The Sorceress's Apprentice

by Joshua Jackson

  Zimri broke into a run, charging at me sword drawn. Desperately, I scrambled away from the Alkite, ducking behind a pillar as he swung his sword at my neck. The Eisenbergian steel rang as it struck the pillar, echoing off the walls.

  “Do it!” Zimri asked, his voice pleading as he worked his way around the pillar towards me. I sprinted across the room, hiding behind another pillar.

  “NO!” I shouted, feeling a cold hand close over my heart. It was like Helga all over again but even worse. Helga was my friend but Zimri was something more than a friend, more even than family. I love him, or at least I think I do. I’m not entirely sure what love looks like but if it was a passionate desire to be with someone, to spend your life with them, to do absolutely anything for them, even to do die for them, then I was in love with Zimri because that’s how I felt. I would rather die a thousand deaths than hurt him.

  “Please!” he begged, attacking me again. “My life is already over. Take my life force and finish Aidan for both of us.”

  “I will not kill you,” I answered, scrambling out away from another swing of the curved blade. “I cannot kill you.”

  “I do not want to kill you either!” he called to me. “But I have no choice. You said there is no way to reverse your spells so no matter what, I am a prisoner of Aidan. If you have any mercy in you, do not let me live like this!”

  “Drücke!” I called, launching him across the room. Zimri hit the floor hard, skidding to a stop against the far wall. As if he couldn’t feel any pain, he popped back up and charged me again.

  “NO!” I repeated. “I will find away but I will not lose you too. I cannot lose you too.”

  “You do not have a choice,” Aidan commented coldly from my left. “He will kill you or you will kill him. I am curious to see how far you have fallen.”

  “I will not lose him!” I shrieked in rage and pain at again getting backed into a corner. Zimri reached me, sword raised high to cleave me into when I did the only thing I felt I could.

  “Schlafe!”

  Zimri’s body went limp and his eyes rolled back. Pitching forward, his unconscious form slid across the stone floor as I stepped out of the way. Stopping at the dais, he peacefully slept.

  “Interesting solution but you know it is only temporary,” Aidan growled, blue eyes glittering with angry. “He is still under my spell and once he wakes up, he will still try to kill you. There is no way of undoing a spell, you know that. Assuming, of course, you defeat me!”

  I barely got my magical shield up in time to block Aidan’s lightning strike. He tore through my shield, knocking me back across the room, leaving me dazed and my clothes smoking.

  “Pathetic,” Aidan mocked, laughing. “To think I used to fear you. You are nothing without proper life force. I think I shall have fun with Zimri after you are gone. Maybe I will keep you alive just to have him execute you. I will make him stare at your corpse every day until you rot to nothing just to remind him what I can do to him. Maybe I will have him eat you. You think he will like that?”

  Rage burned away my fear and heartache. What was done to me was one thing, but no one and certainly not Aidan would do that to Zimri. I would not let him torture and humiliate my Alkite. Rising to my feet, I launched a furious barrage.

  “FEUER! BLITZE! DRÜCKE! BLITZE! FEUER!!” I shrieked. Fire, lightning, and energy exploded out from me, detonating against Aidan’s shield.

  I stood, panting in exhaustion as the smoke cleared. To my horror, Aidan stood there, that insufferably arrogant smile on his face.

  “That all you have got?” he asked.

  In fact, it was. My magical reserves were almost spent. I had one, maybe two spells left in me. Despair set in as my anger bled out with my energy. It was over and this time I’d really lost. Aidan raised his hand to finish me or imprison me.

  Suddenly a spear appeared out of nowhere, bouncing off his shield. It didn’t harm him but it did distract him. Confused, he stared down at the spear on the floor.

  “What the—”

  An invisible force slammed into the sorcerer, lifting him off his feet and driving him into the pillar.

  “TITAN!” I called, “Grab Zimri and go to the balcony!”

  “What happened to him?” the disembodied voice of Titan asked as Zimri appeared to levitate.

