The Legend Of The Wizard's Apprentice (Book 1) (3 page)

“Now Kerwyn, how much of what I taught you about Goblins do you remember?”Master Sernett reached out and touched his apprentice on the shoulder trying to get him to focus on his questions as he saw that Kerwyn was looking as if he had just eaten a bug.

“Goblins are humanoid in shape with twisted limbs and they are generally easily spooked. But when they are in great numbers they tend to toughen up and become a lot braver. You also said they have very hard heads and never to get into hand to hand combat with them as they are a lot stronger then they look,” Kerwyn recited what he remembered from memory.

“That’s right. They are very strong and they have enough strength to tear a full-grown man’s arms off. What else did I teach you about them?” Master Sernett asked.

“You said that goblins are like ants; they will swarm an enemy and will even kill their own kind without a conscience. They are notorious for their cruelty and their sadistic ways of torturing their enemies and prey. The leader is usually the biggest and the most sadistic of goblins. He maintains his leadership by being the most feared in the goblin hoard. The leader will have the most kills and trophies around his neck. The trophies are usually the ears or noses of their victims. A lot of times these grisly trophies even belong to other goblins that had challenged his right to rule or were killed to be made an example of.

Goblins are a merciless lot and they have neither honour nor loyalties to any ruler. A true rampaging goblin hoard is nothing short of a giant mass of black twisted bodies that is all on a single mission of devastation and destruction. Once started, their blood lust fills them full of hatred and they will even kill their own kind without remorse if caught under the surging goblin wave,” Kerwyn looked at his master and waited for his direction to continue.

“Ok that’s good. Let me ask you a different sort question then and this one you will need to think harder about. What spell would you use to stop a lone goblin from attacking a farmer out in his field?”

Kerwyn blinked and paused a moments trying to formulate his answer.

“I think I would cast the magic missile spell. That way I would kill the goblin before he had a chance to strike,” Kerwyn said finally.

Master Sernett waited to see if Kerwyn would think of anything else and elaborate more on his answer. He heard nothing further from his apprentice and decided to help him out.

“Well that is one way to stop a goblin. But what guarantees do you have that you wouldn’t miss and kill the farmer instead?” his Master asked, trying to get Kerwyn to look outside of his normal thought process.

“Hmmm, I see what you mean,” Kerwyn thought and tried again.

“Well then I guess I would cast a sleep spell and put the goblin to sleep before he could hurt the farmer.”

Master Sernett knew that Kerwyn was starting to realize that not all spells will work in every situation and pressed him a bit more.

“Well that would work as well, but then you would have a sleeping farmer too as your sleep spell would cover a wide area and it would put everything within the casting area to sleep. And then you would have to try and drag the farmer to safety and, as you well know, goblins hardly ever hunt alone.” Kerwyn’s face wrinkled in thought.

“So now
that
would leave you both open for an attack,” Master Sernett knew full well that his apprentice was getting frustrated but continued to question his apprentice, trying to get him to think quickly on his feet so that he would have a better chance for success.”

“Alright Master Sernett I give up, what spell should I use in this situation?” Kerwyn threw his hands up in the air in frustration and, with a defeated look on his face; he turned to his master for help.

“Well my boy, if I were you and I had just finished learning my new ball of light spell, I would probably cast that one,” the wizard paused long enough for Kerwyn to absorb his words and continued, “You had just finished telling me a few minutes ago, that goblins spook easily. One thing that you didn’t say was; goblins prefer night hunting then day hunting. The only way a goblin will be out hunting in the day light is with the Hoard Lust on them, or if they are extremely hungry. They have very big sensitive eyes and bright light makes it hard for them to see. So after casting your ball of light spell, chances are the goblins would become scared and run away in search of a good hiding place. So now you have scared them away, saved the farmer and have given both of you enough time to get to safety. Now, let’s just say that this wasn’t just a small group of goblins, but a full hunting party out searching for food to feed the whole colony. Then what would you do?”

With each scenario Master Sernett drew Kerwyn into the unknown, trying to make him see that not every situation is as cut and dry as the stories in the big books made it appear.

