by Rain Oxford
“I will see you again, on the next full moon.”
I woke after that and although I didn’t believe the dragon, I told Dantur anyway. He told me not to worry and that my future was mine to decide. The full moon was a long time away, and since I didn’t see the dragon again, I started to think it really was just a dream.
* * *
Unfortunately, it was a dark time for the world, and it was time for me to lose my place. On the morning of the full moon, a group of soldiers came to the village on horses and searched everything. They weren’t looking for gold, although they took all of it they found; instead, they rounded up all of the men and boys to stand in the center of the village.
“What is this about?” Dantur asked.
The captain of the soldiers sneered. “King Zokkor has heard that one of you is, or is harboring, a wizard.”
I glanced at my mother, who was standing right behind me. Her expression gave no hint of guilt or worry. Dantur, on the other hand, glared defiantly. “Who told the king such lies?”
“It doesn’t matter. Give up the wizard or we will kill you all.”
“Well, that’s a foolish threat since we all know you have to bring the wizard in alive. Otherwise, he can’t work for the king.”
“He is bringing in a man who will do a thorough investigation. He will find the wizard. Give up the wizard now and the rest of you will be spared.”
At this point, I knew everyone in the village would give me up. Even if they thought I was the child of a demon and not a wizard, they would side with the king over magic. To my shock, everyone glanced at Dantur, who glared even harder. The blacksmith had gained so much respect in our village that they would spare me. “There is no wizard here,” he said.
The soldier glared back at him. “Very well. We will stand guard until the hunter arrives to make sure no one leaves. Anyone can come to us to give up the wizard and be spared. Anyone who attempts to leave will be killed.” With that, he turned his horse around and left with the other soldiers.
Dantur told us to get back to our work and we did. I was torn; I wanted to turn myself in and spare everyone else, but I didn’t want to be forced to work for the king. Dantur worked with me and didn’t say a single word on the matter. I figured that he was also trying to come up with a solution.
* * *
I was awoken that night as Dantur pulled me off my bed. My mother stood by the door. “What’s going on?” I asked.
“Quiet. We’re getting you out of here.”
I was mostly confused, since I was still lost in a dream of motorized vehicles that could run faster than horses and only ate liquid as food. I felt somehow that I was in the wrong place. “What about the guards?” I asked quietly as he pulled me outside.
“They’re asleep.” As he said it, we passed right by a soldier, who was in an odd position on the ground.
Before I really understood the situation, we were deep in the forest. We traveled for hours and Dantur never let me take a break. When I asked where we were going, he just told me we were going into the mountains. I had never strayed far from the village, so it was both exciting and frightening.
When we reached the mountains, Dantur led me to a cave that was partially hidden by a tree, and I recognized it immediately. “You brought me to the dragons.”
“You will be safe here.”
“I thought dragons were dangerous. I don’t want to learn magic and work for the king.”
He put his hands on my shoulders. “I know this isn’t what you want, but you need to trust me. Magic is not your enemy, and neither are the dragons. Ignorance will not protect you from the king. Learn what you can from the dragons and don’t return until you know enough magic to protect yourself.” He turned me to face the cave. “Approach the cave and bow until the dragon answers you; don’t try to enter or he may burn you for lack of respect.”
“You said I can decide my own future.”
“This is the moment when you do. Learn from the dragons or be a captive of the king.”
I didn’t like either option, but I definitely didn’t want the soldiers to take me to the king. “What’s going to happen to the rest of the village?”
“We’ll be fine as long as they don’t catch us harboring you.”
I turned to the cave, knelt, and bowed as Dantur instructed. After a while, I became worried that either the dragon was out or he refused to answer me. “Should I call out?” I asked.
“No. Be patient.”
“You have to get back to the village before the soldiers wake up.”
“Don’t worry about me right now.”
We fell silent again and I waited long enough for my legs to go numb and my whole body to become stiff. Finally, when I couldn’t stand it any longer, a waft of smoke drifted out of the cave. “Enter, young wizard,” the dragon said. His voice was just as I remembered it; deep and commanding.
I glanced at Dantur, but he just nodded for me to enter. “Tell my mother that I’ll find somewhere safe for us, where magic isn’t feared and won’t get me enslaved.” Without looking back, I walked slowly into the darkness. It was extremely hot and dry, which I expected. From the meager light outside, I barely saw him. He was massive. “I’m here for training.”
“I knew you would return. We have waited many years for your arrival.”
“I don’t want to work for the kings.”
“We are not in league with the kings. Your destiny is to free all wizards from their captivity.”
“I thought it was to end the war on magic.”
“The wizards are imprisoned and used by the kings because magic is feared. For this reason, wizards are afraid to use magic and people destroy magic on sight.”
“How am I supposed to end it?”
“The first step is to learn everything you can. Knowledge is power, and power is a key to freedom. I will not teach you to overpower others, only to prevent them from overpowering you.”
“Isn’t that the same thing? Either I’m more powerful or I’m not.”
