Sorcerer Raphael (contains some violence)

[Shadow]

Wearily Raphael lifted his head out of the mud. He felt so weak at the moment, after the day he had just had anyone would feel how he did. He cursed the man that had done this to him.

He tried to sit up, the mud underneath him squelched and he groaned in anger. Why him? He would kill the man that had stolen his staff. He was nothing without that magical staff of his and he knew it. Although he would not admit it to anybody.

He supposed he could not mope in the mud all day. He had to get up, had to reclaim what was rightfully his somehow. That might be a bit of a problem. Still it was not impossible. He would find his staff no matter what. Carefully he tried to get to his feet, his ankle was twisted and getting up was proving difficult.

The stars shone like beacons above him as he staggered away from where he had been unconscious for the past few hours.At least he thought it had been a few hours, he really did not know how long he had been out of it for. He felt drained, he needed to shelter somewhere to recover his strength. Problem was he did not remember where he was. O well, he would just have to find a road and hoped it led him somewhere remotely helpful. That was not the best plan in the world, he could be anywhere and finding a road by himself at this hour in the state he was in was going to be a challenge and a half. He cursed and kicked the ground with his good foot. Then screamed out loud, in frustration and above all anger.

He was beaten before he had even started. He slumped down to the damp saturated grass in defeat. He flicked at his once handsome sky blue long jacket in ore. It was a mattered torn jacket now. Nothing handsome about it. Great just his luck, rain. It crashed down all at once, onto his already muddy body. Things could not get any worse. He shivered, things were looking bad for him.

He had no energy left. He had used it all up on something perilous. He must not sleep, but had to sleep. He was stronger than that. His eyes were heavy. He let them slide shut, then quickly snapped them open again. He kept telling himself to stay awake. It worked for a short while. Soon he was half in the real world, half in a dream land. Nothing was stopping him staying in the real world, the dream land was much more appealing. No rain in the dream land, no pain, all there was was sleep and pleasant things for his imagination to feed upon.

Raphael came round to the smell of something divine. Was that food? Smelt like bacon or something similar. He could not feel cold soggy grass beneath him, or hammering rain above him. He was warm and on something soft. Slowly he opened his eyes. He darted his eyes round the room. It was a small space with a tiny chest of drawers in one corner of the room, and a small bedside table with a jug of water on top of it. He was laid in a bed, on a straw mattress. His mudded up clothes were gone and in there place he was wearing a night shirt. It looked like some kind soul had found him that night and taken him in. He smiled to himself, if they knew who he were they may have thought twice.

" Ah you' re awake," said a man as he walked into the room.
"Indeed I am," said Raphael in his usual charming manner. He noticed the man staring at his mysterious silver eyes. He blinked at the man, then sat up in bed. " Thank you for taking me in. It is most kind of you. I am very grateful for your hospitality," Raphael thanked him.

" Happy to help er mister mister," the man mustered.
" Call me Joe," smiled Raphael. He could not give the man his real name, that would cause a dreadful scene.
" Well Joe. Would you like some breakfast?" the man asked.
"Why yes breakfast sounds like a splendid idea," Raphael replied.

He was feeling hungry after not eating for at least a day The man went out of the room, Raphael guessed he had gone to get him his breakfast. Good. He would eat then he could go. No point in lingering about, he had business to attend to. His ankle almost felt better, he was a fast healer. It did not take him long to recover from a nasty injury.

The man was soon back with his breakfast. A wooden plate of bacon. Not his favorite food but it would do. He ate it slowly looking all the time at the man that had taken him in. His look made the man feel uncomfortable. He took great pleasure in making people feel uncomfortable. It was something he was very good at.

" Could you tell me where in the land I am?" Raphael asked. That was something he needed to know in order to get to where he wanted to go.
" Yes. Erm you're erm on the outskirts of the Great City of Coy.
On my farm to be exact," replied the man sounding a little nervous at first because of the look he was getting from Raphael.

