Fairyfly - 6. Master and Student

An old man in a white cloak knocked using the ornate, crow-shaped iron door knocker on the heavy wooden door. Merely a few moments later, he heard the familiar voice inviting him in.

"Come in, Pepin."

As the old healer opened the door, his eyes widened in shock as he saw one of the king's sorcerers in dark purple robes standing in the middle of Khalgos' spacious living room.

"What the... Oh!" Pepin exclaimed, realizing the trickery.

"How do I look," Khalgos asked, examining himself in the mirror. He wanted to make sure his disguise was perfect. If he was to save Esthor, he could afford no mistakes.

"I believe you can tell by my reaction that I was fooled. Had I not seen you here, in your own home, I would've surely thought you were one of them," Pepin admitted.

"Good," Khalgos nodded smugly, making an elegant movement with his scepter that removed his disguise, turning him back into his usual form.

"We should head out at once, I don't wish to waste any more time. Esthor needs me."

"Of course, I am ready," Pepin agreed. "Are you sure about everything?"

"Yes. If the funeral is at midday as you say, we should be able to go in without much trouble. But remember, Pepin, at the first sign of trouble, run or hide. You can't defend yourself as well as I can."

"Of course, but don't worry about me. The king doesn't suspect me at all."

"Let us hope so."

And so the two old men set off on their horses, making their way to the royal grounds. It wasn't long before they could see the king's castle rising on the horizon before them. With just a nod to the healer, Khalgos slowed down and stayed behind, finding a convenient spot behind a nearby cottage. From his hiding point, the sorcerer observed as Pepin approached two guards who were guarding the entrance. After exchanging some words, all three of them started walking away, creating an opportunity for Khalgos to move in.

While Pepin distracted the guards, Khalgos took the chance and started making his way to the castle doors in his disguise, glancing over to the side where the three men were standing. Noticing some kind of movement nearby, the guards briefly turned to look, but when they saw only one of the royal sorcerers, they paid him no attention.

Khalgos made brief eye contact with Pepin, who raised his hand as if to scratch his chin, which was a sign that Arabella’s funeral was indeed in progress as they thought.

“Perfect,” the old sorcerer thought, entering the castle and heading straight down for the dungeons.

The few people who saw him seemed to suspect nothing, as to all of them he looked like one of the king’s trusted mages.

As soon as he entered the dim, stuffy dungeons, Khalgos took out his dark gray scepter with a narrow, black crystal on top, illuminating the space in front of him. As mice and bugs scattered around, hiding in holes in the walls, the sorcerer searched for signs of a freshly built wall behind which his student was imprisoned.

After turning right, he realized he was not alone.

“Visitors again? This area seems to have become popular lately,” a sarcastic female voice was heard.

Khalgos immediately pointed his scepter at the direction of the voice, faint light revealing a young woman in chains.

“And what is a Shade doing here?” he asked, though he did not sound particularly interested in hearing the answer. He came with one purpose only and didn’t care about anything else.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” the girl replied teasingly.

“Not really. Whenever a Shade is involved, I expect it has something to do with deception and theft.”

“Perhaps. But not all Shades are like that, you know.”

“I suppose that’s true. But I have a feeling you are.”

The girl laughed, but Khalgos had already started ignoring her, turning around to inspect the cells around him. As he saw a fresh wall that seemed hastily built, he rushed to it.

“This must be it,” he muttered to himself.

The girl kept her eyes on the old man the entire time, seeing an opportunity for escape.

“Looking for the blind guy, aren’t you?” she asked, drawing his attention once again.

“Have you seen him?”

“Yes, they brought him in yesterday and put him there,” the Shade replied, pointing at the wall in front of Khalgos. “Who is he, your son?”

“Shhh,” Khalgos said as he pressed his ear to the brick wall. “Boy, are you there?”

