by Rain Oxford
“Yes.”
“Then get busy. You have to be at the bottom of the mountain before dawn.”
“What?! That’s not fair.”
“Life is not fair. If you want to survive, you have to be able to make it no matter what life throws at you. Your childhood is over. From now until you leave, you will have to follow our rules. If you want breakfast, you have to get up and prepare it in time to make it down the mountain, where Brynjar will teach you. When he releases you for the day, you will climb to the top of the mountain and down the other side to Cennuth’s cave.”
“What?!”
“Once Cennuth dismisses you, you will return here and do your chores, which will include gathering food for dinner and other things. Only when you are done can you sleep, although you can go hungry if you choose sleep over food.”
Instead of arguing, I started off to find Brynjar without breakfast. I was certain Brynjar would be more reasonable and willing to help me. Across the mountain from the steps I found the previous night was another set, which I made my way down. It wasn’t nearly as easy due to the early morning wind. I also hadn’t realized how steep it was before. Because I skipped breakfast, I made it to the bottom before the sun peeked over the horizon. At the bottom of the mountain was another cabin, very similar to Caedmon’s, except there was a large, covered porch with a wooden table on it.
A man was sitting at the table, drinking from a cup. He was about the size of Dantur with medium brown hair and clean, fancy clothes. In fact, I had no idea what the shiny shirt was made of. It was thick and textured with a black and red design. His pants were simple and black, but not like any I had ever seen. “I’m---”
“Merlin,” he said. “You were supposed to be here yesterday.” His voice was much gentler than Caedmon’s.
“I know.”
“Sit down so we can begin.” He really didn’t waste any time. We started with the basics of reading and then the basics of math. I didn’t understand why I needed to know this, but at least he wasn’t like Caedmon or Cennuth. In fact, he was very patient and understanding, which made me question why Caedmon was supposed to teach me wisdom instead of Brynjar.
I was tired when we were done, but I also kind of enjoyed it. I liked learning to read and although I didn’t have a use for math, Brynjar assured me there were worlds in which it was mandatory to know.
After my lessons, I climbed up the mountain, passed Caedmon’s cabin without a glance, and climbed down the other side. If I’m going to stay, I have to figure out an easier way to do this, I thought as I finally reached the mouth of the cave. Deciding it was probably a bad idea to walk straight in, I knelt in front of the dragon’s cave.
“Come inside, young wizard,” Cennuth said.
I did. The air was hot and thick with smoke. Before I could ask him for light, the dragon blew fire at my feet. I shouted when a ring of fire sprung up around me, trapping me in a circle. “What are you doing?”
“You will need to learn to trust me, young wizard. I know you have already done magic completely instinctively.”
“Yes. Why do I have to learn it if I can just do it?”
“You are extremely powerful, but until you are trained, you are dangerous to yourself and others. So far, magic has only controlled you. I will teach you to control magic. The first thing you should know is that different worlds use magic differently, but magic is the same on every world. Magic is the pure essence of the universe. Some mortals learn to control it better than others, some use it for malevolent purposes while others use it for good, and some have to constantly hold it back. Tell me about your dreams.”
I shrugged. “I see things in my dreams sometimes, things from other worlds and times. I usually know stuff about them that I shouldn’t know.”
“Like what?”
“I see cities made of metal and glass, with people inside machines that take them places. I see people talking to each other on opposite sides of the world. Is that the future of our world?”
“No. There are worlds that already have technology that far exceeds this world and others that are developing towards that. This world will not develop like that. The fate of this world rests in magic. You must end the war on magic.”
“You keep saying that.”
“You have not yet accepted it. The magic I will teach you is versatile and ancient. It will require a sharp mind, a vivid imagination, and motivation.”
“I have motivation.”
“Not yet. Get yourself out of the fire and I will allow you to leave early today, since it is your first day.”
“How do I get out of the fire?”
“With magic, of course. Use the words ‘minka hyrr.’ The rest should be instinctual. There is no easier magic to master than the elements.”
“Says the dragon.” I didn’t believe him, but the dragon vanished into the darkness anyway. I studied the fire for a moment. “Minka hyrr.” Not surprisingly, nothing happened. I sat down after a while and considered what to do. It was almost too hot to think and my empty stomach didn’t help.
I stared deep into the fire, letting my mind focus only on the flames. As I did, the heat of the room and hunger in my stomach faded away. I knew if I didn’t hurry, I wouldn’t get back to Caedmon’s cabin in time to find some food or sleep. Caedmon wouldn’t be forgiving.
I realized with a start that I felt something inside me, almost tingling in my stomach as if I was extremely anxious. I still only saw the fire. I opened my mouth to tell the fire to let me pass, only to say, “Minka hyrr” instead. Instantly, I felt exactly what those words meant, and the sensation in my stomach spread outward.
The fire died.
* * *
It was almost dark by the time I reached Caedmon’s cabin, but that didn’t stop him from giving me an abundance of chores. I first had to go out and gather fruits and vegetables from the large garden. I was too grateful for food to complain. Next, I had to chop up a dead tree for firewood. I knew when he let me go to bed that he was letting me off easy for my first day.
