The Amethyst Flame

Chapter 9 - A Game of Madness (Arthur)

As we ventured through the entrance, we found another tunnel. This one, thankfully, did not teleport us to the beginning. Unfortunately, we had another problem on our hands. The tunnel would insult you as you walked toward the exit. Voices both male and female spoke demeaningly of us, spilling our deepest and darkest secrets. I nearly went mad when one of them brought up my mother.

“Poor Deirdre, she would have been so disappointed in you!” a gruff male voice mocked.

We covered our ears to escape the torment and sprinted toward the exit. There were no monsters or traps in this room. This was a game, a game of madness. We were our own enemy.

When we got to the exit, we both took deep breaths to calm ourselves down. The voices knew all our flaws and weaknesses and used them against us. They could drive anyone insane. Everyone hides something deep down.

“I’m going in,” Jethro hesitantly said as he opened the door and went inside. His body vanished as soon as he did, and my heart nearly exploded with terror. Did my brother just disintegrate?

I went after him and noticed something rather unusual. We weren’t underground anymore. We were in a wooden cabin. There was an unexplainable aura to it; I felt like I had been here countless times before.

“What do we do next?” I called out in confusion.

“Read the book Spells for Novices; it’s on the table,” a soft-spoken male voice called out from above. It was as if someone was talking to us from the Great Ether itself.

“Who are you?” I asked, looking all around me in confusion.

“The better question is, what am I? I am everything that is alive and breathing. I created every plant, animal, and mushroom. Unfortunately, I am immaterial and don’t have a body to call my own,” the specter answered in a wailing tone.

“Is there any way for you to get a body?” Jethro asked with a look of pity.

“There is, but it requires a living host. Most humans aren’t fans of having their body possessed.”

“I want to be a host,” I said without realizing.

“Thus, it shall be so,” the ghost replied with joy.

Becoming a host is unspeakably painful. My body felt like it was on fire, and stars danced in front of my eyes. I honestly thought I would die from the exhaustion I felt. Then, my agony went away, and the process was complete. It felt strange having someone else control my body. I felt like a puppet on a string.

“Why was the process so painful?” I groaned.

“You’re not a magic user. The body thinks something is attacking it and freaks out,” the phantom spoke inside my head. It was as if his thoughts became mine at that moment.

“Let me read this book and see if your so-called magic exists…” I muttered in disbelief.

The voice controlled my body and led me toward the book. I sat down and opened it up to the first page.

“Read the whole thing out loud,” the voice said gently.

“Magic is more than‌ a weapon. It is a way of life. As a wizard, you must avoid using black magic. An example of a f*******n spell is the resurrection of the dead. This dangerous spell requires human flesh to work. If you follow the Left-Hand Path or the path of wickedness, know that you will suffer in the long run. We become more in tune with the universe by showing compassion to our enemies and obeying the doctrines. Make the choice today and become a wizard,” I read at a snail’s pace. The words were so tiny that I had to strain my eyes to see them.

“Do you want to become a wizard?” the voice asked.

“I guess… I have yet to see any real magic,” I said with a sigh.

“You will see it soon. All you need to do is accept the oath.”

“I accept it,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Relax, there’s nothing to be angry about,” Jethro said reassuringly, patting me on the shoulder.

The voice told me to open to page 5 to cast my first spell. I’ll admit that I didn’t want to obey its instructions, but I was its host, so I had little say in the matter.

I opened the book to page 5 and read over the spell and its details. It was called Sparklight. The description read: Lost in the dark? Cast Sparklight, and a luminescent ball will light your way. The spell is excellent for warding off vampires but can attract curious predators. To cast it, say Sparklight three times.

The voice dimmed the room’s brightness to pitch-black. This was the perfect opportunity to see if magic was real or just a bunch of fairy tale nonsense.

“Sparklight, sparklight, sparklight!” I exclaimed. After doing the chant, I felt an invisible energy leave my fingertips and heard a faint hissing noise a couple of feet ahead of where I sat. A ball slowly formed together in my vision. The larger it got, the brighter the room became. It grew for several more minutes before the entire room lit up like a star.

