Free Birthing Ella Bandita by Montgomery Mahaffey

he’d ever had. The first change he noticed was that, as he went around the boiling cauldron, he became delirious with a love for life. When he stepped out of the mist and saw the girl gaping at him in horrified disbelief, he almost laughed out loud. But she still couldn’t resist him. The Sorcerer hardly blamed her; he was every bit as seduced by the Trainer as she was.
    He used to watch them when they came to the valley seven years before. When he first heard the rumble of their horses, he thought another posse had gathered to hunt him down. This was a common occurrence after his conquests, and he had recently claimed the daughter of a neighboring patron. The Sorcerer smiled as he recalled how beautiful she had been with her fair hair and luminous skin. Yet she was utterly ridiculous, fancying herself in love with the essence he used to seduce her. The Sorcerer had chosen a green, a playwright of lyrical romances, because she dreamed of performing on stage. Although she was engaged, the maiden couldn’t resist the temptation to realize her fantasy, acting out one of the young man’s more scandalous plays to its climax when the leading lady surrendered to the call of the flesh. After the seduction had reached its consummation, the specter collapsed. When the maiden woke up to the reality of what she’d done, the Sorcerer claimed the payment of her heart.
    That conquest had left him in an irritation of malcontent that persisted for weeks. These girls were all alike, always seduced through their vanity. They were more than willing to disgrace their families and sell their hearts just to gratify a fleeting illusion. If he didn’t need them for his immortality, he wouldn’t bother with the little fools. So on the day he heard the resounding gallop of horses halt at the river before the Ancient Grove, the Sorcerer shook his head in disgust. With the spell he used to safeguard his Caverns, the humiliated fianc_ and dishonored father were absurd if they believed they could find him. Nonetheless, he poured the liquid cloud to watch them become lost in the trees.
    Then he cast his mind, surprised to see the Patron’s daughter. The girl had changed much since he last saw her. She wasn’t a woman yet, but she was no child either. He’d never seen her escort before. He was handsome, but the patches holding his pants together showed he was not her equal. The Sorcerer found him interesting. The young man had to work for her father, but he lacked the downcast humility of servants. There was a devil-may-care gleam in his eyes, even when he shuddered and peered into the dark trees.
    “I see your point, little Miss. This place doesn’t feel too good.”
    “I told you,” she said. “Can we go now?”
    “Let’s head north a bit first. If it gets no better, I promise you we’ll leave. Okay?”
    The girl frowned, gazing in the direction he pointed where the trees stood half as tall as those before her. With long skirts flowing down the flank of her horse, she looked like the proper young lady she was born to be. It was incredible she was even here. The Abandoned Valley and Ancient Grove were forbidden and her father was known for being strict. There was fear in the girl’s eyes, but she still nodded her agreement.
    Her escort had sharp instincts. The northwest end of the Valley edged the woods of No Man’s Land, and the border separated them from the country to the west. The Sorcerer had no power there beyond second sight and the distance was enough to put the girl and the strange young man at ease. They stayed for the rest of the afternoon.
    The Sorcerer was intrigued with what he saw. The pair returned most days that summer, riding through his domain in haste to the northwest side of the Abandoned Valley where the light was softer, the trees shorter and the air filled with the music of birds. The Sorcerer watched over them every time they came. He learned the young man had been a wanderer who adventured in the most exotic