That was fantastic. Home was not far away. Coy was the nearest city to his house. He would travel home, then work out what he was to do from there. He chewed the last bit of his bacon then gave the man his most charming smile, to soften him for what he was about to ask. " You would not be as so kind as to give me some clothes for my journey home would you? As you can see mine are extremely muddy," said Raphael giving his clothes which were on the floor a glance. He could not possibly put those muddy things back on.

" You're leaving already? It's a little soon. You were in a bad way last night," the man said.
"Don't you worry, I'm fine now. Come come, I need to get going. Have not got all day," Raphael said.

The man did not argue with Raphael. If he wanted to leave that was fine by him. He did not like his silver stare, and would be glad when he did not have to put up with it. He went into the chest of drawers and fumbled about them for some clothes. He found some and gave them to Raphael, then left him to get dressed.

Raphael looked at the clothes pitifully. They were not what he was used to. Very cheap material, brown trousers which were slightly rough and a baggy white shirt. He felt like some poor peasant when he had put them on. He saw his own boots at the end of the bed. They were very dirty, still he pulled them on. He needed something on his feet.

Raphael went out of the bedroom and ventured into the rest of the house. He walked carefully down an old rickety staircase, not wanting to inflict any pain on his bad ankle, just in case it was not as healed as he thought it was. He had no need to go and thank the man which had taken him in, there was no time for that. He had a very busy day ahead of him. He made to slip out of the front door of the house. That did not go to plan, the man that had taken him in noticed he was leaving without saying goodbye and he went to go say goodbye himself.

"Sneaking away are you?" said the man.
"No not at all," lied Raphael. " Come on you may show me out," said Raphael. He put an arm round the man and stirred him out of his own house.

Raphael looked up at the sky. The storm clouds were gone and fluffy white ones replaced them. He kept his arm round the man. This man certainly did live on a farm. Well that was a spot of luck. A farm meant horses and he sure could use a horse.

"I bet a fine farmer like yourself owns beautiful horses," Raphael said.
"I do have one," said the man.
"Can I see. I do so love horses," Raphael smiled in a friendly way to the man.

The man showed him to the stable. When there Raphael let go of the man and walked over to the horse. The horse was snuffling in the straw. It was a grey horse with a long unruly mane. Raphael stretched out a hand and stroked the horse. It was true he did have a passion for horses. He had two at home. A pure white mare and a deep black stallion.

"May I have this horse?" asked Raphael in his charming tone.
"He is the only one I have. I could not give him away," said the man.
"Let me have the horse," said Raphael. The man shook his head.

Raphael did not like people arguing with him. He certainly could not tolerate being told no when he needed something. "Last chance let me have your horse," said Raphael. The man shook his head for a second time. Raphael looked round the stable. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a pitch fork hanging on the wall on his right hand side. "OK, I suppose if you need him. I can't take him," said Raphael as he edged slowly over to the wall. He reached out for the pitch fork with his hand. Before the man had time to notice what Raphael was doing he was face down on the floor. Blood spilling out of his chest. Staining the straw a deep red. "Now you don't need him," said Raphael.

Raphael sighed, that whole event would have been much easier if he'd had his staff.He mounted the grey horse. He did not need no saddle or reins, he was an excellent rider. He whispered something into the horses ear, something which was a different magical language to the one normal people used. The horse understood. It galloped out of the stable at an alarming pace.

Raphael felt alive when he rode a horse. Wind whipped through his fabulous white hair (which in normal circumstances rested on his shoulders). The horses hooves beat the ground below him and the scenery whizzed by him so fast it almost came un noticed.

A few hours after he had set off he was home. Back in his forest, where he belonged. At the heart of the forest was his cottage, the place he was safest. Away from prying enemies. He rode past a wolf which let out a loud howl to greet him. Every creature in the forest was his friend. Nothing that belonged there would ever even consider harming him. He rode over to his house. Jumped down from the horse and let it roam where ever it wanted.

Feeling a little tired after his journey he pushed open his cottage door and walked inside. Home, that was the best place for him at the moment. He could go to his own personal library and do some research on the wicked fiend that had stolen his precious staff.

