by Rain Oxford
“Absolutely!”
“I know you’re just talking to Merlin, but that is really weird,” Houda said.
“That was amazing!” Sven exclaimed with awe. “I had no idea you were that powerful! Maybe we should go fight your mother. Surely the three of us can handle her. She can’t be any scarier than that rabbit was.”
“Oh, that rabbit was nothing compared to my mother. If the rabbit had eaten me, my last thought would be that I was glad it wasn’t my mother who got me.”
We found a place to rest. Merlin ran off to get food, Sven went to get firewood, and Houda went to get water. I didn’t like leaving Sven to gather wood himself, but I was too irritable to deal with him and I would have hurt his feelings if I was around him before Merlin could cheer me up.
I was trying to meditate, hoping that would hold back the darkness until Merlin could return, when an explosion went off somewhere in the forest. I ran towards it. Somehow I knew it was Sven. When I reached the place I heard the explosion come from, Merlin was standing over Sven, who was lying in a pile of wet sticks. “What’s going on?”
“He attacked me,” Merlin growled.
“I was just trying to find some wood when your wolf snuck up on me,” Sven said, nearly in tears. “I didn’t mean to shoot him, but I didn’t have my wand and my magic went wrong.”
“You know our magic can explode if we don’t use wands, Merlin, you saw it yourself.”
Although he didn’t stop growling, he stepped back. “I’m watching him.”
“Well, now we both need cheering up. Let’s just get back on the road.”
* * *
At nightfall, we found a place in the forest to sleep that Merlin, Sven, and myself were very happy with. Houda acted like it was a dung heap. “Well, you can go look for another castle while we sleep here,” I said.
With an exaggerated mope, she dropped her disguise. Suddenly, she wasn’t so annoying anymore. Then she found a spot as far as possible from us, which was behind some bushes. After dropping her bag and staff, she came back to sit with us. “At least tell me one of you has a blanket so I don’t have to sleep on the cold, hard ground.”
I took off my robe and tossed it to her. “Use that. It’s been on the ground a lot.” It wasn’t my Dracre robe anyway.
Houda blushed. “But that’s a really nice robe.”
“I’m fine,” I lied. All my clothes were made for the warmer weather of Akadema, so I was already shivering from the cold.
“That was very kind of you,” Merlin said.
“I don’t think it was very smart, though.”
“Trust me; she needs it much more than you.”
“How can you know that?”
“Wolves have a very keen sense of smell. I believe I know why she was forced to leave the castle, and no, it is not my place to say anything. Let her have her secrets and I will keep an eye on her in case she has ulterior motives.”
“I’m a little suspicious that she has a staff.”
“Paranoia is a symptom of dark magic… and dementia, but I doubt you have to deal with that at your age. Nevertheless, my advice is to reserve judgment as much as possible, at least until we figure out how to stop your magic from turning you into a full sorcerer.”
“Have either of you noticed anything weird with your magic lately?” I asked.
Sven and Houda stopped arguing and turned to me. “Weird? No,” Sven said.
“My magic hasn’t changed, but the kingdom’s sorcerer and mage are both losing their magic. They’re keeping it a secret, of course. Although I think the wizard is, too, I can’t tell and he won’t admit it.”
“Does the king employ one of every type of magic user on Caldaca?” Merlin asked.
I asked the question to Houda and she nodded. “Except for elementalists. They’re too rare and too dangerous. It’s a good thing everyone thinks I’m just a magician.”
“But you haven’t noticed anything odd with your magic or… emotions?”
Merlin winced.
Houda glared at me. “Are you calling me emotional?!”
“Tread carefully, young sorcerer,” Merlin said.
“No. I’m asking if either of you have started feeling any differently in the past month.”
Sven shook his head. “I haven’t. Why?”
Houda blushed. “Of course not!”
“Why are you so defensive?” Sven asked her. And they started arguing again.
