Zaconis - Guardian of Magic

by MJ Schutte

  ‘No, that’s not at all how it happened. When Brighton and I were very young, we had to flee old Mendin to escape an evil king bent on destroying us. We crossed the mountains west of Clareton with Adri, Brac and our two children, Thomas and Clarissa. High up in the mountains, Adri got scratched by something called darkweed. She would have died if it wasn’t for Brighton. After he also got infected, he had to kill them both in order to save them. That…’ Lilian explained, but Angelina interrupted.

  ‘Killed them in order to save them? How is that possible?’ she gasped.

  ‘The poison feeds on energy in the body. The only way to rid himself and Adri of it was to drain all their energy. He then came back from the spirit world and brought Adri with him. Somehow, a piece of his magic must have stayed behind in her and her gift was born. That was the second time Brighton had returned from the spirit world and the third person he managed to bring back,’ Lilian answered.

  ‘Really? Who where the other two?’ Angelina asked wide eyed.

  Lilian smiled at herself for thinking of Mischief as a person.

  ‘Mischief was the first and I was second. Brighton actually died three times. The last time I killed him to stop him from becoming another evil dictator like my father was,’ Lilian replied.

  Angelina could hardly believe what she was hearing. She did not know any of the history.

  ‘How many people know this?’ she asked softly.

  ‘Only very few of the elves. Not even the King and Queen of Mendin know everything. I will tell you all of it later, but let’s talk about your first question. You want to know what it feels like to be in love. I think it’s different for everybody. For me it was like a thousand butterflies were flying inside my stomach every time I saw Brighton. I was only thirteen then and did not understand the feelings I had. It was only many years later when Brighton and I met again that I understood what I was feeling,’ Lilian said.

  ‘Can you be in love with someone you don’t know?’ Angelina asked, surprising Lilian a little. She thought the younger woman’s thoughts were with the prince.

  ‘I assumed you were talking about Jonathan,’ she blurted out before thinking it through.

  ‘Yesterday I felt a slight stirring in my stomach when we looked into each other’s eyes, but it’s not nearly the feeling I have for…uh…someone else,’ Angelina replied.

  ‘Someone else?’ Lilian asked with a sly smile.

  ‘Yes, someone else. I don’t even know who he is,’ Angelina sighed.

  ‘How can you not know who he is but be in love with him?’ Lilian frowned.

  ‘When we were attacked at the Justice Hall, a man grabbed me from behind. I was sure he was going to harm me, but as it turned out he protected me. I clearly remember the feeling of his arms around me and his masculine smell, but I never saw his face. I’m certain it was not one of our troops,’ Angelina explained.

  ‘An enemy soldier saved you?’ Lilian gasped.

  ‘Yes, I think so. I also think he had some form of magic, or mind controlling ability. Two enemy soldiers found me but they simply turned and ran off like I was not even there. Do you think such a talent exists?’ Angelina asked.

  ‘I know it does. Brighton learnt how to plant thoughts in people’s minds a long time ago. It’s actually the same way the magical barrier around Livia Farasnei works,’ Lilian confirmed.

  ‘Why would I feel so strongly about someone I don’t even know?’ Angelina asked with a shake of her head.

  ‘He saved your life. Perhaps what you are feeling is not love but gratitude,’ Lilian suggested.

  Angelina opened her mouth to speak again, but saw that Lilian’s focus had shifted.

  They were approaching the clearing Jenneve spoke of. Jenneve was standing talking to someone while a few other men were busy saddling up horses and shoving provisions into saddlebags.

  ‘Lilian!’ Jenneve called when she saw them.

  ‘It looks like Jenneve’s word was good,’ Lilian said softly as she waved at their benefactor.

  They walked closer and Lilian introduced Angelina and Jenneve to each other.

  ‘Are all the women in your land this beautiful?’ Jenneve joked as she looked Angelina up and down.

  Lilian hardly heard the joke. She was looking at the horses in the clearing.

  ‘Where did you find this many horses so quickly?’ she asked.

