“
Even if you had a chance to use it on your mother
?”
“Never! Not even a sorcerer would use such an
abhorrent potion!”
“What is it?” Asiago asked.
I was a little shocked that I was yelling, but I was
too appalled that such a potion existed that I couldn’t stop. “Merlin wants to
make a potion that takes away a person’s magic!”
Asiago went impossibly pale as his eyes widened with
horror.
Merlin sat back and put his paws over his eyes. It
was eerily similar to whenever my father rubbed his eyes because I was being
particularly frustrating. Although it should have been comical coming from a
wolf, it actually went a long way in calming me down.
“
I see the issue is a cultural one. Most people
from your world use magic to survive. I should have realized you would be
offended, especially since I already knew you care about people
.”
“Don’t you care about people?”
“
If a wizard from this world lost his power, he
would still be a person. People can survive here without magic and few people
can protect themselves from evil wizards. I would be more inclined to use this
potion against a wizard than I would be to kill him. Consider my position; I
have no magic and cannot communicate with people. I would still rather be this
way than dead
.”
“Well, yes, because you can break the curse and get
your power back some day.”
He shook his head. “
I want to do just that,
desperately, but it is not worth death, mine or yours. Magic is not everything.
I will teach you the potion to become invisible and I promise not to bring up
the other one again
.”
Hesitantly, I nodded. “Is the invisibility potion
sorcery or wizardry?”
“
You can argue either way. You are trying to help
me break the curse, so call it wizardry and move on. Tell the necromancer to go
outside, because it will be difficult enough to keep you focused without ghosts
and zombies trampling through my cabin
.”
“That’s not an everyday thing,” I said. Still, I
turned to Asiago. “Merlin is asking if you would be willing to go outside and
be a lookout.”
Merlin rolled his eyes, but Asiago didn’t see it. He
nodded. “Of course.” He stepped outside.
Merlin sighed. “
You certainly make a better wizard
than you do a sorcerer
.”
“That’s why I’m trying to become one.”
“
I thought you were happy just being you
.”
“I was, at least until a few days ago. Maybe if I
knew what I was…”
“
We can discuss that later. On the fourth shelf
up, grab the red bottle and the glass bottle in the middle of the second row up
.”
“I haven’t used a cauldron like this before.”
“
We can manage. Bring it over to the table
.” I
obeyed. He put his forepaws on the table and nudged the mortar and pestle. I
pulled it towards me and opened the red bottle. It had dried, thin leaves. “
Grind
together one part dried fern leaf and one part poppy seeds
.”
I poured a small amount of the leaves into my palm,
using the creases in my hand to measure it by. “This much?”
“
Very good
.”
The other bottle contained little black seeds, which
I measured out just like I had with the leaves. Once I ground them up pretty
well, Merlin helped me add the rest of the ingredients. Two parts slippery elm
powder, one part myrrh, one part dried marjoram, three parts dillweed. He then
pointed out a small measuring scoop and had me use one scoop each of aloe vera
leaves, ashes of hindaril, blister pod cap, flame stalk, hound tooth,
motherwort sprig, redwort flower, stinkhorn cap, and vampire dust. The last
ingredient worried me, but Merlin swore he didn’t personally kill a vampire for
it.
I mixed and grounded it all together, then added nine
drops of almond tincture.
“
Grab one of the buckets of spring water and set
it on the table. Add just enough water to make everything liquid, and mix it
well
.” I did. “
Now carefully pour it into the cauldron and dry the
mixture, stirring it occasionally, until it is lightly browned
.”
It wasn’t difficult to pour it, but Merlin also had
me twist the lever at the bottom of one side of the cauldron, which raised it
further above the fire. Once it started to boil, Merlin told me to stir it.
“With what?” I asked, looking around.
“
Your staff or wand
.”
“Isn’t that bad for it?”
He rolled his eyes. “
You have never used your wand
to make potions before
?”
“My mother used magic, but I always used a stirring
stick.” We used a stirring stick at Magnus’s castle, as well. Of course, the
potions Merlin taught me were just practice.
