The Wizard's Secret (16 page)

The man grunted and walked away, through a door
behind him. He returned soon with two mugs and set them down in front of us
before disappearing through the door again. I frowned at the brown liquid while
Asiago chugged his down. Once he drank half of it, he put it down, grimacing.

“That’s foul. What is this?”

“How would I know? This isn’t Caldaca. What does it
taste like?”

“It’s bitter.”

I shrugged and took a sip. It was bitter, as he had
said, but it also had a hint of sweetness and a burst of spice. It was oddly
terrible and good at the same time. The tavern keeper returned with two plates
of boiled meat, bread, and potatoes. When I took a tentative bite of the bread,
my stomach growled and I realized I was hungrier than I’d thought. I scarfed
everything down without tasting it, and then drained the mug.

Asiago wasn’t far behind. “Can I get a second drink?”
I asked, although my mug wasn’t empty. The tavern keeper grunted and
disappeared again. As I was finishing off my drink, I realized it was dead
silent. The tavern keeper appeared only long enough to hand me a second mug
before vanishing to the kitchen once more. I turned to study the room and
quickly understood why everyone had fallen silent.

A huge man had entered the room. He was by far the
tallest and widest person I had ever seen in my life, although he wasn’t as
tall as the troll. He wore what appeared to be a gold dress with a fur coat and
black leather boots. I would have assumed he was a woman if it weren’t for his
thick, blond goatee. He wore a large, dark blue, velvet hat with a
rainbow-colored feather sticking up from the right side. Blond hair stuck out
in odd angles under the rim of the hat. As if his coat and hat weren’t gaudy
enough, he also wore at least twenty necklaces, a dozen bracelets, and multiple
rings on every finger. He even had three bulging, jeweled purses.

Everyone looked anywhere but at the man, though he
studied each and every person. I chugged half my drink and Asiago tried to hide
his face in his food. At that point, I noticed his hair was darker than it had
been when I set the disguise spell; my spell was fading.

After a moment, I heard the sound of the large man’s
movement and risked a peak at him. He jiggled and jingled as he approached the
bar and sat in the seat right next to Asiago. The seat creaked violently. The
tavern keeper handed him a mug and a plate of food.

Half the patrons got up and ran out. Leaving suddenly
sounded like a good idea to me. I saw several silver coins on the tables, so I
pulled out a silver coin and set it on the bar, hoping it was enough. I stood
up, expecting Asiago to follow.

“I haven’t seen you around here,” the jewelry-clad
man said. His voice was as big as he was. Unfortunately, he was looking at me.

“We’re just passing through.”

“I own this town, and I don’t like the looks of you.”

I frowned. I had been ridiculed by my family for my
blond hair and blue eyes, but no one had ever said I looked distrustful. Before
I could come up with a response, he frowned.

“Why is your hair turning yellow?”

I had forgotten about my spell!

Asiago stood up quickly. “I think we should go. Your
face is changing back to normal.”

“Well, it was nice to meet you,” I lied, trying not
to anger the massive man. He frowned at me with obvious suspicion as Asiago
grabbed my arm and pulled me out. “Did you do magic or something? I don’t know
why my spell is wearing off.”

“I’m sure it’s normal,” he said.

I stopped. “It’s not normal. Why are you in such a
hurry?” There weren’t any of the villagers around, although we were in the
middle of the village. Then we heard a commotion towards the tavern and Asiago
went pale as a sheet. I glared at him. “What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

“Are you lying to a Dracre sorcerer?”

“Yes. I mean… yes.”

Apparently, my disguise to make me look like my
father was still working. Nobody could ever lie to him. The magic over Asiago,
however, was almost completely gone. “What did you do?”  The sound coming from
the tavern was getting closer, and it now sounded like a mob of angry people.

Asiago reached into his robe and pulled out one of
the rich man’s purses.

I groaned. “We’re dead. I can’t believe you did
that.”

“I’m a necromancer, what did you expect? Why aren’t
we running?”

“Because I haven’t decided whether to make you return
it, hand you over, or run.”

“You wouldn’t give me to them!”

“I’m a sorcerer.” I wasn’t really even considering
giving Asiago to them, although I was angry with him. I was actually trying to
decide whether to drop my disguise completely, make us invisible, or run.

When villagers closed in on us from the opposite
side, I made up my mind. I held up my staff and said, “Make us invisible.” I
envisioned us disappearing and felt the strong desire to hide, just like I was
supposed to. Not a single part of my spell was vague. Nevertheless, red magic
spilled from the staff, surrounded us for a moment, and then faded, leaving us
still completely visible. I groaned again.

“Well, that didn’t work,” Asiago said.

The crystal pulsed with a bright blue glow. “What was
that?” I asked it. Instead of answering, it pulsed again. “Stop that!”

