My name is Zalzar Qrodalf and I was the Royal Sorcerer of King Samuel’s court. Apart from my Master, Head Wizard Augustus Optim, I was the greatest Sorcerer in all of Gladtopia. Once I gathered enough knowledge, I would command the title of Wizard myself. Being nineteen, I would have been the youngest Sorcerer ever to become a Wizard. Younger than even my Master, surely. That would be a proud day indeed for Gladtopia.  

The day I met the Source, I was in my tower working on the King’s sleeping potion for the coming evening. His Majesty had been having terrible bouts of wakefulness through the night and had taken to wandering into my tower for conversation, so he could be distracted from the turmoil and chaos of the Cirque-Dally feud. Out of a sense of duty, and desire for sleep myself, I had stayed up all night to concoct a suitably strong draught and finally, around afternoon the next day, I made a passable potion.

Normally, I hated to open the windows; they allowed strong winds into my small tower and often scattered my papers. But since my laboratory was filled with the stale fumes of failed sleeping potions, I had staggered to open the large window to gather huge gulps of the cool air and return to a waking state. Oh, what a mess I would be if I had fainted on my tiled, laboratory floor. Not because the floor was dirty, no it was pristine, but because my favorite work robes would wrinkle.

Having finally made a suitable enough potion that successfully put all the Snood Pods to sleep--the Snoods were vexing creatures with four spindly limbs, a soft squishy body covered in two inch fur, and a single, large round eye --I decided it would be best to try and get some sleep myself.

My Master believed the Snood Pods sustained themselves through the ambient magic throughout Gladtopia; I believed they were an invasive species that intended to find every opportunity to induce headaches through a squeaking sound that I still could not figure out how they made, seeing as they had no mouths. The only reason I kept them around was because they made for rather resilient test subjects. Forgive me, I digress.

I set about climbing the winding stone steps one floor up to my room and blessed bed. As I looked out the slits in the wall, I could see the sky turning a deep red with evening sunlight. Surely the King would not need me until later in the evening, as he had nothing of import planned for the day. A few hours sleep…

Squeak!

I paused in the middle of removing my upper robe and decided to ignore the sound, fully intending to change and go to bed. My wonderfully comfy bed.

Squeee---kik!

Oh no. Exasperated that my potion might have failed again, I stomped down the steps to find the offending Pod. If it kept making noise like that I wouldn’t get an ounce of rest!

As I walked into my laboratory, I glanced at the cage full of Snoods. They were all sound asleep.

Hmm, odd. If all the Snoods were asleep then who ...

“Zalzar!” a voice squeaked to my left. I snapped my head toward the open window. Jumping happily on the window sill was a new Snood and I felt my eye twitch.

Pinching the bridge of my nose to focus through the tired haze of my thinking, I realized it was my Master’s voice … coming from the Snood.

Understand, I was a dedicated Sorcerer and Apprentice to my Master. When he needed me, I would be by his side in an instant, but could this call have come at the worst time?

And did he have to use a Snood? A conduit was not needed! He was a Wizard for goodness sake! It always infuriated me that he refused to use his powers to contact me. No, he had to use these puff balls for contact because he thought they were “funny.”

I rolled my eyes.

In any case, it had been weeks since I had last laid eyes on my Master. He kept himself locked away in his house, day and night for weeks at a time, working on an experiment. He had been working on this project for years and it was puzzling that he refused to confide in me the details of this experiment. In the past, my Master had shared everything with me and I was beginning to wonder what I had done to lose his trust.

“I must speak with you! Come meet me in the courtyard.” My Master’s voice faded and the Pod hopped inside the room. I didn’t even take the time to get properly angry that another Snood was infiltrating my tower; my Master was waiting for me!

I ran upstairs for a proper-looking dark blue robe, which I clasped into place above my simpler work-clothes. It would have to do on such short notice. With that, I dashed down the lengthy spiral of stairs to my laboratory, then out the door.

“Blast this Teleportation block,” I mumbled through gritted teeth as I ran down even more stairs, “The Royal Sorcerer ought to be able to teleport within the castle grounds!”

The King didn’t want other Sorcerers to pop in and out of different parts of the castle at will, so he had ordered me to place a spell around the castle to stop it. It had become a nuisance almost immediately, for taking away a Sorcerer’s ability to teleport was like clipping the flying feathers on a bird.

When I reached the ground level, I raced down the long hallway, my robe billowing out behind me as I tried to keep my pace somewhere between a brisk walk and run. A Royal Sorcerer couldn’t be caught flailing down the hallways like a madman after all. A few twists and turns later, I arrived in the atrium and motioned to the guards to open the towering doors to the courtyard. The doors opened slowly and when they were wide enough, I slipped through the opening and down the steps. In the distance, I saw my Master, wearing surprisingly plain clothes and his signature boater hat. In spite of my fatigue, I grinned when I saw Sphinx on his shoulder.

