by Rain Oxford
I did as he instructed. It took a while, but it finally began to stir slowly. That boosted my confidence and the potion started swirling inside the cauldron faster.
“That is enough for now. Take a break. You will have to stir it several more times before it becomes a crystalized powder.”
As we waited for the potion to turn to powder and occasionally stirred it, Merlin told me everything that happened in the castle with Gmork, so that I would know if something was going wrong. He also described himself, Gmork, and Nimue. Right as Merlin was finishing up, Asiago entered and I was surprised to see that his hair was wet and he was shivering a little. “Did you take a bath?” I asked.
He shrugged. “It’s been about a month, so I thought it couldn’t hurt too much.”
“After giving it some thought, I decided that you should take Asiago with you,” Merlin said. I gaped at him. “I know he got you in trouble in town, but he also owes you his life, and he may just get the opportunity to repay that debt.”
“I’m not going to let him get hurt trying to---”
“Ayden,” he interrupted sharply. My mouth snapped shut. “If anything happens to Gmork, Nimue, or the past me before I get trapped in the syrus, a paradox will rip a hole in the universe. My conscience is screaming at me to get you back to Caldaca. I want my power back, but not at the expense of your life or the rest of the universe. I cannot bring myself to turn down this one and only opportunity to find out how the curse was created, but if you do not take this seriously, I will call it off.”
“I can do it. I can find out how the curse was done and how to reverse it without getting caught.”
“Then you will take the necessary precautions. Asiago may be accident prone, but he is a powerful magic user and can save you. More importantly, he is devoted to saving your life.”
I wanted to argue, but there was too much determination in his eyes. As usual, Merlin seemed to know something I didn’t. “Is there anything else here that can help?”
“Remember what I said that all wizards had?”
“No. Oh, wait, you said candles, right?”
Merlin had me gather up different colored candles, chalk, incense sticks, colored ink, a handheld mirror, and several potion ingredients that he said were necessary in most potions. My bag was getting really heavy and full, but I didn’t complain. If anything, I was excited that I had some magic stuff that wasn’t from my own world. It was neutral, not wizardry or sorcery.
By then, the potion had dried to a white form with some golden brown on it. “Blow out the fire, carefully scoop it all back into the mortar, and crush it up into a fine powder, while chanting; ‘things seen, and things not seen: let me walk here in between’.” When I was done, Merlin had me pour the rest of the pail of water into the cauldron and add the powder back into it.
Finally, after I adequately mixed the powder into the water, we were done. Merlin had a crate under his bed full of small, clay bottles. I selected six of the same size and filled them with the potion. Since the potion wouldn’t last forever, Asiago and I had to have a few spares. When I filled the last potion bottle and turned back to the table to set it with the others, I gaped.
The potion bottles had all disappeared. Worriedly, I reached out and felt the invisible bottles. “Well, at least we know it works… although this might get tricky.”
* * *
I woke to the sounds of something boiling and a foul scent. It was dark outside, but the fire was glowing brightly. Asiago stood over it, reading from one of Merlin’s books. He was wearing the Siren so that he could read it.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m working on a sensory enhancement potion.”
“But you’re a necromancer.”
He held up his hand to show me a blood-red ring on his left index finger. I got this from Vactarus, which enables me just enough magic to do a single potion.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It isn’t powerful enough to save us from an attack and I didn’t really think it would be useful. However, I saw how many ingredients Merlin had and realized it would be silly to waste the ring. Even though Gmork is a wizard, I really feel we might die.”
“We’re just going to be watching.”
“I know. Go back to sleep. I’m almost done anyway.”
I rolled over and went back to sleep. As I did, the whispering grew slightly stronger.
Chapter 16
The next day, we headed out early for the castle. Merlin showed us which fruits were edible. Before he was cursed, he rarely ate meat. After a lot of pleading from me, Merlin finally told me what his life was like with the dragon. At one point, he asked me why I was so fascinated by them. I wasn’t really sure, so I just said it was because my father told me about dragons since I was very young.