I started to make a fire, but Merlin told me not to, as it was too windy and dry, so he was worried it would get out of hand. I tried to convince him that Houda could control it, but he insisted it wasn’t worth the risk. Although I didn’t agree, I didn’t argue any further.
Fortunately, Houda had some food she’d taken from the castle kitchen, which she reluctantly shared with us. She still ate more than half of it by herself. Merlin finally told me his story, which did cheer me up, but Sven and Houda were arguing the entire time.
I found a soft place on a bed of leaves and tried to ignore them. After a while, Merlin growled loudly, which did the trick. Sven and Houda fell silent. Merlin settled down beside me and his temperature went a long way in chasing off the chill.
* * *
“Thaddeus, take Ayden out into the forest and teach him to hunt.”
I stood up. I was ten and wanted to be as far away from my brothers as possible, but not enough to disobey my mother.
“Why me?!” Thaddeus whined.
“Because Mikron taught you, Febarin taught him, and so forth.”
“But there’s nothing to teach! You just aim the arrow at an animal and release the string. Why not do what you did with Zeus and Bev? Throw him in the woods and send a monster after him.”
Zeus and Bev smiled as they recalled the time when they were younger. “Yeah, that was great,” Bev said. “We made our own weapons and Mother said we couldn’t come home until we slayed the monster. That was way better than just being shown how to hunt a little animal.”
“But Mother, you don’t have time to do that for Ayden. Maybe Bev and I can do it,” Zeus volunteered.
Thad grabbed my arm roughly and said, “Stop questioning Mother’s orders.” He pulled me outside forcefully, ignored my complaints, and only let me go when we were out of sight of the cabin. “You need to make your own weapons, but I’ll let you use my bow today. If you break it, I’ll break you.” His bow and a quiver of arrows appeared in his hand.
“Can you show me how to do that?”
“No. Some people put the arrows on their backs, some strap them to their legs. You’re going to tie them to your leg.”
“Why?”
“Because when Mikron sets them on fire, which he will, they’re easier to get off your leg.”
“Oh.” I buckled the quiver around my leg. Unfortunately, it was loose. Thad just sighed, knelt, and tightened the strap.
“You’re going to get eaten if you don’t get bigger very fast. Now, stand like this.” He mimicked the form I had seen him use before. It was pretty easy when they showed me something instead of just telling me, yet he seemed surprised that I could do it without help. “Don’t hold the arrow. Don’t even put an arrow in yet. Pull back the string.” I did and he adjusted my arms. “Have you got that?” he asked.
I nodded. “Zeus has an arm guard. Do I need one?”
“Zeus made his. You can either make your own, steal one, or go without. Today, you’re going without. Look at that.” He pointed out a deer standing close enough to hit it with a rock. It was the perfect prey animal to hunt, although it was fast and had a dangerous kick. He showed me how to notch the arrow. I pulled the string back and aimed…
And I froze.
“What are you waiting for? You can’t get a better shot.”
“I don’t like that sound they make when they get hurt.”
“You’re such a wizard.”
“I’m not a wizard, you’re a wizard!” I was purposefully too loud. The deer took off.
; “You’re so irritating. Don’t come home until you kill something.” He turned and left.
I sat down on the ground and sighed. “I didn’t want to go home ever again anyway,” I lied. I let myself get lost in my own head. After a while, a bird landed on a branch of the closest tree. It was a medium sized, bright blue bird. I stood up and aimed the arrow at it. I knew I would miss. There was no way I could ever succeed at anything the first time.
I released the string, the arrow flew, and the bird fell. The bird made a very strange sound of pain and it felt like I was the one who had been hit with the arrow. I stood there in disbelief for some time before I went to the bird. I couldn’t make myself move quickly.
He can’t be dead. I’d never killed anything before, much to the disgust of my family. Real sorcerers were practically born with blood on their hands. I sat down in the dirt and picked up the bird gently. He was dying, but there was still a moment or two left.
