The Wizard's Secret

by Rain Oxford

  “They’re not going to tell the truth!” another villager yelled at him.

  “They set me on fire!” another villager said. She was the one whose dress had been set aflame, and they had gotten the fire out.

  “We had nothing to do with that. You shouldn’t be messing with fire if you don’t know how it works. Have any of you heard of Merlin?” I asked.

  The villagers stopped arguing. “The old court magician? He disappeared a long time ago.”

  “Stop that!” Asiago snapped. Someone had used the distraction to poke him with a stick. Angered by his reaction, another villager held up a torch to the bars threateningly. Since my staff was still invisible, Asiago tripped over it as he tried to scramble away from the villager. Red magic shot from the unseen crystal and struck Asiago, who immediately changed into a large, black, skinny wolf.

  This caused more panicking, of course. “Turn him back!” I demanded. Fortunately, before anyone could shoot flaming arrows or worse, Asiago changed back on his own.

  “What did you do that for?”

  “I didn’t do it; the staff did.”

  “Your sorcerer’s staff transformed me on its own?” he asked with disbelief.

  “Of course it did. I told you it likes to misbehave.” Suddenly, Asiago vanished, and when I looked down at myself, I couldn’t see my body either. The staff had finally stopped playing around and made us invisible.

  “Where did they go?!” one of the villagers asked. About half of them were too shocked to speak, while the rest were not short on accusations. I ignored them and pulled out my wand. Normally, I would have tried to pick the lock, but we didn’t have time to waste. I needed to find Merlin.

  I waved my wand at the lock. Blast it, I thought to the wand. That’s exactly what happened; the lock exploded, the door burst open, the villagers screamed, and the invisible crystal of my staff pulsed with a deep red light. I had just used sorcery.

  Without hesitating, I reached out until I felt Asiago’s arm and then I pulled him behind me. I pocketed my wand and picked up my bag, which vanished. We quickly made our way to the forest while the villagers were busy panicking.

  * * *

  The invisibility over us fell as soon as we were out of sight, so we continued running. We ran until I was completely out of breath. I managed to slow myself and braced myself against a tree. Asiago, on the other hand, tripped over a root, crashed into the ground hard, and rolled away.

  Since he had rolled into a puddle of half-frozen mud, it was difficult for him to recover. By the time he finally stood, he was covered in mud and clearly a little fed up. “I’m not dressed for this!” he said, using his muddy robe to wipe some of the mud from his face.

  “Maybe Merlin is somewhere close.”

  “How are we supposed to find him?” Asiago asked.

  “I don’t know.” I held my staff up in the air. “Find Merlin.”

  I half expected a beam of light, half expected nothing at all to happen. Thus, I was startled when there was a small explosion of light and the syrus appeared on the ground right in front of me. The whispering returned, even louder than before.

  I glared at my staff, but that didn’t bother it at all. “I knew you were up to something at the castle.” Before I could say anything else, however, I felt my magic being drawn into the staff and then a soft glow lit the crystal. A moment later, the glow brightened and narrowed into a beam of light the disappeared into the forest in front of me.

  “What does this mean?” Asiago asked.

  “I guess we follow the light. There’s probably still something from Merlin inside the chest, which the staff can use to find him.”

  “Did you need the box to find him?”

  I thought about it. “I think I might have.” I did it instinctively when I told my staff to find the wand, but the wand was a part of me. When Livia made the staff show me to Magnus, she put her own magic into it. She may not be connected to Magnus physically, but she did love him at one point, at least enough to have a child with him.

  I picked up the syrus and put it in my bag.

  * * *

  We followed the beam of light until we reached a dirt road shortly before sunset. “Maybe we should stop for lunch,” Asiago said.

  I grimaced. “I don’t know. I make a lot of mistakes in my life, so I try not to repeat the same ones.”

  “The zombies couldn’t follow me here, so what’s the problem?”

  “I guess you’re right.” I was hungry and tired. “You can stop searching for Merlin for the moment,” I said to the staff. Obediently, the beam of light went out.

