The Wolf's Heart

by Rain Oxford

  Unfortunately, they were much stronger than average bandits. When Gmork smashed one of the men’s heads into a tree, that man got up and shook it off immediately. Even with my training and Merlin’s speed, I got a few cuts.

  I was just glad the blade wasn’t poisoned.

  “You will never make it to Beige Boulder Mountain alive!” the bandit I was fighting insisted.

  “We’re not going to Beige Boulder Mountain!”

  “Wait! Stop! Everyone, wait!” Everyone stopped fighting and looked at him. “Oh, gosh, this is embarrassing. You’re not trying to save the princess who’s being guarded by a dragon?”

  “No. I mean, that sounds interesting and all…” I looked at Merlin, who shook his head.

  “We have enough on our plate at the moment, young sorcerer.”

  “We’re after a scroll on Silver Stone Mountain.”

  “I’m sorry to tell you this, but you’re on the wrong road. This road leads to Beige Boulder.”

  I groaned. “We have to go all the way back?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  The anti-magic ward crackled and disbursed, so I transformed my sword back into a staff. “Well, thank you for telling us. I guess it’s better to turn back now than to get to the mountain and find out it’s the wrong one.”

  “Yes, there are also three more challenges in the way, so you would have wasted a lot of time and energy. You have a good night.”

  “You, too.”

  “Oh, if you do decide to do this quest at a later date, I suggest going during the daytime. The dayshift challengers are much easier to defeat than the nightshift.”

  “That’s great to know. Thank you.”

  “No problem. If you need a band of guards or assassins, send a bat. We have a wide opening in the winter.”

  “Oh, do you expect someone to beat this quest?”

  “No, but the dragon doesn’t work in the winter, so there’s nothing for us to guard.”

  “I see. I probably won’t need your services, but I’ll definitely put in a good word for you if I hear from anyone who does.”

  Merlin, Gmork, and I walked away in silence. After a while, Merlin told Gmork, “You will get used to it.”

  * * *

  We traveled for most of the night before stopping so that we could get a little sleep. Merlin and Gmork hunted their own food while I transformed some edible clay into bread. I had bought it at the village, much to Gmork’s disgust. It was better than eating raw rabbit.

  I was mostly asleep when Merlin said, “This reminds me of that time we searched for the Stone of Astan.”

  Gmork laughed. “We went treasure hunting for immortality and all we got was the flu.”

  “And a rather nasty parasite from contaminated water.”

  “You were the one who wanted to swim in the lake.”

  “I thought that was what the clue required. Your father was furious.”

  “Until you came along, I was a perfectly boring child who never ran off and never disobeyed him. That was also why my mother loved you.”

  “How did it feel to get your revenge on Princess Gaya at last?”

  Gmork hesitated before answering. “Not as good as I anticipated. I had been longing for it for so long that when I finally had her at my mercy… it could not measure up.”

  “But now you can finally let it go.” When Gmork didn’t answer, he continued. “Or do you not know how?”

  “I do not know what I would be if I did.”

  “You would be free.”

  “I do not know that I want to be. I had a goal. I had a purpose… and now I do not. When I tried letting go before, I hurt Nimue.”

  “How so? Is that why you took her from me?”

  “You would not understand. I took Nimue because I was tired of losing everything. I will not lose her.”

  “You do not have her.”

  “You are wrong.”

  * * *

  In the morning, we resumed our journey to the mountain. When we arrived, I was disappointed, because it was only about twice as tall as I was. “What is this?” Gmork asked. “He said ‘mountain,’ not ‘hill.’ What sort of quest takes place on a hill?”

  There was a sign in front of it, so I ignored him and read it.

  Welcome to Silver Stone Mountain

  This mountain was created by Rumos Silver, who was vying for the heart of the same woman as his twin brother, Romuras. To settle their dispute, they competed to see who could build a better mountain. Romuras built Beige Boulder Mountain. Unfortunately, the woman they loved did not like mountains and married another man instead, so the brothers gave up the quest to build the best mountain.

  “Well, that’s interesting,” I said.

  Merlin nodded.

  “Let us get this over with,” Gmork said, looking disturbed. We climbed the mountain. It was the easiest mountain I had ever climbed. At the top was another sign.

  To complete this quest, you must answer these three riddles.

  Behind the sign were three gray boulders in a row with writing on each of them.

  The poor have it.

  The rich need it.

  If you eat it, you will die.

  The cost of making, only the maker knows.

  Valueless if bought, but sometimes traded.

  A poor man may give one as easily as a king.

  When one is broken, pain and deceit are assured.

  I have rivers without water,

  Forests without trees,

  Mountains without rocks,

  Towns without people.

  “The answer to the first riddle is nothing,” I said. The stone disintegrated into dust, making me afraid I had given the wrong answer. “Was that wrong?” I asked Merlin.

  Merlin shook his head. “No, young sorcerer. You had the correct answer. The answer to the second one is a promise.”