  “Later,” I waved off, turning my attention to Aidan, who was getting back to his feet, murder in his eyes. “Explodiert!” I shouted, directing the spell at the base of the column next to the sorcerer.

  It exploded in a shower of stone, toppling the pillar on top of Aidan, slamming him back down. Not bothering to check to see if that killed him, knowing it almost certainly did not, I ran to the balcony. I had enough power for one final spell. I hoped.

  “Is he dead?” Titan asked, still mostly invisible.

  “Probably not,” I answered. There was a roar of anger followed by stones flying around behind us. “Definitely not. Get on my back.”

  “Huh?”

  “We are going to jump,” I said, getting on the balcony railing.

  “That is ten meters down to stone!” Titan protested.

  “Trust me,” I said, hearing Aidan’s curses behind us. “That way is not an option.”

  “This is not an option either,” he retorted.

  “Trust me,” I repeated.

  A fireball sailed over our heads. “I guess I have no choice,” Titan growled, wrapping his arms around my shoulders, making me feel like a dwarf.

  “One. Two. Three!” I counted out and we shoved off.

  It was an awkward tumble. I had to time this just right or we would be splattered across the courtyard. A half moment before striking, I called out, “DRÜCKE!”

  Our momentum stopped a half meter above the courtyard. We hung for a microsecond and then crashing down on the stone. I felt crushed under Zimri and Titan’s combined weight but other than that, we were largely unhurt.

  “That was fun,” Titan sarcastically remarked. “We should get out of here.”

  I nodded, too weak and drained to do much more. Titan rolled off and stood up, carrying Zimri over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. With the grace of a newborn calf, I got to my feet.

  “You okay?”

  “Tired,” I answered with a shake of my head. “The way clear?”

  “Pretty much,” Titan nodded. “Those you did not kill are in the keep.”

  “Then let us get out of here!”

  Chapter 32-Athala

  Zimri slept peacefully, finally. I’d had to put him down twice on the trip back, coming dangerously close to expending my own life force. I couldn’t do it a third time. So now I had about five or six hours to figure something out or…

  Or what? Aidan had once again backed me into an impossible corner. Either I killed Zimri or let him kill me.

  I hugged my knees, watching his chest rise and fall on the mat. Could I do it? I knew he’d want me to; he’d already asked me to kill him more than once. I still heard his voice, telling me to take his life force and finish Aidan. If I’d let him kill me, he would never forgive himself and he’d still be Aidan’s puppet.

  But could I live with myself if I did? No, of course I couldn’t. My heart still ached from murdering Helga and I wasn’t in love with her. I wasn’t entirely sure I was in love with Zimri either. All I knew was hurting him would hurt me worse.

  “You okay?”

  I turned to see Titan standing in the entrance. He didn’t look great, his face tight and drawn with dark circles under his eyes.

  “No. You?”

  “Been better,” he admitted tiredly. “Adler has been on my ass since the moment we got back.”

  “I cannot blame him,” I said. “We did fail.”

  “Well, we did get the Alkite out at least,” Titan grimaced. Baasha hadn’t exactly been grateful, cursing and fighting him the whole way before eventually disappearing into the forest.

  “I suppose that is something,” I commented with zero enthusiasm.<
br />
  Titan came over, squatting down beside me. “How is he?”

  “Sleeping, for now,” I answered with a sigh.

  “How long until he wakes up?”

  “Five, six hours maybe.”

  “Then what?”

  “I do not know.” My shoulders drooped with despair. “I cannot put him back to sleep.”

  “Can you undo the spell?”

  “Spells cannot be reversed,” I shook my head.

  “Maybe a counter spell? Like if you put a mind-control spell on him and tell him not to kill you? Would that not cancel it out?” Titan wondered.

  I frowned considering it. “It might, actually, I do not know. It has never been done that I know of but it does not matter; I do not know the bewusstseinskontrolle-spell anyway so I cannot do it.”

  “Would you, if you could?”