The villagers spilled into the street, surrounding us
on all sides. “Hold them off,” Asiago said. He slipped off the bracelet, pulled
a candle and dagger out of his pocket, carved something into the candle, and
started chanting in a strange language.

To my surprise, the Siren didn’t translate it.
Fortunately, I wasn’t foolish enough to interrupt him. The people were not
advancing, but they had us surrounded. A moment later, the crowd parted to let
the big man through.

“Did you think you could get away with stealing from
me?” he asked.

I picked up the purse, which Asiago had dropped. “My
friend was wrong to steal, I can’t argue, but it’s in his nature. That being
said, it’s in my nature to curse you for cornering me. Fortunately for you, I’m
not going to curse you; I’m simply going to tell you to leave us alone. Take
your money and walk away.” I tossed his purse to him and he caught it easily.

“You think I should just let you go?”

“No. You have every right to torture Asiago, but I’m
afraid he might like that and I’m in a hurry. I really don’t want to hurt
anyone, so it would be better for both of us if you leave.”

The man smirked. “You are both delusional.”

I shrugged. Fortunately, before I could conjure a
monster to save us, the sky darkened, the wind picked up, and I felt a dark
presence. “Too late.”

Ghosts emerged from the ground. These ghosts weren’t
detailed like Vactarus and Sonya, which meant they had been dead for much
longer. Predictably, the villagers began screaming and running away. The big
man, however, stood his ground.

“You have control over them, right?” I asked.

Asiago looked at me like I was insane. “Of course
not. I don’t have their names.”

The big man grabbed a sword from a passing terrified
villager and advanced on us. I raised my staff regretfully. Using sorcery to
attack someone was not something Magnus could forgive. I didn’t know if I could
either, anymore. Even when I was trying to be a sorcerer, I didn’t want to hurt
anyone, except maybe my brothers. Here I was about to attack someone who had
been wronged.

Right before I could do anything, I heard a very
sinister and familiar growl. I gaped in shock when Merlin, still in his wolf
form, jumped in front of me and advanced on the big man. The big man, in turn,
dropped his sword and ran. Obviously, he was more frightened of being mauled
than he was about being cursed.

A moment later, the road was completely clear and it
was very quiet. Merlin turned to me. “
Come with me
,” he said. His voice
in my head was hard and devoid of emotion, so I assumed he was mad. Merlin
growled at people who attacked us, but he never once raised his voice in anger
to me.

I picked up my bag and followed him out of the
village. Asiago followed behind me uneasily. “He’s Merlin,” I told the
necromancer.

Asiago nodded, tying the strap back on his wrist. “I
figured that much. Where is he leading us?”

“I have no idea.” We returned to the dirt road we
were on before and Merlin led us into the forest. When he finally stopped, he
turned to us and sat.

“
First, explain your
disguise. I really hope you are not trying to be something you are not again
.”

I pointed my wand at myself and focused on replacing
what was left of my disguise with my real appearance. The spell dropped easily.
“I had to change my appearance because the villagers had drawings of us and
they were trying to stab us with pitchforks and burn us with torches.”

“
Good. I was worried you were trying to make
yourself more like a sorcerer again
.”

“Actually, it’s the opposite.” I explained the fox,
how I hurt her, and how I decided I couldn’t be both a sorcerer and wizard.
Although he often did it himself, Merlin didn’t like it when I got off subject.
“I asked Magnus to suppress it like Livia did. He refused at first, but then
when Livia was kidnapped, he said he would do it if I can save her without
using sorcery.”

“
Your aunt was kidnapped
?
Never mind, we
will get to that in a minute.
So, because you accidentally hurt a fox,
you swore off sorcery altogether
?”

After a moment of hesitation, I nodded. “I can’t be
both. It obviously doesn’t work and I don’t want to lose control of the sorcery
again.”

He sighed. “
Why must you
always
insist
on
learning things the hard way
?
Ayden, you are what you are, and I thought
you accepted that. By blood, you are a sorcerer and always will be, but you are
much more than that. The only way you can be true to yourself is to accept all
that you are
.”

“I hurt a child on accident.”

“
That is because you are untrained. There is no
more darkness in your heart than there was when I met you. The reason you
accidentally hurt her is because you were not in control of your power. When
you accept both your wizardry and sorcery, you will be able to learn to control
both. Fighting it is not the same as controlling it
.”

“But if I get rid of my sorcery, I don’t have to
control it.”

He sighed again. “
You remind me of a prince I once
had to advise. He turned out well, but wisdom did not come easy to him. Explain
how you came to be here and who the necromancer is
.”

I explained everything, from how long he was gone to
why we came to find him. When I was done, he did not look happy. “I thought you
were in trouble. Obviously, I was wrong.”

