Fluff Dragon

by Platte F. Clark

She raised her wand skyward, and a giant lightning bolt streaked down and crashed into the water. The tentacles shuddered and retreated as the ship rolled back and bounced in the water.

  “I thought as much,” Princess announced, turning to face Max. He realized he was hanging upside down, and it was hard to see Princess’s expression. The ship was rocking back and forth, but the violent pitching had stopped.

  “Now to find my hapless wizard—” Princess started to say, but suddenly a tentacle shot out and wrapped itself around her waist. It snapped her backward, and she disappeared over the ship’s railing. Max hurried to untangle himself and dropped to the deck (mindful not to land on the fire kittens). He ran over to the side and peered over the rail. There was no sign of the unicorn.

  “Princess!” Max yelled. He thought he saw a black shadow moving under the waves, but he wasn’t sure. Cries from men in the water rose up, and the crew began rescue efforts. Overhead the wind stopped blowing and the black storm clouds began to lazily drift apart.

  “Where’s that blasted first mate?” the captain shouted as he descended into the lower decks. “All hands to the pumps! Man overboard!”

  Sarah and Dirk joined Max at the rail, looking for signs of Princess. Moki and Loki poked their heads out of the backpack, wet and unhappy looking.

  “I don’t see her,” Sarah said. “Or Magar.”

  A cargo net was thrown over the side, and the sailors in the water began pulling themselves up. There was no sign of Princess or her wizard.

  They had spent the rest of the afternoon pulling men to safety and pumping water out of the ship’s hold. The sailors used a special tar to slow the leaks as much as possible, and Max found Puff thoroughly soaked and shivering in the cargo hold.

  “The pouty-faced girl saved us,” the captain said, finding Max and his friends sometime later.

  “Yeah,” Max said, not knowing what else to say.

  The captain sighed. “Well, my ship’s still afloat, the cargo’s in the hull, and since the first mate is a slippery one, my commission remains in place. All in all, things could have been worse.” He removed his hat. “We must make for Lanislyr while we can. My thanks to your brave friends now given to the sea.”

  “Do you really think they’re lost?” Sarah asked.

  “No way,” Dirk answered. “Princess and Magar are awesomely talented magic users. And breathing underwater is, like, a third-level spell or something. They’ll be fine.”

  Sarah shook her head. “I wish I could see things the same way you do sometimes,” she admitted.

  “Yeah, I know,” Dirk said. He turned to Max. “And good call saving Princess from the knights. If you hadn’t, we’d all been done for. Didn’t see that one coming.”

  “Friends come and go,” Glenn said from Max’s belt. “But colds hang around for about three days. Makes you think.”

  The Murky Merman managed to hobble its way to Lanislyr. Max and the others remained belowdecks as the cargo was quickly unloaded and the ship made for Aardyre. The goods in the hold had to be delivered on time, and the captain wasn’t about to add late penalties to his already mounting expenses.

  Late the next evening, they pulled into Aardyre. A sleepy harbormaster met them and assessed the docking fees, noting the damaged state of the vessel with a raised eyebrow. No doubt the tale of the sea monster would begin to spread as the crew dispersed into the various taverns along the waterfront. As preparations to unload the ship began, Max and his friends slipped ashore, saying good-bye to the captain and making their way along the dock. Several guards watched them with bored expressions. Apparently the sight of three humans, two fire kittens, and a fluff dragon wasn’t anything worth noting. Before long they passed from the piers into a series of warehouses.

  The center of Aardyre loomed in the distance, and Max could see the dark shapes of various structures rising in the moonlit sky. Most distinct was a tall, solitary tower, looking as if it had pierced the moon behind it. Max knew it at once: the Wizard’s Tower. It was the home to Rezormoor Dreadbringer and the birthplace of the Codex of Infinite Knowability. It was also where his long-lost ancestor had ruled as arch-sorcerer and regent. Seeing it in person sent shivers down Max’s spine.

  “There it is,” Loki said, following Max’s gaze. “That is what real power looks like.”

  “Or evil,” Puff added. “I think it is defined by what it does.”

  “So what now?” Sarah asked the group.

