The Sorcerer's Quest (15 page)

“Your hair is changing color.”

“What? Oh, no, the ink!”

“
Worry about your hair later
,” Merlin said.

“Right. I’m out of gold and I don’t have anything to
trade for, but I really want to sleep inside. Is there any magic you need?”

He pursed his lips and leaned on the bar. “Can’t say
that there is. Tell you what, though,” he said, pointing to another man sitting
alone at a table by the window. “I bet he could use some help, and he might
have the money to pay.”

“Thanks,” I said. I cautiously approached the man. He
was facing away from me, so I couldn’t see his face and get an idea what kind
of man he was. He must have heard me when I was about halfway across the room
because he turned. “Bralyn?!”

He stood. “Yes, it’s me. You ran away.” He wasn’t
happy.

I scowled. “I was angry.”

His expression softened a little. “I know, but I
wasn’t the one who lied to you, so you should have at least taken me with you.
It took me two days to get here.”

I looked at Merlin. “
I run faster as a wolf than
he does as a man. If he had shifted, it would have taken him just as long
because he would have been sneezing the entire way. Ask him how he found you
.”

I did, and Bralyn answered, “Livia. She showed me
where you were heading through her mirror. I also saw your confrontation with
your brothers. You need to do something about your hair. Come on, I already got
us a room.”

We went up to his room, which was the same one I had
the night before. Once we were alone, I stripped off my clothes and changed
into the only spare shirt and pants I had, then laid my wet robe and clothes
out on the chest to dry.

Next, I used the ink-stained towel to dry my staff
and wand. “How bad is my hair?” I asked.

Bralyn grimaced. “It’s pretty bad. You would be
better off washing it out. It’s all splotchy and gray.”

I wouldn’t say I was vain, but Mother always said we
only had one chance to make a first impression. It was better to face Magnus
with my normal color than to face him with splotchy gray, black, and blond
hair. Bralyn left to get a bucket and cloth to wash out the rest of the ink. “I
guess it was a waste of time to use the ink in the first place,” I said.

“
Not necessarily. Your brothers probably would
have recognized you by your hair and robe in Red Rock the first time, when you
would not have had the time to escape. Also, it has reaffirmed in my mind that
you look better blond. The black is too severe
.”

I sighed. I knew that; I had seen my hair in mirrors
after my mother made it black. The fact that it always reverted to blond when I
did magic was probably a good thing.

Bralyn returned, filled the bucket with rainwater
from the window, and helped me wash the rest of the ink out. Once that was
done, he pulled a cloth sack off his belt. “Livia said to give this to you.”

“Did she apologize for locking us up?” I asked,
dropping my towel and taking the pouch from him.

“No, she insisted she was trying to help us. She said
this was called a dragon’s eye and that it belonged to your father’s father.”

“That’s where I recognized it from!” I said, pulling
the multi-colored crystal out of the pouch. “I saw it in one of my father’s
books when he was teaching me to read. It has to do with dragon training. I
have no idea what it does, only that it’s powerful.” It felt almost warm in my
hands.

“
I can sense the magic in that
,” Merlin said.

“Can you sense what kind it is? Like sorcery or
wizardry?”

“
I can, and it is nothing as simple as that. This
is dragon magic
.”

*          *          *

We were back on the road heading north by sunrise and
I felt much better. Fortunately, although the ground was muddy, the rain hadn’t
lasted the night. With a vast amount of walking to do, I went over the
different monsters that the book talked about. Basically, we tried to memorize
a plan of attack for each of the creatures we faced. I stopped when I reached
the page on dragons. “I was serious about what I said before; I’m not going to
fight a dragon,” I told Merlin. “Dragons are amazing creatures that have been
unjustly hunted to near extinction, if not full extinction.”

“
What if Magnus’s creature is a dragon
?”

“Then we’ll come up with something else. I am against
fighting dragons.” I turned the page stubbornly. “How about I skip the ones
that a wizard wouldn’t use? There’s a reptile that is about the size of a bear
and spits acid. No wizard would keep such a vulgar guardian, so we shouldn’t
waste time learning about it.”

“
There is no such thing as wasting time learning
something
,” Merlin lectured.

“Fine. It spits acid, so if we face it, we’ll die.” I
turned the page and laughed. “This one emits radiation, so we would die.” I
turned the page again. “Stuns its victims with a pulsating light and eats them,
so we’d die.”

“Are there any nice magical monsters in there?”
Bralyn asked.

“The unicorn,” I said.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to get impaled by its horn.”

“But they’re friendly.”