  Following the road, it didn’t take us long to find the village. It wasn’t too different from the previous village. The homes were much sturdier looking than those found in Akadema. I started to get worried when I noticed people were watching us closely.

  “Why are they staring at us?”

  “I’m sure it’s just because we’re strangers,” I said, not really believing it.

  I approached one young man on the road. “Excuse me. Is there an inn around here?”

  “There’s a tavern down the road, that way.”

  “Thank you.” We didn’t have to walk far to reach the tavern, and when we did reach it, we both froze. On the door were four drawings. One of the drawings was of me and the other was Asiago.

  After a moment of surprise, Asiago pointed at my picture. “That’s you!”

  “Yes, and that’s you,” I said, pointing to his as if he was an idiot.

  He frowned deeply. “It is?”

  “You don’t know what you look like? You’ve never looked in a mirror?”

  “Not since I was a child.”

  “That explains it. I have no idea how they drew us and distributed the drawings before we could even get here. Come on. We can’t be seen.”

  “But I’m hungry!”

  “I know. I have a plan.” We ducked around the side of the tavern so that we were alone. I leaned my staff against the wall and pulled out my wand. “This is the last thing Merlin taught me and… I didn’t exactly master it.”

  “What?!”

  “Merlin taught me to do disguises. I haven’t been able to do it well, though.”

  “I thought only Magicians could do disguises.”

  “They can, but it’s different. Sorcerers can use aging spells or change skin, hair, or eye color. Sorcerers can actually transform the body, whereas Magicians can only make people see things differently. You need to be quiet or everyone will come over here. Now, if you want to eat, we need to go in under disguise.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, while you decide, I’m going to disguise myself and go get some food. You can figure out your own way in.”

  “No, please! I’ve decided! Disguise me. I’m starving.”

  “If you’re that hungry, we can find some berries or something to eat.” When he just clutched his stomach and moaned pathetically, I sighed. “Fine. Hold still.”

  I waved my wand at him, studying his face closely. A sparkly orange mist flowed from the wand to surround his face, but the crystal in my staff pulsed with a deep red light. “No! It’s sorcery! I didn’t mean it. Magnus is never going to get rid of my sorcery now.” The orange mist faded, and a moment later, so did the red glow.

  “Are you joking?!” he whispered fiercely. “Just do the magic! How can disguising us hurt anyone?”

  “I don’t know, but according to the staff, this is sorcery.”

  “Your uncle will understand if you do one little disguise spell.”

  I thought about it for a moment. “Maybe if I just do something small. We’re not going to hurt anyone. If you do any magic, though, it will dissolve the disguise.” I waved my wand at him, the sparkly orange mist surrounded his face, and the crystal glowed deep red. It made my stomach churn, so I didn’t waste time.

  I imagined his hair changing from black to gray and wrinkles marring his young face. That was the only thing I did, since he wa
s easily thin enough to look like an old man. I felt my magic seeping into his skin.

  “That should be enough.” I lowered my wand and the mist faded into Asiago’s skin. The crystal stopped pulsing.

  “How do I look?” he asked.

  “You don’t really want me to answer that.”

  He scowled. “Have you made me completely hideous?”

  “Of course not. Now, I’m going to do mine, so be quiet and let me concentrate.” I really wanted to do something fancy, but I couldn’t explain that to Magnus.

  I took off my sorcerer robe, wadded it up, and stuck it in my bag. I waved the wand over myself and imagined my own face. In my mind, I changed my hair to black and my eyes to dark reddish-brown. I made my facial features sharper so that I looked like my father. When I opened my eyes, Asiago was frowning at me. “What?” I asked.

  “Now you look like a proper sorcerer.”

  “Am I recognizable?”

  “Not really. Can we eat now?”

  “Yes. Just promise me you won’t do any dark magic. I want to get rid of this sorcery.”

  “You are impossible. I can’t understand why a sorcerer would want to banish his sorcery.”

