The Wizard's Secret Read Online Free PDF Page B

light, powdery snow, which would have been
beautiful if it wasn’t also very dark since the last glimmer of sunlight was
blocked out by the clouds.
    I quickly found that the storm was centering around a
small clearing where a young man was sitting on a large, moss-covered log. “Are
you okay?” I asked. He had his face in his hands.
    When he looked up, his face was pink from the cold.
“I’m fine. You shouldn’t be near me.”
    “What’s going on with the weather? Are you doing
this?”
    “I’m not doing it, but it is my fault. I’m cursed.”
    “That seems to be going around lately. Don’t tell me
you tried to steal from some sorceress.”
    “No, of course not. My sister was courted by a
sorcerer and when she turned him down, he cursed me instead of her on accident.
My parents sent me away until I could get this curse removed. The storm just follows
me around.”
    “Well, I could try to break it.”
    “I don’t have any money.”
    “I didn’t ask for any money.”
    “Why would you help me?”
    I shrugged. “Because I can, I guess.”
    “Are you a mage?” he asked.
    I scoffed. “Mages are for healing cuts and illnesses.
Only a wizard or sorcerer can break a decent curse.”
    “I didn’t mean to offend; I don’t know a lot of magic
people. You’re a wizard, then?”
    Sort of. “Sure.” I stood in front of him and studied
him closely. Curses like this were no more complicated than scramble spells and
minor transformation. I set my bag aside, leaned my staff against it, and
pulled my wand from my pocket.
    “This isn’t going to hurt, is it?” he asked.
    “I don’t know. I never asked.” It never hurt when I
broke curses on myself, though. I waved the wand. Break this curse .
Magic poured out of me, through the wand, and into the man. I quickly felt it
encounter the curse. It was easily as powerful as the curses my brothers used,
but not as powerful as the one used on Eva’s family.
    The person who used this was angry, selfish, and
definitely clever. This curse was created to humiliate the victim. In fact, I
sensed that it was supposed to get worse if the victim fancied anyone in
particular. The sorcerer’s resolve was strong, the details of the curse were
thought out, and the construction was skillful. It seemed the only weak point
was that the curse was meant for someone else.
    This man had no way of fighting the curse, but I
could. I hacked away at the curse inside him by creating a ward just like
Magnus and Merlin had taught me. The difference was that I created the ward as
deep inside the man that I could and expanded it outward. It felt like the
curse was pushing down on my body, but I kept expanding the ward even as I
struggled to breathe. I kept pushing.
    Lightning struck the crystal in my staff, strangely
missing my bag.
    Finally, the curse snapped, the ward turned on my own
magic, my magic retreated, and the ward collapsed. The man and I were both
panting. Apparently, he had felt the same pressure of the curse. When the
clouds above us dispersed, he grinned with excitement. “You did it! Thank you!”
    “No problem.” I was going to miss the snow, though.
    I picked up my staff and gasped when it shocked me. A
small, white cloud instantly formed right above me and thick snow began
falling, only to melt before it reached the ground. I glared at my staff.
“Don’t start acting up again!” I demanded of the staff as I reached up and
waved the cloud apart.
    The magic faded, almost reluctantly, and the cloud
disappeared. That shouldn’t have made me so disappointed.
    “What is your name?” the young man asked.
    “Ayden.”
    “I’m Jedrin. Thank you again for helping me.”
    I left him and soon found a comfortable spot under
the cover of a massive tree. I didn’t bother to make a fire or even eat. I used
my bag as a pillow and my sorcerer robe as a blanket. As I gently settled the
staff over a thick root so that I could reach it without the risk of rolling
over onto it, I