“You can’t possible run in that,” the half-elf whispers.
“I’m not running today. I have to get papers together for a detention class,” Nimby mentions with a smile. He leans down to wipe some dirt off his bare foot. “I can get to our woodworking project earlier than expected.”
Luke nods without looking, keeping his eyes locked on Selenia.
“There will be a small change for today’s run,” Selenia announces once everyone is quiet and staring at her. “Everyone will start exactly two minutes after I leave. It would appear that one of you thinks he can defeat me in a race through my territory. Many people have challenged me and none of them have been able to keep up, much less pass me. I have accepted this person’s challenge because I think he deserves to learn that there will always be some battles that he should avoid. Are you ready, young Callindor?”
Luke smiles as he goes to stand next to her. The other students start whispering to each other and the few words that he can catch tell Luke that they are not on his side. In fact, he gets a strong feeling that he isn’t the first newcomer to challenge Selenia. Thinking about it, Luke remembers Kevin mistaking him for a challenger instead of a student. It is a sudden, unnerving realization that makes Luke start to doubt his chances. After all, if Selenia gets more challengers than students, she wouldn’t be rusty like he had hoped. Still, it was too late to get out of the challenge and there had to be a chance that he could win. At the very least, he hoped not to avoid getting destroyed and humiliated for a second day in a row.
“Kevin will tell the rest of you when to start. Let’s go, Luke,” Selenia orders, assuming a casual starting position. Luke bends down to balance on his fingers and toes, all the while never letting his eyes leave Selenia. Now was the time to prove he was more than an amateur with an attitude.
“Go!” Kevin shouts. The half-elves are off like arrows before the echo of Kevin’s booming voice begins to fade. Within seconds, both of them are at the tree line and disappear from view. Everyone at the gate is staring with open mouths at Luke and Selenia’s speed.
“Three gold coins say he’ll be at least ten minutes behind her,” Duggan says, watching the dissipating dust paths of the half-elves.
“This is Ilan Callindor’s son,” Kevin responds, his voice bristling with confidence. “Five gold coins say he’ll be hot on her heels, but he isn’t going to win. Not today anyway.”
*****
From the beginning of the race, Selenia remains a few steps ahead of Luke. He isn’t surprised by this considering they are in her domain. It would only make sense that she had the area memorized down to the smallest stone. Luke was hoping to use his superior speed to counteract his lack of experience with the area. Unfortunately, the mercenary is nowhere near as slow and sluggish as Luke thought a retired warrior would be. Selenia moves as if she is on flat ground instead of the uneven forest floor. Judging by her short lead, Luke assumes that she is as fast and agile as he is, unless she is holding back. A feeling of dread quickly passes over him when he imagines Selenia bursting ahead and leaving him choking in her dust trail. He growls gently to himself, pushing the thought from his mind.
If Selenia runs faster then he will simply have to force himself to his breaking point. It is a pleasant thought that he knows is easier to imagine than put into practice. The forest tracker knows that Visindor is on Selenia’s side. To drive this point home, Luke occasionally trips over a tree root or has to leap over a rock that he didn’t notice early enough to avoid without slowing down. Every time he stumbles, Selenia gets a few more steps ahead of him. The only positive thought he can come up with is that Selenia never leaves his line of sight. A quick sprint whenever he falls too far behind keeps Luke within a few yards of her. He feels a rush of adrenaline every time she looks back with a cocky smile. It is a magical moment watching her smile melt into a frown every time she realizes that he is not that far behind her.
“Not bad, kid,” Selenia calls back as she vaults over a stream. “Let’s take a more scenic route and make this challenge last.”
The forest tracker clears the stream with ease, but he can feel that Selenia is starting to move faster. Looking at his surroundings, Luke remembers a trick that used to help him get away from his grandfather. He examines the network of branches above him and decides that he has nothing to lose. Luke makes a nimble leap off a boulder to a low branch and flips into the trees. He stays in the trees where he bounces along the branches, no longer worrying about the rocky ground. Several flexible branches give him an extra boost of momentum as they catapult him ahead. Luke almost passes Selenia, but a dagger splinters the branch that he was jumping to. A reflexive tumble helps Luke land safely and he smoothly rolls out of it into a full sprint.
