by Rain Oxford
“But he can’t do anything as a wolf, can he?” I asked. Merlin stared at me dryly. “Sorry. I’ll get to work.” On the way to Nimue’s room, I explained what had happened when he was outside the castle wall and in the dungeon. As always, Merlin listened patiently and thoughtfully the entire time. When I was done, he sighed, but remained silent. “Nimue used dark magic, but she was trying to protect you.”
He nodded. “I know. I tried to believe that since I was released from the syrus, but I suppose I stopped at some point. I knew Nimue was afraid of me, and that poisoned my own memory of what happened. Either way, I cannot return to her as I am now.”
I decided to talk in his head so that Asiago wouldn’t overhear us. “We will find a way to break the curse.”
“I appreciate your determination, young sorcerer, but I will not have you risk your life for me. Again. Even though I would like to have my power back, I have lived a long life, and if I have to live out what is left of it as a wolf, so be it. There are worse things to be.”
“Dead?”
“Alone.” He didn’t say anything else until we reached Nimue’s room and I got to work on making the portal. Merlin asked me a bunch of questions, like how many days he was gone exactly and how full the moons were, so that we got there at the right time. If we were too early, I would run into myself, but if we were too late, Veronica would kill my aunt.
When I was done, Merlin said it looked great and we didn’t waste any time. We all got inside, careful not to scuff my sigils. As I felt my magic pour into the portal, imagined the night sky, and aligned the imaginary stars over the lines, I focused on the magic room in Vactarus’s mansion.
Chapter 19
I immediately recognized the familiar room. Even though it wasn’t my room, we were on Caldaca. I was home.
Almost immediately, Vactarus floated down through the ceiling. “That was quick. I see you found your wolf,” he said sourly. “I hope you gave him a flea bath before you returned.”
Merlin snarled. “Keep talking, poser, and you will wake up with your precious silk curtains torn up in the mud.”
I cleared my throat. “Merlin said he doesn’t have fleas and you should be nicer to him.” Merlin rolled his eyes and Vactarus scoffed, but neither of them said anything else. “How long were we gone?”
“Just a day.”
“Good. We have time then. I think I’ve figured out how to find the object with Sonya’s memories and power. Or at least, what I was doing wrong before.”
“What is it?”
“Veronica said she tried every spell, but that would only include sorcery. She also said that Sonya should have given her mother a clue. I think the spell that Sonya used to hide her power insured that it could only be found using wizardry. It probably requires that the person who finds it means her no harm.”
“Then why couldn’t you find it before?” Asiago asked.
“Because I wanted to use it to trade for Livia.”
“Then you still shouldn’t be able to find it,” Vactarus said.
“After meeting Gmork, the last thing I want to do is give Veronica more power. I don’t know why she wants Sonya’s magic, since she can’t use wizardry, but she obviously has something in mind. We should help Sonya get her memories back and then save Livia when we know what Veronica really wants.”
“Is this more of you trying to be a wizard?” Asiago asked.
“No.”
Sonya appeared beside me, causing me to shriek. The ghost ignored it. “So if you find this object, I will get both my powers and memories back? What would stop Veronica from coming after me again?”
“For one thing, you’re a ghost, so it’s not like she can kill you. For another, I don’t plan on telling her you’re still here or that you’re getting your magic back.” I pulled out my wand and leaned my staff against the bookshelf. Sonya doesn’t know who she is or that anyone loves her. I have to return her memories so that she can have a mother again.
I pointed my wand at Sonya and imagined finding something. This was difficult to imagine because I didn’t know what the object I was looking for looked like. Find the object that holds Sonya’s memories.
Pink bubbles plopped out of the wand and surrounded Sonya.
I glared at the wand. “This is why I use the staff.” In answer, the bubbles all popped. “It didn’t work.”
“It did,” Sonya corrected, right before she vanished.
“Okay, now we can go find her,” I said, grabbing my staff. It didn’t take long. We found her standing in the main greeting room, staring upward. There was a three-tiered candle chandelier with a silver locket hanging on one of the candles. “How did we miss that?”
“I lit those candles too many times to count; that wasn’t there before,” Vactarus said.
Sonya was just staring at it. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “You want to remember everything, don’t you?”
She nodded. “I do right now, but what if I don’t like what I remember? My own sister killed me. What if I’m not what everyone says I am?”
“Well, if you’re not you, then we’ll just have to keep looking. Do you want to be Sonya Dracre?”
“Ayden, if she regrets remembering her life, I can teach you a curse that will make her forget it again. It will not remove her powers, but it will otherwise be as if this day never happened for her. That is, if you are willing to do sorcery.”
I nodded. “Merlin said that we can take back the memories if you change your mind after you remember them.”
“Really? I guess there’s nothing to lose then.” Still, she didn’t immediately reach for it. When it looked like she wasn’t going to, Vactarus floated up to it, grabbed it, and floated back down. It must have been less frightening to her when she was so close, because she reached for it without hesitation.
Nothing happened.
“I still don’t remember anything.”
“Open the locket,” Merlin said, patiently.
“Merlin said to open it.”