“Only if you’re a child or virgin,” he said. I
blushed and turned the page. “Don’t worry; I’m a trained warrior. I have faced
many monsters and they were all the same in one way.”

“What’s that?”

“They all lost to me.”

That was simultaneously the most ghastly and
inspiring thing I heard since I left home.

*          *          *

We walked until the sun was high in the sky and the
road was long gone. That was when we came to a cliff. “Well, this is a
problem.” The cliff was basically a huge hole in the ground. My staff pulsed
violently. “I don’t understand. The staff is acting like the castle is right
here.”

“
Ayden, I sense very powerful magic. I am going to
teach you something that is not sorcery or wizardry. Close your eyes
.” I
closed them without arguing. “
Do you know how when you exhale on a cold day,
you can see your breath
?”

“Yes.”

“Yes what?” Bralyn asked.

“I’m talking to Merlin.”

“
Imagine that, but imagine it is your magic being
exhaled
.”

“That’s a waste of magic,” I protested.

“
No, it is not, because you are going to pull it
back into yourself soon. Do as I say. Inhale deeply, as deeply as you possibly
can, until you feel like you will choke on it, and then hold it
…
Good.
Now let it out, and as you do, release your magic along with your breath.
Exhale every bit of air in your lungs and wait for as long as you can to
inhale. Hold
…
hold
…
and breathe. Imagine that as you inhale, you
are inhaling the magic
.”

I did as he said and when my lungs were almost
refilled, an image came to mind. It was as unclear as a cloud, but there was
definitely something massive right in front of me. “What is that?”

“
It will become clearer with practice. What you
see before you is something shielded in magic
.”

“The castle?”

“
Most definitely
.”

“What’s going on?” Bralyn asked.

In answer, I pocketed my wand, aimed the staff in
front of me, and released my magic. A gust of wind and red magic swirled
together and crashed into the open air in front of me. I heard the sound of
metal creaking before the invisible gates opened… revealing a massive wizard’s
castle.

“It’s a castle in an
invisible bubble,” Bralyn said needlessly.

“Yes, it is.”

“The castle of Magnus the Great is in an invisible
bubble.”

“Yes.”

“The castle of Magnus the Great that is guarded by a
monster.”

“Right, maybe we should be careful. I knew he was
powerful, but I didn’t know a person could be
this
powerful. Our plan
isn’t going to work. We’re all going to die.”

“
Stop being so negative
,” Merlin said.

“Fine.” I gave him my best fake smile. “We’re all
going to die,” I said with a sarcastically joyous tone.

“
That is better
.”

“Never enter a battle expecting to lose,” Bralyn
admonished. “That is the surest way to fail.”

Not wanting to get a lecture from Bralyn, I asked the
next question in Merlin’s mind. “
What if the monster is invisible liked the
castle
?”

“
That is unlikely
.”

“
Why
?”

“
Because I believe that is the monster coming
towards us now
.”

I looked back through the gates and groaned. It was
definitely not a dragon.

Of all the magical creatures I had ever heard of,
this was the second-worst one. Aside from being terrifying in appearance,
strong, and fast, it was also invulnerable to magic. It had the head and body
of a lion with large tan-colored, feather wings and a goat’s head protruding
from its back, and a snake for a tail. The description of the creature sounded
ridiculous, as if the gods were bored one day and decided to create a
combination that couldn’t possibly make since. I imagined even they were
shocked at how perfectly designed the chimera was against a magical opponent.

It had spectacular eyesight when there was light and
could see body heat in pitch blackness. The creature’s sense of smell was so
precise that people believed it could smell what someone was going to do before
they did it. It also had the strength of a lion and the speed of a serpent.
It’s only natural enemy was the dragon.

The creature landed right outside the invisible
gates, which was way too close to us as far as I was concerned. One thing the
legends couldn’t decide on was whether or not the beast breathed fire. If it
could, we were as good as cooked already.

Bralyn groaned as he drew the sword at his side. “Why
did it have to have fur?” He spoke quietly, obviously not meaning for me to
have heard him. Then his expression hardened with determination, but I thought
some of it might have been for show. “I will face this---”

“Absolutely not,” I interrupted. “That thing has a
serpent as its tail.”

“Don’t tell me you want to
reason
with it,” he
said.

“I’m not a complete idiot.” I raised my wand and
staff up above me like I had when I was creating the monkey monster and I
summoned it back. Although I was here for sinister reasons, I wasn’t concerned
whether I was using sorcery or wizardry this time. I was summoning my monster
both to defeat the chimera and to protect myself and my friends. At the same
time, my magic was no shallower than it was when I created the monkey.

