“You keep saying that.”
“You have not yet accepted it. The magic I will teach
you is versatile and ancient. It will require a sharp mind, a vivid
imagination, and motivation.”
“I have motivation.”
“Not yet. Get yourself out of the fire and I will
allow you to leave early today, since it is your first day.”
“How do I get out of the fire?”
“With magic, of course. Use the words ‘minka hyrr.’
The rest should be instinctual. There is no easier magic to master than the
elements.”
“Says the dragon.” I didn’t believe him, but the
dragon vanished into the darkness anyway. I studied the fire for a moment.
“Minka hyrr.” Not surprisingly, nothing happened. I sat down after a while and
considered what to do. It was almost too hot to think and my empty stomach
didn’t help.
I stared deep into the fire, letting my mind focus
only on the flames. As I did, the heat of the room and hunger in my stomach
faded away. I knew if I didn’t hurry, I wouldn’t get back to Caedmon’s cabin in
time to find some food or sleep. Caedmon wouldn’t be forgiving.
I realized with a start that I felt something inside
me, almost tingling in my stomach as if I was extremely anxious. I still only
saw the fire. I opened my mouth to tell the fire to let me pass, only to say,
“Minka hyrr” instead. Instantly, I
felt
exactly what those words meant,
and the sensation in my stomach spread outward.
The fire died.
* * *
It was almost dark by the time I reached Caedmon’s
cabin, but that didn’t stop him from giving me an abundance of chores. I first
had to go out and gather fruits and vegetables from the large garden. I was too
grateful for food to complain. Next, I had to chop up a dead tree for firewood.
I knew when he let me go to bed that he was letting me off easy for my first
day.
He never did so again. Every day, I would study
reading, math, and magic. I would have to get all the food for myself and
Caedmon or I would go to bed hungry. If I slacked off, I was punished with
extra work. “I should just be one of the kings’ wizards. I wouldn’t have to
work this hard!” I said after about a month of living with the man.
He never got angry. “If you would rather serve the
kings, you are free to leave.”
I tried to mouth off to Caedmon a few more times, but
he made me scale the mountain up and down ten times. With every day, Caedmon
turned more chores over to me until I was maintaining the cabin and garden
myself. If I wanted meat, I had to hunt.
At first, I hated Caedmon. He never spoke about
himself, never helped me when I was struggling, and never let me have a break.
I felt like I was doing his work. He also taught me combat with and without
weapons. Unfortunately, his way of teaching was sink or swim. In fact, he
taught me to swim by throwing me into the deep part of the hot springs. When I
mastered that, he bound my hands behind me and did it again.
Every day, I got faster at getting up and down the
mountain, better at fighting, and more efficient at hunting. I practiced my
reading during my spare time with Caedmon’s books, which were poems and magic
books. Some of them were in other languages, which I asked Brynjar to teach me.
He smiled at me for the first time then.
Cennuth never pushed me to learn magic; he only
offered the knowledge to me. At first, I thought the dragon was just making it
easier on me. I was wrong. I had to motivate myself. I couldn’t make excuses or
blame anyone for pushing me too hard. If I didn’t learn magic, I wouldn’t be able
to get my mother and myself to a better world. I had to be better than I was.
My first year was difficult. The winter was harsh and
I slipped on the stairs a lot before I had a dream of the solution. I built
wooden rails to make getting up and down the stairs easier. Winter was just as
hard on others. One evening, I caught a rabbit and was taking it back to the
cabin to clean, when a wolf intercepted me. The wolf’s coat ranged from white
all the way to black. Although he looked too skinny, he was much bigger than me
and his claws and teeth could easily tear me apart.
I set the rabbit down and pulled my bow off the
harness on my back. Since Caedmon taught me to use the bow, I preferred it over
the sword every time I went out. Unfortunately, when I pulled one of the
arrows, it caught on my shirt. As if he realized something was wrong, he
attacked.
