The Wolf's Heart

by Rain Oxford

“I am a member of the Bahong.”

  “Do you work for dragons?”

  “Quite the opposite. Bahong is comprised of people. We are rebels. Dragons are corrupt and ruthless.”

  “No, they’re not,” I said automatically.

  “This world is not like ours,” Merlin reminded me.

  “I know. I’m sorry; it’s a Rynorm habit, I guess.”

  Seza smirked. “I see you were taught to respect dragons.” I nodded. “So was I. We all were. I know dragons on other worlds are wise and kind, but here, they are cruel. The good ones left hundreds of years ago. The ones that stayed have made life unbearable and made people into pets. We have no clean water to drink or fresh air to breathe. We have to fight and kill for food.”

  “Why is Honlon after us?”

  “We don’t know. Unlike dragons, we can’t see the future. All we know is that they want you for some reason, and whatever they have planned can’t be good, so we will protect you.”

  I sniffed the drink and it burned my nose. When I held it out, he took it and drank it himself. “Do you have anything else to drink?” I asked.

  “Canned milk.”

  “I’m not a baby goat.”

  He frowned at me. “I can see that.”

  “Then why would I drink milk?”

  Seza laughed. “You foreigners are funny. We drink anything we can get that won’t make us sick here.” With a simple gesture of his hand, the glass floated back to the shelf.

  “Why not leave if it’s so miserable here? You obviously know about other worlds and you have magic.”

  “I wish we could, but dragons prevent us from leaving. If we all left, there wouldn’t be anyone to serve them.”

  “Is that why our portal didn’t work?”

  “Did you create it with magic?” he asked. I nodded. “Then yes. Mechanical portals still work, but they’re highly guarded by dragons.”

  “Mechanical portals?”

  “Physical gateways between worlds. Every dragon headquarters has one. Bahong is trying to build one, but we haven’t been successful yet.”

  “I might be able to help with that,” Merlin said in my mind. “From my experience on a high-tech world called Vaigda, I found some useful alternatives to magic. One of which was a portal. Assuming they have the right equipment or can get it, we can be out of here this time tomorrow.”

  “That’s great!” I hid my enthusiasm from the others though, because I didn’t want to get their hopes up. Instead, I asked, “Everyone here can do magic?”

  “Yes.”

  “I thought people on Raksel could only do a single specific ability each?”

  “That was long ago. Actually, Rothelmril is still that way, but dragons are rare there. Thousands of years ago, war broke out on Raksel between man and dragon. Dragons won, and this is the world we were left with. We have magic, but the price is steep.”

  “Should I tell him what we’re after?” I asked in Merlin’s mind.

  “We have to get answers somehow.”

  “Have you heard of Baltezore?” I asked.

  “The Baltezore? Rijah Baltezore? He was one of the ancient dragons who started this whole mess.”

  “Well, he’s dead. His heart is hidden and we’re trying to find it.”

  His eyes widened. “He can be resurrected with his heart.”

  “If the wrong person got her hands on it,” I said.

  “If we knew where it was, we would help you destroy it, but I’m afraid I had no idea it still existed, let alone that Baltezore had been defeated. You’re a hero to Bahong.”

  “Until we know why the Honlon wants us, keep that information between us,” Merlin said.

  Seza nodded. “That might be why Honlon wants you.”

  “We have been following clues to find pieces of a scroll that would help us get to the heart. The last clue was to come here.”

  “Do you have this scroll with you?”

  “No. We left it with a friend.”

  He frowned. “We can send you to our headquarters, but I’m not sure anyone there has any more answers than I do. The trip will be dangerous.”

  “When can we leave?”

  “I have to tell them you’re on the way.” He turned to the black glass and said, “Voice command; call headquarters. Code three-three-blue-zas.”

  The glass suddenly lit up to show another room. This one was full of more lit-up glass. I did a very good job of hiding my shock, and didn’t even consider hiding behind Merlin. Okay, I did consider it, but I resisted.

