Zelspar and the Magicians

by Cheryl Rush Cowperthwait

  Starleira, in tears, could not speak to ease Rynik’s confused mind. She pointed to the east.

  The King’s green eyes caught the flash of a Blue and Gold Dragon headed their way. “Zlemtec and Kaida…” The words came out in a soft rush of disbelief.

  From the wisps of clouds came a thunderous roar, joined by the rider who now stood erect, her head thrown back in a primal roar. Zlemtec and Kaida had spotted home and the welcoming heads of thousands.

  The bellows from those below caused the ground to shake. All Dragons, faeries and peoples from Urthe let their joy be heard. Flashes of the Hails in their multi-colored hues caught the sun rays and dazzled across the land and sky. The Blue and Gold from the Mursei Hail, the pearlescent White Dragons from the Qydrom Hail, as well as the many allied Dragons from their once home planet of Verlaunde, which no longer existed.

  Kaida slid down onto the Dragon’s back and placed her neck alongside of Zlemtec’s. She urged him forward as the ground below them whizzed past unnoticed. They made their approach and slid to a stop, eyes glistening with the warm welcome.

  Kaida jumped down as Zlemtec bent and lowered his neck to the Urthe. “Sipta, Simpta!” Kaida uttered her word for Mother Queen and Father King as she raced to be enveloped in their outstretched wings. Zlemtec’s unusual eyes of combined purple, blues and white, sparkled with the thrill of returning home.

  “Our Dragon Child and our honored Zlemtec have returned home.” The Queen could barely believe her eyes. The scales along her muzzle trembled as she tried without success to keep the joy from flowing out of the corner of her eyes. They trailed down her face, unchecked.

  It was silent for a Dragon’s heartbeat and then all began talking at once, shouting over the next one.

  “Welcome home!”

  “Did you succeed?”

  “What was your home planet like?”

  “Did you find any of your relatives?”

  “Are the guardians coming?”

  All these questions and many more came from every direction so fast, Kaida blinked rapidly then burst out into laughter. To her family, it was the sound of a beautiful sunrise that pushed away the dark clouds their hearts had lived under during her absence. Laughter is contagious and spread reflecting the joy each shared.

  The Queen of Mursei called for all to be silent.

  “We all have many questions,” she said as she overlooked the crowd around her, “and plenty of time for the telling. Please, my friends, prepare a feast for our returning ones. We will feast together first, then if Kaida and Zlemtec are rested enough, we will let them share their journey with us. It is well enough to have them home. Let’s simply enjoy this fact for now.”

  Kaida and Zlemtec’s cluster, their tight bonds of family and friends pulled close to the two, embracing and patting backs, as much out of relief as out of love.

  A large slab of smoothed granite was overflowing with food by the time Kaida and Zlemtec entered the gathering room with their family and friends. A hush traveled through the room as all heads turned to follow Kaida. One could almost hear the buzz of thoughts wondering what had occurred after they had left through the portal.

  The Queen of the Mursei Hail continued to gaze upon Kaida. She noticed the tilt of her head while talking, the straightness of her back, the set of her jawline. All the same yet different. She was a confident Warrior when she left but the changes were subtler somehow. Self-assured? she thought. No. Self-aware. Whatever had occurred, I know she found her birth family. She let out a pent-up breath she wasn’t even aware she was holding. And yet, she returned to us. She came home. Starleira was jostled back to the here and now when Kaida stood.

  “My family and friends. I know you are eager to hear what happened when we reached our destination and I’ll give you a brief telling so all may rest tonight without questions burning brightly in your thoughts. Zlemtec and I saw the places where both my mother and father were from and as we thought, there was much turmoil in both places.”

  Zlemtec stood, proud to share the journey taken with Kaida. He glanced over the heads of those gathered together. His heart was filled with gratitude. It could have been a far different outcome without Kaida’s knack for plunging straight and long into the turmoil they faced on her parents’ planets of Paradys and Amas.

