by Booth, John
I knew, intellectually, that no dragon flew using their wings; they were far too heavy for that to be possible. Their wings helped with the steering, but little else. However, to see them hanging in the air forming a leathery hemisphere was unnerving. The only parts of their bodies moving were their heads and they were all turning to face me. None of them looked the least bit friendly.
“What is his crime?” Esmeralda asked in what could only be described as icy Imperial tones. I don’t know about the Dragons, but she often scares me.
[HE KNOWS WHAT HE HAS DONE.]
Well actually, I didn’t. What was wrong with attending some silly conference anyway? I cast my mind back to the night in question.
The three Valhallan wizards had taken me to their room on the night before my wedding. I was exhausted, out of magical power and feeling pretty hopeless.
Card Brindel gave me a long and piercing look. “In return for a favor we offer you the magic reserves of two of us, if you can take that much. That should allow you to defeat the small girl wizard.”
I was pretty sure what the favor was they wanted and I hadn’t fought this hard for Salice to hand it over to them on a plate.
“Giving you Salice would not be a small favor.”
Brindel laughed disdainfully. “We don’t want this insignificant blot of land. We own thousands of worlds bigger and better than this one. Talder thought small and he couldn’t even take this petty kingdom from an uneducated field wizard.”
Okay, they didn’t want Salice, but they still wanted my help.
“And yet you want a favor from one.”
Meldar Lind smiled, and the sight of that evil witch smiling made me want to check that my balls were still attached. I knew she wanted me dead for killing her nephew, the aforementioned Talder Plath. “You have a certain purity that will make it easy to get you accepted as our representative.”
Purity? They had to be joking.
“Representative for what?”
Delft Lagan joined the conversation. He was the most personable of the three: young, blond, blue-eyed and as dangerous as a cornered rattlesnake. “There is a conference coming up between the intelligent species of the universe. We would like you to represent us.”
I knew it was too good to be true, but I needed their power to have any chance of stopping Bronwyn. She was far more powerful than these three believed.
“I want all of your power. I’ll leave you enough to hop back to Valhalla, but I want the rest.”
Brindel shook his head. “You cannot have the capacity to absorb that much.”
“Then you have nothing to fear, do you? If I can’t take it, you won’t lose it.”
Brindel looked to the others for approval and they nodded reluctantly. A wizard drained was a vulnerable wizard and they must hate the thought of that. I knew that feeling all too well.
“Before you can sign the agreement, we are required by the conference rules to give you the details of the arrangement. This will take quite a long time,” Brindel said.
I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. It had been a long day and I never bothered to read the small print on things anyway, despite what Dad always told me.
“I’ll take your word for it.”
I should have twigged that they were up to something because Lind smiled, but I was far too tired to care. Brindel rolled out a long parchment on his desk and offered me a sharp knife and a quill. I should have known I would have to sign in blood.
I was brought back to the present by Esmeralda’s contemptuous laugh.
“He would never have agreed to that.”
I leaned over and whispered in Jenny’s ear. “Agreed to what? I was miles away.”
Jenny gave me a look that could have curdled milk and hissed at me. “Because you are a delegate of the Valhallans, they get given the locations of all the hidden worlds, the dragon worlds and all the human worlds the other delegates represent. How could you agree to it?”
It seemed the dragons had no trouble hearing our whispers. They were probably reading our minds.
[AND THE EARTH. THEY WILL KNOW WHERE YOUR HOME WORLD IS.]
I looked up at the ancient dragon in disbelief. “Well then, I won’t go.”
[IT IS NO LONGER YOUR CHOICE. YOU HAVE SIGNED THE CONTRACT AND WILL BE FORCED TO ATTEND. YOUR IMAGE AND SIGNATURE HAS BEEN POSTED ACROSS THE WORLDS. IT IS KNOWN YOU WILL PASS THE TEST AND THE INFORMATION WILL BE DISCLOSED. THIS WILL BE THE FIRST TIME A REPRESENTATIVE OF VALHALLA HAS EVER BEEN ACCEPTED. THE FIRST TIME A WIZARD OF PURITY HAS READ THE TERMS AND STILL SIGNED THE CONTRACT.]
