The Dragon's Champion

by Sam Ferguson

  “But, milord, he’s broken the law and come straight into your house without invitation. Surely no good can come from this,” Sir Duvall countered.

  “While I appreciate your sentiments, Sir Duvall, our swords will be of no avail if he does decide to do evil to us,” Lord Lokton replied. “Put your weapon down.”

  Erik felt fear grip his stomach and twist it into knots as he studied the intruder. The man wore black robes with shiny, purple trim on the sleeves. A long hood hung loosely over the stranger’s face, covering his features. Strands of silver hair poked out from the hood like old snakes. The man wore a medallion around his neck. The gleaming triangle of gold enclosed the image of an open eye. A staff of wood appeared in the man’s left hand and he took three steps toward Lord Lokton.

  “That is far enough, Tukai,” Lord Lokton announced. “What have you come for?”

  “I was disappointed when I heard that House Lokton had not invited me to witness the Konn Deta of its newest son. Tukai turned to face Erik. Erik couldn’t see the man’s face, but he was certain that Tukai was staring right into his eyes.

  “House Lokton does not hold company with warlocks,” Lord Lokton replied.

  “Ah, yes,” Tukai hissed with a finger poking the air. “I am an evil man, I forgot.” Tukai removed his hood and Erik saw his face. The orbs of Tukai’s eyes were pure white, without any color at all. His long, hooked nose came to a pointy end above a curled set of thin lips. “House Lokton may not wish to deal with warlocks, but I know of the ill omen that shrouded the boy’s ceremony today.”

  “Was it your doing, old snake?” Lokton quipped.

  “Come come, why would I care to do something like that?” Tukai replied wickedly. Without warning he floated into the air and glided over to stand at the main table, just opposite Erik.

  Sir Duvall lunged forward with his sword and pierced the warlock through the chest. Tukai reeled back, grabbing the blade with his hands and crying out in agony. Tukai stumbled a few steps to Erik’s right and then, tired of the charade, started to laugh.

  “I have not had someone try to do that to me for a long time,” Tukai hissed. “It tickles something fierce.” Erik couldn’t believe his eyes. Tukai pulled the sword from his chest and tossed it onto the table in front of Sir Duvall. There was no hole in his body, or even in his robes. Tukai was untouched by the blade despite the fact that it had coursed straight through him.

  Sir Duvall took his sword back and reluctantly sheathed it.

  “I have come with a warning for you, because the omen concerns not only House Lokton, but the whole of the kingdom.” Tukai turned back to Erik and shoved his open palm up close to Erik’s face. It stopped just a half inch away from his nose. Tukai closed his eyes and let his head fall back. Erik didn’t dare move, nor did anyone else. Tukai started to tremble slightly and groan. Erik sat still, transfixed on the warlock. All of a sudden Tukai pulled his hand back and opened his eyes.

  “Your son will destroy your house, Lord Lokton. There is a power that runs through him, and it is a very dangerous power. If he is allowed to discover it, the power will awaken one day and consume all living. You will have to choose now.”

  “Choose what?” Lord Lokton asked hesitantly.

  “You will choose whether to kill him, or let him destroy the kingdom. A curse is over your son’s head.” Tukai glided over to Lord Lokton and placed a dagger on the table in front of him. The emerald encrusted hilt sparkled in the magical light. “Kill him now and save your house, save us all.”

  Lord Lokton became very still. He locked eyes with the warlock for a moment before pulling the dagger up in his hand and throwing it back. “Get out of my hall, now. I will not kill my son.”

  “But, Lord Lokton, if you do not kill your son this very night, he will kill you,” Tukai countered.

  “I will not!” Erik roared angrily. He felt rage boil up in him until he could sit and watch no more. He pulled his dinner fork in his hand and ran over the table to get at Tukai. He lashed out, stabbing Tukai in the shoulder with his fork.

  Tukai reeled back as he had before, only this time he made no sound. His eyes were wide with terror as he looked back at Erik. The warlock pulled the fork from his shoulder slowly. Blood coursed from the wound and seeped into the torn robes. With a hiss, Tukai disappeared, taking the magical light with him. Again the room was dark, but not as before. The moonlight streamed in through the windows, casting its silvery calm over the hall.

