by Rain Oxford
“I know,” Shaerl interrupted. “However, dragons took care of us before and they will again.”
Merlin said something in another language, which I suspected I didn’t want to understand. “Your society should not have to rely on dragons to save you.”
Although part of me agreed with him, my father raised me to respect dragons.
“What are you doing to protect yourself from your mother?” Malaki asked.
I took off my robe and pulled up my sleeves. “Thaddeus, the only one of my brothers who’s on my side, used some tattoos that hide me. They need to be redone often, though, and I’m not sure how well they’re working.”
Without a word, my grandmother and eldest uncle stood and switched places. Malaki made a flicking motion with his hand and his wand appeared. It was wooden, but it was stained red as if with blood. A curved fang was secured to the tip like the crystal was to my staff. “I will renew them,” Malaki said, pressing his wand to my skin.
“I don’t know that it’s really necessary.” He ignored me and traced his wand over Thad’s design. He was doing it without ink. I felt his magic stain my skin and shuddered. It was all I could do not to fight it.
Despite the fact that they had never done anything to me, each Rynorm sorcerer was much more imposing than all six of my brothers. My grandmother was the one I didn’t understand, though; she seemed so accepting despite being a dangerously powerful sorceress.
When Malaki’s wand vanished, I frowned. “You forgot to burn it in,” I said as politely as I could.
He laughed. “That is for children. This will last longer and work better.”
“Oh. Thank you. Can we go talk to the dragons now?”
“I will take you to Nasku, one of the oldest dragons here.”
Chapter 9
We followed Malaki outside, around the cabin, and through the woods. “So… I heard my father wasn’t great at paying attention,” I said.
“Smooth,” Merlin said sarcastically.
Malaki laughed easily and patted my shoulder. “He was a proper sorcerer, but he was the dreamer of the family… at least, he was until he was forced to marry Ilvera.”
“Forced? How was he forced?”
“I don’t know. He hated her, but he married her without any explanation. Kille always had his head or hand in a book. He wrote books on history and read stories of adventure.”
“So did I!” I shouted excitedly. When he gave me a knowing look, I blushed. “I mean… adventure stories and history books were always my favorites. Until I left home, I never knew I had anything in common with my father, who I always thought was the perfect sorcerer.”
“Perfect, you say? He did inherit some of the Rynorm charm, I guess. Anyway, he wasn’t as interested in his chores and he preferred to read about history than learn about it from the dragons. When we were children, I tried to make him shape up. I told him that wasn’t how a Rynorm behaved. Despite that, we put up with it because although he made more work for the rest of us, his love of books and the appreciation he showed when we did his chores made the job easier. Then, when he married Ilvera, he became responsible and rarely read for pleasure. I missed how he was before. I know it makes no sense.”
“It makes perfect sense,” Merlin said. “The Rynorms are sorcerers, but they’re a family. The Dracres are more like an unwilling alliance.”
We arrived at the huge mouth of a cave. “Here we are, at the den of Nasku. Has your father taught you the proper way to greet a dragon?”
“No, but Merlin has.”
The wolf in question sighed. “Do not shout.”
I transformed my staff into a sword, sunk the blade into the ground, took three steps away, knelt, and bowed, facing the cave. Malaki disappeared. “Good evening, Nasku,” I called, loudly but without yelling. “My name is Ayden, son of Kille Rynorm and… well, my mother doesn’t really matter,” I muttered.
“Ayden,” Merlin warned. “Dragons know when you are lying or withholding information.”
I sighed. “I am the son of Kille Rynorm and… Ilvera Dracre,” I whispered.
Smoke billowed out of the cave. “Are you ashamed of your mother, Ayden Dracre?” a deep voice asked.
I sat up. “Not really. I just don’t like that she wronged dragons. On the other hand, I am who I am because she is my mother.”
“Merlin has taught you well. Ask your questions, Sjau; we can feel them burning inside you.”
“How can I break the curse I inflicted on Merlin?”
“Do not waste your questions on me, young sorcerer. You do not know how long he will be in a helpful mood.”
I ignored him.
“Use the exact same ingredients you used in the original potion, but change the incantation,” the dragon said.
“I can’t get all the ingredients here.”
“No, you cannot. You can, however, create a portal to a world that has everything you need. Returning his magic and former body requires a steep price; one you will not survive. Furthermore, even that will not return his immortality.”
“Why won’t it return his immortality?”
“That is not something you have the ability to give him.”
“Ask him about my visions.”
“Merlin has started having visions.”
“His blood is more powerful than the curse, so his magic is slowly overcoming it.”
“He’s fighting it? We don’t need to recreate the potion in order to break it?”
“Eventually, he will gain his magic and true form, but it will take decades, and his mortal wolf body will not live that long.”
“He was able to use magic through me and we’ve shared dreams before. I understand that we can hear each other in our minds because I released him from the syrus, but why are we able to do the other stuff?”
“That, you must learn on your own.”
“Ask him about the egg,” Merlin said.
