“You’re evil! Absolutely, irredeemably vile! How could you?” Triss said in utter astonishment.

  Reginald continued walking down the path to the castle, back straight and head held high. “I feel absolutely no shame, Miss Triss. Besides. He did it first.” A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his long crocodilian mouth.

  “He did it in your bed, but you stopped them before they took over. He’s not going to open that luggage until tonight at the earliest! What if they lay eggs by then?”

  The draconic’s smile grew wider. “That would be a shame.” He replied insincerely. “If they were to lay eggs, I expect he’d be dealing with them every time he opened his luggage for at least the next two weeks."

  Triss raised an eyebrow, fixing Reginald with a look. Reginald adopted an expression of pure innocence. Then they both burst into laughter. "He's going to make you pay for that when he gets back, you know that?" Triss said, still laughing.

  "Not if I tell him you did it." Reginald replied with a mischievous grin.

  "Wait, what? No! You try that and I'll rat you out so fast it'll make your head spin!"

  "You think he'll believe you?" Reginald raised one scaly brow. "I've been a loyal servant for... years. You've only been his apprentice for a year. I'm sure he'll blame you."

  "I don't know the spell."

  "Perhaps. Or perhaps you asked me to teach you in preparation for your evil little prank." Reginald took on a considering look. "Yes, that's it. You asked me to teach you the spell. How was I supposed to know that you were going to summon the bedbugs into his luggage?"

  Triss's eyes narrowed into thin slits. "You're an evil lizard."

  Reginald shrugged. "I work for a dark wizard."

  "That's an old excuse."

  "And yet still a valid one."

  Triss rolled her eyes. "So what's the plan for the rest of the day?" She asked, changing topics.

  "We'll have lunch, and then it's back to training. You've got to get that firestarter spell finished by tomorrow." Reginald replied.

  "I already know the firestarter spell!" Triss complained. It had been one of the first spells she had learned.

  "Yes, but you're still hand casting it. For the funeral, it would be better if you could mindcast it."

  Triss sighed. She'd learned dozens of spells now, but she still had to draw the runes in the air in order to cast them. A true wizard, according to Percival, learned to draw the runes in their mind first. It had to be drawn completely, and it had to be done all at once. It sounded simple, but it really wasn't.

  She could grudgingly see the benefit of mindcasting. It allowed a spell to be cast as quickly as you could think. But it required the wizard to cast the spell over and over, thousands of times to get it right. And the spell only succeeded when you managed to get it right. Triss had spent untold hours practicing the four spells Percival had assigned her, and had yet to manage to mindcast anything. "Once you get the first, it becomes easier." He had told her. "At least, for someone with at least a little bit of talent. I expect you'll never manage it once."

  Triss clenched her jaw at the memory. She suddenly found she was much happier that Reginald had filled Percival's luggage with bedbugs. She sighed. "Sounds like a fun afternoon." She said sarcastically. "I really can't wait."

  After a quick meal, she settled down in her bedroom to practice. She placed an unlit candle on her dresser, then sat cross-legged on the bed and stared at it. She drew the symbol for the firestarter spell in her mind, carefully drawing each line of the rune. Once she was sure she had it correct, she pushed power into the symbol. It felt like pushing a piece of string up a hill. The power refused to flow. She growled and pushed harder. For the briefest of seconds, the symbol in her mind glowed dimly. Then it exploded.

  "Damn it!" Triss yelled, clutching her head as a brief stab of pain shot through it. This was always what happened. She'd draw the spell, push power into it, and wind up with a headache.

  Too slow.

  "Oh, shut up." Triss snapped at the voice. "I don't need your help."

  You look like you need all the help you can get. The voice in her head replied dryly.

  The voice wasn't a symptom of madness, but an actual person. Specifically, it was the voice of the previous owner of the castle. Percival and Reginald had used a ritual to place his spirit inside Triss's mind, in order to share his understanding of their language. Then Triss had played around with some components, taking the voice's guidance, and nearly had her body taken over by the spirit. Fortunately she managed to escape before he could completely possess her.

  He had saved her life once, at the cost of his own energy, giving her a spell that defeated another wizard. It had been taxing on the spirit, leaving him unable to communicate with her for nearly a year.

  Triss usually ignored the voice. She'd found she could sort of push him aside to a corner of her mind, muting him. She'd forgotten to do it today.