  The second stone dissolved into dust.

  “The third one is---” Gmork started.

  “Wait,” Merlin interrupted. “We do not know what will happen if you guess wrong.”

  “I am not guessing. Trust me on this. We used to do a lot of treasure hunting in our day.”

  “A map.”

  “Yes.” Gmork turned back to the stone. “The answer to the third riddle is a map.”

  It crumbled into dust.

  A scroll appeared floating in midair. I took it. “That wasn’t so hard!” I said excitedly.

  “That is not like the others,” Merlin said.

  I unrolled it and groaned.

  Certificate of Completion

  Congratulations! You have completed the quest of Silver Stone Mountain. Please take this certificate to your accountable quest-giver for the prize you were promised. Some exclusions may apply.

  Certificate is not for sale.

  If you enjoyed this quest, please leave a review on your local news board.

  We traveled throughout the day to reach the village at night. I was tired and my feet were sore, so I wasn’t in a good mood. Maro was satisfied with the certificate and gave us the jar. The jar itself was as basic as it could be; it was red pottery. Without any hesitation, I popped it open to find a piece of the scroll inside. It was similar to the others except for the symbols, which were different on each of them.

  “We’ve got it. Only one piece left.”

  “Well, where do we find it?” Gmork asked.

  I pulled the crystal out of my pocket and held it over the scroll. It revealed a familiar face. “The king of the Dark Forest elves.”

  “Great,” Merlin said. “He owes you, so if he has it, he should give it to you freely.”

  “Yes, if things were ever that easy, that’s exactly what would happen. The problem is that it’s troll season.”

  * * *

  Maro also offered us a hut to sleep in for the night, which had two beds and nothing else. A mage healed our wounds without the use of healing potions as Merlin and I described what trolls were to Gmork. “Basically, they’re
huge, smelly people with tough skin and very little intelligence.”

  “That should make them easy to outsmart,” Gmork said.

  “It’s best to avoid them altogether. They’re very strong and eat anything alive that they can catch. Except for that one vegetarian troll I met.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I’m sure Yavo is the only vegetarian troll in existence, though.”

  “Are you sure he did not just find you inedible because of how scrawny you are?”

  “I asked that and he assured me that he was a vegetarian.”

  When the mage left, Merlin asked, “How did you regain your magic?”

  Gmork studied him for a moment before saying, “I found an old spell to access my core magic. I am not as powerful as I once was, but I can do magic that is true to my sole, like necromancy.”

  “How did you access it?”

  “If I told you, you would no longer need my help to save Nimue.”

  “Without my magic, we could fail to save her.”

  Gmork considered this for a while, but he knew Merlin was right. “There is a series of sigils you paint on yourself. Nimue painted them on me as I described them. You must enter your alpha state, where you will face the enemy.”

  “What enemy?”

  “The curse and the wolf itself. He will try to stop you. You must defeat him.”

  “That sounds incredibly difficult without magic,” Merlin said. “What weapons will I have?”

  “None. That is only the beginning. Once you defeat him, you will enter the realm of your magic. There, you have to face your own weaknesses to free your magic.”

  “You were able to do this?”

  “Yes.”

  “What are the sigils?”

  “I will not tell you until I am at full power and can fight if you decide to kill me.”

  “Why would I ever kill you?”

  “I know what kind of man you really are.”

  “We were kids together. You know better than most people who I am.”

  “That was all a lie. You left me for power. You no longer wanted to share your power or knowledge with me. You discovered immortality and left me to die. You could have saved my mother!”

  “That is not what happened! Who put such lies in your head? The Gmork I knew was smarter than that!”

  “You are the one who lied!”

  “Baltezore,” I said. They both fell silent. “You told Nimue that you met an old enemy of Merlin’s. It was Baltezore, wasn’t it? He went to you because Merlin cared about you, for the same reason he targeted Merlin’s mother.”

  “The point is the same; everything is Merlin’s fault,” Gmork said. “I would never have lost Nimue or been turned into this if it were not for Merlin’s greed.”

  “I told her to follow her heart,” Merlin said.

  “It was not your heart to tell her what to do with it!”

  “Stop arguing,” I said. “Right now, Erica is the enemy. Focus your anger on her, because defeating her will save Nimue. Arguing with each other will accomplish nothing.” They both agreed, but they couldn’t admit it, so they said nothing for the rest of the night.

  When I closed my eyes, I accepted that I was afraid. I wouldn’t always have Merlin or Kalyn, but if something went wrong, they would do everything to help me. The sleeping curse was gone; I didn’t have to fight it anymore. Every time I started to panic and wanted to open my eyes, I forcefully kept them closed, took a deep breath, tapped my finger on my chest, and thought of something else. I imagined I was sitting by the creek near Magnus’s castle, practicing my wards with Merlin.

  I soon fell into a peaceful sleep.