  “Lights, now,” Lord Lokton commanded. Many people rushed to light the torches and the lamps. “I want every man sworn to my service to come into the center of the hall and kneel before me and my son.”

  Erik watched with a confused expression as all of the men in the hall rushed to kneel before him. Only the magistrate did not kneel before him, as he was sworn to serve the kingdom, and not Lord Lokton.

  “I want each of you to swear your loyalty now to my son, Erik,” Lord Lokton commanded.

  “With respect, my lord,” the magistrate interjected. “The Warlocks of the Eye do not lie. The prophecies they give are true and always come to pass.”

  Lord Lokton nodded his head. “I know that, my friend, but the prophecies are not always as they seem. The warlocks twist their words to turn the prophecy to their own purposes. I have been schooled in these matters by the Keeper of Secrets, himself. Tukai is not to be trusted, even if his prophecy does come true.” Lord Lokton turned back to the men before Erik and drew his sword. “Swear loyalty to my son now, each and every one of you. I don’t care what you think of me, my son, the omen, or this prophecy. None of you will harm a hair on my son’s head, ever. Swear loyalty now, or die by my sword.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Erik lay in bed that night with too much on his mind to sleep. Whenever he did manage to close his eyes, the image of Tukai came and made him spring up in his bed. He wondered if the omen was true, and if the prophecy would come to pass. After dinner, Lord Lokton had sent everyone out of the manor, except Braun, who was told to double the guard and stand watch over Erik.

  Erik looked at the crack under the door. Two shadows broke the line of light streaming in from the hall. The shadows were cast by Braun’s legs, he knew. The captain of the guard was always most dedicated when it came to protecting House Lokton, and Erik was comforted by the fact that Braun had never failed to stop any threat. He found himself wishing that Braun could somehow step into his head and clear the image of Tukai from his mind.

  The warlock had frightened him more than anything, even more than Dimwater’s wolf. Yet, somehow, he had managed to hurt Tukai with a fork. Erik didn’t know much about magic, but from the look he saw on Tukai’s face, he knew that it should not have been possible to injure the warlock. Erik marveled at his success when only moments before Sir Duvall had tried to slay the warlock and his sword had passed right through Tukai’s chest without harm. It didn’t make any sense.

  Something tapped at the window.

  Erik turned quickly to see a raven sitting on the sill, tapping the glass with its beak. He regarded the bird curiously for a minute. The yellow eye reflected the pale light of the moon as it glared at Erik. It tapped the glass three more times. Erik rose to his feet and started to walk to the window. He flapped at the bird to scare it away, but the raven just cackled at him. It tapped the glass three more times and then cocked its head, looking right at him.

  Erik was about to call Braun in, but he stopped short. He felt silly. Why would Braun care about a bird? He was standing watch to protect Erik from people, not birds. Erik drew the curtains over the window and went back to his bed. The tapping continued, growing more insistent with each set of three taps.

  “Ah, sticks and stones!” Erik wailed as he jumped back out of bed.

  “Everything alright, Master Erik?” Braun inquired from the other side of the door.

  “Yeah,” Erik replied. “There’s just a stupid raven tapping on my window, and I can’t sleep.” Before Erik took a step the door flew
open and Braun was inside the room with an axe in his left hand. The large, muscular man shoved Erik to the bed and tore the curtains from the walls. “It’s just a raven,” Erik said as he rubbed his chest.

  The raven flew away at the sudden commotion and Braun slowly put his axe back on his belt. “You said it was tapping on your window?” Braun asked.

  “Yeah, but I could have scared it away myself,” Erik said.

  “How many taps?” Braun asked, ignoring Erik’s complaint.

  “What?” Erik asked.

  “How many taps, boy?” Braun asked.

  “I’m not a boy anymore, Braun,” Erik gruffed, still rubbing his chest.

  Braun crossed the bedroom in three steps and picked Erik off the bed with a fistful of shirt in his right hand. “The raven comes at night to tap the message of death. Six taps means that a friend of yours will die tonight, five taps means that someone in your house will die tonight, four taps means that you will die tonight, and three means that death comes for you but can be avoided. Tell me now, how many taps were there?”

