The Sorceress's Apprentice

by Joshua Jackson

  “No!” I cut him off, pushing down the bow.

  “You sure?” Titan gave me a curious look. “Leaving him alive is not a good idea.”

  “We can’t just murder an unconscious man like that,” I shook my head. Titan opened his mouth to protest but I cut him off. “He’ll keep. What’d you have in mind?”

  “Use the woods to break up the shield wall. We are going to attack, then retreat back into the woods, pulling them with us. That will break up the shield wall and we can overpower them,” Titan explained quickly.

  “Divide and conquer,” I nodded. “Risky, especially given our lack of training but that sounds like our best option.”

  “Glad you agree,” Titan replied. “I need you to take the right wing while I take the left.”

  “You know a lot of people will be killed?” I asked.

  Titan tensed under the black cloak, then sighed. “Ya, I know. We knew not everyone was coming back when we started. That is the price of victory, is it not?”

  “Yeah, Lord Omri would say something like that,” I replied. “Well, good luck. See you when this is over.”

  “Ya, you too,” he said and then hurried off to the left.

  I found the townsfolk armed with pitchforks, pickaxes, axes, and sickles. As someone used fully armed knights, this was a truly disheartening sight. Most of them looked terrified as they watched their arrows, the only real weapons they had, ping harmlessly off the impenetrable shield wall.

  “Zimri, this is not working!” Rolf said, fear tightening his voice. “What do we do?”

  Drawing my sword, I put on the most confident face, knowing many were about to die at my command. “We attack,” I declared cheerfully while swallowing the bile rising in my throat.

  “Attack?” Raban squeaked. “That is suicide!”

  “We’re not launching a sustained assault,” I amended. “Just a brief attack on their outer ranks and then we are going to fall back into the forest. Hide behind trees and pick them off as they pass by. They won’t be able to maintain cohesion in here.”

  I guess my confident attitude was infectious because they all started nodding, gripping their “weapons” with a purpose.

  “Alright, who’s with me?” I called, raising my blade over my head.

  “Aye!” they shouted in return and we stormed from the woods.

  Of the many problems facing soldiers who don’t feel is that shock and awe is totally lost on them. We exploded out of the woods only to find the soldiers calmly waiting for us as if this was completely expected. So we crashed against them like waves against rocks.

  Around me, I heard grunts and screams of pain. Across the road I saw Titan burst out, slamming uselessly into his side of the force, eliciting another round of screams. Focusing on my own survival, I evaded a thrust from a spear and slashed my sword at the owner’s throat, blade biting deep. With a shove of my boot, I dropped the corpse and with a backslash, I decapitated the soldier to my right.

  “Zimri! Now!” Titan called from across the way, already pulling back. Around him lay a half-dozen bodies.

  “Retreat!” I called. “Retreat!”

  My “soldiers” needed no encouragement as we fled back into the woods. I did a quick scan, looking for Rolf but my heart dropped when I couldn’t see him. But I didn’t have time to focus on that; I had to rally my men and women together.

  “Quick, behind the trees!” I shouted to them. “Stand firm! We’ve got them right where we want them! Archers, stand ready!”

  Some stopped and ducked behind the trees; most kept running. With a curse, I chased after them. Grabbing the nearest one, I spun around Raban.

  “What are you doing?” I demanded.

  “Running away!” Raban yelled back. “This was a terrible idea! We cannot beat them. Did you see what they did? They skewered us like piglets. Rolf…Rolf did not even get a chance to use his sword. The soldier just…he just ran him through. We are getting out of here before we get run through too!”

  I felt sick hearing Rolf’s fate. I hadn’t even seen him charge in, which made me feel worse. But I couldn’t think about that right now. If we all ran, we’d get cut to ribbons, either here or in the village.

  “Where are you running to?” I asked him. “Where are you going to go that they won’t find you? What of the women and children in the village? What do you think will happen to them if you don’t stand and fight now?”

  Raban shook with fear. “But…we have already lost. So many killed. The battle is over.”