“Are you a warrior or a monkey?” Selenia taunts him with short laugh.
Luke takes a deep breath and runs as fast as he can toward a nearby tree, which is small, thin, and light blue. He leaps at the tree, planting his feet against its rubbery trunk. He has just enough time to aim himself before he is launched at the next tree. He ricochets from one rubbery tree to another, gaining enough speed to catch up to Selenia. The sounds of dull thuds followed by shaking leaves cause her to look over her shoulder. She slows down for half a second to make sure she is really seeing this act of both ingenuity and desperation. Luke is a few feet behind her when he collides with an invisible object. He starts tumbling behind Selenia, feeling an unseen creature clutched to his chest. He can hear terrified whimpering from the creature, so Luke quickly curls his body to protect the small thing from injury. He braces himself an instant before he feels his body bounce off a flat rock. Selenia keeps watching him until she disappears around a thick redwood that Luke crashes into. He uncurls his aching body and feels the creature jump off him.
“Owies! That hurted. Watch where you go,” squeaks a little voice as the creature materializes in front of Luke’s face. The half-elf stares in awe at the small dragon hovering with iridescent red dragonfly wings. The creature has smooth, purple scales that shimmer when in direct sunlight. Its underbelly repeatedly shifts from dark pink to dull red as the creature breathes. Tiny claws stick out of its slender fingers and toes that are splayed in a display of anxiety. A slender tail, nearly twice the length of the little dragon’s body, slowly moves around in the air and curls over its head.
“Great Uli,” Luke gasps, gradually regaining his ability to speak. He scrambles to his hands and knees as the drite flutters about, finally coming to a rest on his shoulder. “You’re a drite. I’ve heard about your kind. I never dreamed that I would ever meet one. I’m very sorry about crashing into you. Are you hurt?”
“Fizzle fine,” the drite happily squeaks. “Just a little . . . little . . . what word? It wiggle wobble feel. Fizzle no like human speech.”
Luke winces as he tries to get up, falling back against the tree. To avoid curling up into a ball, he concentrates on the little creature curiously peering at him from his shoulder. He notices a bulge at the top of the drite’s throat that appears to be gently spinning just under the skin. It is oddly hypnotic as the scales over the area turn different shades of purple. Luke has to rapidly blink his eyes in order to break whatever spell had stolen his attention.
“I think you mean jostled. Where did you learn to speak trade-speak?” Luke asks, failing to get up again. “Owww. My spine and shoulders are going to be feeling this pain for the rest of the day. I haven’t even started my combat classes yet.”
“Small human teach Fizzle. She tinier than you. Ears not sharp. Not sure what big ones call her kind,” the drite answers, scratching his head with the end of his tail. Luke intently watches the creature with a smile on his face.
“Sounds like a human child, which explains the problem with big words,” Luke calmly states. He looks at the sky and realizes how much time has passed. “I should be getting back to the academy and face the heckling about losing the race. Not just losing, but getting destroyed. At least I came close to catchi
ng up with her even though only Selenia and you will believe me.” Luke struggles to get into an awkward crouching position. “Better, but I still feel like a herd of deer ran me over. This is just going to be a long and tiring day for me. Maybe I’ll skip breakfast and get a few apples from Nimby later.”
The drite darts into the air and begins to drool. “Apples? Fizzle love apples! Taste good and sweet and crunchy and yummy and mmmmm. Can I go with?”
Luke lets out a soft laugh as he gets to his feet and rubs his shoulders. “Sure. I take it that Fizzle is your name. My name is Luke. I’m a student at Selenia’s academy. I’m also an experienced forest tracker.”
“I hear about you!” Fizzle excitedly exclaims, shaking Luke’s hand with his tail. “Aminals say forest child here. They explain you. Brown birdie say you here to stop big evil in trees. Is false?”
Fizzle sneezes, letting a small spurt of rainbow smoke out of his nostrils. Luke holds his breath, waiting for the cloud to disappear, but he still begins to see colors shift in front of him. For a brief second, he believes that the trees are stepping out of the ground, preparing to walk away. A few forced blinks erase the hallucination from his vision. Once his head clears, Luke begins making his way back to the academy.
