That seemed to have gained the attention of the guards completely. A chance to prove themselves useful? That was an opportunity to show that they were the best guards ever! And moreover, there was a possibility they would be promoted.
Xanthar paced before them slowly, then he stopped again.
“Come to my office tomorrow after work,” he said with the faintest sneer on his face. “If everything goes as planned, we might finally catch that little scrub off guard.”
It seemed the time for revenge had finally come — and they were certainly going to enjoy it. Eagle stood straight in attention, his arms pinned to his sides. Jackal immediately copied Eagle's posture like a trained monkey.
“As you command, Sir!” Eagle said with acted loyalty in his voice.
It seemed Xanthar would finally leave, when he suddenly stopped, his nose wrinkled in disgust.
“And change your shirts before you step into my office,” he said as he gave them a scornful look.
“Y-yes, Sir!” Jackal shouted, trying to sound better than Eagle.
“Actually, change everything,” Xanthar added. Then he suddenly vanished from their sight, right in front of their eyes. After all, invisibility was one of his favourite spells.
There was no telling if the general was still there or he had already left. Eagle shot his colleague an angry look.
“Great, now I won't get a promotion just because you stink,” he said hatefully as though it was all Jackal's fault. Clearly, he hoped that Xanthar could still hear it.
*
The lake in the woods near Sinei had company that day. Fjalldís was sitting in the grass nearby, her long black skirt folded around her. Every now and then, she gave a long, sad sigh.
“I don't understand why I have been sent here. I don't have any exceptional abilities,” she mumbled under her nose in a downcast tone, completely ignoring the fact that she was able to cast a spell that other novices had not even heard of yet. She was playing with a small pebble that she held in her fingers. “Magnus has better company than me. Nobody wants to talk to me or play with me, I'm such an outsider,” she said out loud, even though she was completely alone. It sounded as if it was impossible to be friends with Magnus since there was another girl around him already. “I'm like a fifth wheel on the cart.” Giving another moan, she fell silent and remained in thought for a while.
“Perhaps... Darius?” she asked herself in hope, but then she immediately shook her head in rejection. “No, he's vile. And I don't think his band likes me very much,” she said disappointedly, throwing the pebble into the water. She gave another painful sigh.
As she was watching the glittering water surface, she saw a blinding ray of light coming from the reeds. Fjalldís narrowed her eyes, but she couldn't tell what it was. She remained watching it for a while in hesitation, but when she saw movement, she leaped to her feet.
“H-hello? Anyone there?” she said in a terrified tone. In that moment, she had completely forgotten that she wanted to become a warrior. She carefully edged closer to the light, hardly daring to breathe. After a while she found a small mirror and — a cute young foal!
Fjalldís' dark blue eyes opened wide. That was the last thing she expected to find here!
“You're so pretty,” she said with a gentle smile. It appeared the foal wasn't afraid at all — he even let her pet his snout. Then she got an idea.
“Let's see if my animal communication abilities are as good as Magnus',” she said, sounding a little brighter. “Pony, where did you come from?”
It appeared her abilities worked. As a reaction to her question, the foal shook his dark-maned head and with a slow canter he stepped forward. Fjalldís beamed with joy — she did it! As she followed the foal in excitement, she had completely forgotten all her problems. It appeared there was nothing missing in her life at that moment.
The light pace of the foal led her deeper and deeper into the forest behind the lake. She was far away from Sinei now. But when the amount of gnats and humidity increased, fear had tainted her peace.
“Hey, where are you leading me?” she said in a highly concerned voice, looking around cautiously. The fragrant green forest had gradually changed into dark spooky woods with trees that were either dead or dying and tall grass of dull colours creeping out of the mossy ground. The smell of this place wasn't any better than its appearance. It seemed that even the sun itself was trying to avoid it.
As she breathed the stench, her right foot slipped into a thick layer of mud. Now she finally realised what this place was. It was a vast, dank marsh!