“
Hold your staff right above the potion and move
it like you are stirring the potion. As you do this, visualize the liquid stirring.
Your magic will fill the potion and increase its effectiveness
.”
I did as he instructed. It took a while, but it
finally began to stir slowly. That boosted my confidence and the potion started
swirling inside the cauldron faster.
“
That is enough for now. Take a break. You will
have to stir it several more times before it becomes a crystalized powder
.”
As we waited for the potion to turn to powder and
occasionally stirred it, Merlin told me everything that happened in the castle
with Gmork, so that I would know if something was going wrong. He also
described himself, Gmork, and Nimue. Right as Merlin was finishing up, Asiago
entered and I was surprised to see that his hair was wet and he was shivering a
little. “Did you take a bath?” I asked.
He shrugged. “It’s been about a month, so I thought
it couldn’t hurt too much.”
“
After giving it some thought, I decided that you
should take Asiago with you
,” Merlin said. I gaped at him. “
I know he
got you in trouble in town, but he also owes you his life, and he may just get
the opportunity to repay that debt
.”
“I’m not going to let him get hurt trying to---”
“
Ayden
,” he interrupted sharply. My mouth
snapped shut. “
If anything happens to Gmork, Nimue, or the past me before I
get trapped in the syrus, a paradox will rip a hole in the universe. My
conscience is screaming at me to get you back to Caldaca. I want my power back,
but not at the expense of your life or the rest of the universe. I cannot bring
myself to turn down this one and only opportunity to find out how the curse was
created, but if you do not take this seriously, I will call it off
.”
“I can do it. I can find out how the curse was done
and how to reverse it without getting caught.”
“
Then you will take the necessary precautions.
Asiago may be accident prone, but he is a powerful magic user and can save you.
More importantly, he is devoted to saving your life
.”
I wanted to argue, but there was too much
determination in his eyes. As usual, Merlin seemed to know something I didn’t.
“Is there anything else here that can help?”
“
Remember what I said that all wizards had
?”
“No. Oh, wait, you said candles, right?”
Merlin had me gather up different colored candles,
chalk, incense sticks, colored ink, a handheld mirror, and several potion
ingredients that he said were necessary in most potions. My bag was getting
really heavy and full, but I didn’t complain. If anything, I was excited that I
had some magic stuff that wasn’t from my own world. It was neutral, not
wizardry or sorcery.
By then, the potion had dried to a white form with
some golden brown on it. “
Blow out the fire, carefully scoop it all back
into the mortar, and crush it up into a fine powder, while chanting; ‘things
seen, and things not seen: let me walk here in between’
.” When I was done,
Merlin had me pour the rest of the pail of water into the cauldron and add the
powder back into it.
Finally, after I adequately mixed the powder into the
water, we were done. Merlin had a crate under his bed full of small, clay
bottles. I selected six of the same size and filled them with the potion. Since
the potion wouldn’t last forever, Asiago and I had to have a few spares. When I
filled the last potion bottle and turned back to the table to set it with the
others, I gaped.
The potion bottles had all disappeared. Worriedly, I
reached out and felt the invisible bottles. “Well, at least we know it works…
although this might get tricky.”
* * *
I woke to the sounds of something boiling and a foul
scent. It was dark outside, but the fire was glowing brightly. Asiago stood
over it, reading from one of Merlin’s books. He was wearing the Siren so that
he could read it.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m working on a sensory enhancement potion.”
“But you’re a necromancer.”
He held up his hand to show me a blood-red ring on
his left index finger. I got this from Vactarus, which enables me just enough
magic to do a single potion.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It isn’t powerful enough to save us from an attack
and I didn’t really think it would be useful. However, I saw how many
ingredients Merlin had and realized it would be silly to waste the ring. Even
though Gmork is a wizard, I really feel we might die.”
“We’re just going to be watching.”
“I know. Go back to sleep. I’m almost done anyway.”