“That was unnerving,” Luke whispers when he finally takes a breath. He notices that Fizzle is still patiently waiting for an answer. “I came here to stop someone from getting killed . . . or worse. I have no idea what evil is in the trees, but if it is after the person that I’m protecting then I will stop it. If I don’t help you by the time my mission is done then I promise to take care of this big evil in the trees before I leave Visindor. I am a forest tracker after all. Protecting the forest is one of my primary responsibilities. It’s not like some evil in the trees can stop someone who has been trained for as long as I have.”
“Not normal evil in trees,” Fizzle warns him, a look of worry in his bright blue, reptilian eyes. “This big evil. Fizzle not like when aminals leave forest. Me not know what cause big evil. Luke may be un . . . un . . . not ready. You still little for big folk. Big evil is old. And scary.”
“Great. I love a challenge,” Luke declares with a confident grin. He turns around before suddenly freezing. Fizzle hovers next to him, watching sweat appear on Luke’s forehead. The warrior’s eyes are locked on something ahead of him.
“New friend sick?” the drite asks.
“I’m good. Just . . . a little issue,” Luke replies. Fizzle follows Luke’s stare to find a small spider hanging a few inches from the half-elf’s face. The drite gently wipes the spider away with his tail and Luke immediately relaxes.
Fizzle eyes Luke with a sense of child-like curiosity. “New friend scared?”
“I’ve had a problem with spiders ever since I fell into an abandoned mine as a child,” Luke admits, his face turning red from embarrassment. “It was filled with large spiders and it took my family a few hours to get me out without angering them. One of the spiders hid in my backpack and, a few days later, it attacked me while I slept. The poison hurt a lot and I’ve had an irrational fear of spiders ever since. I’m good if I can see them coming and brace myself for them, but I freeze if I stumble onto one. Please don’t tell anybody about this.”
“Secret safe,” Fizzle promises.
“Thanks. Let’s go get your apples,” the half-elf says with a smile.
Fizzle gently wraps his slender tail around Luke’s neck for a better grip. It feels like it takes an eternity for Luke to stumble and limp his way to the edge of the forest. He can hear the rest of the students back in the forest as he crosses the killing field. Selenia is patiently leaning against the entrance to the academy, calmly watching Luke approach. She smiles as Kevin hands over a pouch of gold pieces to a smug, grinning Duggan. Selenia makes sure to pat Fizzle on the head before she goes to get her breakfast. Luke cocks a suspicious eye toward the drite who imitates the expression as best he can.
“Thanks a lot, kid,” Kevin grumbles as he limps away.
*****
“Hello, Fizzle,” Betty coos when she sees Luke and the drite enter the cafeteria. “I have several apple pies that are fresh out of the oven. I don’t think anyone would mind you eating two of them.”
Betty cheerfully places a large apple pie on a nearby table as Fizzle flutters off Luke’s shoulder. As soon as Betty steps away from the pie, Fizzle becomes a purple streak of motion that dives into the fresh dessert. Luke calmly gets a tray of food and takes a seat across from where Fizzle is making a mess. He quietly watches Fizzle gobble up the entire pie, smiling when Betty puts a second pie in front of the ravenous creature.
“I take it you come here often, Fizzle,” Luke politely says. Fizzle lets out a small burp, sending a wisp of his magical breath into Luke’s nose. Luke quickly focuses on the food in front of him in an attempt to fend off the effect of the drite’s hallucination breath. He feels the room shift and his vision subtly distorts, but the magical illusion of a giant spider vanishes before he starts to panic.
“Good food. Great pie. Nimby give Fizzle apples every one . . . two . . . three . . . four days. This yummy pie,” Fizzle mumbles, using his tail to shovel the second pie into his mouth. Luke eats his breakfast as the rest of the students arrive. Most of the new students gawk at Fizzle while the advanced students casually wave to him. One of the elven girls tickles him under the chin as she passes by.
