“Yes they get really good in battle,” Said Jolss. “And their bonded people too. The person gets very strong and muscular and is really good in battle and recovers from injuries quickly. In all of the stories the warrior and the battle dragon fight side by side and are as good as having twenty regular soldiers.”
“Corth will get big enough to ride in the air for short times,” said Jolss.
Cyerant turned to look at his younger brother and asked. “How do you know?”
“It’s in the book,” answered Jolss. “He is a mount dragon which always bonds with a noble and becomes as tall as a war horse and with really large wings. When he is full grown you can ride him to look over a battle field as long as you don’t have on heavy armour. And nobles who bond with mount dragons become very fast graceful fighters especially with swords and very good generals who know how to plan a battle really well.”
Shira asked. “Is that the largest dragon; the mount dragon?”
“No,” answered Jolss. “There is one that is called a sage dragon, and they are very rare and grow to be bigger than a house. They are very intelligent and are the only dragons that can speak. They only bond with scholars and they live the longest and the scholars live a lot longer than normal people and become very wise.”
Shira motioned toward Prin and asked. “What about the little magic dragon? How big does she get?”
Jolss shrugged. “She won’t get any bigger. Magic dragons never get any larger after bonding and they will stay that size. So Prin will always be the size of a big raven. Green eyes will stay that same size always too. Poison dragons are the only ones who look different from a normal wild dragon even if they don’t bond.”
Cyerant asked. “So wild dragons don’t become different types of dragons?”
Jolss answered, “No, wild dragons just grow to be about the size of a pony and stay kind of greyish. Except the poison dragons, they become poison dragons whether they bond or not. See those two dragons that have not bonded,” Jolss said while pointing. “They will just keep slowly growing until they become adults and live as wild dragons unless they bond and then they will become a specific type of dragon and have a special ability that they will share with a person.”
“We have to get moving again,” said Cyerant. “We’ve been resting at this stream long enough. Shira, can Cyool keep scouting ahead and finding game trails and hunters trails to help us get through this thick brush and then check around behind us to make sure that we are not being followed?”
Shira nodded and thought about what she wanted the young dragon to do and Cyool was soon back in the air scouting ahead for a pathway through the forest and checking behind in case of pursuit.
The brush and undergrowth in this new forest was much thicker than the forest back up north where Veer and Shira had grown up. The going was not easy but after three gruelling days of pushing through thick brush, game trails and the occasional hunter’s trails the company was finally near the city of Deelt and would soon be leaving the forest behind.
Twelve
Cyerant led the company out of the forest and joined the traffic of people moving along the last mile of the Edgeway before it entered the city of Deelt. Cyool had seen no ducal guards or foreigners in her fly over of the area. Cyerant knew that even if there were ducal guards they would be looking for a lone young man passing as a noble and not a group of four teenagers with five dogs, a young horse and a black crow following them in the air. Cyool had done her job scouting so it had been a better idea to have her come back down out of the air and walk along with Shira looking like a dog.
And so what people saw coming into the city through the open gates was a small party of young people with their horses and with a hunting dog, a large mean looking dog and some puppies. Thought it made a bit of noise there was no reason for anyone to pay much attention to the noisy crow which kept flitting along roof tops.
“Now we have to find a place to spend a night or even a few nights.” Cyerant said. “The horses are easy, we can leave them at hired stables or we could find an inn with stables. We have the money but no inn is going to let us keep the dogs there.”
“Can we rent a house?” Shira asked. “Find an empty house with a stable and enough space to keep the, um, dogs.”
Cyerant said, “Not likely. We have some gold but that would take it all. And that is even if we could find a house to rent.”
Veer asked. “So what are we going to do?”
Cyerant said. “Well, let’s look around and see if we can book passage on a river boat to take us down river to Verat City. If we find one leaving some time in the next few days we can just hide out and camp back in the forest until time to leave on the boat.
“Why a boat?” Jolss asked.
Cyerant turned toward his younger brother and answered. “Because, Daralce, it will be faster for us and harder for someone to catch up to us if we are quietly on a boat or a river barge. And it is faster; only about a three week trip.”
“Have you ever been to Verat before?” Jolss asked.
“No,” said Cyerant. “Never, but I know the map and how long the part of the trip should take. But right now I’m hungry and I smell hot food so we should get something to eat from one of the street vendors.”
As the small party stopped at a street vendor in order to get some food, they did not notice that there was a woman sitting back in the shadows under the porch of an inn across the wide street. As soon as she had recognized the party coming down the street she had simply leaned her chair back so that her face would be in shadow and they would not recognize her.
*****
Garisa watched the four young people getting some bread and roasted meat to carry with them as they walked. She also noticed that one of the three foreigners who had also been sitting on the porch watching the people go by got up and hurriedly scuttled inside and returned just a few short minutes later with his two companions.
