The Sorceress of Aspenwood Trilogy Pack

by Sam Ferguson

“Atta girl,” Janik said. “No reason for pomp between friends. Eat to your heart’s content.” He pointed a finger at her. “Though, the next time you go out for a day, try taking something with you. It is good to feed the mind, but you mustn’t forget the body.”

  Kyra nodded. “I’ll do that.” She stretched her lips into a forced grin and then set the bowl down. She considered the remnants of the toast and the untouched water goblet in front of her and then pushed them to the side.

  “I think I will go off to bed now,” she said. She was far too uncomfortable with Janik’s questions to remain there with him.

  If Janik suspected anything, he didn’t show it. He simply finished his drink and then nodded.

  “Sleep well,” he said. “Oh, and if you are going to stop by the library on the way to your room, there is an interesting section on dragons.”

  “Yes, the manuals written by the dragon slayers,” Kyra said. “I was thinking about reading those.”

  Janik waved his right hand in front of his face and flashed a sour grimace.

  “No, no, not those books. The dragon slayers are idiots. They only know how to kill a dragon. Their study of a dragon’s anatomy is noteworthy, but it is always slanted toward understanding only how to kill them. There are far more interesting texts for those with a scholarly mind, like yourself.”

  Kyra paused. She wasn’t aware of any other books on the subject. Had she been, she would have taken them already.

  “Where are they?” she asked.

  Janik smiled. “Go to the third floor, and wind your way to section seven, in the back. You will find shelves of books there on the subject. Everything from identifying their eggs to predicting dragon type and all the way down to the companion lizards that are usually found in the nests.”

  Kyra’s eyes went wide and her breath caught in her throat.

  “Companion lizards?” she asked.

  “I think we call them ‘beardies’,” Janik replied with a nod, “or ‘bearded dragons’ though they are neither dragons nor bearded. They are curious little lizards that hang around the nests of dragons. They sound alarms with a hiss, or sometimes a chirp. It is very quiet, but loud enough for a mother dragon to hear. In return, they are allowed to live in the nest and enjoy the protection of a much larger beast. At least, that’s what some people say. I never saw it myself.”

  “Have you seen a dragon nest then?” Kyra pressed.

  Janik nodded. “A couple, actually,” he said. “Before the accident with my arm and leg, I went on several excursions south of Ten Forts. Mostly we were contracted to fight the orcs that ventured too close to the walls, but we still stumbled into a couple of nests. Most of them were smaller drakes, mind you, but there was one that had laid three eggs. Each one of them were half as tall as me and they were thick as barrels.”

  “What did you do?” Kyra asked.

  Janik shot her a puzzled look. “Why, we hacked them to pieces of course. Tracked and killed the mother too, though it cost several good men.” Janik sighed and his eyes went distant, as if looking into the past. “For sure, that was a bloody day. I had never been so scared in all my life as I was that day.” His eyes refocused in the present and turned to her. “If you ever see a dragon, you run. You don’t stay still and you don’t freeze up in fear. You run. You hear me, Kyra?”

  The young lady was disgusted by the thought of men hacking into unhatched eggs and destroying the life inside. Still, she could see the fear clearly painted on his features as he recalled the encounter with the dragon. She nodded and then turned to find the library.

  Soon she was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the shelf Janik had described for her. A pile of books was neatly stacked on her left that stretched from the floor to her shoulder. She took the first off the pile and began to absorb the information inside as her eyes scanned the pages.

  Within minutes she felt her heart skip as she found an egg that looked exactly like the one in the rocks. The words next to the sketch described the same color and size. It even went so far as to describe nests of rock often used when food was scarce, because the mother could heat the rocks with her breath, and they would remain warm until her return as she hunted far away from the egg.

  That’s when it hit her. The egg was alone. It had its miniature companion of course, but the rocks had been cold when Kyra had arrived and found it. They were warm when she went back this morning, but not so much as when she had placed the warming spell. That surely must mean that no dragon had come back in the interim period to warm the egg. For a moment, she wondered if the egg was dead, left long ago and perhaps rotting.