“I waived reading the terms,” I said. Jenny and Esmeralda gave me looks of sheer incredulity. “I was trying to stop you two getting killed.”
[YOU ARE AN INCREDIBLY STUPID WIZARD, JAKE MORRISSEY.]
He had me there. And maybe Fluffy hadn’t betrayed me after all. Not if my face and signature were up on some multiverse notice board.
“There must be some way out of this?”
The dragon nodded. [THERE IS ONE. IF YOU DIE BEFORE THE CONFERENCE STARTS.]
The reason for their presence here became strikingly obvious. They hadn’t come to remonstrate with me. They’d come to kill me before my stupidity got them killed. There was no doubt what the Valhallans would do with the knowledge they’d obtain. Human worlds would fall to them and there were many uses for captured dragons. Even the elves, or whatever they were, could be blackmailed.
Esmeralda waved her jar at them. “This is Dragonsbane. Go now, before I open it and doom you all.”
She’s a tigress, my Esmeralda. The dragons seemed less impressed.
[OPEN IT IF YOU MUST.]
She hadn’t been expecting that response, but never let it be said that Esmeralda would back down from a challenge. She unscrewed the top and shook the jar’s contents at them.
I could feel the dragons shudder. Whatever Dragonsbane was, they didn’t like it at all. Fifty spurts of dragonfire shot at the jar and my valiant lady dived out of the way, sensibly letting go of the bottle first. I put a protective shield around us as the bottle and its contents were vaporized. My reserves of power were vanishing fast and I wondered if I could protect us from the next onslaught. Reaching out my hands to touch my women I tried to hop us to Earth. Nothing happened.
[YOU CANNOT PASS THROUGH DRAGON FLESH IF WE CHOOSE TO STOP YOU, WIZARD, AND WE FORM A SPHERE WITH HALF OF US IN GLIM.]
I uttered a very coarse four letter word. I had hopped into a trap and there was no way out. ‘Time to act like a man’, I told myself.
“Go back into the Palace, you two. There’s no point in us all getting killed.” I let my ladies go and stepped away from them. Noble me, I could feel my arms and legs shaking. I didn’t want to die.
Jenny and Esmeralda looked at each other and I saw what might have been a nod pass between them. Jenny offered a hand to Esmeralda and helped her to her feet. Good, they were going to go. So why did I feel so betrayed?
They stepped towards me and each took one of my arms.
“If we’re going to go, let’s go together,” Jenny said in an unexpectedly cheerful voice. Esmeralda clung so hard to my arm it hurt.
[AS YOU WISH.]
The leader of the dragons sounded almost regretful. I heard the creatures above me take in a deep breath as one. I strengthened the shield as much as I could. But it was clear it was not going to be enough.
3. Salvation of Sorts
[Stop!]
I opened my eyes and peered upwards. Fluffy had glimmed in and was protecting us with his great bat-like wings. While grateful for a few seconds more among the living, it was a foolish move. There was no reason for all of us to get killed.
The leader of the Dragon smiled indulgently at Fluffy. I’m one of the few humans who would recognize that expression on a dragon, but then I’m one of the few humans to have grown up with a dragon.
[A NOBLE GESTURE, RETNOR, BUT YOU MUST KNOW HOW FUTILE IT IS. STEP ASIDE AND LET US COMPLETE THIS DISTASTEFU
L TASK.]
[And what of the prophecy?]
That question gave the dragons pause. Their heads turned to look at each other and I could almost hear the rapid telepathic conversation that took place between them. Their leader turned his head back to Fluffy.
[HE CANNOT BE THE ONE. THERE MUST BE ANOTHER.]
Fluffy lifted his head and laughed the way only a dragon can laugh. Flames spurted everywhere and I raised my shield again to protect my girls from the spillage.
[Have you truly read the prophesy? Have any of you?]
The derision running through Fluffy’s telepathic words caused some of the dragons to flex their wings and beams of sunlight appeared in the sphere before being quickly extinguished. I missed my chance to escape, but if they did that again I was getting us out of here.