Garisa watched as the three strangers excitedly spoke to one another as if deciding what to do. The strangers were acting oddly and kept sipping from little leather flask bags. The faces of the strangers looked as if the were seeing ghosts and their conversation seemed to grow more and more excited as they whispered. Garisa just sat back in the shadows and watched the strangers who didn’t even seem to notice that she was sitting at the other end of the porch. Garisa knew only that these three must have lied to her and that they really want the reward for the impostor and that she was not going to allow them to get her reward. Garisa watched as two of the men went back inside the inn and the third man began to follow the young people as they started to slowly move down the street again while leading their horses and eating their meat and bread.
Being an expert in these matters Garisa knew that she should not follow the kids because the stranger would eventually notice that she too was following the same target. Easy enough, the stranger can follow the kids and she will follow him. The kids will not recognize her and the stranger will be too intent on watching the brats. Garisa just sat patiently and watched the group of young people move away with the stranger casually moving along behind them. While she sat and watched one of the other two strangers came out of the inn and headed right to the stables down the street and in a few minutes he was mounted and riding toward the city gates and out of Deelt. So the strangers wanted the reward and two of them were to stay behind and follow the impostor while the other one went to report to someone. Well, that leaves two strangers to deal with in the dark and more strangers coming later. So the woman knew that she would need to act soon; as soon as she knew where the boy and his friends were going to get rooms for the night. Now she got up and casually followed the stranger who was following the kids. She watched him from a distance knowing that as long as she can see him he will show her where the impostor is.
*****
As the young companions moved down the street eating their roast meat and bread they also looked closely at all of the wonderful things the street vend
ors had to offer. Here and there they picked up small items and a few supplies to replace things which had been used or worn out on their journey. Jolss notice a stone building with seven floors of windows. It was a square tower of grey stone decorated with battlements along the top and with a small forecourt behind a low stone fence. The building was very old and had a small gate in the front of the fence for entry. But what caught the attention of the boy was the carving over the gate that led into the small courtyard in front of the tower. Pointing Jolss said, “look! That tower! It says that it is the tower of the Brotherhood of Mages.”
Shira said. “I hate to tell you this Jolss but the mages don’t exist anymore. They lost their magic and faded out of history. That tower is very old if it was used by the mages. No telling who owns it now.”
“Maybe they have more books.” Jolss said as he ran toward the gate quickly followed by the others. As Jolss pushed open the gate and stepped into the forecourt Prin leaped into the air and fluttered on the shoulder of the boy where she continued to flutter her wings trying to hold onto the boy who was now walking quickly to the door of the tower. Cyerant looked around to see if anyone had notice a puppy suddenly flying and sitting on the shoulder of the boy. But in the hustle and bustle of the street only the companions themselves noticed the little dog jumping into the air. Now passers by would only see a little boy with a pet bird on his shoulder but for a moment people would have seen the impossible.
“Daralce stop,” called Cyerant.
Ignoring his older brother, Jolss came right up to the double doors and knocked on them as loudly as he could. And he heard a man’s voice from inside of the tower calling to go away. So the reached up and grabbed the door knocker hanging from a metal face on the wooden double door and used that to knock even more urgently. The voice from behind the door was growing louder and more irritated sounding and Jolss could now identify that it was the voice of an old man; a very angry old man. Then the door opened slowly inward and the voice of the old man came through the open door first.
“I told you to tell the magistrate that I have paid the taxes and I will not sell the tower. This has always been the mage tower and as long as there is one mage in Deelt it will remain the, oh.” The man stopped speaking sharply as he looked down and saw Jolss. “Harrumph, boy. Go away; I don’t have anything for urchins.” The man started to close the door.
“I want to ask you something,” Jolss said.
“No, don’t need any more servants. No work here for little boys.”
“It’s about books,” said Jolss frantically while sliding his foot into the door to hold it open.
“Yes books I have many, very good ones all about magic, a whole library,” the old man answered as he tried to close the door again.
“I have some books,” Jolss said.
“Don’t want to buy any – got enough,” said the old man. By this time Cyerant had reached the door also and the old man noticed him and then the others behind him. “Oh there are more of you. Well I don’t need anymore books go sell them somewhere else.”
Jolss said, “I don’t want to sell them I want to ask you about them.”
“Let me think, leather covers? Parchment leaves all stitched together and with ink splashed here and there into words?” The old man asked.
“Yes,” said Jolss.
“Definitely sounds like books; we call that kind a codex as opposed to the older scrolls. What a smart child being able to see that a book is a book. Now go away,” said the old man as he once again tried to close the door. “Move your foot.”
At this moment Prin jumped into the air and flew through the door over the head of the old man. Startled, Jolss stepped back and the door slammed in front of him. The he heard the sounds of the old man yelling inside and Prin screeching in anger.
The door opened again and the man looked out at the little boy and yelled. “I don’t want a bird. Get the bird out of my tower.” The old man let the door open and Jolss squeezed through and then was followed by Cyerant. The old man closed the door behind them leaving Veer and Shira still standing in the forecourt with the horses and dogs. The sound of the old man yelling was still coming through the door.
