Mageborn

by Michael DeAngelo

  *****

  The sun had outpaced the would-be mage, leading her to her destination. She had spotted Folly’s Glen some time before, and her urgency had wavered. True to Gaston’s word, the place seemed overwhelmed by magic. What the sage hadn’t told her was it was decidedly dark magic.

  Several hundred feet outside of the glen – which was actually a densely thick forest – the plains of Daltain gradually grew more rugged. Large boulders were scattered about the area, some beside immense scars in the ground. Adelia braced herself upon one of the boulders, peering at her destination. Folly’s Glen seemed bleak, as if the blue sky above it were somehow darker.

  “He must have been very disappointed about that desk,” the young lady said to herself.

  A meow to her side had her nearly flinging herself over the boulder. Adelia somehow managed to root herself in place, only abruptly casting her gaze in the direction of her unexpected companion.

  Adelia furled her eyebrows then. “Does Gaston have you spying on me?”

  The small black feline hopped upon the boulder and stared into Folly’s Glen. She followed his gaze and sighed.

  “You’d better not get lost in there,” she asserted. “I won’t have the time to look for you.”

  As if challenging that notion, Merlin leapt off of the rock and strode fearlessly toward the dark forest. Shaking her head, Adelia followed his lead.

  Even though the cat proceeded casually, he easily outpaced the girl. She began running to catch up with him but was not quick enough to reach him before he disappeared within the woods. Without hesitation, she gave chase.

  As she slipped into the woods, she was shocked still.

  Before her eyes, the sky seemed like a radiant jewel, shining down an indigo light upon the glen. Far ahead, a creek flowed through the place, its water clearer than any she’d ever seen. Even the grass seemed livelier than outside among the plains. The ground seemed to sparkle, as though miniscule gemstones were glued upon every emerald blade.

  When her immediate awe subsided, Adelia was able to focus on the creature that had boldly led her inside. Merlin sat upon a rock beside the river, staring at the girl. He seemed to swell with pride, smiling as only a cat could.

  Absentmindedly, the young lady made her way toward the creek. Merlin hopped down from his perch and leapt over the water. Once Adelia arrived there, she couldn’t help being impressed by the clarity of the liquid. She could see through the water without any obstruction, yet she could see her reflection staring back at her.

  Looking to the side, she was surprised to see the creek’s origin. It flowed from within a solitary tree farther north, and as best she could tell, it could not be seen beyond that. A glance in the opposite direction showed that the stream ended in much the same way. The water flowed within the hollow of a tree, disappearing there.

  On the opposite side of the creek, Merlin leaned down, lapping up the crystalline water.

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Adelia mused. The young lady dropped to her knees and cupped her hands together. Anticipating a cool drink, she reached forward.

  To her dismay and her surprise, the water seemed to avoid her hands. She could see the damp dirt beneath it, yet the stream separated in two, forking around her presence. She reached a little farther, and the water split there instead.

  Merlin sat up on his haunches, licking the water off his furry lips. He stared at his companion, giving off an air of superiority.

  “All right, what’s your secret?” Adelia asked.

  The cat leaned down again, nearly engulfing his muzzle in the stream.

  Adelia was about to make another attempt when she noticed the glen had suddenly grown dark. A look skyward alerted her to nothing, for the canvas above was still a vibrant blue. When her gaze returned to the ground, it was once again bright and verdant.

  Sighing, the young lady stood. She crossed over the creek, oblivious to the water splitting around her feet. She was instead focused on the opposite side of the glen, where lumibugs seemed to congregate. Their multicolored dance was mesmerizing, and Adelia was drawn to them.

  As she approached their mating area, she watched the organized chaos of it all. The congregation seemed to pitch and sway one way or another every few moments.

  It didn’t take long for Adelia to figure out why.

  A jet of flame burst from the ground. She drew back reflexively, the fire briefly stealing away the girl’s vision. When it returned, she could see the lumibugs, still happily dancing amongst each other, had moved just out of the way of the fire. That hissing pillar withdrew back into the ground a moment later.

  She could see as the swarm rotated around their section of the glen, their flight seeming so trivial yet so deliberate. Another fiery eruption cast out, and once again the lumibugs were just clear of that potential massacre.

  Adelia narrowed her eyes to combat the heat and the brightness, but she couldn’t suppress the smile beginning to curl her lips upward. That amused look quickly subsided when the latest flame submerged. Only moments later, her companion whimsically leapt into the area.

  “Merlin!” she cried.

  The cat showed little concern for his safety. Rather, he hopped about, swatting playfully at the lumibugs in the air.

  While his dance followed the brightly colored insects, he was just as safe as they were. The pillars of flame were just out of reach, and he seemed oblivious to their presence.

  Still, Adelia could barely breathe while her companion remained in danger. Just as quickly as Merlin became interested in the lumibugs, however, he grew bored with them. With a roaring blast of fire at his back, the cat leisurely walked away from danger.

  Breathing out a sigh of relief, the young lady smiled again. Who would have believed I’d be worried about a cat? she thought.

  Following Merlin away from the lumibugs, Adelia saw another glow. Not far away, a tree stood clear from the rest, bioluminescent mushrooms growing from its bark in an unending spiral. Radiating in bright blues and purples, the lone tree was like a beacon for the forest.

