Apprentice Wizard_Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I

“Congratulations Sir Dar Ohine of Mindar. For on this 1370th year of Maia, I am proud to give you the glorious honor of Apprentice Wizard of the First Class.” A man of timeless appearances rose from his seat in a well-crafted stone throne. In his left hand he held an enormous staff that was quite possibly older than he himself, and his neatly trimmed beard, which was the color of snow, flowed along the front of his green robe that touched the ground. “As the head of the Seven Wizards of Kyrstone, I give you the Moon Stone. I pray you receive it!”

Kneeling in the center of the Circle of Fate, surrounded by gold runes, and encrusted gems of old, the young Dar lifted his head and said the words he had waited his entire life to say. “I receive it with great honor and I shall use it to bring great honor to the Great Wizards of Krystone.” Dar bowed his head to the wizard council and as he did so, his short brown hair covered his young face.

There was not a sound to be heard in the Circle of Fate. Outside, the nameless forest stood still and was strangely silent. The outside wall that surrounded the Circle of Fate was gradually exposing the inner circle to the uncommon travelers. Inside, the ageing pillars of stone were crumbling and beginning to fall apart. The moss collecting on the outer ring of the shrine caused a dank musky smell that had begun to take control over the shrine. Time was catching up with the ancient building. The only thing that was truly keeping it standing was the struggling hopes of the endangered species of Man, the Wizard.

The other six wizards that were sitting around the elder rose and joined the Elder in union, pointed their staffs at Dar, and began to chant in an ancient tongue unknown to many. They chanted softly at first, and then their voices grew. With a blinding flash of light, a magnificent staff appeared, and floated down from the Wizard Council. It stood as if being held by a great wizard, and upon the staff, sat a light blue luminescent stone that was twice the size of a mans fist. It glimmered like the sun: It was the moonstone.

The moonstone was an ancient stone that was forged with the greatest magic known to man. Combined with the knowledge of the bearer, it could be used to destroy or to heal. The moonstone is quite similar to that of the human brain because as the wizard learns new types of magic, the moonstone adapts to that type of magic and then learns it. Once a moonstone and wizard know the same magic, that magic can be summoned by simply calling out the name of the spell. Although thought to be indestructible, if one uses too much power it could destroy the moonstone, but such a feat has never been heard of.

Dar slowly rose to his feet, took the staff into his right hand, and claimed it for his own. Upon his touch, the moonstone filled the room with its radiance. At that very moment, the Seven Wizards raised their staffs high in the air and filled the room with the light from their staffs. Green, red, orange, yellow, purple, pink, and white lights were combined into a dazzling display of color. In moments, the display was over and Dar was left alone, on one knee, bowing his head. The staff was still in his hand, and he refused to let it touch the ground.

Nearly an hour later, the silence was broken as a hand seized Dar’s shoulder. He tried to jump up, but was held down by a firm grip. “Don’t be frightened. I will not harm you.” A strong voice pronounced. The grip was released. “Come. We have much to do. Yes. Much.”

Dar sprang up, but he had only enough time to see an old man walking away in the distance. “Who are you?” Dar asked. The old man ignored him.

The old man turned to him and waited for a moment. “Come now. I don’t have all day.” He called. “At this rate I’ll die before the time comes.” He muttered to himself as he walked away.
Dar isn’t that small of a boy, and being nearly six foot two and about a hundred and fifty pounds, he isn’t exactly weak either. When the man held him down, he tried his hardest to get up. He actually bruised his shoulder while trying to get to his feet. The stranger was far too strong to be just an old man.

Dar followed the man through the twists and turns of the dark aged forest from which the Circle of Fate was found. The old man looked like he was a thousand years old, but you couldn’t tell this by the way he walked. Many times Dar almost lost the old man from sight. If it weren’t for the old man’s singing, he would have been lost. Faintly, Dar could make out some words of the old man’s fair voice.

I wonder the world as if a mile.
I travel the world looking for good.
I search for he who walks a straight file.
I look for he who shall bear the hood.

