Dragon Valley Trilogy
Page 48
‘Get out of my way,’ Lark shouted as he tried to push Toby aside.
Toby found strength he never knew he had as he stood his ground and barred his father’s way. Kaylene and Riko were keeping an eye on Blaise to make sure he didn’t cause trouble when he came around.
Toby began to push his father back away from the gateway. The shorter man was so surprised that Toby was standing up to him that for a few paces he allowed himself to be pushed back out of the lake. They were only a few steps away from the large, old oak tree that shaded most of the lake in the summer. Oska was running around them in circles, yapping loudly and snapping at both their heels. He clearly didn’t like them fighting.
‘This is your last chance, son,’ Lark said with a warning tone. ‘Join me and help destroy those who banished you.’
‘No,’ Toby replied, quickly and firmly.
Lark shrugged and began to speak rapidly; he looked at Toby with a blank, totally unemotional expression. Toby realised his father was casting the spell to bind him to the stone pendant he was holding.
He felt his heart start to beat faster in panic as he pushed at his father once more, sending the short man stumbling back into a tree root and falling with his back against the tree trunk of the great old oak tree. The breath was knocked out of him, and he paused for a second — looking surprised that his own son had pushed him.
Toby began a spell of his own. The same spell. Lark looked amused at first, but, as Toby continued, word perfect, he began to look worried. As he finally caught his breath, he opened his mouth to continue his own spell. He spoke only one word before he found his mouth was stuck open. His arms seemed glued to the tree and his head would not move.
As the last words of the spell fell from Toby’s lips, he wondered if he had done the right thing. As he said topaz, his father began to slowly merge into the old gnarled trunk of the oak tree right before his eyes. Where his arms had been were now just twisted knots of trunk. His body seemed to sink into the trunk, and his face was the last part to merge with the bark. Soon only the slight impression of a nose and an open mouth showed where he had been. Oska stopped barking and just stared at the tree. He walked up to it and then all the way around it before sitting down next to it and staring at the tree’s bark as if waiting for his master to come back.
‘Toby! The Valley!’ Kaylene’s shout drew his attention away from the dog and the tree.
Toby waded back into the lake where Kaylene and Riko were staring into the valley. Lightning was forking across the sky and the rumbles of the ground were disturbing the lake on this side of the gateway.
‘I don’t think it will last much longer,’ Riko said quietly.
Toby could just make out Klel lying in the snow beyond the gateway; the pale yellow colour of the dragon’s skin showed Toby that his friend was not going to survive much longer. Sanelle was next to him in the snow, passing what little magic she had left to the dragon.
‘What happened?’ Blaise was waking up and he sat up in the cold lake water and stared at the three children by the gateway. His voice was slightly slurred, but he struggled to his feet. ‘I must overthrow the dragons.’
Toby could see that the prince was no threat for now. It would take him a few minutes to shake off the effects of the bang on his head.
‘If my magic is so strong…’ Toby said thoughtfully as he turned his attention back to the gateway, ‘…strong enough to destroy a magical place just by being near it… then maybe it is strong enough to fix it as well.’
‘What do you mean?’ Kaylene asked, but Toby didn’t answer. Instead he walked right up to the gateway, stopping just short of going through.
He could see across the valley from there, and the blue dragons were still fighting to get through. It would not be long before they broke through the weakened gates, and goodness knows what evil they would wreck on the valley.
Toby began to speak the spell he had heard the dragons say a short time ago. He remembered it easily, as with any spell he had ever heard, and the odd dragon language fell from his tongue with more ease each time he tried.
As the last word fell from his lips, he felt a wind against his back. It was a warm, gentle breeze that seemed to be flowing right at the gateway. He looked out across the valley and saw that the other gateways were still visible. Had his spell failed?
‘There’s something happening by the gate to Shaldoh,’ Riko cried out excitedly.
Toby looked over and saw a blue haze flowing from the gateway. Had the dragons broken through? He watched for a few more seconds before he realised that it wasn’t the dragons — it was the magic of Dragon Valley being pulled back in through the gateways. He felt the wind at his back grow stronger and he had to step slightly to the side so that it didn’t blow him through the gateway.
‘I think it’s healing the valley,’ Kaylene said with a delighted grin.
Sure enough, the clouds were vanishing and a deep blue flooded across the sky. Dragons began to fly out of the cone. Golden dragons. So bright that they sparkled in the sunlight that lit the valley. Toby quickly looked to where his friend, Klel, had been lying in the snow. Klel had been restored to a deep golden glow that made Toby smile. Klel and Tryx, with Sanelle on her back, flew the short distance to the gateway but did not pass through.
‘Thanks, Toby,’ Sanelle said, a tear rolling down her cheek.
Toby fix valley, Tryx said. The sparkle of mischief was back in the young dragon’s eyes. Warm winds good for diving.
Klel stepped even closer. His nose was almost touching the gateway as he stared at Toby with a mixture of sorrow and gratitude in his eyes.
Thank you, Toby. Thank you, apprentice, Klel said.
Toby did not have time to reply. The vision through the gateway faded away before his eyes, and a second later the three children were standing in a cold lake, staring at a trickling waterfall that ran over a rough rock wall.