“
That is not what I am concerned about. I am more
concerned with the whispering you have been hearing. You said you cannot
remember why you thought I was in trouble, only that it was an urgent desire to
find me. I presume you sensed me because of our mental connection
.”

“Well, I didn’t know what the whispers were at first,
but then the staff revealed that it had the syrus. The reason the villagers
gave me the syrus in the first place was because they could hear whispers
coming from it.”

“
That was most likely me talking to myself, or
calling for someone to let me free
.”

“So, the whispering I’ve been hearing is probably the
chimera.”

“
Quite possibly. We need to find a place to lock
it away. I wonder why your staff took it. Perhaps it was owned by a soothsayer
before Vactarus took it and it retained some of that power
.”

I could tell how much he hated that idea. He never
told me why, but Merlin despised seers. “Why did I feel like you were in
trouble if you weren’t?”

“
It may be that I will be in danger soon. As
Vactarus tried to explain, I did design the portal to take me back to the time
before the curse was created
.” I opened my mouth to ask about the paradox,
but he raised his paw and I shut it. “
I am not foolish enough to endanger
all existence via a paradox. The only thing I can do is use my brain. I know I
cannot stop myself from being cursed, but I also know Gmork would never free
me. I returned early so that I could find out how Gmork created the curse, so I
can reverse it
.”

“Gmork is the wizard who took Nimue and caused her
kiss to change you?” I asked. He nodded. “You’ve always refused to tell me
anything about the actual curse and the wizard who caused it.”

“
It is not a story I am proud of
.”

“How long have you been here? Shouldn’t the portal
have sent me here to the same time when you arrived?”

The wolf smirked. “
I am impressed; you have
obviously been listening to my lessons. However, I learned to travel from true
masters of magic; I know how to manipulate a portal. The symbols I had you draw
were to a generalized date and I used a person to guide myself. So, instead of
sending me to one moment in time, I had it send me to one person; myself,
before I was trapped in the syrus. Obviously, it would not have helped to show
up when I was a child, so I created a range of a week. Do you understand so far
?”

“No.”

“
You, however, were focused on me, so it sent you
to me as a wolf, but it was still confined to a specific week. Since I was
missing for a month from your perspective, you appeared at the very end of the
week, whereas I arrived at the beginning. Thus, I have only been here for a
week. It is all very simple, really
.”

“I understood that even less.”

“
As it happens, I have been extremely unsuccessful
with my time. The problem is, if I run into myself or interfere with anything
before the past version of myself gets cursed, it will create a paradox. I need
your help
.”

“I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, but
I’ll help.”

“
It will be extremely dangerous
.”

“When is it not?”

He was quiet for a moment. “
We have a few days
before the curse is inflicted. I need you to follow Nimue around, invisible.
You cannot follow Gmork because he would sense you if you are with him for more
than a few minutes. I know Gmork does something to Nimue, because it is her kiss
that changed me. Clear
?”

“Um… follow Nimue and stay away from the bad wizard.
It’s still so weird to think of someone as a bad wizard.”

“
Then think of him as a sorcerer. Trust me, Ayden,
there is no goodness in Gmork. He was not always so dark, but at this point in
time, he is worse than your mother
.”

“Now that I don’t believe. My mother wants to kill
me.”

“
Gmork would do much worse than that to you. I
cannot say why, either. I suspect it was loneliness that drove him insane. I
must warn you
…
I am betraying Nimue by doing this, but I cannot think of
any other way to break this curse
…
Nimue is in league with Gmork. I
suspect he put a love spell on her, but she is the one who locked me in the
syrus
.”

I gaped. That, I understood. He was betrayed by the
woman he loved and he still tried to protect her.

“
There is one more thing you must be careful of
.”

“Of course there is.” He scowled. “Sorry.”

“
No matter what you see or hear, no matter how
badly you want to, you must not interfere. You must not speak to anyone, be
seen by anyone, or touch anything
.”

“What if Gmork tries to kill Nimue?”

He considered it for a moment. “
She is alive to
lock me in the syrus. Once that happens, it will still be dangerous, but not
necessarily enough to cause a paradox. We just have to avoid interfering with
our own timelines, or we could end up never meeting
.”

“But if we never met…”

“
Then we would never have come here to break the
curse, thus creating a paradox
.
If that happens, death is the least of
our worries
.”

“I think I get it now. Why can’t you see yourself?
The you then won’t know the you now.”

“
That is against every rule in the book
.”

“What book? There’s a book on time travel? Can I read
it?”

“
It is just an expression, young sorcerer
.”

“Wizard. I want to be a wizard.”

“
You are certainly one of the most stubborn people
I have ever met
.”

