My magic surrounded us, but I just focused harder.
When Asiago gasped, I opened my eyes and let him go. We were standing in a
familiar town. Not giving him a chance to explore, I headed down the road for
the docks. I would be able to see my aunt’s castle from there.
“Your aunt will have some food to eat, right?”
I sighed. “I think I know what Merlin feels all the
time. I said you could come with me until we got to Red Rock. Here we are.”
“But… we just lived through a traumatic event. I
thought that made us friends.”
“You mean when we were rescued from hanging for a
while by a vegetarian troll? Or do you mean when I saved us from your zombie
army? I don’t think---”
“I can’t leave. I already told you; a life debt is
unbreakable. You can kill me or use me as a shield, but until I save your life
or die trying, I cannot leave.”
I sighed. “Maybe you---”
“Besides, I was hoping your aunt could help me get
rid of the zombies.”
“How would she help you? She’s not a necromancer.”
“No, but sorcerers always have the right plants and
spices to ward off the dead. I haven’t found another necromancer in years, so I
don’t know who else to go to.”
“I told you my aunt locked away her dark magic.
That’s why I’m going to her.”
“She still might have something.”
I sighed. “Fine.”
The sun was below the horizon and the sky was dark by
the time we reached the docks, but the bright moonlight made it easy to see my
aunt’s island. I grasped Asiago’s arm again and held up my staff. This time, I
didn’t close my eyes.
This was something I had learned to do out of pure
panic. The first time, I transported myself and a pirate ship full of people to
another island because a sea monster was trying to swallow the ship. The second
time, I transported Merlin, myself, and Bralyn into the pirate ship without
thinking. The third time, I left my aunt’s castle and appeared in Red Rock
because I felt betrayed and needed to be alone. Although Merlin seemed very
impressed by the ability, I never questioned it.
Since all my brothers could do it from the time they
were little, I knew the limitations of it. Our mother warned us that if we couldn’t
see the location in our mind perfectly, we could end up lost… or worse. I read
about sorcerers and wizards who messed up in the middle of transporting
somewhere and would arrive missing body parts. It was also extremely exhausting
magic.
I shuddered and focused on the island. Red and blue
magic surrounded us, and then suddenly, we were standing before my aunt’s
castle… which looked nothing like it had the last time I was there.
What was once a grand castle that anyone could be
proud of, was now barely more than remains. Most of the outer walls had
collapsed and I could see fire damage inside. My aunt’s castle had been
attacked.
“You can’t just walk in there! Your aunt has
obviously been attacked. Whoever attacked her might still be in there.”
“Good. Then I can stop them.”
He let me go. “You want to get rid of your sorcery,
yet your first response is to run headfirst into a dangerous situation! A
wizard would never do that!”
“I’ll worry about it later.” I walked right up to the
front door and tried to push it open. It fell off its broken hinges. The castle
had been almost identical to Magnus’s castle. In the entryway, there was a
large throne chair, two winding staircases, and decorative furniture. All of
the furniture and the stairs themselves were destroyed. The rich, green, velvet
chair was shredded and a letter was stuck to it with a dagger.
I sidestepped the debris until I reached the chair
and removed the letter. It had an unfamiliar, red wax seal, which I broke to
unfold the letter.
Magnus,
if you ever want to see your wife again, you will bring the crystal to me. You
know where to find me.
That was all it said. I sighed. “I need to go back to
Magnus. My aunt was kidnapped. I take it you refuse to be left behind?” I
folded up the letter and stuck it in my pocket.
His eyes widened. “I’m not staying here. I still owe
you my life. I promise I’ll be useful.”
I didn’t even bother to argue; I just turned and
started walking out, wondering what I should do next. After using so much magic
transporting Asiago and myself, I was running out of steam. When I reached the
doorway and looked out, I gaped.
There was a unicorn waiting at the bottom of the
steps.
“Hello,” I said. I wasn’t entirely sure it was the
same one that had helped me save Merlin from the Dark Forest elves, because as
far as I knew, all unicorns looked the same. Ignoring Asiago’s shocked sounds,
I approached the unicorn. He let me reach out and stroke his mane, but he
stamped his foot when Asiago got too close. “Slow down,” I said.
“I can’t believe he even let you near him. Maybe you
really are a wizard.”
“I’m working on it. Are you the same unicorn who
helped me before?” I asked.
He nodded his head.
I never learned why the unicorn had come to me or how
he knew I needed his help. I assumed he would want something in return, but he
never came back after he helped me save Merlin. “I’m going to save my aunt. Are
you here to help me again?”
The unicorn nodded again.
“Okay. I’m going to try to transport us to Red Rock.”
I didn’t know if I actually could, since it was more difficult to transport
more people. I couldn’t imagine how I transported an entire pirate ship.
Visualizing Red Rock again, I held out my staff.