I rolled over and went back to sleep. As I did, the
whispering grew slightly stronger.
“
Do you miss him
?” Merlin asked.
I blinked, having completely been lost in my
thoughts. “Miss who?”
He sighed. “
Your father, of course
.”
I shrugged. “Maybe. He was the only one in my family
I didn’t expect to kill me in my sleep.” I didn’t say anything else, hoping
Merlin would drop it. Fortunately, he did.
* * *
At about midday, we finally reached the castle. It
was white and oddly shimmery, with two tall towers. If it was Caldaca, I would
have been very confused, because it didn’t look like a sinister sorcerer’s
castle. If anything, it was pretty. A tall, rock wall surrounded the castle,
but as I peered in through the gate, I didn’t see anyone standing guard.
“How do we get in?” I asked.
“
Very carefully. I will be waiting for you around
here, but I must stay out of any familiar territory. You must be careful not to
be seen by my past self, either. I’m going to send the image of Nimue’s room to
you. After the invisibility potion kicks in, use the image to transport
yourself and Asiago inside
.”
I nodded, patting the bag at my side, just for my
peace of mind. “I’m going to use magic to get us in,” I told Asiago. I pulled
two of the bottles out of my bag, handed one to Asiago, pulled off the top, and
hesitated. It smelled foul, as most potions did.
Asiago opened his to sniff it. “Are you sure this is
safe?”
“
As much as any potion is
,” Merlin said.
“Merlin said it’s completely safe.” I drank it first,
but Asiago waited.
To my shock, the potion was bubbly and tasted like
berries. I got worried when nothing happened and opened my mouth to ask Merlin
why it wasn’t working, when my stomach felt warm. The warmth started spreading,
gradually becoming more and more uncomfortable. Trying not to squirm, I slipped
off my robe as gently as I could, then dropped my bag, robe, and staff.
“It’s warm.” When the heat crept down my arms into my
hands, I saw that they were slowly starting to fade. I pulled up my sleeves and
found that my arms were even more translucent. “It’s working!” By the time my
hand and arm were completely invisible, however, I was worrying again.
My body was invisible, but my clothes hadn’t even
begun fading.
“Well, that was anticlimactic,” Asiago commented.
“
I forgot about that
,” Merlin said. “
We
have to soak your clothes. On the other hand, if you want to scare someone,
that will certainly do it
.”
“Why make an invisibility potion that doesn’t work on
clothes?”
“Well, it’s better for you to be invisible and your
clothes to be visible than the other way around. I guess you’ll have to go
undressed.”
“Not a chance.” I pulled my wand out of my pocket and
waved it above me. “Turn everything I touch invisible for as long as I’m
touching it.” My wand wasn’t as powerful as my staff and it used to only do
light magic, but it was much more reliable. The real downside to using it was
that, like my staff, it had its own personality. Bright yellow energy shot from
my wand and pink glitter rained down on me.
It seeped right through my clothing. As soon as the
glitter touched me, my clothes and wand disappeared. Asiago sneezed, nearly
dropping his potion. When he sneezed three more times, I asked if he was okay.
He nodded. “Some of the glitter must have---” He sneezed again. “… gotten
in---” He sneezed twice more. “… my nose.”
I grabbed my bag and watched it quickly vanish. No
matter how many times I’ve used invisibility, it still seemed weird. I could
feel myself blink, but I couldn’t see it. If I leaned forward and looked at
where my feet were supposed to be, I felt like I was falling. I put my wand
away and grabbed my staff.
“
You really should not need your staff
,”
Merlin advised.
“At the very least, it can turn into a sword.”
“
Would you use it if it did
?”
“I don’t think I would have to. Someone is less
likely to attack me if I have a sword.”
“
Fine, but I cannot stress this enough. Even if
you have the perfect opportunity, you must not stop me from getting cursed or
trapped in the syrus
.”
“I know,” I said.
“
And remember that my past self will face the
dragon tomorrow at sunset. You must stay out of the way, or the dragon will
sense you and possibly eat me
.”
