by Robin Wirth
Felicity’s Challenge
“Roughing it, as you so casually put it, is highly overrated,” he
scoffed. “I much prefer the fact that I don’t have to.”
“Ha,” she chuckled. “Just as I thought. I’ll bet that you couldn’t
last one night if you tried camping the Mundane way.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not talking about simply sleeping out under the stars, with
your wand at your beck and call whenever a whim may take you,” she
explained with a smirk. “I mean good, old-fashioned Mundane
camping.”
“Are you serious?” he laughed. “You mean as in rubbing two
sticks together to start a fire, building a lean-to out of a bunch of twigs, and sleeping on a bed of leaves type camping? Of course not.”
“I’ll bet you couldn’t last one night out in the wild, could you,
Master Lancelot Jones?” she teased him.
“Oh, and you think you could, bookworm?” he scoffed good-
naturedly, sitting forward in his chair so their noses were practically touching. “All right, I’ll tell you what. We won’t pop from here to Mont
Blanc, as I planned. We’ll go straight back to Calais and take a train south to Geneva, just like the Mundanes would have to do. And when
we get there, we’ll build a fire, pitch a tent, and toast some marshmallows or something.”
Copyright©2018
Robin Joy Wirth
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 9781980355809
Originally crafted as Terratica’s Talisman for NaNoWriMo 2013,
this work has now undergone numerous changes and taken on a new
name to serve as the first in a series of stories to be set within this world.
You can look for the new books upcoming in the near future.
For updates on this and her other works,
please visit Robin’s website:
http://www.redshadow67.com
RedShadow’s Quill is a site with tips and tools for writers of
steamy romance, both fan fiction and original. Ready to take your writing
up a notch? Stop by and have a look around today.
Dragon’s
Eye
Robin Joy Wirth
Dedication
For Jeffery, the hero of my real-life romance. Thanks for putting
up with my muse.
ONE
From the perspective of the unsuspecting
Mundane eye, the huge crowd of people now
gathered in front of Big Ben, right in the heart of
the city of London, did not exist. Anyone
walking through that area beyond the Veil
occupied the exact same space, just in a different
dimension.
Big Ben itself occupied a space which
was of great importance to many Londoners,
though anyone who lacked magical skills didn’t
know it. The site was, in fact, the same place that
was occupied by the Magehold of London—a
large and somewhat forbidding structure not
unlike the castles of old—although some people
might deem it quite the largest of them all.
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Dragon’s Eye
Magehold was the meeting place of the
Council of Elders, and it contained all other
important offices in that hidden world. It was
also the place to which the Magi flocked
whenever anything of importance happened in
their society, just as it had today.
The High Mage of London, Archibald
Flanders, stood on a balcony overlooking the
enraged group of witches and wizards with a
smug look plastered onto his face. His lips were
pressed into a tight line as the roar of the
protesting members, and those who completely
opposed them, echoed louder and louder below.
He stepped forward at precisely five
o’clock, as indicated by the dim, chiming sound
coming from beyond his world. Most witches
and wizards could not hear the old clock, and he
felt the same surge of satisfaction he always did
each time he, himself, could.
“Silencity!” he shouted, raising his
hands above his head and neatly casting a spell
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to quiet them down. It may have earned him a
few glares, but he was more than willing to force
his will upon the throng if it served his purpose,
which it did right now.
“Everyone here is well aware of the
gravity of this situation,” he intoned, his voice
booming over them as he cast a voluminate as
well.
“Thas a gross understatement!” shouted
a stalwart wizard in heavy brogue. Archibald
didn’t need to look to the back of the crowd to
recognize who had spoken, nor did he bother to
acknowledge that he’d heard the wizard in
question at all.
“You all know it is forbidden for any
Mage under the age of twenty-four to venture
beyond our realm without an accompanying
Mage who has weathered the dangers of
Mundania many times before,” Archibald
scolded. “There are things beyond the Veil
which are incomprehensible to any witch or
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wizard who has never experienced the place for
themselves.”
“Get to the point, mon,” the same wizard
complained, and this time Archibald cast him a
glance meant to quell.