  As she approached, Adelia realized she wasn’t the only one so intrigued. Merlin pranced toward the tree, content with his lot in life.

  The fungus was larger than she first thought, but she was still surprised to see the cat proceeding up and around the spiral like a staircase. Up and up he went, until he reached one of the lower branches. Once there, he lazily lay down, observing the other happenings of the glen.

  Below, the would-be herbalist looked at the fungus for a brief while. She reached into her satchel then, retrieving the tome Gaston had provided. “Let’s see if you’re one of the ones I need.” Adelia set the book in the bend of her arm and thumbed through the pages. Each weathered parchment sounded as though it would tear out at any moment. She knew it was deceptively strong, however, in no small part due to her teacher’s magic.

  “Here we go,” she said. “Sunset blister.” The young lady passed a glance to the cat in the bough. “Why do all of these ingredients have such dreadful names?”

  Merlin offered no verbal response; his tail twitched as though he was saying he didn’t care.

  With a smile, Adelia shrugged. She placed the tome back in her satchel and removed a small flask instead. She proceeded to scrape one of the smaller pieces of fungus off of the tree, dropping it into the glassware. A minute cloud of dust puffed out from the broken piece that remained, as if in protest. While she wasn’t focused on it, the young lady couldn’t ignore the horrid smell. Even Merlin abruptly stood and leapt from the tree. Adelia followed him deeper into the glen.

  True to Gaston’s words, Folly’s Glen had everything necessary for an aspiring alchemist. Somehow, the place seemed able to foster just about any ecology. The lush forest gave way to a bubbling bog, and far beyond that, the young lady could see the western mountains.

  One by one, Adelia harvested the reagents, gathering hornroot, thistlebark,
and sunfoil. Vials, flasks, and pouches were quickly filled, and she wondered how anyone could amass such a plentiful assortment. Her equipment was nearly full, and every few dozen yards, she could see another item for her collection.

  With her sight often falling upon the tome, she had lost track of Merlin. He knew his way around the glen better than she, though, and Adelia didn’t worry.

  A dark shadow crawled over the old pages. The young lady looked skyward, but just as before, she couldn’t see anything obscuring the sun. Shuddering, she proceeded deeper into the glen. The bog was just before her, a solid path leading between the marshes.

  Crinkling her nose, Adelia couldn’t escape the pungent smell of the bog. The heat of the place was just as overwhelming, forcing her to take shallow breaths. Dark bubbles rose to the surface of the viscous green liquid, like a thick pea soup left within a red hot cauldron.

  The young lady hoped to collect whatever pertinent reagents she could and immediately leave the marsh behind her. She spotted a collection of spiny reeds just at the edge of the solid ground and slowly began her approach.

  “Swamp fangs,” she said, identifying the herb from the tome.

  Content with one more item to bring back to Forsynthia, Adelia approached the muck. Carefully wrapping her fingers around the spiny reeds, she began tugging. The bog’s grip on them was much more powerful than she expected, and she found she was losing the contest of strength.

  Breathing deeply, the young lady used all of her weight to aid her harvest. Her balance was sacrificed, however. When the marsh finally conceded and bestowed upon her its reward, Adelia fell backward. She cradled the satchel as she landed on her rump, but the flap still opened when it landed. Several of the vials inside rolled about the ground behind her.

  No permanent damage had been done. None of the reagents Adelia had collected that day had been lost, and she held onto one more. Standing, she was able to smile. After only a brief few moments, all of the supplies were in her satchel.

  She stood and turned west, aware of one more location where rare herbs could be found. The mountains separating Daltain and Gandarst were sure to be rife with rock ash, iron ivy, and silvercloak.

  With the grin still wide on her face, she proceeded in that direction. She wasn’t able to move very far from the swamp before darkness seemed to envelop the glen again. That time, though, a huge rumble beneath her nearly shook her from her feet.

  Adelia turned and was shocked to be staring at a black dragon. With large, green eyes, the menacing tyrant glared back.

  Every ebon scale seemed to glisten in the sunlight, yet the heat and the vapors from the bog almost gave them a corrosive appearance. Razor sharp claws dug into the ground she had just tread upon, drawing the viscous, murky liquid toward the surface. As the dragon’s mouth parted, she could see the rows of the giant beast’s teeth.

  The young lady could feel fear reaping the soul from her body. The terrifying monster had landed upon the widest area of solid ground, but even then, his heft was causing the earth to crumble beneath him.

  There was nowhere for Adelia to run. The swamp blocked most of her passage out of Folly’s Glen, and with the mountains at her back, she truly felt trapped.

  A gentle, soft touch wrapped around her leg, and she nearly fainted. When she looked down, she was surprised to see Merlin there. He stepped forward and sat down before her, staring stoically at the dragon.

  She watched as the dragon’s muscles tensed and its neck straightened. Those green eyes narrowed, and Adelia was certain both she and the cat were to be tasty snacks for the tyrant. Just as abruptly as it landed, though, the dragon took to flight. It disappeared from the azure canvas above just a few moments later.

  Adelia had never sighed so loudly. Her tiny, furry savior turned back toward her and almost gleefully approached. The girl felt her legs wobble, and she nearly fell to her rump. The feline was well rewarded with several scratches around his ear and beneath his chin.

  “I would pet you forever, Merlin,” she said. “But I think it’s a good idea if we leave this place far behind us.”