by Mike Shelton
I need to study this more, Bakari thought to himself.
“There, now you have air to breathe,” the High Wizard said. “It’s most likely more than you deserve for trying to capture a Cremelino and a wizard.”
With the men whimpering inside the newly created building, Danijela now turned her attention to Bakari.
“Please, free the Cremelino first,” Bakari begged.
Danijela smiled. “I’m glad to hear you say that.” She turned to Flash and, with a flick of her hands, removed the chains from his feet and the rope from his neck. “Not many people would put their animals before themselves.”
“Flash is more than just an animal,” Bakari said. “The Cremelinos and the dragons have the power to bind, the power of the spirit. We will need them to help us destroy the evil that is consuming our kingdoms.”
Danijela untied Bakari from the tree. Then she frowned. “I’m sorry, I do not have the ability to remove those manacles, Dragon King.”
Bakari grunted. “Seems like one roadblock after another. Either way, I know where my dragon is now.”
Danijela smiled and clapped her hands. “Well then, let’s ride. Flash won’t let you fall.”
It was a little tricky, mounting the Cremelino with his hands tied together. But the two of them were able to get his hands from behind his back to the front, and, with a boost from Danijela, Bakari balanced atop of Flash.
Danijela motioned her hand forward and said, “Lead the way.”
Bakari took off back toward the road. They would head south for a bit more, before heading up into the mountains. Nightfall was coming soon, and, hopefully, they would find his dragon by the next morning.
As they rode with the speed of the Cremelinos, Bakari turned to Danijela and asked, “How did you learn to do what you did back there?”
“Oh, that?” A sparkle came to Danijela’s bright blue eyes. “That was nothing. I’ve been doing that since I was fifteen.”
Bakari shook his head and mumbled, “I’m glad you’re on our side.”
“And, is Roland Tyre on your side also?” she asked with a frown.
“Yes,” Bakari said hesitantly. “Why? What did he do this time?”
Danijela laughed. “Well, it’s good to know that you are not surprised that I would call his actions irresponsible and reckless.”
Bakari shook his head. What had his friend done now?
“Roland is trying to pull all wizard power to himself.”
“What?” Bakari asked. Doing that was crazy. But he remembered the conversation he had overheard at the inn in Tean. The wizards there were talking about their powers weakening.
“What do you think he is up to?” Danijela’s blue eyes squinted as she thought. “Does he have a plan?”
Bakari smiled in exasperation. “Probably not. But I’m sure he means well.” He paused as Danijela gave him a questioning look, and then he added, “He is a good man.”
“Good man or not, that boy is going to burn himself out!” Danijela sped up. “Let’s find that dragon of yours and then find out what’s going on.”
Bakari agreed, and the two sped even faster down the road. The trees raced by them in a blur, the forest growing darker and darker as night descended.
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
Eventually, they’d had to stop for a few hours of sleep. Then Bakari continued to lead Danijela west, into the Superstition Mountains. The traveling became more difficult, now that they were off the main roads. But the Cremelinos were hardier than he had anticipated, and they still made decent time.
The manacles were rubbing Bakari’s wrists raw, but a growing sense of urgency filled his mind and heart. Trying to keep his mind focused on Abylar was difficult, with the distractions of the terrain. But, trail by trail and crevice by crevice, they were getting closer.
Darn dragons! Why do they feel the need to be up so high? Bakari thought, not intending his thought to go any farther than his own mind.
We rule the ground, and the dragons rule the skies. That’s the way it has always been, Flash said to Bakari’s mind.
“Dragon King,” Danijela said with a smile, “what are your plans once we find the dragon?”
“Why do you always call me Dragon King?” Bakari asked. “Bakari is fine.”
A small laugh escaped from Danijela. “Because, if I call you that enough, you might finally begin to believe it!”
Bakari grunted. “I am the Dragon King. I do accept that—at least, in name. I just don’t have a dragon right now, and I don’t know what I am king of.”
