The Sorcerer's Quest

by Rain Oxford

  “Perhaps, but seers are extremely dangerous and often devious.”

  “They are? None of the seers that I ever met were devious. We can go?”

  He sighed. “Very well. I reserve the right to place all the blame on you when we end up captured and eaten by trolls.”

  I scoffed. “It’s not troll season.”

  * * *

  We had to leave right then to make it to the tournament. I could hear the crowd before we could see it, but the village was not too far from Vactarus’s mansion. When we reached the top of a hill that overlooked the town, I sighed. “Well, it’s not the biggest tournament, but I guess that’s because of the season.”

  The village itself was a fair size and surrounded by vast fields of crops. The houses and shops were made of wood, mud, and straw, but cloth tents were crammed between them and around the village in a lively display of color.

  Merlin gave me a look. “There are hundreds of people there to watch other people throw casting stones and stare into crystal balls.”

  I gaped at him. “What kind of seer tournaments have you been to? You can get food from all over the world, trade mystical artifacts, and hear your fortune. Of course, the main event is watching the seers try to outclass each other. Their magic gets really chaotic after a while. This is small compared to some of them that I’ve been to.” I was already heading towards the town before he could argue.

  Unfortunately, that didn’t even slow him down. “That is another reason that we shouldn’t be here. Nothing good ever comes of divination.”

  “Of what?” I asked.

  “Never mind.”

  By the time we made it down the hill, I was sweating in my thick sorcerer robes and using my sorcerer’s staff a little too roughly. Fortunately, I had left my bag and wand at the castle. It felt weird not having them on me, but Merlin said they detracted from the sorcerer image as much as my hair and eye color.

  The tents were so cramped and open to allow air flow that I could see multiple events at once. I knew once the competitions began that the tents would close to cut out the sound. People who were local and recognized my family by the emblem on my robe gave me lots of space. Others spotted Merlin and decided that something on the opposite end of the event was desperately interesting.

  Traders traveled the world and were well-respected, but some focused on trading magical items. Since wizards and sorcerers were basically stationary, they were not typically targets of traders. Thus, they focused on the novelty of magic, and there were no better examples of that than the tournaments of seers, shapeshifters, and magicians.

  Traders usually followed these tournaments all year, but people had to be careful when buying from them since some were not part of the guild. It was dangerous buying from a private trader, because they could steal something potentially lethal and sell it to someone else without proper instructions. This was particularly worrisome when it came to curses and grimoires.

  And they knew how to display their wares. Lightning struck the ground right in front of me, but I ignored it. They could sell enough magic to make anyone feel like a wizard or sorcerer, yet I was only interested in finding something that could help me defeat Magnus.

  Still, I couldn’t stop myself from pausing at several tents to observe random people hearing about their fame and fortunes, even if it wasn’t true. After all, no one paid to hear they were going to die soon or lose all their riches. The competitions themselves were much bolder. A seer once told a person he was going to die in a horrific and terrible way before the end of the day. He had a heart attack from fear and died.

  When I told Merlin, his demeanor soured. He really didn’t like seers.

  Because there were so many people, I didn’t sense that I was being followed until I felt a gentle tug on my sleeve. I turned and jumped back to avoid the sharp horn of a unicorn… again. “What are you doing here?” I asked, realizing as I said it that it was the same unicorn from the other village. The unicorn tossed his head and nickered.

  “He came for you. He must think you need his help,” Merlin said. “Would you care to explain what you did to make this unicorn like you so much?”

  “I didn’t do anything. Please go away! I don’t need any help.” The unicorn tossed his head again and pranced away. I continued walking without another word to Merlin.

  “Can I interest you in a leash for your wolf?” a trader asked, stopping in front of me so suddenly that I had to brace myself on Merlin. Since Merlin advanced on the man with a vicious snarl on his face, it looked like I was just trying to hold Merlin back.

  “Have you ever tried to put a leash on a wolf?” I asked.

  With his eyes wide, he looked like he wanted to bolt. “No. I’ve never even seen a real wolf.”

  “That’s because the people who try to leash wolves are eaten.” The words were barely out of my mouth before he vanished into the crowd.

  I stopped at an information booth and studied the schedule. There were mostly shows going on, none of which were helpful, and the traders rotated throughout the grounds. I considered looking for some explosive powders, but that stuff had a history of exploding in its owner’s pockets. Besides, I definitely didn’t think I could blow the wizard up.

  “What about an invisibility spell?” I asked, turning to Merlin. Only, the wolf wasn’t there. “Merlin?” I called, glancing around. When he didn’t immediately appear, I turned back to the charts that were nailed all over the walls of the booth. I wasn’t terribly worried; Merlin was a wolf with wizard knowledge, so he was certainly safe. Plus, if he wasn’t, he could talk in my head. As for me, it wasn’t my first time at places like this. Therefore, I wasn’t worried.

  That was, until I heard two very familiar voices.

  I turned and my heart dropped into my stomach. Zeustrum and Bevras were standing so close to me that I could have poked them with my staff. For the moment, they were too busy arguing with each other to see me.

