The Wizard's Secret Read Online Free

approaching.”
    “The what?”
    She frowned. “You don’t know what the black star is?
What wizard doesn’t know about the black star?” She shrugged. “If you weren’t
warned about it, I am sure it must be a myth. You would have to be the lousiest
wizard in history not to know about it.”
    I opened my mouth to ask, but she was already walking
away. It was probably for the best. Eva entered the cabin and returned a short
time later followed by the bear and the fox. Eva had my wand in her mouth this
time, and when she reached me, I took it from her easily.
    Having seen several fully grown bears in person, as
well as a werebear, I realized this bear was quite small. Even the fox was on
the small side. I studied my wand. Although there were a few nicks from the
fox’s fangs, it hadn’t been in perfect condition beforehand.
    “Now, please break the curse,” Eva requested.
    “I will do what I can, but only one at a time.”
    Eva and the fox stepped back, indicating that I break
the curse over the bear first. They probably assumed there was no danger in
breaking a curse. There hadn’t been any in breaking my own curse, but there
were different kinds. Some were more devastating to break than they were to
suffer through.
    Using my wand to guide and enhance my magic, I let my
magic flow into the bear. The first thing I sensed was the curse, which I
ignored for a moment to see if the person was strong enough to handle it being
broken. Although he was healthy, he was just a child.
    Then I focused on the curse. It was stronger than I
was used to dealing with, definitely stronger than my brothers’ curses, but not
the strongest I had ever seen. The sorceress had created it out of spite and
did so with great detail. This was not an afterthought. I wouldn’t be able to
hack at it the same way I could with my brothers’ curses.
    But all curses had a weakness because all sorcerers
had a weakness. This curse was simple; make the kid into a bear. There was
nothing in it to alter the boy’s behavior to make him act like a bear or even
to give him bear instincts. When a curse was rooted in someone’s magic, it was
often fatal to remove. Fortunately, this boy had no magic, so the magic was
just wrapped around him. I tested it for soft spots, literally. Even the most
vile sorcerers could feel regret over something, and that usually laced their
curses. Of course, that could also be the strength behind their magic.
    There were no soft spots; the sorceress was very
certain in her desire to curse the boy. I looked for anything that she might
have missed. Sometimes, people will have a natural resistance to magic,
especially curses, if they were cursed as a very small child. Some curses could
even be worn down through constant resistance over years.
    By acting like a person instead of a bear, the child
would have been wearing it down if it had any stipulation on his behavior, but
the sorceress was more clever than that. Since I couldn’t find the weakness in
it, I would have to do it the harder way; I would have to attack the spell.
    I pulled my magic away from the bear. “It’s too
dangerous to break like this. I need to return home and get supplies.”
    “Supplies?” Eva asked.
    “I need to draw the magic out of him, and I’m not
strong enough to do that with my wand alone.”
    “Can’t you just break it?”
    “It could kill him.”
    “What about killing the sorceress?”
    “Well, that would work, but---”
    “Then do that,” Eva interrupted.
    “This sorceress is powerful. I’m not going to fight
her if I can help it.”
    “Which is less dangerous for my son?”
    “Obviously, if I went and fought the sorceress it
would be less dangerous for him, but much more for me. I’m not going to do it.”
    She scowled. “Then we will find another wizard who is
braver!”
    “So be it, but you need to look for a wizard who is a
fool, not brave. I will return home. If you change your mind and you wish for
me to break the curse