“You have so much to learn, young wizard. Unfortunately, you will have to grow up very quickly. I will teach you magic, but you will have two other mentors. One of them will teach you wisdom and life skills, and the other will teach you math, reading, writing, and languages.”
“Why do I need to learn that?”
“I already told you that knowledge is power. You will have the ability to travel to other worlds, but it would do no good if you lack knowledge.”
“How long will I have to live here?”
“That depends on you. Climb to the top of the mountain, where you will find a natural hot springs. At the north end of the springs, there is a flowering tree and a small cabin. There, you will find Caedmon, who will teach you wisdom and life skills.”
“At the top of the mountain? That’ll take me forever to get there.”
“The longer it takes you to reach it, the less time you have to sleep before you must get started on your lessons.” I groaned and turned to leave, only to stop when the dragon made an irritated sound. “You will learn respect before you can learn anything else. You are not some feral animal.”
I tried to think of how I offended the dragon. “What did I do wrong?”
“First, you never turn your back on a dragon. Second, you will bow to greet us and before leaving. And third, you did not---”
“Why?” I asked.
“Do not interrupt me!”
“I was just asking why.”
“You are a nine-year-old boy, whereas I have lived for thousands of years!” His voice vibrated the rock walls and although I couldn’t see it, I imagined dust and small rocks were falling.
“And living longer than me means I shouldn’t turn my back on you and that I should bow?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. Alright.” I bowed momentarily before standing back up and walking out backwards. He didn’t try to stop me. As soon as I stepped out of the cave, I turned and walked right back int
o the woods.
I was fairly certain I could find my way back home. No matter how much older the dragon was than me, I didn’t like being yelled at. I wanted to go home, get my mother, and leave. However, I knew better. It made much more sense that I would wait until the soldiers gave up looking for me and left.
It took me all day to find my way back to my village. Unfortunately, there were still guards, so I had to wait. I found a tree to climb and did so. Although I wanted to be able to look over the village, I couldn’t risk being seen and endangering everyone. After wandering for an entire day, I was exhausted, so I quickly fell asleep watching the stars.
Chapter 10
A shrill scream woke me so suddenly that I fell out of the tree. I hit the ground way too hard and it took me a while to figure out how to sit up. The world was spinning and my entire body ached. When I heard the scream again, I struggled to my feet and limped towards the sound.
It seemed with every step I took, the cries grew quieter, although I was certain I was going the right way. Finally, I came upon a pit and realized what was going on. I leaned over the edge. At the bottom of the pit, there were wooden spikes and a young girl. She was lying on the ground between the spikes, but that didn’t mean she was uninjured.
“Are you hurt?” I asked.
The girl looked up at me. “My leg is hurt. I can’t walk on it. Please help me!”
“Just hold still. I’ll find something to help pull you out.” I looked around and found a vine, which I tugged on to test the sturdiness before returning to the pit. “Grab this and hold on.” I fed the vine down to her and she took it, but when I tried to pull her up, she shouted in pain. I slowly lowered the vine again. “Just hold still. You might be hurt worse than you thought.”
“Don’t leave me here.”
“I’m not leaving you.” Once she let go of the vine, I climbed the nearest tree and tied one end of the vine around a branch that hung low over the pit. The vine wasn’t long enough for me to wrap it around the full tree and still reach the bottom of the pit. I tugged on it again to make sure it would hold before using it to climb down.
The girl was pretty unresponsive at this point, so I picked her up as gently as I could. “It hurts,” she moaned.
“I know, but I can’t carry you out. I’m going to lift you up and you need to use the vine to pull yourself the rest of the way out.” I made her stand straight, despite her protests, and lifted her up at the waist. I could almost reach the top of the pit and I had made weapons heavier than her, so it wasn’t too difficult. Since the ledge was muddy, she had to use the rope to pull herself the rest of the way out and it clearly wasn’t easy. As soon as she made it over, she collapsed.
I sighed with relief and started climbing out. Unfortunately, halfway up, I heard the branch start to snap. I continued upward, climbing as fast as I could to reach the top before it broke. Unfortunately, just as I made it to the top, the branch snapped and I fell. I covered my eyes and tried to be as small as possible. “Stop!” I shouted automatically.
And I did.
Slowly, I opened my eyes and realized I had stopped right in the air, a hair’s breadth above one of the spikes. I’d accidentally done magic! After giving myself a moment to let my heartbeat settle down, I carefully reached down and used the spike to push myself away from it. No sooner than I was out of the way did the magic holding me up vanish.
Groaning, I sat up and pulled the vine and the branch it was attached to down. I had a new plan, although it would have been easier if I had a rock. Aiming for the nearest, sturdy-looking tree branch I could see, I tossed the branch. Catch it, I thought. It felt weird to ask a branch to do something impossible and I didn’t expect it to work.
It didn’t.
I’m not as powerful a wizard as they think, I thought negatively. Then again, I haven’t been taught anything yet. I tried again a few times before I heard a horse and froze. It had to be the soldiers leaving my village.