“That old goat is as mad as a badger,” said Veer as he turned to Shira chuckling.
“He thinks that he is a mage. Of course he’s mad. I bet he makes hats as a hobby.” Shira answered with a smile of her own. “Glad that we are out here.”
The door swung open again and the head of the old man popped out and he looked right at Veer and Shira. “You two leave the horses and dogs in the courtyard and get in here and help them catch this bird.”
Shira and Veer looked at one another and with a shrug they walked into the Tower of the Brotherhood of Mages. As the two other young people entered the room, which was actually a large hall, Prin fluttered down from the iron candle chandelier and landed peacefully on the shoulder of Jolss as if nothing had happened.
The old man seeing this said, “there, you’ve caught the thing, get out.” Once again the man opened the door and pointed outside. “Now”
As the old man pointed through the open door two dogs and two puppies ran through into the hall. “No, no dogs! Oh look at this, dogs and birds in the Tower of the Mages. You were sent to torment me weren’t you? Well, I am the last mage of the Tower of Deelt I have ancient magics and mysteries at my command and if you do not take your beasts and go now I will call the fury of dark magic down on your heads.”
“Stop!” Shira shouted. “Old man, you know that no mage has been able to call anything down on any heads in hundreds of years. And if you don’t calm down you are going to give yourself a spell or something.”
The old man looked startled at the sound of the young woman yelling. “Oh yes, well, there is that. Magic doesn’t work so well anymore; not like it did in ancient times. But this is still the Tower of the Mages and I am still a mage.”
“Sir, please sit down before you become ill,” said Cyerant
“Yes, quite so, I…. I should sit. The man said as he moved over to a chair near the door. “I should have a cup of tea when you leave. But please take your beasts and go.”
“I just have some questions about some books and you might be able to answer them,” said Jolss. “Please just listen to me for a few moments.”
“I will try” answered the old man. “But understand that I am a scholar of magical history and there are many ancient and wonderful magic books here in the tower but I am not a general librarian so I likely will not have your answers. But after I try you must leave.”
“We will leave after you hear his questions,” said Cyerant. “His name is Daralce and he is my younger brother.”
“So Daralce, what are your questions?” the old man asked. “I am Partonius myself.”
“Well, he has some magic books that we want to know about,” said Veer. “I’m sorry, my name is Veer.”
“Impossible,” said Partonius. “All known magic books have been gathered into the tower s, the tower here and the tower in Verat City.”
“Even so he has three books and one is written in an unreadable script and one was filled with tales about ancient dragons and the other was blank,” said Veer.
The old man jumped to his feet and walked toward Jolss saying. “Let me see these books.”
Jolss opened the cloth sack that he carried with him everywhere and took out the three books and held them up for the man to see.
Partonius looked startled and said, “I know these books. How did you come by them?”
Jolss answered, “Veer bought from a trader in a town north of here on the Edgeway. The trader bought them from an innkeeper who sold them to cover the debts for an old man who had died in the inn.”
With lightening like speed Cyerant rushed to steady the old man as he staggered and looked as though he might collapse. Veer joined him as the legs of the old man gave way and together they gently lifted the mage over to a sitting couch.
“Dratario
n dead,” the old man said as his eyes filled with tears. “Twenty five years we have lived here together since our teacher passed and left us as the last mages in the tower. The old fool. Catch a dragon, as if dragons still roamed the wilds.”
Just then everyone was startled by a knock at the door. “Oh what now?” The old wizard asked.
“I’ll see,” said Veer as he strode over to the door and pulled it open. As the door opened Veer could see a man with a sword and nice clothing standing in the door.
“Where is the old man, Partonius?” The newcomer demanded in a loud and officious tone.
“Who wants to know?” Responded Veer in the same tone.
“A constable from the city magistrate. I have a document demanding that the crazy old man appear before the magistrate within three days. The Tower of the Brotherhood of Mages no longer houses mages and unless the old man can demonstrate an act of magic the tower will be forfeit along with all of its accounts and treasury to the magistrate who will then hold it in trust until such time as a real mage can be found.” The man handed a small scroll to Veer and turned and walked away.
As Veer closed the door Partonius sighed. “First Dratarion dead and now they are taking my home.”
Cyerant asked. “Why does the magistrate want the tower?”
Partonius answered, “he is a new magistrate and he wants to move in here as his home because it is the oldest and finest building in Deelt.”
Jolss said. “So go and do some magic and then he can’t take the tower away from you.”
“Dear boy,” said Partonius. For a thousand years magic has dwindled in the world until nobody can actually perform magic. We only study the old texts and keep them safe in case magic ever again flows in the world. It doesn’t matter. Dratarion is gone and I am very old an there are no apprentices to take my place when I die.”
Veer responded by pointing at Jolss and saying, “Jolss can do magic.”
“Jolss?” The old mage asked. “Who is Jolss? I thought that his name was Daralce.”
Dragons of Summer Tide (The Dragons of Hwandor) Page 19