  ‘There are some horse traders who owe me a favor or two, and others who would prefer their wives never find out they know me. There are provisions and a handful of gold coins in each of the saddle bags. If any of your people get lost or separated from you, tell them to come straight back to me,’ Jenneve smiled.

  ‘This must have cost you a fortune. Thank you,’ Lilian said as she took Jenneve’s hand in hers.

  Jenneve gave Lilian’s hand a soft squeeze and said, ‘I would easily spend a hundred times more if it means I might see my son again.’

  Before Lilian could say anything Jenneve held her hand up and said, ‘I know you made no promises.’

  ‘I will do my best to locate Al’taish when we catch up to Zaconis’ army,’ Lilian smiled.

  ‘Well, there is not a lot of daylight left so I would suggest you get going,’ Jenneve answered.

  Goralt came forward leading a gorgeous white mare.

  ‘Mistress, we are ready,’ he reported.

  Lilian shoved her new white dress into the saddle bag, mounted and with a final wave to Jenneve, they set off in pursuit of Father Zaconis’ army.

  When they were some distance away, Angelina turned to Lilian and said, ‘There is something really strange about that woman.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Lilian frowned.

  ‘Although she was helping us, I did not see any emotion from her. She was not happy or sad,’ Angelina replied.

  ‘Yes, that is strange,’ Lilian replied absentmindedly. Her thoughts had already traveled back to her husband and how she planned on reminding him who he is.

  The days passed quickly. Alexi kept Imlan close to discourage the other soldiers from picking fights. For the most part this worked, but one night a particularly brave soldier, who was quite drunk, decided he will take Imlan on. He got two swollen eyes as a reward for his bravery.

  One day, at around midday one of the soldiers called from the back of the column, ‘Rider approaching!’

  Alexi turned his horse around and rode to the back shouting at the soldiers not to stop walking. He waited patiently for the rider to reach them.

  ‘Al’taish!’ he shouted as he waved at his friend.

  ‘Alexi! Good to see you,’ Al’taish shouted back.

  ‘And you too, my friend,’ Alexi said as Al’taish’s horse came to a standstill next to Alexi’s.

  ‘Did you find what you were looking for?’ Alexi inquired.

  ‘Yes, I did,’ Al’taish answered, trying to look pleased about it.

  ‘Then you must continue to Palentis as fast as possible. I know Father is anxious for your return,’ Alexi instructed.

  ‘Alexi, I saw a daraghna flying toward Celonis earlier. Do you know why it is going there?’ Al’taish asked.

  ‘Don’t concern yourself with the daraghna. Father most likely sent it with a message for someone. Now get going,’ Alexi replied.

  ‘As you wish, Alexi,’ Al’taish said and dug his heels into his horse’s flanks, Alexi following close on his heels.

  When Al’taish saw Imlan, he reined the horse in but Alexi shouted, ‘No time for talking, Al’taish!’

  Disappointed, Al’taish spurred the horse on again, waving at Imlan as he rode past.

  The army traveled until sundown, as they did everyday, before Alexi called a halt.

  ‘Imlan, look after my horse,’ he instructed, but the big man was expecting this and already had the pail in his hand. He strolled off to find some water.

  As every night before, as soon as he was far enough away from the soldiers, the black panther joined him.

  ‘Hello boy,’ Imlan
greeted his friend with the usual scratch behind the ears.

  The panther did not greet back with that deep, throaty growl as he normally did, but rather kept looking back the way they came.

  ‘Is something there, boy?’ Imlan asked as he also looked back.

  Gently the panther took Imlan’s forearm in his powerful jaws and tried to pull him back the way they came.

  ‘No, boy, Palentis is the other way,’ Imlan said as he pulled his arm away.

  Again the panther’s jaws closed around Imlan’s arm as he tried to pull his human friend back towards Celonis.

  ‘Stop it,’ Imlan scolded the animal.

  A soft yelp escaped the panther’s throat as white eyes looked pleadingly up at Imlan.

  ‘I am not going that way. I have to go to Palentis,’ Imlan said.

  The panther slowly walked away a few steps and then looked back to see if Imlan would follow. When he saw that Imlan did not move, he set off at a dead run.

