The Wizard's Secret (12 page)
“I have an idea to bring your mother back.”
“She’s been dead for years. I don’t think that’s a
good idea.”
“Of course it is. You want your mother back, don’t
you?” he asked. I nodded. “I only need something that belonged to her.”
“I’ll find something and come back.” Since I had
visited Gmork so often, we had drawn a permanent portal to my world into the
floor of his room. I returned to my world and went to Cennuth. Although I was
closer to Caedmon, Cennuth was the one I went to when I was unsure about magic.
I waited for a long time in front of the cave before
he finally invited me in. As I explained the spell my friend offered to do, the
dragon listened patiently. “I understand that you desperately want your mother
back,” he said. “However, I am proud of you for coming to me before following
your friend down a very dark path.”
“Something doesn’t feel right about it.”
“That is your natural instincts warning you. Trust in
them. Your mother is gone, and whatever Gmork could bring back would not be
your mother. Deep inside, you know this.”
I nodded and decided not to visit Gmork again.
* * *
I wasn’t ready for things to change, but the world
was. Vinr and I went to my home village to see how they were doing, and
discovered the entire village was gone, as were five of the surrounding
villages. When I finally found a village and was able to ask someone what
happened, I was horrified. Soldiers had swept through the entire valley, taking
all the men and boys for their armies and making all the women and girls work
for them.
The war on magic was spreading. The kings were more
ruthless than ever.
I had dreamed of the solution several times, but I
had always dismissed it as impossible. By the time I returned to Cennuth, I
knew I didn’t have a choice. I told Cennuth I was ready to end the war on magic
and asked him to call other dragons.
“Getting multiple dragons together is not going to be
easy, and convincing them to cooperate will be even more difficult.”
“I can create the curse, but I need much more raw
power than I have. I need as many dragons as possible.”
“I will do what I can.” I sensed his movement before
I saw it and scrambled out of the cave to give him room. The massive dragon
ambled out of the cave. I was shocked; he was much bigger than I had thought,
since I had never seen him out of his cave before. “I will take you somewhere
else, for I will not allow another dragon in my mountain.”
When he knelt, I gaped. I knew what he wanted, but it
didn’t seem right to me. The dragon was more concerned with respect than anyone
I had ever met.
“Get on my back.”
“I don’t know.”
“Do not be afraid, young wizard.”
I carefully reached out and felt his smoky gray/black
scales. His hide was surprisingly smooth, but not slick. I gently climbed up on
his left front leg and grabbed his left horn to pull myself up. He held
perfectly still until I was in place. “Please don’t go too fast.”
The dragon stood and I started hyperventilating. I
didn’t climb trees, I didn’t like heights, and this was much scarier than
scaling the mountain. “Ready?” the dragon asked.
“No.”
His wings shot out, filling the clearing, and flapped
once. I could feel the dragon’s powerful muscles flex as he leapt into the air
and immediately caught the air beneath his wings. We shot straight up into the
sky, far higher than the mountain, and I suddenly felt a wave of peace fall
over me. It dawned on me that even if I fell, Cennuth would save me. It was
amazing.
We flew over land, water, mountains, and villages.
Cennuth finally landed in a strange land, without grass or trees. I got off the
dragon and looked around. There was a cliff overlooking the ocean. In all other
directions, I could only see dry, cracked, hard ground and a few boulders.
“Where are we?”
“Somewhere we can fit as many dragons as you need. I
will return shortly. However, understand that I will have trouble convincing
anyone to come here.”
“You told me I’m supposed to end the war on magic.
Why wouldn’t they help me?”
“Dragons are above the affairs of mortals. Kings
cannot kill us and their wars do not affect us.”
“Then why are you helping me?”
“Because I believe you can make this world and others
better for everyone.” He took off into the sky and I was left alone.
* * *
The sun was setting by the time Cennuth returned.
“You couldn’t get any dragons?” I asked, right before I saw what looked like a
dark cloud block out the sun. I gaped as hundreds of dragons landed around us.
