The Legend Of The Wizard's Apprentice (Book 1) (32 page)

As the bright morning sun was shone into Kerwyn’s room, waking him, he got up out of bed and cleaned up really fast. He wanted to get to Master Sernett’s room and find out when they would be leaving to go and see the dragon. He had all of these questions burning in his mind and he wanted the answers to them. Also, he had the underlying reason of proving his worth to the queen to win her over so that he could openly court Erlina. Once he had finished getting ready, he opened up his door and, there standing in the hall waiting for him, was Korowai.

“Hi, Kerwyn, I have been waiting for you. I was wondering if you wanted to take a walk through the elvish domain and look at all the wonderful trees and flowers that I talked to you about the other day,” Korowai said to Kerwyn a little shyly.

“Not today, Korowai. I need to see my master because I need to know when we are going to see Fafnir the dragon.” With that Kerwyn left, walking around the wood girl, not paying any more attention to her.

She reached out and grabbed his arm, hard spinning him around to face her and asked, “Why do you disrespect me? I have professed my love for you and all I receive back is your contempt. Have I not been the ideal woman? I have been attentive and patient. I have tried to woo you and romance you the way a human woman would. Why do you hate me so?”

“Korowai, I don’t hate you: I just love Erlina. You are a wonderful woman but I am already spoken for,” Kerwyn said.

“You lie. Erlina hasn’t had anything to do with you since we got here. You just hate me. Well, if that is the way you really feel about me, then fine. You will come to regret your rejection of me. Wooden Women marry their husbands for life and we live a long time. In our race, to shun a Wooden Woman that has professed her love is to bring shame unto you. The time will come when you need me and I will be looking the other way instead of protecting the man I love,” Korowai said angrily.

Korowai turned and moved so fast that Kerwyn thought she was going to attack him but all she did was disappear down the hallway. He still couldn’t believe the speed that she could manage when she wanted to. As he thought about it, he realized that he had hurt her and hadn’t meant to. He just hoped that she wouldn’t be too mad and that she would get over her anger at him. After all he hadn’t meant to upset her; he simply loved Erlina more.

Putting Korowai out of his mind for the time being, he headed down the hallway to Master Sernett’s room. He knocked on his master’s door and waited until Master Sernett opened it.

“Master, I need to talk to you,” Kerwyn said as he walked past his master and into his room.

“What is it Kerwyn? You look flustered,” Master Sernett said with a concerned look.

“I just told Korowai that I was in love with Erlina and that I was already spoken for. I don’t think she took it too well. She sped away very fast down the hall after I told her that I wasn’t in love with her,” Kerwyn said.

“I knew that nothing but trouble was going to come from this. You need to ensure that Korowai is not too upset with you. We have promised Cernunnos that we would look out for her. If she chooses to abandon us we could be in trouble with the Forest God. Kerwyn, my boy, you need to tread very carefully around women, especially the ones whose hearts you hold.”

“But Master, I realized that I am in love with Erlina and that I want to be with her forever. Korowai is an amazing woman too but she isn’t the one that I want to be with,” Kerwyn said.

“Kerwyn, a woman’s love is very much like a finely crafted sword. If held correctly it will protect you and ensure that you are always safe from harm. But if neglected or taken advantage of, it will break when you need it the most. A woman’s love is something to be cherished and not taken for granted. Most women just want to feel loved and cared for. They are not there to hinder you or to hold you back. They want to be there to lift you up and make you soar like and eagle.

One piece of advice that I will give you and I hope that you take this and store it for the rest of your life is this: never tell a woman that you do not love her because you love someone else, when you are unsure yourself. I know that you were being as honest with her as you see it. But would it not have been better to cause her the least amount of pain, by telling her that you needed to find your own feelings first. I have seen the way you look at both Korowai and at Erlina; and I truly do not think you really know which of these two beautiful women you truly love. Telling her that you do not love her, I think was too premature and that you are lying to yourself. I also feel that all you have done was break a good woman’s heart, and caused her jealousy when there should be none. Sometimes, my boy, the way out of a difficult situation is to admit defeat, and that you have no idea what to do,” Master Sernett said.

“That makes some sense, Master. I guess I will have to find Korowai and apologize to her. She is a wonderful person and I really do not want her mad at me. Especially seeing, as we are just about to go speak to the dragon Fafnir. By the way, Master, when are we leaving to go see him? I am anxious to have this acorn turned back into the Tree of Life. It is a huge responsibility that I don’t think I am ready for. I am just an apprentice wizard, after all,” Kerwyn said.

“Oh Kerwyn, just because you are an apprentice that doesn’t change the fact that you have one of the most important items in all the world in your belt pack. If we don’t get the Tree of Life reborn soon, all life in Alberic will die. We need to make sure we figure it out,” Master Sernett said.

“Master, that’s why I came to talk to you in the first place, I think I’ve figured it out. The answer is in the prophecy. I think that’s why I have Mother Nature living in me. She is the bearer of life and she will use the staff you are carrying to beat the Dark Master. It is her Relic of Power after all. So who better to defeat the Dark Master than the Godess Mother Nature?” said Kerwyn with a confident look on his face.