It appeared getting out wouldn't be as easy as getting in. As she pulled one leg out of the mud, the other one slid down. As she sunk deeper into the swamp, she understood that she had run into some serious trouble. It was hard to tell what was water and what was land, as they mixed under the and grass and even the water surface itself was encrusted with algae. The sweet little foal was now only watching her with his huge innocent eyes and did nothing to lead her out of there.
“Help me out! Help!” Fjalldís cried, but her animal communication seemed to have failed completely now. She tried everything, but no matter what she did, she was only sinking deeper into the swamp. Her feet slipped on the unstable bottom and she was getting entangled by the water plants from below. It was certain that now she deeply regretted going anywhere alone without even telling Aedan about it. Her mind was full of thoughts in that moment — thoughts that you would only have before your death.
She held her chin above the mud, ready to breathe in for the last time, when a pair of dirty black boots emerged right in front of her eyes.
“Magnus...?” Fjalldís whispered, reaching out. But as soon as the boy took a firm grasp of her hand, she understood it wasn't the one she had hoped for. He was wearing black gloves. Fjalldís looked up and her eyes met the boy's steel-blue ones, gazing at her from the edge of the muddy lake.
“Hold on, I'll get you out,” Darius said confidently, but the tone of his voice suggested that he understood the seriousness of the situation.
Destiny arranged that the person Fjalldís had accused of being vile would be the one to help her. She held onto his arm as tightly as she could. The sleeve of his beloved black jacket got completely dirty, but he didn't seem to mind at all.
Darius pulled with all his strength, but it was harder than he thought. His boots were slipping on the wet soil and apparently, something was holding Fjalldís by her feet. After a long struggle it seemed he would finally get her out, but then Fjalldís shrieked in horror. Darius' focus was distracted and he had loosened his grip — the cute foal had changed into a dreadful green monster resembling a large frog. Or was it a man?
Darius froze. He had never seen anything like that in his entire life. As he remained in shock, the monster pushed him into the muddy swamp with a malicious laughter and he fell right next to Fjalldís, his head first.
Seconds later, Darius emerged, gasping above the surface and it seemed that now they would both need someone to rescue them. He swept the mud off his eyes with difficulty. It was hard to believe that his hair was light just seconds ago.
“You okay?” Fjalldís squealed in a shaking voice, reaching her arm towards him.
“Not quite,” Darius said, still rubbing the mud off his face with one hand. He cast the green monster a hateful look, but that didn't seem to scare it. Quite the opposite — the large frogman gave a malevolent chuckle.
“And I've got you both,” said the monster delightedly, spitting water from his wide slimy mouth. “As soon as you drown, I'll capture your little souls into my cup.” A wide grin broke across his ugly face as he waved an old worn cup with a lid before their eyes. Who knows how many souls he had already captured in there!
Fjalldís and Darius stopped moving their legs, but they were still sinking rapidly. This was the second time they got into trouble together the very same day — first time it was because of him and now because of her. But even in that moment, neither of t
hem could believe what they just saw. Could it by any chance be... a waterman?!
There was a sudden rustle in the reeds near the muddy swamp. The waterman stood up, finally taking his eyes off his victims. He quickly left to check, although he turned back at the children several times to make sure they couldn't get out.
As soon as the waterman disappeared from their vicinity, three boys in black emerged from the woods, carrying a long branch taken from a fallen tree. They immediately tossed one of its ends into the swamp where Fjalldís and Darius were holding on for dear life.
Darius didn't seem to be surprised at all. It looked as if he knew his friends were around and he had been waiting for their help. Now when they had finally come, he seized the branch with both his arms, stunned Fjalldís holding onto his jacket. She couldn't suppress the puzzled look on her face. Had all of them come just because of her?
While Henry, Giselbert and Rodrick were pulling Darius and Fjalldís out of the swamp, Maren and Magnus panted into sight, although Magnus looked as if he hadn't run at all. Apparently, it was them who fooled the waterman and lured him away. They were both quite surprised by the company Fjalldís had there though.
