Here is the first chapter of the third installment in my series. This is the last story that I wrote for Sofia the First (so far) but I think it works well with the others. We get to explore those creatures that attacked Sofia in the first part. Enjoy!
Also, this entire story is uploaded in audio form on YouTube.
Sofia laughed as Cedric stamped out the fire, muttering curses under his breath.
"Stupid thing," he spat, tossing the wood back under the cauldron.
"It's okay, Cedric," Sofia said, grabbing a broom to sweep up the ashes.
"Well, you got a laugh out of it," Cedric replied, smiling at her as he turned to grab a bottle of beetle saliva. "Pour seven drops of this into the mix."
Sofia obeyed, and the liquid turned red. She enjoyed helping Cedric, and at seventeen, she was now fairly adept at potion-making. That was one thing she had to learn—most of the rest were natural parts of being a Mystique—and Cedric was very skilled at that particular art form. She wasn't quite as good as Cedric, and there had been some very big mistakes made, but it was all a part of learning, and the sorcerer didn't really mind. He was pleased to help her improve.
"How did your sorcery test go?" Cedric queried, rummaging around to find some Phoenix feathers.
"It went very well," Sofia replied then grabbed a box. "Here they are."
"Aced it, of course?"
"Of course."
"Are we still going to the Mystic Isles tonight?"
"We'll spend a few days there, you know, on its time."
"I have a busy day tomorrow, so we need to get back by morning," Cedric agreed.
They were very good at timing themselves when they traveled by this point. Usually, they went to sleep one night in real time, and they could spend three to four days in the Isles, depending on what time they went to bed. Afterwards, they woke up, refreshed and rejuvenated for the next day. Sometimes they would go several nights in a row, but they didn't do it all the time. They tended to lose touch with reality the more often they went in a short period, and their magic became more unpredictable.
There was one more reason they didn't like to go for more than a few consecutive nights: the Shadowlings. After Sofia was attacked their first, extended trip, they had stuffed down their fear and done research, something that Cedric hadn't been willing to do at first. Sofia was persistent, though, and they finally perused the library in the castle, and many more abroad, to find the answer to the question of what they were.
The black beasts with the purple eyes were called Shadowlings, and they originally were split from a very powerful being called Thorn, who was also known as the Great Shadow. He was always hungry for raw magic, and he sent out his beasts to collect power for him. Exposure to their poison could cause brief insanity, as evidenced by Sofia's reaction the first time, and enough uninterrupted contact between the poison and the blood could make the insanity more permanent.
Fortunately, the body could quickly work out small amounts of the poison, such as from a small bite or scratch. Unfortunately, Sofia had an unusually strong reaction to the poison, as they had discovered over the three times she'd been bitten, compared to the only time Cedric had. He had started to have visions after a couple days, and only then did he notice the bite, but Sofia's reaction was almost instantaneous. Within mere minutes of being harmed by one of them, be it a bite or scratch, though bites were much worse, her eyes would turn purple and start to glow, and she lost her reluctance to curse.
After catching a creature, Cedric had removed some of the poison, and they were slowly building up Sofia's resistance to it by giving it to her in little doses. She had been overwhelmingly embarrassed at first by her language and the things she called Cedric and accused him of doing while on the poison, but she had resigned to be supervised when she realized how unstable she was. She understood now that she wasn't herself then, but the sorcerer was the only one she trusted to hear her at such a vulnerable, frightening moment. Her resistance had been steadily built up, and she could handle more poison now, but her reaction was still unnaturally strong when it occurred.
Sofia handed the box of Phoenix feathers to Cedric—they were very volatile when added to potions—who dropped in two. After a miniature explosion, the princess rapidly stirred the liquid as her friend added the final ingredient: dragon's tears. The potion settled into a beautiful pink with a slight shimmer.
"Perfect. Well done, my dear," Cedric said fondly. "We'll bottle this up and I'll sell it to Trenton. He's offered quite a bit for it."
With a burst of magic from his core, he lifted up the entire potion and portioned it easily. Sofia flexed her own magic and engulfed them in liquid glass before solidifying it into perfect little vials. That done, they corked them then ordered them into a cushioned box. The princess closed the box, then they locked it with a particularly hard spell that only a sorcerer would know how to undo. After that, Sofia began putting protective magic around it. There were the standard ones, like protection from water and fire and damage, then there was one that protected the box from thieves.
"Is this okay, Cedric?" she asked after fifteen minutes.
He spun his chair around then wheeled it closer and sent a surge of magic out and over it.
"Very good! Your protective magic is getting stronger!"
Sofia beamed then carefully set the box by the door. "What does this potion do again?"
"It's a bit like raw magic, only manufactured instead of natural," Cedric said. "Very few sorcerers are powerful enough to create it, hence why Trenton asked us. He's going to pick it up at your school during the sorcery even tomorrow. I shall personally attend, though I might be a bit late."
"There's a dinner first, so you should be fine," Sofia assured him. "I can't wait to show mom and dad what I've been learning!"
"Learning?" Cedric teased. "I thought it was all natural!"
Sofia giggled. "You know what I mean! I never would have thought to make wine from rivulet rocks!"
"You can use magic to do pretty much anything," Cedric agreed. "Now, you don't worry about this potion anymore. I'll send it with you tomorrow afternoon when you go to school for the show. Then you can worry about it. Alright?"
"Sounds good, Cedric. I'll see you tomorrow."
Sofia headed to her room, where Clover was sleeping. The poor rabbit had been sick recently, and he weakly smiled at her. The princess nodded, and pulled out the last quarter of a healing potion from a cabinet.
"Cedric told me that if you're not better after this, he'll make you something stronger. Okay?"
"Ugh, that stuff tastes terrible," Clover complained, but he drank it down with only one gag and a cough.
"I hope you feel better soon."
"I will, Sofe. Don't you worry about it," the rabbit replied.
Sofia got ready for bed then settled in, cuddling Clover, who was staying with her until he felt better. She reached over her mind link for a quick goodnight to find that Cedric was sipping tea with his nightclothes on.
~Goodnight, Cedric.~
~Goodnight, Sofia. Get some rest. I'll see you in the Isles.~