The Legend Of The Wizard's Apprentice (Book 1) (7 page)

“Ok, Tree Sprite, I will try to cast a spell to protect your tree from evil.”

Kerwyn didn’t know any of the words of power for this spell but he figured that using the basics should work. Drawing on the One Power Kerwyn started to fill up and once he felt as though he had enough of the One Power’s energy, he cast his spell saying these magic words:
“Servo is nemus ex malum!”

Two things happened that would be remembered for the next thousand years, perhaps not by any mortal, but by all the magical creatures that live in the forest.

The first thing that happened was that Kerwyn’s spell worked. In fact, it changed the wood of the tree into crystal and the spell super charged the tree with so much of the One Power’s energy that it will shine with the blessed light of the sun until the end of days.

The second thing that happened was that that spell made the tree sprite shine with the same light as her tree and it gave her the magic powers to not only protect her tree from evil, but also to become the guardian of light for the whole clearing. No evil would ever be allowed to enter as long as this tree lived.

“You have protected my tree and for that I am grateful. What is your name, mortal?” asked the now shining Tree Sprite

“My name is Kerwyn,” he said, looking away as she was now shining so brightly that it was almost too much to bear. Kerwyn again was amazed at what had happened when all he wanted to do was to protect the tree from evil. He didn’t understand how he had managed to super charge the tree with the One Power as to give it such life.

“Kerwyn, your name will be forever remembered among the trees. Because of this favour you did for us, I name you Tree Brother.” Reaching out her little hand she touched Kerwyn on the head, closing her eyes and Kerwyn felt her inside his head very much like he had felt the Fairy Queen. But this was different; the tree sprite wasn’t probing but instead was leaving something inside of him. He could feel it pulse with magic and life. After what seemed like an hour he knew that she had released him and knew also that he now had a magic seed inside of him, beating as one with his heart. His awareness expanded and he could hear the other trees whispering a welcome to their new Tree Brother. As well, they were whispering to each other about all the evil changes that were happening in their forest. Kerwyn never knew that trees talked to each other so much. He never would have guessed that they communicated as much as they did. Looking around at the trees, he could see clearly which trees had sprites and which ones didn’t. He realized that the gift the Tree Sprite gave him was almost as amazing as what he had done for her and was amazed at having such a gift bestowed upon him.

“Kerwyn, what have you done? You have cast such a powerful spell that every evil creature in the forest will be out looking for us. Sometimes, boy, you don’t use your head,” Master Sernett said with disappointment.

“Master Wizard, you are wrong to be angry at Tree Brother,” said the sprite. “He has done the forest and my tree a great service that will protect us for all time from the coming evil. Tree Brother has blessed my tree with the power to keep the evil at bay. This clearing will never again know the stench of evil and will be a safe haven for all good and just creatures to shelter in from the coming storm.”

“Kerwyn, what does she mean when she calls you Tree Brother?” Master Sernett asked with concern

“Master, she has planted a magic seed in me so that I can hear the trees talking and I can even tell which tree has a tree sprite attached to it. I can tell which tree has the sweetest fruits and which trees to avoid as they could be crabby like crab apple trees.”

Master Sernett looked from his apprentice back to the shining tree sprite. He could already see the change that had come over Kerwyn. Master Sernett had never heard of any human, wizard or otherwise, ever having being gifted with nature’s pure magic. Master Sernett was concerned for his apprentice, as he had no idea what shape this new source of power in Kerwyn would take. Tree sprites are usually very shy, solitary and peaceful creatures. But since Kerwyn had changed the nature of this tree sprite’s tree, she has become one of nature’s warriors and she had given Kerwyn the same gift.

“Kerwyn, explain to me what exactly you did to her tree. I need to understand what you have changed her tree into. Tree sprites are not supposed to shine with the One Power but I can sense the power radiating from both her and the tree. It is a strong, peaceful feeling that I’m sure the creatures of the forest can also feel. They will come here to hide from the evil that is all around this clearing.”

“Master, all I did was cast a spell of protection from evil on this tree,” Kerwyn shrugged his shoulders indicating that he really didn’t understand what he had done.