It took a few seconds for Toby to realise that the water seemed colder than before. The warm wind of magic flowing into the valley was now freezing cold. It swirled around the rock face and bit painfully at his cheeks and ears.
‘Look at Arandyl,’ Riko said as he turned Toby away from the rock face to look at the landscape laid out below them. Gone was the brilliant summer sky, gone were the warm spring breezes; winter had come back with a vengeance. Angry grey clouds were racing across the sky, and already snow was falling on the land below.
‘I guess that means all the magic is back in the valley now,’ Kaylene said with a sigh of relief. ‘The dragons will be okay now.’
‘What have you done!’ Blaise demanded, seeming to have regained his balance and speech. ‘Open that gate!’
‘I can’t,’ Toby replied, without any hint of the sadness he was feeling. He would never see Klel, Tryx, Sanelle or Merryn again.
‘Yes, you can,’ Blaise insisted, going red with impatience.
‘There is no gate to open,’ Kaylene told the prince. ‘They have all been sealed forever.’
‘And what magic would I use if there was one?’ Toby asked. ‘Look at my eyes. And yours, too. There is no magic left in Arandyl.’
Blaise stared at him with muddy brown eyes for a few seconds, and then bent to look in the freezing waters of the lake. Toby did not need to look to know that his own eyes were no longer purple. The magic had all returned to Dragon Valley. There would never be another sorcerer in Arandyl again.
Blaise seemed confused for a moment, then his face reddened with anger. He turned his back on them all and strode off towards his horse, muttering to himself. The sound of a carriage coming up the steep track caught all their attention as the children dragged themselves from the freezing waters. Blaise mounted his horse and rode straight past the carriage without stopping.
‘It’s your mother. And Sanelle’s mother, too,’ Riko told Toby.
‘And my father,’ Kaylene added.
Toby didn’t speak as Aggie climbed out of the carriage and rushed up the hill.
‘Kaylene!’ King Rhobet bellowed as he stormed ahead of the two women. ‘You have disobeyed me again. You will never rule my kingdom.’
Kaylene did not get upset, nor did she argue. She stood and looked at her father with a tear in her eye. ‘Saving the valley was worth it.’
King Rhobet looked confused, and then suddenly he noticed the snow falling on them all. ‘What happened to the good weather?’
‘The valley of the dragons is safe now, Your Majesty’ Riko told the king. ‘Kaylene helped to save the dragons.’
‘She did?’ the king frowned, and then looked embarrassed. ‘Kaylene, you have shown the sacrifice needed in a ruler. You were willing to give up the throne to help others. I will let you rule.’
Kaylene smiled, but clearly it was not as important to her as it once had been. ‘Thank you, Father,’ she said simply.
Father! Toby turned to look at the silhouette of the oak tree and saw the distinct outline of Lark’s face. There was nobody to get him out of there now. He was stuck in the tree forever. His father’s little dog was still sitting by the tree, staring at it with its head cocked to one side. It barked and scratched at the tree, then sat down again, but did not move away.
‘Come here, Oska!’ Toby called. The little dog, hearing his name, turned away from the tree. He saw Toby and came bounding over to him, then leapt up to be patted. ‘It’s okay, Oska. You can stay with me.’
‘Where is Sanelle?’ Morgain asked nobody in particular. She was staring directly at the closed gateway, and her expression said she knew exactly where her daughter was.
Toby took a deep breath as Aggie arrived. No doubt he was in trouble — again. But this time he didn’t care. Dragon Valley would live on. All he needed now… was a trade!
Circle of Dreams
Book 1: Runeweaver
All Zaine had to do was reach out a hand and he could take it. Sweat broke out on his forehead as he battled the desire to take the book. If he took it, his fate would be sealed.
He didn’t want to be a runeweaver – but he did want to touch the book. He wanted it so badly that he found his hand stretching out to it even as his mind screamed not to…
The search is on for a new king or queen. The search is also on for runeweavers who can help contenders penetrate the Circle of Dreams and win the throne.
Zaine couldn’t have chosen a more perilous time to discover his fate. For runeweavers must take centre stage in the battle for the new monarch.
He is destined to play a unique and dangerous role – to fulfil a prophecy that could spell great danger, and even death, for young Zaine.
Let the Contest begin!
www.mcnabbnz.com
Dragon Charmers
Book 1: Mountains of Fire
In a world where they can be sung into submission by dragon charmers – people have forgotten the true power of dragons…
Logan lives with Zared, an elderly and absent-minded wizard, in Shanoria - the Kingdom of the Dragons. His closest friend is Alyxa, a dragon charmer with the rare gift of soothing and commanding dragons.
But not all dragons are tame, and when feral Reds kidnap the crown prince, Logan and Alyxa are thrust into a fast-paced adventure and go in search of the heart of a dragon.
www.mcnabbnz.com
Also by Linda McNabb
The Dragon’s Apprentice
Shadow Hunters
Dragons’ Bane
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Circle of Dreams: Runeweaver
Circle of Dreams: Timeweaver
Circle of Dreams: Starweaver
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Dragon Charmers: Mountains of Fire
Dragon Charmers: Valley of Silver
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Seventh Son
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Stonekeeper’s Daughter
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Puppet Master
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Crystal Runners
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Last Star
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Maze Keepers