First he would have to get changed. He refused to stay in those awful clothes a moment longer. His cottage was not very big. It did not need to be, only he lived there. He was a strict solitary person. People he could not trust, you let someone get close and they would only let you down. He went into a room devoted to his clothes. He had a lot of clothes, he needed a whole room to store them all in. He changed into a silver long shirt and a sky blue jacket like his old one, which was long and lined with silver. His trousers were blue to but the tone of them was darker.

Now to his personal library. He swept down a flight of stairs. The stairs led underneath the house. To an underground cave of bookshelves. The shelves were all crammed with many books and pieces of useful parchment with very important sources of information wrote onto them in his own swirly hand writing. He ran his finger along a line of books until he found the one he was looking for.

"There you are my pretty," Raphael whispered as he pulled a chunky book off the shelf. This book was his only hope of getting back his staff. He carried the heavy book over to a small round table in the center of the cave. He opened the book and flicked through the pages. He knew exactly what he was looking for, it was just that he could not remember which page it was on. After all he had not read this book for many years. He turned to a page which was no longer there. He glared at it in horror. Was that the page he had been looking for? It better not be. He ransacked the book. Furiously turning the pages. He must have been through that book ten times. He finally gave up and stared at the place in the book were there were bits of parchment showing that once there had been a page in there. A page full of useful knowledge which would have given him the answer he needed. Telling him how to defeat the wizard that had stolen his staff.

He slammed the book shut and brutally shoved it back onto the bookshelf. Now what was he supposed to do? He thought for a moment. There was only one thing he could do. He had to find the wizard that had stolen his staff, he could not take his life like he had intended, he would have to be sneakier. He would have to go and simply steal his staff back. He had thought about stealing it back to begin with,then thought why not go one step further and kill him. Never mind, as long as he got his staff back he did not care what happened to the wizard.

Right he would have some lunch then go on his journey to retrieve his staff. Without it he would be killed. Many people wanted him dead, when they heard he no longer had his staff these people would be banging down his door. That was if they reached him. The wolves and Trolls in the forest would not let anybody come through without a fight. It was only a matter of time before someone got through the wolves and Trolls though. The sooner he left the better.

He went to his kitchen and lit a fire with a tinder box
which was in a wooden oak cupboard just above his head.

"What should one have to eat today," Raphael said to himself, as he put away the tinder box and poked round the cupboard for some food. He got lonely in the cottage all by himself and sometimes could not help but talk to himself. He was not mad or anything, he just liked the sound of his voice and talking made him feel less alone.

He decided on making a soup out of some vegetables he had. He cut up some potatoes and carrots and put them in a cauldron of water which was hung over the fire. While the water boiled he went to make up a pack for his journey. Once he had put rope spare clothes food canteen and map in his pack he went back to his lunch which had by now cooked. He eat the food quickly wanting to leave as soon as possible.

(i have part 2 if anyone is interested)to be continued.........

[scarecrow]

"He had used it all up on something perilous." I get that you're trying to be mysterious here, and I think you're just trying to hold off on revealing too much until later on, but I don't think that this was the best way to go. I think it would be safe to reveal what he actually wasted his energy on without revealing too much.

"O well, he would just have to find a road and hoped it led him somewhere remotely helpful. That was not the best plan in the world, he could be anywhere and finding a road by himself at this hour in the state he was in was going to be a challenge and a half." I think this should have been two sentences, or maybe a semicolon after 'world'. When read in context with the sentence before it, the bold sentence seems to be incomplete, and I can't help the feeling that you'd intended a "but" to be somewhere in that sentence. e.g. "Oh well, he would just have to find a road and hoped that it led him somewhere remotely helpful. That was not the best plan in the world; he could be anywhere and finding a road by himself at this hour in the state he was in was going to be a challenge and a half, but ...." See what I mean?

"Great just his luck, rain." Switched P.O.V. here.

" Happy to help er mister mister," I don't know if you used mister twice to convey that he didn't know Raphael's name. If you did, perhaps it would be more effective to put the 'er' in between the misters.