“I see you met Fizzle. This little guy is a real laugh at times. How’s the forest been, Fizzle?” Nimby asks, sitting down next to Luke. The halfing is wearing a dark green shirt and brown pants that are already covered in sawdust. Slung over his shoulder is a tan vest, which he slips on after he takes a long drink of water.
Fizzle is about to answer when his tiny horns perk up and he begins sniffing the air. He looks around until his bright eyes fall on Selenia. She ignores the drite until the creature hovers over the table. Luke barely notices her glance at Fizzle out of the corner of her eye. It is not until Fizzle begins flipping in the air that Selenia goes out of her way to walk by the table and toss an apple into the air. The drite catches it with his tail and skillfully peels it with his hind claws. Luke almost believes that he sees Selenia smile at him, but assumes it is a trick of the light.
“Forest quiet. Big evil in trees. Getting bigger,” Fizzle says with a small shiver. “Many aminals moving away. Fizzle safe because Fizzle can disa . . . dista . . . not be seen. If they find Fizzle then Fizzle make them go poof.” The drite finishes off the last of the pie and begins devouring the peeled apple. Once he is done with that he inhales the fallen apple peel through his pursed lips.
“Go poof?” Luke curiously asks.
Nimby swallows a fork full of much before explaining, “Fizzle knows some pretty big spells since he’s really old. I’ve seen him use the so-called poof spell on a giltris. I actually felt sorry for the oversized piece of leather. The real name of the spell is disintegration. The problem is that the little guy doesn’t always aim and the spell is incredibly destructive.”
Luke looks over at the entrance in time to see an out-of-place figure wander in. It is a rotund, little man with greasy, black hair and dark red eyes that are twice the size of those of a human. His graying beard is neatly trimmed even though it is just as greasy as his hair. Luke notices several scorch marks on his shirt, which used to be blue before getting covered in oil and grime. Thin-rimmed glasses hang from a shirt pocket, but they look like they have been dropped hundreds of times. Nobody else pays much attention to the gnome as he grabs a tray and sits on a stool in the corner.
“Good food. Too noisy,” Fizzle whines with a small pout. “Fizzle be in forest. If Fizzle find news on big evil, Fizzle let Luke know. Bye-bye.” With a shimmer of golden magic, Fizzle disappears from sight. The last sign of the drite is a slight push of wind from his wings as he darts out an open window.
“I got a copy of the first year list from Kevin,” Nimby whispers, leaning under the table as if to pick up a dropped fork.
“I told him that I wanted to contact a few parents because of some troublemakers in my class. The copy is enchanted, so it will turn to ash by the morning or if I try to copy it. Thankfully, it’s not that long a list. There are only one hundred and eighty three kids with their names, hometown, age, and a parent or guardian’s name on file. The other students on the list have been handpicked by Selenia. It can’t possibly be one of those if she is in the dark. It shouldn’t be too hard to track down this heir now.”
“We’ll see about that. I have martial arts with Selenia right after breakfast and then blacksmithing, so going over things will have to wait until lunch,” Luke explains, pausing to look around the cafeteria and wolf down some food. “I think we should bring in someone who knows more about monsters and . . . evil things than we do. If the big evil in the forest is what we are up against, I would really like some more help. I was thinking of talking to the half-elven priest I saw when I got here yesterday. Priests are trustworthy as long as their god is good-natured. I noticed that he wasn’t involved in the run, so he is obviously not a student. I believe he had a sun emblem on his clothing. Do you know who I’m talking about?”
Nimby is about to speak when a high-pitched scream of surprise cuts through the wall of conversations. Luke and Nimby look across the room to see a wooly sheep standing on one of the tables. It wanders in a tight circle before it starts barking like an angry dog at a red-haired girl who is trying to keep her tray away from it. The sheep continues barking at the girl until Selenia gets to her feet and hurls her empty cup at the animal. As soon as the cup strikes the sheep, the animal disappears in a faint glimmer of magic. A few students start to laugh about the illusion and the various conversations slowly start up again. Selenia glares in the direction of the gnome who is sifting through his breakfast like nothing happened. Without looking up, he waves in her direction.
Beginning of a Hero (Legends of Windemere) Page 10
