The Sorcerer
    by Anya "Shimmer"

She had been walking for quite some time now, and was thinking of just setting up camp and staying there for the night, but the old fairy woman's advice about continuing till the next village and not sleeping out in the open till she found a companion to watch over her stuck in her mind like a command unable to be refused. Thinking about the woman brought back memories from the past. A farmiliar rush of anger and misery washed over her as she remembered that awful night that the evil sorcerer had swooped down upon their home and murdered her mother and father. She had been only eight, and loosing ones parents is an especially hard loss to an eight year old. Then she remembered the tiny people coming and taking her to the old fairy woman who had raised her raised her till she was fourteen, as she was now. The fairy people had tried to make her forget her loss by treating her as they wouls if she was a real fairy girl, or rather a fairy princess. She had tried too, with all the power she possessed. She did not like the growing need for revenge that had made her feel she had to go on this journey. She was so lost in thought she didn't notice the bobbing light from up ahead. It was her pet dragon that brought her back to reality by nipping her arm soon enough to get under the cover of the trees. The fairy woman had cautioned her about meeting strangers on the road. "You never know who they might be. It could be a friendly passer by or a raiding party." The young woman, Zarlina was her name, remembered the old woman saying this, and chose to follow her advice. A young woman and a dragon would attract to much attenion. She wasn't altogether ugly either, with her long golden-red hair, blue-green eyes, and being tall and slender, "she would be priceless to a raiding party" a young man from had had so graciously pointed out. She considered the fairy village her home because where she used to live with her parents, she was unwelcome. They said she would bring them bad luck, thinking she was unlucky having lost both her parents on the same night.

The light was gone by then and so she stepped onto the path and kept walking. Consulting her map, she thought she should have been at the village by now. And sure enough, just behind a bend in the trail, the entrance to the underground town was waiting. The village was underground just like all the others. In this troubled time, if you built a town above ground, it wouldn't be there by morning. Ever since the rise of the evil sorcerer Vinanzio, no one was safe. The people lived in fear that he might decide to pray upon their home. This sorcerer was the same evil man who had killed Zarlina's parents.

A young man, his name was Kevin, was waiting by the entrence. He had seen her coming and was interested at who this strange woman, walking beside a dragon with purple scales trimmed with silver, and about the size of a full grown wolf as if it were perfectly ordinary might be. When she finally noticed him, he treated her with one of his well know grins that seemed to make even the stiffest person want to smile back. He wasn't disappointed.

After seeing his grin, she smiled back. This man was obviously friendly, yet you can never be too careful. Zarlina approached him cautiously. He grinned at her again and held out a hand. She shook it.

"Hello, my name is Zarlina. Is there an inn here?"

"Of course! I've been staying there myself. My name is Kevin. I was just about to go there too. So I'll show you the way. With your permission that is?"

I'd appreciate that. Thank you." She replied, grinning in spite of herself. She had found a friend! He led her to a building with a sign on the door that read "INN" and bid her goodnight, telling her he would see her in the morning.

When she woke in the morning, she dressed, packed, and went into the common room, her dragon in tow. Much to her surprise, Kevin was waiting for her, already dressed and packed, talking to the hotel manager about the bill and travel supplies.

"Are you leaving today?" Zarlina asked, wondering if it was just coincidence that he was leaving on the same day as her.

"Yes I am. I wasn't aware you were leaving today. Most people who stop here are visiting someone and stay longer than one night."

"I was just passing through. Well, I just wanted to tell you thank you for showing me where this Inn was and tell you that I'm leaving. Well, goodbye then! I look forward to seeing you again!" She smiled at him and headed for the door.

"Oh it was no problem and I enjoyed it too...Wait, what do you mean goodbye?!" But by then she was already out the door and he wasn't sure she had heard him. 'Where ever she's going, she doesn't want companions.' He thought to himself. He knew that she knew he intended to come with her. 'I wonder where she is going. It must be important if she was in such a hurry, and I wonder why she didn't want me to come?'

