Drakonika (Book 1)

by Andrea Závodská

  Rodrick and Magnus remained staring at each other with quite unfriendly looks.

  “Magnus, what's wrong with you? Am I supposed to do everything?” Maren chided.

  Magnus gave a small sigh. “Can you play Magiker?” he asked flatly.

  “I can. What about it?” Rodrick said airily.

  “And could you... teach me?” Magnus whispered discreetly, leaning closer to him so that nobody else would hear it.

  “Teach?” Rodrick said out loud, audible enough for all novices to hear it. “Me? Teach you?” He looked as though he wasn't sure if he should take it seriously or start laughing — The Great Magnus wasn't the best at something!

  Magnus cast a few gazes around, looking quite uneasy. “Shhhh, quiet!” he scolded Rodrick in a low voice. “Yeah, is there a problem with that?”

  To their astonishment, Rodrick's expression changed in a fragment of a second. “No. Not at all. The cards are my life,” Rodrick said brightly. “So what's the plan?”

  Magnus let Maren and Fjalldís explain how to avoid Aedan with the help of the telepathic devices from Valezar and meet together by the cards as he watched Rodrick suspiciously. It was certain their teacher wouldn't be happy about what they were up to, but Magnus pleased him with at least one thing — lately he had been wearing the druid cloak all the time.

  XVI. The Secret Revealed

  Rodrick's intentions were not fair.

  That was exactly what Magnus expected and that was also what he had read from his mind. What other cause would make him so willing to help? Magnus was getting better in intentional mind reading with each passing day and now he was certain that when Rodrick took the guilt for Maren's “shooting range” in the dining room, it was for only one reason — to get closer to her and learn some useful information about Magnus. Now he intended to continue with that plan.

  But if Magnus wanted to learn the rules of Magiker, he had no other choice but to accept the role of a naive boy in front of the Black Squad. The chance that he would find another teacher of Magiker within one week was almost zero.

  This evening, as usual, was to be spent by reading in their underground study rooms. Maren was making notes about herbs by the candlelight, which was the only source of light in this dungeon. But her study didn't take very long.

  “He's coming!” Maren whispered, touching the glossy surface of her Thought Booster, sending Magnus a message that was supposed to finally set up some action after several long boring months full of studies.

  “He's not coming!” resounded Maren's insisting voice in Magnus' head. A bewildered look dawned on his face — why would Maren let him know that Aedan was not coming? In the end, he decided she probably meant that their teacher came into the wing with the girls' study rooms, so the area was all clear.

  “Got it!” Magnus replied swiftly through his “walkie-talkie”, but what Maren received on the other side was just the opposite: “I don't get it!” Magnus was lucky he didn't hear her chiding that, as he didn't wait a second and bolted out into the dim hallway. “Why does Rodrick's study room have to be at the very end?” he moaned in a low voice, as he was making his way through the stone hallway that meandered like a huge snake. It was so confusing that Magnus couldn't see behind the next corner, and there weren't just a few of them.

  He was no longer sure if he was going the right way — any novice could lose orientation here. As he was passing the narrow corridor with doors and lit torches on the walls, he wasn't even sure if he was going forward or backward. Then he felt someone breathing hard behind him.

  “What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be studying in your room?” Aedan's voice hammered.

  Magnus turned and flinched back in shock. But as soon as he did that, expecting the worst kind of punishment ever, Aedan's stern look had suddenly changed into a face softened with a wide, warm smile.

  “Ah, Magnus! My dear fellow druid! I am delighted to see you,” Aedan said in an ecstatic tone, as if he had immediately forgotten what he said just seconds ago.

  Magnus gaped at him, unable to say a word. Hadn't Maren just told him that Aedan was not coming?

  “What a beautiful evening we have, don't we?” Aedan said delightedly, looking around the dull stone walls that had nothing quite beautiful on them.

