The Wizard's Secret (22 page)

It didn’t take long before we came to a clearing,
where I saw Sam, Asiago’s clothes, and Livia. It was going to be a little
awkward until the invisibility wore off. To my surprise, Livia hugged me. I
wasn’t used to that much physical contact that wasn’t from my brothers trying
to hurt me.

“Asiago said you found Sonya as a ghost, and that you
helped her get her memories back,” she said when she pulled away.

I nodded. “Once we get you back to your castle,
Asiago will summon her to you. Now that she has her memories and powers back,
she should be free of the house’s pull.”

“Thank you.” She then hugged her unicorn and showered
affection on him.

“Can you use magic to get us out of here?”

“Yes.

I felt like the air had suddenly changed and become
stuffy. “
Merlin
?” I asked.

“
I sense it as well; a lot of power has just been
unleashed upon this forest
.” After a moment, he started growling. “
I
hear something. An ambush
.”

Please be zombies. We can handle zombies right
now. Please be zombies
.

An instant later, at least two dozen bats flew out of
the trees and attacked at once. Even though bats were not known for being
vicious, these ones scratched and bit every spot of skin they could reach,
especially my face. I heard Livia shouting something about not hurting them
because they were being controlled, and then I heard Asiago having a fit over
it. Unfortunately, the bats seemed to be able to see Merlin and Asiago with no
problem.

One deep growl was my only warning before I was
attacked from behind. His claws dug deeply into my waist and I knew it was the
werewolf, once again under Veronica’s control. I reached up for my staff,
hoping it would come to me again, only to feel the werewolf’s teeth sink into
my arm.

Merlin growled and attacked the werewolf, both
dislodging the shifter from me and the bats from himself. The werewolf turned
to face his opponent, then hesitated with confusion. He could probably smell
Merlin, but he couldn’t see him like the bats could. Instead of wasting time, I
struggled to my feet and went after my staff. The bats weren’t dumb, though;
they attacked Kirin. Unable to stand the onslaught, the unicorn took off with
my staff still in his saddle.

I groaned and pulled out my wand. I aimed it at the
werewolf until the bats started biting my arm and trying to take my wand, so I
aimed it at the majority of the bat horde instead.
Attack
. And my wand
did. Deep red magic burst out, half lightning, half fire. It engulfed the bats
and turned them to ice. They dropped to the ground harmlessly, although it
still left over a dozen more.

I was shocked and unsure how it happened, but too
busy to dwell on it. Turning the wand back on the werewolf, I realized I
couldn’t risk it. I couldn’t see where Merlin was. I raised my want again
towards a bat… and felt something very hard and very heavy hit me in the back
on the head.

It hurt and stunned me enough that I nearly dropped
my wand.
I need my staff so I can turn it into a sword
. “Livia, do
something!”

“I can’t hurt them; they’re not responsible for this.
They can’t control themselves.”

Sam was doing his fair share of fighting. I hated
fighting, but in this case, running wasn’t an option. I pulled my dagger and
advanced on the werewolf, hoping that if I cut his hand or something, it would
distract him from attacking Merlin.

Then everything went quiet. The werewolf and the bats
suddenly stopped attacking. As if they were afraid, the bats all took off into
the trees, while the werewolf just looked very confused as he shifted back into
his person form.

“I’m very sorry,” he said. “The sorceress took
control of me again.”

“It’s my own fault for not defeating her when I had
the chance. Why did she let you go?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“That would be my fault,” Asiago said demurely. He
glanced at me guiltily. “Remember when I said I used up all that potion on
Gmork’s servants? I lied.”

I groaned.

“When Merlin and I were in the sorceress’s cabin, I
saw that she had her dinner set out and thought it was a good opportunity to
make sure she didn’t come after us or Livia ever again. Also, Merlin was in on
it.”

“
I was not against it
,” Merlin agreed. At that
point, Livia whistled loudly and the unicorn came prancing back.

I sighed. “I suppose things could have turned out
worse. We’re all alive.”

*          *          *

Livia easily transported us to her castle, which shed
the last of the invisibility potion over Merlin and Asiago. Instead of being
surprised at their appearance, she only frowned deeply at the disarray of her
castle. “We can help clean up,” I said automatically.