  “I’ve told you already! I don’t want to hurt anyone on accident.”

  He sighed. “Can we please just get some food?”

  “Make yourself invisible,” I said to the staff. I felt my magic flow into it and it vanished. It was still there if I needed it, but it was clearly a tool of magic and people obviously didn’t like magic on this world.

  We stepped out of the alleyway and opened the door to the tavern cautiously. Several people glanced at us, but only momentarily. There were a dozen wooden tables taking up the majority of the tavern. The bar was across the room, so we made our way to it. A middle-aged, bald man with a scruffy orange beard greeted us. Well, it was more of a grunt of acknowledgment.

  “Hello. We’d like some food and something to drink,” I said, setting my bag down on one seat. I sat on the seat next to it and discreetly leaned my invisible staff against the bag.

  The man grunted and walked away, through a door behind him. He returned soon with two mugs and set them down in front of us before disappearing through the door again. I frowned at the brown liquid while Asiago chugged his down. Once he drank half of it, he put it down, grimacing.

  “That’s foul. What is this?”

  “How would I know? This isn’t Caldaca. What does it taste like?”

  “It’s bitter.”

  I shrugged and took a sip. It was bitter, as he had said, but it also had a hint of sweetness and a burst of spice. It was oddly terrible and good at the same time. The tavern keeper returned with two plates of boiled meat, bread, and potatoes. When I took a tentative bite of the bread, my stomach growled and I realized I was hungrier than I’d thought. I scarfed everything down without tasting it, and then drained the mug.

  Asiago wasn’t far behind. “Can I get a second drink?” I asked, although my mug wasn’t empty. The tavern keeper grunted and disappeared again. As I was finishing off my drink, I realized it was dead silent. The tavern keeper appeared only long enough to hand me a second mug before vanishing to the kitchen once more. I turned to study the room and quickly understood why everyone had fallen silent.

  A huge man had entered the room. He was by far the tallest and widest person I had ever seen in my life, although he wasn’t as tall as the troll. He wore what appeared to be a gold dress with a fur coat and black leather boots. I would have assumed he was a woman if it weren’t for his thick, blond goatee. He wore a large, dark blue, velvet hat with a rainbow-colored feather sticking up from the right side. Blond hair stuck out in odd angles under the rim of the hat. As if his coat and hat weren’t gaudy enough, he also wore at least twenty necklaces, a dozen bracelets, and multiple rings on every finger. He even had three bulging, jeweled purses.

  Everyone looked anywhere but at the man, though he studied each and every person. I chugged half my drink and Asiago tried to hide his face in his food. At that point, I noticed his hair was darker than it had been when I set the disguise spell; my spell was fading.

  After a moment, I heard the sound of the large man’s movement and risked a peak at him. He jiggled and jingled as he approached the bar and sat in the seat right next to Asiago. The seat creaked violently. The tavern keeper handed him a mug and a plate of food.

  Half the patrons got up and ran out. Leaving suddenly sounded like a good idea to me. I saw several silver coins on the tables, so I pulled out a silver coin and set it on the bar, hoping it was enough. I stood up, expecting Asiago to follow.

  “I haven’t seen you around here,” the jewelry-clad man said. His voice was as big as he was. Unfortunately, he was looking at me.

  “We’re just passing through.”

  “I own this town, and I don’t like the looks of you.”

  I frowned. I had been ridiculed by my family for my blond hair and blue eyes, but no one had ever said I looked distrustful. Before I could come up with a response, he frowned.

  “Why is your hair turning yellow?”

  I had forgotten about my spell!

  Asiago stood up quickly. “I think we should go. Your face is changing back to normal.”

  “Well, it was nice to meet you,” I lied, trying not to anger the massive man. He frowned at me with obvious suspicion as Asiago grabbed my arm and pulled me out. “Did you do magic or something? I don’t know why my spell is wearing off.”

  “I’m sure it’s normal,” he said.

