The Dragon Gem (Korin's Journal)

by Brian Beam

  “Good. All those extra syllables were wearing me out,” I joked with a smile, keeping her laughing. “So, your father is the Grand Wizard. Must be a lot of pressure.”

  Sal’s eyes went from bright to narrow and angry in a split-second. I’m fairly certain that if she hadn’t been holding Max, her hand would have darted to her case in a second. As usual, I just didn’t know how to quit when I was ahead. Then again, with Sal’s fluctuating emotions, there was no way to know when I was ahead with her.

  “How can you even pretend like you know what it’s like to have so many expectations thrust upon you as the only child of the most powerful living wizard?” “Most powerful living wizard” was said in a mocking tone, showing exactly how much she must have respected her father. “You can’t imagine what it’s like letting everyone you know down including parents who think you should be so much more based solely on who they are. Or, what it’s like being the laughing stock of every wizard at the Academy.” Her eyes began to moisten again. This girl could run the gamut of emotions in seconds.

  I almost told her how I would have loved to have some expectations, no matter how unrealistic, thrust upon me by the parents I never knew, but for once I thought before I spoke. Judging by the tears starting to trickle from the corners of her eyes, she didn’t need me to make her feel guilty on top of what she was already feeling.

  Jumping ahead of her, I turned and gripped both of her shoulders firmly in my hands. “Sal’, from what Max says, you have a wonderful gift that not many wizards can claim in being able to see magic and whether people can use it. Who cares what those other idiots think? Who cares if you become Ranked or not? You have a special talent no matter what they say. Plus, you can still use magic to some degree. You should be proud of it. It’s more than I am capable of,” I finished with a smile.

  Okay, that speech may seem out of nowhere given how I normally would throw in some wisecrack or sarcasm, but a little known fact about me is that I cannot stand people being unhappy. Well, good people. People like Menar, Raijom, Galius, and Brennor can go to the the grave miserable for all I care. But Sal’, even though she might have been a tad emotionally crazy, did not deserve be chronically unhappy because of fools like those Academy wizards and her parents trying to make her feel like less than what she was. Alright, let me step off this soap box before I start sounding like too much of a sap.

  Sal’s gaze dropped to the ground. For a second I thought saying that she could “use magic to some degree” might have been the wrong thing to say and that she was about to scream at me, but instead she took a step forward and gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek.

  “Korin, I think I was wrong about you. Thank you.” With that, she shrugged each shoulder to wipe the tears from her eyes as she held Max.

  I had broken into a smile like a teenager getting his first kiss before I could stop myself and quickly spun away to trek on our current downhill course. I heard Sal’ giggle as her footsteps quickened to catch up. I couldn’t believe that I felt so flustered. I knew the attraction to her was primarily physical, but I had to keep reminding myself that she was as neurotic as ever, even if during that conversation she seemed nice. Still, the kiss, even if just on the cheek, felt pretty good.

  “So, what do you mean you were wrong about me? What kind of guy did you think I was?” I flashed her another grin. Only Loranis knows why I still found myself flirting.

  Sal’ only laughed as she walked with a sway in her hips, not answering the question right away. After a moment, she looked at me, puzzled. “You don’t seem the type of guy who would travel with a Contract. I would think only the tough mercenary type or a simple idiot would use a Contract.”

  “What, I don’t seem tough to you?” I laughed. “I’ve narrowly escaped death several times in just the past couple days.”

  “Escaped as in ran away, or fought your way out?” she asked, unconvinced.

  I guess technically it came down to me running away after Max intervened each time. I wasn’t about to admit that, though. “I think that it takes some toughness to fight multiple thugs who want to kill you at once and to survive an encounter with three eldrhims.” Once the word left my mouth, I started to wonder if the approaching night would bring on another eldrhim attack.

  “Sure,” she replied noncommittedly. “Seriously, though, what makes you lead the life of a Contract Holder?”

  “Well, if I’m not tough, that just leaves your ‘simple idiot’ theory,” I replied with a smirk.

  “Seriously,” she responded as she playfully bumped me off balance with her shoulder.