  Erik couldn’t think. He gasped for air and finally managed to squeeze out a word as he thought about the tapping. “Three,” Erik wheezed. “The raven tapped many times, but each time it was a set of three taps.”

  Braun dropped him like a sack of rotten fish and threw the window open. “You two,” he shouted to a pair of guards leaning against the wall below Erik’s third story window. “Be on guard, we are soon to be attacked. Sound the alarm!” Erik heard the sharp, piercing sound of a whistle being blown from below. An instant later a bell sounded in response. “Get dressed, Master Erik, and be quick about it. You may have to leave tonight.”

  Erik didn’t argue. He ripped his nightshirt off and threw on the closest clothes he had, his brown training tunic and simple tan trousers. He slipped his feet into his leather boots, without socks, and then grabbed a cloak from a hook inside the wardrobe door. “I’m ready,” he said as he threw his cloak around him.

  Lord Lokton rushed through the doorway holding a great sword with an emerald in the pommel and crossguard. “What is it?” Lord Lokton demanded. His shirt of mail shimmered in the torchlight from the hall as he heaved to catch his breath.

  “A raven tapped three times on Erik’s window,” Braun replied.

  Erik half expected his adopted father to burst out laughing, or perhaps to chastise Braun, but he didn’t. Lord Lokton didn’t even crack his usually confident smirk or make any comeback remark at all. His eyes steeled over and his jaw set as though it were made of stone. “Then we have no time to lose,” Lord Lokton said.

  Braun shoved Erik forward. Even if Erik had forgotten something, it was too late now. Lord Lokton led the way down the hall and Braun was pushing Erik on like a crazed bull. They ran until Lord Lokton stopped at a painting in the hall and ripped it from its place. He tore the false plaster the painting had covered and pulled an iron ring, connected to an old, strong chain, out of the wall. A heavy clicking sound was heard through the wall and then the sound of gears and cogs spinning and creaking. A section of the wall was pulled back to reveal a secret passageway. Before Erik could say anything, the three of them rushed in.

  The tunnel quickly gave way to a set of spiraling stairs that led down dizzyingly. Erik tried his hardest not to trip as Braun kept shoving him relentlessly forward. Erik wasn’t sure how far down they had gone, but it seemed like a lot more than three stories worth of stairs. Once they were at the bottom, Lord Lokton ran to a metal box on the wall and opened it. Inside the box were several levers and chains. The first lever Lord Lokton pulled opened a hole under the spiral staircase and the metal stairs flew straight down into the hole, like a prairie dog darting into its mound, until they disappeared from view. The second lever opened a hallway inside another wall.

  “Get him out of here, Braun,” Lord Lokton ordered.

  “What about you and Raisa?” Braun asked.

  “Go, Lady Lokton will be safe, but I must stay and help our men.”

  “With respect-” Braun started to argue but Lord Lokton came up fast and hard, grabbing him by the collar. Erik had been afraid of Braun when the large guard had picked him up, but the rage boiling in his father’s eyes seemed to dwarf the large guard completely.

  “Do as I say,” Lord Lokton yelled. “Protect my son, and don’t you fail me Braun, or I will find you, and you will pay for it.”

  Braun said nothing. He grabbed Erik and swept him into the hall. The door to the hallway slid closed. For a second it was completely dark. Then Erik heard another clicking sound followed by a loud hiss. Light exploded through the hall as fire ignited across the walls of the hall in parallel lines above Braun’s head.

  “Don’t be afraid,” Braun said as he kept pushing from behind. “The fire was lit by your father, to light our way. There are two troughs of oil that run the length of these walls.”

  “Where does this tunnel lead?” Erik asked.

  “First to a secret chamber where we can outfit with weapons and equipment, then out to the stables. Our horses will already be waiting for us.”

  “How do the stable hands know to prepare our horses?”

  “The alarm,” Braun said simply as he pushed harder. “Run your mouth less and your legs more, if you want to live.”

  Erik ran for all he was worth, but it still wasn’t fast enough to keep Braun’s enormous hand off of him. It was like trying to run in front of Goliath. Soon the end of the tunnel was in sight. A large, brown metal door stood closed. Erik tried to slow down but Braun kept pushing. The door was coming closer and closer. Erik felt his heart skip when he saw that there were spikes jutting out toward him from the metal door.