“Merlin and I have to find the egg of Vokirex before the black star comes and protect it from Baltezore. Do you know where it is?”
“We do not; no dragon does.”
“Why is the egg so important?”
“The fate of Caldaca depends on it. No female dragon has hatched in thousands of years. Vokirex’s egg contains a female who will save magic. She is the only one who can.”
“Why?”
“That, even we do not know.” I heard movement in the cave.
“Wait! Please, I mean. I have one more question.” Well, I had numerous questions, but it was enough to make him stop.
“Very well. Ask your last question.”
“How can I give Merlin the ability to speak aloud? When the same curse was used on another wizard, he was able to speak. Merlin needs to be able to as well.”
“You have wasted your last question,” Merlin warned.
“I disagree.”
The dragon laughed. “On a large boulder of mica or pumice, carve the dragon word for speech and the runes of air. Then---”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Ayden!” Merlin admonished.
“You are more like your father than you realize, young sorcerer.”
It was a nice change from being told I had my mother’s stubbornness. “I’m sorry. I know Merlin will tell me later, I’m just not good at listening. Merlin’s trying to help me with that, too. Please continue.”
“At dawn, Merlin will stand on the boulder facing east. Whatever you do, you two must not face north. Avoid even glancing to the north, for doing so could risk his ability to speak to you at all.”
“What about summoning dragon magic? Would that help? And how does that work? Am I taking the magic of dragons around me?”
“We said we would answer one more question.”
“I told you; I’m a bad listener.”
He laughed. “Once Merlin is in place, speak the incantation. ‘Spirits of fire, water, moons, air, and every other power that be, let your child of nature now speak aloud to me.’ You s
hould know immediately if it worked.”
“Oh. I don’t need my wand or staff?”
“This is otherworld magic, young sorcerer.”
* * *
We immediately got to work setting up the spell so that we would be ready in the morning. Merlin picked out a large, light gray, pumice boulder and told me to lift it without magic. “Why are you punishing me?”
“I am not punishing you, young sorcerer. Trust me and do as I say.”
I made a half-hearted effort to push it and collapsed on the cold ground when it moved easily. “What magic is this?” I climbed to my feet and attempted to pick it up, certain it was a trick. Although it wasn’t weightless, it was definitely not as heavy as it should have been; I lifted it easily.
“It is not magic but the formation of rock that makes it so lightweight. It is extremely porous, volcanic rock, formed when super-heated, highly pressurized rock is violently ejected from a volcano. The reason for its lightness is its porous formation, which is caused by the combination of swift cooling and depressurization.”
“What’s depressurization? Is this caused by the black star? Is it magic? What’s a volcano? Should I be writing this down?”
“Just get to work.” He pushed the symbols I needed into my mind and I sketched them on the rock. That was all we could do for the night.
* * *
Shaerl invited us to stay the night and we accepted because I really didn’t want to ask Merlin to get back in the boat. I asked her if there was a way to hide myself from my mother when I transported somewhere. There wasn’t, but I could learn to stop her from summoning me when I did. Unfortunately, that required being stronger than her, which wasn’t likely.
Everyone in the family ate together. I met Shaerl’s husband, the rest of my uncles, and my uncles’ wives. I had more than forty cousins, but many of them had already grown up and had their own families, so I only met the fifteen youngest ones. I was astounded by the size of a dining room that could seat more than thirty people.
It was awkward at first, as all of my cousins and some of my uncles’ wives stared at me in suspicion. Merlin growled at a few people who whispered to each other, no doubt discussing whether or not I was a spy. I wondered if they were more worried about my wizardly appearance or my Dracre robe.
Unless someone was talking about me, Merlin wasn’t bothered; there was every kind of meat on the table except dragon, and I didn’t see a hint of green anywhere.
“How are you related to us?” the girl next to me asked when everyone else was engaged in their own conversations. She was about fifteen. Although she looked like every sorceress, her eyes were more purple than Shaerl’s and her robe was deep burgundy.
“I’m the youngest son of Kille Rynorm. And you?”
“I’m Kador’s second youngest daughter. I don’t sense a disguise over you. Are you sick or… is your mother a witch?”
“No, my mother is a sorceress.”
“He is a Sjau,” Shaerl said. Everyone at the table fell silent.
“What’s a Sjau?” the youngest boy asked.
His mother put her hand over his mouth. “I’ll explain later,” she said quietly.
“What do you do?” Malaki asked me.
“I’m a curse breaker.”
“A curse… breaker? Isn’t that like a wizard?” one of my cousins asked.
“No, Merla. Ayden is fighting to save magic,” Shaerl said.
“That’s like a wizard, though,” I said.
“Wizards hide behind their white magic,” Shaerl said.
“They protect people.”
“They are protective only when they have nothing to lose for it. Sorcerers will fight their enemies, and anyone who is our family’s enemy is our enemy. We stand united with our family. Wizards are weak; their power is too limited, they have no ambition, and they do not stand up for what they believe in.”
“I’m part wizard.”