“Hummm well, what about the spell of confusion? Even if I cast that and the farmer was caught up in my spell he wouldn’t remember what he was doing either and that would make all the goblins forget about killing the farmer too,” Kerwyn looked not all that confident with his answer and waited to see what his master would say.

“Well Kerwyn that is not entirely correct. What happens to the farmer when he forgets to run away or doesn’t remember that he is not even a match for a single goblin and tries to attack it? Plus remember this is not a lone goblin, this is a goblin hunting party and it could have up to thirty or more goblins in it. Kerwyn you need to remember the two basic natures of goblins; one is to kill, the second is to eat. So with that in mind, I don’t think the farmer has much of a chance of survival with that spell either.”

Kerwyn looked downcast and cried, “Ohhh Mudpuppies Master, I don’t know what spell would be the best for that situation!”

Smiling to himself, Master Sernett responded, “Well you actually have a pretty good idea there by using a summoning spell. Mudpuppies would work in this situation very well. I would recommend summoning about a hundred Mudpuppies for this task. Mudpuppies do not like Goblins much; in fact Goblins usually avoid the river and riverbanks for this reason. Mudpuppies are fierce protectors of their territory and they do not like it when a predator enters their area.”

Confused, Kerwyn said, “But master, Mudpuppies are so small and they are just harmless little lizards.”

“Oh my boy, the mudpuppies you’re thinking about are just the babies of the full sized ones. A full sized Mudpuppy can grow to about three feet long and since Mudpuppies are a member of the dragon lizard family, that makes them dangerous.” Master Sernett tried to make Kerwyn think about Dragons and how even the smallest dragon can be deadly when it wanted to be.

“But Master, I have played with the little ones by the rivers many times and I have never been hurt by them. Sometimes there are so many mudpuppies crawling on me that I have to sit down before I fall over with the weight of them.”

“Oh Kerwyn, you need to stop thinking as a commoner; you are a wizard's apprentice. Think about it; if the Mudpuppies attacked humans then the humans would come hunting them. Mudpuppies act very similar to the way a dog would react with a human. If treated fairly they can become social and even see a human as one of its pack. But have you ever heard of a human ever hurting a mudpuppy? If they ever were to try, the adults would be out quick to protect their young. Sometimes we only think about them as being harmless because as a rule humans do not intentionally go out of our way to hurt them. In fact, our young are like playmates to their young. Do you understand what I am saying Kerwyn?”

“Yes master, I think I understand now. Mudpuppies don’t hurt us because we don’t hurt them. But they hate goblins, because all good living things hate and fear goblins.” A triumphant look appeared on Kerwyn’s face.

“That’s right Kerwyn, all the animals in our world treat us the same way we treat them. It’s the way of Magic here in this world. Also don’t forget that since they are a distant relative to dragons they can sense whether or not we mean them harm. It has something to do with our aura and the way each and every living thing taps into the One Power. They know when danger is near and will hide from it. That’s why when hunting birds such as crows, hawks and harpies fly overhead, you will see the Mudpuppies run and hide underground. Once the threat is gone, the young mudpuppies come back out to play. But rest assured that the adult Mudpuppies are on guard for the really persistent predators and will defend their young and territory when the need arises. Now back to the task at hand: summoning a hundred Mudpuppies would work because they would have no place to hide and as such they would fight the goblins while protecting the farmer inadvertently.”

Kerwyn had a realization and interrupted with, “Sometimes Master, magic isn’t just about the magic is it?”

“No, my boy, it isn’t. Being able to cast offensive spells is one thing. But knowing what spell or series of spells to cast could mean life or death. Don’t worry Kerwyn; you will learn what the best spell is for the right occasion. It takes years and years of practice to get it right. Sometimes it will be from your mistakes that you will learn the most.”

“Ok enough about Goblins; what can you remember from my teachings about Dragons? Since we have touched already on some of the relatives of Dragons, tell me what you remember about them”

“Well there are a lot of different species and colours of Dragons. Some of the types of Dragons are the great and honourable Golden Dragons, the rare and very evil undead Bone Lynch Dragons and then there are the very small and shy pixie Dragons. There are also the Evil Black Dragons, the unpredictable Blue Dragons and then White Frost Dragons from the north. You have also taught me about the mean Green Dragons and the deadly water Dragons and....” Kerwyn ticked off on his figures each type of dragons almost as if he had them each catalogued and was reading about them from a book.