  A man answered with shockingly yellow hair and the same red leather as Seza. “Good evening, Seza,” he said.

  “Good evening. I have here with me, Ayden and Merlin, the two foreigners that Honlon is after. They are heroes, but it’s not safe to say why over the line.”

  “We will send a car.”

  * * *

  I woke to harsh whispers. “It’s too dangerous. The dragons know Ayden and Merlin are here,” Seza said. I hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but the couch was comfortable and I was tired.

  “We have no choice. If Honlon catches us with them, we’ll be killed,” Jie argued. “They’re on their own out there.”

  “They could be the answer to taking down the dragons once and for all.”

  “And whether they succeed or fail, our people will still need you. We can send them with a guard, but you have to stay here and maintain your cover.”

  I opened my eyes to see Merlin sitting next to me, listening to the conversation. Seza and Jie were in another room, but the door was open. Part of me wanted to switch with Merlin, but that was selfish. He liked having his magic and it made logical sense; Merlin knew how to use dragon magic. However, the real reason I wanted to do it was to pass the responsibility onto him. As a wolf, I wasn’t expected to do anything in a fight but bite. That wasn’t fair to Merlin, though. I was supposed to be learning magic from him, not making him do all the work. Besides, my father would disown me if I did.

  “Do you think that Cennuth sent us here to stop the dragons?”

  “Or to help the dragons. It is difficult to say.”

  “How are we going to get home?”

  “We will find a way. Traveling the worlds is dangerous, but there is always a way out. We only fail when we give up.”

  A moment later, I heard a beeping coming from the other room. “They’re here.” Seza sighed and they both came into the room. “Oh, you’re awake.”

  I nodded. “How do we know who to trust? I assume it has to do with the colors people are wearing.”

  “I wear Honlon colors because it’s the only way I can walk freely here,” Jie explained. “It’s a disguise, though. I pay taxes to Honlon so that I can wear orange, but it sickens me to fund their horrid activities.”

  “I cannot walk out of my room with red on,” Seza explained. “I only wear my true colors in private.”

  “Should I change my robe?”

  “It is illegal to wear unregistered orange, but any other color would be better than red.”

  I pulled it off, turned it inside out, and said, “Dracre.” It changed to match the green Dracre robe. Although the stitching was gold on both, the emblem was very different. I put it on. Part of me would always miss my Dracre robe, because I was taught to cherish it, but part of me felt wrong to have it on again. “What about your hair?” I asked, trying to ignore the negative thoughts.

  Instead of answering, he snapped his fingers. His hair turned blue. When he snapped them again, it turned back to red.

  I gawked. “I want that. Is it a potion or disguise spell? Does it only do those colors?”

  “Sorry, but this is technology, not magic, and so it isn’t available to foreigners. Now, there is a car waiting downstairs for you. You will have to go alone. Do not get in unless the driver gives you the code. Three-three-blue-zas.”

  I nodded and stood. “Thank you for your help.”

  The walk downstairs was considerably easier than the walk up. The f
ish-seller ignored us as we walked through his shop. Outside, a car was waiting for us. It was tall like a carriage, but made of wood and metal with no windows except out the front for the driver to see where he was going. I opened the door to the back, since there wasn’t one in the front.

  “Hello, are you here for---”

  “Get in,” the man said curtly, cutting me off.

  “But are you---”

  “Get in!”

  Merlin growled at his tone.

  “I can’t until you tell me---”

  “Three-three-blue-zas. Now get in before they see you!”

  Merlin and I did, and barely got the door closed before he sped down the road.

  The back was wooden with no seats or padding, so every time he turned a corner, we hit the wall. The driver was in a cushioned seat. He had a steering wheel with a mess of buttons and gages on the dash. I had driven a steam-powered car on a world called Soenus, and it was much more sophisticated than this.

  “How far is it?” I asked.

