Chapter Thirty – Apprentice no more
The young apprentice kept being tormented by his dreams. He had basically the same dream every night. When he was asleep, it haunted his dreams and when he was awake, it haunted his thoughts. He became consumed with the idea of defeating this army that threatened to consume the world.
The great one became increasingly concerned over his apprentice’s mental state. He had made several attempts to change the direction his apprentice was heading in but each time his efforts were met with failure.
“We have to find the woman” His apprentice kept begging his master, “I will go look for her myself. She must be ready when this army appears.”
“No,” the great one argued, “We must be ready to defend our land. The woman will appear when she is needed, you have seen it in your dreams.”
“Very well” The apprentice conceded. He didn’t agree with the great one’s logic, but he wasn’t strong enough to oppose him, at least not yet.
When the apprentice went out on errands, he would notice the spark in different people. It wasn’t common but it wasn’t rare either. Most people never recognized the spark. It took someone who was already able to manipulate it, to point it out and train a person. The apprentice learned of a way to take someone’s spark without them realizing it. The apprentice rationalized this theft but concluded that the person was not harmed by the taking and would probably never realize they had the power in the first place, so they would never miss it. He did this sparingly at first, but as his power grew, he did it more often. The great one started noticing.
“You’ve been taking other people’s spark.” The great one confronted his apprentice one day, “One person isn’t meant to have that much power, you need to let it go.”
“I need all the power I can get. With enough power, I could oppose this coming army. Besides, those people weren’t going to use it anyway.” The apprentice explained.
“That still doesn’t make it right” the great one replied. “If you don’t give it up, I will be forced to oppose you.” The great one said, “I don’t want to fight you, but if you won’t listen to reason.”
The apprentice decided it was now or never. He tried taking the Great One’s spark, but it wasn’t working. “You are going to have to try harder than that.” The great one said. The apprentice found himself restrained before he could even think another thought. His mouth was gagged so he couldn’t cast a spell. The fight seemed all but over.
“I’m going to take your power away.” The great one said, “If you can do it, I can do it.” The apprentice saw his life passing before his eyes. Even if the great one didn’t kill him, he couldn’t continue living without the spark. He couldn’t fulfill his destiny of finding the woman and helping to stop the spread of evil. He dug deep down inside him and used every ounce of his strength to oppose his mentor.
The great one concentrated. He could feel the spark starting to come out of his apprentice. His apprentice could feel it too. With the last of his strength, which had almost been depleted at this point. He got the gag that kept him from speaking to disappear. He uttered some words which seemed like nonsense to anyone that heard them, and the struggle was over. The great one collapsed on the floor. The apprentice was the apprentice no longer. The great one was the great one no longer. The apprentice had taken his spark from him. Now, he was just ordinary. When the great one came to his senses, he realized what had happened. He had failed to defeat his apprentice. His apprentice would try and find the woman and there was nothing he could do about it.
The apprentice disappeared for months. Even though the great one could no longer wield magic, he was still respected and kept his advisory position. He thought that his apprentice had left in search of the woman from his dreams and that he would never see him again. He thought wrong.
One day the apprentice, who was not an apprentice anymore, returned. He entered the castle and interrupted a meeting that the King was having with his advisors. There had been a revolt in a localized section of the Kingdom and while it was under control now, the King and his advisors were taking precautions so the civil unrest would not spread to the rest of the kingdom.
When the King saw him, he tried to have the apprentice arrested. This attempt failed. Several other attempts also failed. When the apprentice had everyone’s undivided attention, he addressed them.
“You are no longer in charge.” The apprentice takes out a document. “The rules stated in this document, will now decide how the Kingdom is run. If you refuse, I will kill you all.” Without waiting for an answer from the council of advisors, the apprentice disappears in a puff of smoke.
The former great one walks over to where the document falls and picks it up. He starts reading it quietly to himself. “Well, what does it say?” One of the advisors asks.
“There are a lot of changes to be made.” The former great one declares.
“If we refuse, can he carry out his threat?” Another advisor asks.
“Yes,” The former great one answers, “He is more than capable of carrying out his threat.”
“What are we going to do?” Another advisor chimes in.
“If you don’t want to die, I suggest you follow the rules of this document.” The former great one replies.