No answer came from the other side, not even the faintest noise. Even though the feeling of dread was rising within him, Khalgos knew he must remain calm and act quickly if he was to save Esthor. Stepping away from the wall and muttering some words, he swept his scepter in front of him, suddenly making the entire wall transparent.

The sight before him baffled him, and even the woman in the cell behind him seemed just as surprised. Esthor's cell was completely empty, save for the chains on the floor.

“How is this possible?” he asked, imagining the worst case scenarios. What if he was too late, what if they killed him already? What if they found out about his plan so they moved him to some other location? Or maybe the treacherous Shade was lying to him.

“I don’t know,” the girl whispered.

Suddenly, the sorcerer turned to her and in a swift movement pointed his scepter directly at her face, illuminating the entire dungeon with bright white light, while his true appearance of an old man flickered, casting off the disguise he’d been holding the entire time.

“DO NOT PLAY WITH ME, GIRL!” he hissed, ominous black glow emanating from his eyes, making the usually fearless girl shiver. That always did the trick when he needed to make himself look scary.

“I… I swear I don’t know what happened to him. They… they walled him up yesterday and no one has come here since. I don’t know how he got away,” she managed to mutter.

"You better be telling the truth!"

"I am."

“There must be something I’m missing…” he said, turning around to look at the cell again.

“Well…” the Shade whispered and Khalgos immediately looked back at her. “I did hear something last night, some noise coming from over there… Like chains being rattled.”

“That still doesn’t explain how he could've just vanished…”

“Can he turn invisible?”

“Not unless you taught him,” Khalgos replied flatly.

Esthor was obviously not there and Khalgos knew he couldn’t waste any more time or else he’d be discovered. Disguising himself again, he headed out the same way he came.

“Hey, what about me? Can you help me out?” the Shade called out.

Just as he stopped and turned to look in her direction, he heard voices and footsteps approaching rapidly.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” a guard appeared around the corner and stopped, seeing what he thought was one of the king’s sorcerers.

“I heard some noise and came to check. It was nothing,” Khalgos replied calmly, heading out before the guard became even more suspicious.

Minutes later, he was back at his hiding spot behind a cottage, where his horse and Pepin were already waiting for him.

“What happened, where is he?” Pepin looked at him in confusion. Like Khaldos, he feared the worst.

“Damned if I know! His cell is empty.”

“Could they have moved him somewhere?” the healer asked as they got back on their horses and headed away from the castle.

“I don’t see how. The cell was still walled up. Of course, unless the Shade was lying all along, but I don’t think she was.”

“The Shade?”

“Yes. A girl in one of the cells. Says she personally saw him getting thrown in there and imprisoned.”

“Do you want me to go and talk to the king, see what I can find out?” Pepin offered.

“Maybe… But not yet. I want to consider my options,” Khalgos replied, looking ahead with a serious look on his face. “First, I want to go to Esthor’s house. If he did manage to escape somehow, maybe he went there.”

“If he wanted to hide, I doubt he’d go there.”

“I know, but it’s worth a try. I have to be sure.”

As the two men rode their horses away from the royal grounds and into the town, King Norius and Queen Loreena returned to the castle with their daughters, having said the final goodbye to their eldest child. With the exception of Arabella not being among them anymore, everything seemed to go on as usual. No one in the castle had realized that Esthor was gone and that his master had just been there in search of him. No one, that is… except for Shade.

While the girl in the cell was mulling over how to use her newfound knowledge to her advantage, the king was interrupted from his silent grieving by one of the guards entering the throne chamber. Looking up at him and seeing an envelope in his hands, the king assumed it must be someone expressing their condolences. He didn’t want any of that right now – all he wanted was for him and his wife to be left alone so they could mourn their daughter in peace.

“Yes, what is it?” King Norius asked without interest.

“Your Majesty, it’s a message from Prince Terryn of Thorodan,” the guard said, approaching the king and handing him the yellowish envelope. At its center, there was a dark green seal with a tree – the symbol of the neighboring kingdom of Thorodan.

