Chapter Thirteen

With the lingering cold of the past year, Franklin huddled deeper into his furry coats. He was adorned thickly in several shirts and jackets as the nights often lingered with bitter coldness. Not once has he looked back to see if Prentice was behind him, he already knew. With the cold along with the moonless night, they had less trouble getting out of the castle and over the walls. The guards had retired, and they shivered, who still had the soul to keep watch as the night gave no mercy.

“Franklin, are you alright? You seem quiet.” Prentice acknowledged softly as he continued walking.

“I am fine. I am on the lookout for any lurker. One can never be too sure about these things.”

“Just watch your steps. Breathe, then step.” Muttered Prentice in a low tone.

Franklin bore a secret he didn’t share with anyone. Not that he had anyone to tell, but the one he talks to would be hurt to know he did such a thing. He had been studying more than the books his teacher gave him. Among the library of books he had been given access to, sealed away in a casting place up in the ceiling, he found a black book. The book used to vibrate in his hand, sending warm shivers through his body, and he liked it. He only found it recently, but he finished it. It was a part story, spells, and some black drawings of movements when saying spells. He was tempted to try them, with the little hissing voice compelling him how sensational it would feel. Like nothing he had ever felt, it whispered to him, urging him to try it at least once.

Franklin briefly turned around to look at Prentice, as the only thing visible to him were his eyes. “Prentice, how do you feel about dark magic?”

His glowing eyes narrowed quickly in Franklin’s direction. “Why do you ask? I think the name speaks for itself, trouble and despair.”

Now it was Franklin’s turn to furrow his eyebrows at him. “What does that mean? I am asking since…I don’t know.”

“Franklin, as much as you might already know,know, this dark magic isn’t like light magic. It is more painful on the body, and at all times, it brings about death. Death always follows, since dark magic came from death.”

The revelation came to no surprise to Franklin, yet he had so many questions and he thought it was possible for him to understand the dangers of it.

“There is a lot that I don’t know about it. I don’t think you taught me anything about it.” Stepping over thick roots, Franklin paused again.

“I won’t either. Opening your mind to its mysteries is what all good mages once did, and it was a downfall for my kind. Some have gone corrupt beyond recognition.” A hint of sorrow passed through Prentice’s words like a shadow, probably reminiscing about his past.

“What happens when a mage or a witch practices dark magic?” Franklin asked, too scared now to know the answer.

“They are eliminated. We don’t need that kind of magic in this world. It is already corrupt as it is.”

Looking around him now, he was thoughtful in his next words.

“Do you feel dark magic has something to do with the forest being like this?”

“I would have sensed it. I don’t know what is at play here.” Prentice replied, confusingly.

“We would find out and get to the bottom of it.” Franklin reassured him with a fist in the air.

“I know. I am counting on your behalf to not give me trouble, too.”

“I swear I won’t linger.” He said, looking at Prentice’s eyes, and smiled.

The book weighed heavily on his back. The pain in his neck would get too hurtful when he looked at it too long, so he tried limiting his space with it. He knew better than giving in to temptation. The torture of finishing the book came to Franklin too late. The images stuck in his mind haunt his dreams now, making him sleepless and tired. Only when he reads the book, he feels well rested or energized for the next day. He feared Prentice would scold him because he thought having the book was wrong. Hence he kept it to himself, never revealing what he is taking with him as they stepped into the damp and gloomy forest.

They have been walking for another minute or two, when he felt heat coming from his back, and noticed Prentice clutching him sturdily. One step and he would have gone over the edge. It bewildered him how he never saw it coming. The thought of death struck him like a breathless blow, and he strutted backwards.

“I know you’re scared, and you are supposed to. No one is above fear. You know your feet even better. Use them, and let them guide you.” Prentice whispered harshly, tugging his collar backwards, and he stumbled.

“I could have died! How could I not have seen it?” Now, as stunned as he was, he sat down on the forest floor. His heart was thumping in his chest and his breathing became erratic. It shook him up more than he would like to accept.

“We are not in a regular forest, have you not remembered? Focus your mind, not your eyes.” When he looked at Prentice, his eyes were glowing, and it was leading the way all the time. What a hypocrite.

“Your eyes are glowing. I wish my eyes could glow like that, too.” He exclaimed, and Prentice thought better than to smack the boy for his childishness. Catching himself a little too late, he covered his mouth with a zip.

“They can. We are on dangerous grounds, the faster you get them, the better, I guess. Repeat after me in your mind, luminous pixies, lend me your light for my eyes to see where I cannot.”

As though hypnotized, Franklin allowed his words to echo through his body and soon he saw himself in a different light. It gave him a pale blue outline, and he glowed. Realizing that he can now see Prentice clearer than before, he grinned even bigger.