  “Oh, yes,” Magnus nodded quickly, looking around the twisting hallway which didn't even allow him to see whether it was day or night, but he decided to agree with his teacher nonetheless. “I was just admiring the gorgeous stones that were created by Mother Nature so that we could build this lovely underground,” he said, and to his fortune, Aedan didn't notice the uncertainty in his voice. Suddenly, Magnus swung his hand to his ear. “I think I just heard Her heartbeat!” he whispered in the tone of acted amazement. As it seemed, each word that he uttered sounded like heaven to Aedan.

  His teacher had never thought that one day he would be listening to Magnus with such joy. “You're quite right! I can hear Her too. Not as well as in natural caves, but I can still hear Her breathe and whisper to us!” Aedan said in a mystic tone. Unfortunately for Magnus, it didn't seem that he would be leaving any time soon. “Actually, I have come here to talk to you. I have been thinking about all of you and it seems that the best novices are you and Belinda. No one else has understood that druidry is the right path for you all. I need someone who would help me out with my lessons and I think that you and Belinda are exactly who I need. We could begin tomorrow. What do you say, Magnus?” Aedan said hopefully.

  Magnus was quite stunned by this proposal. He wasn't sure what to say — if he refused, Aedan could find out that he wasn't a real druid. On the other hand — if he agreed, he would probably have no time for Magiker training. But when he saw the high hopes in Aedan's eyes and his firm belief that it would help the other novices, Magnus couldn't refuse this offer. Moreover, he got an interesting idea.

  “Certainly, I'll be happy to help,” Magnus said brightly. “But honestly, I don't think they will listen to me. Especially Darius and his comrades.”

  Aedan waved his hand in disagreement. “What are you saying,” he said happily, as though he believed that taming Darius and his gang would be a piece of cake for Magnus. Maybe it would be, but not under the condition that he couldn't use fire. “If there's anyone who can make them listen, it's you.”

  If Magnus didn't see the honesty in Aedan's eyes, he would have thought he was mocking him. But if he wanted to carry out the plan he invented a moment ago, he had to look convincing. “You're probably right. I think they will calm down after one of my lessons. I know just the thing to make obedient druids out of them.”

  Aedan couldn't look happier. He was already imagining Darius, Rodrick, Viktor, Henry, Giselbert and perhaps even Serena diligently bobbing down around the woods, trying to help other novices and Mother Nature. Then his merry train of thought was interrupted by Magnus' hesitant voice.

  “But in exchange for my help, I'd like to ask you for a favour,” Magnus said bashfully.

  Aedan didn't stop smiling, but Magnus could see that he suspected something. “What can I do for you?” Aedan said, gazing at his novice.

  “It's nothing, really. I just have one question to ask after the lesson tomorrow.”

  “Is it about this guild?” Aedan asked sligthly suspiciously.

  Magnus gave his teacher an innocent smile, “Of... of course.”

  “Excellent,” Aedan said, a bright smile returning to his face. “All right then, quickly now, back into your study room! You have to prepare yourself!” he rushed his novice back through the hallway.

  Although Aedan was clearly overjoyed, Magnus had great difficulty to hiding his fear. His plan was good, but nowhere near perfect. He only had a few seconds to think of it since he was under great pressure. He gave Aedan a final fake smile. “I'm so looking forward to the lessons tomorrow! You can't imagine how much,” Magnus lied with a bright look, hoping his shaking voice wouldn't reveal the truth. “Well, good night, see you tomorrow. Er... Blessed
be the big druidry day... Just wait, we'll show them,” he stuttered as he vanished behind the corner, walking backwards. He gave a defeated groan as he realised his Magiker training was completely ruined. At least for tonight.

  As soon as he disappeared from Aedan's sight, the druid heaved a nostalgic sigh. “Ah... if only I had more novices like Magnus,” he suspired. He remained gazing at the empty wall for a while, then turned around and continued his evening patrol.

  The next day started merrily. Nobody but Magnus knew what was going to happen and maybe that was the worst thing about it. He could hardly hide his nervousness and as usual, he was so tired that he could fall asleep at once. It appeared that for some reason his sleeping time was turned upside down — he loved to sleep all day and do everything at night. But that was impossible, given the fact that the rest of the novices wanted to sleep at night and study in the day time.