He never did so again. Every day, I would study reading, math, and magic. I would have to get all the food for myself and Caedmon or I would go to bed hungry. If I slacked off, I was punished with extra work. “I should just be one of the kings’ wizards. I wouldn’t have to work this hard!” I said after about a month of living with the man.
He never got angry. “If you would rather serve the kings, you are free to leave.”
I tried to mouth off to Caedmon a few more times, but he made me scale the mountain up and down ten times. With every day, Caedmon turned more chores over to me until I was maintaining the cabin and garden myself. If I wanted meat, I had to hunt.
At first, I hated Caedmon. He never spoke about himself, never helped me when I was struggling, and never let me have a break. I felt like I was doing his work. He also taught me combat with and without weapons. Unfortunately, his way of teaching was sink or swim. In fact, he taught me to swim by throwing me into the deep part of the hot springs. When I mastered that, he bound my hands behind me and did it again.
Every day, I got faster at getting up and down the mountain, better at fighting, and more efficient at hunting. I practiced my reading during my spare time with Caedmon’s books, which were poems and magic books. Some of them were in other languages, which I asked Brynjar to teach me. He smiled at me for the first time then.
Cennuth never pushed me to learn magic; he only offered the knowledge to me. At first, I thought the dragon was just making it easier on me. I was wrong. I had to motivate myself. I couldn’t make excuses or blame anyone for pushing me too hard. If I didn’t learn magic, I wouldn’t be able to get my mother and myself to a better world. I had to be better than I was.
My first year was difficult. The winter was harsh and I slipped on the stairs a lot before I had a dream of the solution. I built wooden rails to make getting up and down the stairs easier. Winter was just as hard on others. One evening, I caught a rabbit and was
taking it back to the cabin to clean, when a wolf intercepted me. The wolf’s coat ranged from white all the way to black. Although he looked too skinny, he was much bigger than me and his claws and teeth could easily tear me apart.
I set the rabbit down and pulled my bow off the harness on my back. Since Caedmon taught me to use the bow, I preferred it over the sword every time I went out. Unfortunately, when I pulled one of the arrows, it caught on my shirt. As if he realized something was wrong, he attacked.
I used my bow as a shield on reflex, which was a pretty bad idea. The wolf bit the bow and snapped it in two. He also swiped me with his claws, cutting deep into my left arm. I used the two parts of my broken bow as spears and stabbed at him.
The wolf dodged them easily, and I wasn’t dumb enough to let him lead me away from the rabbit. I knew hunger was driving the wolf to fight, but I had to eat as well. The wolf lunged again, only to dive to the side to avoid getting stabbed. We were at an impasse, because both of us needed the rabbit. He would die without it, but he could kill me.
The loud crunching of heavy boots in snow made us turn to see Caedmon approaching with a dagger in his hand. The wolf whimpered and took a few steps back. Caedmon didn’t say a word as he reached down, picked up the rabbit, tore a big chunk out of it, and tossed the smaller portion to the wolf. The wolf snatched the rabbit out of midair and ran off to eat it.
“Why did you do that?” I asked.
“Nothing is worth dying over if you can share it.”
“I hate wolves.”
“Why? He was only doing what he had to do to survive, just like you have been doing. You came here a helpless little cub, yet you just fended off that wolf so that you could survive. Do you know what the difference is between you and him?”
“What?”
“You are the stronger wolf. If he had gotten that rabbit, you would have gone hungry for a while. If he hadn’t, he would have died of hunger.”
“But then there would be more prey animals to hunt.”
“You should respect wolves. You have the advantage of wisdom, but they have a much more spiritual bond with nature. You can learn a lot from the wolf.”
* * *
For five years, I never strayed far from the mountain. After my first year, I began to really appreciate Caedmon. He never got angry no matter how hard I pushed him, he was always willing to explain something when I asked, and he pushed me to be better than I thought I could be. Even when he made me live outside for a month, I knew exactly what I had to do.
I learned to survive the harshest of conditions without relying on anyone else. I learned to be patient and calm in the face of danger, without being too slow to react. I learned to be kind even to the animals I hunted, and especially to the animals I competed with for food. In fact, every winter, I saw the wolf at least four or five times, and each time, I gave him some of my food.
Then I had a dream that would haunt me for the rest of my life; I saw my mother lying on the floor, struggling to sit up. Her skin was deathly pale, her eyes were shrunken, and her clothes were soaked with sweat.
I jerked up with a shout of horror. I knew it had woken Caedmon even before I heard him getting out of his bed. Some of my dreams were frightening, but never personal. “Caedmon, my mother is sick. I have to go back.”
“Are you certain?”
I stood up and reached for the candle. Focusing my energy on the wick and imagining the heat, I said, “Vaka hyrr.” Flames lit the wick and filled the room with warm light, but I couldn’t shake the chill in my bones. “I saw her face. She’s sick and I have to help her.”
“Speak to Cennuth before you leave.”
“I don’t have---”
“You have time to tell him where you are going,” he interrupted sternly. “You owe him that much.”