  Triss began drawing the symbol in her mind again, line by line. It's not going to work like that.

  Exasperated, Triss threw her hands up. "Why not! I'm drawing it properly!" She snapped.

  You're trying to mindcast. You have to place the entire rune at once. You can't draw the lines, you have to create the entire spell form in one thought, powering it simultaneously.

  Triss rolled her eyes, but tried it anyways. She imagined the runes, completed, while pushing power. A blinding pain shot through her head, worse than any of the previous attempts. "Damn it!" She yelled.

  Not bad. Your line on the Gertin rune was a little short. Try again.

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  "I'll shorten you." She muttered.

  You're really bad at insults. You should try harder. It's a vital skill for a dark wizard.

  Triss ignored the voice's comment and focused again on the unlit candle. She formed the spell and pushed simultaneously. She was rewarded with another stab of pain.

  Again.

  She tried again. Pain. Again. Pain.

  You may not be talented. Or smart. Or attractive. But at least you're stubborn.

  "Is that your idea of encouragement?" Triss said angrily.

  It is. Stubbornness is probably the most important trait in a good wizard. If it were easy, everyone would do it.

  Triss muttered curses under her breath until she felt better, then continued. She failed, again and again. When Reginald entered an unknown length of time later, she was laying on the bed. Her hair was matted with sweat, and she was staring blankly at the ceiling through bloodshot eyes.

  "Haven't managed it yet?" Reginald asked.

  "Ghrigblem." Triss replied, not moving.

  "I see." Reginald replied sagely. "That's probably the correct way of looking at it."

  Triss closed her eyes, summoning her strength. She pushed herself up to a sitting position and glared at Reginald. "Are you here for a reason? Or did you come just to mock my pain?"

  "Not just." Reginald said with a grin. He held up a silver tray covered with a white cloth. "Supper time."

  Triss blinked. "Already? How long have I been at this?"

  "Not that long." Reginald replied.

  Four hours, nineteen minutes. You've made sixty six failed attempts.

  "Oh shut up." Triss said to the voice.

  Reginald gave her a confused look for a moment, then understanding crossed his face. "He's back?"

  Triss nodded. "Came back a couple weeks ago." Then a thought occurred to her. "You know, I think that's the first time he's talked to me with you or Percival around."

  Reginald nodded. "He was likely trying to hide his presence."

  "Why?"

  "Percival and Grounth never got along in life. I expect he was worried Percival would notice and exorcise him."

  Not worried. That miserable excuse for a wizard couldn't hurt me. I just don't like him.

  "How in the world would Percival notice him? He's in my head." Triss said, ignoring Grounth.

  "Percival is a wizard of the primary order."

  "Meaning?"

  Reginald set the tray on the dresser next to the candle, then pulled out a chair and sat down. "We haven't covered orders yet, have we?" Triss shook her head. "There are three - well technically four - orders of wizards.

  The first order is apprentice. That's you. Then there's tertiary, secondary, and primary. An apprentice is anyone who can use magic but hasn't passed the first trial."

  "A trial? Like a test?" Triss asked.

  "No, not like a test. The trial to reach tertiary is known as the Trial of Divided Self. An apprentice is faced with a choice, and must choose to cut away a part of who they are, a core belief, and choose magic instead.

  Doing so will bind the magic to your very soul, increasing your ability and understanding of magic. Or else it will drive you completely insane."

  "Wait, what? It'll drive me insane?" Triss asked.

  "It can. Changing a core belief is difficult on the mind, and not everyone can handle it."

  "That doesn't make sense. People change all the time."

  "Do they?"

  "Of course they do."

  "Give me an example. Someone making a radical change in their core beliefs." Reginald was in full teacher mode now.

  "What about people who lose a ton of weight because they changed how they eat and started exercising. I've heard of people losing hundreds of pounds." Triss responded after a moment's thought.

  Reginald shook his head. "They changed their actions. They didn't wake up one day and suddenly change their view on food and exercise. Even if they did, it's not a core belief."

  "Then what's a core belief?" Triss asked, too tired to keep playing this guessing game.

  "A core belief is one that defines you as a person. Things like 'killing is always wrong' or 'everyone deserves kindness'. Something important like that."

