THE APPRENTICE II

47

Hazel was heavier than he thought she would be. The walk from the market to the sanctum was about 7 minutes long, but his pace quickened the travel time. The two other men had fallen asleep, but the other three were still after them. He sped past New York's dark alleys, heart beating furiously as he gasped for air— she was getting harder and harder to carry by the minute.

Finally, the prince reached the Sanctum doors. Their enemies were about 15 feet away, and he urgently banged his fist on the door.

"Doctor Strange! Doctor Strange! Let us in!" He cried, his knuckles raw from the impact against the wood. They were getting closer and closer, but he can't be asleep by this time, can he? The sweat on his forehead intensified when they were 7 feet away. "Please! Faster! Come on, come on!"

The doors flew open just in time for them to enter as the men reached the doorstep. They revealed an exasperated Stephen. Heskit let out a gleeful exclamation and instinctively gave him an feral side hug. 

"Hey, come out of here!" One of them demanded. He placed Hazel on the floor and leaned on the doorframe, catching his breath.

"Wait, gimme two seconds." He held up a finger and Strange raised a brow.

"What's going on here? What did you do, Heskit?" His tone became authoritative and he straightened himself up. He crossed his arms strictly.

"Long story...passed out, went away." He was still gulping for air, but slowed down a little. "They tried to take her when I was gone,"

"Oh." He let out a dry laugh and clenched his fists. Anger began to bubble up inside him and satisfaction washed over the prince. He cracked his neck from side to side and stepped out of the doorframe. "Too bad Hazel isn't awake to stop me."

He grabbed one of the men's collar and gave him a hard right hook. The other came for a kick but he caught his leg. The doctor fought them off expertly and the prince joined in to get the other one. With Strange in the mix and the sleeping Hazel out of the picture, they didn't stand a chance. It wasn't very long until they scrambled off, cowering away like mice. The sorcerer let out a satisfied 'humph' and got inside.

"You shouldn't have had this much to drink, that was irresponsible of you— of both of you." He said with a grunt as he picked the girl up and climbed up the stairs. Heskit tailed him persistently and aimed to wipe the frown off his face.

"She barely finished hers— it was a plant, she inhaled some Nightcap pollen, it has intoxicating effects. I tried to stop her." He explained as the man kicked her bedroom door open. Strange nodded at this and his face relaxed, which made the prince purse his lips in content.

As the master placed her on the bed, the prince let his eyes roam around her room. It was as large as he thought it would be, given she was a master and...has saved the world a couple of time. There was a king sized bed right on the center, the white sheets fluffy and buttery. Aside from the miscellaneous items such as papers, books, electronic devices, incense, and all the other "sorcerer" items, there wasn't much. There was a bed, some jars and tubes of products, sheets of illustrations of what seemed to be the adventures that she and Strange had gone through.

"I didn't know she drew." He tilted his head to get a better view of the sketch of them fighting some kind of beast.

"She doesn't, it's a spell. It illustrates her memories." He corrected and straightened up, then approached her desk. He picked up the drawing and placed it down. "But she writes."

He led him to her bedside table and lifted up a book that resembled a Sanctum spell book, other than the bookmarking band on it. He placed it down and a smaller pad appeared from thin air.