by Rain Oxford
“That’s strange.”
“It is, yes, unless you consider a person’s nature. The most basic instinct of any and every creature, no matter how primal, is to procreate. I believe, however, that a person’s most basic desire is to love and be loved.”
“You told me a long time ago that the most basic desire is to be important.”
“Wow. You were actually listening?”
“No, you made me write it down.”
“Nevertheless, the two are related. If you are loved, you are important to someone. People who feel loved also feel important, whereas those who are important do not necessarily feel loved. That makes love the most preferred emotion. Consider your mother. She has never been loved, so she fights tooth and claw to be important, even if that means everyone hates her. The problem with that is that when you do not hate her, she is no longer important. Thus, she will never be important enough. Now consider Nimue. I love her and she knows it. She never has to fight to feel important because she knows she is. That is enough for her.”
“Okay, that makes sense. But we were talking about wolves and dogs.”
“Yes, we were, and we still are. It can be difficult to get enough love from another person, so some people seek it outside of their species.”
“And wolves don’t love people?”
“Not like dogs do, not naturally.”
“What about Vinr?”
“He did not love me. We were friends and I know he appreciated what I did for him, but there is a difference. That is why there are as many worlds with dogs as there are with wolves, although most of them look more like wolves than… that,” he said with a grimace as we were passed by a person and a dog. The dog could not be mistaken for a wolf, as it was the size of a kitten, bald, wearing a pink sweater, and had a sparkly pink necklace.
“What did they do to that poor rat?!” Yuri asked, having not heard Merlin’s explanation.
The woman glared at Yuri, highly offended. I had to side with Yuri, though; I couldn’t believe anyone would shave their dog. Then after she had walked away, I realized my mistake and felt extremely foolish. “Yuri, that was rude!”
“What?” he asked.
“That animal was obviously ill!”
He blushed with shame. “Oh, you’re right. She had even tried to make it feel better by giving it clothes. I must have hurt its feelings. We’re here, though.” He pointed out a huge house with fifteen doors. “Why are there so many doors? Is it a trick?” Yuri asked. The front wall was wide, two stories tall, flat, and light brown, with eight doors on the second floor and seven on the first. There was also a set of metal stairs leading to a balcony in order to access the doors on the second floor.
Merlin shrugged when we both looked at him for an answer.
“Maybe it’s fifteen houses squished together,” I suggested.
“This place is definitely stranger than the other two worlds.”
Merlin and I nodded our agreement. “Try to find which house… or door… we need to use to get the egg. We started at the farthest door to the right and headed down the walkway. Soon, Yuri stopped and backed up to stand in front of one particular door. “It’s this one. I can feel it strongest here.”
I tried the door and it opened into a room. There were two beds and a nightstand between them with a strange lantern on it. Beside the door was a large glass window, covered by a thick red curtain. On the wall across from the beds was a set of furniture I really didn’t have time to figure out, because of the spider webs.
Because of the spider webs in every corner that were each as tall as I was.
On the far side of the room, there was a door. Next to the door was a large mirror over a wide shelf. The egg, identical to the gobrin egg Zuras had tried to fool us with, was placed carefully on a pile of clothes.
The instant Yuri shut the door behind us, a dark shape burst out from the spider web and landed in front of me. I screamed.
“What?” Yuri asked.
At that point, I realized it was only a spider, which had long, thick, furry brown legs and a sturdy brown body. Its body only came up to my knees, although if it reared up, it would have been taller than Merlin. I finally caught my breath and sighed with relief. “I’m sorry, spider. I thought you were a rabbit. Oh, you gave me such a scare.”
“Your girly shriek scared me,” Yuri said.
“Okay, wait, stop, back up,” Merlin demanded aloud. Yuri and I both stepped back, confused. “Not literally! I get that you are not afraid, young sorcerer, because it seems like something sorcerers would be used to, but how is Yuri not wetting himself over a giant spider?”