Darius wasn't pleased by Magnus' presence. Was there ever a moment when he wouldn't mingle into what they were doing? Fjalldís, on the contrary, beamed with joy again. As soon as she saw him, her face brightened, even though she was still sinking.
“Magnus!” she cried, but then she realised they hadn't been on speaking terms.
“What do you want here?” Darius snarled hatefully from below. To his astonishment, Magnus dared to respond.
“I didn't come for you, don't worry. I came for Fjalldís,” Magnus retorted, stepping carefully at the edge of the swamp. Maren was holding one of his arms just in case.
Fjalldís had immediately let go of Darius and reached out towards Magnus who pulled her out within seconds. Tearing the firm plants that held her feet wasn't the slightest problem for him.
Henry cast the merry couple an incredulous gaze.
“What the hell...?” he said, when their leader had finally scrambled onto firm land.
Darius frowned wordlessly at Magnus with a spiteful look, his nostrils quivering with anger. But there was no time for another fight.
“Watch out!” Maren squealed in fear. Everyone looked in the direction where she was pointing and they all understood what alarmed her so much. Not just one, but a whole group of watermen was dashing towards them and it seemed that Magnus had made them quite angry.
“YOU! You have set my prey free!” yelled one of them fiercely. It must have been the one they had seen before, but there was no telling — they all looked almost the same.
Maren jerked behind Magnus. She wasn't sure if he could beat them all at once, but they couldn't run recklessly, because swamps were all around. Magnus surely had exceptional abilities, but could he defeat this horde of angered watermen?
“WE'LL GET YOU!” the watermen growled, sniggering malevolently. All novices shook with horror.
“Fire...” Maren said thoughtfully.
“What?” Magnus looked around his shoulder, a confused look on his face.
“Fire and water... Magnus! You have to use your fire!” Maren insisted, tugging on his sleeve frantically.
“But I don't know how!” Magnus yelled desperately as he watched the nearing watermen who were waving their old cups threateningly. Water flew from them in all directions.
“You have to do it now, they are not in their element! They're weakened!” Maren shrieked loudly.
The Black Squad covered their ears. That shrieking was one of the things they hated the most about her.
“NOW!” Fjalldís bellowed suddenly.
It seemed the sound of her voice had finally put Magnus into motion. Just in time to save them from the angry wave of watermen, something took over Magnus' senses and spitting a massive flame, he burnt the horrible watermen to dust. A few of them managed to escape with terrified screams, disappearing into the nearest swamp.
The surface of the water became still once more and the entire marsh fell silent. The only sounds they heard were croaking frogs and a few branches cracking as the dying fire consumed them. For a moment, no one dared to speak — not even Darius who had a whole collection of ugly words ready to spit out. It was true then — Magnus really could breathe fire!
Maren touched Magnus' shoulder, but when he rounded on her, she flinched back in shock. His face had a cold-blooded expression and his eyes vertical slits for pupils. He looked like someone completely different.
Fjalldís saw it too.
“Magnus, are you okay? What's wrong with your eyes?” she said carefully, watching his pupils narrow as she came closer.
Then Magnus shook his head. When he opened his eyes again, everything seemed to be back to normal. He gave Maren and Fjalldís a bewildered look and then his gaze landed on the Black Squad who were standing several steps away, watching him wordlessly. Magnus could see respect in their eyes, although he was sure that they still hated him — maybe even more than before.
It was good to know he didn't have to worry about Darius and his gang anymore, but he didn't waste much time on them. As if nothing significant had happened, he turned to Fjalldís who was still in shock from everything she had witnessed in the past few minutes.
Magnus mouthed at her, but then he heard rattling from the reeds. This time he had no idea who it could be. But as soon as he saw the curious faces of his two housemates, everyone could breathe again. Aurora and Belinda emerged right behind them. They must have followed them all the way from the town.
As the four newly-come novices cautiously avoided any puddles, Magnus decided to finish what he had started.
“I would like to apologise for not telling you that Maren would travel to Sinei with us. I don't want us to act like strangers anymore,” he said with a kind smile. “Today I have lost something that was very important to me. But I hope I have gained something that means even more to me — your friendship,” he added. As he said that, a jealous look dawned on Maren's face.