  Bevras and Zeus braided their hair the same, wore the same clothes, and carried identical swords. The only way to tell them apart was by the scar Bevras had on his right cheek. They both looked like our father except for their eyes, which were the same burgundy color that all Dracre had, yet neither of them had my father’s ability to exert his dominance with a single glare. That was just an excuse for them to use violence instead. Zeustrum had a dangerous mixture of patience and vileness. He devised the most ingenious, sinister plots and could wait years for them to fall into place.

  Bevras, on the other hand, jumped headfirst into every fight. It was said that the only reason Bevras was born second was because he fought during the entire event. He tried to challenge our father and that was why he had the scar. Our father humiliated Bevras in scarring him because the twins were always distinguishable afterwards. Zeus never treated his twin the same again.

  I acted on instinct; I ran backwards until I hit a solid wall. Then I turned slightly, keeping my eyes on them, and ran backwards again.

  My back came up against a tent and since the wall was cloth, I fell against it. Apparently, there was a flap there, because I landed inside the tent. Something hard and pointy broke my fall, but part of the tent collapsed on top of me. I struggled to climb to my feet. Right before I could pick up my staff and decide on a direction to go in, I felt a knife press against my back.

  “Explain yourself.”

  Chapter 5

  “I’m just a spectator who stumbled backwards into your tent. I’m sorry and I’ll pay for any damages.” It was my opinion that the back was the worst place to have a dagger against, but I didn’t dare move.

  “You don’t fool me, sorcerer. Did another seer hire you to sabotage me?” It was a harsh, angry, female voice.

  “No, honestly, I don’t even know who you are.” If only I could reach my staff.

  I contemplated trying to make a grab for it, and thought better of it. It didn’t matter how great or terrible I was in magic when she had a dagger to my back and I didn’t have any
magical weapons. While I could technically do lesser magic without any tools, I never had much practice. That was more of a wizard thing.

  As if it knew my plight, the staff started trembling like it was trying to muster up enough power to rise up. Come on. You can do it. Please come to me. The dagger dug harder into my back and my staff went still as panic set in. “Please don’t hurt me. I just want to walk out of here alive.”

  The dagger moved away slightly. “I have never heard a sorcerer beg before.” There was a tense silence for a moment before the dagger disappeared altogether. “Ayden?”

  I turned and gaped. “Dessa?” The seer was as tall as my mother, but pretty much the opposite of her in every other way. She had long white hair and kind blue eyes. Her face, while symmetrical and pleasant, was soft and pale. Even her lips were unpainted. She wore a simple, white dress with see-through sleeves and silver slippers.

  “I thought I told you to stop coming to these events,” she said, trying and failing to sound harsh. I easily heard the concern in her warm voice.

  Dessa was one of the rare seers who took on apprentices and that was the only reason she went to tournaments. She was a true master of the art, but she didn’t fit into the stereotypes. When her eyes turned solid white, I picked up my staff.

  “Ayden,” she said softly, with even more concern.

  I didn’t bother speaking back to her because she wasn’t actually talking to me. While her sight was active, she was blind and deaf to the mortal realm. She could see my soul, my past and future, but not what I was doing at the time. This was what made her so unique; she could go far deeper into her magic than probably any other seer in the world, but it was dangerous. When she was a child, she had gone into a vision and couldn’t close her sight for three years. Unfortunately, although she saw her parents’ deaths and knew how to stop them, she couldn’t bring herself out in time to warn them.

  I took the time to look around. Her tent was very dark, as always, but I didn’t see any indication that her apprentice was with her. Where is he? Dessa was never supposed to be alone. A lot of people wanted her dead and during her visions was the perfect time to strike.

  “You have quite the adventure ahead of you,” Dessa said, finally coming out of it.

  “I’m going to defeat Magnus, the great wizard, and prove to my family that I’m a real sorcerer.”

  “Your plans have never gone as you expected.”

  “But I’ve never been so willing to work hard before. Mother will kill me if I don’t prove myself.”

  “There is more than one way to skin a cat,” she said.

  “She’s going to skin me?!”

  She sighed. “I knew the first time I met you that you were something special. Unfortunately, if I tell you outright what your fate is, you will make the wrong choices. Even my powers are limited. I can see what you are meant to do and the consequences of your choices, but not which choice you will make, because you still have time to change your future. All I can tell you is to be true to your heart and let Merlin guide you. He already knows what you must do and he may be the only one who can help you achieve your potential.”

  That was actually the clearest information I had ever gotten from Dessa. “And one of these choices leads to Mother skinning me?”

  “One of the paths you face will lead to your mother killing you, yes. Trust Merlin and follow your heart.”

  “Sorcerers don’t follow their hearts. We have to be conniving and ambitious at all times.”

  “Why?”

  “Because… reasons. I’ll try to listen to Merlin, but I still don’t want to hurt anyone. I know I can be ruthless and dangerous like my family without killing people or stealing from people who don’t have anything to begin with.”

  “You give your family too much credit. There is one more thing I can tell you, however. What you seek is in the Island of Light.”

  “That’s where Magnus is? Where is the Island of Light?”