  “We sneak in,” Dirk answered. “I only wish we had good sneaking music.”

  Max sighed. “Let’s just hope nobody’s expecting us.”

  Not yet, at least, Loki thought to himself. But soon. “Hey, uh, I’m going to walk from here—stretch my paws out.” The fire kitten climbed out of the backpack and landed on the cobblestone. Moki, however, remained on Max’s back. After so long on the road with Max, warming his feet and riding in his backpack, the fire kitten had grown fond of the human.

  Max felt the Codex pressed against his side as he began walking toward the Tower. They worked their way up the street, and as they moved Loki dropped farther and farther back. When the others disappeared around a corner, the fire kitten suddenly bolted.

  Loki scrambled through back alleys, hopping over small walls and cutting across residences. He startled a couple of alley cats and was chased by a dog, but the fire kitten was moving at full speed and easily got away. He jumped between balconies and landed in a quiet intersection. From there he had a clear view of the Tower, but more importantly, he could see the light spilling from the room at the very top. That was where the current regent, Rezormoor Dreadbringer, would be waiting.

  Loki lit his tail aflame and marveled at his ingenuity. Against all odds, he’d left the Turul wastes, found the boy who could read the book, and accompanied him safely to Aardyre and the Tower’s door. Now there was only one thing left to do, and a future of wealth hung in the balance. Loki flung a small fireball high into the air. It was bright and stood out against the dark sky, and it flew perfectly, angling in front of the solitary Tower window. Several dogs began barking in response, and Loki watched his handiwork. It wouldn’t be long now. Then he took off again, slipping into the night.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHEESE IN THE RAT TRAP

  FROM THE BALCONY IN THE highest room in the Wizard’s Tower, the zombie duck spotted the small fireball streaking through the night air. It turned and quacked loudly at Rezormoor, who looked up in time to see the ball of flame disappear below the window. He’d received the strange message some days prior from a fire kitten who claimed to have both the boy who could read the book and the book that can be read by said boy who can read said book. Rezormoor had learned long ago never to dismiss something out of hand just because it seemed implausible. He didn’t put enough stock in the message to mention it to the Maelshadow, but just to be safe he’d set his zombie duck watching for the “heavenly ball of fire” mentioned in the pyro pigeon’s note.

  “Well, imagine that,” Rezormoor said. He stood and stretched, his long robes—soft as velvet but strong as steel—moving about his lean frame. His two obsidian daggers, the blades wavy in a way no human blacksmith could forge, hung from the silver belt around his waist. He flung his hair over his shoulders and greeted the zombie duck with a pat on the head. “Time to summon the Kraken,” he announced.

  Max and his friends moved up the long street called Guild Row, noting a few citizens milling about despite the late hour. A spectacled member of the Guild of Professional Snitches watched Max and his friends through a window, while a long line of people stood outside the Guild of Professional Line Waiters.

  “I think we should get off the main road,” Puff suggested. Max agreed. They veered through several side streets until they had to squeeze single file between two rows of buildings. Once they were through, Max suddenly stopped, and Sarah nearly ran into him.

  “Max?” Sarah asked, sensing something was wrong.

  The Kraken was perched on a low over
hanging roof, looking down with crimson eyes. His skin, rippling with muscles, took on the same red tint, and it made him even more frightening as he sat perfectly still in the moonlight.

  “I can’t believe you dorks actually made it this far,” the Kraken said as he jumped from the roof and landed on the ground in front of them.

  “Who are you?” Sarah asked, fighting against every instinct in her body that screamed to turn around and run.

  “Don’t remember me, huh?” the Kraken taunted. “I mean, it wasn’t that long ago you did your kung fu thing to me in front of the whole wrestling team. Luckiest move I’ve ever seen, especially for a girl.”

  “Oh, no way!” Dirk exclaimed, pointing at the Kraken. “No way! You’re Ricky Reynolds!”

  “What?” Sarah gasped. “How’s that possible?”

  The Kraken smiled, shrugging his massive shoulders. “You tell me; you’re the brainiac. In fact, you tell me how any of this can be possible. Because I’m pretty sure if there was, like, this whole different world filled with stupid magic and dorky creatures, somebody would have mentioned it. But I guess it doesn’t matter, does it? Because here we are anyway.”