[The Wizard of the prophecy has immense power. But have you not considered the foolishness of his actions? How likely is it that the multiverse could ever breed two like Jake Morrissey?] my dragon asked the assemblage.
“Don’t be nasty, Retnor,” Jenny said primly. “Jake isn’t that bad, usually.”
[THE RIDER DEFENDS HER MATE,] the leader said and puffs of laughter-induced flames shot across the inside of the sphere. Parts of the Palace roof ran with fire and moss on the tiles lit and glowed red. I hoped the roof was flame proof, though its designers could never have anticipated this.
[Do you accept my logic?] Fluffy asked. His real name is Retnor by the way but neither of us discovered that until a year or so ago and he has been Fluffy to me since he hatched.
[IT IS IMPECCABLE AND YOU WILL BE A GREAT DRAGON IF YOU LIVE TO ADULTHOOD. WE CHARGE YOU WITH FINDING A WAY OUT OF THE MESS WIZARD MORRISSEY HAS CREATED. OUR EXISTENCE DEPENDS ON IT.]
The dragons vanished and I shielded my eyes from the bright sunlight. Esmeralda and Jenny, acting disconcertingly as one, pulled their arms from mine and stood side by side to face me.
My wives are a little over 6 months pregnant. I’m not going to go into how that happened, beyond saying that my subconscious wanted children and I’m a wizard. If I could figure out a way to have a subconscious-ectomy, I would have got rid of the thing by now.
Fluffy moved into view behind my wives. He looked as disappointed in me as they did.
“How did you know we were in trouble?” I asked. Jenny and Esmeralda gave me despairing looks.
[I am connected to Jenny, remember? I waited in glim for hours before you finally showed up.]
“Then why did you wait till the last second to appear?”
Fluffy preened a wing. [For dramatic effect. I wanted to make an entrance.]
That rocked me back. He risked our lives for that? “What if they’d blasted us before you managed to appear?”
[I would have cried at your funeral. But you were not destined to die today. At least, I hoped not. And we were making history, Jake. Dragons never forget.]
I should never have made him best man at my wedding. He enjoys being the center of attention far too much and now he’s got a taste for it.
A number of shouts caught my attention. One of the roofs was blazing merrily and men were clustered around the outside of the Palace watching it. My reserve of magic was down to almost nothing, but what-the-hey. I concentrated and water from the river crashed down on the flaming roof along with a few fish. That would have to be good enough. I was completely out of juice.
Esmeralda had put her hands on her hips. Never a good sign.
“We need to talk on this matter, husband. We have put it off long enough.”
“I’ll never forgive you if the Valhallans attack Wales. We have enough problems with the English as it is,” Jenny put in. She had her hands pressed into the base of her spine and was leaning back. Carrying a baby to term comes with its own problems and I didn’t have enough magic left to ease her pain.
[And I have to find a way to stop the Valhallans before the conference is convened. I could always roast you if the worst comes to the worst.]
Fantastic, the enemy count was going up rather than down.
“Let’s discuss it in the ballroom. I expect the King and Queen will want to know what’s been going on.”
“Can you hop us there?” Jenny asked hopefully.
“Not enough left in me to light a candle.” I smiled thinly at her.
“Walking is good for us,” Esmeralda said, but I couldn’t help noticing her wince as she strode off towards the ballroom.
[I will meet you there.] Fluffy vanished into glim. He was a little too large to walk the corridors anyway.
The whole court was waiting when we got there. Perhaps fifty lords and their ladies with four times as many servants in attendance. I didn’t care for all the deference the servants showed, but on the other hand I’d never seen an unemployed person in Salice.
Looking for an excuse to avoid meeting anybody’s eye, I gaze up at the magnificent domed ceiling above us. The upper walls and ceiling were decorated with impressive murals painted on plaster. Gold leaf covered the ornate pillars between the paintings with embossed royal purple wallpaper surrounding them. I was struck by the subtle distinction that separates pornography from art. If you tried to film the scenes I was looking at in Wales you’d certainly get arrested, but here, Lords and Ladies looked at them and didn’t even blush. Or notice half the time for that matter.