  Kaida looked up into Zlemtec’s eyes before continuing her story. “I know you must all want the details of this journey, but we’ll save that for another gathering. Today, let me,” she paused and corrected herself, “let us bring you the short version.”

  “When we arrived on my birth mother’s home world, it didn’t take long to find their world was plunged into a skirmish between the peoples of Paradys, my mother’s world and the Golden Dragons known as the Zentoor Dragons of the world of Amas. The world of my birth father.”

  Gasps of surprise filled the gathering room and the chatter began to pass from one to another. It wasn’t about battles. Kaida cast her eyes around the room, her eyes mirroring the look of surprise which met her own.

  Zlemtec stepped into the conversation. “Family, friends, it is true what Kaida has said. She is part Dragon and if you think about it, you will come to realize the how and why of Kaida being able to learn our Dragon language and our Magic so well. It also holds a deeper meaning to her legend as the Dragon Child. She IS truly Dragon-borne.”

  The vast sea of Dragon eyes stayed riveted on Zlemtec as he continued. “It becomes easier to understand if you look deeper into the Legend. Into a time in our history when Dragons and peoples co-existed in peace. It was only after the divisions became commonplace that the Legend blossomed and was shared. Doesn’t it make sense that the Ancestors of both would conspire to bring about a balance? A change?”

  A dull murmur resonated from his captivated audience.

  “Who would listen to a Dragon or one of the peoples? The opposition would always consider such an opinion as one sided but,” Zlemtec stared at the eyes bound to his words, “how could they not listen if they were confronted with someone who carries both heritages within her rivers of Life? That is the key element which turned their minds, for she was one of them. A link to both sides.”

  A question erupted from a Dragon in the vast throng, a question they all were eager to understand. “But, how did Kaida do it, change their minds?”

  Kaida replied, “It is as simple and as difficult as that. I confronted their fears. The fear of losing their own unique heritages with a blending as complicated as my own. You see, their fears planted a seed in their spirits that grew a poisoned fruit. By seeing me and learning to appreciate a blending does not dilute who they are but improves the ability to see both sides more clearly. They were able to cut away the poisoned vines. Fear, hate and anger can only produce bitter fruit. Understanding will always produce a succulent fruit.”

  Nods of understanding swept through the room. The Queen’s eyes glistened as she looked at her Kaida. Pride shone bright in her eyes.

  Zlemtec added, “Timing is everything. Kaida was borne for this time, this purpose. If we hadn’t arrived at the precise moment where their thoughts had festered into large boils, war would have been imminent. We saw it start on her birth mother’s world and move to her birth father’s world. And Kaida,” he turned to look at her, his flashing eyes held hers close, “stepped into the middle of the chaos. Her bravery never faltered.”

  “Nor did yours.” Kaida smiled affectionately to Zlemtec.

  “Could we hear more about the Dragons on your father’s world?” someone asked.

  “Yes, my friends.” Kaida’s chest seemed to puff up as she reflected over the recent past. “Amas, my father’s world is beautiful. The Zentoor Dragons are gold in color from head to foot. They are of enormous size and their heads are adorned in a full crown of elongated spikes, growing shorter as they run down to near their eyes. There they take the shape of twisted horns. The horns go down to the side of the neck where the spikes hold together a webbing of scales. The scales fan out to where
the shoulder blades began. The pointed spikes carry down the back to the tail where they stop, giving way to a long thick smooth tail. At the very tip of the tail it splits into five pointed barbs, which I am sure would shred any enemy in close range.”

  The Queen of Mursei could wait no longer. “Did -- did you find any of your father’s family?”

  Kaida beamed warmly. “Yes, Sipta. My father lives!”

  A unified inhaling of air was audible.