  “Find a traveler who knows.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Seriously? I’m in a hurry. Can’t you just use your seer magic and tell me? If my brothers get there first---”

  “Magnus’s castle is not easy to find. It goes wherever it wants to go. You can walk endlessly in every direction and never find him. Think of it as a journey instead of a destination.”

  I sensed something approaching me. It was powerful, ancient even, and definitely not my brothers. Being able to sense someone was new to me, yet before I could figure out how I developed this ability, Merlin appeared through the flap. It was him I had sensed, so I figured it was related to hearing his words in my mind.

  “I think I have found a way to disguise your hair temporarily without the use of a magician, which will be unaffected by your magic.” There was a white cloth sack tied around his neck.

  “How temporarily?”

  I could feel his disapproving frown in my mind. “Did you run into trouble already?” he asked, looking pointedly at Dessa.

  “Yes, I did. My brothers are out there. This is Dessa. I met her at a seers’ tournament a few years back. She’s a friend. Dessa, as you know, this is Merlin. He’s a wizard, but he’s from a world where wizards aren’t just good and he’s training me to be a sorcerer.”

  “You have seer friends?” Merlin asked, unimpressed.

  “Of course. Just because we don’t do the same kind of magic doesn’t mean we can’t help each other. My mother says it’s not right, but she might be a little behind the times.”

  Merlin sighed, which he seemed to be doing more and more as he got to know me. “I have my work cut out for me.” He didn’t say anything more when he saw Dessa’s eyes, as she had gone back into her visions.

  It was extremely unsettling, but I felt like it was a little rude to stare. Before I could say anything, it was over. “I know who cursed you and how,” Dessa said to Merlin.

  The wolf’s face became even more serious. “Ayden, please leave the room.”

  “Why?”

  “This is a private matter and I would rather hear it alone if she has anything of value to tell me.”

  “But she can’t hear you speak.”

  “Unlike you, young sorcerer, I am able to listen without speaking.”

  “What about my brothers?”

  “Ayden,” he groaned tiredly.

  “Alright, I’m going. It was good to see you again, Dessa.” I left, but I didn’t stray far. With no idea where my brothers had run off to or if my mother was near as well, I sat down and leaned against a support beam of another tent.

  To my horror, I heard another couple of familiar voices an instant before the tent flap opened. My youngest two brothers exited, right next to me. Although Mikron and Thaddeus were not my cruelest siblings, neither of them would hesitate to turn me in.

  They were slender, more like our mother than our father, but that was no disadvantage to them. Whereas Thaddeus preferred to fight with magic, Mikron was more similar to Bevras in that he wanted to fight with his hands. Mikron had grown his hair long and braided it like our eldest brothers, but when he angered our mother by messing up a batch of potions, she burned his hair off. It was still pretty short no matter how many hair growth tonics he made. Thaddeus kept his hair short like our father.

  I clutched my staff tightly, knowing for sure that if they spotted me before I could curse them, I wouldn’t have a chance. Neither of them had a wand out, though. My brain rushed to come up with a curse as magical energy tingled under my skin.

  Thaddeus looked right at me… and turned away.

  I gaped as they both walked off. After a moment, I looked down at myself, wondering if I had somehow become unrecognizable. I didn’t shriek when I saw myself, but only because I didn’t see myself.

  My hands, arms, feet, legs… everything about me including my staff and clothes, was completely invisible.

  I didn’t shriek.

  I might have squeaked a little.

  * * *

  Merlin emerge
d soon after, easily following his nose right to me. He tilted his head slightly. “I take it you saw your brothers again.”

  “It was different brothers. I saw them and wanted to hide or something, but instead… I think my staff turned me invisible, and now I don’t know how to turn back.”

  “Alright. Because your siblings are near and you are not ready to face them, we will leave the tournament before I help you return to normal.”

  “You can fix this?”

  “Of course. What kind of wizard do you take me for?”

  Maybe it was just his confidence, but his words went a long way in making me feel better. It was more difficult getting through the crowd like this, since people didn’t move out of my way. By the time we made it out, people were starting to talk about someone being invisible in the crowd. They assumed I was stealing stuff, because why else would someone become invisible in a seer tournament?

  We stopped as soon as we were out of sight of the village.

  “How does it feel?” Merlin asked.

  “Scary,” I answered. He sighed, so I thought hard to come up with a different answer. “Well, it’s cold. My whole body is a little cold and tingly, but numb at the same time. I don’t like it.”

  “Put your staff down and sit in a comfortable position,” he said. I leaned it against a boulder. As soon as I let go of it, the staff appeared. “Now, close your eyes and---”

  “My eyelids are invisible!” I whined too loudly before closing them anyway. “Okay, they’re closed.”

  “Imagine you are bathing in a lake. Imagine the water is frigid and that is why your body is so cold.” He paused for me to imagine it.

  Instead of helping, however, it just made me shiver. It was easy to see it in my mind since I took many such baths in the winter.

  “Good. Now, imagine the sun shining into the water. It does not matter how cold the water or air is, because sunlight can easily warm it. The water warms slowly, almost imperceptibly, but your blood starts warming faster than the water.”