  Imlan watched the panther go, wondering why the animal was behaving so strangely.

  The daraghna flew as fast as it could, the hunger in its young body driving him towards his prey. He knew he was not supposed to be hunting, but the one who returned from the far away land told him a large group of magically talented humans were heading towards Palentis. Having only tasted magical flesh a few times in its young life, the yearning for more overpowered his fear of being punished and he took to the skies. He could feel the magic pulsating from the soldiers’ bodies, smell it, almost taste it, but just before he attacked, he became aware of a much stronger source of magic further on. The sheer power of the magic he smelled scared him and he wondered if he could conquer a human so strong, but his hunger ate away inside him like a parasite, clouding his judgment.

  Being smaller and weaker than the other daraghna his age, he was constantly bullied by his siblings. Feeling the power emanating from the witch below him, he knew he would be far stronger than even some of the older daraghna if he could feed on the woman and absorb her magic. The thought of being that strong made him shiver with delight.

  He saw that the other humans had bows with them, but he was not afraid. He knew his scales were already hard enough to withstand arrows and crossbow bolts even though he was born only fifteen summers ago.

  For one last time he considered rather taking the other woman, the one with the red hair, but decided that her magic was not enough to satisfy his hunger.

  Pulling his wings flat against his back, he spiraled down in a steep dive towards his prey, ignoring the arrows hitting him. Just before he reached the blond woman, she lifted her hand and shot a huge black lightning bolt at him. It hit him square in the face throwing him off his intended course. He tried to grab the woman as he flew past, but narrowly missed and crashed into the ground behind her horse, tumbling away another thirty paces before hitting a tree. Slowly he got up and turned to face the humans.

  ‘Keep shooting!’ Goralt shouted.

  Lilian jumped off her horse, continuing to throw lightning bolts at the beast, but it did not seem to have any effect. She tried to establish an energy link to it, but could not penetrate its thick scales with her magic.

  ‘It’s not working, Goralt! Save your arrows,’ Lilian shouted at the elf when she saw that the arrows were simply bouncing off the beast.

  Slowly the fearsome creature approached.

  ‘Tiny humansss, comesss withsss daraghna nowsss,’ he said.

  Lilian drew an incredible amount of power from her surroundings, gathering it all up in one black energy ball. Finally, when she could not add any more energy to it, she unleashed it. The black energy ball hit the beast with a deafening thunderclap sending him flying backwards more than a hundred paces.

  ‘I think you killed it,’ Angelina said in a shaky voice.

  ‘I hope so. Let’s go have a look,’ Lilian said.

  Knowing that she could not gather another ball of energy as big as the one that she just did without putting herself in serious danger, she drew Brighton’s sword from its scabbard and walked towards the corpse, the elves following closely.

  After only ten paces, Goralt grabbed Lilian by the arm.

  ‘Mistress, it moved,’ he said.

  ‘Are you sure? Nothing can survive an onslaught like that,’ Lilian replied.

  ‘Mistress, wait here. I will go,’ Goralt suggested.

  As he walked toward the daraghna, it rose to its feet very slowly, shaking its head.

  Lilian and the elves quickly retreated to the horses as they watched the beast raise himself to its full height.

  ‘Tiny humansss will paysss!’ the beast hissed, then darted forward with incredible speed.

  Lilian immediately erected an energy barrier in front of them, hoping it will be strong enough to withstand the onslaught.

  The daraghna jumped high, focusing his attack on Lilian, but moments before he reached the energy barrier, a dark form raced from the woods and intercepted the beast in midair. Mischief’s jaws closed around the daraghna’s shoulder and with a powerful rip, the panther tore the beast’s arm clean off. Panther and daraghna crashed into the ground, but Mischief was up in a flash. He attacked again, ripping the daraghna’s wings apart, tearing his other arm off and finally his jaws found the beast’s throat. The muscles around his jaw flexed for a moment and then his large teeth sank into the daraghna’s throat ending the young beast’s life.