She did, and gasped. There was no flash of light or burst of magic that I could sense, she just seemed to freeze.
“Are you okay?” I asked. She didn’t seem to even hear me at first, but then she blinked, glanced at me, and then stared at the locket in her hand. “Do you remember everything? Are you Sonya Dracre?” She nodded. “And do you regret it?”
“I don’t know. I kind of feel like I’m not the same person anymore. I’ve been Kisha for longer than I was Sonya Dracre. What is that sound?”
“What sound?” Vactarus asked.
“I hear… something between a whispering and a hissing.”
“You’re hearing the syrus,” I said. I decided not to explain that the fairies said only those pure of heart could hear it, because that made me wonder why Merlin couldn’t.
“Have you heard the whispering recently?” Merlin asked.
“It hasn’t stopped in a long time. I hear it more often than not.”
“The chimera may be getting desperate. He might be able to sense all the magic around him.”
I really didn’t want to think of that. Chimeras were impervious to magic, so I was very worried it would be able to break out of the syrus. I would have left it with Vactarus, but I didn’t want Sonya to be tempted to open it. “Veronica can control animals, and she said you also have a special power. Do you know why she wants it?”
For a moment, her expression was blank, but then her eyes widened with worry. “Because she can reverse it.”
“Reverse what?”
“My power. I can help people attain the one thing that will make them truly happy. Veronica can’t use that herself, but by modifying the spell my… my mother used to seal her dark magic, Veronica can reverse my magic. She can make people face their worst fears.”
“The world would be overrun by rabbits in two days,” I said.
“I wouldn’t mind that,” Vactarus said.
“I would,” Asiago said with a shudder.
“Y
ou have to save my mother,” Sonya said, visibly torn, “but you can’t give her my magic. There has to be another way.”
There is.” I studied the blue crystal on my staff. “In the cave, I controlled the dragon with this.”
“What cave? What dragon?” Sonya asked.
“Asiago, remember the sign in the forest that said there were dragons?”
“Yes.”
“What sign? What dragons?” Merlin asked.
“So, does everyone understand the plan?” I asked.
“Not even a little bit,” Sonya answered.
“I’m lost,” Asiago answered.
“Did I just black out for a second where you explained this plan of yours?” Merlin asked.
“Can I have my Siren back now?” Vactarus asked.
* * *
We ate a quick meal as I discussed the plan and as soon as we were done, Merlin explained a new spell to me. It was from his world, but if it worked, it could dramatically increase our chances of survival. Unfortunately, we couldn’t afford to try it out ahead of time in case Veronica had an animal spying on us.
So, we were about to set out on another quest… or to finish the one we were already on… I couldn’t remember. The plan was to ask the dragons to help us free Livia. I would conjure my monkey monster as well and with them, I would distract Veronica while Asiago, Merlin, and Sam snuck in and broke out Livia. I took the locket as a decoy, since it had no power remaining in it.
Fortunately, Sam and Kirin were still at the castle after our absence.
We were outside, on the front porch with Kirin and Sam, and I had packed my stuff into Kirin’s saddlebag, when it occurred to me that I had no idea where the Endless Forest was, since we had been transported to and from there. When I told Merlin and Asiago this, Asiago just shrugged.
“You can just transport us like Magnus did. You’ve done it before.”
“I’m not as powerful as Magnus. I can probably transport us… but if it’s very far, something might go wrong.”
“It would also exhaust you to the point where you would be useless against Veronica,” Merlin pointed out. “Magic like that takes a lot of practice.”
“I can do it,” Sonya said. We turned to her as she suddenly appeared next to us. “It might exhaust me, but I’m safe here and it will be easy enough for me to recover. It’s not like I can die again. Besides, you don’t have time to get there otherwise.”
“You haven’t seen the endless forest.”
“No, but I’ve seen my mother, so I can transport you to her. I can get you as close as Veronica’s defenses would allow.” She then frowned. “Only… I don’t have a wand. I don’t remember what I did with it.”
“You can make another one.” I held out mine. “For now, try to use mine. Make sure you send it with us, though, because I’m going to need it.”
She took it hesitantly. “I don’t know if I can. You’ve used it for dark magic.”
“I’ve used it a lot more for light magic. We’re cousins, so that should be enough to make it trust you. Are you sure you remember how to do it?”
She nodded. She waved the wand and bright rainbow colors burst out of it. The colorful light changed to glitter and we were suddenly standing at the entrance of the Endless Forest. Merlin, Asiago, Kirin, Sam, and myself all seemed to have made it perfectly fine. My wand hit the ground, but it wasn’t damaged. I picked it up and slipped it into my pocket.
Asiago sneezed.
* * *
We wandered into the forest wearily. Sam and Merlin made for excellent guards. If any random creature wandered too close, the griffin and wolf would growl until the animal ran away. I focused on finding Veronica. I knew we had to find the dragons first, but since the dragons were near Veronica’s cabin, I focused as hard as I could on finding her.
“Can you sense Veronica’s power?” I asked Merlin.