  “We have to get out of Honlon territory. When you see the---”

  That was all he got to say before something huge crashed into the side of us and we rolled. I tried to protect my head, but it was quite useless. Merlin yelped with pain. When it finally stopped rolling, I couldn’t move. My left shoulder was dislocated and I had at least two broken bones.

  The car was then righted, causing me further agony. The door was torn off and two men in orange leather got in. One grabbed me while the other tried to pick up Merlin. He snarled and snapped at the man, easily latching onto any of his exposed skin. Seeing as his mouth was larger than the man’s head, I didn’t expect the man to win.

  As the man tried to drag me out, I fought as best as I could. Unfortunately, I was bleeding, broken, and disoriented. The last thing I saw was the driver grabbing a club and getting out of his seat to aid Merlin. How he had managed to stay in the seat, I didn’t know.

  Then a cloth sack was put over my head. I felt myself being dragged into another car. “Go. Wei will get another ride.”

  “I am not leaving my brother.”

  With a sigh of frustration, my assailant pinned me to the ground. A moment later, I heard the other man get in. “I couldn’t get the wolf; he’s too fast and big. We’ll have to get him later.”

  “Once they’re out of the territory, we can’t get him.”

  “Go, or we’re going to lose the one we have.”

  They sped away.

  “Ayden!” Merlin called in my head.

  Chapter 19

  When I got tired of struggling, they finally took the sack off of my head. The car was similar in build to the previous one, except there was a wide, wooden seat. The three men were all thin, tall, and in their early thirties, with matching orange and black leather clothes and short, colorful hair. The one who had grabbed me had green hair. Wei had blue and black striped hair, and the driver had orange hair. I was starting to think that I looked way too subdued here.

  On the seat between the two men was my bag and wand. My staff was behind them. I wondered whether they had made a terrible mistake by bringing my tools or if they wanted me to do magic for them. “I’m not telling you anything!”

  The one with green hair scoffed. “You don’t have anything to tell us. It’s the wolf who has answers.”

  “Then let me go.”

  He shook his head. “Calm down. We aren’t going to hurt you. I’m Tao. This is Wei. Everything you were told about us by the Bahong was a lie.”

  “Honlon isn’t run by dragons?”

  “Actually, that’s true. We’re not the ones who are corrupt, though. I’m sure they told you that everything wrong with this world was our fault.”

  “Well, they’re not the ones who kidnapped me.”

  “Only because you walked right into their lair.”

  “What do you want with Merlin and me?”

  “You are going to help us defeat our enemy.”

  “What has Bahong done aside from refuse to serve dragons?”

  “It’s not the Bahong that we have a problem with. They used to be annoying but harmless. Since they’ve gone under new leadership, they have become violent. They attack our people, bomb our buildings, and poison our food supply. It’s their leader we want to destroy.”

  I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. “Who is their leader?”

  “Her name is Erica Baltezore.”

  * * *

  “We have to save Merlin.”

  “We tried. Having failed that, we are returning to our headquarters to get instructions. Our instructions were to save both of you, but taking you back there would be---”

  “Then let me out and I’ll save him myself,” I interrupted.

  “It is better to return half-successful than empty-handed.”

  “I am not going anywhere until Merlin is safe!”

  “We are under orders. Deviation from orders is what ruined this world. You will go with us quietly or we’ll quiet you.”

  I sat back on the floor. Sorcerers were supposed to be clever, and yelling wouldn’t accomplish anything. Magic would.

  The men sighed, confident that their threat had worked on me. I closed my eyes and visualized my wand in my hand. I didn’t know what spell to do with it, but I had to do something. Thanks to Merlin’s rigorous visualization training, I had been able to focus my magic through an imaginary wand.

  “No magic!” Tao shouted, gripping my arm tightly.

  My concentration broke at the same time my magic reacted, so it had the same result as it always did when I didn’t have my wand or staff; it exploded. Tao let me go and jumped back. Apparently, it was enough to startle the driver, because the car stopped suddenly and I collapsed on the floor.

