The Hero's Peril (The Sorcerer's Saga Book 5)

by Rain Oxford

  Instead of meeting my end in a very gory fashion, I was hit with a gust of cold air. As if it realized that I wasn’t used to such cold weather, my robe suddenly changed. It was subtle from the texture aspect; it became slightly thicker. In the weather-proofing aspect, it made a substantial difference.

  I hadn’t even known it could do that.

  We were in a forest, in which the trees were dead and mangled. It reminded me of those Merlin and I saw in a forest on Akadema, which had been sucked dry of life and magic by the approaching black star. It was night, but there were no stars in the sky, as if they had been snuffed out. Somehow, there was still enough light to see. The ground was covered in snow, yet there were objects scattered around on top or only half buried.

  “If these were here for a long time, they would have been buried by the snow,” I said, picking up a doll. It was missing an eye and its hair was cut at a strange angle, but it was not eroded like everything else.

  “Unless the snow has been here for just as long and never melted.”

  Many of these objects were children’s toys or household trinkets, and most of them were old, broken, and faded. I found a letter. Although I couldn’t read the language it was written in, I did recognize it, because Merlin had considered teaching it to me.

  “What is this?” I asked.

  He barely glanced at it. “A love letter.”

  I dropped it and let it fall slowly to the ground. The cold was seeping through my robe, somehow making me feel hopeless. It had been a mistake to come here. “Where are we?”

  “I cannot say for sure, but I have heard numerous legends about places like this. It appears to suck the life out of everything in its path, which I think that includes the love, hope, joy, magic, and everything else positive. It is completely devoid of anything good. It is a place of loss; containing lost memories, love, and magic. If we do not get out soon, we will be lost as well.” Suddenly, he jerked his head up and growled.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Something is coming.”

  “Something like a sorcerer?”

  “Something like a monster that wants to eat us. Run.”

  “Run where?”

  “Anywhere will do. Look for a mirror.”

  We both started running, and that was when I heard loud crunching sounds in the snow and the snapping of dead branches in the trees. We were being followed. I ran with everything I could, but it wasn’t long before I couldn’t stand the curiosity. I glanced over my shoulder to see what was after us.

  Nothing.

  Snow was kicked up and trees were disturbed, but I didn’t see what was causing it. And then, my right foot failed to make contact with the ground and I went flying through the air. Merlin immediately stopped, which was difficult to do in the snow. Wolves were apparently better at stopping in slick terrain, though, because by the time I hit the ground, he was next to me, growling at the oncoming opponent.

  “Get up,” he demanded.

  I did, half on reflex, and stared dumbly at the mirror in front of me. Instead of reflecting me, it was completely black.

  “Go through it!” Merlin urged.

  I turned to face our opponent instead. I trusted my magic over a portal to the unknown. Before I could cast a curse, however, Merlin shoved me through. I tripped over the rim of the mirror and landed on my back. This room was so dark it was almost black. I was on some kind of cloth, but that didn’t provide much comfort from the stone floor. I barely rolled out of the way before Merlin leapt through the mirror. I could see the forest, and I could see that the invisible creature was still advancing. I did the only thing I could think of; I pointed my staff at it and said, “Stop the creature.”

  Magic burst out of me into the mirror, there was a flash of light, and then the mirror was tipped backwards. The sound of glass breaking was terrible. I drew my wand from my pocket and used magic to make the tip glow.

  We were in a basement, but not like one I had ever seen before. The walls and ceilings were made of white blocks. There were crates, some wooden, some that were made of a flexible material I couldn’t identify. It was halfway between wood and paper. I spotted the stairs which led to a door, but I was curious, because this basement was similar to a tunnel. We followed it around the corner. On and on it went, but we only found more crates until we reached the end. The wall had magic symbols painted all over it.

  “Come away from it,” Merlin said, backing up.

  “What is it?”

  “A form of magic even I do not like to use.”

  “You mean like blood magic?”

  “Worse.”

  “What’s worse than blood magic?”

  “I know it as demonic magic, but you would have no concept of such a thing.”

  “Then explain it to me.”

  He sighed. “You know blood magic as a bad thing.”

  “Right. It’s using blood for magic or even sacrificing people or animals for magic.”

  “Well, the truth is that there is nothing inherently evil about it. It can be used for good, just like almost every other kind of magic. After all, blood gives you life. It is more often used in a sinister way because it is so very powerful. If you cannot control it, it will control you, and as I have told you; power corrupts. Blood magic, even when used correctly, can erode the purity of your heart.”

  “That sounds pretty bad to me.”

  “But it can be used for good. Demonic magic cannot be. It feeds on the soul.”

  “I don’t understand that, either.”

  “I know. Most societies on most worlds have a concept of a soul in one form or another. It is your being, your life force. Whatever you call it, demonic magic feeds on it. Someone who uses it can attain anything they want, but while doing so, they become hollow.”

  “Their organs and bones disappear?”