  “I found his home. His mother, Trezlor, is the Counselor of Amas. Zlemtec and I were there when Trezlor was told some of the Golden Dragons went to my birth mother’s world to start a skirmish. I had just met my father and his brothers and sister. What they did while there, brought the King of Paradys with armed escorts to Trezlor’s home. Things had taken a bad turn. Everything hung in the balance.”

  “Not for long,” Zlemtec said with a smirk.

  “What happened, Kaida?” Zelspar, the White Dragon asked, caught up in Kaida’s encounter.

  Zlemtec burst out before Kaida could respond. “You should have seen her, Zelspar. First, she rushed into Braaf’s home -- that’s her father’s name -- and told him he was her father. It was incredible watching her father’s family come to know and accept her. And then, when the King of Paradis came … you know he’s her birth mother’s father? That makes Kaida a princess!”

  Zlemtec was gushing as he hurriedly added to the telling of those critical moments. He turned and looked at the Queen of Mursei. “The orb, the one you gave to Kaida before we left, it brought everything together. All recognized it as the special orbs worn by the Paradysians. But her mother’s father, the King, not only recognized the orb but Kaida as being a remarkable resemblance to his own daughter, Kiayla. It was after Kaida explained how she was borne here and raised with us after her birth mother passed during her birthing that they finally started seeing what the possibilities of well, acceptance brought.”

  “And they allowed you to return …” The Queen’s voice was a gentle whisper filled with amazement.

  “Oh yes, Sipta Queen. I told them you are my family and I needed to return because … oh, I haven’t told you what we saw as we flew here! We saw that terrible Magician, Flegmorr.”

  Perthorn, the Master Magician from Inner Urthe, jumped up and nostrils flared in indignation. “Where is that spawn of evil, itself?”

  “Oh, he is a great distance away. Well past the place where Molakei’s peoples found me in the forest. We saw him use an awful Magic that exploded the side of a mountain cave. He did not see us. We were using our Invisibility Magic after we left the portal to fly home. We could show you where he is.”

  “Yes, immediately if you would, Kaida.” Perthorn’s face turned crimson with inner rage.

  “No.” Zelspar answered to the shock of those around him. “I will say when we go and I will not lead any to their quick deaths. His skilled use of his Dark Magic would be a battle we are unprepared to win. We will put our trust in the wolf gods, Sigrunn and Tyrianua. When they came to us after I was injured by Flegmorr, they told us they would lead them astray. They are Immortals. They will know many ways to keep Flegmorr from us until we are better equipped to win this battle.”

  “Thunder and Lightning, Zelspar! Let me deal with this slime now and get him out of our way,” Perthorn spat out.

  “Hold your anger, Perthorn. I know you feel as if you are ready, but I say you are not. We are not. I have thousands of years of experience in Dragon Magic and I tell you, we are not ready.” Zelspar glared back at his friend until Perthorn’s anger was brought from a boil down to a simmer. “I, as much as you, would love to take flight right here and now and abolish his worthless, scaleless hide, but all of our futures hang in the balance.”

  “I hear your words, Zelspar but Kiel and I have been training with you. We’ve learned Dragon Magic. We are ready.”

  Zelspar shook his head as he lifted one long bushy brow. “So, you can produce this Explosive Magic that Flegmorr uses? Even I must use a mixture of elements contained in a box to produce such an effect.”

  Perthorn’s words tumbled out, diffused as he scratched his head. “Well, no, not that particular Magic.”

  Zelspar quickly added, “And that is only one type of Magic Kaida and Zlemtec saw him produce. We have no idea of the extent of Magic he can conjure.”

  Perthorn mumbled a half agreement as his knees folded him back to the bench, his dawning knowledge taking root.

  “I will speak to the Ancestors for additional guidance,” said Zelspar looking at all gathered. “There must be Magic in our past in which we have lost touch. We are stronger than anything Flegmorr can stir up, we only need to tap into that stream of knowledge.”

  Slow nods of agreement met his eyes and he too sat down.

