The pain coursing through his body was unlike anything else Orphen had ever felt. It was like he was on fire. Morph's tongue felt like hot metal bands wrapped around him, and he could feel it constricting tighter and tighter, cutting off his breath, as the beast laughed and lifted him off the ground and into the air. He could feel his magical power flowing swiftly out of his body, leaving him weak, helpless, and completely at the mercy of this hideous creature. As Morph's tongue tightened its crushing grip on him, the searing pain intensified, and Orphen small, white bursts of light seemed to explode in his mind and in front of his eyes. He could feel darkness creeping in on him, and he desperately fought against it. If he lost consciousness now, he knew his life would be over within minutes.
'Come on, Orphen,' he thought desperately. 'Think, man! Think! There has to be a way out of this. And, you've gotta act fast, while you still have some power left.'
He knew Morph survived by feeding off of magic, which meant that, although it was physically strong, it didn't have any magical power of its own, and, judging from the fact that the beast was crushing him to death as it sucked up his power, Orphen guessed that Morph probably didn't have the ability to actually use the magic it stole. The young sorcerer figured that this fact worked in his favor. He could still destroy the creature using magic, as long as he was careful in his attack. He had never heard of this beast, and he figured that put him at a serious disadvantage, since he knew nothing of its habits. But, he could sense an unspeakable evil emanating from Morph, and he could guess at why the Heavenly Ones had sealed him here. He had a feeling that, once Morph was fully strengthened from his power, it would free itself from the maze of caverns connected to the mountain tunnel and go on a rampage, destroying everything and killing everyone in its path. Most importantly, Orphen knew that Morph would never leave Majic alive. The creature had already recognized the boy's power, just as Orphen had, and the young sorcerer knew that his apprentice would be too much of a prize for this evil creature to pass up.
'That settles it, then, magic man,' Orphen told himself as he continued to fight off the pain and darkness that loomed ever closer. 'I have to stop him here. There are no other options.'
He continued to struggle desperately against Morph's tongue, which continued to constrict around his body, and finally, he managed to free his left hand and arm. Morph didn't even notice. The beast was too engrossed in its meal, and too certain of its victory to pay attention to its prey. After he had freed his arm, Orphen closed his eyes, blocked out all of the fear and pain, and slowly began to gather the magical power he still possessed. Slowly, very slowly, he gathered and focused it until he formed it into a glowing, blue-green light staff. He summoned up his remaining physical strength and swung the staff upward, toward the only target within his view --- a huge, red eye.
The light staff cut directly through Morph's tough, scaly hide. It made a hissing sound as it sliced through the beast's skin, and the smell of blood and burning flesh filled the room as Orphen's staff cut the eye in two. Morph tossed its head wildly in an attempt to escape the pain from the wounded eye. It screamed and thrashed around madly, flinging Orphen roughly from side to side. In a rage, it threw Orphen aside, and the young sorcerer, suddenly free, flew through the air and crashed into the cavern wall farthest from the entrance. He could feel and hear his right shoulder and ribs breaking as he hit the hard rock wall. He slid down the rock face and landed heavily on the lake's bank. He lay there for a few moments, panting, and watching Morph with satisfaction. The huge beast was still screaming, and its body was thrashing from side to side. Orphen could see rolls and rolls of dark coils moving above the water's surface and then down again as the creature moved and struggled. Its thrashing pushed most of the lake's water out of the basin that had held it. The water splashed out of the lake in huge waves, crashing over the cavern's walls and the narrow rock bank around the lake and soaking everything within reach, including Orphen.
As the young sorcerer pulled himself to his feet and stood on trembling legs, Morph stopped thrashing around and turned its three heads to face Orphen. The beast tilted its middle head slightly to the side, and snarled in anger at its prey. One side of that face was almost completely gone as a result of Orphen's attack. The flesh was still burning, and Orphen could see bone under the jagged pieces of muscle and skin that clung to Morph's skull. The beast's eye was completely gone, and blood poured from the creature's wounds and into the lake, turning the water a dark red. Morph snarled at Orphen again, and the middle head's tongue snaked out of its mouth to lick away the blood streaming down its face. The heads on either side of the middle one slowly wrapped themselves around the neck and face of the middle head, and, before Orphen's eyes, they began to change shape and meld together, reforming into a single, undamaged head.
'Guess that's why he's called "Morph",' Orphen thought as he prepared himself for his next move.