Asiago squeaked, then cleared his throat. “We? Who is
this ‘we’ you speak of? I don’t help or clean up.”

I rolled my eyes. “Asiago, you helped us a lot on
this trip and paid your debt completely, but please summon Sonya before you
go.”

The necromancer shrugged. “I don’t know that I have
to go already… it’s not like I have anywhere to go to. A necromancer’s job is
to wander around and raise the dead for fame or money. It gets old.”

“You can stay here,” Livia offered. “You can use your
powers to guard the castle when you’re here and I can find some trouble for you
to get into.”

He gave the castle an unappreciative stare. “I don’t
know.”

Livia held up her hand and her wand appeared. She
casually waved it at the castle and although it didn’t look like any magic came
out, the castle slowly rebuilt itself. Blocks lifted, walls tilted back into
place, and cracks sealed.

I really needed Merlin to teach me that “wand
appearing in hand” trick.

We went inside and Livia turned a massive supply of
transformation clay into a feast of fruits, vegetables, potatoes, and bread.
Merlin decided he wasn’t hungry enough for that, or the tofu I offered to make
him.

Once we had our fill, which took a long time as we
were all very hungry, Asiago repeated his ritual to summon Sonya. Unlike last
time, however, she appeared in the thick smoke and settled lightly on the
ground in front of him.

Livia and Sonya were both ecstatic to be reunited.

Then I felt it was time to leave, but Livia and Sonya
asked us to wait. Sonya stared Asiago straight in the eyes, which was very
uncomfortable for the rest of us. Finally, loud a horn outside interrupted the
silence. His eyes widened dramatically. “What was that?”

“Outside, there is a pirate ship. Go with them, and
you will find the one thing that will make you truly happy.”

He didn’t look too sure. “How long do I stay with
them?”

“As long as it takes.”

He nodded. “Thank you.” He gave us very rushed
goodbyes, obviously afraid of missing his chance, and took off.

Sonya stared into my eyes for a very long time before
looking away. “I’m so sorry. I cannot give you any direction because you’re
already on the path to true happiness. I’m sorry to say that you are also on
the path to great danger and anguish. Which fate you meet is up to you, and I
cannot interfere.”

“That’s okay. I don’t know what I’d do with it right
now, anyway. I’ve still got a lot of magic to learn and answers to find. What
about Merlin? Can you change him back into a wizard?”

She shook her head. “I cannot use my power on animals,
even if they’re cursed. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t feel bad. I appreciate you trying. Merlin and
I will return now with Sam to---” I turned to the griffin, but he was gone.

“He has already returned,” Livia said. “I can
transport you to the nearest town from Magnus’s castle. I do hope you will come
back occasionally to visit.”

I opened my mouth to say I wouldn’t, and instead
asked, “Do you know anything about my father’s family?”

She smiled. “I do. However, now is not the time for
that. I will tell you everything I know when you trust me. Until then, I think
Merlin has more to teach you than I do.”

Instead of arguing, I just got my stuff out of
Kirin’s saddle. In the blink of an eye, Merlin and I were alone again, standing
in a semi-familiar village. We were about half a day’s walk from Magnus’s
castle, so we got started. This time, when we came upon a short cut in the
forest, I didn’t even say a word.

*          *          *

“
I want to say, before we get back to the castle,
that I thought you handled both Gmork and Veronica very well
,” Merlin said,
breaking the silence.

“If it hadn’t been for Asiago and Nimue, we wouldn’t
have made it.”

“
I know. However, you are not a warrior. You grew
up in a home where compassion could get you killed and yet you stayed true to
yourself and learned to adapt. Darkness is much easier to turn to, especially
when no one in all of Caldaca would fault you. Yet you chose to be more than a
sorcerer. Do not get me wrong; you have a lot of learning to do, but that comes
with age and experience
.”

“It’s a good thing I have a centuries old wizard to
teach me, then. That is, if you still want to.”

“
You went to a completely unknown world because
you felt I was in danger, and then you faced a dragon to save me. You are also
the only one who can hear me and you can do magic. At this point, we need each
other
.”

“What happens when we don’t need each other anymore?”
I asked. Of course, maybe it was just wishful thinking that I would still be
alive after I broke the curse.

“
I suppose we will cross that bridge when we come
to it. We still have your mother to deal with
.”

“I was kind of hoping she forgot about me.”