“Miss Sprite, may I approach your tree so that I can look at it closer to see what Kerwyn has done with his spell?” asked Master Sernett.

“You are Kerwyn’s Master and he respects and trusts you. I can do no less for the Master of my Tree Brother, so the answer is yes; you may approach my tree.” With that the tree sprite bowed her head and stepped away from her tree.

The old wizard approached the magical tree and the closer he got to the tree, the more it looked like it was made of living crystal and not of bark and wood. Master Sernett was puzzled by what he was seeing. Again he thought to himself that Kerwyn should not have been able to do this. Kerwyn was changing the natural laws with the One Power. Kerwyn had become much more powerful then Master Sernett. He was just a junior apprentice but when the need presented itself, Kerwyn always found a way to accomplish what he set out to do. Shaking his head in bewilderment, Master Sernett placed his hands upon the tree wanting to see if it indeed felt like crystal or if it would feel like wood and bark. To his surprise the tree addressed him in an ancient voice inside the master’s mind.

“Master Sernett, I know that you are very much concerned for your apprentice. Kerwyn has changed me from being just a simple tree into the single most powerful symbol of hope for this forest. Mother Nature has been talking to me about Kerwyn and when he blessed me with this gift of protection from evil, he inadvertently opened up a direct link from my sprite, to me, and Mother Nature herself. The seed that has been planted into Kerwyn is a seed that has come from me but it is a direct gift from Mother Nature. This is her way of thanking Kerwyn for giving the forest a place to protect her children from the evil Black Tower’s creatures. In a sense I have become a conduit, a direct link to Mother Nature and my tree sprite has become her priestess. All who come to this clearing will have Mother Nature’s blessings and protection. I want to give you something to help you protect Kerwyn as he grows into the man and wizard that he will become. Take it and help him unite all of the creatures of Mother Nature. You will need it to protect yourself when you approach the dragons. But be careful; for they are a very old race and have been here since the time the first Legendary Wizard battled the Evil Master. There were even Dragons that changed sides in the middle of battle. Do not ever fully trust or turn your back on some of the more unpredictable Dragon species, for they may just be the ones that you will need to run from when the war truly starts.”

With that, the voice in Master Sernett’s head disappeared and looked down at his outstretched hands where they had been touching the tree. Now there stood the most beautiful staff he had ever seen and it was made out of the same crystal that the tree was made of. It sparkled and glowed with an inner light and sitting on the top of the staff was a small pointed leaf, making the staff appear as though it could even be used as a spear. While Master Sernett was examining the staff, he could feel the One Power surging within it. He knew that he was holding a very powerful magical relic, one that could channel and focus the One Power. With such a staff as this, Master Sernett was confident that they now had a chance to save the world.

“Thank you Tree and Mother Nature. I shall wield this staff for the good of the land and in Mother Nature’s name.” Master Sernett cast one last glance at the great tree and bowed his head to it. Then he turned back to face Kerwyn and the tree sprite with a look of pride on his face.

“Kerwyn, my boy, you were right. You did what needed to be done and I’m very proud of you. You are growing stronger in your magical ability and control over the One Power. One of these days you are going to be the greatest wizard this land has ever known.”

Kerwyn smiled at what his master had said and then looked down at his Master’s hands to see that he was holding the most amazing staff he had ever seen. The tree sprite then also noticed what he was holding dropped to her knees, “Master Sernett you have been blessed with a mighty gift from my great tree and our goddess, Mother Nature. You both will be forever welcome in this holy clearing as honoured guests and as you both now belong to Mother Nature, she also belongs to you.

“Tree Sprite, what of the imps just outside of the clearing? I had almost forgotten about them,” Kerwyn asked

“Please, my name Tree Brother is Sal-A-Re. You are the first humans to ever know my name. A name can be used in evil magic and we the fairy creatures are very secretive of our names. Names can give an evil wizard power over you. He could make me want to leave my tree, and if I ever left my tree for long time and could not return, I would die and be no more. But you two are kindred now and if you should ever need some aid, just call my name into the forest and the trees will tell of your need. Just remember that I am unable to leave this clearing but as Mother Nature’s priestess, I will have my ways. Now as for the imps, I sense that there are about thirty-three of them hiding, waiting for you just outside. They are not with the Evil Master or his creatures. So far they are just curious as to who is hiding in here. They have no way to see through your master’s sigils, and now there is no way they could enter this clearing because of the power of my tree.”

