply. Her lips were parched and her clothes were drenched with sweat despite the cool mountain temperature.

  But when she finally looked up, back in the direction she’d come from, the beauty of her surroundings took her breath away all over again. She slowly stood to take it all in. The steep slope blocked the view at her back, but for 180 degrees in front of her, the forest spread out in a canopy of rich greens of every shade imaginable. As much as she loved her native desert, she could easily imagine herself staying in Romania for a very long time.

  The air was crisp and clean. A sudden breeze wafted up from the trees, filling her with wonder and purpose. She had been forging ahead blindly, and it occurred to her that without Forest to provide a path, she had no idea where to go—but she knew that she must continue climbing.

  A soft snort at her back startled her. She s
lid precariously down the incline before regaining her balance and crouching in a defensive stance. Less than five meters away, an animal that appeared to be a cross between an antelope and a goat stared at her, motionless. About the size of a Rottweiler, it had rich brown hair and two horns that grew out straight before ending in small hooks.

  Serena noted the white markings on the sides of its head and recalled its name from Coralis’s nature lessons—this was a chamois. Of all the species native to Romania that she might stumble upon alone, she was glad to encounter this one. While the bear, wolf, and lynx were powerful totems back home, she wouldn’t have wanted to meet one in the wild.

  It snorted again and jerked its head for her to follow. “So much for not knowing where to go,” she murmured.

  The chamois had a distinct climbing advantage but seemed to recognize her limitations, and carefully selected a route that allowed her to walk without stumbling. It approached one of the few remaining shrubs, used its mouth to grab it by the base, and yanked it out of the ground.

  A small pool of water bubbled up. Serena dove for it and drank greedily, cupping it with her hands. Because of the natural filter provided by the rocky base, the water was clear and cold. She had never tasted anything so good. The chamois gave her a gentle nudge, reminding her of her manners. “Sorry,” she said, allowing it to take its fill as well.

  As their journey continued, Serena’s thighs and calves burned from the effort. At last, they approached the crest of the mountain. The chamois was a dozen meters ahead of her. It dropped from sight over the ridge. When she finally caught up and looked down the other side, it had disappeared completely.

  There was no time to wonder where it had gone, for a short distance away was a small stand of medium-growth trees. In the center of the stand was a pool of water, and surrounding the pool was a group of colorfully clad people. One of them motioned her forward … as if she had a choice.

  She laughed to herself, wishing Henry were there with her. She could imagine the look on his face. It would light up with surprise at every new thing. In moments like this, his blue eyes would grow large and round and he’d rub his hair nervously. She couldn’t wait to tell him about it.

  She carefully picked her path down to the trees. Another of Coralis’s lessons came to her. These were Hutsuls, a group of people native to Ukraine and Romania who called the Carpathian Mountains their home. This gathering consisted of four women and six men, one of whom was no taller than a child. He was the one who stepped forward to greet her.

  “You have been chosen,” he said. His voice was rich and deep, and he spoke with great gravitas, as if leading some ceremony. “But are you ready to pay the price?”

  “Chosen?” she said, taking a single step back. “Price?”

  The man broke character and laughed then, as did the rest of the group. She had a feeling that this wasn’t the first time they had orchestrated this scene.

  “I apologize,” he said in clipped English. “We took bets on how … surprised you would be. I think Lesya wins.” Hearing her name, a woman curtsied.

  Serena nodded. “My name is—”

  “Serena,” he finished. “Yes, we know. The old man told us.”

  Well, at least Coralis knows where I am, she thought.

  “Come.” He motioned her forward. The men rolled up their pants and the women hiked up their skirts. They sat at the edge of the pool and put their feet in the water. Serena took this as a cue to join them and did the same. Her reaction to the water gave them another hearty laugh.

  “It is hot spring, yes?” The small man chuckled.

  “Yes!” She laughed back. “Quite hot.” The water was clear and warm enough to be a hot bath, yet not uncomfortable. Her toes tingled. The pain in her calves subsided. She was tempted to jump in to relieve the rest of her muscles.

  “It is for you,” he said.

  Her brow creased in confusion. “What do you mean?”

  “In you must go.” Gone was the jovial bantering. The group looked at her expectantly. Something in their manner told her they wanted her to go in all the way.

  “Um … ” The moment became awkward. Did they really expect her to go for a swim while they all sat there and watched her?

  The small man acknowledged her discomfort with a tilt of his head. “Just step in. You will see.”

  She stood and took a tentative step forward. The sunlight upon the water made it difficult to tell how deep it was. Which was why one second she was knee-deep and the next she was grasping for the surface. She popped up and laughed joyously, then gasped. She spun in a circle, treading water.

  The Hutsuls were gone. They had disappeared as quickly as the chamois had.