“Here, I thought it would have been something cool to break my tongue. Fine, already said it. Do I have them now?”

He saw Prentice rolled his eyes, yet he indulged his whispered banters. For a man who showed seriousness, he sure tolerated a lot of playfulness from Franklin, only because the boy shared a deep bond in his heart. Still looking for confirmation, Prentice finally answered.

“Yes, you do. Enough with the sass. It can get you killed. Remember to focus your mind!”

“I have never seen you like this. You’re not so composed. What’s wrong?”

“I am agitated where we are, Franklin. These parts are not to be messed with. Try not to touch anything, please?” He said, almost begging him now to continue on their journey without unexpected intrusions.

Deep within the forest, the dark fiend opened its eyes, smelling the unfamiliar scent of a golden figure entering the forest and its protector. Its power has been untapped and compressed for his own good. The fiend snarled, his teeth baring in a sickening smile. Growling in order, it sent his monsters to begin the process of unleashing the untapped power which will come to good use. Crawling away to get a closer look, he steered clear of the two for now.

Closing his eyes and travelling through the darkness of the trees, he sees only a little boy. The protector was in its human skin. It would make him weaker if they attack. Though he will not hesitate to shed. Looking at them as they made their way through the thick shrubs, he calculated they must be looking for something. Forming a plan in his head, he wickedly smiled once more, and the trees shivers beside him. His plans would work well and everything would be just right when he finally is ready to show himself. He would have a glorious victory against the child god he must kill, and harness the power he possesses.

Prentice has been looking around, and it seems too quiet for someone to not show up already. He eyed the trees and saw something slithering, movement. Wheels were beginning to turn in his head, and a thousand questions about expectancy arise.

“Opgaan in,” commanded Prentice, touching one green leaf on a black tree. He looked at Franklin and cast a spell of blending in immediately. Prentice knew that even though they were being watched, Franklin was a beacon that could not be hidden for long. The spell to make them blend in will only last for one hour, and then they will need to get to Freda’s house in time before any problems arise.

Franklin looked at him curiously, doing so but not once saying or touching anything. Only then did he realize that he was holding his breath.

“Prentice, what’s wrong?” Franklin asked in a panic voice. The emotion was thick as the damp cold air around them.

“I fear we are being watched. We need to move this journey along.” Prentice bit harshly in the cold. Frosty breath came from his mouth as he spoke.

Not long before he had that thought, the ground vibrated under them and abruptly something pulled Franklin’s ankle into the dirt and not letting go. Vines with thick thorns and a black sticky stench that stuck to the nose poured from the ground, grabbing to Frank’s ankle like a prize, pulling him under. It held no remorse in its tugs. Franklin started screaming in pain and trying to grab his sword from his strewed away backpack. Whipping it out, and only an inch away from severing his foot, he chopped with his might and the deadly vine retreated into the ground once more.

“Let’s move,” Franklin said, pale as a ghost. Immediately they set forth on their journey even quicker, maybe even more sloppy than careful now.

“Are you alright? How did it come out of nowhere without us sensing it? Something isn’t right.”

“You’re telling me,” gritted out Franklin at his swollen ankle, “my ankle hurts like a donkey kick.”

Looking at his foot, he saw a solemn-looking Prentice bent down and picking something up. Clutching to his ankle, and trying to stop the bleeding with a spell, he saw Prentice sigh and asked, “no one looks for this book but yet they find it. Have you read it?” He said, almost too scared to know the answer.

“Yes, I have. I did not look for the book. It found me. It is now haunting my dreams,” Franklin said strongly, not able to hide it anymore. He felt tired walking all the time without stopping. Now his foot was looking too bad to even move his toes.

“Heal yourself, Franklin. We don’t have a long way to go. Freda’s house is just behind the trees.”

Prentice looked haunted and even more tired. He felt emotionally drained, knowing very well the downfall they were about to face.

“I can’t,” he said. “I haven’t been able to use my magic in some time.”

Franklin looked at Prentice, and they stared at each other wordlessly for a short time. Prentice eyes darkened for a while, storming what to do with Franklin in such a state.

“You have been doing it all the time in our classes. What’s wrong now?”

“Things have not been the same. We haven’t had a class for a while. It hurts when I do.”

“What do you mean, it hurts? What have you been doing in that library?”

“It makes me feel as though I am losing myself. I can feel myself slipping,” Franklin said, shamefully bowing his head.

“Here, drink this. This is a potion to heal you. Let's get moving.”

He simply took the bottle and opened the cap, hesitating when he got the whiff of smelly feet and orchid smell from the bottle. It smelled like hell.

Prentice walked away and left him to get his stuff, and he was starting to walk behind. Only the skies know what will happen to them now. Prentice dreaded what happened in the library, now regretting not pressing more for information about what he remembered, or even tapping into his mind once more.