I'm going to read it again before I give you any of my overall impressions of the piece, but let me just say that my first impressions aren't as favorable as they could be. The pace is too brisk where I think you should have taken your time, and Raphael comes across as a very irrational, poorly thought out character in my opinion. But I promise to read it over and take a more in depth look at what's going on before I make any final judgements.

[Shadow]

Thanx for the pointers. Raphael is a brisk character so i thought why not write a brisk story to go with his personlity?

[Shadow]

Raphael continued............

In hardly any time at he was stood outside his cottage door ready to go on a journey which would shape his future. He had a sword in a sheath attached to his belt. Not that he was very skilled with a sword but it was a comfort to have. He was wearing a black hooded cloak. When he got out of the forest the one thing he did not want to do was draw attention to himself. Most people nowa days knew what he looked like. The ice white hair and silver eyes gave him away. He had been surprised that the farmer that had taken him in had not realized who he was. Then again not everyone believed in Sorcerers, that farmer had probably given him the benefit of the doubt. How stupid he had been. Raphael laughed at the thought as he pulled his hood over his head. Covering up his hair and putting his face in shadow.

He walked away from the cottage and deep into the trees. When he was well away from the cottage he turned round and took a good look at, just in case he never set eyes on it again. He carried on walking with a heavy heart. He did not want to leave his home again not so soon after he had come back. He seemed to be having an awful lot of adventures at the moment. It was not that he disliked adventures, he needed a brake from them that was all.

Walking was not to bad. The weather was being quite good to him. It was a little chilly but there was no rain. He walked at a brisk pace kicking the golden brown leaves that had fallen from the trees. Autumn his second favorite time of year. Winter being his first, the snow went with his appearance and he sat by his fire in the cottage all snug and cosy.

As he walked he got the sense that he was not alone. He could easily tell when another human was about. He had a slight sixth sense. Something he was glad he had, it got him out of all sorts of trouble. He stopped walking and looked around. No one was in his sight. He listened no sign of anyone yet. He carried on walking for a little while then heard a scream.

" Trespassers no doubt," Raphael whispered to himself thinking it would be another person come to try kill him. Sounded like one of his guardian friends had gotten to them before they had got anywhere near him. Or maybe not, he could still hear screaming. Which was getting louder which must mean they were getting closer to him. He clutched hold of his sword just in case.

He heard footsteps approaching. Very fast footsteps at that. There was no longer any screaming which might be a bad sign for him. He heard snarling now, that was one of the wolves. Next he saw somebody running desperately. Coming through the trees hurrying over to him.

" Help me!" the person yelled.

Raphael ignored the person for a moment. He did not care they deserved whatever they got if they had come to kill him. After a few more seconds he felt himself softening slightly. The person being a girl in her early teens by the looks of it. The girl could not have come to kill him. The wolf was now gaining on her pretty soon she would be dead and only he could prevent that.

" Please!" she pleaded with him.

Raphael watched as the girl tripped up. He sighed, he was not that heartless. He shouted at the wolf in the magical language he knew. The wolf understood and walked straight past the girl and sat at his heels. He scratched the wolf behind the ear then it departed. Bounded off into the trees.

The girl lifted her head and looked at him thankfully. He ignored her and carried on with his walking. Walked right past her. "Thank you." He stopped turned round and looked at the girl.

"What did you say?" Raphael asked.
" I said thank you," she replied.

No one had said thank you to him in a long time. Then again he had never deserved to be thanked. He gave her one of his charming smiles, not sure if she had seen it because of his hood, then held out a hand for her to take. She took it and he helped her up.

"You should not be here," said Raphael.
"I do not mean to be. I ran away from someone and ended up here because I knew he would not follow me in here," she said quickly.
"I shall escort you out. Then you shall leave and can forget we ever met," said Raphael.

The girl stared at him for a moment. She could quite easily guess who he was. She had heard him use another language not many people knew that kind of language. He must be who she thought he was. She was in his forest to.

"You're Raphael aren't you?" she said.
"Indeed I am. Now please I have to make haste," said Raphael who did not want to talk to the girl all that much. He would make sure she got out of the forest unharmed then part with her.