“Do you miss him?” Merlin asked.
I blinked, having completely been lost in my thoughts. “Miss who?”
He sighed. “Your father, of course.”
I shrugged. “Maybe. He was the only one in my family I didn’t expect to kill me in my sleep.” I didn’t say anything else, hoping Merlin would drop it. Fortunately, he did.
* * *
At about midday, we finally reached the castle. It was white and oddly shimmery, with two tall towers. If it was Caldaca, I would have been very confused, because it didn’t look like a sinister sorcerer’s castle. If anything, it was pretty. A tall, rock wall surrounded the castle, but as I peered in through the gate, I didn’t see anyone standing guard.
“How do we get in?” I asked.
“Very carefully. I will be waiting for you around here, but I must stay out of any familiar territory. You must be careful not to be seen by my past self, either. I’m going to send the image of Nimue’s room to you. After the invisibility potion kicks in, use the image to transport yourself and Asiago inside.”
I nodded, patting the bag at my side, just for my peace of mind. “I’m going to use magic to get us in,” I told Asiago. I pulled two of the bottles out of my bag, handed one to Asiago, pulled off the top, and hesitated. It smelled foul, as most potions did.
Asiago opened his to sniff it. “Are you sure this is safe?”
“As much as any potion is,” Merlin said.
“Merlin said it’s completely safe.” I drank it first, but Asiago waited.
To my shock, the potion was bubbly and tasted like berries. I got worried when nothing happened and opened my mouth to ask Merlin why it wasn’t working, when my stomach felt warm. The warmth started spreading, gradually becoming more and more uncomfortable. Trying not to squirm, I slipped off my robe as gently as I could, then dropped my bag, robe, and staff.
“It’s warm.” When the heat crept down my arms into my hands, I saw that they were slowly starting to fade. I pulled up my sleeves and found that my arms were even more translucent. “It’s working!” By the time my hand and arm were completely invisible, however, I was worrying again.
My body was invisible, but my clothes hadn’t even begun fading.
“Well, that was anticlimactic,” Asiago commented.
“I forgot about that,” Merlin said. “We have to soak your clothes. On the other hand, if you want to scare someone, that will certainly do it.”
“Why make an invisibility potion that doesn’t work on clothes?”
“Well, it’s better for you to be invisible and your clothes to be visible than the other way around. I guess you’ll have to go undressed.”
“Not a chance.” I pulled my wand out of my pocket and waved it above me. “Turn everything I touch invisible for as long as I’m touching it.” My wand wasn’t as powerful as my staff and it used to only do light magic, but it was much more reliable. The real downside to using it was that, like my staff, it had its own personality. Bright yellow energy shot from my wand and pink glitter rained down on me.
It seeped right through my clothing. As soon as the glitter touched me, my clothes and wand disappeared. Asiago sneez
ed, nearly dropping his potion. When he sneezed three more times, I asked if he was okay. He nodded. “Some of the glitter must have---” He sneezed again. “… gotten in---” He sneezed twice more. “… my nose.”
I grabbed my bag and watched it quickly vanish. No matter how many times I’ve used invisibility, it still seemed weird. I could feel myself blink, but I couldn’t see it. If I leaned forward and looked at where my feet were supposed to be, I felt like I was falling. I put my wand away and grabbed my staff.
“You really should not need your staff,” Merlin advised.
“At the very least, it can turn into a sword.”
“Would you use it if it did?”
“I don’t think I would have to. Someone is less likely to attack me if I have a sword.”
“Fine, but I cannot stress this enough. Even if you have the perfect opportunity, you must not stop me from getting cursed or trapped in the syrus.”
“I know,” I said.
“And remember that my past self will face the dragon tomorrow at sunset. You must stay out of the way, or the dragon will sense you and possibly eat me.”