“Young Theodore Lundy was acting
well outside the laws set forth by the institution
when he took his little jaunt outside, and as you
can see it was indeed a foolish thing to do.”
A tall, determined-looking wizard strode
through the crowd, and they all moved aside to
let him through. No one could blame them
really, for the wizard had dressed in his best
robes, and his long, golden mane was drawn
back into a ponytail. His intent was only to keep
the hair out of his face, but it lent a look of
severity to his overall appearance that people
had long-since learned they should heed.
As he neared the front, the man cast a
voluminate of his own so he could be heard.
“Sir? Where is Theodore Lundy now? He was
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not unduly harmed by this unfortunate
experience, I trust?”
“Only his pride, Lancelot Jones, though
it could have been much worse if he’d been
harmed, or chosen to injure any of the four
Mundane thugs who accosted him,” Archibald
replied. “Now please, I must ask you to hold all
of your questions until everyone is on the same
piece of parchment.”
Lancelot squared his shoulders and
curbed his tongue at the slight, but the crowd
surrounding him went wild with indignation on
his behalf. Many of them shook their fists at the
High Mage, while some others turned their
backs to him completely.
“Sir, you cannot silence a wizard’s
questions like that!” shouted a nearby witch as
she pushed Lancelot forward. “Every witch or
wizard among the Magi has the right to be
heard!”
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Dragon’s Eye
Another wizard grabbed Lance’s arm
and drew him to the front of the crowd, saying,
“Yes, Archibald, you must let Master Jones
speak, if he will. That’s one law at least that you
cannot tamper with.”
Lancelot reclaimed his arm and said, “I
shall wait as the High Mage has asked, if you
please. And so should you all, so that we may
discover what it is he’s come all the way out here
to tell us.”
Archibald waited for everyone to quiet
down again before he continued. “The
Mundanes have been completely unaware of the
presence of Magehold for many centuries. Our
spells, and the presence of the Veil, have helped
keep us hidden most effectively. We have
survived as the Anglo-Saxons held sway, and we
have thrived throughout every other regime
since.
“In all that time, we have interacted with
the Mundanes any way we pleased, using them
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to farm our foods, provide us with all of our
goods and clothing, or to do any other task a
wizard cannot do behind the Veil. We cannot
simply disappear completely into our fortress of
magic, for that magic’s very existence disallows
our own crops to grow or our magical beasts to
be shorn for wool.
“But thanks to Lundy getting caught on
film using magic to save himself, all of Mundane
London has been in the worst kind of an uproar
ever since. A hundred thousand memory spells
cannot possibly eradicate such hard evidence.
“If the lesser folk begin to balk, our
entire way of life is under severe threat. It was
therefore my unfortunate mission to seek out the
Mundane Prime Minister and plead for Lundy’s
immediate release. I explained to him that the
lad had broken the laws of his own kind, and
should therefore be dealt with by us.
“He voiced a great concern that the Magi
walked among them at all, and wanted us to
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Dragon’s Eye
withdraw from their world completely. I had to
explain to him that in our dimension it is
impossible for us to grow food, and I was able
to convince him that should he press such an
issue he would not succeed in the attempt. No
Magi would be willing to starve just for the sake
of a Mundane’s pride.
“So, in the interest of preventing an all-
out war between our two worlds, I had to agree
to a compromise. I was forced to strike a deal.”
“Wot sort of a deal?”
Archibald flinched as the stalwart wizard
whipped his wand into the air, high above his
head, and used it to float over the sea of bodies
that stood in his way. He landed beside Lancelot
Jones with a flourish, and gave that wizard a nod
of respectful greeting, which the other man
summarily returned.
“Now, Dervish, there’s no need to be so
forceful. We don’t want to stir these good people
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up even further,” the High Mage admonished
him.
The rest of the crowd backed up slightly,
leaving the two outspoken wizards alone in front
of them to continue their tirade.
“McTavert’s a member of the Council,”
Lancelot reminded him with a triumphant smirk.
“You’ll not be able to disrespect him the way
you just disrespected me, Flanders. This angry
mob would never stand for it.”