  “No, it isn’t,” I shook my head. “The battle is still going according to our plan.”

  “It was your plan to get all those people killed?” Raban shrieked.

  “People die in battle, there’s no way around it,” I told him. “And it’s okay to be scared. I’m scared. But remember what you’re fighting for; remember who you’re fighting for.”

  “Does it matter? How can we win against that?” Raban’s shoulders slumped.

  “Because we don’t have a choice,” I answered. “They’re fighting because they’re programmed to; we’re fighting because we have something worth fighting for: our friends, our families, our freedom. We can and we will win.”

  Raban looked up, meeting me in the eyes for the first time and he nodded. “You believe that?”

  “I do,” I said, surprised that I truly did mean it. “Now come on, help me rally the others. We’ll need everyone.”

  Raban’s shoulders straightened and turned back to the approaching battle.

  Looking back, I saw the army approaching. They were spread out and those that stood and fought were making some headway. If I could rally my troops, we would win. But time wasn’t on my side and I need to do something and quick.

  “Eisenbergians!” I shouted. “Stop your running! Will you flee with victory at hand? Look at your brothers and sisters! Look how they stand and fight and are triumphing! Think of your families and the life you have a chance to offer them. You’re not fighting to survive; you’re fighting to thrive! Brothers and sisters, I stand and fight as one of you and I will win your freedom. Stand with me and we will finish these tyrants! Follow me!”

  Raising my sword high, I turned and charged into the fray. I’m not sure what exactly possessed me but I fought like a demon. Maybe it was the fear or the determination or the simple fact so spread out, the soldiers weren’t nearly the challenge they were as a unit. Around me, my soldiers rallied around me. Their crude weapons did remarkably well, in particular the pickaxes which punched through the helmets.

  I don’t know how long we fought; I just focused on the man in front of me. Around me, I was dimly aware of the shouts and screams as my troops battled on. I knew some of those screams were of the dying. I had to keep my troops encouraged and focused.

  “Come on!” I shouted. “We’re pushing them back!”

  In truth, we weren’t. We were winning but another drawback to facing soldiers whose emotions have been drained is that they don’t ever retreat. This battle was going to be fought to the last man.

  My momentary lapse in concentration was nearly fatal. A soldier charged me and drove his spear at me heart. I deflected it with my shield but only from my chest. Instead, the weapon drove into my gut on the right side. Pain like nothing I’d ever experienced before exploded as the force drove me to the ground. A scream escaped my lips as the point was jerked free, tearing my flesh.

  Hot blood soaked my tunic and spilled out of the hole in the ruined armor. My vision was hazy as I strove to maintain consciousness. Up, I thought, I have to get up. My troops’ courage was hanging by a thread as it was and if they saw me go down, I knew they’d break and run. But I couldn’t move my muscles; just breathing was hard enough.

  Through my fuzzy vision, I saw the soldier raise his spear for the killing blow. This was it, I realized, I was going to die here. Surprisingly, my thoughts weren’t of Ariadne. Instead, I thought of Athala, wishing she was here; wishing for one more kiss.

  A s
hadow passed over me and the soldier was flung back, then struck down.

  “Zimri! Zimri!” Raban’s voice sounded through the fog. “Are you okay?”

  “Help me up,” I grunted out.

  “What? No, you are bleeding out! You need to get taken back to the village,” Raban was by my side.

  “No, they need to see me on my feet and fighting,” I croaked out. “Help me up.”

  I felt Raban place his hands under my arms and hoist me to my feet. I bit back another scream of pain and nearly passed out. Sucking in a few deep breaths, I refocused myself, weakly raising my blade.

  A cheer went up as my soldiers saw me on my feet. Weakly I pressed forward with Raban at my side. A soldier charged us. Raban blocked him for me while I struck back, slashing his throat. Another cry and my people charged around me, attacking the soldiers with an abandon.