  Although I hardly knew Sal’, I found myself comfortable telling her what I had never told another human being outside of my adoptive parents and Chasus. I told her all about my dreams and Max’s prompting to hunt down my parents. I told her all about wanting to see the world. I told her of my journey over the past three years from Alandrin, through Watersdeep, to the island of Tomal, across Rykinia, sailing the Calryth Channel to the island of Calthair, and finally coming up into Urdale. All of those kingdoms and not even one lead on where to find my parents. I finished by telling her how in the end, I’d probably give up the excitement for a simple life on the Karell farm whether I found my parents or not.

  Sal’ laughed again, looking over at me with her sky-blue eyes. “Trust me, Korin. You’ll never go back to that life. I do hope you find what you’re looking for, though.”

  That made me think. I always figured once I’d seen the world and found my birth parents, I would want to settle down and have a family. Would I be okay with that now, though? After so much adventure, would a simple farm life satisfy me? Would that kind of life even be a choice for me now? It definitely wouldn’t be until I took care of my Contract, Menar, and Raijom problems.

  Trying to not dwell on those questions, I turned back to Sal’. “Glad to know that you know me better than I know myself after knowing me almost a whole day,” I retorted sarcastically.

  “Fine. Be that way. You’ll see.” Was she angry again? I needed to forget how pretty she was. She was definitely too crazy to be worth it.

  We travelled on in silence for a while after that, but Sal’ seemed to maintain a positive mood, glancing at me with coy smiles that she thought I didn’t see. I wondered if anyone had ever actually been nice to her before. I mentally took back my initial impression that her beauty probably got her whatever she wanted. Maybe good looks didn’t work the same way in the world of wizards as it seemed to in the world of non-magical folk.

  We reached the bottom of one mountain just to start up another. Daylight was starting to wane. We agreed that as long as Max stayed asleep, we would hold off on eating as long as we had enough light to see. The scenery didn’t change for hours, just the same trees and plants and sounds until we crested the small mountain. Ahead of us in the distance, at the rounded, wooded top of the mountain, I could see something dome-shaped. As we neared, I could see that it was a rusted, metal frame.

  It was dusk by the time we arrived at the frame with barely enough light to see. The frame was big enough to take over a minute to walk around. The metal at the dome’s peak was twisted and bent inward, the metal torn through as if something large had crashed downward into it. Jagged pieces of stained glass clung to indentions that had been forged to hold it in the frame. No full panes of the stained glass remained intact, making it impossible to tell what kind of decoration had been present on them.

  The dome rested over a gaping hole in the ground. The near darkness of the oncoming night revealed only shadow below a couple feet of smooth, shiny, rectangular stones lining the circular hole.

  “This must have been a skylight into the temple,” Sal’ stated. “It’s not the entrance, but I think this is where the dragon must have entered.”

  It made sense in a way, but I was still doubtful that this could be part of a temple made by some simple farmers including James McAlwain’s ancestors. From dealing with James, I figured that there would just be a simpl
e shack or small building that had been dedicated to the wonderful god of livestock.

  Maybe I had underestimated the talkative farmer. If we truly were at Nansunic’s temple, it had to be huge if the large dome was simply a skylight for it. Sal’ was definitely right about the dome being a skylight. There was clearly a circular area free of the fall-colored trees around the dome where sunlight could easily come into it during the day. James had said that people still came from far away to see the ruins of the temple. If the temple was as great as the domed skylight made it appear, such interest would make more sense than if it had just been the shack I had envisioned.

  As if he had been waiting for the perfect moment to wake, Max opened his eyes, the waning daylight making his green irises glow. “Hey, we have stopped. Does that mean it’s time to eat?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Max, do you think this is Nansunic’s temple?”

  Max craned his neck over Sal’s arms to look down the hole inside the dome. “Probably, but what does that have to do with food?”

  Sal’ cut in before Max or I could say more. “It’s definitely a god’s temple,” she stated confidently. “I can see the aura around those stones lining the hole. It’s definitely the magic from the worship of the god this is dedicated to.”