Once again, white magic from my wand and red magic
from the staff clashed in the middle. Out of the swirling magic formed a black
shape that grew and solidified into my flying monkey, still with tentacles.
If
I’m very lucky, maybe the strangeness of my creature will scare off the chimera
.

The chimera took one look at the monkey and roared.

I’m not that lucky
.

The monkey didn’t need any instructions; he swooped
down on the chimera like they were mortal enemies. His tentacles wrapped around
the chimera’s thick lion neck, but before his claws could scratch at the
chimera’s eyes, he had to dodge the serpent. The chimera had no known
weaknesses.

Except dragons.

“
I do not think the monkey is going to cut it this
time
,” Merlin said.

“I don’t think there’s anything that can.” My monster
wasn’t going to give up too easily, though. He slashed at the serpent with his
sharp claws while he distracted the goat and lion heads with his tentacles. He
wasn’t winning, but he wasn’t going down, either. “Bralyn, wait,” I said when
the warrior started to advance on the battle. “My monster needs room to fight
the chimera without someone getting in the way.” Without giving him a chance to
argue, I set my wand and staff aside and pulled the syrus out of my bag. It
popped open easily. There was no glowing light, though, just a red velvet
liner. “How do I make this work?”

“
The latch on the front, do you see it
?”

“Yes.”

“
Prick your finger, wipe your blood on the latch
while the lock is open, and do the reverse of what you did to open it
.”

“The reverse of what I did to open it? I don’t know
what I did.”

“Shouldn’t you have discussed this before?” Bralyn
asked, not taking his eyes off the fight.

“Yes, probably, but I didn’t know it would need to be
activated.” I pulled the small knife from my bag and cut my finger. It stung as
I wiped my blood on the small silver latch. It was a simple lock. There was a
slim, round piece of metal on the base of the chest that rotated. I would close
the latch over it so that the round piece would stick through, then twist it so
that the latch wouldn’t open.

“
Read the inscription on the front
,” Merlin
instructed.

“But I already read it.”

“
Stop arguing. We are running out of time
.”

Without closing it, I checked every spot on the
chest, but there wasn’t an inscription. “It’s gone!” I didn’t wait for him to
explain it to me, though. I picked up my wand and waved it at the syrus.
Reveal
your secrets
.

To my surprise, that worked; words appeared on the
front of it.

The greatest victory is that which
requires no battle
.

I frowned, because that was considerably less
substantial than the previous inscription. “What’s with the random wisdom? Was
this made by mages or something?”

“
The magic of the syrus is older and greater than
mine, and I know not where it came from
.”

“Can’t you just say you don’t know? Is it ready now?”

“
No, there is one more requirement; you must
include a genetic sample of the creature or person you wish to imprison. You
need blood, fur, a claw, or anything that is a part of the creature’s body.
Place it inside the syrus and it will fully charge
.”

“Charge? What does that mean?”

“
Think of it like lightning forming before it
strikes. After that, you need only to get the creature close enough
.”

“How close?”

“
I cannot be sure
.”

“Great. How do I get the blood?”

“What blood?” Bralyn asked.

“I need the chimera’s blood to make the syrus work.”

“Leave that to me.” He charged into the battle.

“But what about your allergies?” I yelled after him.
I considered making him invisible, but the chimera would be able to see his
body heat anyway. By then, it was too late. The monkey was distracting all
three heads, giving Bralyn the opportunity to strike. He was fast; fast enough
to do the warrior reputation proud. As easily as if it were holding still,
Bralyn cut off the serpent head.

The chimera’s scream was horrific and I felt deep
pity. It was only doing its job and the snake was a vital part of its
self-defense. Now, if we didn’t defeat it, another enemy would. Then the lion
head bit down on one of my monkey’s tentacles and tore it off, which made me
angry. I raised my staff, about to defend the monkey, when Bralyn sneezed all
over the chimera.

Wiping his nose with one hand, he harnessed his sword
and reached for the snake head. The chimera swiped at Bralyn’s head, but the
monkey rammed into his larger opponent’s side, sending them both rolling away
from the warrior. Bralyn got the head, returned to us, and handed it to me.
“Will this do?”

Merlin dipped his head in a nod.

I set my staff down and pocketed my wand. “We just
toss it in?” I asked, taking it from Bralyn with a shudder. The scales were
dark green, dry, and smooth, while the neck itself was wider than my own body.
The head was about the size of Bralyn’s in his bear form. I had no doubt the
monster could swallow me whole if it were still alive.

“
You only need some of the blood
,” the wolf
corrected.

Holding it with both hands, I held it over the syrus.
It was draining blood in a very gory fashion, so Merlin told me after just a
moment that it was enough.