He walked at his fast pace and the girl hurried to keep up with him. He was not slowing down for her. She would have to either keep up or brave the forest alone. Which was not wise not when there were so many trolls and wolves roaming around. Trolls and wolves only he had the power to control. As he walked he did not talk to the girl. She was absolutely nothing to do with him. He preferred his own company and it was staying that way. Soon he found out she was having difficulty keeping up with him.

"Hurry up girl," said Raphael sharply.
"I can't," she coughed.
"Well I'll leave you behind if that is so," said Raphael. He kept on walking at his fast pace refusing to slow down. He heard quite a lot of coughing, he shot a look behind him out of curiosity. The girl was literally yards behind. His glance was turning into a stare. The girl did not look very healthy at all. Her eyes looked dull and she was not at a very good weight, defiantly under weight. Coughing and spluttering all the time. Feeling some kind of pity in the very back of his head made him slow down his walking so that he walked level with her.

"Why is one coughing so much?" Raphael said.
"I feel ill," she said.
"Something I could sort if I was at my cottage. Alas I am not so you'll have to grin and bear it," said Raphael. He said no more to her but kept walking slowly so she could keep up.

The forest was huge and would take them at least two days to get out of. Raphael was surprised the girl had gotten as deep into the forest as she had managed. His plans had been to walk all through the day and into the night through to the next day. Now he had a problem, there was no way this girl was going to be able to travel through the night. As much as it went against his plans he stopped traveling half way through the night and stopped for a rest.

"We will stop for the night. Eat this girl," said Raphael giving her an apple out of his pack.
"I have a name," she said and waited. She was waiting and Raphael said nothing. "Aren't you gonna ask my name?"
"No what is the point when I do not care or even have the slightest urge to know of it," said Raphael. Who did not want to get to know this girl at all. If he knew a name and wanted to know it there might be the chance of him getting involved in some way with her.

"It's Coral. My name is Coral," she said. Then took a bite out of the apple.
"Unusual. Not that I am interested," Raphael said. Not bothered at all by a name. He was a solitary person and was not making anymore conversation with this Coral girl. He lay on his back by the fire he had made and slowly closed his eyes. If he was stopping he may as well have a decent sleep.

"Raphael," Coral said. He tried to ignore her but she said his name again and he had to answer.
"What?" Raphael asked.
"Are we, am I safe if you're asleep?" Coral said sounding worried.
"Maybe you are and maybe you are not," Raphael said in an annoyingly playful tone. He heard Coral groan at him as he drifted to sleep.

Night was peaceful for him. The howls of wolves and the odd booming footsteps of trolls did not bother him. It was a different story for Coral as he had come to realize when she woke him up. Which he had not been happy about and had snapped at Coral, which had to his fury had not shut her up.

"Don't you go shouting at me," said Coral.
"I shall shout at you at will girl! I do not appreciate being woken up at this hour," yelled Raphael.
"And I don't appreciate being shouted at in that manner," Coral shouted back.
"Shout at me again if you dare,"Raphael said hotly.
"I'm not scared of you. Go ahead and curse me. Go on do it," Coral screamed it at him.

Raphael felt his hands clench. He would curse her if he could. He could not do that instead he found himself wrapping his hands round Coral's neck. She was looking at him scared, he shook her throat. She looked even more scared and was gasping for breath. Something in the pleasant charming part of his mind was telling him to stop. That was weird, he never usually had a conscience. If he did he never listened to it. He was listening to it then. He let his hands drop let Coral have her breath back. She glared furiously at him.

" That wasn't a curse. It was evil though, leave me alone," Coral gasped.
"Sorry my dear. You should not anger me," Raphael said apologetically.
"Anger you? You angered me," said Coral.
"I lose my temper easily,"admitted Raphael.
"Count to ten next time," Coral muttered. She turned away from him. Realizing Raphael was an evil sorcerer and there was no way she could trust him.

Raphael was feeling bad at what he had done. Nearly strangling a girl half his age. He could not believe he was feeling guilty. He never went on guilt trips. He was on one then and did not like the feeling at all. He went to sleep trying to forget about the guilt that was churning in the pit of his stomach.

