The Sorcerer's Quest Read Online Free PDF Page B

me. “ We should
find out more about that staff before anything dangerous happens .”
    Having grown up with six older brothers, I was no
stranger to danger. “What can you tell me about this staff?” I asked Vactarus,
picking it up to study closer. The wood was twisted, smooth, and dark with
gold-painted sigils carved into it. They weren’t anything I recognized from my
family’s grimoires, but they were definitely black-magic in nature. At the top
of the staff was a large, crudely-cut, blood-red, clear stone.
    The ghost leered at it. “Oh, it has quite the story.
I first came across it on a land that only had women. They got the idea to use
it to conjure men to keep them warm and safe in the cold winter nights. I, of
course, felt it was my duty to take one for the team, so to speak. I showed
them all kinds of fun. In fact, half of them lost their---”
    “Please don’t finish that sentence,” I interrupted.
Energy shot from the staff into Vactarus. Unlike my usual magic, which was
sparkly, light, and bounced around freely, this was dark and twisted, like a
thorny vine, and it went straight for its mark. To my shock, the magic struck
the ghost and his mouth snapped shut. No matter how hard he tried to open it,
his lips wouldn’t part.
    “Wow. I have never been able to make him stop
talking,” Kisha said with awe.
    I set the staff down on the dusty table and wiped my
hands on my pants. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to---”
    Merlin made a sound of disapproval.
    “I mean… I’m not sorry because I’m a sorcerer and I
have no sympathy.” I picked up the staff carefully and aimed it at the
magician. Kisha and Merlin both ducked under the table, Merlin by diving
gracefully and Kisha… by phasing right through the table. “Be able to talk
again,” I said.
    Nothing happened.
    I repeated the command while waving the staff
dramatically.
    Nothing happened again.
    Well, something happened. I shrieked and jumped out
of my skin when I felt Kisha’s ghostly hand gently caress the inside of my
thigh. “Merlin, what do I do?!” I asked, forcefully stopping myself from
crawling onto the table.
    Kisha patted my knee and backed off. “Sorry,
handsome, I dropped my fork.”
    “You weren’t eating anything!”
    “I was planning on eating something, but Vac wanted
to join us for dinner.”
    “Merlin!” I squeaked.
    The wolf sighed in my head. “ Use your wand .”
Quickly following his advice, I set the staff down, pulled out my wand, and
aimed it at Kisha. “ On Vactarus ,” Merlin said.
    I grunted and aimed it at the magician. “You can
talk,” I said.
    A sunny yellow ball of energy popped out of the tip
of my wand, bounced off the table, and hit Vactarus. His mouth opened easily.
He snapped it shut, obviously afraid that I would curse him again. Merlin and
Kisha returned to their chairs. I sat back down in my seat, picked up my tofu
bird, and continued eating. It was foul.
    “So, about the staff,” I prompted.
    Vactarus licked his lips nervously, which was an odd
habit for a ghost. “The women gave it to me in exchange for my attention, but I
sold it on the next world I came to, which only made sense; it was rubbish at
the time. Then, about a year later and ten worlds away, I met a lovely young
woman whose family owned a winery. We spent many days in lounging in---”
    “Get on with it,” I said.
    “Oh, yes. Anyway, we married and some old lady gave
it to me at the wedding. I knew it was the same staff because an item like that
cannot be forgotten. It was different, though. There was power in it that was
not there when I first saw it. Someone had used it to do very powerful, very
dark magic, and that left a stain in the wood and the crystal.”
    “The crystal?” I asked, looking at the stone on the
top. Although it was shaped like a crystal, I had only ever seen black ones
used by sorcerers and white ones used by wizards. I had no idea they came in
colors.
    “Yes, it is a crystal. Surprising, I know; it