Zarlina was thinking too. 'The old fairy woman had said to find a companion to protect her, but she had her dragon. What more protection could someone want, and she really didn't want to endanger Kevin, and once he knew where she was going, he probably wouldn't want to come anyway.'

*****

Zarlina had stopped for lunch in a clearing by the trail. She had an uneasy feeling that someone was following her. She had that feeling for quite some time now, but no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't find anyone. She finished her lunch and was headed back towards the path when a high-pitched screech that could only have come from Scratch, her dragon's name was Scratch, and that scream was definitely farmiliar.

She headed towards the sound and found Scratch at the bottom of a tree looking up and screeching. The dragon looked agreed and alarmed but with an unusual show of indecision. She would have normally have just climbed the tree and caught whatever it was that was bothering her.

"Who ever you are, you better come down! Scratch can climb trees and she hates it when people hide from her. Don't worry, she won't hurt you if you come down, unless I tell her to." The man in the tree slowly came down and Zarlina gasped.

It was Kevin!!! "Have you been following me this whole time?" She asked. He nodded guiltily, still a little shaken by Scratch's advance and was unable to speek at the moment.

"You're lucky Scratch knew you or else she wouldn't have waited at the bottom of the tree." Scratch nodded as if to confirm her remark. "Well, now that you're here, I suppose you could travel with me if that is what you want." He nodded. "Well in that case, you probably want to know where I'm going and why and that sort of thing." He nodded again.

She explained as they walked about her journey and her mission. Things improved after that. She hadn't realized how lonely she was with just her dragon.

*****

Late one night, they were sitting around the campfire and talking. Kevin, who was fourteen, had just told her that he was a sorcerer, and then she asked if he could bring her parents back to life. He had said he might be able to, which was a big mistake, because then they got into an argument about weather or not he should try. Kevin saying the dead should stay dead, and Zarlina saying that she didn't care and that and she wanted she wanted to her parents back, and that he could at least try. In the end, Zarlina won the argument and they tried. I'm not going to go into great lengths to explain the trouble they went through to get the ingredients and to find the spell. All you need to know about this part of the story is that in the process they became so close they felt practically like brother and sister, and that the spell didn't work.

"I'm sorry I made you try to bring my parents back to life. It's just, when you said I might be able to get my parents back, I would have done anything to get them back." Zarlina told Kevin after they tried for the fifth time.

"I forgive you. Now, we should probably keep going, we're almost at our destination anyway." Kevin pointed out. "Now how do you expect to get into Vinanzio's castle let alone kill him? Don't expect me to match my powers to his. He is a much more experienced sorcerer than me, not to mention a stronger one."

"Don't worry. I have a plan." Zarlina said, hoping she could think of one. Then she remembered the necklace a young fairy girl, about one thousand but in our aging standards, she would be about seven, with brown hair and green eyes, she used to look after had given her when she left. It was supposed to be able to teleport anyone who wore it a short distance. She could use it to get her and Kevin into the castle and right into Vinanzio's private rooms. She smiled at Kevin and told him her plan. He grinned back.

*****

It seemed like forever ago that they had sat there grinning about her marvelous plan to get into the castle, even though it had only been three days ago. She and Kevin had sat in the dark in this thorny bush for over an hour. Kevin had a pool of water in his hands and, as he had told her, was peering into Vinanzio's rooms and any hallways leading into his rooms through this pool of water. They were waiting for him to enter one of these places. They didn't have to worry about guards in his room he was confident that his magic could deal with anyone stupid enough to come into his rooms.

Kevin tapped her on the shoulder and nodded. Vinanzio had entered one of the many halls that lead into his rooms. She slipped the necklace on over both of them and whispered the spell that would make it work.

They landed in a heap on Vinanzio's bedroom floor. Zarlina and Kevin scrambled into place. Zarlina found a sword and dagger hanging on the wall. She clipped them to her belt, then hid behind the door. Kevin stood to one side of the door waiting for Vinanzio. He was to make a distraction so Zarlina could stab him.