  “Ricky, what’s going on?” Max said carefully.

  “Yeah, man, and did you know that you’re orange?” Dirk asked. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, you know, if that’s what you’re into.”

  The Kraken grunted. “I left with that stupid unicorn and her wizard. The whole town blamed me when you guys disappeared. The cops said I had a motive, and it didn’t matter that I passed a lie detector test. So that’s why you’re going to pay for what you’ve done.”

  “Guys,” Glenn spoke up, “maybe you should settle this in the oldest, most barbaric way possible: with lawyers.”

  “Don’t need no lawyer,” the Kraken said. “Got me a sorcerer.”

  “Rezormoor Dreadbringer,” Max said, understanding at once.

  “So you know him, huh?” the Kraken replied. “That’s good, ’cause he knows you, too. And he’s really interested in meeting you, Spencer.”

  Max considered the monstrous creature that had been Ricky Reynolds back home. This wasn’t how things were supposed to happen. He was supposed to sneak into the Tower, reset the Codex, and use its magic to defeat Dreadbringer. Surprise had been his only advantage, and now that was gone.

  “You don’t have to do this, you know,” Sarah said, staring at the Kraken. “Look, I’m really sorry about everything that’s happened. Believe me, I didn’t want any of this either. And I’m really sorry about what’s happened to you, personally. It wasn’t fair for the town to judge you like that. And I’m sorry I embarrassed you in front of your friends. But right now you have a choice. You don’t have to be a monster just because the world thinks you already are, even if you look the part.”

  “Oh, but I want to,” the Kraken answered with a smile. He turned to Max. “So here’s the deal, Spencer. I have to take you back alive and breathing, but the others? Not so much. So I’ll ask you nicely, just once. If you don’t surrender and come with me—and really, I kind of hope that you don’t—I’ll teach you a little about revenge right here and now.”

  “No,” Max said at once, holding up his hands. “Don’t hurt them. I surrender.” Moki emerged from Max’s backpack, his paws in the air. Sarah and Dirk raised their hands as well.

  The Kraken smiled. “Well, shucks. I guess the five of you get to keep breathing. But you never know, things can change, right?”

  Five? Max thought. He swung his head around and saw for the first time that Loki had disappeared. Maybe he’d managed to get away? Maybe he’d be able to help them. The Kraken, however, took note of Max.

  “Looking for your kitty friend?” he said with a chuckle. “Man, you really are dumb, aren’t you?”

  The door squeaked closed, clanging shut with a metallic sound that bounced off the stone walls of the Tower dungeon. Max had been separated from the others and placed in a different cell. Everything but the clothes on their backs had been taken, and that included the Codex of Infinite Knowability.

  “I don’t know why they can’t oil the hinges,” Dirk said, sliding to the ground as he sat against a far wall. The cell they were in had extra bars and a mesh screen designed for smaller-than-human captives. “I mean, it’s not like jailers are so busy that they don’t have time for a little hinge maintenance.”

  “I’ve been to two dungeons now,” Moki said happily.

  Puff grunted and began pacing back and forth in the small cell. “We’re never getting out of here. No prisoner ever gets out of the Tower.”

  “Maybe guards like being able to hear the cell doors open,” Sarah said, thinking about Dirk’s comment. “You know, maybe it’s part of the security system.”

  “Nope,” Dirk said definitively. “It’s like a baby that cries all the time—pretty soon you just tune it out and you don’t even know it’s there. If you’re a guard and hear nothing but squeaky doors all the time, it’s not too long before you don’t hear them at all.”

  “I don’t think people tune out babies,” Max suggested from the cell across from theirs.

  “And how would you know if you had?” Dirk asked. “You wouldn’t, would you?”

  Sarah buried her head in her hands. “I’m not sure I’m going to be able to last very long in here.”

  “Don’t worry,” Max said. “I think as long as I do what they ask, they’re not going to hurt you guys.”

  “Yeah, it’s called leverage,” Dirk added.

  “No, it’s . . . oh, you’re actually right,” Sarah admitted. It always caught her off guard when Dirk was right about something.