They were in every different color, every different shape, and every size.
The sky was full of an endless number of stars and a
bright moon, casting an eerie glow over the dragons. “Everyone knows who you are
and what your goal is. All you have to do is explain your plan.”
I nodded and knelt slowly, knowing instinctively that
trying to demand their assistance was the wrong way to go. Many of the dragons
around me shifted subtly and I realized they were relaxing out of attack
stances.
“Speak, young wizard,” one of the dragons said
patiently. She was a gorgeous dragon with scales that varied from the most
beautiful green to pure black and eyes that were like the brightest emeralds.
With a respectful tone and formal words, I explained
my plan. “As you all know, my name is Merlin. I was told from a young age that
I would end the war on magic. People fear magic, and the kings use that fear to
control the people. Kings enslave wizards and force them to use magic for
bloodshed. Wizards not enslaved are killed. They have torn families apart,
including my own.”
“So you propose a war on the kings?” one of the
dragons asked.
“No!” I stood. “The absence of war is not peace, but
the path to peace is not war. I cannot stop people from fearing magic. I can,
however, make them fear killing wizards.” Several of the dragons frowned. “I
know that sounds wrong. People are always going to fear something. This will
stop them from killing us.”
“Explain your plan,” the female dragon said.
“I want to create a curse over the entire world,
making it so that if someone kills a wizard, instead of dying, the wizard will
change into a dragon. If a king kills a wizard and the wizard changes into a
dragon and destroys his kingdom, word will spread fast and no one expected of
having magic will ever be murdered again.”
One of the dragons snorted, filling the air with
smoke. “You believe turning one wizard into a dragon will end the war on
magic?”
“Not quickly, no, but I think it will be a long-term
solution.”
The dragons grumbled and snorted for a while,
purposefully excluding me from their conversation. I was fine with this since
none of them looked like they wanted to eat me. After a while, the dragons fell
quiet and the green dragoness addressed me. “Why do you need us to help you?”
“I know how to do the spell.” It was not a spell I
found in a book but a compilation of everything I had learned over the years.
“What I do not have is the raw power. I can shape it into a curse, but the
power I would need to turn multiple wizards into dragons would kill me.”
“Then your cause is not worth dying over?” she asked.
“If I do it with my own energy and it kills me, my
curse will be broken. Therefore, my death will have been wasted. If you will
each lend me just a little of your power, it can maintain the curse for
generations. By then, the tradition of killing wizards will be gone.”
It was silent for a moment before a dozen or so
dragons took flight and disappeared into the night. The vast majority of
dragons, on the other hand, stayed. The female dragon nodded. “You are
definitely passionate, and Cennuth believes in you. We will give you this
power.”
“However, you cannot take the magic into your body,”
Cennuth said. “That much power, as young as you are, would kill you. Choose an
object to contain the power that you can feed your curse off of.”
Afraid of losing the support I had, I glanced around
desperately until I saw a particularly large bolder. “Would that work?” I
asked, pointing to the rock.
“Yes.”
“First, I need to make a blood bond so that I can
control the power. I need yours as well.” I reached up and he leaned his head
down so I could reach one of his horns, which I sliced my finger on. It stung,
but not more than any of the dozens of times I had done it before. I held my
hand over the rock as several drops of blood dripped. When I had shed enough, I
wiped my finger on my shirt.
Cennuth reached out his left paw and made a small,
delicate cut with one of his fangs. The blood was darker red than mine. When he
pulled his hand away a moment later, his wound had already healed.
“Everyone, please focus your power into that rock.”
One by one, the dragons approached the rock and blew
fire on it. Each time, I could feel the waves of tremendous power fill the
rock. By the time they had all offered up just a fraction of their power, the
rock was glowing white hot with raw magic.
I walked up to the rock reluctantly, knowing it was
going to hurt when I opened myself up to that magic. It was my only option,
though. As I had learned to do, I reached out with my magic. Once I was ready,
I spoke the words to form the curse.