  “I do not know,” I answered. If I had control of his mind, maybe I could make him love me. He would always be with me. But what would be the cost? What part of his personality would be destroyed? Would having two, opposite bewusstseinskontrolle-spells ruin his mind? Would he be the same?

  I knew Zimri would rather die. He disdained all magic, but this spell he found particularly horrifying. I’m certain he was furious at what Aidan had done to him. I didn’t want him to direct that hatred at me but at least we would be alive. Not that it mattered; I couldn’t do the spell anyway.

  “How long would it take to learn? Maybe we could break back into Aidan’s castle and find a book for you to—”

  “I appreciate you trying,” I cut off, “but it will not work. Aidan will not have any text for me to study. The Mistress keeps all those texts with her in the Eisenpalast and I can tell you we are not breaking in there.”

  “Then what do we do? I cannot just let you kill each other,” Titan protested.

  “Nothing,” I said. “There is nothing we can do.”

  “So what? You are just going to kill him?”

  “I do not know,” I admitted pitifully as the struggle in my mind continued. “It would be the merciful thing to do and I know he would rather that than live forever as Aidan’s puppet. But I do not know if I can do it, no after Helga.”

  “If it were me, I would rather die than live through that hell,” Titan offered.

  “I would not be so quick to bury him,” a new voice spoke.

  Titan and I spun to face the newcomer, Titan desperately trying to pull his sword free from his sheath.

  “Especially when he can still be saved,” a woman spoke with the faintest hint of a smile.

  “The Mistress,” Titan hissed and charged.

  The woman vanished just as Titan passed his sword through her, reappearing behind him with a heavy sigh.

  “Titan, stop!” I called.

  “I appreciate your courage, young one,” she said, “but I am not the one you think.”

  “You are the Mistress!” he snarled, turning to face her again, slashing at her neck. This time the blade passed harmlessly through her as if she were made of mist.

  “I suppose I was once, but I am not the Sorceress you fear,” she said calmly.

  “She is not the Mistress!” I confirmed.

  “Then who is she?” demanded Titan.

  “I do not know,” I answered truthfully.

  “Do you not?” The woman regarded me with a knowing smile. “I have been told you are looking for me.”

  I stared blankly at the woman. She was unquestionably the strangest looking person I’d ever seen. Beautiful, in an ethereal way, she had silky snow white hair falling down to her waist with a slight wave. Her facial features were unusually sharp, with high, defined cheekbones and angular jaw, like a rock. Her eyes were deep sapphire blue, like a glacial pool. Strangest of all was her dark red skin, like the color of rust but so smooth it reflected the candlelight like polished metal and running down her exposed arms were dark gray stripes. It was as if she was an animated statue carved from the mountain.

  And suddenly, I knew exactly who she was.

  “Olympia!” I breathed in awe, suddenly aware of her power flooding the room.

  She smiled. It was an approving, kind smile but lacked warmth and connection. “Surprised to find I am real?” she asked.

  “Ya,” I admitted, knowing that lying to her was impossible.

  “You are Olympia? The goddess?” Titan incredulously said.

  The goddess turned to face Titan, giving him a stern stare. “Do you doubt me?” she demanded.

  “No,” the massive young man wilted.

  “Good,” she said flatly. Olympia then turned her piercing stare on me. “I have been waiting for you and Zimri for a long time.”

  “What do you mean, waiting for us?” I asked.

  “I have been waiting for you to be my champions to set things right, of course,” she answered calmly.

  As intimidating as she was, I couldn’t help but feel a flash of anger. “You have been waiting a century for us? So for a hundred years you let the Mistress run wild over the Eisenberge, murdering thousands and enslaving tens of thousands, just waiting for a couple of kids to come along?”

  “You think I have been idle?” Olympia asked quietly, with a subtle arch of her eyebrow. It wasn’t much but it was enough to melt my brief courage.

  “No,” I admitted.

  “You are not the first I have chosen but you are the first to have a real chance to succeed,” she said. “You have lots of questions and I would expect no less of you, but we must fix this mess first,” she cut off my stream of questions, going over to Zimri. Mutely, I followed the goddess.