“You need not remind me of Director
McTavert’s position, Master Jones,” Archibald
answered in a quelling tone. Lancelot continued
to glare at the man, unruffled by his ire.
“The Magi have been forbidden from
interfering in the affairs of the Mundanes in any
way, Dervish. Furthermore, we are barred from
any use of magic outside of the Veil. And most
importantly, we are no longer allowed to use any
spells on the Mundanes themselves, no matter
what the reason.”
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Dragon’s Eye
“Are ye daft, mon?” Dervish snorted.
“We canna agree to thot! How will we get on
without compelling Mundanes to serve us?
We’ve always gotten by with the concept thot
the Gifted must further their own needs at the
expense of lesser beings. We see to our own
prosperity first, and theirs second. ‘Tis just our
way.”
“Not anymore, it isn’t,” Archibald
insisted. “As of right now I am invoking the Law
of Three. Whatever a Mage sets forth into the
world shall return to him threefold. We are no
longer to command the Mundanes. All help from
them must be freely given, or we shall be forced
to do the tasks for ourselves. Without magic
while we are among them.
“But we’ve gained a victory of sorts,
making such a concession. The Prime Minister
agreed to deem the recorded footage a hoax,
ending the unrest among his own people, and
insuring their safety all at the same time.”
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“Ye’ve gone insane, Archibald,”
Dervish insisted. “Ye’ll be bringing about the
ruin of us all!”
“Yes, I quiet agree with McTavert,”
Lancelot piped in. “Without the compelling
spells, how will we stock our larders? Without
Mundane fabrics, how will we keep ourselves
clothed? We cannot risk asking for their help
instead of simply demanding it. There’s too
great a possibility they’d refuse.”
The two wizards now linked arms as they
glared up at Archibald. In turn, he sneered down
at them. “Of course you agree with him, Master
Jones. Everyone knows you’re Dervish
McTavert’s little lap dog. Where would you be
today if he hadn’t appointed you as the curator
of his Magical Museum? I’d expect no less from
you.”
“I can assure you, sir, that my opinions
are my own,” Lancelot informed him hotly.
“Why do you find it necessary to pick a fight
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Dragon’s Eye
with me rather than defend your pathetic Law of
Three? You know it can never work, you’re just
too stubborn to admit it.”
“Enough!” Archibald shouted. “The
Law of Three has been enacted, and you will
abide by it. That is all.” Saying this, the wizard
turned away and went inside.
Beyond the Veil, Big Ben’s chimes
echoed into his ears, and Archibald smiled with
satisfaction as he realized precisely fifteen
minutes had elapsed since the beginning of his
speech. He had bee
n just as efficient as he’d
hoped to be. Now, he only hoped the Magi
would heed his words.
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TWO
Professor Gregory Spine stood before a
class of thirty acolytes as they all stared at him
attentively. As the timekeeper called out the
hour somewhere in the distance, he gave a heavy
sigh.
He knew everyone there had only one
thing on their minds today, and trying to talk
about anything else would be a losing battle.
Instead, he decided to talk about the topic that
was foremost.
“Good afternoon, class. I’m sure all of
you heard the news by now that the High Mage
has set a controversial new law. So today, I
thought perhaps we could discuss the problem
completely. As always, I’ll ask that each person
speaks one at a time, and in the respectful
manner expected of all Magi. And, since I know
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Dragon’s Eye
that most of you don’t like the law, I’d very
much like to hear first from somebody who does.
Anyone?”
“I’ve got something to say, sir,” said a
petite, tawny-haired witch seated at the front of
the class. She brushed a mass of curls from her
flashing brown eyes and got to her feet as she
spoke. Several of her classmates groaned in
response.
“Miss Felicity Lake, I might have known
you’d have something to say on the matter,”
Gregory commented with an indulgent smile as
he folded his hands behind his back and stepped
over to her side.
Felicity nodded sagely. “I’m fairly
certain many of you believe this new law is
useless, but I can assure you that it’s not. It’s
going to have a profound impact on the entire
future of Magehold and all of its citizens, and I
for one feel the change will be for the better.”