It’s… real? Surely, my eyes aren’t deceiving me.

“Excellent! Now let your brother try a spell,” the voice said excitedly.

“Jethro, the specter wants you to cast a spell. You’ll have to become the host now,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Um, do I have to?” he asked with wide eyes.

“Just do it…” I muttered.

The creature left my body and entered Jethro’s. Strangely, he didn’t experience any pain and actually felt euphoric. I was jealous that his body could handle the phantom so easily.

He walked over to the table and flipped to page 7.

“Wait, why wasn’t he in any pain?” I called out to the voice.

“His exceeding faith in magic helped. Faith can even counter curses,” the being spoke through Jethro’s tongue.

I read over the spell my brother was looking at and was surprised to see that it was for casting fireballs. The description read: Blazeburn is an essential spell that every wizard should know. You won’t survive long without protection in the wildlands. It is especially effective against blade fangs and trolls. Blazeburn is highly ineffective against dragons and beholders and strengthens them. The former is raised in volcanoes while the latter counters all spells by absorbing their energy. The only way to defeat the latter is to use traditional weaponry, such as swords and axes. To cast this spell, shout ignis tholus acht and point your dominant hand in the direction you want the fireball to go.

He stood up, and I walked over to the opposite side of the room to prevent any potentially fatal injuries from occurring.

“Ignis tholus acht!” he shouted, pointing his right hand toward the fireplace. In an instant, the room grew significantly warmer, and a blue ball of flames shot from his hand into the hearth. He nearly collapsed from exhaustion but kept a stoic expression the entire time.

Then I heard him let out a yelp and asked what was wrong.

“What happened?” I asked curiously.

“The specter just left my body. My stomach dropped, and I have the worst headache imaginable,” he said with a sickly green hue on his face.

“Something seems rather off about it, wouldn’t you say?” I asked anxiously.

“What do you mean? It’s just trying to help us,” he asked confusedly.

“This room feels sinister,” I said with a shudder.

“Relax, there’s nothing evil here,” Jethro said casually. He was always nonchalant about danger, which greatly annoyed everyone around him.

A door unlocked, and I anxiously waited for someone to come out. After waiting for a few more minutes, we got creeped out. We gently tiptoed to where we heard the sound and saw a large brass door with knockers. I swear it wasn’t there in the beginning.

I used the knockers three times to see what would happen but was dismayed to find that they had no purpose.

“Can I try?” Jethro asked.

“Be my guest…” I muttered.

He followed what I did but knocked four times instead of three.

The first knock, nothing happened.

The second knock, nothing happened.

The third knock, nothing happened.

The fourth knock flung the door open and allowed us to proceed.

We walked through the entrance and beheld all the paintings of minotaurs and beholders. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me when I saw them move, but Jethro saw it too. The minotaurs swung their axes, and the beholders attempted to paralyze us through the paintings vicariously.

“I hate this place…” Jethro muttered.

“We could always go back,” I said with a smirk.

“I think we should,” he said, turning around and walking back. Before he could reach the door, it slammed itself shut and locked itself from the outside. There was no way out.

We began panicking and could hardly speak coherently from how terrified we were.

“We need to get through this place somehow,” he said in a shaky voice.

“And how do we do that?” I asked in a vexed tone.

“Hold on, let me inspect something,” he said hurriedly before walking over to one of the torches hanging on the wall.

“Jethro, what are you doing?”

“There’s something special about this torch; it’s colored differently from the rest. I think it might be the thing that’ll get us out of here!” he excitedly exclaimed.

“Yeah, right, it’s only a torch,” I scoffed.

Jethro ignored my comment and took the torch out of its slot. In an instant, the ground beneath us juddered. We ran as close as possible to the locked door and saw a stone staircase rise out of the floor where we stood. The torch Jethro held emitted a bright green trail of light that went down.

We hesitantly went down the claustrophobic staircase and emerged in a most unusual room. It didn’t have a ceiling and had multiple entrances leading nowhere. Then, it hit me.

We were in a maze.