emerald?”
We were both breathing heavily. He struggled to free himself. “I have hidden it in the woods. You’ll never find it.”
Angered, I slammed his head against the ground. The ground trembled as my powers began to boil. As a wizard, I needed my wand to channel my powers into use, but as a sorcerer I was free to twist the elements around me.
I began to laugh. It was unexplainable. There was no good reason for laughter at this moment, but I couldn’t control it. Fear had taken over Rainer’s face. He had begun to realize just how much danger he was in.
“How could you do this, Ethan? How could you betray your own family?”
“My family?” My laughter ceased and was replaced with rage. The swell of emotions caused me to tear down a nearby tree. It crashed to the ground only a few feet behind me. “You ask me how I could betray my family? This family? I was never a part of the Whizzenmog family, Rainer. Our father never accepted me for what I wasn’t.”
“And what’s that?”
I hesitated briefly deciding whether or not to answer truthfully, then I did, “You, Rainer. I was never as good and strong as you.” I summoned more roots from the ground. They burst out tossing dirt into the air, which landed on Rainer’s face and body covering his reddish-orange fur. I directed the roots to entangle his body and hold him to the ground.
“I will find the emerald, Rainer.”
“Why are you so angry?” Rainer questioned.
I scoffed at the thought that he was unaware of the reason. “Do you remember the night I left? What you did to me? Humiliating me again! The look in our father’s eyes that night said it all. I knew that I would never be as good as you in his eyes. That was the day he choose you, Rainer.”
“That’s not true.”
“LIAR!” I screamed so loudly that the chirping birds leapt into the sky and flew away. “Liar,” I repeated in a whisper.
“He was crushed when you didn’t return, Ethan.”
“Well…father won’t have to worry now, because when I find that emerald, I am going to be the most powerful sorcerer in Mistasia. And you will call me King.”
Rainer didn’t respond. He just stared at me shocked, like I had just slapped him in the face.
“Now where did you hide the emerald, Rainer,” I asked while searching around the forest.
When I turned my back, a bright blue flash caught my eye, followed by a snapping. I turned to see Rainer had broken free and escaped into the forest. I followed him forgetting about my wand in the leaves. It didn’t matter. I had left that life behind now. I was a sorcerer and in this forest there were all the weapons I would ever need to defeat my brother.
First, I pulled the ground up under his feet causing him to trip. Rainer gathered himself and ran again. Next, I snapped a nearby limb free and flung it like an arrow. My brother blocked it with a charm and continued to flee. He hid behind a large tree, but I just yanked it from the ground, roots and all, before tossing it aside with a tremendous crash which crippled at least two more trees nearby.
Rainer attempted to slow me down with a freezing spell, but I pulled the dirt before me up like a shield. It froze, but I kicked my leg through and continued stalking him.
“Give me the emerald, Rainer!” I demanded.
Rainer started to run again, but I had had enough. A tree branch lodged into the ground blocking his path. He turned to the right and another landed in front of him; then two more encircled Rainer in a wooden prison.
“There’s no escaping this forest, Rainer!” I stuck my face between two branches. “For so long, I envied you. Now, I pity you. I will not ask you again.”
Rainer pointed to a bush located between two trees just a short distance away. Underneath, I could see a green glow. My heart began to quicken as I reached underneath and grabbed hold of the solid stone. I pulled it out and focused on the object in my hand. It was green in color, but was not the emerald…just a mere rock.
“Rainer!” I yelled in frustration, but when I turned around he was gone again. He had escaped from my trap and disappeared into the forest. I closed my eyes and knelt to the ground. Placing my paw along the forest floor I calmed myself. I could feel the vibrations flowing to me from my right side. I dashed off in pursuit.
The forest quickly thinned and I found myself at its edge. Before me was a clearing. In the distance, Rainer ran for the shelter of a small house. I dashed toward him running faster than I had ever gone in my life. Just before I reached him, Rainer gripped the emerald tightly in his hands and was chanting something.
I didn’t have the time to reach him, when the ground began to tremble. I skidded to a halt. That was when I noticed our family’s crest upon the large wooden door. This was our old family home from centuries ago, before we became the protectors to the king. The land had claimed most of the house; only this door remained visible under the green vines, and tall grass.