“We cannot stay here forever, Sal-A-Re. We need to get on our way to find the Forest Elves,” explained Master Sernett. “I just hope they are as friendly as you have been and welcome us into their domain. I fear that we may have a rough road ahead of us and a place to take shelter from the rain would be nice. But I am afraid that the rain will be the least of our concerns.”

“Master, what are we going to do to get past the imps? From what Sal-A-Re has said, they have lots of magic and they hate humans. I think it would be best if we didn’t have to fight them, there must be a way to hide from them.”

“Kerwyn, I think you are on to something. I know they are magical creatures and that they once were fairies. But I wonder if we use a similar sigil of protection that I used for the clearing. I could cast it upon cloths and we would be invisible to them,” finished the wizard.

“Master Sernett,” said Sal-A-Re “You are not quite correct. Imps have the ability to detect magic and even though they would not be able to see you, they would be able to feel the magic coming off of your sigil. Chances are they would cast their own spells to reveal who you were.”

“Master, I think I have an idea,” said Kerwyn, “Sal-A-Re, could you summon a deer to run through the forest? If Master casts the Sigil of Protection on it, it would make it invisible to the Imps and I’m sure a deer can move faster than any imp and could get away. Once all the imps go chasing after the deer, Master and I could slip out undetected and the imps would never know that we were ever here.”

Master Sernett smiled at Kerwyn’s idea came up with and thought about other things that he could do to help the deer run faster and make it more interesting but harder for the imps to get too close to it.

“Master Sernett and Kerwyn,” said Sal-A-Re, “I could indeed summon a deer but I would have to make sure that it wouldn’t come to harm. It is one of Mother Nature’s innocent creatures and I wouldn’t feel right about sending it to its death.”

“Sal-A-Re,” said Master Sernett, “I would make sure that the deer would not come to any harm and have already thought about how I could change the Protection Sigil to give the deer the advantage, and make it really run fast.”

Sal-A-Re saw the wining expression on Master Sernett’s face and smiled in return before beginning to summon a fully grown deer into the clearing. Once the deer had arrived, they stood waiting to be told what to do. Master Sernett placed his hand upon it and cast his modified Sigil of Protection spell. With this spell the deer would be invisible to sight and sound, but would magically give off the scent of humans for the imps to follow. He charged the sigil with more of the One Power to give the deer extra strength, endurance, and speed. He chuckled to himself thinking that it would have been fun to watch the imps go chasing aimlessly after the deer through the entire forest. Once the sigil and the deer were ready, they set it off to run.

The deer burst out of the clearing pausing just long enough for the imps to feel the magic radiating from the sigil. Squealing with anger, the imps charged the deer. The deer sensed that it was time to go and darted up the forest trail leaving behind the smell of humans. The imps were immediately enraged by the smell of fleeing humans could not resist the chase. Scurrying after the deer all thirty-three imps ran as fast as they could, trying to catch up to the vanishing deer.

Sal-A-Re felt that all of the imps were engaged in the chase, signalled Kerwyn and Master Sernett that it was time to go. Giving each of them a quick hug with a promise to help if ever they needed her, she watched them both run out of the clearing and into Mother Nature’s unprotected forest.

As Kerwyn and Master Sernett ran out into the forest, they noticed that there had been a lot more changes while they were in the clearing. There were a lot more trees all bent and twisted and there were more spiky vines, prickly brush and brambles everywhere. The weeds had overgrown almost all of the flowers and it looked like a forest from every haunted forest story come to life that Kerwyn had ever been told. But seeing it in person was a lot scarier then any story could have prepared him for. Looking around and taking it all in, his new nature senses screamed in outrage that the forest had been changed from the way Mother Nature had made it. Glancing to his left he noticed a tree sprite stuck half way in and half way out of her tree. Kerwyn ran to her and grabbed her hand. She opened her eyes, winced with pain and looked at Kerwyn.