I used my bow as a shield on reflex, which was a
pretty bad idea. The wolf bit the bow and snapped it in two. He also swiped me
with his claws, cutting deep into my left arm. I used the two parts of my
broken bow as spears and stabbed at him.
The wolf dodged them easily, and I wasn’t dumb enough
to let him lead me away from the rabbit. I knew hunger was driving the wolf to
fight, but I had to eat as well. The wolf lunged again, only to dive to the
side to avoid getting stabbed. We were at an impasse, because both of us needed
the rabbit. He would die without it, but he could kill me.
The loud crunching of heavy boots in snow made us
turn to see Caedmon approaching with a dagger in his hand. The wolf whimpered
and took a few steps back. Caedmon didn’t say a word as he reached down, picked
up the rabbit, tore a big chunk out of it, and tossed the smaller portion to
the wolf. The wolf snatched the rabbit out of midair and ran off to eat it.
“Why did you do that?” I asked.
“Nothing is worth dying over if you can share it.”
“I hate wolves.”
“Why? He was only doing what he had to do to survive,
just like you have been doing. You came here a helpless little cub, yet you just
fended off that wolf so that you could survive. Do you know what the difference
is between you and him?”
“What?”
“You are the stronger wolf. If he had gotten that
rabbit, you would have gone hungry for a while. If he hadn’t, he would have
died of hunger.”
“But then there would be more prey animals to hunt.”
“You should respect wolves. You have the advantage of
wisdom, but they have a much more spiritual bond with nature. You can learn a
lot from the wolf.”
* * *
For five years, I never strayed far from the
mountain. After my first year, I began to really appreciate Caedmon. He never
got angry no matter how hard I pushed him, he was always willing to explain
something when I asked, and he pushed me to be better than I thought I could
be. Even when he made me live outside for a month, I knew exactly what I had to
do.
I learned to survive the harshest of conditions
without relying on anyone else. I learned to be patient and calm in the face of
danger, without being too slow to react. I learned to be kind even to the
animals I hunted, and especially to the animals I competed with for food. In
fact, every winter, I saw the wolf at least four or five times, and each time,
I gave him some of my food.
Then I had a dream that would haunt me for the rest
of my life; I saw my mother lying on the floor, struggling to sit up. Her skin
was deathly pale, her eyes were shrunken, and her clothes were soaked with
sweat.
I jerked up with a shout of horror. I knew it had
woken Caedmon even before I heard him getting out of his bed. Some of my dreams
were frightening, but never personal. “Caedmon, my mother is sick. I have to go
back.”
“Are you certain?”
I stood up and reached for the candle. Focusing my
energy on the wick and imagining the heat, I said, “Vaka hyrr.” Flames lit the
wick and filled the room with warm light, but I couldn’t shake the chill in my
bones. “I saw her face. She’s sick and I have to help her.”
“Speak to Cennuth before you leave.”
“I don’t have---”
“You have time to tell him where you are going,” he
interrupted sternly. “You owe him that much.”
I nodded, because there was no point in arguing with
Caedmon. I dressed and made it down the mountain in record time. When I knelt
before the cave, I was afraid that the dragon would take a long time to answer,
but I resisted the urge to call out to him. I had done it once and it took most
of a month to recover from the burns.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long before hot black
smoke blew out of the cave. I stood and walked in. There was no light outside
except from the moonlight and stars, so I held out my hands. “Kalr hyrr.” A
blue, cold fire erupted in a sphere above my hands. This allowed me to see
Cennuth clearly.
“You want to return to your village,” Cennuth said.
“Not permanently. My mother is sick and I need to go
home to take care of her. Between what Caedmon and you taught me, I can help
her.”
“There is another wizard who has learned of you and
envies your power.”
“How?”
“You are not the only one who can see things in your
dreams. You must stay here, where you are safe.”
