by Rain Oxford
I sighed and tried again. “Good evening, dragons!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. “My name is Ayden Dracre! I know it’s a sorcerer name, but I’m not really a sorcerer! Well, I am, but I’m also a wizard! It’s very confusing, I know! I’m not really sure what I am anymore!”
Merlin groaned and put his paw over his eyes.
“Oh, right. Anyway, I’m here to ask for your help! Well, not in the forest, I mean I’m in front of your cave to ask for your help! I’m actually in the Endless Forest to defeat my cousin, who is a sorceress, and save my aunt, who is like me…! Except she had her sorcery removed, so she’s not really like me anymore! I was going to have mine removed, too, but I changed my mind! I need your help to save my aunt!” By then, I had to stop to catch my breath.
“Are you an idiot?” Asiago asked.
“I was just nervous. I didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of a dragon.”
“You failed.”
“Did I at least get my point across?”
“I think you have successfully proven that you need a therapist,” Merlin agreed.
“Great! What’s a therapist?” He just sighed. “Maybe the dragons aren’t home,” I said when there was no movement or sound from the cave. I really hoped they weren’t extinct as my mother had said.
“You probably scared them away,” Asiago said.
“Perhaps the cave has been empty for some time now. I wonder how often they update their signs.”
“Oh, wait.” I turned back to the cave. “Sorry, I forgot to say one thing! My father is Kille Rynorm!” With no warning or sound, a massive plume of black smoke flowed out of the cave and surrounded me. I sensed Merlin about to run to me. “Merlin, stay back.”
He growled, but didn’t say anything.
“Why should we help you, little sorcerer?” a voice asked. It was as deep and loud as I thought a dragon’s voice would be.
Even though I couldn’t see him, I was amazed. “I knew dragons weren’t extinct!”
A soft snort was all I heard in response.
“Oh, right. You asked me a question.” I thought about it for a moment, only to realize I didn’t have an answer. “I don’t know. Is there something you want that I can help you with? I know you have your own magic, but I can do other stuff.” It was difficult to speak to a dragon I couldn’t see. Actually, the smoke made it a little difficult to speak as well.
“We knew your father when he was a very small boy.”
“Really?” The only thing I knew about my father’s past was that his family trained dragons. He never even told me what they trained the dragons to do.
“We were not impressed.”
“Oh…”
“He was always skipping out on his lessons and daydreaming. He was a very smart boy, but he could not pay attention to save his life.”
“His lessons? I thought he just trained dragons.”
The dragon laughed. “We had a mutually beneficial arrangement. We protected them and taught them ancient magic in exchange for the easy lifestyle they provided. As long as we were considered ‘tamed,’ no one was allowed to hunt us. At least, that was the bargain until Ilvera Dracre stole the youngest Rynorm son and tried to control us.”
“Why were you hunted?”
“A long time ago, we were worshiped and feared by the mortals. We lived in every mountain, guarded the skies, and ruled over the seas. There were thousands of us strong and numerous different types. We had a hierarchy, a language, and all the food we could want.”
“What happened?”
“Mortals developed magic. It came like a storm; first it brewed in very few, who were confused and startled when strange things began to happen. Before we realized what it was, it swept across the world. In two days, almost every mortal had magic in one form or another. They no longer served us.”
“There wasn’t a sign it was coming? Or some prophesy or---”
“Only the white star,” the dragon interrupted.
“White star? I’ve heard of something like that.”
“We sensed a change in the air on the day the first person developed magic. When we woke that morning, there was a white star blazing so brightly it was like a second sun. Once most of the population of mortals had magic, the star died. It burned out right before our eyes. Magic was not the only thing this star brought to Caldaca. Soon, people began to find very special stones that could control dragons.”
“The dragon’s eye?”
“Yes, although we call it the galaxy stone.”
“Does anyone know what the white star was?”
“We believe it was another world exploding, and that the other world had magic, which spread to Caldaca, because magic cannot be destroyed, only transferred.”
“So the galaxy dragon stone can control dragons?”
“All galaxy stones are different. It depends on the person it bonds with.”
“Can you tell what mine does?”
“At this time, yours can stop us from attacking you or call to us for help. However, it has not fully bonded with you, so those powers may fade and others may arise.”
“A few months ago, I fought a chimera and I accidentally conjured a dragon. It wasn’t a real dragon, though. How did I do it?”
“We do not know.”
“Ayden, Veronica knows we are here,” Merlin said. As if it knew it was found out, I heard a familiar shriek from one of Veronica’s bat spies.
“You must go now,” the dragon said.
“Wait! I still have more questions!”
“We have told you all that you need to know.”
“You won’t help me fight Veronica?”
“We no longer meddle in the affairs of mortals. We have helped you enough. We will only tell you one more thing. Beware the raven’s blood.”
The smoke cleared and the dragon was nowhere to be seen. Merlin, Asiago, Kirin, and Sam were all in the same place I had last seen them, except they were being attacked by Veronica’s bat creatures.
