“Wake up.” The voice tore me from my sleep so
violently I gasped. It was a voice I would dread hearing for my entire life.
Unfortunately, when I opened my eyes, I still
couldn’t see anything. “Mother?”
“I’m surprised you remember me.”
I couldn’t move my arms or legs, although I didn’t
feel anything strapping me down. “Where are we? How did I get here?” The last
thing I remembered was going to bed at Magnus’s castle.
I felt her hand on my face and jerked automatically,
but she only removed the blindfold from my eyes. I was lying on a wooden table
in the basement of my mother’s house. I had only seen the basement once, because
Mother didn’t allow us down there. It wasn’t used for storage or torturing
people, so I couldn’t be sure what it was for. All I knew was that I didn’t
want to be there.
I was also completely paralyzed from my neck down.
“You betrayed me, Ayden.” She was exactly as I
remembered— immaculate, composed, and deadly. She was tall and thin with long,
straight, black hair, cold burgundy eyes, and prominent cheekbones. Her
appearance always made me think of a beautiful, venomous spider.
“You want to kill me and take my power.”
“That is my right. I created you and your brothers
for one purpose. Your power is mine.”
It shouldn’t have hurt; I knew she didn’t care about
me. “I don’t have dark magic, and you can’t use my light magic.” I was lying; I
did have some dark magic, but I hoped she didn’t know that.
Something moved in the corner of my eye and I looked
over to see my father standing near the wall behind my mother. He was halfway
hidden in the shadows, but I could make out his grave expression. Actually, it
was his normal expression.
“Oh, but you’re wrong,” my mother said. “All magic is
neutral in its pure form; you make it dark or light. That is the gift you have
as the seventh son of the seventh son. As a child, you only used light magic,
but I expected you to develop sorcery on your own. I have grown tired of
waiting.”
“Why would I start using dark magic, knowing you will
kill me if I do?”
“You won’t have a choice.” She reached up slowly and
moved hair out of my eyes. “You need a haircut.” Her nails were sharpened like
claws and the silver and gold rings on her slim fingers glittered in the dim
light. Each of those rings held more than enough power to kill me. She then
reached down and pulled the ties on my shirt loose.
In my entire life, I had never learned how to change
my mother’s mind. Begging just disgusted her, because that wasn’t proper
behavior for a sorcerer. She slowly sliced the skin right over my heart with
her nail. It was everything I could do not to make a sound. I was sweating,
panting, and desperate.
“Please, Mother, wait. I’ve never asked you for mercy
before, so please hear me out this once. There is something I need to do. I
promised to help my friend, and you taught me never to break a promise. Let me
go, let me help him, and I will come back here. I won’t fight you.”
She smiled cruelly. “Very well. I will return you to
Magnus’s castle.”
I wasn’t stupid enough to think that I was getting
away that easy.
“However, you may not be willing to break Merlin’s
curse when the time comes.”
“You know about Merlin?”
“Of course.”
“Then you know I’m willing to do whatever it takes to
break his curse.”
“Right now, you are.” She pulled out a crystal from
her pocket and held it up for me to see. It looked exactly like the crystal
that contained Livia’s dark magic, except it was clear all the way through.
“This will change your mind.”
“What is that?”
“Just a crystal.” She then held out her hand and a
raven flew from out of the darkness to land on her outstretched arm. When she
sliced the raven’s chest with her nail like she had mine, the raven cawed and
flapped his wings, but he didn’t fly away. The raven’s blood began dripping…
outward, towards the crystal. It was absorbed into the crystal easily, and the
blood dripped faster and faster until it was a stream of red. After a moment,
drops of black combined with the red.
The raven was slowly and grotesquely melting. With
increasing speed, the large black bird was absorbed into the crystal. By the
time she was done, the crystal was as black as the raven had been.
“I thought you were going to let me go.”
“I will never let you go. I only said I would return
you to Magnus. As you use magic, the power of the raven’s blood will change you
and poison your white magic. By the time it is done, you will be a true sorcerer,
and then you will return to me of your own volition.”
“I won’t use magic!”
“Yes, you will, because you are going to forget all
about the crystal.”
“Then why did you tell me?”
“It amuses me to see fear in your eyes.” She then
pressed the crystal against the wound over my heart.
Before my eyes, the crystal began to melt and drip
into my wound, just like the raven had been absorbed into it. Each drop burned
like fire and spread deeper through my body with every beat of my heart. It was
one of the most painful experiences I had ever had and I was certain I would
never forget it no matter how much magic my mother used.
Behind her, my father shook his head.
Then everything was dark.
Rain Oxford is a teacher who has been writing for more than half of her
life. She does most of her writing in a secluded cabin in the woods with a
four-pound Maltese as a companion. When she’s not teaching or creating worlds,
she usually enjoys cooking, playing the piano, or photographing exotic wildlife.
Facebook Page:
www.facebook.com/rainoxfordauthor
Website:
rainoxford.wordpress.com
Amazon Page:
amazon.com/author/rainoxford
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The
Sorcerer’s Saga Book 1:
The Sorcerer’s Quest
The
Sorcerer’s Saga Book 2:
The Wizard’s Secret
Elemental
Book 1:
Dark Waters
Elemental
Book 2:
Hungry Earth
Elemental
Book 3:
Furious Flames
Elemental
Book 4:
Insidious Winds
Elemental
Book 5:
Soul Guard
The Guardian
Book 1:
The Guardian’s Grimoire
The Guardian
Book 2:
The Dragon’s Eyes
The Guardian
Book 3:
God of the Abyss
The Guardian
Book 4:
The Demon’s Game
The Guardian
Book 5:
The Wizard’s War