Blood to blood, blood to stone,
Magic this night stands not alone,
No longer to fear the tyrant’s wrath,
Reborn in the fire of the dragon’s
breath,
Wizard to dragon, death cannot take,
Bound in power, this bond I make,
So let it end,
So let it begin
.
Dragon magic engulfed me violently, but it flowed out
of me and back into the rock as fast as it was filling me, so it only burned me
instead of completely overwhelming me. I had no idea how long this went on,
only that I couldn’t stand by the time the curse was in place. The last thing I
felt before I passed out was Cennuth picking me up gently.
When a wizard was changed into a dragon, they somehow
knew about the curse, so my name became well-known. For the first time, the
world flourished. Inventions in medicine and lifestyle skyrocketed alongside
magic. I helped by sharing some very simple things I had seen in my dreams,
although that meant going to the kings directly, because they had inventors.
Fortunately, as people’s lives got better, more people learned to read and
write.
I traveled the worlds for many, many years, gathering
knowledge and interfering with others. I loved traveling, but it did get very
lonely. I tried to take Vinr until it became too dangerous. Although Caedmon
was always kind when I visited him, it was clear to me that he had moved on
with his life. Time only moved forward, whether I was ready or not.
I took apprentices sometimes. I opened myself up to
another person because I was lonely and wanted to share my knowledge and
patience, yet it always ended badly for me. Some of them fell in love, some of
them couldn’t handle the magic, and some of them moved on without me.
After years of this, I came to believe there was
something holding me back. The more famous I became, the more determined I was
to avenge my mother. I tried so many spells, but I didn’t have any link to the
wizard responsible. I didn’t even know his name.
I did, however, spread his daughter’s name around
whenever I returned to my home world. I was visiting Caedmon one day, sitting
inside the cabin and sharing stories, when Vinr stood and growled at the door.
I quickly opened the door, completely unafraid of an attack, and glared when I
saw Erica Baltezore standing there.
“I heard you were looking for me.” I started to
attack, but Caedmon put his hand on my shoulders and I stopped. She smirked
confidently. “If you hurt me, you’ll never find out about my father and get
your revenge.”
“Why would you tell me?”
“I want you to go after him. If you go after him, it
will prove you are no better than me. If you defeat him, it will get him out of
my way. If you die, it will get
you
out of my way.”
After she told me where to find her father, Caedmon
advised me not to go. Unfortunately, after all those years, I hadn’t learned
wisdom. I thought I could handle any wizard. Against his wishes, I traveled for
a month until I reached the wizard’s lair. I was expecting a castle or even a
cabin in the woods. Instead, Rijah Baltezore lived in a cave. It wasn’t an
ordinary cave, however; the interior walls were covered in crystals.
The “home” was actually quite cozy. It was formed in
a mountain overlooking the sea. There was a bed, a bookshelf, a reading chair,
and a writing desk stocked with pens, ink, and paper. The wizard was sitting in
the chair, reading one of the books when I entered. I didn’t say anything,
although I knew he was aware of my presence. After a moment, he set the book
aside and looked at me very calmly. “It took you a long time to get here,
Merlin.”
“Did you send your daughter to kill my mother?”
“I sent my daughter to kill her only if you refused
to join me.”
“She gave my mother the poison before she even told
me about you!”
He shrugged. “She had an antidote.”
“I’m going to kill you.”
He rested his chin in his palm. “I doubt that. You
are far too young. Someday, you will be useful to me. Until then, I will be
waiting.” He stood and approached me.
I focused my magic and yelled, “Drepa!” A flash of
burning light leapt forth to strike him like lightning, but to my shock, the
wizard was faster.
“Minka,” he said calmly. My magic was doused
instantly.
“How did you do that? I learned magic from the
dragons themselves.” Although all wizards used words in magic, I was the only
one who used the dragon’s language, which made me more powerful.
“As did I.”
“I am still a more powerful wizard. I’ve been to many
worlds and learned magic you couldn’t possibly know.”
Baltezore laughed loudly, as if I had said something
terribly amusing. “A wizard? Is that what you think you are?”
