Drakonika (Book 1)

by Andrea Závodská

  Magnus seemed happy again. “That's great! We'll meet in the morning then! Farewell for now,” he said with a dreamy smile on his face as he turned in the direction of the Merry Pigeon Inn. Darkness had covered Ragna and there was no time to lose. He certainly didn't want to meet one of those frightening monsters again!

  VI. The Citadel of Sinei

  In the early morning, before the first birds would start chirping over the roofs of the Ragnan houses, Magnus was already waiting near the bakery. He found a place from where he could see both the city gate and the road. There were no guards yet. He didn't even have to know what time it was to understand that he got there too early. But because he couldn't sleep all night he decided to go out earlier and wait there.

  When the sun was finally rising, the first signs of life appeared in the city. Sleepy Jackal shuffled reluctantly to the gate and even more reluctantly opened it. Magnus could see huge circles under his eyes even from a distance.

  Magnus yawned as he was watching the town come to life. The bakery's lights lit up. They would start baking delicious fresh pastry shortly. Magnus was wondering which one of the girls would come first. Maren or Fjalldís?

  When he was almost falling asleep, he spotted light blonde hair, gleaming in the first sun rays. Maren! He hadn't expected her to come.

  As they saw each other their eyes opened wide, and Magnus instantly felt awake. Shortly, they met by the town gate. There was a cart ready to take them to the citadel and a coachman dressed in untidy clothes, looking completely disheveled. He probably had to get up earlier than usual. They could have already expected that he wouldn't be very friendly.

  “Hi,” said Maren with a smile she wasn't able to hide. “Do you still remember my name?”

  She didn't please Magnus with this question much. All night he couldn't wait to meet her again and she greets him like this? Although he knew why she said that, he played dumb. “Why wouldn't I remember your name?” Magnus said a bit grumpily.

  Maren giggled as she tossed her bag into the cart. “It's nothing, just testing your tremendous memory,” she said pointedly, scrambling into the cart. “Well then, are we leaving?” She looked at Magnus, her eyes filled with expectations. Clearly, she couldn't wait for the new adventure, but Magnus was still looking around.

  “Yeah, in a while” said Magnus while tossing his huge bag of new clothes into the cart.

  Maren couldn't help touching his baggage immediately. “Goodness gracious, what have you got in there? Stones?” she said, shaking her head after an unsuccessful attempt to push Magnus' baggage aside.

  “No, just some new clothes that I completely forgot to wear actually, my stay permit and the ginger cookies from Valezar,” said Magnus absently, still watching both of the streets leading to the gate.

  “Cookies from Valezar? I knew you had stones in there,” said Maren tartly.

  They were lucky that Jackal didn't pay any attention to them. Half asleep, he was leaning on the stone wall nearby and didn't take notice of absolutely anything.

  Magnus had watched the streets long enough for Maren to understand what was going on.

  “You're waiting for someone?” she asked curiously, although she knew very well that the answer would be positive.

  “What? Oh, yes,” Magnus answered airily. This time it was him who didn't please Maren.

  “Oh,” proceeded Maren sneakily. “And someone other than me?”

  Magnus looked around at Maren sitting in the cart. “You're here already, aren't you?”

  “Aha! So you ARE waiting for somebody else after all!” Maren shrieked in a wounded tone. “And may I know who this valued person is that you're waiting for?” As soon as she asked this question she folded her arms on her chest.

  Magnus realised he would have to get out all the details. He took a deep breath and then breathed out. “After your mum slammed the door in front of my nose I went to buy some new clothes. I did find the shop but instead of the shop keeper I found this girl Fjalldís who wanted to catch a wanted thief. Although she actually caught me first-”

  Before he could even finish the sentence, Maren interrupted him. “She caught you?” she said, having difficulty not to start laughing. But since they didn't want Jackal's attention, she had to control herself. “You're such a duffer, even a girl can catch you!”