The forest was pitch black at this time of the night. It must have been at least eleven o’clock, and it made seeing anything, little lone following someone impossible. But something was queer in the forest this night, it seemed Dar was being pulled in the proper direction by some sort of unnatural force; He couldn’t turn around or travel off the dictated path. He was forced to follow the foreigner.

Dar was thankful for two things: One more than the other though. He was thankful that it was a full moon because it gave him some light to use for his advantage, but he was more thankful that there were no known “Wolf Men” in this area of the land.

It was well know to most people, except for you apparently, that the “Wolf Men” or “Werewolves” are only found within the North Western forest that has been declared Dread Forest because of the mass numbers of lives it has taken. First of all, for those of you not familiar with werewolves, they are a race of people who are part man and part wolf. Being mainly wolf, they are vicious and unpredictable. The only human quality that the werewolves have is the ability to think logically, which is usually rare because of the strong instincts wolves have, and the ability to walk on their hind legs. Unlike horror stories and myths, the real life werewolf is truly more horrific because they are always werewolves, and can never turn back into humans. All that full moon stuff is just peasant rubbish.

Eventually, Dar finally arrived at a small shack that sat in the middle of a cluster of trees. It was literally falling apart, most likely from its age. For it must have been at least two centuries years old, and not very well taken care of. There were no paths that lead to the door, if you would even call the piece of wood laying against the wall a door, but it seemed like there were foot steps in the tall grass that showed the way to the door. So at least there might be someone home Dar thought because he could faintly see smoke rising from the roof in the bright moonlight. The roof, mind you, not the chimney.

Like a thief, Dar cautiously approached the door of the shack. As he neared, he noticed that his hand was going numb from holding the staff so tightly. Not once did he loosen the grip he had on the staff until he was two feet in front of the door. The moment he was near to the shack, he felt different. It was something he had never felt since he was a child. He was no longer scared. The fear was still there, and Dar himself was aware of it, but he no longer cared. Without noticing it, Dar reached out to knock on the door, but was cut off abruptly.

“Now don’t dilly-dag I’ve been waiting a long time. How dare you make an old man wait! ” An old man’s voice said. Dar jumped. “Well, come in.” The door slid open by itself.

Dar took a step in the door and glanced around the room. It seemed to him to be the complete opposite of the outside. It was very neat and nicely furnished. A wonderful smell was coming from a pot hanging over a well-built fire in the fireplace. It was intoxicating. There was a table set in the left hand corner of the room that was set for two, and on the table lay a single candle. The candle was in the shape of a hand and had a flame floating in its palm. There seemed to be no one in the house, but the candle entranced him. He must get a better look at it.

He approached it and stared with amazement. “It’s absolutely beautiful.” Dar whispered.

“Thank you young Dar, and I take great pride in it.” The old man was sitting in the chair a few feet to the left of Dar. He stared into the eyes of the youngster and then gestured toward the chair opposite to himself.

Dar took a step back and pointed the staff at the old man. His heart was racing. “Who are you and what do you want with me old man? I’m a wizard you know.” Dar said sternly. The old man had no reply to this. He merely got up and walked past the boy to the fire. He poured into two cups of some kind of liquid.

“Answer me!” Dar demanded an answer.
“You know who I am.” He said calmly. The old man walked past Dar again and set a cup on each side of the table. “Now please sit. You have many questions and I have a few answers to give, wizard.” He said with a grin of his face and sat back down to his chair.

“I have met you only moments ago, and already I have insulted you.” Dar said in a quiet voice, and then he went silent. He realized the man was the wizard who would be teaching him everything about magic.

“Now, now, don’t you worry. I have taken no insult. Except that old man comment. I’m not as old as you think. For the knowledge that I bare has great weight: I am only one hundred and twenty three years old.” He expected the grin he received from Dar and smiled back. “But it seems you have learned a valuable lesson.”

“I’ve learned lessons for more than fifteen years now. I don’t need anymore. I’m a wizard now.” Dar said, but the old man ignored him.

“Looks can be deceiving my young man. Take this bowl of dates” He pushed a bowl of dates towards Dar. “They look good don’t they? Very ripe indeed.”

Dar let out a groan.