“I can’t. I appreciate everything you’ve taught me,
and if you’ll let me, I’ll return as soon as my mother is better. Please don’t
make me choose between you and my mother, because I’m going to help her.”
The dragon sighed, exhaling a dark puff of smoke.
“You will always be welcome here, young wizard, but you are acting against my
advice.”
“I understand.”
“Then you are dismissed.”
“Thank you. I will be back soon.”
I went to my old home, expecting my mother to be sick
and in bed. Thus, I was surprised to find that she wasn’t there at all. I
stepped outside, about to go ask someone, and nearly bumped right into her.
“Merlin!” She sounded so shocked to see me. “What are
you doing back here?” She pushed me in and shut the door behind us. “It’s not
safe for you here.”
“I had a dream that you were sick and I came to help
you.”
She sighed. “I’m not sick. It was just a dream.”
“I’ve learned a lot of magic since I left and I know
the difference between a regular dream and a vision.” A knock on the door
interrupted us and my mother answered it hesitantly, as if it was one of the
kings’ soldiers looking for wizards. There was a girl standing there with a
ceramic bottle. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember from where.
“Good morning. I am from the village just south of
here and we are offering wine to our neighbors. We will begin selling it soon,
but we’re giving out samples to get people interested.”
I thought that was odd, but my mother took the wine
and thanked her, obviously just wanting her to be gone. Without another word,
she closed the door and turned to me. “You should not have come back. Magic is
more feared now than it has ever been. There are soldiers scouring the lands
for wizards. You need to go back to the dragon before they find you.”
“You know about Cennuth?”
“Dantur explained it to me before they took him.”
“You’re going to get sick. I’ve seen it! I want to
help you.”
“The only way you can help me is to stay alive.”
“When will it be safe for me to come back here?”
“Never. Never return. Go to another world where magic
is accepted.”
I shook my head. “I told you I would find us a world
where we’ll both be safe. Just wait for me.”
“Merlin, I don’t want to leave. This is my home.”
“But magic isn’t accepted here.”
“I don’t have magic.”
I knew what she was saying; moving to another place
wasn’t worth it to her. She would rather live here alone than with me. A
hundred things came to mind to say and not one of them made it out my mouth.
Instead, I just hurried out of the house and down the road. My mother didn’t
follow me. I was angry and hurt. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do.
Strangely, the only thing I could think of was climbing up and down the
mountain. I was supposed to be reading right then, not feeling rejection.
I wanted to return to the mountain.
“Would you like some wine?” the girl asked me,
approaching me in the middle of the road. She tilted her head slightly and
smiled brightly. She had long, golden brown hair and light green eyes. Her
white dress was very simple, but clean and well-made.
It was the same girl who came to my mother’s door and
she had an identical bottle. I shrugged and took it, since I had traveled a
long way and had to turn around and make the trip all over again. Just as I
raised the bottle to my mouth, I recognized her. “You’re the girl from the
pit!”
Her innocent smile changed into a cruel grin. “I was
hoping you would recognize me, even if it does make my job harder.”
“Who are you?”
“Erica Baltezore.”
It was obvious by her tone that she expected me to
recognize the name, but I had been living in the mountain for six years. “Why
are you here?”
“My father has been waiting for you to come out of
hiding. He wants you to join us in defeating the kings.”
“Why does your father want to defeat the kings?”
She scoffed. “He is the most powerful wizard on this
world.”
“Then why were you so afraid of me when you found out
I was a wizard?!” I yelled, earning dark glares from the only two villagers
around.
“Many wizards have tried to kill me and my father for
our power. I thought you had tracked me down through my magic. Now, are you
going to accept my father’s gracious offer?”
“I’m not going to fight anyone; I’m going to learn
enough magic to leave this world.”
She grinned again. “I was hoping you would refuse.
It’s much more fun to take what’s most important to you.”
It was confusing that this girl, who looked so
innocent, was acting very sinister. Then I realized what she meant, dropped the
bottle of wine, and ran back to my mother’s home. I was too late. The poison in
the wine that Erica gave her had killed her too quickly.