“I can sense that there is someone of great power nearby. Unfortunately, I cannot tell where it is in relation to us. If we go in one direction, I feel like we are getting closer to it, and then suddenly it is further away. Either she is moving, or we are in a place the dragons call Eykann.”
“What does that mean?”
“You are not going to like the answer.”
“I highly doubt I’ll understand the answer, but tell me anyway.”
“Eykann is a place where there is no near or far; you can only be here or there. This also explains why there is no way out. To find Veronica, you must want to be there more than you want to be here. The reason we have not yet found her is because you are afraid.”
“How did I find her the first time?”
“You said you felt serenity. Were you afraid?”
“No. But I didn’t appear before her, I just walked. If fact, my wand led me.”
“In some of Eykann, you have to walk, whereas you only appear there in others. I know how confusing this type of magic is; I have seen it on several worlds.”
“How do I not be afraid?”
“You cannot rid yourself of fear completely, and that is how it should be. Fear keeps you alert and is the enemy of arrogance.”
“That’s not what my mother said. How am I supposed to find Veronica if I’m afraid?”
“Courage, young sorcerer. That is something I cannot teach you. All the courage you need is already inside you, waiting to be brought out.”
“You know, it is really creepy when you talk to each other,” Asiago said.
We lapsed into silence as I pondered what Merlin said. It was also very close to night, but I hoped it might work to our advantage. I didn’t think Veronica would expect us back this quickly.
After a while, the silence bothered me. “About my deal with Magnus to take away my sorcery… I decided to drop it,” I said. “I’m starting to think I need my sorcery as much as my wizardry.”
Merlin sighed with approval. It occurred to me it was weird that I could distinguish between his different sighs. “I am relieved you reached this conclusion before we faced Veronica. I was very worried this was about to go down in history as the silliest quest that has ever been attempted.”
I was about to ask Asiago what his opinion was, since he insisted on giving it to me when I didn’t ask for it, when Merlin froze. At the same time, Sam started flexing his wings, Kirin tossed his head, and they both stamped their feet nervously. Don’t say we’re surrounded. Don’t say we’re surrounded. Please don’t say we’re surrounded.
“We are surrounded,” Merlin said.
“What’s happening?” Asiago asked.
I opened myself to the magic around me and groaned. Don’t be zombies. Don’t be zombies. Please don’t be zombies.
“I smell death.”
“Asiago, where is your bracelet?” I asked.
His face paled as he looked down at his wrist. The strap was clearly missing. “I don’t know. It must have come off some time when I was invisible.”
“What do we do?” I asked Merlin.
“Why are you asking me? You did very well when I was gone.”
It was then that the zombies stumbled into view. Most of them were dried out from age, many of the newer ones had bugs crawling in them, and all of them reeked. I pulled out my staff. Turn into a sword, I thought. Predictably, it did nothing.
“How do you kill zombies on this world?” Merlin asked.
“How do we… kill the dead?” I asked. “You can’t kill zombies; you have to send them back to their coffins with magic. Asiago doesn’t have their names, though, so he can’t do it. We’ll have to outrun them.” Fortunately, the zombies were slow. Of course, there were a few dozen of them, so I didn’t have many options. I aimed my staff at the majority of them. “Attack!” I demanded of the staff.
A violent blast of fire burst from my staff and struck them, causing five of them to catch on fire. The rest scattered and Kirin started galloping towards the opening so suddenly that I was nearly thrown off. Merlin, Sam, and Asiago were not far behind, and soon,
we were far from the zombies.
* * *
The first familiar landmark we came to was Nightmare Valley, which Merlin was not keen on entering, so we turned and went in another direction. If places are as close or far as we want them to be, then we should have found the dragons. I want to meet the dragons. After a while, Merlin veered off the path and we followed. To my astonishment, we arrived at the mouth of the dragons’ cave almost immediately.
Merlin studied the werewolf statue. “I see you have been practicing your sorcery.”
“Yes, well, he attacked us first.”
“Under Veronica’s control?”
“I had to do something.”
“I know, Ayden. I am glad that you defended yourself. Now, before trying to threaten them, appeal to the dragons for their assistance. You alone will approach the cave mouth, while the rest of us stay back behind the statue. This tells them that you are not here for battle. Change your staff into a sword.”
“But you said---”
“Just do it.”
With plenty of confusion, I told the staff, “Change into a sword.” For once, the staff obeyed perfectly, so I approached the cave.
“That is far enough. Now sink the sword into the dirt as far as you can, take two steps back, and kneel.”
“Stick it in the dirt?”
“You have no sheath for it, so this is necessary. If there was a large boulder, I would teach you a very extravagant trick. As it is, that will have to wait.” Once I did as he said and kneeled, he continued. “Loudly state your name and why you are here.”
“But I don’t know the dragons’ language.”
“They know many languages. I cannot give you the words to say because dragons know when your words are not your own.”
I considered this carefully. I was pretty sure that meant I couldn’t lie or say something I didn’t mean. “Good evening, dragons…” I began quietly.
“Louder, young sorcerer. They are likely deep in their cave. You do not want to sound like a slow and defenseless snack.”