  Kaida and Zlemtec exchanged looks and found their places around the granite slab.

  Rynik cleared his deep throat and said, “Kaida, Zlemtec, we are sorry to have cut your story short. The mention of Flegmorr always brings our inner flames to the surface. Let us think of other things. I for one would like to hear what this world of Amas is like.”

  “Simpta King, it is amazing. They live in these huge domed buildings with golden tops. The only caves we saw are made from strange beetles that chew through rocks. And much of the world is covered in golden rocks, like the ones we use when we collect their dust to make jewelry. On Amas, you have to kick the stones out of your path, there is so much. They have trained the rock-crunching beetles to do the hard work and they use the gold chunks and dust to trade with other worlds. Their great waters are a beautiful lavender color that washes against golden shores. Oh, and their trees are a bluish silver. Very different than what we have here.”

  Wide eyes were enthralled by hearing of such a beautiful world. All they had known was Verlaunde, devoid of beauty and Urthe, still in its growing stage.

  Starleira carefully responded, “Did you love it there, the world of your father?”

  Kaida softly smiled to the only mother she had ever known. “I enjoyed seeing new places, meeting unknown family and learning from all. And of course, we will return in the future, but only to visit. This is our home. This is where our hearts belong.”

  The Queen of Mursei did nothing to hide her joy. Her muzzle opened in a huge grin. The joy spread like Dragon Fire and consumed everyone in its grasp.

  Chapter 4

  After using his Explosion Magic, Flegmorr ran down the crumbled debris and stood back to look at what he did. His Flaptail companion was gripped tightly onto his shoulder.

  “Sees … Glik told you new Magic strong,” Glik rasped into Flegmorr’s ear. “We do more, yes?”

  “Yes Glik, we will do much more now that my power is stronger. Let’s go back through the other cave and follow it down.” They scrambled across the broken rocks to access the clear cave. “It’s time to go home and take my rightful place as Master Magician.”

  “Yessss,” Glik hissed in delight. “We do new spell Darkness gave?”

  “It can wait.” Flegmorr was eager to return home. His family would see he is the rightful choice as the Master Magician. Especially when they hear that he saw Perthorn’s demise. He reflected on the moment when Perthorn and his apprentice fell with a Dragon they rode. He laughed at the memory.

  “Glik says new spell help find way home. Sees in dark. Glik bring you many spells only Darkness knows.”

  Flegmorr leered and let loose a rumbling malevolent cackle. “We will do one more spell before we start for home.” He scrambled over the loose stones at the foot of the mountain and entered the cave he had previously explored.

  Once inside the wide chamber, he removed his hat and swished it through the air. A long yellow page fluttered to his hand. He snapped his fingers to produce his quill and inkwell and spread out his cloak which formed a bench in which to sit. “Velum Esporee!” A table slid next to his bench.

  Glik squeezed close to the Magician’s ear and clicked the words and symbols for Flegmorr
to inscribe. A cold breeze filtered in through the cave opening like icy fingers clutching at Flegmorr’s hand as he wrote.

  He finished and set his quill into the stand on his inkwell and leaned back.

  Chilling wind swept over the table and spun the paper wildly, as if it were caught up in a cyclone. A whoosh passed Flegmorr and the paper fell once more, onto the table.

  He watched the paper with the inscribed symbols and words as they curled on the page as if a candlestick had ignited them. The yellowing page was charred and scorched by the potency of the spell. Every last fiber of the page was consumed, and its remains were sent up in smoke, the trail plastering against the ceiling.

  An eerie deep laugh resonated through the chamber, which intensified the sinister sound until it, at last, it was extinguished like the page that had, moments ago, been burned to ashes. Residual evil now clung to the walls, the cloak, and the Magicians hand. His black eyes shone with a new yellow gleam and the darkness of night was no longer a barrier. His vision detected the smallest moving thing in the shadows. Every sense was heightened. His time was at hand.