Yuri was now very confused. “Why would I be frightened of a spider?” he studied the spider.
The spider studied him.
I think the spider was more confused than we were.
“It could be venomous.”
“So?” I said. “It’s only deadly if it bites us, and spiders only bite if you scare or harm them.”
“Wait, what? Spiders bite?” Yuri asked, taking a hesitant step away from the spider.
Merlin’s answer was quite inappropriate and not the least bit helpful. The spider, however, seemed to remember at that point what his job was; he attacked.
I smacked it out of the way with my staff. The spider hit the wall with enough force to leave a hole. “Ayden!” Yuri admonished.
“I’m sorry! The wood here must be extremely delicate! I didn’t hit him that hard.”
Another spider appeared out of nowhere and landed on Yuri’s shoulder. As it reared up to sink its hand-length fangs into Yuri, I aimed my staff at it. “Stone,” I said, directing my magic. Energy struck the creature and turned it to stone. It slipped off Yuri’s shoulder and shattered on the floor.
“I guess they really do bite.” He wobbled and grabbed his head.
“I’ll get the egg. You go outside.”
He shook his head and squinted his eyes with pain. “No. I can get it.”
I could have gotten it just fine, but he sounded determined. He wanted to prove to himself that he could do it. I didn’t want to take that away from him. As he struggled to make his way across the room, I fought off two more spiders that tried to eat us. Whether he was immortal or not, spider venom probably wasn’t much fun to live through.
Yuri made it to the egg, grabbed it, gasped, and closed his eyes.
“Does it hurt?”
“No! I can still hear the voices, but it doesn’t hurt anymore. It feels… calm. Safe.”
Although he still had the sack Zuras had handed over the gobrin egg in, he didn’t look like he was in a hurry to put the dragon egg away.
When I turned to leave, I saw something familiar on the nightstand and picked it up. It was a stack of paper that was glued together, but what was interesting was the hawk painted on it with light blue ink. It was the same as on the letter Kalyn had said I wrote to her.
I could be slow to understand things, but I wasn’t an idiot. “I did write it.”
“What?” Merlin asked.
“I’ll explain on the way. We need to get to a magic mirror.”
“I know where to find one.”
* * *
It was night by the time we returned to the magic shop, and the sign said it was closed. When I pulled the door handle, it wouldn’t open. “What do we do now?” I asked.
“Knock loudly on the door with your staff and say, ‘Trick or treat.’”
I did so. There was no answer. “Is that a magic phrase or something?” I asked.
“No, I have just seen it work and always wanted to try it.”
“What if he’s not in there?”
“He should be… but I do not sense him. That is worrisome.”
Yuri knocked on the door and said, “I have the dragon egg. Let us in, wizard.”
The door opened. “Well, why didn’t you say so?” Ascelin asked. “Let’s see it.” We entered and he shut the door behind us.
“Where is Zuras?” I a
sked. He pointed to Zuras, who was crumpled on the floor between two bookshelves. “What happened to him?”
Yuri checked his pulse. “He’s alive.” Then he kicked Zuras in the stomach. “Good and out, though.” He had to be channeling Ascelin.
“His ego got the better of him and he thought I wouldn’t put up a fight when he tried to break our deal,” Ascelin said.
“What deal?”
“First, let me see the dragon egg.”
“You can’t touch it,” Yuri said defensively.
“I didn’t ask to touch it, I asked to see it.” Yuri pulled the egg out of the bag and hugged it tightly to his chest. Ascelin studied it thoughtfully. “Yes, I can see why he wants it. That has to be the most beautiful dragon I’ve ever seen. You’re lucky, Yuri Romanus.”
“Do you mean the egg is beautiful?”
“What?” he glanced at the egg again, less closely, and shrugged. “Sure, the eggshell is fine. It’s kind of like a geode.”
“Now, tell us what deal you made with Zuras and why.”