Take
us there
, I thought. My magic filled the staff again and I knew it was
working, but it was slow. When I felt my magic release, I opened my eyes… and
then I bent over as exhaustion tried to overcome me. The unicorn nudged me
worriedly.
“Are you sick?” Asiago asked.
I shook my head. “I haven’t done this much magic
without a break in a while. We need to get to Magnus, but I don’t think I can
walk the whole way unless we stop somewhere to rest.” The unicorn knelt,
indicating for me to climb on. I did, but he didn’t immediately get up.
“I’m not getting on a unicorn,” Asiago said.
I sighed and laid my staff in front of me. It wasn’t
easy to travel with, and the unicorn didn’t have a saddle. “Just get on or
we’re leaving without you.”
Shaking dramatically, Asiago got on the unicorn
behind me. The unicorn stood and took off at a full gallop, nearly throwing me
off. He ran so fast it felt like he was flying. After a while, I was able to
lean against his neck and rest without falling. The only explanation I could
come up with was magic.
* * *
Thanks to the unicorn’s speed and endurance, we
reached Magnus’s castle by dawn, but when the unicorn slowed to a stop in front
of the gate and I hopped off his back, my legs buckled. Asiago fell in a heap
to the ground as well. I stretched the stiffness out of my arms and neck before
I even attempted to move my legs.
Light filled the air around us, I breathed a sigh of
relief, and Asiago squeaked with fear. As soon as the light cleared, I saw
Magnus standing over us. “What have I told you about sneaking out?” he asked.
Magnus, Asiago, the unicorn, and I were all in the main room.
I pulled the letter out of my pocket. “That’s not
important right now. Livia has been kidnapped.” He took the letter, studied the
seal, and unfolded the message. Magnus had faced my six brothers without a hint
of fear. Therefore, I was shocked that he was staring at the letter like it was
a serpent.
“Who took her?” I asked, using my staff to pull
myself to my feet. My legs were shaky and I was very hungry.
He folded the letter back up and slipped it into his
pocket. “Veronica.”
“Livia’s own daughter kidnapped her? For what? What
crystal does she want you to bring her?”
“Who is your friend?” he asked.
Asiago had managed to climb to his feet as well. “My
name is Asiago, the Great Necromancer of the North. Ayden rescued me, so I owe
him a debt.”
He nodded slowly. “Then both of you come and eat.”
The unicorn stayed behind while Asiago and I followed Magnus into the dining
room. When we entered the room, there was bread, soup, roast, vegetables,
potatoes, and sweets.
“Do you have guests?” I asked.
“Fluffy told me you were coming and that you looked
like you needed a good meal.” As he said his minion’s name, the winged, fluffy,
black kitten appeared on his shoulder. When I set my staff on the table and
reached for the roast, Magnus smacked my hand. “Didn’t your mother teach you
not to put your staff on the table?”
“No.” I hadn’t had a staff when I lived at home, but
my mother would smack me or my brothers if we ever left our wands out of reach,
especially if someone else could take them. She often made us duel so that we
could learn to protect our wands from being taken during a fight. I picked up
the staff and leaned it against the back of my chair.
Asiago and I sat and immediately started eating. “So,
you’re a wizard, right?” Asiago asked.
“Yes. My name is Magnus. It has been a while since
I’ve seen a necromancer.”
“We seem to be getting rare. I’ve heard of you,
though. Didn’t you disappear?”
“I was trapped by a chimera.”
“Oh, wow. Those are scary.”
“Why would Veronica kidnap her own mother?” I asked.
“For the same reason your mother wants to kill you,”
Magnus answered. “A sorceress can steal another’s power by killing them. However,
a sorceress cannot steal light magic. That is why your mother didn’t kill you
when you were young; she thought you only had light magic.”
“That’s why she encouraged my brothers to torture me.
That’s what Merlin said. She thought she could push me to be dark, but that
just made me want to help people.”
“Right. Veronica tried to kill Livia when she was
young because she wanted her mother’s power. Livia felt responsible for her
daughter’s cruelty, so she locked away her dark magic in a crystal. Veronica’s father
was not a hero, but he wasn’t a terrible man, either. I don’t believe Veronica
killed him, I believe she blackmailed him or possibly entranced him to make him
return her to Caldaca. She found out that Livia removed her magic and killed
Sonya. I don’t know why she killed Sonya, because Sonya was pure of heart.
After that, Livia was very afraid of Veronica, so she gave me the crystal. I
didn’t believe Veronica was a serious threat, but it appears I was wrong.”
“If we give her the crystal to save Livia, would she
be unstoppable?”
“No one is unstoppable.”
“You can’t just bring her the crystal,” Asiago said.
“I always trust a sorceress to be a sorceress. If she can get both, she will.
The sorceress will stab you in the back.”
I shook my head. “Not any sorcerer I know. We are
ruthless, but we keep our word.”
“We?” Magnus asked.
“Sorry.