I realized then that I was crying. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to kill you. I had no reason to.” And that was the worst part; I killed him for nothing. I killed a living creature just because I could.
“What are you doing?” Thaddeus asked. I wiped my eyes, but I couldn’t stop crying as he walked around me to see what was in my arms. “You did it! You hunted an animal. Mother is going to be so proud.”
I nodded, still cradling the bird. The bird was still now.
“Why are you crying over it?”
“Because I killed him and I didn’t want to.”
Thaddeus glared at me. “Tell me you’re joking.” When I just cried harder, he grunted with irritation and sat across from me. “Listen to me, you idiot, birds don’t live long.”
“They don’t?”
“He looks old, anyway. People eat other animals. That’s normal. Do you think a bear cries when it eats a fish?” he asked. I shook my head. “And why is that?”
“Because bears are strong.”
“That’s right. And sorcerers are strong. You get strong by eating other animals. When you eat a strong animal, like a bear, you take that animal’s strength. That bear’s spirit lives on through you. If you really think about it, you’re giving the animal new life by eating it.”
“Really?”
“As long as you don’t waste anything. If you waste any part of the animal, then you killed it for nothing. So, we’ll go home, show Mother, and then I’ll teach you how to utilize all parts of a bird.”
I expected to wake at that point. Instead, I was suddenly in another dream— Merlin’s childhood. In this dream, Merlin and Vinr were hunting deer. Merlin set some kind of strange claw trap for the deer and then Vinr ran her into the trap. When they returned to Merlin’s cabin, a massive man was waiting for them. I knew from Merlin’s mind that it was Caedmon.
“I thought you were hunting boar,” the huge man said, frowning at the deer with disapproval.
“We were, but then we saw the deer and thought it would be better. What’s wrong?”
“This is a bad time of season to be hunting deer, especially does. She probably has a newborn fawn that will die without her.”
Merlin gaped. “I didn’t think of that.”
“Obviously. While there is nothing wrong with hunting our food, you need to consider how you impact the ecosystem here. She may or may not have a fawn, but if you hunt too many deer in the wrong season, you will be harming others you didn’t mean to. Like Cennuth taught you in magic, everything you do, no matter how small, has a ripple effect.”
* * *
For the first time in my life, I was awoken by wind. The heavy breeze from the previous night had turned into an all-out storm, and a bad one at that. Merlin had my bag in his teeth to keep it from flying away. My staff was trapped between a tree root and a large rock, so I yanked it free. Of course, I was barely able to stand with the high wind, so the staff was probably safer on the ground.
“I told you we should have stayed in an inn!” Houda said, having to shout to be heard over the wind.
“Make it stop!”
“It’s not that easy! I have to be able to stand and be still!”
At that moment, lightning lit the sky and thunder roared. “We will have bigger problems than a tornado if it does not start raining soon,” Merlin warned.
“Where’s Sven?”
“His robe blew away and he is chasing it down.”
Lightning struck a tree right in front of us, causing it to fall… right over Houda. She was focused on her magic and unaware of the threat and I didn’t have time to think. I raised my staff and focused my magic on stopping that tree. Red energy burst from me, struck the tree, and disintegrated it into ash. I gaped, horrified, until the sudden pain in my chest nearly dropped me to my knees. I couldn’t breathe for a moment.
Then lightning struck something else close, just out of my line of sight. I knew instantly that the orange light that suddenly lit the trees was fire, and things were about to get worse. “You need to do something quick!”
“I’m trying!” Houda insisted. She was making a motion with her hand over and over again, frantically, but it obviously wasn’t doing anything. “This storm was caused by magic!”
“Could this be your mother’s doing?” Merlin asked.
“She could create a storm with sorcery, but not control it. It’s like how a sorcerer can create fire but not control it afterwards.” The pain in my chest was finally starting to fade, although that wasn’t going to do any good if we burned to death. The wind whipped around, drawing the fire closer at a disastrous speed. “What do we do?”
“Houda is doing the best she can. Help her.”