  “No. Their love and happiness does. Additionally, it is a slippery slope. One such man I knew who used it did so for the first time because he was in love with a woman who would not give him the time of day. He made her love him. He should have been happy. Instead, she made him miserable. So, he used demonic magic again to attain money, which he used to keep her happy. Money does not just appear out of thin air, however. It was tainted by the misfortune of those who went without. And it did not make him happy. He kept demanding more and more and he received everything he ever asked for, but he never once asked for joy, and he never felt it again.”

  “How do you know what is demonic magic and what isn’t?” I asked, getting away from it.

  “You cannot use it accidentally,” Merlin assured me. “It is taken from powerful other-world beings.”

  “Like dragons?”

  “More powerful than dragons. A person can make a deal with these creatures for demonic magic, threaten them, or even steal the power.”

  “How do you know that is demonic magic?”

  “It is written in Enochian, the demonic language.”

  “Can you read it?”

  “Only demons can. Now, I think that is enough of this. You have no need to worry about it. Compared to many worlds, Caldaca is beautifully innocent.”

  Although he was ready to move on, I was a little shaken. I didn’t like the idea of there being such a terrible thing as magic that takes away love and joy. Even sorcerers weren’t that cruel.

  I followed him back to the stairs and opened the door for him. We walked into a cramped space with only another door and a set of steps leading up. We tried the door and entered a living room.

  There were two people in this room; a girl, and Yuri Romanus. I knew who Yuri was instantly, and I finally understood why his parents couldn’t tell us apart; the prince was completely identical to me. He had the exact same blond hair, blue eyes, and small build. Even his facial structure was like mine.

  One crucial bit of information I forgot to consider was that although I knew the prince was similar in appearance to me and that I was coming here, he did not.

  He screame
d.

  It was not the kind of scream used by someone who panicked over anything and everything. This was the kind of scream a brave prince uses when he sees himself walk into the room.

  “Wow,” Merlin said. “I was not expecting this.”

  “Please calm down,” I told the prince. “You’re going to make me start.”

  “If you do not cease your screaming, I may have to eat you, and that would be detrimental to our quest,” Merlin said aloud.

  Yuri’s eyes widened further and he screamed louder.

  “That’s not helping, Merlin!”

  Merlin smirked. “Perhaps not, but how often do I get to have such fun?”

  “Everyone, settle down,” the girl said. “I enjoy a good bloodbath as much as the next girl, but we need to hurry this up if you’re going to win this game.”

  “Game?”

  She shrugged. “Well, quest, journey, life, it’s all the same thing, isn’t it? You win and lose until you die and that’s game over.”

  “I’m sorry, but who are you?” I asked. Although she was a pretty girl, something about her threw me off, as if she was hiding herself. I wanted to send out my magic to sense hers, but somehow, I knew that was a terrible idea.

  “Who is she? Who are you?!” Yuri screeched.

  “You two will have to get acquainted on the way. My name is Alice. You don’t know me but I know plenty about you.”

  “You do? How?”

  There was something innocent about her, yet there was also something… deranged. That combination made her creepier than a sorcerer.

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “What do you think?” I asked Merlin.

  “I have no idea. I am at a loss; I cannot sense her magic, but I feel like she might be more powerful than she is letting on.”

  Alice continued. “You came here to save Yuri, but that’s not going to be all that easy to do. You’re very late. Let me explain the rules and objective of this game. Not everything, of course, because that would be boring. You have all come here to save the treasure.”

  “No, we haven’t. Merlin and I came to save Yuri… who we expected to be… well, more captured.”

  “You and Merlin can leave, but without the treasure, Yuri will die, and he can’t save it alone.”

  Yuri blanched. “What are you talking about?”

  “Your parents were told they would have a child if they protected a treasure. That treasure was stolen.”

  “But what does that have to do with---”

  “It is a dragon egg.”

  Silence.

  “I’m not going to tell you why, because you should figure that out for yourself. I will tell you that if you don’t save it, you will die,” she said to Yuri.

  He was shaking. “But I’m immortal.”

  “Only for as long as that egg is safe.”

  “Okay,” I said. “How do we find the sorcerer and defeat him?”

  “How you defeat him is up to you. The finding him part will be easier; Yuri can lead you.”

  We all looked at Yuri, who was so pale I was afraid for his health. He shook his head. “I don’t know how.”

  “I can help you this once, but you’re going to have to learn the rules of the game quick. The sorcerer, Zuras, can use mirrors as portals. He can open them on any mirror, to anywhere. I will open the first portal to get you close to him. You need to defeat him before he can escape. If he does, that doesn’t mean you’ve lost him; the portal closes very slowly. You have about half an hour to make it. Don’t be later than that.”

  “How do we find him?”

  “Yuri will be able to track the egg.”

  “I can’t do it,” Yuri said.

  “You don’t have to do it alone,” I said. “Merlin and I will help you.”

  “Why would you help me?”

  “Because your mother is worried sick over you and I don’t like seeing her upset, even though she’s a stranger to me.”

  Alice gestured to the table, which had been clear a moment before. Now, however, it was covered with books, scrolls, and other clutter. “This should help.” We followed her to the table, where she grabbed three potion bottles.