“Fair point,” Danijela conceded.
Bakari slowed a bit, riding on a wider trail next to Danijela.
“How long have you been a wizard?” he asked her.
Danijela raised her light brown brows. “About fifteen years—officially, that’s when my mentor, High Wizard Sallir, took me under his tutelage—though, I had been doing magic in secret quite a few years before that.”
“I’ve been a full wizard for only two years and a dragon rider for less than six months.”
“And, your point?” Danijela said seriously. But before Bakari could answer, she put her hand up and said, “That was rhetorical. I know your point. Did you know that, at fifteen, I knew and did things that wizards dozens of years my senior didn’t know how to do?”
“Sounds like Roland or Alli but not me,” Bakari said. “I am just a simple scholar wizard.”
“A scholar wizard who rides on and talks to and pulls power from dragons, Bakari.” Danijela shook her finger at him. “The king of the Realm and I were the most powerful wizards on the Western Continent—at least, until the barrier around Alaris came down and revealed some powerful teenagers there.”
Danijela smiled and then continued, “Between the two of us, we can move earth, control the weather, heal horrendous injuries, tell what people are thinking or if they are lying, destroy entire armies, and ride like the wind on our bonded Cremelinos. But, you know what? Neither I, the High Wizard of Arc; Darius DarSan Williams, the king of the Realm; Mezar Alrishitar, the emperor of Gildan; Tobias Bruel, commander of the Sanctuary; the kings of the elves—past or present—nor Roland Tyre, the High Wizard of the Citadel in Alaris, ever bonded with a dragon, pulled from their magnificent powers, or flew on one over the Western Continent. None of us have, Dragon King.”
Bakari bowed his head, feeling the censure.
“I don’t say this to make you feel bad, Bakari.” She smiled at the use of his name. “But to build you up and to tell you that you are one of the greatest wizards to live, in centuries. You are here for a purpose, right now, at this time. Your age or experience means nothing in your powers as a wizard. But your heart does. You have a generous heart—or you wouldn’t be traveling thousands of miles from home. You are destined to bring peace to a fractious land and to destroy the evil that is growing there. You and the dragons will do this! You are the Dragon King.”
Bakari smiled at her lecture. But she was right. He had moped around long enough. It was time to find his dragon and set things straight.
* * *
An hour later, they reached a plateau, high above the ground. Bakari could see for hundreds of miles in each direction. Climbing off his horse with difficulty, Bakari walked a few steps into a grouping of thin pine trees and then yelled to Danijela.
“A cave,” he said as he ran back out toward the high wizard. “There’s a cave here. And Abylar is inside.”
They left their Cremelinos outside and made their way into the cave. Danijela lit a mage light in front of them as they moved deeper into the huge cavern. It was large enough for Abylar to walk into it, and Bakari wondered what it was originally used for.
“This is a place of power,” Danijela said. “By the size of it, I would say that it was an original roosting spot for dragons.”
Long side trails crisscrossed the main cavern, but the two wizards continued forward, moving deeper into the cavern. The mage light lit the way in front of them, but the
height of the ceiling was lost in the darkness.
Then Danijela stopped and put out her arm in front of Bakari. The High Wizard stood about nine inches shorter than Bakari, so her arm hit him in the gut. He turned to look at her.
“There is evil here, Dragon King,” she said. “Can you feel it?”
Bakari tried to reach out his senses. “A little. Maybe the manacles are blocking it.”
“That might be a good thing.” Danijela moved forward with more caution.
Soon they heard the lapping sounds of water in front of them, and Bakari remembered the vision he’d had of Abylar, right before the bond had been lost. Bakari remembered feeling the dragon’s eyes closing as he had shouted one last time for Abylar, and then, just before the dragon’s eyelids closed, Bakari had seen a light that flared within the water.