  Chapter 14

  Despite it being daytime, I noticed a few differences in Akadema that suggested things had changed for the worse. There were fewer small villages and many that were abandoned altogether or taken over by sorcerer families. Aside from my family, Akadema was once a safe place to live. Sure, it had the Dark Forest, pirates, and some bandits, but children were free to roam the numerous open fields and swim in the calm lakes without their parents even knowing where they were.

  Or maybe that was just my brothers and me.

  Now, a lot of the fields that once grew grain or vegetables were burned down and the villages nearby were decimated. This could have been the doing of dragons or sorcerers. I didn’t want to run into either one.

  Ilvera had told us Akadema would be worse off without her, but I had never believed it before. When Merlin suggested we stop for the night, I was reluctant. Large cities in Akadema were few and far between and a small village wasn’t going to take us in for the night. The ones that were seemingly unoccupied were the most dangerous. “Let’s sleep at Vactarus’s mansion.”

  “That would require traveling throughout the night.”

  “It’s got to be better than sleeping in the woods or on the side of the road. I could transport us.”

  “Save your energy in case we have to face trolls. We will deal with whatever we come across on the way.”

  “Nothing is going to get us,” Gmork said.

  “Wolves were frightening a year ago. You were silent hunters, legendary creatures of the night. Now that dragons have returned, you’re colorful sheep with fangs.”

  “Excuse me?” Merlin asked.

  “To dragons,” I amended. “Not to me, obviously. I think wolves are amazing.”

  Gmork grumbled, not believing me.

  “Your galaxy stone should protect us against dragons. Gmork and I should be able to handle bandits.”

  “And I trust you completely on that, but I would still rather sleep in a bed with a roof over my head until we get off Akadema.”

  “As you wish.”

  “I’m surprised the scroll isn’t in Vactarus’s mansion, my aunt’s home, or Magnus’s castle. What happened in the Dark Forest?”

  “You came back for me,” Merlin said. “That was when I realized that I could trust you. You got your staff at Vactarus’s mansion, but the magic was already inside you. You learned that you were not alone at Livia’s castle, but you did not understand what that meant. You first started to accept that you are not a sorcerer at Magnus’s castle, but you proved what was in your heart long before.”

  * * *

  We traveled throughout the night and most of the next day, only stopping for food and water. To pass the time, Merlin and Gmork told me about the adventures they used to get into as boys. It was fun and took my mind off the fact that I was exhausted. When the sun was high in the sky, a traveller passed with a cart of vegetables. “Stick out your thumb,” Merlin suggested.

  “Why?”

  “So we can get a ride.”

  “Do not teach him to hitchhike,” Gmork said. “You know that it is dangerous.”

  “Only for pretty boys. Oh, right,” Merlin said.

  Gmork laughed, startling the merchant. He looked like he was considering passing us without offering any food, so I pulled out my coin purse. Monstrous wolves or not, he wanted to sell as much of his crop as possible while it was still at its best.

  He stopped and greeted me politely.

  I returned the greeting and glanced over his stock. I figured I would eat anything except broccoli or apples. He had many fruits and vegetables that were common on Akadema, but it was a box of fruit in particular that caught my interest. “You have topa?” I asked.

  The merchant smiled. “Yes, and they’re the freshest topa you will ever see in Akadema.”

  “I’ll take three of those.”

  “Purple apples?” Merlin asked as I picked out the three I wanted and gave the merchant several coins.

  “Topa look like apples, but they don’t taste the same. I’ve had them at seer tournaments. Children call them sticky potatoes, but they’re actually a type of fruit. They’re not native to Akadema.”

  Merlin looked doubtful, but I stuffed two in my pockets and bit into the third. While topa wasn’t my favorite food, it was preferable to hunting.
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  “Anything for your wolves?” the merchant asked.

  “No, thank you. They hunt rabbits.”

  The merchant shuttered and went on his way.

  “That is not all we eat,” Gmork said.

  “I know. Merlin has hunted all kinds of wildlife around the castle. I just said that to make sure the merchant left. They have been known to take advantage of wizards by dramatizing their life stories. A merchant once tried to make me buy his entire stock of cabbages so that his kids could afford clothes. First, he had three kids, but by the time I got out of there, he had ten.”

  “It sounds like he needed a veterinarian, not money,” Gmork said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You do not want to know,” Merlin said, looking slightly ill.

  We finally arrived at Vactarus’s mansion. Although being a ghost dampened his magician powers, Vactarus was able to maintain an illusionary ward over the mansion so that it could only be seen once someone got right up to it. Like the inside, the outside intentionally looked rundown.

  The gate was old and didn’t have a lock. Thorny vines bit into my boots as we followed the cracked stone walkway, overcome with weeds, to the grand porch. I used the brass knocker on the huge wooden door and the sound echoed loudly before the door slowly opened on its own. Merlin and I entered without hesitation. Gmork was more cautious.