  Magnus didn't remember how many times he had been called a duffer since he arrived in Ragna. “Keep laughing. In the end we did catch the thief, together,” said Magnus, raising his chin victoriously. “Coincidentally, the girl is from Zimbadur's list that we both signed yesterday.”

  The girl was from Zimbadur's list? That was certainly bad news for Maren. “So, she'll go with us?” she said. There wasn't the slightest trace of joy in her voice.

  “Of course, who did you think I was waiting for, Jackal?” Magnus said, laughing quietly. “I promised I would meet her today and I will keep my word,” he said resolutely as he got into the cart. That's where they waited for another half an hour.

  Bored and tired, Maren had laid her head on her knees when Magnus finally saw Fjalldís coming.

  The charming girl was in a long black skirt and white blouse showing off her shoulders. She waved excitedly at Magnus from the street to the right.

  “Wake up, she's coming,” Magnus said joyfully, poking Maren. But when they both looked up, Fjalldís had her back turned to them. Actually, she was walking in the opposite direction!

  “Wait! Fjalldís, where are you going? We're... here,” said Magnus in an effort to call her back.

  Fjalldís stopped and glanced at Magnus one last time, frowning at him angrily. It was supposed to be just the two of them, so where did the second girl come from? It didn't seem Fjalldís was interested in finding out. She set her backpack right on her shoulder and with a stubborn pace she disappeared into a narrow aisle.

  Maren yawned widely. “Perfect. Can we go now? We're already late,” she said in a bored voice. Without even waiting for Magnus' answer, she told the coachman to go. She clearly didn't care if Fjalldís would go with them, quite the opposite. Just like Fjalldís, she wanted to travel with Magnus alone.

  It took a while for Magnus to put his thoughts in order. Before he could even deal with what happened, they were already quite far away from the town.

  “What's the matter with you? You're so quiet,” Maren said, although she knew very well what was going on.

  Magnus gave a sigh, “I don't understand it, I thought she was looking forward to meeting me,” he said, his head hanging low.

  “Yeah right, I was a witness to that,” said Maren tartly. Why didn't Magnus care about Maren looking forward to meeting him instead?

  Magnus decided to change the topic. “By the way, what did you say to your mother? Don't tell me she let you go just like that.”

  “Actually, it was pretty easy. I told her my class was going to have lessons out in the nature for a period of time. And when the need arises, I'll think of something else,” said Maren calmly as she set her precious mage cloak over her head. Their cart going through the scabrous pathways was shaking them lightly.

  That's when Magnus understood his friend didn't have any problems with lying. But he decided not to comment on it.

  Any kind of speech completely died out. Their eyes now focused on something totally different. It was an enchanting landscape of green forests, grass and moss that the morning dew was still glittering on and murmuring streams that they could hear from the road. All this had charmed them completely. The rising sun, getting higher and higher, laid golden rays on everything the children fixed their eyes on. Not even Maren could believe that the land surrounding Ragna was so beautiful because she rarely left the town. They both felt as if they were dreaming.

  But very soon this beautiful dream changed into a nightmare. They could see more and more dead trees from the road, dry grass, stone barricades and burnt alleys.

  Maren was restlessly looking around; it was a wonder she didn't fall out of the cart
. “Ehm, sir, are you sure we're going the right way?” she said, hoping he would say that he got lost and they would get back on the right path shortly.

  “Yes, we're going VERY right. It couldn't be more right,” the coachman growled, totally bothered. “Sinei, what a pit,” he mumbled under his nose.

  Maren and Magnus exchanged confused looks.

  “We'll be there soon.” The coachman's answer didn't please his passengers much and after all, not even the coachman himself. “I don't get it. What are you brats rushing there for? You'll want to leave as soon as you arrive.”

  Their enthusiasm grew weaker with each bit of the journey that passed Since the whole cart was shaking from bumping over the rocky ground, they couldn't notice that something was coming closer to them. However, they soon heard it.

  It sounded like the wheels of another cart somewhere in a distance, but it was getting closer very rapidly. In a short while they had a feeling it would appear behind them at any moment. But they still couldn't see anything.