Sorcerers
will tell you what they’ll
do to you if you break your end of the deal. And they never under-deliver.”
“Sorcerers will get close to someone to kill them, or
switch sides for a better price,” Asiago argued.
“Right, that’s why you pay a very high price to
sorcerers. My mother has switched sides before, but the client knew that was a
possibility from the start. If she stabbed people in the back, she wouldn’t get
any business. Nobody is going to pay a sorceress who doesn’t keep her end of
the deal. You just have to pay her more than your enemy would pay her. I’m not
saying I trust Veronica. I’m thinking we should take the crystal as a backup
plan. We can come up with some way to sneak around Veronica to free Livia.
Maybe we can use the zombies.”
“I don’t suggest you raise a zombie,” Magnus said.
“Actually, there are already some zombies. Asiago
accidentally raised an entire cemetery.”
Magnus nodded. “Let me guess. You sneezed during the
ceremony and you don’t have their names, so you can’t control them?” he asked.
Asiago shoved more roast in his mouth and shrugged.
“Is that a common thing?” I asked.
“My best friend when I was a child was a necromancer,
and he did that a dozen or so times. It really wasn’t his fault; he was
allergic to dead bodies.”
“A wizard and a necromancer?” Asiago asked. “That’s
about as likely as a sorcerer and a mage being friends.”
“Can we transport ourselves to Livia?” I asked,
trying to ignore him.
“No. Veronica has traps in place and spies
everywhere.”
“Spies?”
“She can control animals, excluding magical beasts
like unicorns and dragons. You may have to fight on the way.”
“You’re not going?” Asiago asked.
“I cannot. Veronica has tricked Livia into leaving
her castle before. As soon as Livia left, Veronica took all of Livia’s hidden
tools of dark magic.”
“But you’re a wizard. You don’t have any tools of
dark magic.”
The wizard looked very uncomfortable. “I have never
used
dark magic, but I have acquired tools and books that would have otherwise
fallen into my enemies’ hands. I considered giving them to you, but you haven’t
yet figured out that you can be both a wizard and sorcerer.”
“I thought I could when I turned against my brothers,
but I was wrong. Even Livia had to choose to be one or the other.”
He sighed. “You are young and stubborn, and I must
allow you to make mistakes, because that is the only way you will learn. You
are more like your mother than you realize. If you can save Livia without the
use of sorcery, and if you still want your sorcery removed in the end, I will
do it.”
I jumped up from my seat, causing my staff to clatter
to the ground. “I’ll do it!”
“Slow down. It will be a long and difficult journey.
First, you need rest. Fluffy said you could barely hang onto Kirin’s back.”
“Kirin?”
“Livia’s unicorn, who brought you here, of course.”
“I didn’t know unicorns could be owned.”
“They can’t be owned, but Kirin and Livia have a
close friendship.”
“Do you have a horse or anything that I can ride?”
Asiago inquired.
“Veronica would be able to control a horse, so that
would be dangerous. I do have a magical creature that can help you, though. You
may have a difficult time riding him, but not as difficult as you would with a
unicorn. I’m amazed Kirin let you touch him, necromancer.”
“Did you hear anything from Merlin?” I asked. Magnus
shook his head.
When I was full, Magnus told me to sleep for a while.
I would have argued, but I knew once Magnus decided on something, he wasn’t
easily swayed. Besides, I really was exhausted and I didn’t want to fall off
the unicorn.
While Magnus showed Asiago to a room, I went to mine,
got into bed, and promptly fell asleep.
* * *
I woke about midday with a painful headache. After I
dressed and repacked my bag, I headed downstairs. Magnus and Asiago were
sitting at the table, eating porridge. Asiago’s discomfort was evident by his
stiff posture and how focused he was on his food.
Magnus was a wizard, so he would never harm anyone,
but there were still issues between magic users. Unfortunately, the issues
revolved around wizards and sorcerers. Sorcerers and wizards made their living
in magic, and that required being smart about their alliances. The problem was
that sorcerers and wizards both needed help from magicians, mages,
necromancers, and other magic users sometimes. It was fine if a non-magic user
wanted to work with both wizards and sorcerers, but if a magic user dealt with
one, they were distrusted by the other.
Since necromancy was usually regarded as dark magic,
necromancers never really had the opportunity to work with wizards. Similarly,
the healing magic that mages used was associated with light magic, so sorcerers
disliked them, even though I had never heard of a mage refusing to heal a
sorcerer. The only ones I believed were truly untrustworthy were warlocks.
I spotted a bowl of steaming porridge at my normal
seat and sat down. Magnus was very considerate of me, which made me feel
uncomfortable. I was a sorcerer; I grew up without any kindness in the house. I
expected it to be different when I was a real wizard.
“What’s wrong?” I asked Asiago when I saw him
frowning at me.
“Nothing.” He looked at Magnus. “Did you go on a lot
of adventures when you were Ayden’s age?”