“Of course I’m a wizard.”
He laughed again. “Did the dragons tell you that you
were just a wizard? They lied to you.”
“You’re lying! You don’t even know me.”
“I know much more about you than you think. That is
why Cennuth chose to raise you himself; he never wanted you to meet me.”
“He taught me so that I could end the war on magic.”
“And you did such an impressive job. I know you will
be of use to me very soon.”
When I started focusing my magic to attack again, he
flicked his hand in an upward motion, easily slamming me against the bookshelf
with magic. A blue chalice appeared in his other hand, which he held up to my
mouth. My magic was suddenly unresponsive. I fought it, but his magic held me
still and he pinched my nose until I had to drink it. The liquid was thick,
bitter, and made my head spin. I tried to ask him what he was doing. I didn’t
get the chance.
* * *
I woke to find that the mouth of the cave had
vanished and there was a letter on the desk. The letter was simple and stated
that I was now immortal and would be trapped here until he felt I was ready to
join him. It didn’t say what he wanted me to join him in doing.
I was confused. Although the dragons could live for
thousands of years, they could be killed, so I didn’t understand immortality.
Despite the fact that I had magic, I couldn’t use a portal to escape. My magic
was fine; it was the cave that trapped me.
There was no food or water. The only light came from
a strange glow in the crystals. For the first few days, I was certain I would
die of dehydration. However, to my astonishment, the hunger and thirst faded
away. Although I lost a little weight, I didn’t look malnourished. To test this
curse of immortality, I restricted myself from sleep until I became completely
delirious, began hallucinating, and passed out.
The worst discovery was that if I looked into any of
the crystals in the walls for too long, I saw something similar to my dreams.
This was both addictive and agonizing.
I had no idea when it was day or night. Time just
stopped existing. All the books were magic grimoires written by Baltezore, so I
read them and practiced the spells alone. I used what I knew about magic to
make up new spells. I also made tools to focus my power. The cave was set up
perfectly for a wizard, but what I really wanted was some blacksmith tools.
I eventually realized that there was nobody coming
for me and that I had to save myself. The solution came in a dream, as so many
before it had. I came to the very undeniable realization that I would die in
the cave. There was no way out except through death.
Baltezore had several of the most deadly poisons
known, which I mixed together. Even after making it, I was hesitant to use it,
but eventually, I decided that it was not worth it to be trapped in that cave
for another minute. If there was one thing I trusted, it was magic.
I drank the poison and sat down on the bed to wait.
The effects were almost immediate. I felt numbness coat my esophagus and empty
stomach, which soon spread to the rest of my body. My arms and legs began
trembling violently and my lungs stopped working. It didn’t hurt very much
before my mind started wandering. Everything had a red shade… and then my
vision faded altogether.
And then, I woke. My body regained control slowly. I
didn’t know how long I had been dead, but the immortality curse was strong.
When I opened my eyes, I was still in the cave, but the entrance was open.
* * *
I soon found out that I had been in the cave for
hundreds of years. The worlds had changed. Caedmon, Brynjar, Vinr, and even
Cennuth were gone. They had been the only four beings left in all the worlds
who cared about me and I threw that away for revenge. For the first time in my
life, I was completely alone.
All because I wanted revenge.
I vowed to never allow myself to lose sight of what
was important again. Instead of constantly fighting to be stronger, I would
appreciate what I had. This wasn’t an easy change for me. No matter what world
I visited, I never felt like I fit in. I took apprentices and fell in love with
women, but none of these relationships lasted. Even when I found a world I was
happy with, it never lasted.
Eventually, I came to the realization that there were
two places I had ever really been happy. I returned to Cennuth’s cave only to
discover the mountain had been populated by strangers. Then I returned to
Gmork’s world. Unfortunately, that too was very different. I decided it didn’t
matter; it was as good a place as any to settle down.
As some twisted sense of penance, I stopped taking
wizard apprentices and instead advised kings in wisdom. This would have been
perfect if it weren’t for several war-minded monarchs who repulsed me from the
whole idea.
