Apprentice by Eric Guindon

cover the loo? Won’t it get smelly in here for you?” asked Orafin.
    “I’ll find something else to cover it,” said Benen vaguely.
    “It’s your problem, I guess. That is a good piece of wood for our purposes, though.”
    “Okay, what do we do with it?”
    “You will begin by putting it down and sitting on the ground cross-legged in front of it.”
    Benen did as asked and the rat came to stand in front of him. The boy leaned in closer to the rat, the better to hear it.
    “You will need to learn the pattern of the stars for the Trickster first.”
    “But I already know it, you showed it to me earlier,” Benen protested.
    “You saw it earlier and you remember the pattern, but you don’t know it.”
    “What’s the difference?”
    “Well, tell me, how far apart are each of the stars? Which is the brightest of the stars? Are any of them binary stars?”
    “Bi-what?”
    “I think my point is now evident.”
    Benen spent the next few hours learning and memorizing the properties and disposition of all the stars in the Trickster constellation. He was surprised to find out that the Trickster’s belt, which had two stars, really consisted of a star and a nebula. Of course, Orafin had to teach him what a nebula was first.
    “This is a lot of information to keep straight,” Benen complained.
    “Oh, this is just scratching the surface, my young friend,” the rat explained. “You will want to know much more about the Trickster constellation and its components before you ever attempt more magic using it. Only desperation drives us to use it now, without proper knowledge in your head first.”
    “Why is this so important?” Benen asked.
    “Without proper knowledge of the celestial bodies used in your spell, you’ll kill yourself in the casting,” the rat told him. “As it is, you will likely be quite hurt from doing this. This is appropriate though, given that you are supposed to have managed this on your own out of desperation to avoid the knife.”
    “I’m afraid,” Benen admitted. His hands were shaking and he felt faint.
    “Don’t worry, it won’t be so bad,” the rat reassured him. “It will burn in your head and nerves, you will probably have a bit of a seizure and vomit. After that you’ll be all right.”
    Benen did not feel reassured, but he was desperate.
    It probably won’t be worse than being shocked into unconsciousness by Overseer, he told himself.
    “Okay, I guess I know what I can for now about the Trickster, what about the rest of the spell?”
    “That’s almost all of it; the rest is will, intention and mitigation,” said the rat.
    “Miti-what?” asked Benen.
    “Reducing the damages. When you see a wizard speak an incantation or make movements with his hands, he’s trying to reduce the pain and damage to himself from the spell. The movements that work for different constellations are very specific and you won’t be able to learn that now. I’ll give you an incantation for the spell, but you will almost certainly mispronounce it, so it will be of only minor value. Feel free to flail about with your arms and fingers when you do cast, there’s no harm in trying for luck a bit.”
    Wizardry seemed awfully complicated, now that Benen was actually learning some. He wished the wizard was a better teacher so he didn’t have to do this spell now, so unprepared.
    Next, Orafin taught Benen the short incantation and had him commit it to memory by repeating it over and over. This accomplished, they were ready to try the spell.
    “Remember your intention too,” the rat cautioned. “you only want your fingers to be able to mold the wood and that only for a short time.” Benen nodded. Asking for too much would kill him, so the rat had told him.
    Benen put out his hand for the rat. Orafin climbed into it and Benen deposited the rat onto his shoulder. They needed to be in contact for Orafin to provide the power Benen would be using for the spell.
    Finally ready, Benen hesitated. He was