* * *
I walked back to the mountain completely lost in
thought. By the time I found myself in front of Cennuth’s cave, the same
thought was repeating over and over in my head. If I hadn’t had the dream of my
mother being sick and gone after her, she wouldn’t have been poisoned. She was
poisoned because some wizard wanted me. It was my fault.
I climbed the steps of the mountain in the same daze
and passed Caedmon, who was drinking tea under the flowering tree, without a
word. I sat down in the chair and just spaced out for a while. The next thing I
knew, Caedmon was handing me a bowl of porridge.
“What is this for?” I asked. Caedmon had never made
food for me before.
“I’ve been teaching you to survive on your own, but
if you are kind, people will help you when you need it. Tell me what happened.”
As I told him, he listened patiently. When I was
done, he put his hand on my shoulder. “Divination is one of the most dangerous
forms of magic. While it can save your life, it can be your downfall if you
don’t know how to use it.”
“So how do I learn how to use it?”
“That takes experience and wisdom. You still have a
lot to learn. The best thing for you to do is learn from Cennuth’s experience
and listen to his wisdom.”
“But he’s a dragon.”
“That doesn’t mean he isn’t much wiser than you. Take
some time to grieve, because once you decide you are ready to get back to work,
we will return to our routine.”
* * *
I spent the rest of the day and night grieving before
I realized that I couldn’t handle it. Crying over my mother’s death would never
accomplish anything; I had to kill the one responsible. Erica was secondary,
for she had only been following orders. Her father wanted me, and I was going
to let him find me, but first, I would be ready.
I continued with my lessons and convinced Cennuth to
teach me how to travel to other worlds. The difficult part was not learning the
magic but memorizing the different sigils and placement of those sigils to
activate the portals. Although the base of the portal was simple, it had to be
perfect, so I spent a month learning to draw circles and pentagrams perfectly.
The next winter, I created a miniature house I saw in
my dreams so that the wolf could have a warm place to sleep. I even traveled to
a village to buy a blanket for the wolf. He was skittish about it, but he
trusted me, so he allowed me to lead him to it. Once he got the idea, he slept
there every night. In fact, to my surprise, he didn’t leave in the spring. He
began following me out when I went hunting and even drove the prey animals
towards me. I enjoyed the company and talked to the wolf like he was a person.
I named him Vinr, which was ‘friend’ in Caedmon’s mother language.
Caedmon and Brynjar weren’t from my world, so I asked
Cennuth to teach me the code for their world first. While I was memorizing the
code, Caedmon told me about the world he was from. Of course, he lived in the
cold north, so he and Brynjar lived very different lives before coming to my
world to live with dragons.
When I could easily draw both the portal to Caedmon’s
world and my own, I finally attempted it. Having a lot of former practice in
activating portals to transport plants, I succeeded on the first try. The only
thing I took with me was a leather pouch of candles, crystals, and chalk to
make the portal home and defend myself if I had to.
The world looked almost identical to mine. I was
standing at the edge of a village with strange looking houses made of white
stone. At least it wasn’t as odd as some of the dreams I’d had. The only person
I saw was a boy about my age carrying two buckets on a stick. He had
shoulder-length, blue-black hair and very vibrant green eyes.
When he saw me appear in his way, he slowly lowered
the stick from his shoulders to set the buckets down. “Did you just do magic?”
he asked.
I felt dread sink deep in my stomach and clutched the
satchel to my chest. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Fortunately, he was speaking
one of the languages Brynjar taught me.
He smiled brightly. “I know you’re not. I’m just
excited to see another person like me.”
“Like you?”
He reached into his purse and pulled out a small,
clear stone, which he held up to his mouth. When he whispered something to it
and waved his hand over it, his eyes flashed gold. The clear stone changed to
gold!