Asiago finally stopped sneezing, although his
normally very pale face was flushed. As if he was self-conscious, he quickly
drank his potion and began fading. It was a little creepy, because his head
disappeared before anything else did. I aimed my invisible wand at Asiago.
Turn
everything he touches invisible, too
, I thought. I felt my energy stir
before yellow magic burst out of it and surrounded him. “Why doesn’t he get any
pink sparkles?” I asked. Predictably, the wand didn’t answer me. It was
probably for the best, since we didn’t need him to have another sneezing fit.
I felt Merlin’s presence a moment before an image
appeared in my mind. It started out foggy, but slowly cleared. I saw a very
lavish bedroom.
“
Be safe
,” Merlin said, concerned.
I learned a lot from Merlin since I met him. I knew a
large part of him wanted to call this off and send me somewhere safe, but if it
weren’t for Merlin, I would have been caught by my brothers. I never would have
accepted my light magic. Although Dessa had said I would die on the day his
curse was broken, I couldn’t refuse to help Merlin.
Holding up my wand, I focused on transporting Asiago
and me to the room. I thought of the huge bed, laden with satin sheets, rich
blue blankets, and more puffy pillows than any bed needed. I thought of the
elegant, white armoire with gold knobs and jewels accenting the doors. I
thought of the matching vanity, covered with jewelry and perfumes. Finally, I
thought of the black fur rug on the floor.
White, glittery magic surrounded us and then there
was a moment of complete darkness. When it cleared, we were in the bedroom that
Merlin remembered… and there was a woman asleep in the bed, who I assumed was
Nimue.
And there was glitter all over the floor. “That’s not
obvious or anything,” Asiago remarked, spotting the glitter as well. His voice
was a little nasally because of his earlier sneezing fit.
Everything was pretty much how I saw it in my mind.
Daylight streamed in through the large, glass doors, which I could see a
balcony through. The bed was next to the glass doors. A book was lying open
next to Nimue, so I assumed she had fallen asleep while reading. She was as
pretty as Merlin had said. Her long, wavy gold hair was splayed all over her
bright blue pillows and over her slim shoulders. She wore a fitted, blue satin
dress with gold embroidery and a silver ribbon lacing it tight in the front.
Suddenly, Asiago sneezed. I froze… but Nimue slept
on.
Then Asiago sneezed again and Nimue sat up, startled.
“Is someone there? Merlin?”
Since there was plenty of light, I could see the
moment she looked down at the glitter. Her expression showed suspicion, which
looked odd on her sweet, innocent face. Her eyes were just as blue as the
dress. I wasn’t surprised Merlin fell in love with her. She was the essence of
light magic. Gazing into her naïve, worried eyes, I knew this woman couldn’t
have betrayed Merlin.
She stood up carefully and I sensed movement beside
me. I raised my staff, knowing full well we were going to get in trouble for
this.
Distraction
, I thought to my staff. As if it had been waiting
forever to cause chaos, it pulled magic from me greedily and just as Asiago
sneezed, both the balcony and the bedroom door burst open.
Nimue shrieked, but I used the distraction to reach
for Asiago. I accidentally smacked him in the face before grabbing his arm and
pulling him out of the room. We were just barely out before Nimue rushed forth
and shut the door. I breathed easy. Asiago sneezed.
* * *
We spent the rest of the day discreetly exploring the
castle. We learned that Nimue’s room was on the top floor, overlooking a
beautiful garden. There were servants doing chores, so we followed some of
them. From that, we learned where the kitchen was, and more importantly, where
Gmork was.
One of the two towers was locked off with beams of
wood and heavy metal chains. We believed it was the dragon and left it alone.
The second tower, on the other hand, was a three-level magic room. Each level
had a sturdy, rough stone floor, with a wooden, winding staircase in the
center. The first level was mostly magic books, the second was full of dark
ritual instruments and other weird items, and the third was an alchemy
laboratory, full of potions, chemicals, and potion ingredients. My mother would
have loved it.
