Magic Is Corruption

• Joshua Sherman, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2013

Another day beneath the snow in a drawn out winter.
Zeph once more felt sick. As he always had for the past 10 years. Long ago it had felt like a small cold. Today he could feel his chest constricting and his vision blurring to the point that only shapes and vague colors could be made out.
His hair had turned a blood red again, one of the after effects of magic. Not to mention the residue left behind to flow through his body, slowly corrupting it for every moment he lived and after his death.
'I wonder how much longer?' The same repetitive thought again. These days Zeph spent more time thinking about his own eventual demise than anything else.
Magic was a drug which he couldn't stop taking. It harmed him daily, and yet Zeph never stopped. Magic felt too good, and it brought upon a feeling of being unstoppable.
A click of the finger and fire was produced. Flick the hand and earth rose on his command. Strengthen the arms and even steel was penetrable.
Who wouldn't want that feeling of power?
Even with his vision no better than the blind, he still saw her.
His advisor.
The one who had stuck with him even in his raving madness.
His one and only friend Lilith.
“You should stop.” Once more Lilith said it.
As she had for the duration of his addiction.
Zeph laughed tiredly. “You know what my answer will be. 'Of course I will.'”
The two of them both knew it was just a lie. The excuse he hung onto like a lifeline.
Deciding the topic would go nowhere, Lilith looked down and found three bodies at his feet. One corpse had shriveled up, becoming nothing more than skin and bone. Another had been burnt down to a crisp and the last had become a mutated mess of hardened flesh and crystal. Strangely enough their faces looked untouched.
“They were the ones we were after?”
Zeph sighed, vision returning and sickness becoming an afterthought. “Yep. Just need to cash them in, then we can eat again.”
“You still hate being a mercenary?” Lilith had a knowing smirk.
“More than ever. But hey, anything that feeds us is okay with me.” He paused, then clicked his fingers. “Your carrying them.”
Lilith's smirk dissolved. “Huh?!”
Zeph appeared to have stolen her smirk. “You heard me. Oh, and here's some rope laying on the ground.”
“You've got to be kidding me....”
“Hop too it”
Ten minutes later they were walking once more.
“Hey Lilith...”
“Yeah?”
“I wish I followed that proverb 'Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back'. Life would've been so much easier. But instead everyone hates me, the 'Heathen', for using the cursed magic.”
“You mean the only magic.”
“Same thing.”
Lilith growled. “Let's just hurry up and put these in! I'd rather not sleep on the street again.”
Zeph raised his arms. “Okay! Okay!”
Just another average day for the two mercenaries.