  The water began to swirl around her, faster and faster. Suddenly she was caught in a whirlpool. She tried desperately to swim to shore, but it was impossible. “Help!” She tried to make a mind connection with Henry. But if she did, what then? It had taken her hours to get there, and Forest had purposely cut him off.

  “Help me … ” She realized the small man had never told her his name, and nearly choked in her panic. The water swirled faster, pulling her under. And though she thrashed wildly with every ounce of effort she had left, the water won.

  Her last breath would not last long. She was spinning in a tight circle, going farther and farther down. The surface was unreachable—just a hazy vision of light and shadow so far away. How could she be raised in a dry desert only to drown in a mountain hot spring?

  She said one last prayer and gave up. She stopped fighting her burning lungs and took in a watery breath.

  That’s when she realized she could still breathe!

  Despair gave way to wonder. Panic gave way to something she could only describe as liberation. Her fear of drowning transformed into a sensation of euphoria. She quickly touched her neck and checked her feet, then laughed at her foolishness. If she had sprouted gills and a tail, she might have panicked all over again—although she found the idea of becoming a mermaid intriguing. What would Henry have thought about that!

  Henry. She needed to attempt another mind connection. They had secretly been practicing in earnest since discovering they had a natural mind-link. Distance didn’t seem to matter—but this was much farther apart than they’d been in any of their experiments.

  The process of breathing underwater was identical to breathing air. Her chest rose and fell with each watery gulp. She relaxed, focused, and reached out to Henry’s mind. In reply she received a jumble of thoughts that made no sense. It was like hearing a foreign language for the first time.

  She closed the link, focused, and tried again. This time, the connection was immediate. She reeled from the impact—not of words, but a cluster of colors and images. They slammed at her in an overwhelming torrent. She felt like her head might actually explode and tried in vain to break the link.

  She knew it instinctively: This wasn’t Henry’s mind.

  The sender must have felt her pull back. The connection strengthened. Many images swirled in a brilliant mix of colors, re-forming into a single figure. It was a woman. Her outline was fuzzy—like looking at a 3-D film without wearing the glasses—yet Serena could tell it was the most beautiful woman she had ever laid eyes on. Long raven hair waved around a porcelain face. Eyes like pockets of coal pierced her own. Serena blinked and the image clarified a bit more, but never completely.

  “Hello,” the woman said. Her voice was a symphony of tones, a combination of birdcalls and whale song and wind chimes. “I am Gaia.”

  Serena knew the name. Gaia, the Earth Mother. It was impossible! Gaia was a myth—the mother goddess, creator of all.

  The woman laughed. “No,” she said. “I am as real as the sun and the sea.”

  “Nahasdzaan,” Serena said, voicing the name given to the Earth Mother by the Navajo.

  “Yes, her too,” came the reply. “I am all things to all people. The Earth is mine to care for.”

  Serena struggled to maintain any sort of
rational thought. If the legends were actually true, and this was indeed the embodiment of the Earth Mother, then she was in the presence of one of the greatest powers in the universe. Even if she could overcome the shock that paralyzed her speech, she wasn’t sure what she would say.

  “You have been chosen.” Gaia repeated the words spoken by the Hutsul man. “Watch and learn.”

  Her image dissipated. In its place an unfamiliar landscape appeared—one covered in rock, snow, and ice. A herd of large animals, possibly musk oxen or yaks, trudged across the frozen surface. Like a video taken from a plane, the landscape moved forward with dizzying speed.

  Serena was flying!

  Within seconds, she was at the foot of an enormous mountain range that continued as far as the eye could see, the tops of which faded into the clouds high above. The mountain she had just climbed was a small countryside hill in comparison.

  Frightfully fast, she soared up the mountain face. She winced and ducked her head as she entered the clouds, then gasped as she broke clear of them. The mountain continued upward. Instinctively, she looked behind her and could imagine angels walking on the soft white blanket of clouds below.

  She inhaled sharply as she crested the mountain and went into free fall down the other side, gathering the speed of an out-of-control roller coaster. The vision took a sharp right turn. In the distance, a valley that looked as if it had never been touched by humans came into view. It was so surreal it could have been a mural painted on the mountain wall.

  A temple materialized at the far end of the valley, sprawling across the top of a ridge and extending down along the sheer mountain face. Serena recognized the design as Asian, but she didn’t know enough about architecture to be more specific. In sharp contrast to the whiteness around it, the temple was a beautiful shade of crimson.

  She drew closer, awed by the incredible size of it—the temple might have taken centuries to build. Massive gates provided the only entrance, flanked on either side by enormous sculptures of Tibetan snow lions. Beyond the gates loomed an expansive courtyard with a huge golden Buddha in the center. Kneeling monks in simple red robes were arranged before it in rows of worship.