  “Elmar!” Magnus whispered as he furtively leaned to his friend, who was diligently reading books even during the lunch break. Elmar was his only salvation now. Fjalldís and Maren were not suitable for his plan; Lars was scared of every bug and Magnus hadn't had a chance to get much closer to the other novices — except for the Black Squad who were impossible not to know.

  It appeared that Elmar really didn't want to pull his eyes off the book, but then he finally looked up and gave Magnus a naive smile. “Hi, have you come to study with me?” he asked happily.

  Magnus was expecting this question, but he still hated to hear it. “No, but I'd like to ask you for a favour. And if you do it, I promise I'll study with you,” he said quietly, casting a few furtive looks around to make sure that no one was listening. It seemed safe though — the dining room was full of shrieks of laughter. The girls were talking about their plans for the future, Lars seemed to be totally immersed in his studies and the others were chatting and eating.

  “Oh, really? That's fantastic! I would love that! I really liked when the four of us studied in our house together, it made such a special mood,” Elmar said eagerly. It seemed he would agree with Magnus' offer, but he didn't yet know what it was about. And Magnus wasn't sure if group-study would be worth this perilous task. But clearly, it was.

  Shortly after lunch, when the novices bounded out into the courtyard like an unstoppable avalanche, Elmar gathered all his courage and walked straight towards the Black Squad. As he passed by, he sneakily forced a folded piece of paper into Darius' hand and afterwards mingled into the crowd of screaming children. Magnus was watching everything, although he pretended to be talking with Maren and Fjalldís.

  A single look at the folded note was enough for Darius to quickly slip it into his pocket. He certainly didn't want his friends to see what was inside, since the upper fold was scribbled with the words: “Open in privacy”. Just what could one of Magnus' grovellers want to tell him?

  This had awoken great curiosity, so he made up an excuse to disappear for a moment. “You know what guys, I think I forgot something inside... I'll be right back,” he said swiftly. Then he slipped back into the dining room which was unusually serene, now that the novices were squealing outside. He stopped right by the door and leaned against the wall right next to the window, pulling out the folded note from Elmar. He cast a furtive look outside to make sure nobody was spying on him and then quickly unfolded the paper. It said: “Fjalldís likes druids.”

  The afternoon lesson was a shock to all of them. Not only that Magnus and Belinda were standing by Aedan's side, ready to help him with teaching, but there was something else that caught just as much interest. Darius came to the lesson dressed in the druid cloak which he hated so much.

  Magnus could already see the ecstatic expression on Aedan's face. It awoke a slightly guilty feeling, but he was still relieved that his plan seemed to be working; at least for now.

  Elmar wasn't looking at the Black Squad, but he was being watched closely. Darius was already thinking about what to do to him if the writing in that note wasn't true.

  “Darius, what are you wearing? It's not winter yet!” Serena scoffed, while others broke into a quiet snigger. Apparently, they considered wearing the druid cloaks something totally absurd, especially in their gang. It wasn't even black!

  “Silence!” Aedan snapped and the outpouring of mirth was instantly quelled. “I think I will make a new rule for our small guild code of laws.” The code was anything but small, but compared to the one in Ragna, it was certainly just a short poem. “Any kind of insult addressed towards a druid will be strictly punished.”

  Darius was lucky this rule didn't exist a few months ago, when he insulted Belinda so harshly. But it was the first time that somebody had stood up for him during his stay in Sinei. Although it was only because he was wearing the druid cloak. Actually, Aedan stood up for the cloak alone, because Darius was not a druid and he didn't have the slightest intention of becoming one. Magnus felt just the same, but he had to finish his little play to the very end.

  When the novices finally gathered before Aedan and his two helpers, the lesson could begin. However, neither Magnus nor Darius had an idea of how a druid student should behave, so they both focused on the most druid-like novice of them all — Belinda.

  Aedan gave them a loving smile. “Today we'll talk about shape-shifting, but before we do that, I would like to hear what you remember from the last lesson about diet. Belinda?” he said brightly and looked to his left where his most diligent druid girl was standing, smiling from ear to ear. It seemed she considered it a great honour to be given a chance to talk from such a great druid as Aedan.