“You can do magic! Is magic normal on this world? Are
we safe?”
“It’s not really normal. It depends on if you’re a
good witch or a bad one.”
“I would never do magic to hurt anyone.” I knew
wizards on other worlds did magic differently, but I wanted him to teach me to
turn a rock into gold. “How long have you been doing magic?”
“Since I can remember. My parents teach me. What
about you?”
“I have always been able to do it, but I didn’t have
anyone to teach me until about seven years ago.”
“Who teaches you?”
“A dragon named Cennuth. I’ve also been learning math
and reading.”
“Wow. A
dragon
taught you magic? Are you from
another world?” I nodded. “Will you teach me?”
“It will take a long time, but I don’t see why not.
Will you teach me to turn a stone into gold?”
“Of course! My name is Gmork.”
“I’m Merlin. I actually have to get back to my world
before Cennuth gets worried about me, but I’ll show you what it looks like and
then I can start teaching you when I come back.”
“Will you really come back?”
“Definitely. You’re the first person my age I’ve ever
met who can do magic. I’ll come back in two days at sunset and meet you here.”
“I look forward to it.”
* * *
As I learned the code for more worlds, I always
returned to show Gmork. I visited him every chance I could, even if it meant
lying to Cennuth about what I was doing. I didn’t feel good about lying to the
dragon, but I enjoyed magic more when I was sharing it with my friend. I even
mastered magic quicker so that I could teach it to Gmork, and then we would
practice things the dragon taught me and his parents taught him.
For the next four years, Gmork and I were best
friends. Unfortunately, tragedy struck his family as his mother fell under a
sleeping curse. Gmork stopped having time for me, so I visited him less and
less. Instead, I turned my attention on finding my own mother’s murderer and
learning enough magic to defeat him when I found him. By this time, I believed
I was one of the most powerful wizards on any world, just because I was taught
by a dragon.
I came to care very deeply for Caedmon, Brynjar, and
Cennuth, but one of the most important lessons I’d ever learned came from Vinr.
About ten years from the day I first met him, I was out in the woods, hunting
as usual. Although Vinr had always come and gone as he desired, he left less
and less over the years. I knew he was getting old.
Maybe it was because I was lonely that I felt very
agitated that day. As if they sensed my mood, the prey animals were especially
difficult to catch. Unfortunately, I was so absorbed in hunting that I
completely missed the fact that I was the one being hunted. The bear attacked
me from behind and pushed me to the ground before I realized what it was. I had
seen bears before in the woods that never bothered me, but this one was
ruthless.
I reacted instinctively with magic and the huge brown
bear was thrown back by a bolt of raw energy. The stench of burnt fur and flesh
filled the air, yet the bear still got to his feet. If he was after my food, I
would have given it to him, but he was after me.
Then I heard a familiar growl before Vinr ran towards
us and stopped between me and the bear. The bear swiped at Vinr with his
massive paws, but the wolf easily dodged it. Using the distraction to my
advantage, I focused my magic. “Traust,” I said. Fire lit the ground between
the bear and us, which finally drove the bear away. From then on, Vinr stayed
by my side most of the time and I made sure to give him all the luxuries I
could, from the best food I could catch to a soft bed next to mine. I even
learned to make potions to help him live longer.
* * *
I had a dream of my mother standing next to Gmork and
immediately went to Gmork’s world as soon as I woke. Since I knew how to focus
my power on one person when I used a portal, I appeared right in his bedroom.
He lived in a huge, elegant home with too many bedrooms and servants, all
because of their magic.
Gmork was writing something in a book on his desk and
jumped when I called his name. “Don’t scare me like that!”
“Sorry.”
“I shouldn’t have been surprised. You always show up
when I have something to talk to you about.”
I hadn’t seen him in a few months, and I was
definitely a little worried about him. He had lost some weight and his
complexion was paler, telling me he didn’t spend a lot of time in the sun.
“What do you need to talk to me about?”