Asiago finally stopped sneezing, although his normally very pale face was flushed. As if he was self-conscious, he quickly drank his potion and began fading. It was a little creepy, because his head disappeared before anything else did. I aimed my invisible wand at Asiago. Turn everything he touches invisible, too, I thought. I felt my energy stir before yellow magic burst out of it and surrounded him. “Why doesn’t he get any pink sparkles?” I asked. Predictably, the wand didn’t answer me. It was probably for the best, since we didn’t need him to have another sneezing fit.
I felt Merlin’s presence a moment before an image appeared in my mind. It started out foggy, but slowly cleared. I saw a very lavish bedroom.
“Be safe,” Merlin said, concerned.
I learned a lot from Merlin since I met him. I knew a large part of him wanted to call this off and send me somewhere safe, but if it weren’t for Merlin, I would have been caught by my brothers. I never would have accepted my light magic. Although Dessa had said I would die on the day his curse was broken, I couldn’t refuse to help Merlin.
Holding up my wand, I focused on transporting Asiago and me to the room. I thought of the huge bed, laden with satin sheets, rich blue blankets, and more puffy pillows than any bed needed. I thought of the elegant, white armoire with gold knobs and jewels accenting the doors. I thought of the matching vanity, covered with jewelry and perfumes. Finally, I thought of the black fur rug on the floor.
White, glittery magic surrounded us and then there was a moment of complete darkness. When it cleared, we were in the bedroom that Merlin remembered… and there was a woman asleep in the bed, who I assumed was Nimue.
And there was glitter all over the floor. “That’s not obvious or anything,” Asiago remarked, spotting the glitter as well. His voice was a little nasally because of his earlier sneezing fit.
Everything was pretty much how I saw it in my mind. Daylight streamed in through the large, glass doors, which I could see a balcony through. The bed was next to the glass doors. A book was lying open next to Nimue, so I assumed she had fallen asleep while reading. She was as pretty as Merlin had said. Her long, wavy gold hair was splayed all over her bright blue pillows and over her slim shoulders. She wore a fitted, blue satin dress with gold embroidery and a silver ribbon lacing it tight in the front.
Suddenly, Asiago sneezed. I froze… but Nimue slept on.
Then Asiago sneezed again and Nimue sat up, startled. “Is someone there? Merlin?”
Since there was plenty of light, I could see the moment she looked down at the glitter. Her expression showed suspicion, which looked odd on her sweet, innocent face. Her eyes were just as blue as the dress. I wasn’t surprised Merlin fell in love with her. She was the essence of light magic. Gazing into her naïve, worried eyes, I knew this woman couldn’t have betrayed Merlin.
She stood up carefully and I sensed movement beside me. I raised my staff, knowing full well we were going to get in trouble for this. Distraction, I thought to my staff. As if it had been waiting forever to cause chaos, it pulled magic from me greedily and just as Asiago sneezed, both the balcony and the bedroom door burst open.
Nimue shrieked, but I used the distraction to reach for Asiago. I accidentally smacked him in the face before grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the room. We were just barely out before Nimue rushed forth and shut the door. I breathed easy. Asiago sneezed.
* * *
We spent the rest of the day discreetly exploring the castle. We learned that Nimue’s room was on the top floor, overlooking a beautiful garden. There were servants doing chores, so we followed some of them. From that, we learned where the kitchen was, and more importantly, where Gmork was.
One of the two towers was locked off with beams of wood and heavy metal chains. We believed it was the dragon and left it alone. The second tower, on the other hand, was a three-level magic room. Each level had a sturdy, rough stone floor, with a wooden, winding staircase in the center. The first level was mostly magic books, the second was full of dark ritual instruments and other weird items, and the third was an alchemy laboratory, full of potions, chemicals, and potion ingredients. My mother would have loved it.
“I wonder why wizards and sorcerers can do potions. I wonder why there aren’t magic users who can only do alchemy.”