“I wonder why wizards and sorcerers can do potions. I
wonder why there aren’t magic users who can only do alchemy.”
I couldn’t see him, but I could feel Asiago scowling
at me. “What kind of thinking is that? You’ve been spending too much time with
Merlin. Potions can be dark or light magic. If we had alchemists, how would
anyone know if they were dark or light?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I’m still thinking
of Magnus and a necromancer being friends. After spending so much time with
Merlin, it doesn’t seem so weird. Merlin is kind of… in between. Like me. He’s
a wizard, but he’s not all good, like our world’s wizards. I’m just saying,
maybe things don’t have to be so… black and white.”
“Yuck. I like knowing what someone is like as soon as
I meet them. You’re the only one I don’t---” He cut himself off very suddenly.
“Don’t what?” I asked. “What?” I pushed when he
didn’t answer.
“Nothing.”
“Tell me, or I swear, I will glitter this room up so
hard you will forget what breathing feels like.”
“That’s what I’m talking about! You make threats,
like a sorcerer, but a sorcerer would never threaten me with glitter. I can’t
figure you out. You’re the only one I don’t trust.”
I was about to say something when I heard the door
open two levels down. “Hide!” I whispered. “Oh, right, I forgot.”
We’re
already hidden
. I reached out until I felt Asiago’s arm and pulled him with
me over to a gap by the wall between two tables. Since I couldn’t see myself, I
had to be very careful not to bump into either table and spill the bottles of
liquid, many of which had no lids.
Surprisingly, there were two sets of footsteps
climbing the stairs. The men who came into view emanated dark magic from every
pore. The first man was tall, thin, with short, slicked back, black hair, and
bright green eyes. Even his thin mustache and small, closely shaven goatee
looked sinister. His shirt was red and black with a puffy, high collar that was
probably supposed to make him look more evil. His black cloak was clasped at
the front with a tiny, silver sword. Gmork was exactly how Merlin described
him.
The second man was considerably smaller, but by no
means less menacing. He had shoulder length, oily, dark brown hair, pasty, pale
skin, light brown eyes, and scars all over his face and arms. Half of his left
ear was missing. The tan tunic he wore was extremely raggedy and had and
abundance of patches and stitches.
“Is Merlin still scouting the castle?” Gmork asked.
Asiago felt around for the amulet hanging from my
neck until he put his hand on it. I didn’t know if it was powerful enough to
translate for both of us, but it was worth a try so I wouldn’t have to repeat
everything to him afterwards.
“Yes, Master. The wizard can’t get past the wall
because of---”
“He can,” Gmork interrupted. “Never underestimate
Merlin. He has had just as many years to gain power as I had. Merlin is no
fool, and he was trained by dragons, so I know he can get past the dragon. He
is merely biding his time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to get in.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Nothing at all, Quinn. I want him to get in. As it
is, he is immortal and I cannot kill him. There is, however, another way.”
“A trap?”
“I have been trying to turn Nimue against him, but
she is hard to break. Now I have something better in mind; I will use her
affections against him.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“With magic, of course.” Gmork went to one of the
tables and picked up a potion bottle. “This potion was invented to protect a
woman’s honor before marriage. After she drinks it, anyone she kisses will turn
into a beast. It will last until sunrise, so we have to make sure she kisses
him before then. Everyone knows women hate beasts. She will immediately stop
loving him and turn to me for safety and comfort.”
“What if she does still love him?”
“Impossible. He will be mindless and vicious. He will
even forget who she is.”
Mindless and vicious
?
No way. Merlin wasn’t
like that at all. Maybe the syrus stopped that part of the potion from working
.
“What if she kisses you?”
“I will have to refuse her until sunrise.”
“Should I give it to her now?”
“No. I will give it to her when Merlin makes his
move. It must be perfectly timed. When Merlin convinces the dragon to back down
and breaches the wall, you run back here and grab this bottle. Do not get them
mixed up! This bottle.” He held up the small, round, red, glass bottle with a
black cork on top.