The Sword and the Flame: The Forging

Chapter 10

Viola stood by the door, hesitant to knock and possibly wake her new master from his nap. She knew it'd be best to wait until he summoned her to begin lessons, but Viola's inquisitive mind was full of questions. After Janessa left to pursue her desires, something the young mage never understood, she started reading through the text on herbology. She began feeling a new sense of strength and seemed to lose herself within an hour of starting.

She heard other students at the magic school talk about it, how they felt a growing sense of power with each spell they mastered. At first, Viola understood and felt much the same when mastering her first two spells, but was at a loss to understand, much less explain, why it hadn't continued with the following two spells. Assuming she advanced beyond the basic spells and no longer aided her growth, Viola decided to push her limits. That proved to be the driving force in her sneaking into her master's laboratory and "acquiring" a few scrolls. Lucky for her, there wasn't an enchantment of protection on them — her master felt it wasn't worth the trouble. Being quick, Viola was able to copy them onto her own scrolls and returned the originals before they were missed. After all her efforts, she'd only been able to master three of them thus far: levitation, fire and repulse. The other handful were still in her spell book but useless to her.

Despite her hunger and yearning, the fact that a simple, battered text book about plants made her feel powerful scared her enough that she began thinking about what they needed if they did help the fighter on his quest. Janessa reassured her several times since she knew where the entrance to the tunnels were, but Viola had her doubts. Everyone seemed intent on the fabled treasure, everyone except her and the other man that hung back from the fight until near the end. Though he said nothing about the treasure, she had no reason to trust either of them, and now she began to doubt Janessa.

Viola didn't like the feeling her thoughts created, so she decided to try her hand at finding the entrance and thought of a locator spell. From everything she had read and heard at the school, the spell could help you locate anything from a lost button to an escape from a labyrinth. Best of all, the spell wasn't complex, anyone could cast it. The only trouble was, she didn't know any locator spells or where to find one aside from Mern.

There she was, a simple spell away from solving a major issue, and she couldn't decide on knocking or not. Convinced she was driving herself insane, she turned from the door; she'd find another way. Much to her surprise, it opened by the time she took her second step.

"Come, child. Time passes us too quickly to not take advantage of it." Viola was uncertain if she heard Mern's voice with her ears or in her mind. Either way, she obeyed, stepping through the doorway. "Welcome, child. I'm afraid it isn't much, but then I just arrived. How may I be of help to you?" Mern was seated by a small table with a candle illuminating a large spell book. Viola thought it strange that he used a candle when the sun was still high in the sky.

As though he read her mind about the candle, Mern smiled while nodding. "It's an old habit. I spent many years of my youth studying in dungeons where the sun couldn't hope to reach." He shrugged, "There are times you must learn to appreciate peculiar oddities."

Viola smiled, shaking her head. She understood about studying in those types of places, as they were common at the magic school. Though not one of her favorite places to study, she had to admit that dingy, dark dungeons did serve their purpose. "I appreciate all that helps me learn more of my craft."

Mern's smile took on an amused quality. "Very diplomatic of you, child." Chuckling, he shook his head. "Pay it no mind; I know how the young mind works." He closed his spellbook and motioned to Viola to sit in the other chair in the room. Of all of the places he stayed during his long life, that inn was the most comfortable.