“I had to.” He sat heavily in his chair, as if he was much older than his appearance let on. “I was perfectly happy with my magic shop, not interfering with anyone, when Zuras showed up out of the blue and stole my ring. I cannot let my magic be used for such nefarious purposes, so I made a deal with him to get it back.”
“Why?” Merlin asked. “You could have defeated him on your own easily.”
“I am not as powerful as I once was. I have… settled.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“Nevertheless, I agreed to give him what he wanted in exchange for my ring. That way, no one would get hurt.”
“What did he want?”
“Three very unique items. So unique, in fact, that I only had one. He wanted a very special paint, so I told him where he could find it. He wanted a very special paintbrush, so I told him who could make it for him. And third, he wanted a very special book, which I told him I would give to him after he got the other two artifacts.”
“What about the egg?” Yuri asked.
“He got that on his own. I had no part in it.”
Unlike with Zuras, I didn’t know if he was telling the truth or not. “We know about the paintbrush, but it’s still strange. Why would Zuras want a paintbrush and paint?” I asked.
“I wondered that myself.”
Yuri pulled the bottle of ink out of his pocket. “So it wasn’t a trick? This is paint, which he got on the black and white world?”
“Yes. It will never run out and can become any color, mid stroke. Colors you have never even heard of.”
“So… Zuras wants to paint a lot?”
“Didn’t those books he was looking at have drawings in them?” Yuri asked. “Maybe he wanted to paint in them.”
“I still don’t see why he went through all the trouble for magic paint and a magic brush. Does he want to make his own books?”
“What book is he after?” Merlin asked.
The wizard pointed at the book on his table and I went to it. It was a massive, old, black leather book with a portal embossed on the front. I opened it to somewhere in the middle and knew immediately that this book was trouble.
“This is one of the oldest and best grimoires on portals that has ever existed on any world,” Ascelin said. “In addition to keeping a detailed diagram of every portal known to man, it also explains quite a bit about the world, its magic, and the beings there. So much knowledge in the wrong hands could be a disaster. He could set Nyarlathotep loose on Angadine or Cthulhu on Caldaca.”
“Then why would you give the book to him?” Merlin asked.
“My ring is even more dangerous, and I’m the only one who can keep it from hurting people. He didn’t want to make the trade, though; he wanted to take my book and refused to hand over my ring. Besides, I doubt Zuras could summon a carrot let alone a Great Old One or one of the Ancients.”
“I’m really lost,” I said.
“So am I,” Yuri added.
“He is saying that if the wrong person gets that book, they could use it to cause chaos on numerous worlds.”
“Then why not destroy the book?”
Ascelin’s eyes widened with horror. “How could you say that? This book is precious.”
“Give it to us to keep safe,” Merlin said in my mind.
I repeated the order to Ascelin, who shook his head. “No. Not until I have my ring. If you get it from him and return it to me, I’ll give you the book, but if he brings it to me first, I’m giving him the book. Unlike him, I don’t go back on my deals. Unfortunately, he didn’t bring the ring with him.”
“What’s the plan?” Yuri asked.
“Our plan does not change,” Merlin answered. “Unfortunately, he does have to be awake for it.”
“Wake him up.”
“Shouldn’t we prep the spell first?” Yuri asked.
“Merlin just has to say it. Zuras should be sufficiently trapped. Our job is to prevent him from killing us long enough for Merlin to say the incantation.”
“I have to say it three times,” Merlin reminded me.
That didn’t seem too hard to me. “What’s the incantation? If something happens to stop you from speaking, maybe I can do it.”
“I made sure it only worked for me, in case one of my apprentice’s enemies found out about it.”
“How do we wake him?”
“Why not just kill him while he’s unconscious?” Ascelin asked.
“Because that’s not what we do.”
Ascelin scoffed, as if that was a ridiculous answer.
“You’re not channeling him, are you?” I asked Yuri.
“No. Now that I have the egg, I seem to have better control over it. When we returned here, I was, but I have since been able to pull myself out of it. I feel… calm. I can sense the personalities of everyone in the room, but I’m not feeling them myself.”
