Chosen Sister

by Ardyth DeBruyn

  “We’ll gather some more supplies and rest a day,” the Gold Wizard told them. “Then we’ll go to my home, The Clearing of Whispering Secrets. There, I’ll teach you magic, so we can hide better from the Red Wizard while we retrieve the sword. Then we’ll have both the magic and the supplies we need.”

  He poked his finger at Austyn. “But today, my magic is low, so we rest, and I’ll teach you some defense magic just in case.”

  Austyn’s face looked pale. Reina pressed her lips together, fighting off her longing to learn magic, and hurried to reassure him.

  “It’ll be really fun, Austyn. Maybe you’ll learn to fly!”

  “Oh, no, that’s much too advanced,” the wizard broke in quickly. “Instead, I’ll show you something much simpler. A defense spell, something that will protect you against things like harpies. Here, stand clear of the fire. Now feel the warmth of the medallion—use it as a focus.”

  The Gold Wizard, using only his left arm, positioned Austyn a few yards from the fire in an open space. Austyn, looking worried, clutched the medallion in his hands. Reina sat by the fire, watching closely, wondering how the heat of magic would feel. She thought of how the medallion had tingled in her hands when she had picked it up. She hadn’t touched it since.

  “There now,” the Gold Wizard continued, backing up. “The medallion should feel like it has a heat in it, and you reach into that heat, use it. Gather it into yourself and picture it becoming light and surrounding you, creating a protective barrier. And as you do that, say draythin argrata.”

  Austyn wrinkled his nose. “Say what?”

  ”Draythin argrata. It means … er … protective light, approximately, in the language of mages. Words help to focus thoughts, and these words are of an ancient language spoken during the time of creation, so they are more powerful.”

  “Who spoke it? And did they write it too?” Austyn’s face lit up with excitement.

  “Well, they came up with the runes. You can read each rune in two ways, at the very least—in our language and in Treythic. Of course, there are also multiple ways to read them in our language—for example, power and ruler have the same rune, and only context tells which is which. It’s very complicated.”

  The Gold Wizard shook his head, as if just realizing Austyn had successfully sidetracked him. “Well, now, remember what I said—draythin argrata. And concentrate on the image. Hurry up and try it.”

  Austyn frowned and concentrated on the medallion, his knuckles clasping it so tightly they turned white. “I don’t feel anything.”

  “Try harder.”

  Reina didn’t like the Gold Wizard’s tone; she jumped to her feet. “Stop nagging him—he’s trying. Maybe you’re making him try too hard.”

  “Stay out of this, little girl. Yet again, I only agreed to take you on the condition you—”

  Reina stepped around him, ignoring his tirade, to crouch by Austyn. “Don’t listen,” she whispered. “If you’re afraid to use it, the magic won’t come. You have to want it there.” Listening to the Gold Wizard and thinking of all the stories of magic she knew, she felt this was important. “Look for it first, without using it.”

  Austyn gave her a small smile. “I’m glad you’re here,” he whispered back.

  Then his eyes widened, and Reina gave a little gasp. The medallion had started glowing. Reina felt its heat from a few feet away, warm and comforting. It surrounded Austyn, making him shimmer a little, like he wasn’t quite real, but only a trick of the light on a hot day. Austyn broke into a huge smile, and Reina couldn’t help laughing at his delight.

  “Good, good, now form it into a barrier!” The Gold Wizard’s words shattered the moment.

  Austyn squeezed his eyes shut, but Reina didn’t see anything change. He opened them, looking defeated. “It won’t do what I want.” The light and warmth faded.

  “It was a good start for the first time,” Reina said before the Gold Wizard could contradict her. She wrapped her arms around Austyn. “It was beautiful, wasn’t it?”

  “Yeah,” Austyn said, but he looked worried. “It was so distant, though, like I couldn’t quite touch it, perhaps…. “A thoughtful look crossed his face.

  It seemed he had experienced something deep and amazing. It made Reina ache inside with the longing that magic might be hers too—only it was even farther from her than from Austyn. She turned away, mumbling something about more firewood. And then, once out of sight, she leaned against a tree and let tears run down her face. It had been so beautiful, so warm, and she wished more than anything else in the world that she could have it too. It’s not fair. Why Austyn? Why not me?