  Max looked up at Sal’, impressed—and I have to say that it takes a lot to impress Max. “Amazing, Salmaea. I doubt there is more than one temple dedicated to a god in this mountain, so as strange as it is, this must be Nansunic’s temple. There must have been more farmers in this region back when it was created than we thought.”

  I nodded, impressed as well. “Well, Max, float me down there and I’ll check it out,” I said as I started to climb through the rusty frame. Max nodded and shut his eyes.

  “Stop!” Sal’ practically screamed enthusiastically. “He can’t do that.”

  “Sure he can. He did it just yesterday. Some wizards actually have some spell casting talent.” Sal’ gave me a look of death. Why do I let myself say things like that?

  Instead of killing me, though, she angrily muttered, “No, I mean, magic can’t be used in a temple like this.” She still looked ready to hurt me.

  I ignored her anger and turned to Max. “Max, get me down there.”

  “Fine,” Sal’ huffed, crossing her arms under her breasts. “Break your fool neck. See if I care.”

  Continuing to ignore her, I continued through the frame. I trusted Max more than her when it came to magic knowledge. Just because she couldn’t float me down didn’t make it impossible. “Max?”

  Max’s face had become unsure, his eyes open and looking back and forth between me and Sal’, finally stopping on Sal’. “What do you mean?” he asked her in his raspy voice. I let out an annoyed breath.

  “I mean that god-dedicated temples like this are imbued with a magic created from the worship of the god. It’s the same as a church. You can’t use magic in a god’s temple just as you can’t in a church. The magic created by those worshipping the god or gods prohibits magic within the structure’s walls. Once you’re in the confines of that temple, your magic will be inhibited and Korin will plummet to his death. I’m surprised you didn’t know that, Max.” It seemed that the further into her explanation she went, the more her head tilted back with her nose going further into the air to arrogantly look down on us. I had never—and I do mean never—thought that anyone would ever talk down to Max.

  “I see,” was all Max said.

  “You really believe that, Max? I mean, if she’s right, wouldn’t you know that already?” I still couldn’t believe it, even if Max was truly considering Sal’s words to be truth.

  “She may be right, lunkhead. Besides, even if she is not, you might just drop right onto a Chralex-blooded dragon going in like that. Why do you not just think for once?” Max’s haughtiness towards me was just as strong as Sal’s had been. Oh yeah, and Chralex is the god of dragons. Big surprise, huh? Max didn’t use the god’s name as a curse so much as just using it literally.

  “Well—well—I,” I stammered, unable to come up with a witty reply. I wanted to thump them both. “Look, I need that gem now. It’s going to take nearly a week to get back to Byweather, and that’s if we can find a decent horse back in Geeron.” I felt a quick stab to my gut as I mentioned getting a horse.

  Sal’ stepped forward, looking down at me hanging onto the frame with her nose still in the air. “Max, try to float this down,” she stated, pulling out a mouse and tossing it up into the air. Max closed his eyes and the terrified, flailing rodent’s decent slowed. I almost threw out an “I told you so”, but as the mouse reached the frame, it suddenly plummeted downwards. Several seconds later, a small yet still sickening thud echoed up through the hole.

  “I told you so,” Sal’ chided. That was supposed to be my line.

  Max whistled through his teeth, a very strange mannerism from a cat. “Remarkable. Korin, even if Sal’ had been wrong, did you hear how long it took for that mouse to land? I never could have gotten you down that far before I ran out of energy.”

  With a huff that could rival Max’s, I stepped out of the frame. “So smarty-pants,” I sneered, purposefully taunting Sal’, “why does this worship-induced magic keep wizards from using magic within it? If the worshippers can’t use magic, how can they create it? Doesn’t really make a lot of sense to me.” And it didn’t. If magic could be created within the walls of the temple, how could it stop other magic from being created around it?

  Sal’s eyes burned fury at my words, and the next thing I knew I was on my ass again. If anger made her magic work better, I’d need to be all flowers and sunshine around her all the time for my own health.