Vinanzio was almost at his bedroom door. He could sense something was wrong and entered his room cautiously. I wouldn't do to be slain by a rebellious servant wanting a raise. As he entered the door, a tall young man who looked about fourteen with brown hair cut at the earlobes, had the look of someone very reckless.

I'd advise you to move out of the way." Vinanzio was not used to fourteen year old boys showing up like this in his bedroom. He was so taken aback that he didn't even notice the glimmering shields going up around the boy, and through some magic at him in the form of a flaming lava ball. The lava was just absorbed by the shield.

'Just my luck. He's a sorcerer.' He thought with distain. Then a thought occured to him. 'This boy could be a strong ally and a help to my armies.'

"Boy, why fight me? Why not join my side and live without fear?"

"I will never go to your side! You're a murderer!" Kevin bravely answered while nearly kneeling over with fright.

"You do know that I can kill you right now? I am a much more powerful sorcerer than you boy. Go ahead, try to hurt me. There will not even be a singe on the carpet left of you if you do."

Meanwhile, Zarlina was creeping up behind the sorcerer. She had to move painfully slow or else she would be noticed. But then, she was right up behind him. She tried raise the sword but it was no use. Her arm wouldn't move. At first she thought it was some kind of spell, but that wasn't right. He didn't even know she was there. She tried again but it was no use, her arm wouldn't budge. She couldn't bring herself to kill him. She looked around. It was as if time stopped. There was not a sound and nothing moved. This was good though; it gave her time to think.

'How could she get rid of the sorcerer if she couldn't kill him?' Then she remembered something her mother had told her long ago as a bedtime story. She had told Zarlina that a sorcerer could be locked in the depths of time. To them it would feel like a very deep sleep they would never wake up from. It was called "The Sorcerer's Sleep." It was extremely useful, though it could only be done to a sorcerer. If only she could remember the words of the spell that would make it work. She couldn't ask Kevin because Vinanzio would know she was there. She raked her memory for the words and it started to come back to her in bits and pieces. Then all of a sudden, she remembered the whole thing and the time rushed into action. She cast away the sword and started the chant.

"Time, time, Vinanzio is for you.

Lock him up and never let go.

Vinanzio, Vinanzio, The Sorcerer's Sleep awaits." Kevin picked up the chant and soon they were singing together in strong, powerful voices. As much of a surprise for Vinanzio as finding he had two attackers, no surprise beat the next.

Erie voices joined in the singing. Misty shapes started to form around the room, making a circle around Zarlina, Kevin, and Vinanzio. The first two shapes to form were Zarlina's parents. The next was a man and a woman, unfarmiliar to her, but the resemblance between Kevin and this man was striking, and the way Kevin reacted to seeing seeing the man and woman left no doubt. The man and woman must be his father and mother.

'No wonder Kevin wanted to come so bad.' More people started to appear in the room, all misty and transparent. 'They are probably the ghosts of all Vinanzio's victoms here to see he gets locked up properly,' was the grim thought that passed through Zarlina's mind at that point. Her attention was called back to Vinanzio by a dim light starting to grow around him. The stronger the singing got, the brighter the light was.

"Sing louder!" She called to all who could hear her.

The singing grew louder and louder until it was nearly deafining. The light grew brighter and brighter until it hurt to look at it. Then there was the blinding flash and Vinanzio was gone.

They were heros!

*****

Epilogue

A few days had gone by and Zarlina, Kevin, and Scratch were at the local town's Inn restaurant celebrating.

"Why the glum face? We just defeated the greatest evil sorcerer in the world. You should be happy." Kevin pointed out to Zarlina.

"I know, it's just that I've spent most of my life worrying about how I was going to get rid of Vinanzio, and now that he is done, I feel so useless, like there's no reason to be living anymore."

"Well, if that's the only problem, I know the cure." Kevin said happily.

"You do?" Zarlina asked curiously.

"Of course I do! The world isn't a perfect place. There are evil people everywhere, and there are troublesome monsters and all sorts of stuff. Let's you and I fix it."

The End