The Wizard's Secret Read Online Free PDF

easy; it was even easier than sneaking away from my
home.
    With my staff, wand, and bag, I started the long trek
to my aunt’s home. I could have tried to transport myself with magic, but that
was more likely to screw up the further away I was.
     
    *          *          *
     
    It was a nice day to begin a journey; warm without
being too hot, sunny with some clouds for shade, and a nice breeze. Mokora, the
land Magnus lived on, had more mountains and larger cities than Akadema. There
were quite a few traveling salesmen transporting their goods in colorful carts.
I was tempted by the colorful clothes and fancy foods, but didn’t have any
money.
    I did, however, enjoy chatting with the travelers. I
learned about the local myths and that everyone was curious about Magnus’s
castle. Everyone thought Magnus had packed up his castle and moved it, so some
people weren’t sure it still belonged to the powerful wizard. The castle was
also known to move. However, that rumor might have been spread because the
castle was invisible when the chimera had been guarding him.
    When I had asked Magnus why the chimera was keeping
him, he said he wasn’t sure. He believed someone sent it to him to protect him,
but the chimera’s natural instincts were too strong. While it kept others from
attacking him, it also kept him from going anywhere.
    When there was a lull in travelers on the road, I
practiced my wizardry. The two kinds of wards I was taught could be wizardry or
sorcery. The first kind was created just to warn the wizard or sorcerer of an
intruder. This put very little strain on me and could be sustained for days by
a fully trained magic user. The second kind was a defensive ward, primarily
used by wizards. It only protected against magic attacks, not a blade.
Sorcerers used the same kind of ward, but they used more magic to make it hurt
anyone who tried to cross it.
    I sat on a large boulder a little ways from the road.
As I had been taught, I relaxed my muscles and cleared my mind. The scent of
dirt and grass filled my nose and I focused on the warmth of the sunlight
beaming down on me. I imagined my magic spilling out of me to form a bubble
around me. It was not a bubble to keep out air or light, only magic. If magic
struck it, that magic would bounce off.
    Second, I imagined levitating all the rocks around me
except for the one I was sitting on. As my magic spread out, I sensed the
rocks. They felt similar to the dirt, but they were more concentrated. A few dozen
rocks of various sizes rose from the ground. I pulled them towards me,
imagining them stopping only when they reached the ward around me. They did
exactly as I commanded, and then began swirling around me. Once they got up to
a decent speed, this magic would be extremely protective.
    It could also hurt someone.
    The thought was sudden and doused my enthusiasm. As
it did, my magic went quiet and the rocks collapsed to the ground.
     
    *          *          *
     
    As the sun began to set, I strayed from the road to
look for a good spot to sleep for the night. I wasn’t too tired, but I didn’t
want to get caught out in the open by a band of thieves or a vampire. Before I
found a comfortable place, I felt something wet and cold land on me.
     “What in the world?” I asked, looking up. Two more
frigid, wet drops hit my face. Akadema never got snow, but I knew snow was
white and fluffy from the stories I had heard. This was wet like rain, yet
colder than any rain in Akadema.
    There were thick clouds, not directly over me but
close enough. The rest of the sky was clear and sunny. In fact, the clouds were
too low to be natural, like when my mother would create storms over a village
or vegetable garden.
    Even knowing it was a bad idea, I headed further into
the storm. With every step, it became colder and the rain became more sludgy. I
slipped my robe out of my bag and put it on to shield me from the cold.
Finally, the rain changed into a