Apprentice Wizard_ Chapter 3

III

Dar’s eyes slowly opened to the sight of
Wagnalls’ face. His head was throbbing and his
vision was blurred, but he could easily make out
Wagnalls anywhere. The sun was out now and it
was a hot summer day. A slight breeze danced
though the dark green forest, and the singing of
birds soothed Dar’s pain.

“Welcome back boy. It’s been almost an entire day.” Wagnalls said. He ran his hand through Dar’s dark messy hair as he checked the place his head hit the tree. “You have quite the
bump on your head there, but you’ll live.”
Wagnalls stood up and grabbed his leather pouch
that held all the food. Dar tried to get up to
follow Wagnalls but he suddenly felt dizzy and
collapsed: His head hit the ground hard. He let
out a moan and grabbed his pounding his head.

“Now, now. You just lie down and rest
for a while. Your heads not going to heal itself
now.” Lectured Wagnalls. “Here have a couple of
these.” He placed two clear jelly-like balls on
Dar’s chest. “After you have them, you can have
something to eat.”

Dar picked one up and almost dropped it.
The balls were slippery and unknown to
Dar. “What are they?” Dar stared at Wagnalls
and his identical twin next to him. He let out a
moan and put his head back on the ground.

“It’s Ent Vail. It’s a very common food
for Ents, but for humans it’s a great water
substitute.” Wagnalls explained.

Wagnalls picked up one of the balls and forced it
into Dar’s mouth. As soon as Dar closed his
mouth, the ball burst, and a tasteless substance
ran down his mouth. For the first time since he
had left the old shack, Dar had some water in his
body and he instantly felt well again.

Dar himself this time picked up the other Ent
Vail and tossed it greedily into his
mouth. “Thanks. I feel better now.” Dar’s
vision slowly returned, but his head still
hurt. “What’s an Ent anyway?”

“Well it looks like your back to your old self
again. Always asking questions. Here eat this.”
He handed Dar a couple pieces of dried meat. “An
Ent is a forest, or I guess I should say a forest
dwelling creature. Well that’s not right either,
but it’s a good start. They live a forest near
the home of Parnassus. You’ll meet some
eventually.”

Wagnalls stood up and begun to walk away when he
stopped suddenly and looked around as if he had
heard something, but then returned his attention
to Dar. “I’m going to take look around up
ahead. I some things I need to take care of.
I’ll be back soon. Try not to move too much and
make sure you get more rest.”

Wagnalls began to walk away when Dar stopped
him. “Wagnalls, before you go can you tell me
what happened after I passed out? I don’t even
know how long I’ve been out for.” Dar asked.

“Oh sorry. How forgetful of me. Lets see now,
as soon as Night Shad died, all the snow
instantly melted away. It was odd though because
I’ve never heard of a witch who could control the
weather, but she was a challengeable foe. Very
strong in the dark arts. And after you took that
bad fall, you’ve been out for about fourteen
hours now.” Wagnalls sensed Dar was going to ask
another question so he waited and decided he
should sit down.

“What happened to you when you started to fight
Night Shade? When you started to use your magic,
all your cloths turned red, and you suddenly had
a cape of fire. Does that happen to all
wizards?” Dar asked.


“Don’t forget to breath there Dar.” Wagnalls
smiled. “Yes, master wizards often change in
order to be one with their magic. If the wizard
were a master of Water elemental, for example,
then his cloths would turn a blue color. So when
you become a master wizard, you will also be
changed in accordance to your element. Of course
I could walk around all the time as a Master of Fire, but then people would know that I’m a
wizard and run away or worst of all challenge me.” Wagnalls explained and then stood up again using his staff to pull himself up.

“What about the red dagger I saw? I’ve never
heard or see of anything like that before. Why
would a powerful wizard like yourself need a dagger?” Dar asked.

Wagnalls cut him off. “I have to go now Dar.
I’m going to go a find a safe and easy path to
the Great Road.” He started to walk away. “I’ll
be back soon Dar. Try not to move too much until
you feel better okay. You will be safe here by
yourself I promise.” Wagnalls turned away and
walked into the forest. “Just try and get some
rest, and I shall return shortly.” He shouted,
and then he was gone.