  “Can you undo the spell?” I asked hopefully.

  Olympia kneeled, placing a hand on Zimri’s head, sighing. “Yes and no,” she said. “I cannot undo Natas’s work and I am not allowed to directly use my powers on humans. But I can teach you how to untwist Natas’s power.”

  I frowned. “Who is Natas? Aidan is the one who placed the bewusstseinskontrolle-spell on Zimri.”

  Olympia gave me a sympathetic look. “Dear child, you have been taught so many lies about magic. I will teach you the truth in time but we must hurry. Titan,” she turned to the astonished warrior. “Get your bow and go to the clearing where you and Zimri trained. Behomah has, grudgingly, led a dragon boar there. Kill it and bring it back here,” Olympia commanded him.

  “You want me to kill a dragon boar?” Titan raised his eyebrows. “Now?”

  “Yes, now,” she ordered. “The boar will be docile enough you should not have much difficulty. Now go and hurry.”

  Titan gave me a quizzical look and I shrugged in response. He hurried off.

  “While we are waiting,” Olympia said, sitting back, “it is time you learned the truth.”

  Chapter 33-Athala

  “What truth?” I asked.

  “The truth about magic, about yourself, about everything,” Olympia answered, motioning me to sit. Obediently, I sat.

  “Who is Natas?” I asked. “You said Zimri was under Natas’s power? Was it not Aidan that placed the spell on him?”

  “Aidan was the instrument Natas used, as he has used you,” Olympia said.

  “How? I have never met anyone named Natas,” I frowned.

  “You have, although you did not know it,” she said. “Just as you have met me without knowing it.”

  “We have met?”

  “I am the goddess of wisdom and knowledge,” she said, “something you have always had a passion for. For all my power, there are rules preventing me from directly acting on you. But I have been with you nonetheless, encouraging you, guiding you, whispering in your ear as you conducted your experiments.”

  “I knew my potions were not magic,” I declared, feeling somewhat vindicated.

  “That they are not,” she nodded with a subtle smile. “They are science, a branch of wisdom. You have always been a woman after my own heart, a lover of discovery and knowledge. Had Natas not taken you…well, what is done is done.”

&nbs
p; “Who is Natas?” I repeated the question once again.

  “He is my counterpart,” Olympia answered, a touch of sadness flicking across her face. “He was to be my partner, the god of art and passion, while I the goddess of wisdom and reason. Together, we were supposed to guide humanity in its growth to a pinnacle of peace, beauty, and power. But things went wrong.

  “Natas grew to despise humanity, particularly their lack of perspective,” Olympia continued. “Ironic, the negative emotions he so despised he came to embody. He especially grew to envy the gifts of humanity such as children and death.”

  “He envied death?” I interrupted.

  Again, Olympia gave the small smile. “It is a matter of perspective, my dear,” she said. “We gods are unchanging, immortal spirits. Do you want to be just as you are for eternity, never to leave this world, never to change? A long life is wonderful; an eternal, unchanging one is a prison. Natas grew to feel trapped here, feeling that we had been punished instead of given great honor by the Creator. He chaffed against the prohibitions, complaining that we were slaves to humans instead of being their masters. He craved worship and honor that was not our due, not content to simply be humanity’s guide.”

  “What did he do?” I asked.

  “He tried to use his power to enslave humanity to his will,” Olympia answered. “Understand, that we deities are prohibited from directly using our powers on humanity. Part of my and Natas’s responsibility was to enforce this prohibition, protecting humans from us. We are to be guides and caretakers, not masters and rulers.

  “Obviously, Natas failed,” she went on. “The rest of us defeated Natas in a brutal war that did great harm to the world and humanity. But Natas is a god and not truly killable. Instead, he was forced to retreat and he disappeared for a time. But then he came back with a new and frightfully effective strategy to enslave humanity.”

  Suddenly, I felt a pit begin to grow in my stomach as I had a feeling where this was going to go. “Sorcerers,” I guessed.