This time, I didn’t even think of failure as an option. I would make it because I had to make it. If someone who could sense the magic in me found me trapped in a pit, I wouldn’t stand a chance. I felt something react inside me, like a sudden, unexplainable burst of energy, and the branch reached past the second branch. It swung around the second branch with unnatural precision until the vine was wrapped firmly around it.
Although I was confused and disbelieving, I didn’t have time to waist. I started climbing the vine. I made it to the top and found the girl whimpering. The sound of horses were now going in another direction, so I hoped I had enough time to at least make sure she wasn’t going to die.
She was covered in so much mud that I could barely make out her hair color. Her leg, however, was covered in blood. I knew all the herbs to use to help her, but I didn’t have any of them. I put my hand on her leg and tried to force myself to feel the same thing I did when I made that branch obey. Heal her, I thought. Then I mentally listed all the known herbs I could use to help.
When I felt something inside me reacting, it encouraged me to work even harder. I imagined covering the wound with a thick paste of plant matter and how it would heal underneath it. The girl gasped and jerked her leg away from me, causing me to realize I had closed my eyes. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m just trying to help you.”
“You’re doing magic!”
“Just to heal---”
“Get away from me!”
“You’re going to hurt yourself worse if you don’t stop---”
“Help!” she yelled.
I stopped trying to explain and just ran, knowing that the people on the horses weren’t too far away to hear her. I ran to my village and, just as I had expected, the soldiers were gone. Unfortunately, they weren’t the only ones gone. Furthermore, there was a lot of damage to many of the homes.
I reached my house to find my mother dressing a wound on another woman’s arm. “What happened?” I asked.
My mother sighed regretfully. “You shouldn’t have come back here. The soldiers took half of us, including all the men, accusing them of having magic.”
“Did Dantur make it back?”
“Yes, but he was taken with the others.”
“I’ll save them.” I didn’t make it out the door before my mother stopped me with her hand on my arm.
“Don’t go after them. It’s too late for them. There’s nothing you can do.”
“What if I knew magic?”
She hugged me and spoke quietly into my shoulder. “Magic is not your enemy, fear is. Be brave and wise. Someday, kings will bow to you. Until then, you must hide, but don’t fear your magic. It will save you. Now go, in case they come back. Never return here.”
“I will return. I’ll go and learn magic, far away from other people. When I become a master wizard, I’ll come back and take you somewhere else. The dragon said there are other worlds; one of them must be a better place.”
“Just be safe.”
I didn’t want to leave her. I wanted to fight the soldiers who took Dantur. I wanted to gather all the swords and axes left in our crumbling little village and kill the soldiers who took my people. Instead, I returned to the dragon with empty hands and an open mind, because if there was anything I hated more than watching magic rip my village apart, it was helplessness.
* * *
The sun was low in the sky when I made it back to the mountains, since I had taken plenty of rests. Although I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to get back into the dragon’s favor, I was thinking Cennuth had big plans to use me, so I wasn’t terribly concerned.
Beside the mouth of the dragon’s cave was a set of roughly cut stone steps, which I climbed cautiously. The first few were easy, for I had done physical labor most my life. Halfway to the top, however, I realized it was a lot harder than I’d expected. By the time I made it to the top, I was covered in sweat, out of breath, and the sun had long since set.
There was a hot springs, a flowering tree, an
d a cabin, just like Cennuth had said. I went to the door of the cabin and knocked, hoping that Cennuth explained who I was to this person that was supposed to teach me. When the door opened, I was startled. The man was supposed to teach me wisdom and life skills, so I had expected him to be like Dantur. Dantur was lean and tall.
This man was huge. He would tower over most men and his arms and chest were so thick with muscles I would have been surprised to see him touch his hands together. His hair was a black mess of tangles and the stubble on his face was marred by scars. He was missing two fingers and half his thumb on his left hand.
Needless to say, he was not what I was expecting.
The man glared at me. “You are late. Get inside.”
I obeyed without explaining why I was so late. He hadn’t asked why, and it became apparent that he didn’t care.
The cabin was simple, with a small bed, a work desk full of tools, and a chair with a small shelf of books. Books were extremely expensive, so I was curious about what they had in them. The man then surprised me again when he handed me a folded up blanket. “Go to sleep. I will explain the rules tomorrow.”
“Rules?”
“Go to sleep,” he repeated.
Since he didn’t tell me where, I laid the blanket on the floor by the chair and settled onto it without bothering to take my boots off. I didn’t want to be there, but I promised my mother I would take us to a better place, and that required learning magic.
The man blew out the candle and I heard him settle into bed. “What is your name?” I asked.
“You can call me Caedmon.”
* * *
“Wake up.”
I was woken by a loud voice, which took me a moment to recognize. I was in the cabin at the top of the mountain and the only light came from the candle. “What’s going on?”
“It’s time for you to get started on your work.”
I was used to working early, but not before the sun came up. “What do you mean?”
“Do you want breakfast before your lessons?”