The emerald began to glow brightly in Rainer’s palms. The wooden door began to change. It started to swirl around and around. Flashes of light spun at great speed. Rainer glanced at me for a single moment and then jumped into the portal. He had vanished.
I had to follow. I ran the short remaining distance and jumped, crashing into the decaying wooden door. I burst through into the dark and dirty room behind. The portal was gone, Rainer was gone, and most importantly…the emerald was gone with him.
I was crushed. My hope for greatness had just vanished before my eyes. I pulled myself out of the wreckage and stepped out into the grass. Standing at the edge of the forest was my master, Sorcerer LaCroiux. Fear overtook me.
PUNISHMENT
6
Sorcerer LaCroiux’s eyes were fixated upon me. How much had he seen? Did he know that my brother had escaped? Did he know Rainer had the emerald? All these thoughts raced through my mind. My head was swimming, my stomach flipped with fear. I quickly got my answer.
The elder elven sorcerer lashed out. He lifted me into the air. I floated above the ground as the wind carried me toward my master. LaCroiux briskly guided me to the edge of the forest and then released his grip on me. I crashed, landing hard on my side. My elbow lodged into my ribs knocking the wind from my lungs. I gasped for air as LaCroiux picked me up by my neck with his bony fingers sticking into my fur. He still hadn’t spoken to me.
Our eyes meet for a brief moment. It frightened me to see into his devilish soul from such a close distance. I struggled to speak causing LaCroiux’s head to tilt in an odd fashion. A smug grin invaded his old slightly wrinkled skin.
“Speak up, Ethan.” Then he released his grip and I fell back to the ground. “Where is the emerald you ignorant fool?”
“It is gone.” I braced for an attack, but he didn’t strike.
“Gone?”
“My brother stole it from me and then vanished into some kind of spinning portal. I chased after him, but it disappeared before I could follow.”
Sorcerer LaCroiux stared at the broken door in the distance where he must have witnessed my brother’s disappearance.
“You have failed me, Ethan. You’re father was right. You are a disappointment.”
My body trembled. I couldn’t bring myself to look at my master. All the strength and power I had felt just a few short moments ago was now gone. I was left cowering like a small child.
“You will have to pay for your failure, Ethan.” The powerful sorcerer didn’t hesitate.
He tossed a bright blue fireball at me. It engulfed me. At first it actually felt cool around my body, but at the snap of his fingers the color changed to a scorching white and the intense heat ripped through my body. I could smell my skin burning. The pain was excruciating. I screamed for him to stop, but he continued. My fur began to burst into flames and crumble from my body. The skin underneath was covered in heat blisters, which began to burst and then boil under the tremendous heat directly on my skin. Sorcerer LaCroiux was cooking me alive. My skin began to peel and stretch revealing a scaly layer underneath. I couldn
’t take much more. I wished for death, but then the pain stopped. My vision began to blur and fade to black. I collapsed to the ground and passed out.
When I awoke, we were no longer in Wolverine Forest. LaCroiux had taken us back to Cadieux Castle. He had let me live. I found myself on the stone cold floor of my father’s bedroom. I was alone. I struggled to my feet and stumbled into a wooden chair, barely catching myself before I fell to the floor. I pulled myself along the wall to the bed. My chest felt tight and my side hurt. I began to cry when I saw the skin on my arms. There was no longer any fur. It was completely gone. My skin was scaly and had a brownish-yellow color, like I was sickly. I lifted my head slowly almost too afraid to glance in the mirror and see my reflection. I gasped aloud at the sight of myself.
“NO!” I screamed. I now resembled some hideously deformed creature, a cross between a snake and an elf. My eyes were deep red and bulging from the sides of my head, with two large fangs and a forked tongue.
LaCroiux had exacted his punishment for me losing the emerald of power. I would forever remember my failure.
I sat alone in my father’s room. The sun had risen and begun to set again, when the door creaked open and three elven warriors entered with swords drawn. They stepped to the side as Sorcerer LaCroiux swooped in with a gleeful smile and joyous tone in his voice as though he had never been mad at me.
“Ethan! You are going to miss the celebration!” His