Ascelin selected a vial from one of the shelves, uncorked it, and held it under Zuras’s nose. A moment later, he closed it and stepped away.
“What was that for?” I asked.
Before he could explain, Zuras jerked up as if someone had burned him. “What happened?” Then he realized he was surrounded by his enemies and climbed unsteadily to his feet. He also spotted the egg Yuri was holding. “How did you defeat my terrifying tarantulas?”
“Terrifying? Was that supposed to be a trap? I thought you had just wanted to surrender, but you couldn’t figure out a way to do it.”
“You were supposed to stay here.”
“So that you could surprise us. We know. That’s why we didn’t stay here.”
“How did you find other people I knew?” Merlin asked him.
Zuras gaped. “Did your wolf just talk? How long has he been able to talk? Why isn’t anyone else freaking out over the talking wolf? Am I the only one who heard him?”
Yuri looked at me. “He’s honestly confused and a little frightened.”
“Wait, so you don’t know who the wolf is?” I asked.
“I assumed he was your familiar.”
“Then it’s a coincidence?”
“Or it is a trick,” Merlin said in my mind.
“Should we tell him who you are?”
“Not yet.”
“Are you working with Alice?” I asked.
“Who?” Zuras asked.
“Probably not, then. Where did you get the ability to speak so many languages?”
“I made a deal for it.”
“A deal with who?”
“Not a who, a what.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’ll never know.”
“Ask him what he wanted the paint and brush for.”
I did, and Zuras nervously told me that it was none of my business.
“He’s afraid,” Yuri said.
“You don’t know anything!” Zuras insisted.
Ascelin’s expression showed that he thought we were insane. “How can you sta
nd in front of your enemy and just talk?” he asked.
We were trying to get answers out of him. That turned out to be a bad idea. While Yuri and I were distracted, Zuras got his bearings and whipped out a folded net.
“Olani vamelom mad odlonshin, Rheim, niis oiad fetharsi olora,” Merlin said aloud.
Zuras ignored him and threw the net at me. As I held out my staff, Yuri jumped in front of me. It instantly unfolded and engulfed him. Yuri collapsed. When I tried to help him, he said “I’ve got a sword; I can take care of this.” The net had thick strands that were obviously squeezing him. Soon, it would cut into his skin.
“Olani vamelom mad odlonshin…” This time, Merlin had to dive behind the counter to avoid one of the black globs that Zuras threw. “… Rheim, niis oiad fetharsi olora.”
I pointed my staff at Zuras. “Sárr.” I knew the word, but I wasn’t a hateful person. I didn’t want to cause pain, even to my enemies. Although I wanted him to be punished, I couldn’t wish harm on him enough to use dragon magic to debilitate him. Fortunately, I had other methods. “Distract him,” I said to the staff. Merlin had warned me to stop using vague orders with my tools, because that encouraged them to interpret my commands unpredictably.
Zuras’s clothes disappeared.
Zuras screamed.
Ascelin cringed.
Yuri gagged.
I looked to Merlin, who was trying very hard not to comment. “Finish it,” I said. It did no good for me to distract Zuras if the distraction also prevented Merlin from focusing.
Merlin nodded and said, “Olani vamelom mad odlonshin, Rheim, niis oiad fetharsi olora.”
Zuras dropped to his knees and heaved. Out of his mouth spewed dark gray smoke.
“Are you killing him?” Yuri asked, sickened. I felt pretty queasy myself.
“Magic is a beautiful thing, but his has been tarnished beyond recognition.”
When it was over, Zuras was weakened. “What did you do to me?” he asked.
Merlin went to him. “I have told you that there was a price for magic, Rheim. Consider this your payment and go in peace.”
Zuras looked up at him and his eyes widened with both hope and horror. “Merlin?”
“How is it you did not know it was me?”
“I couldn’t sense your magic. I’m sorry, Merlin. I was wrong. I didn’t want to hurt anyone!”