  I stopped. “It’s not normal. Why are you in such a hurry?” There weren’t any of the villagers around, although we were in the middle of the village. Then we heard a commotion towards the tavern and Asiago went pale as a sheet. I glared at him. “What did you do?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Are you lying to a Dracre sorcerer?”

  “Yes. I mean… yes.”

  Apparently, my disguise to make me look like my father was still working. Nobody could ever lie to him. The magic over Asiago, however, was almost completely gone. “What did you do?” The sound coming from the tavern was getting closer, and it now sounded like a mob of angry people.

  Asiago reached into his robe and pulled out one of the rich man’s purses.

  I groaned. “We’re dead. I can’t believe you did that.”

  “I’m a necromancer, what did you expect? Why aren’t we running?”

  “Because I haven’t decided whether to make you return it, hand you over, or run.”

  “You wouldn’t give me to them!”

  “I’m a sorcerer.” I wasn’t really even considering giving Asiago to them, although I was angry with him. I was actually trying to decide whether to drop my disguise completely, make us invisible, or run.

  When villagers closed in on us from the opposite side, I made up my mind. I held up my staff and said, “Make us invisible.” I envisioned us disappearing and felt the strong desire to hide, just like I was supposed to. Not a single part of my spell was vague. Nevertheless, red magic spilled from the staff, surrounded us for a moment, and then faded, leaving us still completely visible. I groaned again.

  “Well, that didn’t work,” Asiago said.

  The crystal pulsed with a bright blue glow. “What was that?” I asked it. Instead of answering, it pulsed again. “Stop that!”

  The villagers spilled into the street, surrounding us on all sides. “Hold them off,” Asiago said. He slipped off the bracelet, pulled a candle and dagger out of his pocket, carved something into the candle, and started chanting in a strange language.

  To my surprise, the Siren didn’t translate it. Fortunately, I wasn’t foolish enough to interrupt him. The people were not advancing, but they had us surrounded. A moment later, the crowd parted to let the big man through.

  “Did you think you could get away with stealing from me?” he asked.

  I picked up the purse, which Asiago had dropped. “My friend was wrong to steal, I can�
�t argue, but it’s in his nature. That being said, it’s in my nature to curse you for cornering me. Fortunately for you, I’m not going to curse you; I’m simply going to tell you to leave us alone. Take your money and walk away.” I tossed his purse to him and he caught it easily.

  “You think I should just let you go?”

  “No. You have every right to torture Asiago, but I’m afraid he might like that and I’m in a hurry. I really don’t want to hurt anyone, so it would be better for both of us if you leave.”

  The man smirked. “You are both delusional.”

  I shrugged. Fortunately, before I could conjure a monster to save us, the sky darkened, the wind picked up, and I felt a dark presence. “Too late.”

  Ghosts emerged from the ground. These ghosts weren’t detailed like Vactarus and Sonya, which meant they had been dead for much longer. Predictably, the villagers began screaming and running away. The big man, however, stood his ground.

  “You have control over them, right?” I asked.

  Asiago looked at me like I was insane. “Of course not. I don’t have their names.”

  The big man grabbed a sword from a passing terrified villager and advanced on us. I raised my staff regretfully. Using sorcery to attack someone was not something Magnus could forgive. I didn’t know if I could either, anymore. Even when I was trying to be a sorcerer, I didn’t want to hurt anyone, except maybe my brothers. Here I was about to attack someone who had been wronged.

  Right before I could do anything, I heard a very sinister and familiar growl. I gaped in shock when Merlin, still in his wolf form, jumped in front of me and advanced on the big man. The big man, in turn, dropped his sword and ran. Obviously, he was more frightened of being mauled than he was about being cursed.

  A moment later, the road was completely clear and it was very quiet. Merlin turned to me. “Come with me,” he said. His voice in my head was hard and devoid of emotion, so I assumed he was mad. Merlin growled at people who attacked us, but he never once raised his voice in anger to me.

  I picked up my bag and followed him out of the village. Asiago followed behind me uneasily. “He’s Merlin,” I told the necromancer.