She stood, approached me, and put her hands on my shoulders. “You’re not just a wizard, and you’re not just a Dracre. No matter what your name is, you are a Rynorm, and you have a home here. You have a family here. If anyone kills you, we will avenge you.”
That was the sweetest thing I had ever heard a sorceress say.
* * *
After dinner, we were led to a room for the night. It was similar to my old room at my mother’s cabin, except it was larger. Children ran up and down the halls, playing and arguing while the adults chatted on the main floor. Merlin and I were glad to have some time to relax. At Magnus’s castle, people often entered my room to talk about a curse or stopping my mother.
Nevertheless, the burden of our quest made it difficult to sleep, not to mention my anxiety over the impending spell. “What are we going to do now? We can’t search the entire world for the egg. You must have left clues.”
“I am afraid the only clue is Vactarus. I was adamant that I not find it until Baltezore was killed, because he was so certain I would hand it over to him. I would have hidden it somewhere neither of us would ever think to look.”
“Then we should look in the most ridiculous place. We should search my mother’s cabin.”
“My shame will know no bounds if it turns out to be hidden in her cabin.”
“We could ask Dessa where to find the egg,” I suggested cautiously.
He frowned. “As much as I despise divination, I was forewarned of the sinkhole, and if I had not been…”
“We would be dead.”
“I agree that asking Dessa where to find the egg is the best option. However, be prepared for disappointment, since she has already lost some magic.”
“I know, but we have to try, because if we have to go from land to land, looking for the other dragon trainers, there’s no way we’ll make it on time.” A thought hit me like a jolt and I stood suddenly. “I think I know where it is!”
“How could---”
“When you first came here, Vactarus showed you the portal to Caldaca, but all portals only open to a specific place, right?”
“Yes.”
“So, the portal he showed you was to Kalika, right? Because you said you never traveled on a boat before we met Bloodbath.”
“That is true.”
“After we fought Gmork, you taught me the portal to Akadema. How did you know the portal?”
He was silent as he considered, and then surprise filled his eyes. “I have no memory of learning the code for Akadema. I cannot believe I never thought about that.”
“You know so much that you’ve forgotten where you learned it all.”
“Nevertheless, I am extremely impressed, young sorcerer.”
I blushed. “Thank you.” I grabbed my bag from beside my bed and pulled out the mirror. When I poured my magic into it and requested that it show me where Dessa was, the reflective surface clouded over. After a moment, it showed me Dessa.
She had long, pale blond hair and medium blue eyes. Her face was kind, and on Caldaca, people’s appearances were very rarely deceptive.
I rolled my eyes. “I need to know where to find her.” The image changed again, this time showing a map. A red dot marked her location and a blue dot marked mine.
“This isn’t far! Finally, some good news. She’s on an island north of here called Delkim.”
“It still requires traveling by ship,” Merlin pointed out.
“I’ll think of something on the way.” If I was strong enough to protect myself against my mother, I could have transported us magically. “If I can give you the ability to speak to others, I can transport you there to talk to her, watch over you with the mirror, and then bring you back to me when you know where the egg is.”
“A clever plan, young sorcerer, but you ask too much of yourself. Put it out of your mind for now and sleep.”
Just as I started to drift off, the candle on the table lit. Merlin and I sat up as Shaerl entered the room. “I hope I didn’t offend you at dinner,” she said, sitting next to me on my bed.
“I know how sorcerers feel about wizards. You aren’t like other sorcerers I know, though. I’ve never known a sorceress to worry about offending someone.”
She smirked. “I wasn’t apologizing. And to be honest, I feel about the Sjau the way you feel about dragons. Furthermore, whether you want to be or not, I consider you a Rynorm. We may hate wizards and cast horrible curses on our enemies, but we protect our own, unlike the Dracre family.”
I wasn’t sure what to say, so I let the simple pause turn into an awkward silence.
“Let me see your staff.”
“No.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“I don’t know you well enough.”
“Every dragon trainer has a dragon’s eye, because---”
“Is it like a rite of passage? Does having it make me a dragon trainer?”
“If you would stop interrupting, maybe you can learn something,” Merlin said.
“You are not a dragon trainer. The dragon’s eyes are rare and powerful, and so you must use it responsibly. Only when it is completely bonded to you will it reach its full power. At that point, anyone else who uses magic through it will poison it.”
“There are too many rules to this dragon stuff.”
She smirked. “Don’t worry; it will come naturally to you when you’re ready.”
* * *
I woke to a pressure on my chest, but I didn’t panic because I sensed Merlin close. If he wasn’t growling, it couldn’t have been a threat. I tentatively cracked my eyelids, then stared in awe. A baby dragon, no bigger than Magnus’s kitten minion, perched on my chest. His scales were as green as emeralds and sparkled like polished gold. His wings were slim, possibly underdeveloped. Two little nubs on his head told me he would someday have horns.
I restrained a high-pitched, embarrassing squeal of excitement… barely.
“Hello,” I whispered. “What’s your name?”
The dragon didn’t answer.
“I have never met a hatchling dragon, but I doubt he is capable of speech yet,” Merlin said calmly.