  Another cart dashed out from the side-road between the dense forest of dead trees. Its coachman was a man in a dusty black coat, wrinkles all over his face. He had a nose crooked like the branch of a tree and scraggly greasy hair flowing in the wind. He was clearly enjoying the deadly ride, and he wasn't alone.

  In the cart behind him, there was a group of boys yelling so loudly that Magnus thought they would awaken even the dead forest.

  “Wooohooo!” resounded right next to Maren as the fast cart bolted by and almost bumped into them. Both Maren and Magnus stared at the cart that just outran them without uttering a word.

  The screaming was accompanied with taunting. “Look at them snails!” yelled one of the boys.

  Their tatterdemalion of a coachman grinned even more and cracked the whip the strongest he could. In the next moment, Maren and Magnus' cart was engulfed in a huge cloud of dust that arose from beneath the hoofs of the horses in front of them.

  Maren and Magnus coughed and all of a sudden their cart stopped.

  When the dust settled, the “nice” band was nowhere in sight. But the cloud of dust wasn't the only reason their coachman stopped.

  The good news was that they saw the green and delightful nature again. The bad news was that they were separated from it by a deep abyss and the only way to get to the other side was to cross an old wooden bridge, still swinging from the invasion of the feisty cart that had outrun them. The dark bridge seemed rather unwelcoming, perhaps even hostile.

  This sight wasn't to the coachman's liking either for he narrowed his eyes and frowned. He then announced his verdict. “Well brats, get out,” he said with a mischievous smile on his face. Without any doubt, he was delighted that he finally found an excuse which allowed him to get rid of his passengers.

  Maren and Magnus didn't make a move. That must have been a joke!

  The coachman didn't change his mind though. “Can you see those tall towers sticking out of that thick forest of trees? That's Sinei. Maybe you'll make it if you take the forest pathway,” he notified them calmly.

  His small passengers fixed their eyes on the prominent towers of the citadel that was, in spite of good visibility, very far away. The forest pathway was overgrown with ferns and wildly wide-spread tree branches. They were separated from it by an enormous forest and on top of that by the old, ramshackle bridge dangling above the abyss.

  Before they could even object they were standing on a dusty road with their luggage. The coachman waved at them as he rode back, a drift of dust behind him.

  “Wait! You can't be serious!” shouted Maren at a last effort to turn the carriage back, but it was pointless. The coachman didn't even turn to look behind and soon he disappeared into the dead woods.

  Magnus thought it would be easier to simply jump into the abyss. He slowly came towards the bridge and looked down. It felt as if it was trying to drag him into its eternal darkness. “How deep do you think it is?” he asked, staring into the dark pit. It would be a very long fall.

  “Who cares? We have to get across the bridge and knowing the depth of the abyss won't help us,” said Maren, still angry from the coachman's betrayal.

  Magnus had already learned to ignore Maren's mood swings quite successfully. “You know what? I don't think the bridge is weak, considering it withstood the wild ride of the cart that overran us! I'm pretty sure they went this way,” he said, standing on the first slab of the bridge. “I'll go first. Follow my steps, tread carefully and hold tight, just in case.” With his eyes full of worries, he looked at Maren who now forgot all about her rage because of fear. But was it fear for her own safety or for Magnus'?

  Magnus' first step made the bridge dangle again. Even though nothing was falling beneath him, Maren didn't dare to enter onto the bridge sooner than him going beyond one third of it. After a while, he felt her steps behind him finally. He was starting to think that Maren wouldn't move at all!

  When Maren looked down, her heart thumped madly and the creaking of old ropes from the bridge didn't help it to slow down. In spite of that their journey went smoothly, except for the end.

  There were two slabs missing at the very end of the bridge's other side. The hole wasn't big but it was enough to scare a girl like Maren. Magnus didn't hesitate. He bounced from the last slab of the bridge and to their surprise, he landed effortlessly on the solid ground on the other side. The dry dirt scattered under his shoes.

