Apprentice Read Free

dispersed in different directions, each heading toward one of the village’s households. They all seemed resigned to bend before this interloping greater power, like one bends before the power of a tornado or earthquake.
    It took a few moments for Benen to realize that he was part of the group of children the wizard demanded. Benen had completed his seventh summer two weeks ago. He was his father’s only child within the requested age range. He wondered where his father had gone. Would he be mad when he found out Benen had left the cellar? He resolved to show himself and take his lumps when his father returned. Benen moved away from the building’s edge and made his way back to the ground. Careful to be quiet, he snuck around the building and looked out to the square from his new location. It was less hidden, but it allowed him to reveal himself more easily.
    Soon the men returned with children in tow. It took some time for all of them to return, but they eventually all did so. Those who did not have children of the appropriate age had helped those that did. The moment the children saw the wizard they reacted badly. Many of them screamed in fear and most cried. Some tried to run away, but were held fast by their fathers or other men of the village.
    “Please don’t feed me to the wizard, Dada!” screamed the Smith girl. Immediately, the other children began to echo her pleas to their own parents. The square was filled with shrill cacophony.
    Benen saw the wizard move his hands subtly and precisely. He could hear nothing other than the screaming, but he saw the wizard’s lips were moving. No one else seemed to notice his actions until they bore fruit. Within moments, the first of the children suffered the effects of his wizardry.
    Before the eyes of their parents, the children’s lips melded together, their mouths disappearing behind featureless smooth flesh. Benen decided he wouldn’t reveal himself after all; no matter what, he would stay hidden. This wizard was an awful creature! A terrible fear now gripped Benen’s heart.
    “That’s better,” said the wizard into the new silence.
    The gathered adults turned from their children to face the wizard again, anger writ plain on their faces. Some of them brandished their weapons aggressively once more. Seeing this, the wizard held out his hands theatrically at his sides, fingers crooked for spell-casting. His expression changed from that of mild amusement it had been wearing to one filled with menace.
    “You saw what I just did. Don’t let your stupidity drive you to do something I’ll make you regret,” he said coldly.
    They set their weapons aside, but the eyes of the men held simmering anger that only waited for a viable avenue through which to express itself. For the moment, the men turned their attentions to their distressed children, comforting their crying and confused charges. The wizard lowered his arms and visibly relaxed.
    “Bring the children to me one at a time,” he commanded. No one moved to bring their child forward.
    “Now!” the wizard said with such force many of the men startled. Benen watched as Joreg, a farmer who had helped Benen’s family at harvest time in particularly good years, brought forward his son Firil. Firil resisted his father, but the bigger man had no trouble hauling him to stand before the wizard. The wizard looked Firil up and down, as though appraising a horse offered at discount.
    “He is the right age,” the wizard said. He moved to grasp the child’s hand, but Firil flinched away. The wizard looked him in the eyes and held out his hand, keeping it there in front of the boy. The wizard’s glare held his eyes and, after some moments, the boy, trembling, reached out to grasp the wizard’s out-held hand. The wizard made a dismissive gesture with his other hand and Firil’s lips reformed in their usual place. He let out a small scream of surprise until his father shook him slightly.
    “Now, boy, look up to the sky