*

For some hours, Dar just laid on the ground
waiting for Wagnalls to come back. When he had
first woken up, it must have been mid-afternoon
and now the sun began to drift into the
distance. The birds started to quiet down now,
and the crickets began to come out. A cold
breeze started to blow across Dar now and gave
him the shivers. His head still hurt though, it
seems like he had done more than hit that tree,
but what else could he have done to hurt himself
he thought. All he knew was that his head hurt
so much that he didn’t want to move because the
slightest amount of movement brought pain.

Dar looked to his left and he saw his staff lying
next to him. Trying not to hurt himself anymore,
he reached over and grabbed it with his left hand
and drew it near himself. With the aid from his
other hand, he lifted it onto his chest and
looked deep into the moonstone. Inside the
stone, he was lost within the greatness of the
magic that the stone held. Then to his surprise,
he saw himself, but what he saw was an older
version of him, and he was dressed completely in
black. Refusing to look anymore, he pushed the
staff away and returned his sight to the now
dark, star filled sky.

After a few minutes, Dar finally heard footsteps
coming up behind him. Not being able to turn
around, he just kept looking up at the
stars. “What took you so long Wagnalls? I’ve
been waiting forever.” There was nothing but
silence. “Wagnalls, is that you?” Dar was
afraid for his life now because just yesterday a
witch tried to kill him. What now?

“I’m sorry to say but this is not he who you call
Wagnalls.” A deep voice answered.

Dar jumped to his feet, but fell instantly to the
hard ground. He was terrified and didn’t know
what to do. Last time something like this
happened, Wagnalls saved him, but now he was by
himself. “Why do you want to kill me? Who are?
I’m a wizard you know!” His head hurt now more
than ever.

He looked over and saw an enormous man kneeling
next to his staff. It seemed like he was nearly
seven or eight feet tall, and it looked like he
was almost three feet thick. He was a man of
pure muscle with dark skin. It was hard to tell
if he was just a man with great girth or not
because he was dressed in a large black cape that
kept his body hidden. Even his face was hidden
under a black hood, and a black veil covered up
everything below his eyes. Dar knew the man
could crush him with out a challenge.

The man stood up and began to walk towards
Dar. “What makes you think I’m going to hurt
you? You look cold. Here, I’ll make you a
fire.” The man turned away from Dar and pointed
towards a spot on the ground. He said something
in a different language he had never heard
before, and then a fire appeared.

“So, where is he?” Asked the man then he looked
back at Dar. “Here, why don’t I help you get
near to the fire? I don’t bite.” The man walked
up to Dar and gently picked him up and brought
him next to the warm fire.

“Who are you if your not going to kill me?” He
looked over at the man and looked into his yellow
eyes. “What are you?”

“Sorry to scare you. My name is Aaron. Like I
said, I’m not here to harm you. Most likely to
help you.” The man answered. “And for the
record, I’m a giant. Not one that children read
about in fairy tales mind you, but I’m a giant
none the less.” He flashed Dar a smile. He took
off his black cloak and exposed his well-
developed muscles, and to Dar’s disbelief, Aaron
had not two but four arms. Each was as big as
the next.

Under the cloak, Aaron wore a well-crafted metal
plate that perfectly fit his massive chest and
rippling abs. There was some kind of design on
it too, but it was far too dark for Dar to make
out. Around his waist was a thick aged belt made
of leather that held four large blades that were
all identical.

As Dar looked over the giant, he got uneasier
every moment. “W-Who sent you?”

Aaron chuckled. “A friend. I assure you.”
Answered Aaron in his deep voice. “But now tell
me. How long have you’ve been laying there for
now?” Aaron looked at him strangely looking for
a reply.

“What did you do to Wagnalls?” Dar was worried
now. Wagnalls has never left him before, and now
he still isn’t back yet. He tried to look around
but he couldn’t..

“Well if you really were a wizard like you claim
to be, why don’t you just cure yourself and stop
all this pain. Or do you enjoy laying on the
cold ground all day?” He paused for a moment to
look around. “So he’s calling himself Wagnalls
now hey. Well to tell you the truth, I haven’t
seen him, and I don’t know were he went.” He
cleared his throat and looked back at Dar
again. “Well?”