Orphen knew he had to attack before Morph finished its transformation. His strength was failing quickly, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to harm Morph again once it had healed itself. Yelling, Orphen leaped through the air toward Morph's head, swinging the light staff with all of his remaining strength. The staff connected solidly with Morph's neck, just below its head, and began to burn its way through. Even though it hadn't completed its transformation, Morph managed to meet Orphen's attack, and the young sorcerer felt the beast's fangs pierce his shoulder and side. He could feel something flowing into his body from the fangs, and realized that Morph was injecting him with some kind of venom. He could feel the poison entering his body; it made him dizzy and sick to his stomach. But, Orphen knew he couldn't stop. He knew this was his final attack, and he poured all of the strength and magical power he had left into making the staff cut through his target. Orphen pictured this hideous beast killing Majic by draining the boy's power and then killing Cleao, and he used his rage to give himself strength. He yelled and swung the staff one last time, finally managing to completely cut through Morph's neck, severing its head.
Morph didn't even have time to scream as its head separated from its body. The head flew through the air and landed on the lake's rock bank near the cavern's entrance, taking Orphen, who was still impaled on its fangs, with it. The young sorcerer and skull both landed, hard, on the rock floor. The impact split the skull in two and ripped the fangs from Orphen's shoulder and side, leaving gaping, bloody wounds. Morph's headless body thrashed from side to side, covering the bank and Orphen with the rest of the bloody water that had been left in the lake. Suddenly, the beast's body and skull both burst into fire and were completely consumed by the flames. Once the fire finally burned itself out, nothing was left of the creature --- not even bones --- and Orphen was alone in a cold, dark, empty cavern. He was drenched, both with water and with blood, and he felt too sick, weak, and hurt to even stand. Slowly, painfully, he rolled over onto his back and let darkness engulf him like a shroud.
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Majic had dragged Cleao out of Morph's cavern and back into the chamber where they had previously decided to camp. Cleao had struggled the whole way to break free from Majic, but the boy was surprisingly strong. His grip on her wrist had been like iron, and she had been unable to break it. The light from the glowing rocks in the tunnel walls and ceiling was beginning to fade. But, even in the dim light, Majic could see a dark bruise around Cleao's wrist, where his hand had been, and he felt guilt stealing over him.
"Cleao," he began, hesitantly, "I I'm sorry about your wrist. I didn't mean to hurt you, but"
His voice trailed off as Cleao glared angrily at him. Majic couldn't help but feel an irrational wave of fear as he squirmed under her angry stare. He had never seen the girl this angry.
She turned her back on him, facing the opposite wall, and snapped, "I can't believe you, Majic. I can't believe you could just walk out of there. That you could just leave him like that. I'll never forgive you, if he doesn't come back. I mean it." Her angry voice dissolved into tears, as she said, "I'll never forgive either one of you."
Majic rose and walked over to Cleao. He knelt in front of her and placed his hand under her chin, lifting her head so that she was forced to look into his eyes. "We have to believe in him, Cleao."
She nodded and dried her tears. "Well," she said, standing up and wiping her hands on her skirt, "I'm sure he'll be hungry when he comes back, right? So, why don't I start dinner --- if you think you can make fire, that is!"
She laughed as Majic protested, "Fire is not an easy spell!"
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Orphen groaned as he regained consciousness. Every muscle and bone in his body hurt, and his broken shoulder and ribs ached with a dull, constant throb. He was freezing cold, weak, exhausted, and sick to his stomach. 'Probably from the poison, and from losing so much power' he thought. He could feel the poison slowly traveling through his body, and it felt as if it was eating away at him from the inside. He had hoped that his power would return with Morph's death, but that hadn't happened. It seemed that his power had created the fire that had consumed the beast, which meant that it had burned away with Morph, and, now, he didn't have enough power or strength left to heal himself.
He rolled slowly onto his side, trying to protect his injured right shoulder and ribs, and pushed himself up off of the floor and into a standing position. He felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, and he clutched at the wall to keep from falling. 'Shit,' he thought as he gently shook his head to clear it, 'if I'm gonna die, it's not going to be in here.' He pushed himself away from the wall and slowly, painfully staggered out of the cavern and into the tunnel. The light that had, earlier, illuminated the dark caverns had faded away, and the tunnel was almost completely black. He couldn't remember which direction he had to go in order to find Majic and Cleao. He remembered finding the cavern where he had earlier suggested they should camp, and he was certain that his companions would have returned there. But, he just couldn't remember where it was, and he felt completely disoriented in the dark. As he stood there, leaning against the wall and wondering which way he should go, a breeze came through the tunnel, carrying the unmistakable smell of Cleao's specialty stew. 'Lucky me,' he thought, laughing softly, and, using the wall for support, he slowly staggered down the corridor, following the smell to where his friends would be.
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"I have to admit, Majic," Cleao said, looking around the cavern as she stirred the large pot of stew, "I'm pretty impressed. I mean, here I didn't even think you could make fire." She laughed as Majic stuck his tongue out at her.