  Yuri picked up a small piece of cake with a note saying “eat me” and a potion with a similar note saying “drink me”. Yuri raised the potion to his mouth.

  “That’s not for you,” Alice warned him. He set them down. “Don’t just eat or drink something because it tells you to. What’s wrong with you?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. I normally wouldn’t, but I didn’t think about it.”

  “Great, another one,” Merlin said dryly.

  “What?”

  “Nothing, nothing.”

  Alice gave Yuri and me each a potion. “This will enable you to understand, read, and speak any language for three days.”

  “That’s impossible.”

  “Nothing is impossible, only extremely unlikely. Merlin, I’m not sure how well it will affect you.”

  “I will risk it,” he said.

  I wasn’t surprised. He knew many languages because he wanted to learn them, so the opportunity to temporarily be fluent in them all was pretty difficult for him to pass up. “He says he’ll take it anyway.”

  I drank mine. It was sweet like apple juice, not like any potion I had ever tried. I waited for something to happen while Merlin and Yuri drank theirs.

  “I don’t think it worked,” I said.

  “It worked fine. What were you expecting?” When she turned to a maroon curtain and yanked it down, I gaped; there was another huge mirror. “The world you’re about to visit is one of the strangest I know. I won’t spoil the surprise, though.” She waved her hand and the mirror’s surface turned black. “Have fun.”

  “You two don’t have to risk yourselves to help me,” Yuri said.

  Heroically.

  I looked at Merlin and he nodded. “You wanted an adventure. We might die, but then again, we might not.”

  I turned back to Yuri. “Don’t be such a wizard. We already said we’d help.”

  We reached the mirror when Alice suddenly said, “Oh! I almost forgot one thing. You can’t just jump from world to world. You have to go through the Mirror Realm, which is full of danger and mirrors. Yuri will lead you to the right one. The others can send you all over the universe, so be careful. Also, if you fall asleep in the Mirror Realm, you will be lost forever, and your reflection will be taken from you. You will be able to watch people, move some things, and make noise, but they won’t be able to hear or see you.”

  “Thank you for telling us, but I think we can manage not to fall asleep in there.”

  “And one more thing. My kitty went missing, so if you see him, please let me know.”

  “Your kitty?” Yuri asked. “What does he look like?”

  “He’s black. He’s such a gorgeous kitty.”

  “That might be a little too ambiguous.”

  Merlin and I stepped through the mirror.

  * * *

  We were back in the cold, dark forest, yet we were in a different spot. Behind us was the mirror, and I could see Alice and Yuri through it. “I don’t know if we should trust Yuri or not. This could be a trick to get us trapped on another world. It seems too convenient that his parents sent assassins after him, and they found us, and we happen to be in a position to help him. And then there’s Alice, who I definitely don’t think we should trust.”

  “You are usually trusting of everyone.”

  “That’s how Sven almost defeated us.” I would probably have trusted them both if I wasn’t waiting for Baltezore or my mother to suddenly jump out from behind us and curse us.

  “No, he almost defeated us because you were not being yourself. Besides, we also should not drive away our allies.”

  “It just seems strange that someone who looks identical to me could need my help. Also, he’s immortal, so that’s weird.”

  “I learned to expect the unexpected from Caldaca.
How about this; you trust him and I will distrust him.”

  “That works for me.” As long as Merlin was keeping a watchful eye on them, I was free to be me. I stuck my hand through the mirror’s surface. It was like breaking the surface of water. Feigning confidence, I gestured for him to join us. He did, although his confidence was even less convincing than mine.

  “You’ll be fine,” I said when he joined us on the dark side of the mirror. “Can you sense the egg?”

  He hesitated for a moment before nodding and pointing north. “I think we go that way. I don’t like being here.”

  “I agree with you there.” We started traveling northward as quickly as we could without full out running and drawing the attention of whatever invisible creature had followed Merlin and me.

  “I still don’t know who you are.”

  “I’m Ayden Rynorm, the curse breaker of Mokora. This is Merlin, a wizard from another world. I can hear him in my head and he can sometimes talk out loud.”

  His eyes widened in recognition. “I read about you in Itela!”

  “I wasn’t in Itela.”

  “No, I was in Itela. It was on a scroll.”

  “Itela was on a scroll?”

  “No, you were.”

  “What? Never mind.”

  Merlin was watching us carefully with an expression of deep thought. He was obviously trying to figure out why Yuri and I looked so similar.

  Yuri stopped. “Wait, I’ve seen you before.”

  “I thought you read about me.”

  “Yes, but you also sold me your boat. You had a green robe then and I didn’t see your face. I saw Merlin and your staff, though.”

  “That was you? Huh. Small world. Did you make it okay?”

  “Yes. The boat sailed well. I was running from another kingdom’s assassins. That was before my magic died completely. I always wondered why you had a boulder in the boat.”

  “We wanted to rock the boat,” Merlin said.

  “How do you know anything about me?”