Katrina scowled at the worn, leather book in her hands in frustration. She had tried to decipher a particularly difficult spell for the last few days. So far she had very little progress. She had only managed to unravel a few phrases from the first of the four passages. She sighed and put the book down on the table next to her. Bottles of ink, quills of all sizes and shapes, paper, and various books lay strewn about on it. Her master told her that if she learned this spell, she could advance. He had also told her she had one week to complete it, and now she only had three days left. She was running out of time.
She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. With one hand she took out the pin in her hair, letting her ebony waves cascade down her back. She sighed in relief; the tension from her hair being up all day had given her a slight headache. Her mind began to wander, and she thought of her master. Roland was getting old, but how old he was, she didn't know. He appeared to be in his late forties or early fifties, but he was still in great shape. He had a rough-shaven beard, deep piercing green eyes, and a dazzling smile. Most people would not think he was a great wizard by his looks. He was more the type that held a great sword, fighting dragons and other creatures. He was extremely strong. She had once seen him lifting a huge boulder off of a young man in the mines once. Sure, he could have used magic to lift the boulder, but he liked to show off. She heard a popping sound behind her, and she jumped, her thoughts disrupted. Roland stood before her, he wore a deep royal blue robe with gold runes embroidered on it. He smiled down at Katrina.
"Dozing off I see? Not what I was expecting of you. I thought you would be more interested in advancing to the next level of your training."
Katrina's face flushed red in shame. She hastily stood up and smoothed her ruffled robes. She wore a simple, yet still elegantly tailored purple robe. She looked up at him but immediately dropped her gaze under his piercing look.
"I was merely resting for a moment. I have been diligently studying the spell, but I have not been very successful." Her cheeks still bright red from embarrassment. She really should have been able to decipher more than she had by now.
"I see." He seemed to ponder something for a moment, then he took a step towards her, and lifted her chin up to make her look at him. She was beautiful. Her delicate face was framed by her wavy hair, and her soft pink lips were turned downwards in a frown. Her crystal blue eyes looked up at him.
"I have something that might help you." He flicked his wrist and a parchment of paper appeared in his hand. He held it out to her. She took it and looked at it for a moment, confusion on her face.
"I don't understand these markings. What is it?"
"A key of sorts. It will unlock the secrets of the spell. With this, you will be able to decipher the rest of the spell, if you can understand it." He motioned for her to sit down, and she did. He stood behind her and looked over her shoulder at the book.
"See this marking?" He asked, pointing to the piece of paper in her hand. "It is similar to this one" he then pointed to another making in the book.
"Now, the marking on the paper has something underneath of it. That is the G'lyth translation of that letter. There are over 200 different markings on the spell alone. This key only gives you 26 key letters. If you can combine them, you may be able to decipher the spell. I am confident you will figure it out." His hand rested on her shoulder. With an almost imperceptible movement, he moved his hand down towards her chest.
Her heart pounded as she felt him start to caress her breast, and she pushed his hand away.
"I -- I see." she stammered. "You should probably get going, didn't you say you had a council meeting to attend?" She asked, trying to divert his attention.
He let her push his hand away, and he sighed resignedly. "Yes I do, thank you for reminding me. It would not be prudent for me to be late. Good luck Katrina." He waved his hand and uttered something, vanishing from the room.
She slumped in her chair, heart still pounding. Roland was very handsome indeed, his smile alone made her heart beat wildly. She had not always been so attracted to him. She was only about 10 years old when she started training under him. He was a cruel master at times, but always fair. He had a tendency to punish her for her attempted mistakes to teach her a lesson. She winced, remembering the time she had failed to light a candle on fire. He had lit her hand on fire in wrath. His anger dissolved within seconds and he had immediately healed her afterward. He was always that way. Very temperamental, yet sometimes very caring, almost loving. He was the best wizard of his era. Her parents wanted her to learn his magic, and use it to better their meager lives. How they had been able to convince him to take her as his apprentice, she didn't know. Maybe she would never know. This was her eighth year in training with him. She had learned a lot and yet she still felt as if she had barely brushed the surface of his expansive knowledge.
She looked at the book, and a sense of renewed confidence filled her. She began to study the spell, the key helping her considerably. It was evening before she stopped. The sun was now too low and did not give enough light to read by. She glanced at a tall candle to her left and uttered the fire spell. Flames sprang to life on the candle and illuminated the room. Her stomach growled in hunger, but she ignored it and went back to deciphering the spell. She was almost finished now, and had the last passage to decipher.
A few hours had passed before she stopped. By now, the candle had burned down, flickering low. She stretched her arms above her head and yawned. She looked down at her book, a triumphant smile on her face. She had finally deciphered the spell! Her master would be pleased. Parts of the spell she had difficulty understanding. She knew enough of it to be able to articulate the spell. She also knew that it was a conjuring spell of some kind, but she didn't know what it conjured. She pondered for a moment. She could wait for her master to return in the morning, or she could do it now and surprise him.
She began to start on the spell with eagerness. She gathered the necessary ingredients it called for into a wooden bowl. She placed the bowl on the floor, drawing runes around it and enchanting it. She was careful to enunciate each word. She knew one wrong sound could ruin the spell. That could be dangerous, even life-threatening. Several moments later, and she had completed the first stage of the spell. The second stage was even more complicated. It required advanced hand movements and difficult enchantments. She read the passage over and began memorizing the spell. It took her a few moments before she had it memorized, and then she began. Her body swayed to an unknown rhythm as she said the spell. She could feel her energy draining as she completed it, and she began to worry.
Her legs became too weak to support her and she collapsed on the floor. Had she done something wrong? She looked at the runes on the floor and noticed they were starting to swirl together. Black, smokey tendrils swirled around the bowl and engulfed it completely. They continued to swirl together, swirling faster and faster. Then it seemed as if it opened up into an endless black hole. Fear gripped her when she saw movement within the blackness. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end when she saw something coming out of the black hole. It was long and slender, and it writhed and twisted closer to her. The inky black tendril looked as if it was searching for something to grasp. It snaked closer to her, and she tried to get up, to run. She was too weak to move. She could only watch in horror as it found her ankle and wrapped around it, it felt warm and wet. She whimpered in fear when she saw more of them come pouring out of the black hole. Like the others, they snaked their way over to her. She again tried to move, but her energy was too drained by now. They wrapped around her legs, and snaked up her body, pinning her arms to her sides as they did. She struggled against them and she tried to utter a cancellation spell. Before she could complete the spell, it shoved itself deep into her mouth. She tried to scream for help, wishing she had waited for the morning, but no one was around to hear her muffled cries.
Once the tendrils had wrapped around her completely, they began to drag her into the black hole. Tears streamed down her face as she realized that no one would know what had happened to her. She struggled again, kicking and screaming. She knew that if it took her into the blackness, she might never live to see the light of day. It was a useless attempt, the tendrils were too strong for her, and they dragged her into the darkness. She gasped as she felt immersed in a frigidly cold liquid. She closed her eyes, thinking this was it, she was going to die. Suddenly, she felt herself falling. She flailed her arms and legs to catch herself, but the tendrils still clung to her. With a loud thump, she landed on a hard rocky floor. It knocked the breath out of her and she gasped for air. She desperately wished the tendril in her mouth would allow her to breathe. As if it could read her mind, it pulled out of her mouth, allowing her to gasp for air. She looked around the cave she was in. It was dark and damp, but then she saw something. She sighed with relief when she recognized Roland standing at the entrance of the cave.