  The strike had taken all my strength and I slumped against Raban, who held me. Another soldier found us and this time, I knew we couldn’t fight off another attack and I resigned myself to my fate. Again, I wished I was with Athala one last time, while also glad she wasn’t here to die.

  But just as the soldier raised his spear, his head was suddenly swept off. His body dropped and Titan stood behind him.

  “We finished our side early and decided to help you out,” Titan explained. “You look awful.”

  “Yeah, I feel even worse,” I nodded, looking down at the gaping wound in my side. “How’s the battle going?”

  “We are winning,” Titan replied. “You rest and we will—”

  A scream and violent explosion shook the ground and I slumped to the ground.

  “What the hell?” Titan looked around.

  Darkness began closing around me. “I hope,” I labored to breathe out. “Athala is okay.”

  Then, nothing.

  Chapter 38-Athala

  “ATHALA!” Aidan’s voice shrieked somewhere behind me.

  I scrambled forward, running from tree to tree, trying to stay out of his sight.

  “FEUER!”

  A fireball exploded against a tree maybe ten meters from me. The dry needles and sap turned the pine into a torch.

  “Do not make me burn down the forest looking for you,” he shouted. “You know I will.”

  Another fireball kindled another tree. With the flames, I felt my panic rising. A few hours ago, the plan had seemed so simple, so reasonable: I’d get Aidan alone and then I’d take him out with my potions and concoctions. But reality was another matter entirely.

  “Why are you running, Athala?” he challenged, lighting up another tree. “I thought you were the more powerful sorcerer. After all, you managed to undo my bewusstseinskontrolle-spell. How much harder should defeating me be? Feuer!”

  Another tree exploded into flame. At this rate, he’d burn the whole Immergrün down, with me in it! Instinctively I reached out for my magic to conjure rain or something to quell the flames. But when I reached out, I felt nothing.

  Panic filled me as I felt naked and helpless in the face of Aidan’s onslaught. The whispering that had been my near constant companion since I could remember was no longer there. I no longer had to fight the sudden, psychopathic urge to destroy everything around me but neither did I have the comfort of its power. As I watched the flames grow higher and higher, I began to regret surrendering my magic. I sprinted from my cover and ran towards the creek.

  “There you are,” Aidan declared triumphantly. “Why are you running? Why are you not fighting back? Feuer!”

  Instinctively, I dove to the ground as another fireball sailed over my head igniting the tree ahead. With a squeak of terror, I scrambled back to my feet and dug into my satchel, producing a fist-sized cloth pouch filled with black powder. Before Aidan could blast me, I flung it at him.

  “Feuer!” the sorcerer shouted and another fireball intercepted the grenade halfway. It denotated in a brilliant display of blinding light and thunderous sound that knocked both of us to our knees. Working my jaw to clear the ringing from my ears, I watched in horror as Aidan rose to his feet.

  He laughed, red eyes gleaming maniacally fire of the burgeoning inferno. “A trick! It is always a trick with you, is it not, Athala? You did not use magic to undo Zimri’s spell, nor did you use magic on the road. It was one of your potions, was it not?”

  I didn’t answer, already moving away, out of his sight.

  “Of course it was,” Aidan cackled with glee. “You were always the weakest of us, I think. That is why you played with your potions and experiments. In a true contest of strength, you could never hope to match us. I wonder though, why you use none now? You were quite happy to use all the magic you could in Wiese and in my fortress.”

  By now the fire was spreading on its own, lighting up tree after tree. I had to get out of there, not just to escape Aidan but to flee the growing conflagration. Making myself visible just long enough for him to see the direction I went, I bolted.

  I found the creek and dove in. The water was a little over a meter deep, enough for me to dive under if needed. The icy water cooled my skin and my lungs relaxed after breathing the increasingly smoke-filled air. I tried to calm my nerves and think. There was a plan and a good one, I tried to tell myself. All I had to do was stick to it and I would be fine. Besides, he had to be running low on life force by now. Reaching into my bag, I pulled out another grenade.

