Son of a Dark Wizard Read Online Free Page A

stung, and every breath felt like shards of glass.
    Sorren’s face hovered over his. “Are you
going to tell everyone that I’m alive?” the young wizard asked.
“You could write some new songs. The ones I’ve heard aren’t very
good. And they don’t get everything right, do they?”
    “I swear I won’t tell a soul.”
    Sorren put the end of his staff on the back
of Bringlen’s outstretched hand. Bringlen flinched, expecting some
spell to blast through his skin, but nothing happened.
    “What was Atlorus like?” Sorren asked.
    Bringlen stared up into Sorren’s eyes, but
the young wizard showed no emotion. “He was . . .”
Bringlen thought for a moment. “He was quiet. He
seemed . . . worn out, weary . . .
like he was weighed down. But he . . . he knew he
could do it. He knew he’d win the battle.”
    “The battle hasn’t ended,” Sorren said. Then
the green light of his staff faded and he was gone.
    Slivers of blue and green moonlight pierced
through the bare forest trees. Bringlen was left on the forest
floor gazing skyward, catching his breath, waiting for his strength
to return.

FOUR

    Sorren sat in his cavern room. No candles or
lanterns were lit, but the glow of his staff gave light to the
pages of the journals and books open on the table before him. He
had been busy for the past several hours, studying how airships
worked and creating a few new tools he’d need soon. His new arm
made things easier. It moved with a steady precision his
flesh-and-blood arm didn’t have.
    As he studied the spells of the Nyrish power,
he suddenly realized that his father would never give him any more
lessons. It hadn’t hit him until that moment. His father’s lessons
were over forever. He tried not to think of it. It made him feel
hallow and empty. Incomplete. Almost sick. For a short moment, he
wished he hadn’t survived.
    Someone knocked on the door. “Are you awake?”
It was Kovola.
    “Come in,” Sorren said.
    Kovola entered, carrying a small scroll in
one hand, his face pale and tired as usual. “Agh,” he said,
shivering, wrapping his arms under his cloak. “Freezing in
here.”
    “I’m working,” Sorren said. Sometimes
concentration made him absentmindedly drain his surroundings of
energy. At times, it was a useful feature of the Nyrish power.
Usually it only annoyed people.
    “Your inconduction is far worse than your
father’s,” Kovola said. “You must learn to control it. You’ll
freeze us all to death.” The old man stood before Sorren’s table
and dropped the small scroll onto the books.
    “What is it?” Sorren asked, not putting down
the rod he was enchanting with an elementary fire spell.
    “Defeat the Chosen One?” Kovola said. “Is
that what you’re trying to do with all this?” He motioned at the
mess of books and tools and scraps of metal spread around the
table.
    Sorren sat back in his chair and glanced
around. “I know I’ll need more.”
    “Are you really as blind as all that?” Kovola
asked.
    Sorren slid his green goggles down over his
eyes. “Watch out.” The last part of the enchantment required a
spell that would create a blinding flash of light.
    Kovola quickly turned his head, shutting his
eyes tightly and shielding them with a hand.
    For a half-second, the room blazed in a
blinding bright shade of gold.
    Sorren slid his goggles back to his forehead
and held out the rod. He turned it in his hands, giving it one last
inspection.
    Kovola turned back to face the young wizard.
“Don’t you realize what they’re doing?” he said, picking up the
scroll and unrolling it. “No one is actually competing with you.
It’s a trick. The council is sending you directly to the Chosen
One. They’re trying to kill you.”
    “I know.”
    Kovola stood there as if waiting for a more
elaborate response. “You don’t care?”
    “It’s expected,” Sorren said, placing the now
finished fire rod on the table. “It doesn’t change anything.”
    “So you’re