  No answer came to her.

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  Chapter Six: Danger in the Forest

  When Reina collected herself, she decided to go wash her face before rejoining Austyn and the Gold Wizard. She followed the sound of a stream through the trees. Icy water tumbled over rocks in little rivulets, tinkling in a musical babble. Mossy rocks and large ferns bordered it. Reina leaned down and scooped out the water, so cold it made her teeth ache, but it tasted delicious. She splashed it on her face and shivered, feeling refreshed.

  She took in a deep breath, smelling the wonderful rich aroma of the woods. Damp moss, bark, leafy branches—everything around her seemed peaceful. A low hissing sound made her look up, and she froze. Across the stream from her crouched a monster. Beady eyes regarded her hungrily out of a snake-like head. Its legs were shaggy and wolf-like, and the body a mix between wolf and snake, the tail a thrashing coil with a rattle on the end of it. It hissed, then flicked out a long, split tongue between huge fangs and licked its snout.

  Reina took a few slow steps backwards, unsure if a fast movement would make it attack her. Her hands shook, but she couldn’t take her eyes from it. She wished she had a weapon of some sort to protect herself. Then a scream ripped through the air, coming from their camp. Austyn! Reina turned and ran through the forest towards camp. She burst through the trees to see three more of the horrible creatures stalking Austyn.

  The Gold Wizard had another five around him, and he appeared to be working one of his spells, because smoke surrounded him again. “Use fire!” he called to Austyn. “The snakewolves can’t abide fire!”

  Idiot, thought Reina. He hasn’t taught Austyn how to make fire. In fact, he doesn’t seem to be having much success himself. The Gold Wizard mumbled something and moved his staff in a circular motion, pointing it at one of the snakewolves. With a bang, a tree behind the snakewolf exploded, spraying little bits of wood over everyone. The Gold Wizard yelled as shards of wood pelted him, but the snakewolves ducked and then advanced again.

  One of the snakewolves headed towards Austyn. Reina grabbed a stick from the ground and charged forward. She clipped it across the side of the head, tumbling it to the ground. Austyn stared at it with wide eyes and a pale face. It scrambled to its feet and hissed at them. The other two advanced, now circling around Reina. She had to glance back and forth to keep an eye on all of them at once.

  “Get to the camp fire,” she snapped at Austyn. “And grab something burning to help me. Hurry!”

  Two of the snakewolves charged at her. Reina swung the stick in an arch and dodged, but the impact of the stick hitting one of the snakewolves knocked it from her hands. She scrambled backwards, scanning the ground for a new weapon. She scooped up two rocks, one in each hand, although she wished she had found bigger ones. One of the snakewolves seemed to have disappeared; she backed up further. It’ll probably jump me from behind any second. But she didn’t dare look behind her, for fear of the two in front stalking her again. One limped a little, but it looked like it could still tear her to shreds. She threw one of the rocks. The snakewolf dodged it.

  Then came a cry and a thwack behind her, but she didn’t have time to turn before the snakewolves leaped at her again. Light flashed around her, heating the air. It seemed to slow down motion, so she saw the snakewolf right in front of her, almost hovering
in mid-air. She brought the rock up and smashed it down in its face. Blood spurted out, splattering across her face. The other snakewolf bit her, sending a sharp pain through her leg. She fell, but kicked out at it, and her foot hit something solid. The snakewolf hissed and released her leg. Austyn yelled as if from a great distance. Then yellow light surrounded her again, sending the snakewolves flying away from her.

  Reina blinked several times, clearing her head. Austyn stood over her, holding a stick burning on one end. He waved it back and forth.

  “Reina? Reina? Don’t be dead,” he sobbed.

  “I’m not dead,” she replied, sitting up. Her right leg burned. The two snakewolves lay still several yards away, one with its face smashed in. The other appeared to have been thrown against a tree and knocked out. “What’d you do?” Then it hit her, with amazement. “You used magic!”