I stood up, grabbed my sword/staff, and faced the creatures. That was when I realized I was being watched. Perched leisurely on the werewolf statue was the same raven I had seen the last time I was there. He was staring at me, completely unconcerned with the fight going on behind him. I realized, as I stared back at the raven, that there were two ways to win this fight; my way or the sorcerer’s way.
With no guarantee that I was making the right decision, I pointed my sword at the statue. My sword instantly changed back into a staff. “Let him go,” I said. Red magic shot from my staff into the statue, causing the raven to take flight. Stone turned back into flesh and the werewolf was moving his arms before his legs were even mobile. His claws slashed, his teeth flashed, and he grabbed one of the bat creatures right out of the air. He’d torn it in half and was going after a second one before I realized he was on our side.
In what felt like a blink of an eye, he had killed all four bats and was starting to shrink. His black fur receded, his paws turned to hands, and his face morphed into that of a man’s. He was panting and covered in sweat, but he didn’t seem to be hurt. “Thank you for freeing me,” he said, turning to me.
“You’re welcome. Thank you for not eating me… even though you did try to.”
“I was under the sorceress’s spell; I had no choice. There is even a psychotic little girl after me.”
“Well, we’re going to fight the sorceress, but we can’t help you with the little girl.”
The werewolf nodded. “I understand. Little girls are terrifying. Good luck with the sorceress,” he said before disappearing into the woods.
“He should have shown us the way to the sorceress,” Asiago said.
“According to Merlin, we have to find her by wanting to find her.”
“Really? That seems horribly inconvenient. How are we going to do it?”
I put my staff back into the saddle and withdrew my wand. “I am worried, because I know Veronica could kill me. I also know that if I kill
her, I will never forgive myself. But that isn’t most important right now. I will face Veronica. Show me the way.”
“I thought you had to have something that connects you to her,” Asiago said.
“I do. She is a Dracre.” I felt my magic pulsing through my wand right before dim, pink light lit the tip and narrowed into a beam pointing east.
Chapter 20
Before following the wand’s direction, I had another plan. Asiago and I had two bottles of the invisibility potion left, which Asiago and Merlin drank. We would have given some to Sam, but we didn’t know if a griffon could handle it. We probably looked a bit silly, since Asiago’s clothes were unaffected by the potion.
When Merlin said we were very close, I made Asiago’s clothes and Sam turn invisible. It would drain my magic, but we needed them to at least get inside. Finally, we reached Veronica’s cabin. As I had done several times before, I focused on the presence of my monster and pulled on that sensation until he felt me calling him. My staff created blue magic that flowed upward into the air. Out of that, my monkey monster formed.
The creature had the general body of a monkey about the size of Merlin, with two arms and two legs. He was dark brown, furry, and fairly thin, although he had much more strength than any man. He also had two large, black, bat wings suspending him in the air and a row of four black tentacles down each of its sides. He glanced around before landing in front of me, seemingly curious as to why I called him.
Once again, the whispering got louder, and once again, I ignored it. “Do you want to fight my cousin and help me save my aunt?” I asked.
In answer, the creature flexed his wings.
“Wow, that is a somewhat scary monster that leaves me both confused and a little worried,” Asiago said.
“Your necromancer friend sure knows how to put things in perspective.”
“Don’t judge him. You three go around and see if you can find another way in. Otherwise, it’ll be difficult for you to sneak in.” Without hesitation, Merlin, Asiago, and Sam walked into the forest to do a wide sweep. Kirin and I approached the cabin. Before we could get close enough for me to knock on the door, one of the bat creatures appeared. I pulled the locket out of my pocket. “I got what your master wants. Tell her to come out here.” The bat rushed forth to steal it, but I had expected that; I was already pulling my dagger out of my boot. “Stop, or I’ll destroy it.” I said, pointing the dagger at the locket. The bat didn’t know what a locket was, and he wasn’t willing to risk inciting his master’s wrath.
After another moment of hesitation, the creature dived through the door like a ghost. I refused to let that bother me. Then the door opened and Veronica stepped out. She didn’t look particularly pleased or angry. “You made it back quicker than I expected. You have the object?”
I held up the locket. “Is Livia safe?”
She pursed her lips, staring straight into my eyes. Then she reached into the pocket of her robe and I pulled out my wand. “Calm down,” she said quickly, holding her hands flat to show me she was unarmed. “I’m just reaching for the crystal.”
“Why?” I asked. Very slowly, she reached into her pocket, pulled out the crystal, and tossed it to me. It was still glowing red. “Why didn’t you use it? I thought you wanted the dark magic out of it?”
“You really don’t know?”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking.”
She frowned. “It appears we were both lied to. This is not the real crystal. It looks authentic, but there is no magic in it.”
I gaped. “You’re lying.” If that were the case, then the crystal couldn’t have been what made me feel so calm when I faced her the first time. “Magnus would have known. He wouldn’t have sent me here with a fake because you would have had no reason not to kill me. Wizards don’t put people’s lives in danger like that.”
“Who told you that?”
“That’s just common sense.”
“You yourself prove that people can change.”
“I’m the seventh son of the seventh son. That’s different.”