Merely a few weeks ago, the arrangement was for the young prince to marry Arabella, making her the princess and future queen of Thorodan. However, cruel fate had had other plans. Arabella was now dead and Prince Terryn would likely find another princess to marry, forgetting all about my daughter – the king thought as he broke the seal and opened the envelope.

“What does he want?” Queen Loreena asked, watching her husband reading the letter.

“…and even though we were not joined in matrimony, I feel it is my duty to come and say goodbye to the princess. I hope you will allow me such privilege and welcome me to your kingdom once again,” the king read out loud.

“Well, I think it is only fair we let him pay his respects. She was to be his bride, after all…” the queen said thoughtfully.

“Perhaps you’re correct,” the king replied with a hardened expression on his face, though he was reluctant to receive any guests just yet.

However, it was the harsh reality he would have to deal with. Sooner or later, he would start receiving letters from lords and dukes wishing to pay their respects to the late princess. Although he could easily dismiss them all – he was their king, after all – it would not be seen as courteous to refuse the prince of the neighboring kingdom.

“Guard, call for the messenger and tell him to come. He has a letter to deliver.”

~~

Waking up to utter darkness all around him, Esthor panicked and struggled to move, but he couldn’t. The chains were tight around his body, preventing him from even getting up from the cold floor he was lying on. However, now that the king’s miserable sorcerers were not doing their magic on him anymore, he could finally free himself. He whispered a few words and the chains broke, falling down to the floor.

Weakened and bruised, he managed to get up, feeling the walls around him with his hands. There was no door, no bars – how would he get out? Feeling desperate, he fell to the ground once again before suddenly feeling some strange warmth within him, the kind that he’d never felt before. After a few more heat waves that seemed to surge through his entire body, he felt himself shifting into a flying insect.

To his surprise, he could suddenly see! Even though it was dark, he could clearly see rays of moonlight coming in through a small opening in the wall, serving as a window of sorts. For him, however, this opening would serve as a gate to freedom.

Fluttering his wings expertly as if he’d been flying his whole life, Esthor flew out into the night air, relishing the freshness of the outside world and his newfound liberty.

Suddenly, he woke up with a sharp gasp, realizing he was in bed. His heart fell when he remembered he was still blind.

“That wasn’t just a dream…” he muttered, realizing what he had seen. He hadn’t been dreaming, he had been remembering.

But how – he wondered. If he was indeed a shifter, how did he not know it by now? He’d heard of some cases where people discovered they could shift at the age of seven or eight, which was exceptionally late. Most people with the ability to turn into animals were able to do it almost immediately after birth. He had never heard of anyone discovering their gift so late.

“Hey, everything alright?” he heard a familiar, concerned voice say, as he felt someone sit next to him. “Did you have a nightmare?”

“No, I… I’m not sure. I’m alright, though,” Esthor replied, nodding.

He was beginning to panic when he woke up after that vision, but now that he heard Rulf’s voice, he calmed down a bit.

“Thank you,” Esthor said softly, turning his head to where he imagined Rulf was sitting.

“For what?”

“Are you kidding me? For everything! For saving me, taking care of me…” Esthor replied, smiling.

“Oh, that,” Rulf chuckled. “It was natural, just the right thing to do. I’m sure you would’ve done the same.”

“I sure hope so.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Yes, please,” Esthor replied a little too eagerly, drawing a short laugh from Rulf.

It was strange. Before all of this happened, he was never big on food, but now… He felt like he could eat an ox. Was it the newfound appreciation of life? Or maybe the pleasant company? Whatever it was, the young sorcerer enjoyed another simple but appetizing meal with his new friend.

“So… can I ask you something?” Rulf asked hesitantly as he stood to clean up the table. He’d wanted to broach the subject ever since Esthor first woke up in his house yesterday morning, but was unsure how to proceed.