Not only had Majic managed to make a fire, he had also managed to copy Orphen's illumination spell, and, even though it was not as bright as the light created by his master, they were able to easily see around the cavern. Majic surveyed their surroundings, and smiled in spite of himself. He had to admit he was pretty pleased --- and a little surprised --- at his success.
"I hate to admit it," he commented, "but I'm kind of surprised, too. I guess Master was right; I just had to believe in myself" His voice trailed off wistfully as he looked toward the entrance, as if he expected Orphen to walk through it at any moment. 'Please, Master,' he thought, 'just be OK.'
"Majic," Cleao said, breaking into his thoughts, "It'll be OK. It just has to. You were right, you know. We have to believe in him."
Majic hastily wiped away tears that had begun to form in his eyes, and replied, "Yeah. In my heart, I know that. I want to believe it, but I I'm just so scared, Cleao. I've never seen him like that --- afraid like that. He he was really afraid." He quickly turned his head away from Cleao because he didn't want her to see that he had started crying again.
Cleao reached out and quickly squeezed Majic's arm. "It's OK to be afraid, Majic. I'm scared, too."
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"Wow, Majic. You made fire. I'm impressed."
Majic and Cleao had fallen asleep waiting for Orphen's return, but the sound of his master's voice woke Majic. He slowly rolled over, toward the sound of Orphen's voice, and rubbed at his blurry eyes until his vision cleared and his master's figure came into focus. Orphen was sitting near where Majic had been sleeping. He was slightly slumped over, with his knees drawn up near his chest, his left arm resting across his knees, and his head resting against his arm. He was slightly off to Majic's side, so that the boy could only see his profile. Orphen didn't even move as he spoke. He just remained, sitting, his head lying against his arm, staring into the fire, and his words were slurred and so quiet that they were barely audible. The complete exhaustion he saw in Orphen's manner and heard in the young sorcerer's voice erased all remnants of sleep from Majic's mind, bringing him suddenly and completely awake. He pushed himself into a sitting position and scooted across the few inches separating him from Orphen, until he was sitting directly in front of the young sorcerer.
From his new vantage point in front of his master, Majic could see that, although his left arm rested across his knees, Orphen didn't move his right arm at all, and, in the dim light, he could see that the young sorcerer was covered with bruises. Orphen was soaking wet, and he was trembling from the cold. He bent over slightly so that he could look into Orphen's face, and saw that his master's eyes were glazed and unfocused. But, because of the way Orphen was sitting, Majic couldn't tell what other kinds of injuries he had. Gently, he reached out and touched Orphen's right shoulder. Although a look of pain crossed Orphen's face and tears sprang to his eyes, the young sorcerer barely even flinched. He was just too exhausted to react to the pain. Majic pulled his hand away, and, when he looked down at it, he was shocked to see that it was covered with blood.
Majic frowned and said, "Master, you're bleeding."
"Yeah," Orphen mumbled. "It Morph bit me."
Majic felt fear wash over him. His master was cold and lethargic, and, suddenly, it all began to make sense. 'Shit!' Majic thought, picturing Morph in his mind, remembering how it had looked like a huge, black snake. 'It must have been poisonous. But, what what can I do about it? How can I help with that?'
A small moan from Orphen drew Majic's attention away from his thoughts, and he leaned over to place his hand gently on his master's right shoulder, causing him to flinch slightly. "Master," Majic said softly, "What about your arm?"
"Broken," Orphen mumbled, still without lifting his head. "Shoulder broken. Ribs, too."
Majic's heart broke when he heard Orphen's words. He had never seen his master like this. It looked like he didn't even have the strength to raise his head. Majic felt tears once again come to his eyes. "Oh, Master. Why Why didn't you heal yourself?" He waited for Orphen to respond, but the young sorcerer just sat quietly.
Just as Majic was beginning to think his master had fallen asleep, Orphen, without moving his head or looking at Majic, mumbled, "Can't. No power left." He shook as a fresh wave of pain passed through his body. "Majic. Tired. Let me sleep."
"OK, Master. OK," Majic whispered, as he gently stroked Orphen's hair.
When he was certain that the young sorcerer was asleep, he moved to Orphen's side and, placing one hand on his master's chest and the other on his back, he pushed and pulled at the dislocated shoulder until he heard it slide back into place with a loud popping sound. He knew he didn't have enough power to completely heal the broken bones, but he thought that he might be able to at least ease Orphen's pain. He held one hand over his master's shoulder and the other over his ribs, and began to whisper the healing incantation. As the words started to come out of his mouth, doubt flooded Majic's mind, telling him that there was no way he could use such an advanced spell. Just as the doubt began to overwhelm him, Majic heard Orphen's words in his mind, telling him that he had to learn to believe in himself. He took one more look at his teacher, and knew that he had to try. Suddenly, his mind became calm, and, without any doubt or hesitation, he began to chant the spell.