In the morning birds sang waking them both up. Raphael thought he would get straight back into walking without even bothering with breakfast. He started to walk and Coral followed him. He knew Coral only followed because she had no other choice. Raphael felt he would be glad to get rid of her. She only made him feel guilty. He did not need that kind of thing on his mind. Still he walked slow so she could keep up.

After their two day walk in the forest they were out. In those two days Raphael had noticed Coral had gotten a little better. She no longer coughed as much. He had somehow enjoyed her company. He had not had company for years, everyone was too afraid of him because he was evil and unpredictable. Even other bad people stayed clear of him.

"I'm out. Now you don't have to put up with me anymore," said Coral sounding happy.
"Who said anything about that?" Raphael said.
"You did. You said you'd escort me out then I could go," said Coral.
"Did I? Well I changed my mind. I could use a slave," smiled Raphael malevolently.
"No Raphael please! I don't want to. Please just let me go," shouted Coral. She tried to make a run for it but Raphael grabbed hold of her arm.
"Come I'm not all that bad," Raphael said pulling her in the direction he needed to travel. She was trying to get away he could feel her struggling. "You can do this the hard way or easy way. Whichever way you choose you're being my slave," said Raphael.

He carried on dragging Coral until she was too tired to try and get free from him. When she stopped struggling he let her go. She only walked with him because she had no other option, knew he would only grab hold of her again if she made a run for it. Raphael was glad of this, he had a slave to fetch and carry for him. Even if the slave was ill. He could sort that problem out later.

"Where you going?" Coral asked who was sick of walking.
"To a town," replied Raphael.
"Why?"Coral asked.

Raphael groaned Coral asked far too many questions for his liking. "You'll see,"was all she was getting out of him.

Two hours went by and they reached the town. They were just about to enter when Raphael stopped and turned to Coral. "My name is Joe in here right?"said Raphael. She nodded. "O and don't even think of screaming my real name or I'll have the whole town cursed, girl," he added. Coral did not know he could not perform curses without his staff so it was safe to threaten he would use it. He made sure his hood was on properly before going over to the towns entrance.

Coral watched as Raphael put on a big act to fool the guard at the gate of the town. It was funny to watch him.

"My dear sir I need to get into this lovely town,"said Raphael in his charming tone.
"Why," the guard questioned him.
"My niece here is sick. Could do with seeing a doctor,"replied Raphael.

The guard looked at Coral. She did look awfully pale. He nodded then opened them up the gate. Raphael walked in and Coral followed, she thought Raphael was very clever and could not help feeling something positive about his act. "That was a clever lie," she whispered so no one heard her.

"Lie? I told no lies. Well save the white lie of you being my niece," said Raphael.
"So you are taking me to see a doctor?" said Coral.
"Told you I was not all bad," said Raphael.

They walked through the town. There were a lot of buildings made of wood. People were walking in and out of them. Going about their everyday business. Raphael had not been to this town for a while. He sometimes came to purchase food and trade items he no longer needed. Raphael took Coral to see a doctor as he said he would. They were not at the doctors long. he checked her over then gave her a bottle of medicine. Raphael paid for the blue liquid he had given her then they were gone.

Back on the journey again. Raphael wanted his staff back so much. It was precious to him, he could perform amazing tricks curses and spells with it. He could get from one place to another at the speed of light if he had the energy to.

They were walking along a dirt road. This dirt road led to a certain wizards domain. It was at least a five day journey on foot. What a boring five days this was going to be.

Nothing interesting happened on day one, nor did it on day two or three. By day four Coral had gotten better and was asking more questions than ever. Raphael wanted her to go away yet he could not send her away and tell her he no longer wanted a slave. He did not know why. Maybe he would find out one day soon why he was so keen to keep her with him.

The afternoon of day four on the road was warm and sunny. He wanted to take down his hood but did not dare. Anyone could walk past and discover his identity. That would be a terrible thing to happen, he was nothing powerful without his staff.

