Chapter Twenty-Six - the Magicians Apprentice
The young man had become the Great One’s apprentice. He left his old life behind. He left behind his friends and the people he cared about. He left behind his labor in the fields. He left behind the evenings spent in comradery with his fellow peasants. He became singerly focused on becoming the best magician he could be. He learned about what the Great One called the spark and how to recognize it in others. He learned how to use its powers to shape reality and he dreamed.
He dreamed of an army sweeping over the Earth like locusts devouring everything in its path. He saw the Kingdom’s of the world fall one by one to this great power. No one could prevail. The dream always ended the same, with the woman opposing this army. A woman who could command the very forces of nature. Every night when these two forces collided in an epic battle to decide the fate of the world, the apprentice woke up. The great one had told him it was the future he saw. The apprentice knew that the woman must be found, she must be trained. The great one said that she wasn’t even born yet and that the events he saw were not going to happen for some time. But what if this army is moving right now, what if they have little time to prepare for the inevitable. The great one assured him that precautions had been taken.
They were currently assembling a great army themselves. All the resources at his disposal were being funneled into making this happen. The apprentice tried to reason with his master. None of their precautions were enough. Their only hope was to find the woman he saw in his dream. She is the only one that could save them.
One day the apprentice ran across a young woman working mending clothes. He sensed that she had the spark. Could she be the one? How would he know when he found her?
“Excuse me miss?” the apprentice greeted the young woman.
The young woman bowed in respect to the apprentice. Even though he wasn’t the great one, he still had a reputation, and no one wanted to feel his wrath. He had never actually done anything bad to anyone, but everyone knew he was capable of it and there’s always a first time for everything.
“How may I serve you?” The woman responded.
“How would you like me to teach you how to use magic?” The apprentice offered.
“Me, sir?” The women responded confused.
“You can use magic. I can teach you how to do it.” The apprentice explained.
“I intend no offense,” The young woman started, “But those who practice magic are cursed. I want no part of it.”
“No offense is taken,” The apprentice said warmly, “Do you want me to remove your ability then.” The apprentice had never heard of anyone’s spark being taken away, but theoretically he felt it was possible and if this young woman didn’t want it, he would be happy to add her spark to his own.
“Yes, please” The women answered.
The apprentice thought about it for a moment. After thinking about the right approach, he uttered some words which sounded like nonsense. A wave washed over them both and the apprentice could feel his own power increase. Furthermore, he did not sense the spark in the young woman anymore. When the apprentice returned to the great one. The great one sensed that his power had increased.
“Your spark has grown.” The great one said, “by quite a bit.”
“I met a young woman. I sensed that she had the spark and I offered to train her. She told me she didn’t want it and gave it to me.” The apprentice answered.
“You took the spark from another person.” The great one said, concerned, “How is that even possible?”
“I don’t know” The apprentice answered, “But I did it. I added her spark to my own.”
“That is not the right way to grow your spark.” The great one scolded, “That kind of power leads to corruption and corruption leads to suffering.”
“I meant no harm,” the apprentice answered, “I promise I won’t do it again.”
“The army has been assembled and trained. It is the greatest army the world has ever seen. When the army you saw in your dream opposes us, it will not be an easy victory.” The great one announced.
“We should not be assembling this ‘great army’. We should be looking for the woman.” The apprentice argued.
“We have no idea when this woman will appear, but you must trust that she will appear when she is needed.” The great one responded.
Didn’t the great one understand that this army is doomed. There is no way this army is victorious against the army is saw in his dream. The apprentice was convinced that the great one had lost his way. For whatever reason, the great one was not able to understand the dire situation they were in. They had been warned of the danger and it was their duty to make sure this future army didn’t succeed. The only way to do that was to find the woman.
“But you don’t know that the woman is victorious because you never see the end of the dream” The Great One would argue.
“But it’s our only chance.” The apprentice would argue back.
The Great One could feel that something was off in his apprentice. His apprentice wasn’t thinking clearly, and he had grown in power. If he were to come unhinged, it would complicate matters greatly.
That night the apprentice had a dream, only this time it was different. This time he didn’t see the splendor of the Kingdom’s of the world. He saw the suffering of the masses. He saw the ones upon whom the Kingdom’s were built and who did not share equally in its glory. In Kingdom after Kingdom, he saw misery and suffering as common people went about the task of survival while a privileged few benefitted from its wealth. He heard the people cry out for help, but no one answered their cry.
He woke up in a cold sweat. He was the one who heard their cry. He had to be the one who was going to answer it.