“Of course.”

“Do you remember… who did this to you?”

“I…” Esthor muttered, not sure how much he could reveal to the Lykos just yet.

Rulf had been nothing but kind to him, there is no doubt about that, and it was highly unlikely that he was a fan of the king. After all, the royal family was never on friendly terms with the Lykos. Esthor had even heard stories of the late King Brom going hunting at night and not caring if he shot a Lykos or an animal. To him, they were the same. His son, King Norius, was more just and tolerant, but after the incident with Arabella, who knows what he was capable of.

Nevertheless, killing a princess is not something you talk about to a person you just met, so Esthor decided to keep that part of the story a secret, at least for the time being.

“I’m sorry I asked, I know it must be difficult for you.”

“No, it’s not that… It's something else. I remember who I am,” he said, feeling it was time to tell Rulf who he was. “My name is Esthor.”

“As in THE Esthor? Of course, I knew I recognized you from somewhere!” Rulf exclaimed, suddenly putting the pieces together.

"You do?"

"Of course, the famous mage! You have a bit of a reputation, you know. Even the Lykos know about you. You know, I think I saw you a few times from afar."

"Wait a minute... What kind of reputation?" Esthor asked, feeling a sudden heat in his cheeks.

"Oh, it's good, of course. People say you're the most skillful sorcerer in the kingdom," Rulf was happy to confirm, and even happier when he saw Esthor make a faint smile at the comment.

"Can I ask you something? About... shifting?"

"Sure."

"When you turn into a wolf, do your... human deficiencies transfer over to the animal form as well?"

Rulf frowned, not sure he understood the question, before realizing Esthor couldn't see his expression.

"Um, sorry, what do you mean by that?"

"Well, for example, if you broke your arm as a human, would your wolf form be affected?"

"Oh, no, not at all. Say you're able to shift into a bat - naturally, you'll have excellent hearing in your bat form even if you're completely deaf as a human. That's one of the blessings of being a shifter. You can use your animal form to make up for what you may lack as a human," Rulf explained.

"I see," Esthor nodded, pleased with the answer. Things made more sense to him now.

"Why do you ask? Are you a shifter as well?"

"I'm... Actually, I think I am," Esthor was almost afraid to say it. "I think that's how I escaped."

"By shifting into what?" Rulf asked curiously. The young sorcerer was getting more fascinating to him by the minute.

"A fairyfly. This tiny insect with thin, feathery wings."

"Will you show me?" Rulf was curious. He suddenly felt a strong desire to see Esthor in his animal form. "If you want, I mean."

"I... I don't know if I can. I only managed to do it once, and it wasn't exactly voluntary. But I guess I can try. What time of day is it?"

"It's still not dark," Rulf replied. "We'll have to wait some more till the sun goes down. Then you can try shifting, and I can show you my wolf form... Oh, I'm sorry."

"That's ok," Esthor replied, not offended at Rulf's innocent slip of the tongue. "I'm not used to it either. Hey, while we wait for the night to come, I'd like to do something. Can you point me to a window? If possible, one that's not looking out onto the street."

"Sure, let's go," Rulf said, taking Esthor by the hand and getting up, leading him to a window that looked onto the backyard. "Why do you..."

"You'll see," Esthor just smiled mysteriously.

Just because he was blind didn't mean he couldn't show off, at least a little bit. He just hoped his master would hear his call. He didn't feel good about going back to his own house, but Khalgos would keep him safe and be able to help him. Not that he didn't feel secure in Rulf's home, but he couldn't stay there forever.

Standing in front of a window and feeling it with his fingers, Esthor blew on it, his breath making the surface all foggy. As he cleaned it with his hand, he called out in a loud voice.

"Master Khalgos!"

Seconds and minutes passed and just as Esthor was beginning to lose hope, the old man's face appeared in the window, drawing a gasp from Rulf.

"Esthor, my boy, you're alive!"