  “Because,” she punctuated sharply, “the energy of worship, whether for good or evil gods, is an energy stemmed from extremely positive feelings. You know that magic takes energy to create, even if that energy does not come from the caster. In this case, the energy creates a spell even though the people worshipping the god or gods are unaware of it. The energy is strong enough amongst enough people to not even need a wizard to shape it into a spell. It just happens. The energy has no wizard to direct it, so it basically expands in all directions, absorbing into the confines of the temple, or church.” Sal’ still spoke as if it should have been as clear as day to me from the beginning. “It is said that other magic is prohibited by this magical energy as a means of protection from the gods offered to the devoted worshippers while they remain in the place of worship.”

  “That makes perfect sense.” I tried to put as much sarcasm into my voice as possible.

  “It really does,” Max agreed, not noticing my sarcasm as he stared at Sal’. “So the whole law against using magic in a place of godly worship—”

  “Was influenced by wizards hundreds of years ago to keep people from learning the limits of their power,” Sal’ finished matter-of-factly. “That’s why I told you, Korin, that it would be a safe haven for a dragon. The dragon would not only be drawn to the magic, but also, magic can’t be used against it while it is within the temple walls. It would take a small army to kill a dragon with conventional weapons, but it could take as little as one skilled wizard.” I bit back a sarcastic, and quite mean, response.

  “Facinating. Korin, can we keep her?” I scowled at the incorrigible furball while Sal’ smiled at him.

  I was getting quite irritated with the two wizards. They probably didn’t feel the time crunch like I did. Taking a calming breath, I moved the conversation forward. “Okay guys, so how do we get in then?”

  Sal’ looked back at me like I was an idiot yet again. “Through the entrance.” These wizards were way too full of themselves.

  “Alright. And that would be…” I prompted.

  “I don’t know,” Sal’ admitted while still giving me that Averinax-blooded look.

  “Max?” I looked down at the traitorous little furball. All these years together and I start losing him to a subpar wizard with some serious emotional issues.


  Max was silent for a moment, appearing circumspect. “Wait,” he exclaimed suddenly. “I have an idea. Salmaea, how are you at earth magic? Actually, don’t answer that. Salmaea, since you can detect magic and you can recognize the magic on the stone there, maybe you can feel the temple beneath the earth and trace out the path to the entrance. The way to the entrance should have a heavier amount of magic since it would have been regularly exposed to the worshippers going in and out. Well, in theory at least.”

  Sal’s face lit up in delight. “You’re absolutely right.” Without pause, she crouched down to the ground and placed one hand against it and the other into her case. Abruptly, the ground under our feet started shaking, knocking me from my feet yet again, causing Sal’ to fall over, and making Max go through the trouble of having to close his eyes in annoyance.

  “I’m guessing that wasn’t supposed to happen,” I ventured, pushing myself to my feet.

  “Salmaea, do not try so hard. Just let your magic flow out slowly, almost as if you were reaching your fingers into a washtub to test the heat,” Max elucidated a lot more patiently than he would have with me.

  Sal’ nodded as she brushed off the bottom of her robe and tried again. There was no ground shaking this time and her eyes sprung wide in surprise. “You were right. I can feel the tunnels. There are so many of them. But the entrance should be that way.” She pointed off to our right. “The main sanctuary seems to be directly below us and then branches off slightly less strongly in that direction. I don’t think it’s far. It’s like I could feel the magic coursing through the tunnels and it stopped pretty abruptly in that direction.” Max bowed his head in approval before suddenly whipping it back to gnaw at a rear haunch.

  I just let out an exasperated breath. “Let’s try and find this entrance before dark and then we can set up camp.”

  Max and Sal agreed and we set off down the mountain. Within a mile we came to a small drop-off that, as we walked around it, turned out to be a tall entryway carved into the side of the mountain with a rotted wooden door hanging off broken hinges. The rounded entryway was carved from a single, light-gray weather-worn stone that circled around the rotted door. Carvings of cows, pigs, and sheep were carved into the stone on either side of the doorframe with Nansunic’s sigil—a shepherds crook—above it.