“I don’t think that’s right Kerwyn, the Legendary Wizard must be the one to defeat the Dark Master. All the scrolls and all the magic books that I have read say the same thing. The final battle that determines the fate of our world will be between the Legendary Wizard and the Dark Master,” explained Master Sernett.

“Grrrrr, I thought I had it figured out. I had so hoped that this adventure was almost over. Well I guess if we must go see a dragon then I guess we must go see a dragon,” complained Kerwyn.

“Well we will be leaving later this morning to go to the dragon’s keep in the forest. But before we do, we will need provisions and everyone will need to know not to touch a single copper once we enter the dragon’s lair. For if anyone touches anything, we will all be nothing more then burnt spots on the ground once the dragon is finished with us.

Why don’t you go and get all your stuff ready and we will head to the kitchens to start gathering up what we will need to take. It is about a three day walk from what I have been told,” Master Sernett said.

Kerwyn left Master Sernett’s room and went back to his own. “Now,” he thought to himself, “We’ll go see the dragon and we’ll figure out what to do with this acorn from the Tree of Life and also find out what’s going on with the evil spirit in me. Then we’ll get everything all back to normal and I can go back to just being an apprentice. All of this responsibility is very overwhelming.” Just as he got back to his room he saw that the door was open. Slowly looking inside to see who was in his room, Kerwyn noticed that there was a note left on his bed. Walking over to his bed he looked around his room just to make sure that he was alone and that the person who had entered his room wasn’t still hiding somewhere inside. Reaching down, he picked up the letter and started to read.

Kerwyn
,

Please forgive me for avoiding you these past few days but I had to be sure that it was I you wanted to be with and not Korowai. She came to me and told me that you had rejected her for me even though I was a stuck up... well something that I don’t even know what it is. She said that it was a shaggy creature from her forest that was very selfish and had a big butt. Anyway she told me that you have professed your love for me and that she would not get in our way if I really wanted you. Although she did say that she loved you and that if I should ever falter she would be there to take you away from me. I now know why you also find yourself attracted to her; she is quite the spectacular creature. We actually talked for quite a while about you, and we have agreed that you have captured both of our hearts with your innocent ways
.

It turns out that she is like the sister that I never had and we have become very close in such a very short time. I think that because of you, we are now closer then if we had been blood sisters. Korowai and I came to an understanding regarding you; we both have agreed that both of us will share your affections. Since I will live forever and she is also a long-lived creature we understand that sometimes our longevity can cause a ripple effect with the people that we love
.

Love is the strongest form of magic in our world and it can take a strange path to happen. You will have one of us in your life every step of the way and, together, we will be able to love you in each of our own ways. Since my mother will not allow us to be together, our love will be a secret that will be kept from all others except by the three of us. Korowai will be your legitimate companion and she will protect you unlike any other person could
.

As I have said, she is a spectacular creature and she and I will share your affections when we are able to. So, my darling Kerwyn, you thought that you would just be in love with me. Well this letter is to inform you that you have now become involved with two women that have made the ultimate sacrifice and that is to share the one man they love with each other
.

You are in my heart and in my soul forever
.

Love
,

Erlina
.

Kerwyn was not really sure that he has understood all that the letter had implied and he read and re-read the letter to make sure that he captured the meaning of the letter and what the letter had said without saying it. He now had two women that would always be a part of who he was and they both loved him beyond anything that he could have ever imagined.

One would become a mighty queen of the Forest Elves and the other a magical creature from a far off forest that transformed once a week into a tree. Both of them were powerful women and both of them were more than capable of making his life either good or very bad.

Hearing a gust of wind, Kerwyn turned just in time to see Korowai appear faster than thought in his room. She was looking at him with a small smile and a mischievous twinkle to her eyes.

“I trust that you have read Erlina’s letter?” Korowai asked while shifting from foot to foot the same way a cat would that was getting ready to pounce.

“I have read the letter and I am not entirely sure that what you both have decided is for the best. This could become very complicated and unpleasant if someone were to get upset,” explained Kerwyn.

“Well then it’s a good thing that since you are the man that we have agreed to love, that you have no say in the matter. All you need to know is that you have the affection of two women who have agreed to both love you and we will worry about the rest. My sister Erlina and I have come to an understanding, which doesn’t concern anyone else but us three. So with that being said I am cashing in on mine first,” Korowai said.

Faster then Kerwyn could have imagined, Korowai wrapped herself around him in a hug and was kissing him fully on the lips. Pulling back just a little bit to catch his breath, Korowai smiled and said, “I have wanted to kiss you on the lips since that first night that you and I started to get to know one another. Now I can say that I have.”

Giggling Korowai let Kerwyn go and said that she needed to go and get ready before they had to leave to go and see the dragon. Speeding from Kerwyn’s room, Korowai disappeared out the door, leaving the young man standing there unable to say a word.

Kerwyn was caught completely off guard by what just happened and decided to do the only thing that he could do. He gathered up all of his belongings and put them into his backpack while shaking his head in wonderment.