“My Lord Wizard, next time you invite such illustrious guests to visit us, perhaps you could provide us with a little warning?”
That was the King. The hubbub in the room ended on his first word. I reluctantly lowered my gaze to him. At least he didn’t look angry with me. Queen Janti gave me an encouraging smile. I smiled back.
“They didn’t tell me they were coming, your Majesty, or I certainly would have.”
The King laughed. “Well, no damage done, except to your apartments. They now smell of roasted fish, I’m informed. And it will be something to tell our grandchildren; that many dragons visiting us is a rare event.”
[They were all the dragons, your Majesty. All that remain in the multiverse. Though many of them were invisible in glim.]
Everybody stared at Fluffy who had materialized above us, hanging in midair. People moved out of the way so he had somewhere to land. Jenny stepped up to him as his feet dropped to the floor and put her arm on his neck.
The King looked taken aback by Fluffy’s comment. You tended to think of dragons as lords of the multiverse, not as an endangered species.
“And why did your brethren choose to visit us in such a spectacular way?”
“Jake has made an idiot of himself once again.” No guesses as to who said that. The King looked at his daughter enquiringly and she continued.
“He made a deal with the Wizard of Valhalla to attend something called The Conference Between the Worlds in exchange for the power he used to defeat Bronwyn. When he attends the conference, the Valhallans will obtain the locations of all the worlds the delegates represent, the dragon worlds, the hidden worlds and Earth. He didn’t even think to ask them what being their representative meant.”
Boy, that girl can make a guy feel small.
The King frowned at his daughter. “My Lord Wizard Morrissey had the temerity to save Salice and all our lives, including those of many people from his home world by making a deal with the Valhallans?”
Esmeralda stamped her foot. “You cannot possibly approve.”
Queen Janti smiled at her daughter. “Well, I for one am glad to be alive and even happier that I might live to see my daughter give birth. Jake has a way of getting himself out of the mess he creates, and I will not condemn him for saving us.”
The assembled dignitaries burst into spontaneous applause and Esmeralda went red in the face.
Some time later, after the lords and ladies had gone, we circled the chairs on the stage leaving Fluffy a big space to sit.
“Valhalla has known where we are for millennia,” the King said quietly. “So we are not directly threatened by this Conference. In fact, if t
he Valhallans are busy elsewhere it might give us a breathing space. But this is very bad news for the Hidden Worlds.”
“What about Earth?” Jenny asked.
“You are too technologically advanced to make a good serf world,” Esmeralda told her. “The danger is to your family. They would make good levers against Jake.”
“Only if Jake becomes a threat,” the King pointed out. “I think they are probably safe enough until them.”
“Perhaps we should bring them here?” Queen Janti asked.
I shook my head. “This is my problem and I’ll fix it when it happens. You should leave it to me.”
[I cannot, Jake. I have been tasked with accompanying you.]
“Okay, then leave it to me and Fluffy to sort out. There’s a more immediate problem we have to deal with.”
Startled eyes turned to me.
“The fires Bronwyn started destroyed a lot of crops. People are going to starve unless we do something.”
The King shook his head. “There is nothing to be done. Poor harvests in Denton, Frode and Alegon mean they will not sell us the food we need. Chancellor Hart and Bishop Danedi are calling on the nobility to provide whatever spare grain they have in storage. It will be distributed to those in most need. Despite that, it is certain that many will starve and some will die this winter. I have released all the grain we have in our reserves, but it will not be enough.”
Standing up, I faced the King. “I refuse to accept that.”
“Jake, should we go back to Wales and take Esmeralda?” Jenny asked.
“The royal family will not starve,” Queen Janti said and put a hand on Jenny’s shoulder. “Our people would not allow it.”
Jenny looked incredulous. “We eat what we want while outside the Palace, others, including children, starve?”
“It will not be easy for them or us.” The King sighed. “I shall try and eat as little as possible. The scraps from the royal table are distributed to the poor at the Palace gates.”