“You may have hoped it, but there is no way you
believed it.”

*          *          *

We were almost at the castle when a large black
jaguar burst out of the forest to stop us. “Curse breaker! Thank goodness I
found you!”

Merlin growled and intercepted the jaguar. “Merlin,
it’s okay. This is Eva, the talking jaguar I mentioned before.”

Merlin stopped growling, but he didn’t relent. “
She
still has claws and fangs that can effectively remove your entrails
.”

“What do you want, Eva? I said I won’t fight the
sorceress.”

“I know. I misjudged you; I believed you were a
wizard, but seeing you use dark magic, I realized you weren’t. Over the last
few days, I have heard from quite a few people who you saved from curses, from
dwarves to elves. Please forgive me for doubting you before. I beg that you
break the curse, at least on my children, and I will trust whatever method you
choose.”

Merlin gave me an amused stare. “
I suppose you are
going to help her
.”

I nodded. “I’ll do it. However, I need more than my
wand and staff, or it will be dangerous to all of us. Meet us first thing in
the morning at Magnus’s castle. You know where it is, right?”

She dipped her head in a respectful bow. “I’ve seen
it. It is near the stream my daughter met you at. We will be there. Thank you,
curse breaker.” She turned and disappeared into the forest.

“
Is everything okay
?” Merlin asked when I just
stood there.

“Actually, I think everything might be great. There
are no ‘curse breakers,’ because it requires both wizardry and sorcery. If I
can’t be one or the other, and people won’t understand someone who is both,
maybe I can be something new. Then I can openly practice both wizardry and
sorcery, I can help people while going on adventures, and no one can judge me
for not being one or the other. Most importantly, I’ll have an answer when
someone asks me what I am.”

“
I thought you wanted to be a librarian
.”

“I can do both.”

“
Ayden, I do not care what you call yourself, or
how much dark magic versus light magic you use. I will support you for as long
as you are being true to yourself
.”

“Then let’s get home and start on breaking that curse
of yours.”

We reached Magnus’s castle without further issues. To
my surprise, the gate didn’t immediately open when we arrived. I knocked on it
gently. “Hello, gate. It’s me and Merlin, so please let us in.”

The gate didn’t.

“
Just push the gate open
,” Merlin said.

I did, although it was heavy, so I didn’t push it
open more than Merlin and I needed. “Maybe Magnus isn’t home,” I suggested when
I realized that something was different. I held up my wand and focused on
light. With little effort, the tip began to glow. “Magnus doesn’t have his
defenses up.”

“
Something must be wrong
.”

Halfway across the yard, I saw that the door was
cracked open. “Something is
definitely
wrong.” I ran for the door, threw
it open, and gaped. Although everything was intact, there were scorch marks
everywhere. I followed the worst damage all the way to the magic room, where I
found Magnus unconscious on the ground.

“
Wait
,” Merlin snapped before I could enter
the room. “
Make sure there is no trap before
---” He cut himself off with
a sigh as I went to Magnus without checking for traps.

“Magnus! Wake up! What happened?” The old wizard
didn’t wake, but he was breathing. Other than a bruise on his forehead and some
scorches on his clothes, I couldn’t find any injuries. “Go get him some water.”

“
With what
?
I cannot hold a cup with paws
.”

“Right. That makes sense.” I set aside my bag and
staff, pulled out my wand, and waved it at Magnus. “Levitate.”

I felt the magic inside me stirring before rosy pink
magic shot out of my wand and engulfed Magnus. Slowly, the wizard lifted into
the air and hovered about waist high. With my wand in one hand to maintain the
spell, I grabbed his robe sleeve and pulled him out of the room, all the way to
his room and into his bed.

Before I could leave to get him some water, he started
waking. “What happened?” I asked.

It took him a moment to focus enough to answer me. “I
lied to you. I couldn’t let Veronica get Livia’s magic, so I gave you a fake
crystal, knowing it would take Veronica at least a full day to realize it was
fake. When it took you so long to return, I knew something went wrong.”

“I know it was fake. What happened here? Who attacked
you?”

“Ilvera.”

“My mother attacked you?! How did she get past your
defenses?”

“She is the most powerful sorceress I know. She
somehow knew exactly where the crystal was and she got it. She has Livia’s dark
magic.”