She laughed. “You look like a regular wizard to me. Let’s make a deal. Give me the locket, I’ll let my mother go, and we can work together to get what we both want. Magnus sent you to your death, do you really want to return to him?”
“I’m at least going to ask him why.”
“I can teach you much more powerful magic.”
“Magnus isn’t my teacher. My teacher is hundreds of years old, wiser than any man on Caldaca, and is patient enough to put up with me on an almost daily basis.” Privately, I asked Merlin if he had made it in yet.
“We have, but this place is much larger on the inside than we anticipated. We need you to distract her for a while longer.”
“Can I drop the invisibility?”
“For now, yes.”
I did, thankfully, and felt a huge strain lift away. Although Asiago’s clothes hadn’t been a problem, I had underestimated how much magic it would take to make Sam invisible.
“Are you going to give me the locket or am I going to have to take it from your dead body?”
“Are you going to release my aunt?”
“If you give me the locket.” I tossed it to her and she caught it easily. It only took an instant before she sneered at it. “Another fake?!”
“Not a fake, just empty.”
Infuriated, Veronica raised her hand and her wand appeared. I would definitely have to get Merlin to show me how to do that. My monkey monster immediately attacked her. Unfortunately, he had never fought a real sorceress before. She shot curses at him and all he could do was claw her and try to wrap his tentacles around her throat.
“Fire,” I said, pointing my staff at her.
I successfully blew fire at her, which she easily blocked using a shield of magic. In the blink of an eye, magic in the form of black lightning struck me. My monkey didn’t even have a chance to help me. The pain was instant and I was tossed backwards into Kirin. I knew immediately that Veronica wasn’t being merciful as my vision grew black. Furthermore, all I could feel was pain, so much so that I couldn’t stand to touch anything. Even my clothes hurt. Being blind and unable to feel my way around, I was completely defenseless. Over the whispers of the chimera, I heard my monkey fighting and Kirin making sounds of distress.
I sat as still as I could and closed my mind to the pain. It wasn’t easy, but I had done this before, as Zeustrum loved using pain curses on me. I had to force my mind to focus on my inner self, even deeper than my body, where the pain couldn’t reach. My magic was there, ready to fight back.
Veronica’s weakness was obvious; she hadn’t thought the curse through. I formed a protective ward, but I created it inside me. Then, I pushed outward very slowly, causing it to swell like a growing bubble. As it did, I also tore away at the curse from the outside by mentally unraveling the mistakes. I knew how to find the weak points of a curse.
The world around me slowly returned as Veronica’s curse became weaker and weaker. When I could see again, I was surprised to find Kirin licking my face. I would have said something about it being gross, but he was helping to get rid of the pain. A moment later, Kirin knelt and I struggled to reach into the saddlebag.
We both knew I didn’t have the strength to break many more curses without rest. I decided to try the spell Merlin told me about. I couldn’t afford to lose. It had to work. I pulled out a mirror, a candle, a very small knife, and the incantation Merlin had made me write on a piece of paper. My staff was out of reach, but I didn’t need it for this.
I learned a lot of curses over the years from my family, which I always failed because I couldn’t do sorcery at the time. Then I met Merlin, accepted my wizardry, and fought alongside Magnus. I learned that when I accepted both my wizardry and sorcery, I could do both, but that didn’t change the fact that I didn’t want to hurt people. This time, however, I didn’t have anyone to hide behind or make my decision for me. I had to fight if I wanted my monkey to li
ve, and I couldn’t just call him back because I had to distract Veronica for as long as possible.
That didn’t mean I had to kill her.
While the monkey dodged her attacks and Kirin blocked me from her vision, I focused as hard as I could. Most of my magic was spur of the moment and left up to the judgment of my wand and staff. With serious magic, it took a lot more skill.
I carved Veronica’s name into the candle, which was red on one end, black on the other, and had a double wick. Then I placed the candle on its side on the mirror and lit both ends using my wand. As I did, I spoke the incantation.
All evil and misfortune that you send
Reversed upon yourself shall be its end.
Until you stop and be undone
Except yourself, you harm none.
Face the mirror, power, and justice
Every day until you meet repentance.
Suddenly, I heard Veronica shout with pain and climbed to my feet before Kirin moved out from between us. My cousin turned to me with pure hatred on her face. “What did you do?! You can’t do curses!”
“This isn’t a curse.” Merlin spent quite a long time explaining it. Although I had been more interested in studying Sonya’s locket than listening, I did get the idea. “Reversing spells are aimed at reflecting darkness back on the person who inflicts it. In reality, it’s white magic, like protection spells. If you did nice magic, it would be reflected back onto you as well. However, since you can only use dark magic, you can’t use it to your advantage.”
“I will kill you for this!” The snarl on her face made her look more crazed than angry, which was further proved when she raised her wand at me. Black magic burst from her wand to strike me, only to stop halfway and rebound onto her. She screamed as she was tossed back into the air.
I waited patiently for her to recover. I was shocked my spell worked and excited to tell Merlin, but I kept my expression blank. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t last very long, and a sorceress as powerful as Veronica could wear it down even faster. However, she didn’t know that.
