2024 Story Collection

The Wizard Starweaver & His Apprentice VII

They continue down the rutted road. So far, the journey had been an easy one. Just follow the road in the right direction.

However, a few moments later, she stops at a crossroads and looks down each way. She sifts through her memories for what way the spell had led her. It went by so fast.

"Never do magic at a crossroads," Abel says, cutting through the silence. Jane jumps a little at it.

"Why not?"

"Bad things, evil things like to gather where many paths cross. It can corrupt the magic around it and the spells. It is very dangerous and no matter how desperate, it is never an option."

"I will keep that in mind," she says. A chill runs down her spine as the wind suddenly stops and the birds stop singing. She knew that was a warning. They needed to get out of here, now.

She closes her eyes and just listens but hears nothing, no magic at all. Another shiver runs down her spine. Then suddenly, she feels something a lingering bit of magic from the tracking spell. It's almost as if it's pulling her to the right. Her eyes snap open.

"This way," she says, walking that way. She doesn't hesitate, nor does she want to. Abel was right. Something dark is hanging out around here. Something she wanted nothing to do with.

Abel seems to sense it too and, without saying anything, quickens the pace even faster than the one she set. She matches it and as they get farther away; the feeling begins to disappear.

"I don't like that," she says after a while. "What was that?"

"Have you heard of the ghosts who lead travelers down wrong paths that lead to their deaths?"

"Yes, my mother used to warn me against staying any longer than necessary in places like that."

"Your mother taught you well. They aren't ghosts exactly, but that is what they do. They are called different things depending on who you ask, but I like to call them death guides."

"Death guides?" she asks.

"The name is still a work in progress," he jokes. "If you enter a crossroads confused of what direction to go, or are lost, they sense that and will try to confuse you and try to get you to take their path. They'll make a path that leads to a cliff or lake or some trap. Once you're on that road, if you look back, the road with disappear completely and you'll be stranded, more lost than ever. That is why you must be sure of yourself and not second guess yourself in anything. Because there are things and people that will take advantage of that."

---

After a while, Jane comes to a patch of trees she recognizes.

"We're almost there," she says, picking up the pace again.

A minute later, the road curves into a switchback and as she looks down over the edge; she sees the familiar patch of grass below.

"Down here." She says as she slides down the bank on the side of the road and falls awkwardly into the soft grass below.

She felt giddy. She'd done it. She lays there for a moment, catching her breath before standing up and walking to the spot she saw during the spell.

She searches for a moment, a bit nervous but then remembers it was raining. It might've gotten a bit buried. She digs through the sandy dirt a bit and finds it.

She lifts it up high above her for Abel to see. "I found the ring! I did it!"

He smiles down at her from the edge of the road.

"Good job," he says with pride.

She walks up to the edge bank and realizes then that the road is a good three feet higher than she is tall. A blush spreads over her cheeks.

"Could you help me up?" she asks with a shy smile.

"I have a better idea. Let me show you something," he says and in the blink of an eye, he is standing beside her. "Hold your hand up against the road bank, like this," he demonstrates by lifting his hand.

She does as well.

"You see, the shadow it creates?" he points out.

She nods.

"Good. Now think back to how you summon a flame. Think of one of those pine trees and think of the shadow it casts. Then instead of summoning it, imagine your shadow inside the shadow of the pine, or rather replaced by it. Now, allow yourself to fall into your shadow."

"You make it sound so simple," she says.

She's unsure but tries, anyway. Worse case scenario, she gets a face full of dirt.

She does as he said. She thinks of the big tree on the inside of the switchback and how it cast a huge shadow on the ground. She pictured the shape and how it interacted with that around it. She imagined that shadow in comparison to her own, that her body cast against the bank. Then she let herself fall forward into it and shifted her shadow to become the one of the tree, like she did with the shadows on the wall at home when she was bored.

She hits something hard, face first, and groans. "It didn't work," she says.

"I think it did," Abel says from above her.

She rolls over and blinks open her eyes. She looks around and sees the huge pine above her. She was sitting in the shadow of the large pine tree.

"It worked!" she squeals and jumps up to her feet in excitement.

"Of course it did," Abel says with a chuckle. "I wouldn't give you a challenge you weren't ready for."

She smiles wide and gives him a quick hug. "Thank you."

He laughs, her excitement and happiness contagious.

"Wait," she stops suddenly and turns to Abel. "Is this how you travel through light?"

"You're a quick learner," he says with a smile. "It is really much more simple than it looks. 

Though only those with a natural affinity for the element can travel within it. Me with light and you with shadows."

"So, does it work with other abilities, too?"

"Sometimes, but it's pretty rare that you can master it. We got lucky."

She nods.

To be continued...

April 12, 2024