The Magician's Apprentice

Zork the Magician stepped over to the boiling pot and put a pinch of dragonsbane into it. Then he stirred it with a spoon made from the bone of a human leg and poured its bubbling contents into a small glass. He handed the glass to his apprentice. "Drink this and the dragons won't bother you when you deliver things," he told her. Carol took the glass and wrinkled her nose at it. "What is it?" she asked, sniffing the liquid. "It's a mixture of dragonsbane, water, and my special slug powder." Zork answered. Carol nodded. Ever since she had agreed to be Zork's apprentice, she had had to get used to the way he did things. Slug powder! Zork sat down in one of the wooden chairs and asked," Are you going to drink it?" Carol nodded again and downed the potion. She swallowed and made a face. "It tastes weird." she said. Zork laughed and said." Ah, well, would you rather be eaten by a dragon?" Carol shook her head and set down the empty glass. "I need you to take this basket to Sanster the Wizard," Zork said, handing Carol a small green basket. Carol stared as the blanket covering the basket rose up. "It's only a baby elf," Zork said. "I found it wandering in the woods yesterday and Sanster said he'd like a helper. I thought this little fellow would be good," He sighed. "Sanster's getting old." he said sorrowfully. "He's 326 years old. I fear he may die soon." Carol looked down and said." I'll take it to him, but a baby won't do him much good. It's too young." "Elf babies grow fast." Zork explained. "He'll be a good helper in four or five weeks. You still have a lot to learn, little one." Carol grinned at him and said." I'll be back soon." Zork nodded and went to a small table in the back of the room. He started fiddling with powders and liquids. Carol went outside and began walking. It was a long way to Sanster's cave, and it was going to get dark soon. Along the way, Carol found a purple plant with small silver leaves. She had never seen that plant before, so she broke off a small piece to take to Zork to find out what it was. Then she continued on her way. It was a cool day in the forest. All sorts of creatures were out. In the lake, Carol saw mermaids playing together, their shiny tails gleaming in the sunlight. Centaurs were grazing and Carol stopped to watch them. But the leader saw her and waved the herd on. Centaurs were shy. Soon Carol reached Sanster's cave. The wizard was outside, cooking something in a pot on a fire. Carol looked inside the pot and said," Hello." Sanster glanced at her and said," Hello, Carol. What is that you've brought me?" Carol handed him the basket and said." Zork told me to give this to you," Sanster uncovered the basket and looked inside. A baby elf peered up at them and cooed. "How cute!" Carol cried in delight. Nestled beside the baby was a bottle of grey powder. It was marked "Slug Powder." Sanster opened the bottle and poured some into the pot. "Good, good," he said appreciatively. "I've been needing some of that. This is going to be my dinner." He lifted the baby elf out and put him inside the cave. Carol looked more closely inside the pot. The mixture inside was blue and had purple specks. It smelled delicious. "Would you like some, Carol?" Sanster asked. Carol looked up at the sky. It was going on evening and she guessed she had a few minutes. "All right," she said. Sanster got out two spoons and bowls and spooned some of the soup into them. He passed a bowl to Carol. She tasted it cautiously. To her surprise, it tasted wonderful! It was sweet and tart and just a bit spicy. Carol ate up the entire bowl and said," This stuff is great! What is it?" Sanster swallowed a spoonful. "This is broth of rattlesnake," he answered, licking his lips. "It has a rattlesnake skin it and slug powder. Also a dash of lizard spice. Good, isn't it?" Carol stared into her empty bowl, feeling sick. It sure sounded gross! But it sure was good! "I suppose you had better be going back to Zork," Sanster said. "Here, take him a bottle of rattlesnake broth." He filled a glass jar and put it into the green basket. Then he gave the basket to Carol. "Thank you for the meal." Carol called back. Sanster nodded and waved. When Carol got back to Zork's small house, he was outside waiting for her. "Sanster gave you this," Carol said. "It's rattlesnake broth. He gave me some, too. It's very yummy." Zork laughed and said," It is good, isn't it. I should make that for dinner sometime. I'm sure the recipe is here somewhere." He went inside and gestured towards a stack of books on a shelf. Carol picked one up and read the title. "A Magician's Manual to Magic Meals," she said. She flipped through the pages. "Here it is," she said. "Rattlesnake broth. Take one rattlesnake. Skin it and boil the skin for ten minutes. Then you chop in pieces and cook it over a fire for half an hour. Add one pinch of slug powder. If wanted spicy, one cup of lizard spice." She put the book down. "We could make that tomorrow," she suggested. Zork nodded and said," We could. I don't know where we'd find a rattlesnake though. There don't seem to be too many of them left. Hmmm." Carol put her hands into her pockets and felt the sprig of plant. She pulled it out and said," I fouind this in the woods today. Could you tell me what is it?" Zork glanced at it without interest, then did a double take. "Is that what I think it is?" he gasped. He grabbed a book called Magical Plants and Fungi and began leafing through it. "Here it is." he said. He read to himself. "Believed to be extinct." he mused. He took the plant from Carol and held it up to the book. Carol peeked over his shoulder and saw a picture of the same plant. "Well, what is it?" she asked. Zork put the book down. "It's a very rare magical plant," he explained. "It's believed to be extinct, but obviously that's wrong. It's called Vistle. If one leaf is eaten, that person would become invisible for one hour. If two are eaten, two hours. And so on. There was a mad rush for this plant a hundred years ago. Every wizard, magician, and sorcerer got as much of this plant as they could. Invisibility plants were very popular back then, before invisibility potions came out." He stared silently at the plant. "Well," Carol said. "There was such a mad rush for it that it was believed to have become extinct," he continued. "It's very valuable. Where did you find it?" "In the forest," Carol answered. "There was a few plants beside a willow tree. I didn't know what it was, so I picked some." Zork began to smile and he cried," This is wonderful! I can write to the person who sponsors plant marketing and tell them. They'll breed it and we'll be rich! Who runs it now? Ah, yes, a Kallena J. Zinco. Why, I could buy some of those new expensive potion ingredients. Or. . . a De-Aging potion!" Zork's eyes got wide and he said," Of course. If we had enough, we could buy a De-Aging potion for Sanster! But they're horribly expensive, and you can't make it from scratch. At least not if you valued your life. Hmmm." "How do you make a De-Aging potion from scratch?" Carol asked. Zork shook his head and said." Bring me that ,ig red book over there." Carol grabbed the book. It was titled simply Potions From Scratch. Zork looked through it and said," Here we are." He read silently and said," No, can't make a De-Aging potion. It needs two hairs from a griffin's head. Too hard to get. Very risky." He shut the book and put it aside. "No, I'll write to this Kallena person and explain that my apprentice found some Vistle plants." "First, what does a De-Aging potion do?" Carol asked before Zork got absorbed in his letter. "It's a potion to make one younger," Zork answered. "Sanster's been wanting one for years. Now then." When the letter was finished, Zork sent it by Eagle Express with a piece of the plant for confirmation that it was the real thing. He got a reply saying that if he was right, he would be rich. And. . . He was right! It was a Vistle plant! "Of course, you found it," Zork told Carol. "It's your money." "I want to help Sanster," Carol said. Zork smiled at her and said," I'll order it." When the De-Aging potion came, Carol took it to Sanster, who was so pleased, he made her and Zork two batches of rattlesnake broth. And so everybody was happy!

Copyright 2000 by Chantessy