  Austyn’s face burned red. “I kept trying and trying, and it wouldn’t work, and then suddenly they were going to kill you and it finally did what I wanted.” The gold protective light around both of them faded.

  Another loud explosion rocked the air. They both glanced across the clearing and saw the last remaining snakewolves go up in flames. It appeared the Gold Wizard had finally got it right. His face rather gray, he panted as he hurried over to them. He wiped sweat from his brow. When he turned, Reina realized the fight must have reopened his shoulder wound—fresh blood stained the bandage.

  “We have to get out of here, fast, before more of them track us.” He dropped to the ground to examine Reina’s leg. “And we need to get you medicine—their fangs are poisonous. Good thing I’ve got some at my place, but we’ll have to get there quickly. For now, let me try this to delay it.” He grabbed a pouch from his belt and poured powder, then water over the wound. Reina bit her lip to keep from screaming at how badly it stung. She didn’t want to scare Austyn. But when the Gold Wizard grabbed her leg and squeezed right next to the bite marks, she couldn’t help a scream.

  Green oozed out of the wound and down her leg, followed by blood. She gasped several times, trying to control herself.

  “There, I think I got it all out, but I suggest we hurry and I’ll make you some extra medicine when we get there, just in case.” The Gold Wizard wiped down her leg, which now bled, and wrapped it in a bandage. “Let me help you up.”

  He seized her hand and hauled her to her feet. The wound still stung terribly. “Stamp out the fire, Austyn,” the Gold Wizard said, “and let’s get out of here fast. Those were only the front runners of a larger pack of snakewolves.”

  “How do you know?” Reina asked. She took a few steps and decided she could walk despite the pain.

  Austyn kicked apart the fire. “And what are they?”

  The Gold Wizard gathered up his possessions and stashed them in his robe again. “They are snakewolves, a creation of the Red Wizard, and they travel in large packs. Unlike the harpies, they can travel in the Forbidden Forest, because they are creatures of darkness. In the bright sunlight of the open fields, they would be forced to keep to the shade or be rendered harmless. He has sent them after us because the harpies cannot follow. We must outpace them and then get to the safety of the Clearing of Whispering Secrets. This way.”

  They set off again into the woods, as fast as Reina could move on her hurt leg.

  “Won’t they just follow our scent?” Austyn asked as they tramped along.

  “I have a few tricks that’ll work to lose them,” the Gold Wizard said confidently. He stepped into the stream Reina had washed in just before the attack and started wading upstream. While she worried it would hurt more to follow this way, Reina found the icy cold water numbed the bite on her leg and made it easier to keep up.

  After about twenty minutes of walking in the water, Austyn was completely soaked and Reina wet up to her chest. The Gold Wizard looked pretty damp as well but appeared satisfied. In a spot where the streambed flattened out, he stood near the shore and worked another spell. This time, all seemed to go well. The jewel at the end of his staff glittered, and green light filled the air, setting down over the ground.

  “Follow me closely. We don’t want to leave either tracks or scents for them to follow, and the spell only works right behind me.”

  He stepped into the sand on the edge of the stream bank. Although it looked soft and muddy, his feet left no prints. Holding the glowing staff ahead of him, he took a couple of steps forward, still leaving no trace. Reina stepped right behind him and glanced back to see she left no footprints either. Austyn followed her. They walked like this, in single file, following the glow of the staff, until Reina lost track of time. She just watched the Gold Wizard’s feet going step, step, step, right in front of her.

  If it wasn’t for the ache in her leg, she might have fallen asleep. Exhausted, she wondered if it was because of the bite, or just because so much had happened in so short a time. Her head felt a little fuzzy, and their walk dragged on endlessly.

  A low growl startled her, and she bumped into the back of the Gold Wizard as he stopped abruptly. She peeked around him, trying not to step away from their protective line. An enormous, golden-brown bear stood directly in front of them. Berry juice stained its face, and from the trampled blackberry vines around it, Reina guessed that they had startled it in the middle of its meal.

  “Get back,” the Gold Wizard said in a low voice.