They moved more slowly and glanced around with careful motions. The cavern had narrowed before, but now it opened up again, into a vast underground hall. Danijela brightened her mage light, but they still couldn’t see the other end of the room. A lake of black water lapped against the stones near their feet, and out in the middle of the water, almost lost in the darkness, sat a large rock.
Danijela turned to Bakari. “Well, where is he?”
Bakari focused inward and searched for his dragon. He closed his eyes to help himself concentrate and felt himself merge easily with the stream of magic this time.
A hoarse laughter sounded off in the distance across the water. “Welcome wizards,” a voice said.
Bakari felt a jolt of magic with the voice, but he kept his concentration firm and dove deeper into the magic stream.
“This could be dangerous, Dragon King,” Danijela said as she joined him in the stream of magic.
“If I cannot find and free my dragon, I am not worthy of being the Dragon King,” Bakari said in a tone of soft determination.
Bakari felt the presence of two great magics in the stream: one good and one evil. He ignored them both for a moment and tried to reach out to his dragon.
Abylar! he called, projecting his thoughts outward.
Master? came a low reply. You came for me.
Of course I came for you, Abylar—I am your rider and your friend. Where are you?
He tricked me, Abylar said. The evil king tricked me, and I can’t escape.
Bakari felt Abylar now more than before. With Bakari closer to Abylar, physically and magically, their bond was beginning to heal. In the cave, Bakari felt the churning of the black water. He opened his eyes but kept his contact with the magical stream at the same time. In front of Bakari, the rock in the middle of the water began to move and lift up, taller and taller.
“Abylar!” Bakari yelled out loud.
Dark water fell, dripping off of Abylar’s beautiful and sleek blue dragon scales. Bakari was so excited that he almost lost contact again. Something was still impeding the full revival of the bond.
“Dragon King,” said a voice of pure hatred. Its words echoed in both the cavern and the stream of magic. “You have come to take my dominion from me once again?”
“You have no place here,” warned Danijela with a push of power out from her side. “Leave this place now!”
The ground shook, and Danijela and Bakari were pulled into the magic stream once again—this time with the evil presence from the cave—the sounds and sights of the cave fading around them.
In front of Bakari stood an apparition of a heavy, well-built man. His dark hair cascaded down to his shoulders. He was wearing the robes of a wizard and had a crown on his head, but the man wasn’t quite solid, and Bakari could see through his body.
“My rule was cut short by those who were unfaithful to me,” the man said. “So I am coming to take it back again.”
“Rodric Ekhart?” Bakari asked.
The man smiled. “I see you know your history, Scholar Wizard.”
“I know that you were deposed for a reason,” Bakari said. “You were trying to take over other kingdoms.” Bakari looked down at his own hands and noticed that, in the magic stream, he didn’t have the manacles on.
“And now I will, and no one will stand in my way!” Rodric said.
“Why do rulers always get hungry for more power?” Danijela asked. “A wizard should know better than that. We are here to protect and help others.”
“We are here to rule!” Rodric screamed out in the magic stream, echoes of his words filling the never-ending darkness.
“Not if I can help it!” a voice called out, from behind Bakari and Danijela.
Bakari turned around and smiled. It was Roland, striding toward them. Light gathered around Roland so brightly that it was hard to look his way without squinting.
The old king took a few steps back and shielded his eyes. “No, you young whelp,” Rodric said, his voice filling the area around them. “You will not stop me now. My three sons have been gathering power and preparing the way for me. Your wizard schools are in disarray, and I’ve felt the wizards’ powers weakening.”
Bakari looked toward Danijela, and she, in turn, looked at Roland with a glare that said she knew that he was the guilty one who had been taking power from the other wizards.
“What?” Roland said to Danijela, with his hands out to either side.
“You are taking too much, Roland,” Danijela said sternly. “You will burn yourself out. You do have limits.”
“I don’t,” Roland said, his eyes smoldering. “Why is everyone trying to stop me from using my powers?”