  I cursed my idiocy as I realized with horror it was soaked through. How had I been so stupid? My weapons, my whole plan was utterly useless now.

  I looked back and saw the forest fire growing closer, with Aidan at its center. He was still twenty or so meters off but even from here, I could see the triumphal glee in his eyes. After years of scheming, backbiting, and fighting, our rivalry was going to end. He was finally going to prove himself the rightful apprentice, just like he had always said.

  “You are my apprentice now, not hers.” I felt more than heard Olympia’s voice.

  “Please, give me back my magic,” I desperately pleaded as I watched Aidan grow closer.

  “Do you truly wish to lose control of yourself again?” she asked, more audibly this time.

  “He is too powerful for me to face without magic,” I answered.

  “Is he really so powerful?”

  “Are you not seeing this?” I retorted.

  “Yes,” she said. “The question is, are you? Look again, child.”

  I did and suddenly I saw what she saw. Around Aidan, the forest fire raged. It continued to spread, catching tree after tree as it grew in strength and rage. The flames were wild and uncontrolled, racing every direction, indiscriminately destroying everything they touched.

  Aidan had no power over the fire. Indeed, the fire touched him, singeing his clothes and burning his skin. Yet his visage gleamed with psychotic elation. He didn’t notice bubbling red blisters or the flames eating at his clothes. Instead he reveled in his so-called power.

  “Is he really so powerful?” Olympia asked again.

  “It is destroying him!” I exclaimed in revulsion, “And he does not even know it!”

  “Yes,” she said sadly. “He has the illusion of power but in truth, the power controls him.”

  “But if you were to give me that power, it would be different, ya?” I asked. “It is Natas that corrupts him, ya?”

  “Natas’s destructive influence hastens his madness but no,” she answered. “A god’s power is too much for a mortal mind to handle. You could never truly control the power and it would destroy you just as it is destroying him. Do you really want that power?”

  I shuddered, wondering what the magic had already done to me. “But how will I defeat him? My grenades are useless and I am powerless.”

  “Powerless?” Olympia’s voice carried a hint of amusement. “Your power is all around you! Remember what I said about Natas’s magic? He simply twists the laws of nature, not breaks them. So use nature to your advantage; twist back!”

  “How?” I asked. “You said y
ou would help me.”

  “Look at the trees and how they burn,” Olympia instructed. “It is the sap that makes them burn. Give his flames something to burn other than you.”

  My mind began racing. “What of the other spells? Lightning? Wind? Tod?”

  “You know the properties of lightning and wind,” she said. “Use those against him.”

  “And tod?”

  “Do not let him touch you,” she advised.

  “Giving up?” Aidan asked as he approached. “I guess because you cannot use magic, I suppose that is your best option. Do not think I will make your end painless or easy, however. I owe you for years of games and tricks.”

  “Did I say I was giving up?” I shot back.

  “Without magic, what can you possibly do against me?” he sneered.

  “I do not have to do anything,” I replied. “You will destroy yourself all on your own. Just look at you!”

  He glanced down at his burned hands and arms and as casually as he could pat out the flames licking up his cloak. “What of it? What are a few burns? This Mistress taught us to endure far worse.”

  “Do you realize how psychotic Katrina is?” I asked him. “Did you ever consider the horrors she put us through was wrong? We were kids, Aidan, kids. We needed love and kindness, not torture and hatred.”

  “The Mistress had to do that,” Aidan rebutted. “She needed to make us strong enough to use our powers.”

  “Our powers?” I laughed aloud. “They were never our powers. Do you not see, Aidan? It was a lie, all of it. We have not powers; it is just Natas using us, like he has used her. We never had control over them; they have control over us.”

  “Liar!” Aidan’s face darkened. “You will not frighten me with children’s tales of this mythical boogeyman. I have full control over my powers.”

  “Oh? Like the fire?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then stop it, if you can,” I challenged.

  “Lösch!” he called.

  Nothing happened.

  “Lösch!” he shouted again. Still the fire raged.