I had accepted the fact that I would never be as happy
as I was with Cennuth, and decided it was because that was my childhood, which
I let slip through my fingers. I had to move on, because time was never going
to wait for me to catch up.
* * *
For many years, Baltezore never bothered me. I didn’t
spend much time on my home world, so I didn’t expect to ever see him again. I
did, however, have dreams of him. I saw him in magical duels and sometimes just
creating potions, and in watching this, I learned from him. He wasn’t concerned
with black or white magic; he did whatever he thought would benefit himself.
On my home world, kings eventually started hiring
wizards for reasons other than war, like tournaments and entertainment. Since
the wizards were free to come and go, I was unconcerned. Then, one night, I had
a dream of a man with the most unusual power. He called himself a magician, not
a wizard, and he couldn’t do what wizards could. Instead, the only magic he
could do was illusion. Even weirder were the magical tools he had.
I dreamed of him working for a king and was amused by
the pranks he played on the staff of the castle. He wasn’t causing harm; he was
just young, powerful, and wanted to have some fun. After several weeks of
seeing this, I started to wonder why I kept dreaming about him. That was when I
saw Baltezore visit the magician’s king. He wanted something the king had, and
he slaughtered everyone in order to get it.
My dreams often showed me something ahead of the
fact, but not always. As a result of what happened to my mother, I hated
divination and deeply wanted to ignore the dreams. The reason I didn’t was
because I felt like the magician was a friend after having watched him for so
long. I also felt a little responsible because Baltezore was my enemy that I
failed to defeat.
Thus, I traveled to King Garsul’s kingdom. It was a
very happy kingdom, with many celebrations and tournaments. When I arrived, the
king was putting on a tournament for wizards to show off. The majority of the
kingdom was watching in the stands around the massive arena. I found a spot as
close as I could to the king.
There were two doors placed on opposite ends of the
field. Above the door on the north end was the king and his two daughters. King
Garsul was a middle-aged, fit king with dark brown hair, a scruffy beard, and a
blue velvet tunic. Kings had changed a lot since they stopped killing wizards.
His daughters were undeniably beautiful.
The king stood to address his people, who fell silent
slowly. “Thank you all for coming to see the final day of the tournament. As
you all know, this event will determine which of the five remaining wizards
will represent our wonderful kingdom. A lot of you are visiting representatives
of other kingdoms who are looking to hire a wizard. I assure you that all of
the wizards who competed in this tournament are available for hire.”
When the south door opened, the king sat and another
man stood to introduce five wizards, who each entered the field when their
names were called. Two of the wizards were young, slim twin brothers. Another
looked to be older than me, and when he came out, the crowd roared with cheers
and applause. The fourth wizard was the magician, Vactarus, and he received
even more cheers. The last wizard to come out was a man nearly as large as
Caedmon, with more scars and a definite savage air to him. Surprisingly, there
were more boos from the crowd than cheers.
“For the final event, the remaining five wizards will
compete together.” As he spoke, a massive form flew over the field, partially
blocking out the sun and making everyone look up. There were screams of terror
from the audience, but I just grinned. The green dragoness I had met so many
years previous landed elegantly on the field. She ignored the wizards as the
announcer continued. “The rules for this event are simple; don’t die. The
wizard who defeats the dragon wins.”
The crowd roared with so much disapproval that the
king had to stand and quiet them.
Once he could be heard, the announcer continued.
“Don’t fret; the wizards can walk off the field and be safe. We do not want
anyone dying, not even the dragon. Now, at the sound of the gong, let the final
event begin!” he sat down.
One of the king’s daughters stood to hit the gong
that was to the right of the king. I reacted quickly. “Eimi forað,” I said,
focusing my magic on what I wanted. A creature made of fire formed right above
me, surrounded by an angry cloud of black smoke. When the mass began moving, it
was obvious the creature was a dragon, though it was no larger than a person.
It flew right over the king and towards the field before dispersing. Once
again, the crowd screamed.