  “A druid lives in harmony with nature, therefore we should never buy meat in the town. You never know how the animal was slaughtered and it is quite certain that Mother Nature didn't receive any thanks for it. Animals bred for food often live in a terrible environment and their miserable life ends on the plate. Since the druid never wants to harm any living being, this is completely unacceptable. Druids prefer to feed on plants. And who can tell me why?” Belinda said, looking from novice to novice. But when no one seemed to be willing to answer, Magnus did it instead. Although, it wasn't very honest, because all he said was coming straight from Belinda's mind.

  “Because if you cut part of a plant, it can grow back. But when you want to eat meat, you can't just take a bit — you have to take it all. In some cases, when you don't have a choice, you can slaughter an animal to eat, but only as many as you need to survive and you have to do it quickly and painlessly. And of course, you have to thank Mother Nature for it. That's the cycle of nature,” Magnus said, smiling at Maren and Fjalldís who gaped at him in amazement. He looked just like a guild professor! Belinda stared at him in shock, but fortunately, everyone thought it was because she was stunned by his knowledge.

  While Aedan almost cried tears of joy, Darius didn't look too happy. How could he even act that he was a better druid that Magnus? It seemed that he knew absolutely everything and except Darius' comrades, everyone was staring at him in wordless amazement. Fjalldís was no exception.

  “Perfect,” Aedan said contently. “I hope that you all will remember this, and we can now continue on to the shape-shifting lesson. When you wander in the woods, sometimes you will meet a situation when it would be better to turn into an animal. You might see a bear or another dangerous animal that could attack a human being, and we do not want to kill nor be get killed. Shape-shifting is a natural ability of every druid. Another good reason to become a one,” he said casually. “It is intuitive and all druids can turn into the animal that matches their personality the best.” Aedan remained silent for a while. It seemed he was considering if he should shape-shift himself, but then he decided it was better not to as he knew what he would turn into. And right now he didn't want the novices to get frightened and scatter around the forest. Who would chase after them?

  “Well? Any volunteers? Who wants to try it?” Aedan said finally. But it didn't look like anyone was rushing forward. While others tried to hide behind each other, a
n arm dressed in a black sleeve rose from the crowd. The curious novices immediately took a step back to create a circle around the volunteer.

  “Darius?” Viktor breathed incredulously.

  “What do you want to do? You're not a druid,” Serena added.

  This could have been the only chance for Darius to convince everyone that he was a druid, but it might also have been a chance to make a complete fool of himself. Considering how many times he had done that already, he decided to give it a shot. Despite the objections of his friends and all the curious faces that were staring at him, he gave his druid staff to Rodrick and stepped forward. He didn't want to stand by Belinda so he chose the place on Aedan's right — next to Magnus, although he hated him from the bottom of his heart.

  “What a surprise!” Aedan exclaimed joyfully. “At last you're coming to your senses. Now we'll learn if you really are a druid.”

  Magnus could easily see that Darius had lost all his confidence now. His mind was like a swirling water surface. How could he even turn into an animal? He wasn't a real druid! But Magnus had to show Aedan that he could tame the Black Squad and lead them to the decision of becoming druids, even if that meant he would have to cheat. How else would their teacher give him the answer to his important question?

  “Are you all right?” Aedan said in a concerned tone, when he saw his novice hesitate. Just as Darius mouthed at Aedan to announce that he couldn't do it, suddenly everyone around had turned into giants. As he looked around in confusion and saw the size of the trees, he understood what happened — he got smaller. Much smaller.

  There was an outbreak of shocked muttering. Maren, Fjalldís and many others gasped, but the Black Squad didn't do it out of impression, just the opposite. It had unveiled one shocking fact to them — Darius was a druid!

  The novices were now looking at a white hawk that was shooting puzzled looks all around him. Why white, though? Darius would certainly wish to be all black! But the only dark feathers were on the tips of his wings and on the tail. The rest was as white as freshly fallen snow.