  I reached for the door, but Wei grabbed me. I bit his hand until he smacked my head with his other hand. “Settle down!” he shouted.

  “They’re not going to hurt Merlin,” Tao said.

  “You’re lying!”

  “As long as he’s on their side, they won’t hurt him. They don’t know why we’re after you. Until they do, they’re not going to risk killing him, because as far as they know, he could be our undoing.”

  I stopped fighting them. “If you’re lying and Merlin gets killed because I’m not there to help him, I’ll burn you all to the ground.” To avenge my friend, the person who cared about me more than anyone else, I would be a sorcerer even my mother would fear.

  Tao and Wei sat in the seat as the car started moving again. “You may want to get that personality change looked at by a professional,” Tao said.

  “Give me my bag and staff.”

  “No.”

  “That wasn’t a request. I’m not going to be defenseless when the Bahong attacks. You’re not familiar with my people, but I am born of two sorcerer families. While I am a very nice person under normal circumstances, you don’t want to back me into a corner.”

  They both studied me, clearly wondering if I was bluffing.

  I wasn’t. I expected that to bother me, but anyone who stopped me from rescuing my friend was the enemy.

  Tao handed me the wand and bag. “Enemy of Erica Baltezore or not, we’re not going to let you hurt the dragons. You’re not getting your galaxy stone back until one of our dragon masters says you can.”

  “You know about that?”

  “Our people invented the spell that turns a dragon’s heart into a weapon against dragons.”

  “Mine is only a shard of a galaxy stone. It can make a dragon peaceful, call for help, or heal a dragon. My family has a long history with honorable and wise dragons, so I was always in awe of them, but I won’t let a dragon hurt Merlin.” I didn’t feel the need to tell them I could summon the soul of the dragon my galaxy stone was part of.

  * * *

  For the rest of the ride, I tried talking to Merlin and making a plan. Neither was successful. When the car stopped, we got out. There was less rubbish and muck on the road here, and the buildings w
ere less damaged. The building we were parked in front of was extremely tall with mostly glass walls facing the road.

  Tao grabbed the hood of my robe to keep me from running. I rolled my eyes and let them lead me inside. The first floor was clean and spacious. On the far wall was a metal door without a doorknob. There was a couch and some chairs with colorful books on a low, glass table between them. To the left of the door was a glass desk with a young woman behind it. She was the first woman I had seen on this world.

  She had long black hair tied back in a leather band and wore a deep blue, fitted, sparkly dress that exposed her shoulders and arms. I saw under the desk that her sharp-heeled shoes matched.

  Tao pointed to the couch. “We will discuss the situation with our leaders and when we know the next step, we will inform you.”

  “I’m not going to sit in here and wait for you. I want to talk to your leaders myself. If they’re not going to help me save Merlin, I’m not going to waste time waiting around here.”

  Tao opened his mouth to argue, but Wei didn’t give him the chance. “Fine. Don’t blame us if your mouth gets you burned to a crisp, though.”

  Tao approached the woman at the desk. “Hello, Lin. We need to speak to the masters.”

  “Hello, Tao. Do you have an appointment?”

  “We have the blond wizard.”

  “I have a name,” I reminded him.

  “The masters are going to want to speak to him immediately,” Tao said, ignoring me.

  “Yes, of course.” She picked up a hand-sized rectangular piece of black glass before hesitating and looking at us. “What about the wolf?”

  “We couldn’t catch him.”

  She shook her head. “Well, it was nice knowing you. I hope you weren’t attached to your head.” She swiped her finger across the glass and it lit up, but I couldn’t see what was on it. “I am sending up Tao, Wei, and the blond wizard.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  The metal door slid into the wall, revealing a tiny metal room. “Go on in,” she said.

  When Wei pushed, I pushed back. “I’m not going in there! That’s a murder room!” All three of them frowned at me with confusion. “Even a child knows you don’t get in a metal box.”