“We have another problem, though. I’ve tried to make
myself invisible twice since coming here, and it screwed up both times.”
Besides that, using invisibility to spy on someone was sorcery.

“
It is undoubtedly because you are fighting your
sorcery, which means your wizardry will suffer as well
.”

When I first learned to do it, I thought invisibility
was illusion magic. However, through Magnus’s books on magic, I learned
otherwise. Illusion magic could make people not see someone, but it couldn’t
change their body. Sorcery or wizardry could actually make someone invisible.
Obviously, a wizard could only use invisibility to do good and sorcerers could
only use it with dark intentions.

“So, what happens if the invisibility fails in front
of Gmork or Nimue?”

“
Then we are in trouble. We will have to rely on
something a little different
.” He stood. “
Follow me
.”

*          *          *

We walked for quite a while. By the time we arrived
at a small cabin, the clouds had cleared up and the sun was setting. The cabin
was a decent size for a one-room home. There was a front door, a covered porch,
and a window to the left of the door. Cobwebs covered the window and leaves
blanketed the porch.

“Who lives here?” I asked.

“
I do. Or, at least, I did. At this point in time,
Nimue is being held in Gmork’s castle. The past me left my cabin a few days ago
to save Nimue, and is camping outside of the castle, working on the best way to
save her. She is allowed out of the castle for an hour every day, but she has
to stay on the castle grounds. There is a massive wall around the castle
.”

“Why can’t she run away?”

“
She is being guarded by a dragon
.”

“I don’t want to fight a dragon! They’re already too
rare as it is.”

“
I am not asking you to face the dragon. At
sunset, two days from now, the past me with make his move and convince the
dragon to step aside. The dragon helped me save her
.”

“How did you convince a dragon to help you?”

“
I was trained by a dragon
.”

“What?!” I shrieked, shocked.

Merlin continued, unbothered. “
With secrets about
dragons no mortal was supposed to know, the dragon had no choice but to trust
me. In all honesty, he adored Nimue too much to hurt her. You should avoid the
dragon as much as possible, for he would easily be able to smell you. In fact,
your friend should definitely stay behind. The necromancer could be detected
from quite a distance
.”

I looked at Asiago. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“Noticed what?” he asked.

“Merlin says you stink.”

“
Like cheese
,” Merlin added.

Asiago scowled. “I’ll have you know I don’t stink. I
bathe once a month, whether I need it or not.”

“You do?”

He shrugged. “Well, bathe so to speak. This is how a
man is supposed to smell.”

Merlin made a gagging sound. I decided to stop using
scented bath oils. “So, what are we here to learn?” I asked.

“
I will explain when we get inside.
”

“Don’t you have a protective ward over the cabin?”

“
I normally do. This time, however, I was in a
hurry to save Nimue, so I am pretty sure I forgot. Nevertheless, you should
check, just to be sure. It was much stronger than the wards you know
.”

When Merlin first taught me to do this, I could only
see magic as a formless cloud, yet Merlin pushed me to practice it often. I
closed my eyes and slowly exhaled every drop of the air in my lungs, releasing
my magic with my breath. I waited for as long as I could before inhaling just
as slowly. As I did, I pulled my magic back into myself. Since I’d had so much
practice, the image came to my mind easily.

There was no magic over the cabin. “It’s safe.”

Inside, the cabin was dark and warm. There was a bed
in the northwest corner and a reading chair in the northeast corner. Beside the
reading chair were four pails. A large table, covered with esoteric
instruments, took up most of the north wall. On the east wall was a bookshelf
full of mostly books, but also bottles of ingredients and other weird things.
Although the cabin was the same size on the inside as it was on the outside,
the window was larger, and it wasn’t covered in cobwebs. That was odd.

In front of the bookshelf was a cauldron sitting over
a pit. “
Open the hatch and get the fire started
,” Merlin said. “
We do
not have all the time in the world
.”

I looked up at the ceiling over the cauldron to see a
hatch. I figured Merlin probably always opened it and started the fire with
magic. I pushed it open with my staff and pulled my wand out.
Fire
, I
thought, pointing my wand at the pit. Magic shot through me and fire sprang up
easily. “What potion are we making?” I asked, pushing the window open just to be
extra cautious.

“
First, we are going to make an invisibility
potion. It works just as well as the magic you have used, but it lasts longer
and it is reliable. Second, we are going to make something in case of an
emergency
.”

“Is it dangerous?”

“
Catastrophic if it is improperly brewed and even
more so if it is improperly used
.”

“So, yes?”

“
Yes, Ayden, it is dangerous. It is a potion I
learned from the dragons. It was their intention to use it to end the war on
magic. If a person ingests just one drop of it, they will lose their magic
forever
.”

I gaped in horror. “No! I would never use that on
anyone!”