“Ok Kerwyn, so you know about the many different types of Dragons. I see you were paying attention during that lesson. But can you tell me what all of the Dragon species have in common?”

“Oh yes Master, all Dragons like their privacy and they all collect vast treasure troves and will defend it right down to the last copper coin. Also they are all temperamental and unpredictable. Dealing with any Dragon can be deadly, as all Dragons are known to kill and eat humans on occasion. Also, Dragon Magic is one of the most powerful types of magic in our world because they are the most in tune with the One Power. Dragons were one of the first creatures created from the One Power by the gods themselves. Or, that’s what we have been told since they are the oldest living creatures and no one knows for sure.”

“That’s correct Kerwyn. Now what else can you tell me about Dragons?”

“Well all of the types Dragons have what we call
Dragon Fear
. That’s when anyone who gets too close to a Dragon feels such an overwhelming and immense fear that they freeze in place and are unable to run or fight. You said that it take years of being around a Dragon before one learns how to overcome such fear. You also said that the Dragon Knights who hunt out and kill the evil dragons spend as much time with the friendly Dragons as they can, as to condition themselves to overcome the Dragon Fear.”

“That is also right Kerwyn. Now tell me: what is Dragon Fear?” asked his master.

“Master, I don’t know what Dragon Fear is, only that dragons have this effect on all living things,” stated Kerwyn while scrunching up his face in confusion.

“Kerwyn, since Dragons are closest to the One Power, doesn’t it stand to reason this is their aura or the way a Dragon taps into the One Power’s energy?”

“Ohhhh, just like the Mudpuppies can sense good and evil in us, or the way they sense a predator coming?”

“That’s right, Kerwyn,” Master Sernett pat Kerwyn on the shoulder, smiling at his understanding. “It is
exactly
the same way except that we feel the Dragon’s aura of power which we feel and interpret as fear. Now, since we are wizards and draw on the same One Power ourselves, it should make sense that we should also be able to cast a protective barrier around ourselves to dampen our senses to the Dragon’s aura of power, right?”

“Looking at it that way master, yes, it does seem that we wizards should be able to do that. But how do we cast a spell using the One Power and shield ourselves from the same power that we are drawing from? Wouldn’t the One Power just cancel itself out?”

“Ah ha! Now you’re thinking like a wizard but you are still trying to use standard logic to figure out this problem. What you are not thinking about is this; just because we call it the One Power, does not mean that it is just
One
Power. Now that I have you really confused, and I can see that I have by the look on your face; let me explain. The One Power is all around us and it is floats all around us like rivers of energy. Are you following me so far?”

“Yes Master, I think so,” said Kerwyn, not really understanding as much as he was letting on.

“Ok, I want you to think of it this way: when you use a dam to divert a river away from your home, this does not mean that a second river coming from a different direction will not flood your house. Now do you see what I mean?”

Kerwyn didn’t understand and his face scrunched up, his brow twitching in conflict.

“No? Ok try this one: it’s raining outside and just because you’ve a put rain hat on does not mean that your feet will not still get wet. Now do you follow? It’s all the same water, or rain. However you want to look at it. You can cast your shield spell to protect yourself against the Dragon Fear and still draw from a different source of the One Power. So you see, protecting yourself against the One Power and casting say an offensive spell using the One Power at the same time is possible. It just sounds more complicated then it really is.” Master Sernett laughed at his confused apprentice.

“Ok Master Sernett, whatever you say...”

“Oh Kerwyn, don’t sound so down. You are so very young yet but trust that you’ll learn all about the ins and outs of Magic in the years yet to come. One lesson you will learn over time is one of the side effects of being a wizard. Casting spells and using the One Power seems to extend a wizard’s life. It’s almost like the One Power infuses our bodies and our aging slows down. I know you’ve never asked me, Kerwyn, but how old do you really think I am?”