"You alright?" asked Coral.
"Shut up girl. I don't want to talk with you," said Raphael. He had been ignoring her for hours. He did not like her and wished he did not want her around.
You alright?" asked Coral.
"Shut up girl. I don't want to talk with you," said Raphael. He had been ignoring her for hours. He did not like her and wished he did not want her around.
"Sorry I'm here. If you hate my company why don't you just let me go?" Coral said in a hot tone.

Raphael ignored her and kept on walking. They were almost at the wizards place now. Soon he would be able to go home and stay there for a while.

"You gonna talk to me or are we going to be silent forever," said Coral.
"Being silent forever would be simply marvelous," said Raphael.

Coral sighed she did not get Raphael. One minute he was completely nice to her the next he was snappy and was horrible to her. She looked at him in slight concern he looked hot in that hooded cloak. There was no point in suggesting he take it off for a little bit, he would either ignore or yell at her. In fact why was she even feeling any concern? He had taken her captive and hated her. No she would just leave the evil nasty sorcerer to boil.

There it was on the horizon. A small grey stone castle owned by the wizard that had stolen his staff. The sun was setting making the castle look beautiful. Raphael quickened his walk. This was it, he was going to claim what was rightfully his.

"Why you walking faster? Does it have something to do with that castle?" Coral asked.

"Quiet girl it does not concern you," said Raphael as he walked.
"It concerns me if I'm being forced to come," mumbled Coral.
"Just do as I tell you," instructed Raphael.

There they were at the castle. It was an odd castle it had no drawbridge or big gate. All it had was a small oak door. Raphael slowly pushed open the door. Being careful not to make any noise. He half tip toed into the entrance hall of the castle. If he was quiet and careful maybe he could slip in and out of the castle without being noticed.

"Raphael," whispered Coral.
"Shut up, not now. Do you want to get me caught?"hissed Raphael.

Coral shook her head and looked up at the massive staircase which was in the center of the entrance hall. There was a man there with long grey hair and beard to go with it. He was staring sharply at them. "You've already been caught," whispered Coral.

Raphael grunted then looked at where she was looking and gulped. That was bad luck, or just plain stupidity. Yes he had been stupid to walk straight into the castle.

"Raphael I suspect. Put that silly hood down," said the wizard making his way down the stairs.

Raphael glared at the wizard. The cheek of it! He was holding HIS staff. Prancing about with it. Raphael felt sickened. He loved his staff and that flaming wizard had no right to be even holding it. Raphael shook his hood down. He wanted the wizard to see his face.

"Who do you have with you?" asked the wizard looking in Coral's direction.
"He made me his slave he won't let me go!" Coral burst out.
"It's alright now. I won't let him hurt you. Come over to me," said the wizard in a kind tone. Coral did not have to think twice she went straight over to the wizard. "Stay there," said the wizard who then walked up to Raphael.

"Give me back my staff, demanded Raphael.
"What give it back so you can kill with it? No way," he laughed in amusement. "You're absolutely nothing without it. I found that out a few nights ago. Poor Raphael stuck in the mud. Did not look so grand there did you?" he said.

Raphael was growing angry. He did not like people laughing at him in that way. He put a finger on his sword.

"You were actually pathetic. I had you unconscious for ages. I could have killed you," he said.
"Why didn't you?" Raphael asked.
"I wanted to make you suffer first. Suffer like everyone else suffers because of what you do to them," he said.
"I only hurt people who get in my way,"said Raphael.
"You can not hurt no one now. You're nothing without what is now mine," smiled the wizard. He turned Raphael's staff round in his hands. The purple orb on the top of it gleamed. Raphael watched in frustration and loathing.

That was it he was fuming now. That wizard was asking for it. He drew his sword out of its sheath and swung for the wizard. The wizard was quicker than him and swiftly stepped out of his way. He never had been very good with a blade. Actually he was rubbish with one. It was his only chance though. A chance he was willing to take. He tried to hit the wizard again. The wizard was having none of that. He threw Raphael's beloved staff across the floor and drew out his own sword. The staff landed not far from Coral's feet.