  “What about that potion you drank?” Max said. “That Ergodic Elixir. I know you thought it was gone, but maybe you can make something magical happen again.”

  “I’ve been wishing I had wings for the last three days,” Dirk said. He turned his head back to look over his shoulders. “Nope, still nothing.”

  “It sure seemed like Ricky was waiting for us,” Sarah said. She put her hand on Moki’s head and scratched the fire kitten under his ear. “I think we’ve been betrayed, and I think it was Loki.”

  “Loki’s been a bad kitty,” Moki agreed.

  They heard the latch of the dungeon door open as Rezormoor Dreadbringer stepped through. He held the Gossamer Gimbal in his hand, following it as the arrow pointed directly to Max. The sorcerer walked to the iron bars and lifted the compass so Max could see the arrow hovering in the air. “Well, it seems we have our man—or should I say boy?”

  Max stared at the sorcerer who’d been hunting him. Power flowed off him in waves that made Max’s ears ring. His eyes drifted to the daggers hanging from the sorcerer’s belt. As a sorcerer, Rezormoor had mastered both the wizard and mage disciplines, and that meant he’d be as dangerous with weapons as he was with magic.

  “That belonged to Princess,” Moki said, having seen Princess use the Gossamer Gimbal before. Rezormoor shut the magical compass and slipped it into his pocket.

  “Not exactly,” he answered. “In truth, it belongs to the Maelshadow. As a unicorn, Princess merely had enough magic to make it work in the Techrus.”

  “Yeah, well, thanks for that,” Dirk said. “Princess pretty much messed up our entire world and then became this killer robot thingy.”

  Rezormoor frowned—he was having a hard time following the skinny human.

  “And we know what you’re doing to the dragons,” Puff said angrily. That caught the sorcerer by surprise.

  “Impossible,” he declared. Certain members of the black market knew what he was doing. The Guild of Toupee Makers as well. But a random fluff dragon? It didn’t make sense. “Why do you say that?”

  “Because Obsikar told us,” Dirk interjected.

  Now, that was unexpected. Rezormoor had heard tales of the dragon king, as had most in the Seven Kingdoms. “Well, you are very interesting, I’ll give you that much.”

  “Is Princess alive?”
Sarah asked. “Is that how you got the compass?”

  “Alive . . . yes,” Rezormoor replied. There was a sigh of relief from Max and the others. “She’s here—both her and her turncoat wizard. The high mage was none too happy about it.”

  “Oh, I get it,” Dirk said. “The high mage was that giant octopus thing that attacked us.”

  “Indeed,” Rezormoor answered. “But weakened as she was after her battle with the unicorn, she dared not try again for the ship. You see, she didn’t know if Max might be able to use the Codex against her. But now I think that’s not the case—there’s something wrong with it, isn’t there?”

  “Yeah,” Max managed to say. But he wasn’t about to go into the details if he didn’t have to.

  “Well, Max, here’s the problem,” Rezormoor continued. “If you can’t use the Codex of Infinite Knowability, you’re of no use to me. That’s not to say you aren’t of use to the Maelshadow. There’s something about your blood, and I believe the Lord of Shadows would like to make a withdrawal—probably in a quantity that you wouldn’t appreciate. So I suppose you could fix the Codex and do as I say, or this is where we say good-bye. And by that I mean I send you to the Maelshadow and give your friends to the Kraken.”

  “No, don’t,” Max said at once. “I think I can fix it.”

  “Then by all means let’s do so,” Rezormoor said with a smile. He motioned with his hand and the cell door swung open. Max slowly walked out as Dirk and Sarah rose to their feet.

  “Don’t worry,” Max said, turning to Sarah. “I won’t let anything happen to you guys. I promise.” His voice sounded different. Maybe it was the way it echoed in the dungeon, or perhaps because it never wavered or hinted at self-doubt? Then Sarah understood. The old Max Spencer—afraid, conflicted, lacking confidence—was gone. What she heard were the words spoken by the boy who could read the book.

  “I believe in you, Max,” she said as he walked past. “We all do.” The sorcerer led Max down the row of empty cells before disappearing through the heavy door. It was closed and latched behind them.