Then my eyes dropped down to the stranger on his left.

It was a girl not much older than I, looking around anxiously and clinging to my Master’s arm. She was slender but not small by any means. As I approached, I found the top of her head just reached my nose. She had brown hair that barely touched her shoulders and light brown eyes that looked troubled.

She wasn’t unattractive, that was for certain.

When I reached them, it seemed my Master was trying to sooth the girl with a pat to her shoulder. When he turned and caught my eye, he smiled.

“Ahh look Mia, it’s my apprentice Zalzar Qrodalf!”

The girl named Mia looked up at me and when our eyes locked my heart froze. Now that I was close enough to get a good look at her I thought,

Why does she look eerily like …

I cleared my throat and gave her a small bow, hoping my expression didn’t betray my shock.

“Zalzar I’d like to introduce you to my dear friend Mia.” My Master pushed the girl forward gently. “Go on Mia say hello.”

The girl looked slightly irked at being treated like a frightened child, but recovered quickly and stuck out her hand for me to shake.

“Nice to meet you Zalzar.  I’m Mia Beaumont.”

I stared at her silently not knowing what to say; the resemblance was uncanny, or perhaps I had finally gone delirious for lack of sleep. Finally after shaking my head slightly, I focused on pleasantries and shook her hand.

“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Beaumont. Forgive me, but I’m afraid I don’t know which Clan you belong to.”

“You’ll never guess who Mia is, Zalzar.” My Master looked positively jubilant. “This is what I’ve been working on for all those years.”

I glanced down at the girl then back to my Master.

“I’m afraid I don’t underst…”

“Zalzar.” My Master clasped my shoulder, looking me in the eye. I could almost sense an air of barely restrained excitement. “Mia is the Source!”

I stared at him for a long while then gave a sardonic chuckle. It would seem my Master was the one sleep deprived, not me.

“Forgive me Master, but you must be joking.”

My Master’s eyes changed to a greenish-yellow.

“Zalzar I’m surprised at you. Do you really think I would joke about such a matter?”

“Master, please see reason. Miss Beaumont can’t possibly be the Source.” I gave her a once over. “She looks to be younger than I am. Besides the ‘Source’ is an ancient legend that hardly anyone believes in anymore.” I watched her eyebrows shoot up and she turned to give my Master a meaningful look that I didn’t quite follow. Instead I continued, “Your own people don’t believe in the Source anymore. The only ones who do are the Dally Clan.”

My Master looked shocked and hurt by my words, his eyes changing to a deep blue. Then he straightened himself to his full height and his eyes changed to a steel gray. I felt a nervous chill down my back and blinked.

“I have spent years of my life striving to get the Source to Gladtopia,” He spoke with an authority I didn’t normally hear from him, “And whether you believe or not doesn’t erase the fact that I have a duty to take her to the King.”

I looked into my Master’s determined eyes and sighed.

“If you so wish, then I will take you to him.”

My Master clasped my left hand in both of his, his eyes finally turning back to a happier gold.

“Thank you Zalzar. Now Mia, we must wear something more presentable when meeting the King.”

My Master clapped his hands together then opened them again to reveal shining golden dust. He sucked in a breath and exhaled to blow the dust all over the girl, making her shut her eyes quickly. When the dust settled, Miss Beaumont was wearing a flowing golden gown that twinkled in the sun. Even her hair had been done up in a bun held in place with swirls of gold that left but a few locks of hair to frame her face and slim neck.    

“Your magic is amazing Mr. Optim.” she ran the light-as-air fabric over her hands. My Master winked at her, then clapped his hands again and sprinkled the dust over his own head. When the dust settled again, he was wearing a purple suit with a jacket that cinched at the waist and was encrusted with golden detailing. His knee-length pants tucked into dark socks that ended in buckled purple shoes. His ever-present boater hat sat jauntily on his head, glittering with a golden band around it.

I gave my Master a look, and he said innocently, “What? We’ll be in the presence of royalty. We must look our best you know.”

“I know what you’re trying to do and it’s not going to work,” I turned around and stalked up the stairs again.

If my Master thought he was going to win the King’s favor by dressing Miss Beaumont up to look more regal, he was very much mistaken. King Samuel would see past the disguise and then my Master would see just how ridiculous he was being. He should have told me from the start that his little project was to find the Source. I could have stopped him long before the embarrassment he was about to walk into.

The Source was a fairytale and he was going to have to accept it one way or another. Or so I thought.

If only I had believed my Master then and not been so bull-headed, I could have averted the weeks of chaos and pain that was to come.