“Take one.” The man ordered.

Dar did as the man said, but as he was about to place the date into his mouth, it turned into a large beetle. In fact all the dates turned into beetles at that very moment. They scurried around the table and then all at once they charged at Dar. Dar started to lose control of himself and then they disappeared.

“You see. Never judge a thing by its appearance.”

“Just as I judged you.” Dar said.

“You’re a quick learner.” Silence filled the room. “Please have a seat.”

“Can I ask you a question? Mr. . . .” Dar trailed off. He sat down and stared into the man’s knowledgeable old eyes.

“It seems I have forgot my manners. My name is Wagnalls. Wagnalls the Wizard some people call me. Some people even call me Wagnalls the Evil. Which is quite untrue. Well, there I go again forgetting my manners. What would you like to ask?”

Wagnalls nodded. “What I wanted to ask is . . . why am I here?” Dar questioned.
A smile came to the face of Wagnalls and he sat up in his chair. “A very interesting question. Much better than I’ve had in the past anyway. Most people ask me what the secret of life is, and I just grin and answer the same thing every time. ‘To be the best you can be.’” The silence returned.

Wagnalls cleared his throat. ‘But now we must get down to business. You say that you are a wizard, but we both know that isn’t true. You are only an apprentice wizard or a mage. Like I was before you, and my master before me. The reason you are only a mage is because you only have the knowledge of one type of magic. The white magic, or as we call it light magic. Which consists of the basic cure spells, in which raises your health and cures certain kinds of ailments. Which is, in actuality, very little. Not only that, but as an apprentice, you must learn to use you staff instead of chanting spells. That’s the easy part. In addition you must learn another type of magic to become a true wizard. This other type of magic is called an elemental, and consists of earth, water, fire, lightning, or wind.

“Where do I go to learn this magic?” Asked Dar.

“You will soon find that out for yourself, but don’t get ahead of yourself. First you must learn how to use your staff.” Wagnalls explained.

“What kind of magic do you know?” Dar asked. He ignored Wagnalls.

“Since you really don’t want to hear about your staff, I guess I’ll tell you.”
Wagnalls paused to clear his throat. “I have mastered only two, but I know many. I chose to master the element magic fire. That is how I control the flame you see in front of yourself.” He waved his hand over the flame a couple of times, and each time it changed into a different color. “The second took me nearly a century to achieve. It was the ability to move things with my mind. Along with that, I have the ability to cast spells with my mind, but it takes far too much energy. I am one of the few who have achieved such a thing.”

“Who taught you?” Dar was fascinated with the abilities that Wagnalls had, and he started to get restless.

Wagnalls hesitated. “You have many questions, Dar. But they must wait. It’s getting late and you have a big day ahead of you tomorrow. Please, get some rest and we’ll begin tomorrow.” Wagnalls explained to Dar. He stood up and began to walk to his bed, which was nicely beside the warm fireplace.

“If I have too, where do I get to sleep? I’m not even tired. Can’t we stay up and talk a little more?” Dar hopelessly pleaded.

“There is a bed in the corner by the door. Have a good sleep. I’ll wake you up in the morning for a bite to eat.” Wagnalls laid down on his bed and covered himself with a thick aged blanket. He reminded Dar of a homeless man he had once seen. His old sheets were covering his frail body in an attempt to stay warm on a cold night.

Dar, having really no say in the matter what so ever, went to his own bed. Although it wasn’t there when he first arrived, he laid on the bed and tried to go to sleep. His sleep was restless, and very unpleasant. His thoughts were on the days to come, and the knowledge he would soon obtain. When he finally did fall asleep, he had no dreams except one.

It was a very fast dream, but it seemed like it took forever to end. It relayed to him the same sequence of events over and over. Each time they grew in speed until they were just a blur. He was in a large shrine, bigger than the Circle of Fate and far older, and men dressed in dazzling armor surrounded him. In front of him sat a man of greatness and power. He was tall and fair, and looked like a king. In his hand he held a black sword that seemed to glow. Then Dar looked down at his hands and they were covered in blood. It was his blood. Then everything faded into darkness.