The Urban Legend Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Chapter 118

Years passed as Talia traveled across the kingdom, covertly spreading the Torchbearers’ values and lore to those disillusioned with evil’s reign. Her network of allies slowly grew, though they remained scattered and hidden.

Sheltering from a winter storm in a remote mountain hamlet, Talia met a young apothecary named Damien. He offered her cryptic but enticing rumors of an organized resistance movement called the Silver Sparks rising in the western forests.

Talia set out to investigate these claims immediately. But the distance was great, and required passing through marshlands now occupied by parasitic wraiths that drained travelers’ life force. Many had attempted the crossing, but none returned.

Undeterred, Talia relied on her Torchbearer training to weave protective wards around herself and her horse. She set forth into the ghostly swamps, trusting in the magic to shield them.

But as the days stretched on, an insidious chill seeped through Talia’s barriers, sapping her strengt