“Oh. Well. I ah . . ..” He just realized
Wagnalls hadn’t taught Dar how to use his staff
yet. “I don’t know how to use my staff.” Dar
muttered under his breath. He looked away from
Aaron and gazed into the fire.

“Well now, no better time then now.” Dar looked
at him with a surprised look on his face. “Now,”
Aaron continued. “It’s not that hard, but it
will take time to get used too.” He smiled at
Dar. “I want you to pick up your staff and hold
it off the ground.” Dar just stared at Aaron and
refused to move. “Trust me, I’m not here to harm
you, just do this for me and then I’ll go if you
like.” Aaron looked at Dar. “Would you like me
to leave you now, and let you lay on the cold
ground for another day or two?” Dar nodded and
slowly picked up his staff. “Now I want you to
transfer all you life energy through your body,
and into you right hand there that is holding
your staff.”

Dar hesitated. “Life energy?” If he were trying
to kill him, he would try to steal my “life
energy” Dar thought to himself.

“Here let me show you. Put your staff down and
place your hands together like this.” Aaron held
his top two hands out about an inch apart from
one another, and kept the other two
together. “Now can you feel the heat between
your two hands.” Dar nodded. “That’s your life
energy. Without it you are nothing but a corpse,
but if you can summon it all at once you can
accomplish anything.” Aaron clapped his top two
hands together and kept his bottom two held
together firmly. “Now I want you to pick up your
staff again and only this time, I want you to
transfer everything you have into the moonstone,
then say the word ‘cure’, I think that is the
word in your language, and then see what
happens.” He pointed to the staff and urged him
to pick it up.

Dar wasn’t sure if Aaron was telling him the
truth, but it was obvious that if he had wanted
to kill him, he could have done it already with
ease. Dar picked up the staff and did as Aaron
had told him to do. As he tried transferring his
life energy into the moonstone, the moonstone
began to glow a bright blue color. Then Dar
said “Cure.” On command, a wave of sparkling
white light came out of the moonstone that looked
like a streamer. The white light quickly wrapped
itself around Dar, and then in a final burst of
light, it was all over. Dar sat up for the first
time in hours: He was perfectly healed.

Dar looked to thank Aaron, but he was no longer
there. He disappeared without a trace. It was
just Dar sitting by himself. The only thing that
made Dar sure it really happened was the fire
that Aaron had created out of a wave of his hand
was still exactly that same as it had been since
it was started.

“Dar! Dar are you alright?” Wagnalls
came running at Dar who was just sitting straight
up looking in the fire. “Did something happen
while I was gone? Are you alright now? I
thought I saw something.” Wagnalls was out of
breath, and he had been running for quite some
time now. There was sweat running down his
wrinkled forehead, and his robes were covered in
dirt.

“Yes I’m perfectly fine now.” He looked
down at the staff that was laying across his lap
and smiled. He got up to his feet and stretched
his arms over his head. “I began to feel better
a couple hours ago, and when it started to get
dark and you still weren’t hear, I made a fire.”
Dar lied and kept Aaron to himself. “Where have
you been all this time? It’s pitch black out
now.” Dar asked.

“I know it’s late. Sorry. I was
checking to see if the old path to the road was
still intact, which it is, and then I started to
look for some herbs for your head, but it looks
like your alright now. Just needed some rest I
guess.” Wagnalls went and sat by the fire. “The
good news is that the road will save us many days
of travel.” He assured himself.

Dar let out a long yawn. “I think I’m
just going to go to sleep. It’s been a long day
waiting for you, and I think I’ll get some more
rest for tomorrow.” He laid down on the opposite
side of the fire. “Good night Wagnalls. I’ll
see you in the morning.” Completely exhausted
from using magic, Dar fell right to sleep.

Wagnalls stayed up for awhile and stared
into the fire. Every once and awhile he would
look around the forest and then back at
Dar. “Made the fire yourself hey Dar.” He waved
his hand through the flame, and it
disappeared. “Magic! Who did you meet tonight
Dar?” Wagnalls asked the sleeping boy expecting
no answer. He chuckled to himself. “And why did
you have to lie to me?” He thought to himself
for a while and then slowly drifted off to sleep.