“This would make a fine trophy for your sorcery
collection,” Bralyn said as he took it from me. “Perhaps its venom would be
useful as a potion ingredient.”

“I’m not touching that again.” The inside of the
chest began to glow, the light afternoon breeze suddenly turned violent, and
the sky darkened with angry clouds. “Is this normal?” I asked, having to yell
to be heard over the wind. Even though Akadema rarely had summer storms, I
highly suspected this was magic-related.

“
I have only been through this once and I was not
focused on the details at the time. I suggest getting out from between the
syrus and the chimera
.”

When my monkey creature howled in pain, we turned
back to the battle and discovered how bad the situation really was. The snake
head had not only grown back, it grew two heads. The chimera now had two snake
tails and my poor monkey didn’t stand a chance. Claws, teeth, and horns were
making short work of my monster, so I acted on instinct.

I grabbed my staff, pulled my wand out of my pocket,
and held them out. This time, I didn’t care if I lost control of my creature; I
just wouldn’t let him suffer any more. I let my magic shape itself around my
desire, which was to protect the creature I had created. Whether it was sorcery
or wizardry or whatever, I didn’t care.

The red magic from my staff was more orange than
usual and the white magic from my wand was bluer, but when the two energies
met, they formed a deep gray storm cloud. I felt a tingling sensation in my
chest as if magic was crawling across my skin. My own magic was pouring from
me, into the magical instruments, out into the cloud, back into the wand and
staff, and back into me. I thought it was a mistake at first, or that I wasn’t
powerful enough to pull off what I needed to do. However, as the magic grew
hotter, flowed faster, and felt heavier all at once, I realized what was
happening. I didn’t understand it, but I knew what it was.

My magic was gaining a sort of buildup and becoming
more potent by folding over on itself. I was also starting to shake. As strong
as my body might have felt at that moment, I couldn’t move, and I knew the
energy inside me was the only thing holding me together. I might as well have
been an empty shell with only magic to prevent me from breaking. It was a
miserable feeling, but also somehow familiar. It was like being a part of
something so much more important by only existing as an extension of that.

I loved magic. It was all I had, all I knew, and the
only thing no one could take away.

But it wasn’t worth this. It wasn’t worth being
empty.

Merlin had said that no sorcerer was happy. Was any
wizard happy? Was anyone who had to live in a standardized way happy? I didn’t
want to be told I couldn’t help my friends because it wasn’t sorcery, or that I
couldn’t create a monkey monster because it wasn’t wizardry. I wanted to read
my books and go on adventures and learn great and terrible magic.

I wanted the choice.

At that moment, I chose to cast aside the rules and
constraints of wizards and sorcerers and defeat the foolish chimera who dared
to injure my monkey monster.

I wasn’t even aware of what was forming in the cloud
until it grew to such great proportions that it towered over me, and then, when
I realized it, I knew it couldn’t have been anything else. Somehow, with some
power I couldn’t have created myself, I had conjured a dragon.

The majestic creature was not as large as some I had
read about, but it was huge nonetheless. Its wings were ominously angular. They
were as red as fresh blood on the outward side and stone-gray on the inward
side. Its body looked like gray rocks had been half melted together to form its
armor. Its head was narrow and angular with two horns curving backward on the
top of its head. Its eyes glowed with the same sinister reddish-orange as the
magic from my crystal.

While I stood there in stunned silence like a fool,
the dragon was assessing the situation. He didn’t wait for my command before
turning and attacking the chimera. When he flapped his wings, they emitted
smoke as if they were on fire. The dragon swooped down on the chimera without a
shred of fear. It was the chimera’s turn to be afraid.

Although the serpent bit at the dragon’s wings and
stone flesh, it wasn’t able to break through the armor. The dragon’s talons,
however, tore easily through the lion’s hide. “Don’t kill it!” I warned. “Just
get it close to the syrus.”

The dragon gave me an irritated scowl, but did as I
demanded. He hooked his claws into the chimera’s wings and began dragging the
thrashing monster towards the syrus. Unfortunately, the energy inside me was
still building. I felt like the dragon was feeding off my own magic, and if I
let go for even an instant, the dragon would turn on me.

That was strange, because I shouldn’t have had that
much magic in me.

The chimera broke away from the dragon, bringing me
back to the battle. Both the dragon and chimera took off into the air, but that
only gave the dragon an even bigger advantage. Bigger, as in he was four times
larger than the chimera. They dived, clawed, and bit at each other for a while
before the chimera turned and tried to fly away. That was when the dragon
decided to stop playing.