Fjalldís' cheeks turned pink at once. She couldn't suppress a wide smile any longer.
“Actually, not only me,” continued Magnus, “We all have come here because of you and we would be very happy if you let us get closer to you. You're not alone.”
Magnus spoke like a true friend, but he didn't expect what happened next. Fjalldís, who had been gazing at her dirty shoes shyly, suddenly gave him a tight hug. A few more words and she would have started crying from joy. They both heard scandalised muttering coming from the Black Squad.
Maren didn't seem to be very pleased either, but for Magnus' sake, she was willing to accept the strange girl into their party.
“Well, I hope that we can be –” Maren started bashfully, but she didn't even have to finish — Fjalldís embraced both of them. Her face was beaming with joy and a charming smile that no one had seen on her face since their arrival in Sinei.
“My friends!” Fjalldís said joyfully. When she finally released them, Lars, Elmar, Belinda and Aurora jumped to her side, a broad smile on their faces. She told them how happy she was that they came and then she looked at Magnus again with a very grateful, “Thank you for saving me, Magnus.”
“My pleasure,” Magnus said simply, but no words could express the joy he really felt. He had wanted to be friends with Fjalldís since the first time he saw her.
Darius gaped at them as if it was all just a bad joke.
“I can't believe this. You're thanking HIM?!” he breathed furiously, his chest heaving rapidly.
“Of course,” Fjalldís said, clearly convinced that Magnus deserved all the credit. “He pulled me out and defeated the monsters. Basically, he saved you too. I think you should apologise for the morning fight and thank him for saving your neck.”
Darius' next words made everyone except Magnus wince in fear — even his own friends.
“NEVER!” he snapped, his face cont
orted with rage. “There's not a SINGLE thing in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD that would ever make me thank him!”
“You sound just like Xanthar,” Magnus said in an unimpressed tone. “How did you even get here?”
Henry, Rodrick and Giselbert exchanged a few uncertain looks, as though they wanted to make sure if it was all right to tell. Then Rodrick decided to speak.
“We... we followed the little mirrors –” his mouth was silenced by Darius' hand, but it was already too late.
Maren preached smartly, “Mirrors? That was a trap to lure the victims, you fools!” She giggled, along with the Lars and Belinda.
The mood was growing lighter again, but there was something else that Magnus wanted to say. He turned back to his new friend.
“Fjalldís, the most important thing — I'd like to thank you for helping me out and protecting me from... certain malevolent people, although I probably won't need it any more,” he said brightly, casting Darius and his three comrades a victorious smile. It was clear that after seeing the fire show, they wouldn't bother him again.
“I was happy to help,” Fjalldís said, still smiling through the mud on her face.
Darius rolled his eyes. He had tried everything to turn her attention away from Magnus, but nothing seemed to work. Well, surely there were other ways, but according to him, they were all meant for losers.
“This is lame. Let's go, guys,” he growled angrily, rushing his friends back into the forest which was much darker now than when they first came. The sun was almost gone. As the Black Squad stepped forward with Darius in the lead, a spooky owl hooting brought them to a halt.
Magnus and the others had left in a different direction which was actually a shortcut, but soon they noticed that the Black Squad were following them, although they were still keeping their distance. And it was only because he could keep them all safe — that's the only time when he was good for them!
The last part of their journey back to Sinei was in complete darkness and despite Magnus' great abilities to protect them, Lars was shaking with fear all the way. As the night fell over the land, the Black Squad came closer to Magnus and the others, but they didn't say a word. The only light they had was a bright sphere of light floating above Fjalldís' right palm — apparently she was already skilled enough to copy the spell from Solas in the Mages Guild. They shuffled into the town, crossed the streets and entered the underground chamber in the citadel together, but it appeared they had already missed the test. Aedan gave them a reproving glare as he surveyed them from their dusty heads to their muddy boots.
Drakonika (Book 1) Page 24