  “Braun?” Erik asked weakly. The big guard pushed harder, and Erik went hurtling towards the long, shimmering spikes.

  *****

  Master Lepkin sat back from the table and stared at the papers in front of him. He had spent the last few hours studying the ancient texts in the library at Kuldiga Academy. He had told Master Orres that he would be back Monday morning, but something inside had told him that he couldn’t delay. So, shortly after Orres had left, Lepkin mounted his horse and raced back to Kuldiga Academy. First he had gone to his study to retrieve an old, brown tome. He had also gathered a few things that he felt were necessary for Erik’s training and packed them onto his horse, hidden out in the nearby forest. After that, he came back to the library, where he now sat looking over charts and diagrams.

  “Doing a bit of reading, are we?” a familiar voice called out to him from the shadows.

  “Yes, a few last minute preparations,” Master Lepkin replied. He turned in his chair and smiled as Janik came into the candlelight. “I was sure I had snuck past you this time, old man.”

  “Who are you calling old?” Janik replied disdainfully. He pulled a chair up quietly and sat it down next to Lepkin. His eyes studied the papers on the table. “The spell of the nighthawk,” Janik said as he traced one of the papers with his finger. “What exactly are you preparing for?”

  “Your brother has sent me and Erik away for the rest of the year,” Lepkin replied.

  Janik raised a curious eyebrow for a moment, but continued to scan the papers. “I see.”

  “You aren’t surprised?” Lepkin asked.

  “No, there are not many things that Orres does that surprise me. I have known him for a very long time, after all.” Janik pulled a small book from behind his back and laid it on the table. “Perhaps this will help you.”

  Master Lepkin took the book in hand and read its title aloud, “Anecdotes of the Forgotten Traveler.” Master Lepkin opened the cover and gently flipped a few of the pages. “What is this? The pages are blank.”

  “The pages are blank, but there are words on the pages, as sure as I am breathing now. It is my brother’s journal. He writes in it most nights before he goes to sleep. He’s had it since he was a boy.”

  “Why would I want your brother’s journal?” Master Lepkin asked skept
ically.

  “I have a suspicion that he is not playing on the same side as you and I,” Janik replied evenly.

  “What makes you say that?”

  Janik got up and went to the window, limping and rubbing his sore leg as he went. “Come here,” he whispered. “But leave the candle where it is.”

  Lepkin rose and walked over beside Janik. His gaze followed Janik’s finger and looked down to the courtyard. There, in the moonlight he saw Master Orres standing with his arms crossed over his chest. Janik tapped Lepkin’s shoulder and pointed across the courtyard. Master Lepkin looked up and saw a light through a window on the third floor. It was his window.

  “That’s my study,” Lepkin said.

  Janik nodded and gently pushed the window open as three men entered the courtyard and approached Orres. Janik held a finger up to his mouth, telling Lepkin to be quiet.

  “Well, did you find it?” Orres demanded.

  “No, it wasn’t there,” one of the men replied.

  “What do you mean it wasn’t there?” Orres fumed. “He is the Keeper of Secrets; I know he has the book!”

  “Master Orres is after the book?” Lepkin whispered. Janik placed a finger to Lepkin’s mouth and gave him a stern look.

  “Maybe Master Lepkin has come back and taken the book,” one of the three men said.

  “No,” Orres growled. “I saw Lepkin myself, back at his cabin. He said he wasn’t going to come back until Monday. Besides, he would never come here while Erik’s life was in jeopardy.”

  Lepkin removed Janik’s finger and glared at him. “What is your brother talking about?”

  Janik grabbed Lepkin’s face and made him look back down to Orres.

  “I am sure Lord Lokton would have sent for Lepkin after Tukai paid him a visit. Lepkin would not have come here if he knew about the prophecy given at Erik’s Konn Deta feast. Now go back up there and don’t come back to me until you have found Nagar’s Secret!” Orres slugged one of the men, hard, knocking him to the ground. The other two were quick to help their companion up and then run back into the building.