“Good, good,” Rodric said and then laughed. “Now you know how I feel, Roland Tyre. Everyone tried to limit me too. They said I should be happy with ruling just Alaris. But my power was so much more. I needed to rule all the lands. And I would have. I would have been a good king.”
Roland glared at the old king, but Bakari saw a bit of empathy in Roland’s eyes for the man.
“No, Roland.” Bakari pulled his friend’s attention back to him. “Don’t listen to him.”
Bakari, Abylar said in the back of Bakari’s mind, I need your power to release me fully.
Bakari was starting to have a hard time splitting his attention between Abylar and Rodric and Roland. He needed to figure out what to do to end this evil.
He was about to turn more of his attention and power back to Abylar, when three more apparitions joined them in the magic stream.
The three beings stood next to Rodric, their bodies barely visible in the magic stream. But black tendrils of power outlined their persons, so Bakari could see who they each were. And bright yellow eyes flashed from each one.
“My sons, you have done well in sowing confusion and distrust on the Western Continent.”
All three men bowed to their father, their eyes full of adoration.
Then Rodric spread his hands out to his sides and said, “It is time now for me to reenter the world of the living.”
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
Bakari and Danijela found themselves standing alone in the empty darkness of the magic stream. Rodric and his sons had vanished, and all had been quiet for several minutes. “We need reinforcements,” Danijela whispered to Bakari.
In a matter of moments, two men popped into the stream of magic and stood by Danijela’s sides. She turned to Bakari and introduced them. “Dragon King, meet Darius DarSan Williams, king of the Realm and wizard of the heart, and Mezar Alrishitar, emperor of Gildan and wizard of the mind. They are two of the mightiest wizards in the land.”
Bakari nodded his head at the two newcomers. The emperor had slanted eyes, light brown skin, and black hair, which he wore down his back, pulled together with a golden band. The king looked like an older version of Liam: medium brown hair to his neck, gray eyes, and broad shoulders.
“I have met your son, sir.”
Darius nodded. “My daughter sent me word. Where is Liam now?”
Before Bakari could answer, a rush of dark power plowed into him from behind. He fell down and then turned to look back up.
&nb
sp; The Chameleon’s yellow eyes were gleaming brightly. “I should have taken care of you earlier, Dragon Rider. Your kind has caused me nothing but trouble.” Then Rodric and his other two sons appeared again.
Roland stepped forward and unleashed a wave of bright, flashing light at Rodric and his three sons. The hit should have taken them by surprise, but the power just wrapped itself around them and did them no harm.
In retaliation, the brothers threw out tendrils of black power toward Bakari and the wizards with him. Off to the side, Bakari saw Danijela, Darius, and Mezar holding their hands high in the sky, their magic forming together—becoming a brilliant glow of multiple hues.
“Just like old times.” Danijela smiled at the two.
Bakari didn’t understand her reference, but he could tell that the three of them had a longer history together than he knew about. He stepped back, allowing their combined powers to grow. Then Roland stepped forward and joined them. Adding his power almost brought Darius and Mezar to their knees.
“It’s too much, Roland,” Danijela screamed. “We won’t be able to control it.”
Roland pulled back some of his power, and Danijela, Mezar, and Darius threw a powerful bolt at the four evil apparitions. A boom sounded in the air, and the colors flashed across the magic stream.
But no harm came to the four men.
“What kind of magic is this?” Darius yelled.
“Evil magic,” Bakari whispered. “Pure evil.”
Bakari watched Roland gather power again. His spirit glowed brighter, almost pure white.
“Stop!” yelled Rodric.
Before they tried to attack, everyone turned to look at Rodric. The old wizard king waved his arms in a circular motion, and all of them were moved rapidly through the magic stream. Then dots of light appeared around them, and, in the blink of an eye, Rodric had grabbed one.
“I think you recognize this one, Roland Tyre—don’t you?”