I couldn’t see him, but I could feel Asiago scowling at me. “What kind of thinking is that? You’ve been spending too much time with Merlin. Potions can be dark or light magic. If we had alchemists, how would anyone know if they were dark or light?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I’m still thinking of Magnus and a necromancer being friends. After spending so much time with Merlin, it doesn’t seem so weird. Merlin is kind of… in between. Like me. He’s a wizard, but he’s not all good, like our world’s wizards. I’m just saying, maybe things don’t have to be so… black and white.”
“Yuck. I like knowing what someone is like as soon as I meet them. You’re the only one I don’t---” He cut himself off very suddenly.
“Don’t what?” I asked. “What?” I pushed when he didn’t answer.
“Nothing.”
“Tell me, or I swear, I will glitter this room up so hard you will forget what breathing feels like.”
“That’s what I’m talking about! You make threats, like a sorcerer, but a sorcerer would never threaten me with glitter. I can’t figure you out. You’re the only one I don’t trust.”
I was about to say something when I heard the door open two levels down. “Hide!” I whispered. “Oh, right, I forgot.” We’re already hidden. I reached out until I felt Asiago’s arm and pulled him with me over to a gap by the wall between two tables. Since I couldn’t see myself, I had to be very careful not to bump into either table and spill the bottles of liquid, many of which had no lids.
Surprisingly, there were two sets of footsteps climbing the stairs. The men who came into view emanated dark magic from every pore. The first man was tall, thin, with short, slicked back, black hair, and bright green eyes. Even his thin mustache and small, closely shaven goatee looked sinister. His shirt was red and black with a puffy, high collar that was probably supposed to make him look more evil. His black cloak was clasped at the front with a tiny, silver sword. Gmork was exactly how Merlin described him.
The second man was considerably smaller, but by no means less menacing. He had shoulder length, oily, dark brown hair, pasty, pale skin, light brown eyes, and scars all over his face and arms. Half of his left ear was missing. The tan tunic he wore was extremely raggedy and had and abundance of patches and stitches.
“Is Merlin still scouting the castle?” Gmork asked.
Asiago felt around for the amulet hanging from my neck until he put his hand on it. I didn’t know if it was powerful enough to translate for both of us, but it was worth a try so I wouldn’t have to repeat everything to him afterwar
ds.
“Yes, Master. The wizard can’t get past the wall because of---”
“He can,” Gmork interrupted. “Never underestimate Merlin. He has had just as many years to gain power as I had. Merlin is no fool, and he was trained by dragons, so I know he can get past the dragon. He is merely biding his time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to get in.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Nothing at all, Quinn. I want him to get in. As it is, he is immortal and I cannot kill him. There is, however, another way.”
“A trap?”
“I have been trying to turn Nimue against him, but she is hard to break. Now I have something better in mind; I will use her affections against him.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“With magic, of course.” Gmork went to one of the tables and picked up a potion bottle. “This potion was invented to protect a woman’s honor before marriage. After she drinks it, anyone she kisses will turn into a beast. It will last until sunrise, so we have to make sure she kisses him before then. Everyone knows women hate beasts. She will immediately stop loving him and turn to me for safety and comfort.”
“What if she does still love him?”
“Impossible. He will be mindless and vicious. He will even forget who she is.”
Mindless and vicious? No way. Merlin wasn’t like that at all. Maybe the syrus stopped that part of the potion from working.
“What if she kisses you?”
“I will have to refuse her until sunrise.”
“Should I give it to her now?”
“No. I will give it to her when Merlin makes his move. It must be perfectly timed. When Merlin convinces the dragon to back down and breaches the wall, you run back here and grab this bottle. Do not get them mixed up! This bottle.” He held up the small, round, red, glass bottle with a black cork on top.
“Yes, Master. I will get the right one.”
“Until then, leave it here, where it will be safe, because this is the only one I have. The recipe only made three servings. One rolled off the table and fell and I tested the other one out on the cook.”