  "So to reach the next level I need to murder someone or decide to be an asshole? Are only dark wizards able to level?"

  "It's not levels, it's orders."

  "You know what I mean." Triss said in exasperation. "Do you have to become a jerk to reach the next order?"

  Reginald shook his head. "You have to change a core belief. Let's take killing as an example. If you believe killing people is always wrong, maybe you realize that sometimes certain people need to die. That the world is better without them."

  Triss and Reginald had discussed this once before, after he'd killed a soldier. The soldier had been coming after Triss, and Reginald had killed him in cold blood. Which, for a lizard creature, was the default way of killing.

  "But I..." I killed Thomas. She couldn't bring herself to say the words.

  "I know." Reginald said gently. The words hung in the air.

  "Why didn't I become a next level wizard after that?" Triss asked quietly.

  "You didn't use magic. And you didn't change a core belief. You acted once to save your world from a powerful madman. If you changed, truly changed down to your core, you wouldn't regret killing him."

  Triss laughed bitterly. "So I need to become a cold blooded killer?"

  "No. There are many beliefs that make up who you are. Some good, some bad."

  "Bad beliefs?" Triss asked curiously.

  Reginald nodded. "There are many bad, or at least detrimental ideas. Lies we tell ourselves."

  "Like what?"

  "Like 'everyone is out to get me.' ''People only care about me when I'm useful.'" He fixed her with a hard look. "'I'm too weak to make a difference.'"

  Triss thought for a moment. "Those beliefs come from somewhere though. Meaning people do change, sometimes drastically. If someone is robbed on the street they might not be willing to go out anymore."

  "At which point they've added a core belief. They haven't changed one. When I say people don't change, I mean they rarely change a core belief. They might add a new one, but it's hard to change an existing one."

  "But in my example, if someone is afraid to go outside they could go to therapy and get over it."

  "They learn to live with the belief. It's still there, they just figure out how to live contrary to their belief. Sometimes maybe they do change, but it's slow and gradual. We're talking about a massive, instantaneous change. A complete reversal. So someone who's afraid to go outside is now completely fine with it, completely unafraid. That's how you reach the tertiary order."

  "How does that happen then? What would cause someone to change like that"

  "It requires a crisis."

  "So you can only get more powerful if you keep throwing yourself into dangerous situations?"

  "Yes and no. There is a ritual that causes you to experience a crisis situation, completely in your mind. Like a dream. It lets you confront a situation that challenges your beliefs. But it's dangerous, and needs three primary order wizards to power it."

  "Well, Percy makes one. What order are you?" Triss asked.

  "Percival. I'm a draconic. Magic works differently for us. We don't rise in orders, but we're naturally the equivalent of second order." Reginald said.

  "Then how am I supposed to reach the next order?" Triss asked in annoyance. "It sounds like I'm just going to have to get lucky and magically change a belief."

  Reginald shrugged. "Pretty much."

  Triss glared at the draconic, who affected an innocent expression. "You're a pest." She said finally.

  Reginald smiled. "I work -"

  "Don't even say it." Triss interrupted. "Just give me the food."

  Reginald whisked the cloth off the tray to reveal two steaming bowls of thick brown stew. He handed her one along with a spoon and a large chunk of buttered bread. Triss dug in gratefully, devouring the stew in minutes and then wiping the bowl clean with the bread and eating that. She collapsed on the bed with a sigh.

  "Good, was it?"

  "Mmhm." Triss replied.

  "Glad to hear it. I was a little worried. You haven't been the biggest fan of rat in the past, but I thought this recipe might help hide the taste."

  Triss shot back up, ready to tear into to devious lizard. Then she noticed his grin. "That wasn't nice." She complained.

  "I am not nice." Reginald replied.

  "Yeah, you are." Triss replied. "You're a jackass sometimes, but deep down, you're nice."

  He smiled at her, and she smiled back. He took the dishes then, and left her to finish her practice. "Don't stay up too late." He warned as he was leaving. "The funeral is early and we'll need to prepare."

  Triss nodded sadly. "I know. I'll be ready."

  She practiced for a couple more hours, until the shadows in the room began to lengthen. She didn't manage to light the candle, but she did feel like she was making progress. Finally, she dressed for bed and climbed into the cool sheets. Tomorrow would be hard, and she needed the rest. She was asleep in moments.