  Reina agreed with this advice. She caught Austyn’s hand, and they backed up a few steps. Occasionally bears roamed out of the woods near their hometown, and people locked their doors and waited until they passed. Austyn pointed to a nearby bush, silently suggesting they hide behind it. Reina nodded. She figured the Gold Wizard could then safely back away from the bear and they could circle around without trouble.

  A loud crack split the air, and both Reina and Austyn dropped to the ground, rolling under the bush. They peeked out. The Gold Wizard had tried magic against the bear. Smoke sizzled from its fur, and it shook its head in annoyance, then threw it back in an enormous roar that shook the ground. The Gold Wizard blanched and turned, scrambling up a tree. Reina groaned. Doesn’t he know that bears are terrific tree climbers?

  The bear waddled over the back of the tree and stood up on its hind legs, swiping at the Gold Wizard’s feet. He tried to pull himself up higher. He hit it on the nose with his staff, and the bear roared again. The Gold Wizard clambered up out of reach. The bear dug its claws into the bark of the tree and started to climb. Reina stared in horrified fascination as it hurried after the Gold Wizard in a terrifying race. Soon the wizard would run out of tree—he was nearing the top branches.

  Then he jumped. Reina gasped, and Austyn covered his eyes. The Gold Wizard landed in the branches of the neighboring tree with a crunch. Reina cringed. But he yelled out not in fear or pain, but in triumph. “I’ve got you now.”

  The bear turned. Reina couldn’t see what his elation was about. Wouldn’t it just climb down and follow him to the next tree? If he’d shut up and hide, the bear would forget about him, just like it had them. But the Gold Wizard again began working magic, moving his hands and muttering. The tree holding the bear exploded.

  Reina pushed Austyn’s face down and buried her own in the dirt as well; pieces of wood and leaves showered the bush above them. The air smelled of ash, and the bear roared loudly before they heard a massive whump and all went quiet. Reina lifted her head a little and took in some deep breaths. Smashed bits of wood had scattered everywhere, and leaves still floated down. Where the tree had stood was a mess of fragmented branches and the now quiet body of the bear. The Gold Wizard jumped down from his tree, his face beaming with self-satisfaction. Reina, however, was far from impressed. She clambered out from under the bush.

  “You idiot! You could have gotten us all killed. If you’d just left it alone, it would have left us alone! Now you go and make a huge noise and mess, so the snakewolves or harpies, or something else hunting us are bound to find us!”

  The Gold Wizard’s expre
ssion fell, and he looked a little ashamed of himself, but quickly changed it for a superior-looking one. “Now, now, little girl, they won’t have noticed, we’ve lost them by now. We’re perfectly safe.”

  “Oh, they won’t have noticed an exploding tree, huh?” Reina waved a finger in his face. “You think they’re all as stupid as you? The whole forest heard that!”

  Austyn tugged at her sleeve. “Reina, please….”

  Reina ignored him. If the Gold Wizard wanted to put himself in danger by doing stupid stunts, that was one thing—but now he’d put them in harm’s way as well, and she wouldn’t put up with it. “There was no need to do something that dumb, when you could have just hid,” she raged. “You’re a showoff! And irresponsible! You shouldn’t use magic to look impressive, but when you need it—and you didn’t need it!”

  The Gold Wizard gave her a sour look and turned away. “You sound just like my father. Well, quit yelling about it, it’s done now. We have to get moving.”

  Austyn pulled at her sleeve again. “Reina, quiet down, please. You aren’t helping.”

  She looked at his pale and worried face and swallowed the rest of her angry words. Following the Gold Wizard, though, she couldn’t help mumbling, “Well, maybe your father had a lot more sense than you do.”

  They walked in silence for a few minutes, the ache in Reina’s leg hurting worse than ever. Then the Gold Wizard turned back to them, a smile plastered on his face, although the expression looked more sheepish than reassuring. “We’re almost there. We’ll all feel better after a little rest.”

  Reina decided she might as well forgive him and nodded. All she wanted was to lie down. Austyn looked exhausted, his curls plastered to his face with sweat and his eyes a bit dull. The bushes ahead grew dense, until the deer track they followed disappeared completely. Reina stared at the thick wall of vegetation, wondering where they were going next, but the Gold Wizard seemed extremely pleased. He bowed dramatically.