I nodded, because there was no point in arguing with Caedmon. I dressed and made it down the mountain in record time. When I knelt before the cave, I was afraid that the dragon would take a long time to answer, but I resisted the urge to call out to him. I had done it once and it took most of a month to recover from the burns.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long before hot black smoke blew out of the cave. I stood and walked in. There was no light outside except from the moonlight and stars, so I held out my hands. “Kalr hyrr.” A blue, cold fire erupted in a sphere above my hands. This allowed me to see Cennuth clearly.
“You want to return to your village,” Cennuth said.
“Not permanently. My mother is sick and I need to go home to take care of her. Between what Caedmon and you taught me, I can help her.”
“There is another wizard who has learned of you and envies your power.”
“How?”
“You are not the only one who can see things in your dreams. You must stay here, where you are safe.”
“I can’t. I appreciate everything you’ve taught me, and if you’ll let me, I’ll return as soon as my mother is better. Please don’t make me choose between you and my mother, because I’m going to help her.”
The dragon sighed, exhaling a dark puff of smoke. “You will always be welcome here, young wizard, but you are acting against my advice.”
“I understand.”
“Then you are dismissed.”
“Thank you. I will be back soon.”
Chapter 11
It took me a long time to find my old village. When I did, the sun was just rising over the horizon and most of the villagers were working in the field. I went to the smithy, only to find it converted into a woodshop. I found that more depressing than the poor state of the village. Without Dantur, the town didn’t stand a chance.
I went to my old home, expecting my mother to be sick and in bed. Thus, I was surprised to find that she wasn’t there at all. I stepped outside, about to go ask someone, and nearly bumped right into her.
“Merlin!” She sounded so shocked to see me. “What are you doing back here?” She pushed me in and shut the door behind us. “It’s not safe for you here.”
“I had a dream that you were sick and I came to help you.”
She sighed. “I’m not sick. It was just a dream.”
“I’ve learned a lot of magic since I left and I know the difference between a regular dream and a vision.” A knock on the door interrupted us and my mother answered it hesitantly, as if it was one of the kings’ soldiers looking for wizards. There was a girl standing there with a ceramic bottle. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember from where.
“Good morning. I am from the village just south of here and we are offering wine to our neighbors. We will begin selling it soon, but we’re giving out samples to get people interested.”
I thought that was odd, but my mother took the wine and thanked her, obviously just wanting her to be gone. Without another word, she closed the door and turned to me. “You should not have come back. Magic is more feared now than it has ever been. There are soldiers scouring the lands for wizards. You need to go back to the dragon before they find you.”
“You know about Cennuth?”
“Dantur explained it to me before they took him.”
“You’re going to get sick. I’ve seen it! I want to help you.”
“The only way you can help me is to stay alive.”
“When will it be safe for me to come back here?”
“Never. Never return. Go to another world where magic is accepted.”
I shook my head. “I told you I would find us a world where we’ll both be safe. Just wait for me.”
“Merlin, I don’t want to leave. This is my home.”
“But magic isn’t accepted here.”
“I don’t have magic.”
I knew what she was saying; moving to another place wasn’t worth it to her. She would rather live here alone than with me. A hundred things came to mind to say and not one of them made it out my mouth. Instead, I just hurried out of the house and down the road. My mother didn’t follow me. I was angry and hurt. I didn’t know
what I was supposed to do. Strangely, the only thing I could think of was climbing up and down the mountain. I was supposed to be reading right then, not feeling rejection.
I wanted to return to the mountain.
“Would you like some wine?” the girl asked me, approaching me in the middle of the road. She tilted her head slightly and smiled brightly. She had long, golden brown hair and light green eyes. Her white dress was very simple, but clean and well-made.
It was the same girl who came to my mother’s door and she had an identical bottle. I shrugged and took it, since I had traveled a long way and had to turn around and make the trip all over again. Just as I raised the bottle to my mouth, I recognized her. “You’re the girl from the pit!”
Her innocent smile changed into a cruel grin. “I was hoping you would recognize me, even if it does make my job harder.”
“Who are you?”
“Erica Baltezore.”
It was obvious by her tone that she expected me to recognize the name, but I had been living in the mountain for six years. “Why are you here?”
“My father has been waiting for you to come out of hiding. He wants you to join us in defeating the kings.”
“Why does your father want to defeat the kings?”
She scoffed. “He is the most powerful wizard on this world.”
“Then why were you so afraid of me when you found out I was a wizard?!” I yelled, earning dark glares from the only two villagers around.
“Many wizards have tried to kill me and my father for our power. I thought you had tracked me down through my magic. Now, are you going to accept my father’s gracious offer?”
“I’m not going to fight anyone; I’m going to learn enough magic to leave this world.”
She grinned again. “I was hoping you would refuse. It’s much more fun to take what’s most important to you.”
It was confusing that this girl, who looked so innocent, was acting very sinister. Then I realized what she meant, dropped the bottle of wine, and ran back to my mother’s home. I was too late. The poison in the wine that Erica gave her had killed her too quickly.