Coral had now pieced together what was happening. The wizard had stolen Raphael's staff. A staff Raphael needed to perform magic and curses. Coral was angry at Raphael who had lied to her. He had been pretending he could curse her for days. Well Raphael deserved everything that was coming to him. She watched as the wizard and Raphael fought.

Raphael really was useless with a sword. He could not keep his balance and nearly dropped the sword on several occasions. The wizard was by far the better swordsman. He kept going for Raphael and hitting him nearly every time he struck. Raphael had not hit the wizard once.

Pretty soon Coral saw that Raphael had started to grow weak. He could barley stand up let a lone fight. He had deep cuts everywhere. She was surprised he had not been wounded yet. She saw that the wizard was just playing with him at the moment. He would not be playing soon she could see a serious blow coming. One which would surely seriously damage Raphael. It did. Raphael was on the floor. Bleeding from the head.

It looked like Raphael's rein would soon be over the world would be free of an evil sorcerer. But was he all that evil? Coral felt a sense of pity for him. He was not all bad, he had saved her life once. He had something about him she liked. He had a charming good natured side. Something the rest of the world had not seen. She looked at the wizard who was about to finish him off. Raphael had been the only person in her entire life that had shown a little bit of kindness. She had grown up being hated. With that thought in mind she decided on what she was going to do.

This was madness she was helping an evil sorcerer. She picked up Raphael's staff that was lying by her feet. The staff the only chance Raphael had to survive. "Raphael catch!" shouted Coral throwing the staff at him.

Raphael caught the staff staring for a split second at Coral in disbelief. He had a chance to live now. He was feeling weak but he had to forget about that. He murmured a few magical words and pointed the staff directly at the wizard. The orb of the staff glowed and a deep crimson light flew out of it hitting the wizard. It had not been very strong, it knocked the wizard over. Thats all it did do. He did not have long.

"Coral are you coming?" Raphael said sounding really bad. Coral knew it would be risky going with Raphael but she somehow liked him and felt an urge to stay with him.

Coral ran over to Raphael seeing that the wizard was getting up. Raphael held tightly onto his staff.

"Hold onto me quick," said Raphael. This Coral did. She held onto him and heard him mutter a few unknown words. She felt hazy for a moment, saw nothing but black. Then all colours came rushing back.

She looked round her new surroundings. That had been bizarre. She was in what looked like somebodies house. She looked around for Raphael, he was not far from her. Unconscious on the floor. She crawled over to him.

"Raphael. Come on Raphael wake up," said Coral giving him a gentle shake. He did not even stirr. This was bad, he had blood oozing out of a cut on his forehead. That was his worst cut. Coral supposed she should try clean it up for him. He was not waking up any time soon.

She got up off the floor and went to have a look round the house. She found out it was a cottage and guessed it belonged to Raphael. It had a lot of sorcerer type objects in it. After a few minutes of looking around she found a cloth and some cold water which she put into a bowl. She went back to Raphael and cleaned some of the cuts up on his face.

When this was done she snooped round the room she was in. It was a sitting room. A very cluttered sitting room at that. He had a lot of chairs in there a book case, cabinet and small round table full of parchment and ink bottles and feather quills. She found a blanket draped over an old wooden chair. She put the blanket over Raphael . As she did this Raphael started to come round. She hoped this was a good thing.

"Ouch my head," groaned Raphael.
"Does it kill?" asked Coral.

Raphael smiled at her, he still could not believe she had helped him. "Coral my dear thank you," said Raphael. "Why did you do that?"he asked curiously.
"I think you're alright," said Coral. She gave him a hug to prove it. Raphael stared at her in disbelief for a moment then gave her a quick hug back. "Do you want to stay here with me?" Raphael asked feeling he really did want her company now. She was like a friend. Something he had not had for years.

"Alright. Seen as I got nowhere else to go," replied Coral.

Coral helped Raphael to his feet. He was extra weak because of the magic he had performed. It had drained him of energy. She guided him over to a chair and helped him to sit down. It looked like from now on Raphael would not live alone and have some company. Something he was going to have to adjust to. Maybe this was the start of a great friendship.
THE END (FOR NOW....)