  Mischief stood over the corpse, teeth still bared, growls coming from deep within his throat. Angelina and the elves were too afraid to approach him, but Lilian walked forward and put her hand on his head.

  ‘Thank you, boy. You saved our lives, yet again,’ she said as she gently stroked his ears.

  Milky eyes look up at her as if he understood what she said.

  Lilian squatted next to the remains of the daraghna.

  ‘This thing is very strong. Arrows could not harm it and even my magic was ineffectual against it. I really hope we don’t come across another one,’ she said, mostly to herself.

  Angelina had cautiously walked up and was standing behind Lilian.

  ‘At least Mischief is with us now. He is the only one who can kill these beasts. I wonder how he got here,’ she said.

  ‘I don’t know. He was not on the ship with us. He always seems to make an appearance when Brighton or I are in danger, like a guardian of some sort. I’m very glad he is here now,’ Lilian sighed.

  Chapter 21

  Al’taish rode into Palentis at a slow pace. He was still not certain that giving Father the bracelet was the right thing to do.

  ‘Al’taish, Al’taish!’ a boy, about eight years of age, shouted as he came running.

  ‘Good to see you, Pete,’ Al’tiash shouted back at the boy.

  ‘Al’taish, Father said to tell you he will wait at the palace for you and that you should hurry!’ Pete shouted as he skidded to a halt next to the horse.

  ‘No need to shout anymore Pete, I can hear you just fine,’ Al’taish replied with a smile.

  ‘Sorry,’ Pete mumbled, scratching his head self-consciously.

  ‘Don’t worry about it,’ Al’taish laughed as he leaned over to ruffle the boy’s hair.

  ‘But Father…’ Pete said.

  ‘Yes, I am going,’ Al’taish sighed, his good mood suddenly turning very dark.

  He spurred the horse on and headed for the palace in the centre of Palentis.

  When he got there, Father was waiting in the large garden in front of the palace.

  ‘Father Zaconis, my life is yours,’ Al’taish greeted the old wizard as he went down on one knee.

  ‘Al’taish, did you acquire the bracelet?’ Father asked impatiently.

  Al’taish reached into his knapsack and pulled the delicate silver bracelet out.

  Wordlessly he handed it over to Father.

  ‘Good,’ Father whispered as he inspected it.

  Without another word Father walked away, leaving Al’taish wondering if he had helped destroy L
ilian.

  ‘We’re not catching up fast enough. I can feel a large number of people about two days ride ahead of us, but they are less than a day away from a city. I’m guessing it is Palentis,’ Lilian said to Goralt and Angelina.

  They were standing next to a small river letting the horses rest. Lilian insisted on keeping the horses healthy for in case they needed to make a hasty retreat.

  ‘We will just have to sneak into the city to get to Brighton,’ Angelina replied.

  ‘Yes, unfortunately it seems that way,’ Lilian frowned.

  Goralt gave the signal that the rest was over. Everybody mounted and set off towards Palentis once more.

  For the next two days they pushed the horses hard and soon they were close enough to see the city.

  They were standing next to the road in the thick forest, about three hundred paces from the city gates, scouting the area for soldiers.

  ‘It would seem the city is heavily guarded,’ Angelina said worriedly.

  There were at least two hundred soldiers outside the gates.

  ‘Those are not the city guards. They are waiting for us. Inside the walls I sense another seven or eight hundred soldiers,’ Lilian replied.

  ‘That’s not good. Should we try to find another way in?’ Angelina frowned.

  Lilian pulled the white dress from her saddlebag. She had used the rest periods to alter the dress so that it fitted her petite body perfectly. Goralt, realizing what she was about to do, turned his back, the other elves following his lead.

  Lilian quickly stripped off her travel clothes and slipped into the dress. Angelina helped her put the tiny pink ribbons in her hair, six halfway down and six more at the bottom.

  She strapped Brighton’s sword to her belt and gave Angelina the cane.

  ‘I can feel the old wizard’s sense tracking us constantly. He’s known for at least two days that we were coming. We might as well walk up to the gates and demand to see Brighton,’ Lilian said as she stepped out of the thick undergrowth.