  “Jump, I'll catch you!” said Magnus as convincingly as he could, hoping he was right. He dropped his heavy backpack and reached out towards Maren.

  Magnus' pretended certainty seemed to be working because Maren jumped over the hole in the old bridge despite her fear of heights. With all her strength she bounced from the last slab. However, that made the bridge swing again and one of her feet slipped.

  Fortunately, there was Magnus standing on the other side, alert and prepared to handle even the worst possible fall. Except if she dropped straight down, of course.

  Maren landed directly on Magnus who caught her without any trouble. Both of them looked down into the abyss as though making sure that they were safe. Now that they were on the other side, they felt as if that bridge was some kind of a test. And they passed it with A+.

  Magnus looked at Maren who was still breathing heavily. “You're light like a feather,” he said, a friendly smile on his face.

  This sentence made Maren forget all about the scary bridge they had just crossed. When she felt her face turning red, she immediately drew back from Magnus, looking in the opposite direction. That would be the last thing she needed, for him to see her blushing face!

  “Really?” peeped Maren quietly, almost whispering. “Well, I think we should take the forest pathway. If we're lucky, we may arrive before noon,” she said, estimating and hoping that the red colour from her face would disappear just as fast as it came.

  Magnus decided to pretend that he didn't see anything. He picked up his heavy backpack and tossed it over his shoulder. With a curious gaze he stepped onto the forest pathway which was hardly recognisable through all the weeds. He stopped for a moment. The scent of trees and freshly fallen needles filled his nostrils. With his eyes closed, he took a deep breath. How sweet was the scent of nature!

  A light nudge from the side disturbed his moment of peace.

  “I don't know about you, but I'm not going to wait here to be eaten by the wild beasts,” said Maren impatiently as she strolled by Magnus to get in front of him. She seemed to have the worst opinion about the forests. Apparently, she didn't hear anything good about them back in Ragna.

  Magnus, on the contrary, had a completely different opinion. Quite recently he passed through a forest on his way to Ragna and he didn't meet any bloodthirsty creatures. Why should this forest be any different? “Don't worry, I got your back,” he said, letting out a small snigger. Maren definitely didn't feel like laughing though.

  They managed to follow the forest pathway with great difficulty, but fortunately th
ere was something that navigated their journey. The towers of the citadel were so tall that you could see them from any place in the forest. And the closer they came to them, the bigger they seemed to get.

  When Maren finally understood that no vermin would attack them, her tongue loosened. “I still don't understand how you could seize that thief all alone,” she said, hopping from rock to rock.

  Magnus shook his head lightly in disagreement. “I didn't do it alone, I had a helper,” he said humbly, waving his hand in an effort to get rid of a gnat that was annoyingly buzzing in front of his nose.

  “Right, and I'm sure she helped you big time,” responded Maren pointedly and rolled her eyes.

  Magnus knew what she wanted to say. He had an adventure without her. But what could he have done? She was locked up at home and on top of that, spell casting was prohibited in Ragna.

  As they were walking through the forest, the shadows of trees flashed on their clothes and faces. In a while, they heard the burbling of a forest creek. Something different at last!

  As soon as they noticed this sound, both of them took a run in the direction where it was coming from. They were looking forward to the beautiful sight of a forest creek, but they saw something much, much more wonderful. Seeing that, they both stopped like soldiers given a command.

  A glass-clear creek streamed down through stones overgrown with moss to a rocky valley where the towering aim of their journey was – the citadel of Sinei. It was so tall that even the Mages Guild would look like a nursery next to it. After their exhausting journey, this promising sight pleased them greatly. The whole citadel was bathed in the sun rays of noon and it was completely impossible to overlook. The citadel was built from travertine, a stone as bright as ivory and it was also standing on a rocky hill composed of it.

  However, it wasn't the citadel that caught their interest. There were tall walls coiling around, hiding a vast number of grey houses studded with wood.

  Maren and Magnus' eyes brightened even more. Sinei was a town!