The Wizard's Trial

Odarin stopped at the edge of the Whispering Woods, unable to go any farther because of the tall and thick undergrowth. He technically could force his way through, but he would only be signing off on his death sentence if he did that.

No, if he tried to do that. The elder trees would kill him before he took a single step into their domain.

There wouldn’t even be bones for his master to bury.

Odarin took a deep breath before he took out his brown wand, the telltale sign that he was just a wizard’s apprentice, a magician. However, if Odarin was successful, all his hard work would finally pay off today and he would receive his staff.

All he had to do was prove that he was worthy to the elder trees and he would receive his staff. That was all he had to do. And not think of the countless magicians before him who had failed, with no hope of ever retaking the trial.

They sometimes paid with their very lives.

Odarin shook his head and took another deep breath to shake the nerves away. Knowing there was no time like the present, Odarin started to whistle. His whistling was a bit shaky at first, but it quickly became stronger, and when it did, Odarin raised his wand to his lips and summoned a wisp of wind. While he couldn’t see it, Odarin knew that the wind carried his whistle into the woods.

He kept whistling and summoning a small but steady stream of wind until a part of the undergrowth in front of him finally opened up, giving him a way into the woods.

Odarin sighed in relief as he both stopped whistling and the wind magic. Part one of the test was over.

It was only to get harder from here on out.

His wand still in his hand, Odarin walked into the Whispering Woods. Instantly, the world became darker, though streams of golden sunlight broke through the overgrowth to light his way. All the trees around him were thick and tall, with gnarled knots all over their trunks. Since it was early summer, their lush green leaves decorated their branches. Some of their roots had decided to pop up out of the ground for a quick spell before going back into the earth. Odarin made sure to never step on these roots as he walked deeper into the woods. While he had no way of telling apart an elder tree’s roots from a regular tree’s roots, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Even though Odarin was mostly sure stepping on a root wouldn’t hurt them. But at least this way he was showing his respect, right?

As Odarin kept walking, he kept his eyes open for a clearing. He had asked his master before if there was one but his master only said that Odarin had to see it out for himself. And while Odarin understood what his master was trying to tell him, he wished that just for once the wizard wouldn’t be so cryptic.

Because a wizard’s trial involved him casting four spells, one for each element of nature. He had already done wind, and he wasn’t too worried about using the earth and water spells.

But the fire spell...Odarin was possibly being paranoid since he planned on safely using the spell but he also couldn’t risk a forest fire.

So yes, a clearing was needed for what Odarin planned to do.

Then, after what seemed like minutes and minutes of walking and searching, Odarin found one. It was a small one, but Odarin didn’t see any visible roots and the trees were just far enough away for his liking.

It would do nicely.

Odarin raised his wand and wordlessly summoned a pillar of dirt to rise from the ground. With deep concentration and waving his hands, he molded the pillar until it was both thick and tall, with a deep hole near the top, just big enough to hold a pine cone. Once he was satisfied, Odarin made two more earth pillars, exactly like the first one. Odarin briefly thought about making more but he quickly dismissed it, since the clearing was a bit cramped now. Not to mention, he still had to perform two more nature spells and he didn’t want to exhaust himself too early.

Once that thought was rationalized away, Odarin took a deep breath. It was time for the fire spell now.

Before he could lose his nerve, Odarin summoned a small ball of fire near the tip of his wand. Once it was steady and bright enough for his liking, Odarin moved the ball of fire into the hole of the earth pillar he had just made.

A moment passed and the ball of fire glowed brightly and safely in the earth pillar.

Odarin smiled before he carefully repeated the action until all three earth pillars were holding a glowing ball of fire like they were lanterns in a city street.

The magician smiled and let himself relax and marvel at the sight of his creations for a minute. Then Odarin summoned a spray of water and thoroughly doused the balls of fire until he was completely sure they wouldn’t spark back to life. Then, with a wave of his wand, he started to dismantle the earth pillars. In a matter of seconds, the clearing was back to how it was, and other than a few wet patches of dirt, it was like he had never performed any spells here.

The trial was done. Now the only thing he could do was wait. So Odarin sat down cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, and breathed.

He didn’t know how long he sat there and meditated when he felt something tug his cloak. Odarin opened his eyes, looked down, and stopped himself from gasping with delighted wonder.

It was a treetot. Treetots were twigs that elder trees broke off from their branches before endowing them with life. This treetot had spindly arms and legs and it was barely higher than his knee. The single green leaf attached to his head bounced slightly every time the treetot tugged on his cloak.

Knowing what this meant, Odarin smiled and slowly stood up, both careful to not accidentally hurt the treetot and to keep his excitement under control.

The treetot nodded, which honestly looked more like a bow, not that Odarin was going to comment on it. The treetot then went off into the woods and Odarin quietly followed it. A few silent minutes passed like this, with the treetot nimbly and quickly navigating through the woods despite its small size and Odarin obediently walking behind.

Then they arrived.

At first glance, the elder tree looked like any other tree in the Whispering Woods. The only reason Odarin knew that this was the elder tree was that he could see several other treetots standing on a high branch, waving their arms at the both of them when they stopped.

Suddenly, the elder tree blinked, revealing a pair of hazel eyes looking down on him.

“What...is your...name?” the elder tree asked with a deep whisper, letting Odarin not only know where his mouth was but that he had moss on his upper lip, much like a thin mustache. Meanwhile, the treetot left Odarin’s side and scrambled up the elder tree’s trunk until he was back with his siblings.

“My name is Odarin,” the magician answered with a bow of his head.

“And...mine is...Hazelstalk,” he replied before he moved one of his many branches on his right, no, his right arm if the big hand with furrowed bark attached at the end meant anything. “This...might look...unpleasant. Don’t…look away.”

Hazelstalk grabbed a hold of one of the thinner branches shooting off a thick branch on his left side. Then, with a grunt, Hazelstalk ripped off the branch. Even though the resulting sound sounded painful, Odarin acknowledged the command and didn’t divert his eyes. Odarin stayed silent as Hazelstalk proceeded to trim the branch of any leaves and twigs with his free hand.

Once trimmed, Hazelstalk started to hum a tune that sounded otherworldly yet beautiful at the same time. As he did so, Hazelstalk carefully traced his fingers all over the staff, filling in any dents and making the branch smoother and straighter. Then, just as his tune reached what sounded like its final climax, Hazelstalk placed his hand on the top of the staff. As he did so, a blue-green light escaped through the cracks between his fingers, bright but not blinding.

Then Hazelstalk finally stopped humming. The light died along with the hum so that when Hazelstalk moved his hand, Odarin had a clear view of the top of the staff.

“Remember...your actions...and feelings today,” Hazelstalk said as he handed the staff to Odarin. “And you...won’t lose...your way. Farewell.”

Then Hazelstalk moved his arms back to their original position and closed his eyes. Hazelstalk looked like any other tree again.

“Thank you,” Odarin whispered, even though he knew Hazelstalk was done talking. He looked down at his gray staff, which was topped with a design of a small cave with a fire inside. Much like the earth pillars he made earlier.

The wizard smiled.

He had passed.