“Can I help?” I asked.
She continued making the same motion over and over. “Can you create a magic ward around me?”
“It won’t stop anything but the magic.”
“Do it.”
I did. I created my best ward around her, ignoring the pain that returned to my chest. I relaxed my muscles and cleared my mind, which was really hard to do in the middle of a storm. I imagined my magic spilling out of me, through the staff, and into her to form a bubble around her. Magic that struck it would bounce off. Although I couldn’t see it, I could feel it. Inside, the wind slowed. She made the same motion a few more times before changing it up. As she did, I felt magic building in it. Outside the ward, the wind was no less violent.
The fire was now so close I could feel the heat of it, but I couldn’t leave Houda to deal with it herself. I wanted to, but I knew that was wrong. That wasn’t me. Houda was relying on me to help her. “I think we should run,” I said.
“Not yet. If I stop, I’ll have to start all over.”
I was starting to panic. The fire was moments away from engulfing the ward and the magic inside was strong enough to cause an explosion. “Now?”
“Wait.” The fire touched the ward. “Now!” I dropped the ward and her magic exploded outward, extinguishing the flames and wind and leaving behind a spooky stillness. Houda sighed with exhaustion. “I haven’t had to do anything like that before. Thank you for helping me instead of running away.”
“Well, we’re all pretty lucky you’re an elementalist. We need to find---”
“Wow, that was a nasty storm,” Sven said, approaching us from the south. He most likely hadn’t even seen the fire.
“Did you find your robe?”
“Yes, and this,” he said, holding up my robe and tossing it to me.
“Thank you.” I dusted it off and put it on. “I think we should…” My bag started shaking and whistling. “Now what?” I reached into it and was startled to find the source of the noise and movement was the magic mirror. I pulled it out, but the surface was just a mirror. “Hello?” I asked the mirror. It continued whistling, so I tapped the surface. “Hello?”
It suddenly changed to show Mason at Livia’s castle, looking down into the table mirror. “Finally. I was beginning to worry that you didn’t know how to answer a mirror,” he
said.
“How to what?”
“Never mind. Gideon is back with Evelyn. I warned Koufax, but he refused to leave his home. Aside from being a hundred and twenty five and set in his ways, the old mage is an ally of the Rynorm family. On the off chance he would be angering your father, he couldn’t risk a war between their families by getting involved. I’m pretty sure there was much more to the story, but we didn’t have time to discuss it. Also, Fluffy is apparently too afraid to go to you with the sorcerer around, and Magnus can’t send a golem without her there, so you’re going to have to bring Sven and Houda to the castle yourself.”
I sighed. “Houda refused to travel with a golem anyway. What about Jeb, though?”
“Gideon will warn Jeb Draumr and I’ll g warn Mist Renuka,” Mason suggested. “Meanwhile, my family is making sure no sorcerer can get into the castle. Once we all get back to the castle, we can decide the best way to warn Sotis Drsys and Kalyn Goldom.”
“That sounds like a good plan. What do you think, Merlin?”
He nodded. “I have not had any dreams suggesting otherwise and it decreases the risk of Houda and Sven getting injured by your mother’s tricks. Besides, Houda really should be somewhere more comfortable.”
“You sound like you fancy her.”
“I am sympathetic to her plight.”
“Excuse me, but, is there, by any chance, a well-known mage between here and Magnus’s castle?” Houda asked.
“Not that I know of. Are you sick?”
“No, just curious.” Her smile was definitely forced. “I’ll be back in a moment.” She disappeared.
“Is she okay? Should I transport to you?”
“No. She said she was just curious. Besides, it’s better to keep the transporting around me to a minimum because there are ravens following me.”
“Spies?”
“I think so.”
“For your mother?”
“Probably,” I said to Mason. Privately, I told Merlin my doubts. “Or… maybe Houda is behind it. She has a huge secret, she found us early, she insisted on coming with us, and she could have easily been controlling that wind storm.”