  No, that wasn’t it. She had been out in her father’s chicken pens enough times to know what a rotten egg smelled like. There was no stench from the dragon egg.

  Besides that, the little companion was still alert and active nearby.

  Kyra put her nose back into the book and flipped through the pages, looking for any mention of companion animals. It wasn’t until she was half-way through the book that she finally found it. A small drawing of a juvenile pagona just above and to the right of a drawing of an adult. The description said that adults could reach roughly two feet in length from tip of the tail to the end of the snout. They were light, agile creatures that hunted bugs, mice, and also fed upon plants.

  “There is no mention of these small creatures ever playing the part of nursery keeper on Kendualdern, but here on Terramyr, it is not an uncommon sight,” she read aloud. Kyra smiled and thought of the book her mother had given her. Was Gorliad’s story real? If it wasn’t, then why would it be mentioned in texts that discussed facts about dragons?

  Now that she was certain of what was hiding in the rocks, she was ready for sleep. She would have a long day tomorrow, trying to find the right way to ensure the egg’s safety. She gathered the books and trudged off to bed, thinking all the while what it must have been like to live on Kendualdern, a world ruled by dragons, and not by men.

  *****

  “That was an interesting conversation,” a voice called out from nothingness.

  Janik glanced around the dining hall before nodding. “What do you make of it?” Janik asked.

  The spell concealing Cyrus disappeared and the old wizard sat in front of Janik. He reached out a hand and took up Kyra’s untouched goblet, filling it with wine by merely snapping his fingers.

  “Our young friend has found a dragon, dear Janik.”

  Janik’s eyes went wide. “Surely you must be joking. A dragon would swallow her whole.”

  Cyrus shook his head. “I took notice of a she-dragon making her way to the south three days ago. She stopped off in the forest near where Kyra goes. I would wager my left leg that she found an egg.” The wizard cast a frowning glance through the table toward Janik’s leg. “No offense, of course.”

  Janik reflexively rubbed his crooked wrist over his left leg.

  “Of course not,” he said half-sincerely. He had often wondered why the wizard wouldn’t restore him fully, but the question was moot. He knew the reason already. If Janik were whole, he would be a threat. As a cripple, even one given access to magic, he was easily controlled. It was his handicap, more than the oath, that bound him to Cyrus.

  “So if there is an egg, we should destroy it,” Janik said decisively.

  Cyrus took a long draught of the wine and then savored it in his mouth before swallowing.

  “I don’t see why,” he said finally. Cyrus set the goblet down and pointed to Janik’s bowl. Janik pressed the clay bowl toward Cyrus. A moment later there was a roasted quail nestled among sautéed onions and boiled potatoes topped with chives.

  “I should like to learn such spells,” Janik said.

  Cyrus sneered. “Cooking, even with magic, takes a delicate touch. It is not something easily done with a heavy hand.”

  Janik sighed and worked the top of the table with his thumbnail, digging into a crack as he stared away from the wizard.

  “What do we do with the egg
?” he inquired.

  “Help her,” Cyrus said. “It is obvious that the girl wants to see it hatch.”

  “Harboring a dragon is a grave offense,” Janik reminded him.

  Cyrus nodded and swallowed a half-chewed bite of quail.

  “Do you see a better way to ingratiate yourself with her? The charm I gave you has no power over her, you said so yourself. Do this, and you just might gain her trust.”

  “What if the dragon turns on her?” Janik pressed.

  Cyrus held up a finger. “Not if, but when.” Cyrus took another bite and forced Janik to wait while he chewed it thoroughly and then washed it down with another swig of wine. “As soon as the dragon emerges from its shell, it will fall prey to Nagar’s Blight. You have heard of this, yes?”

  Janik shook his head.

  Cyrus sighed and threw his hands up dismissively. “Of course not,” he mumbled. “Swordsmen aren’t much for reading, I suppose.”

  Janik exhaled impatiently and tore a piece of wood from the table with his thumbnail.

  “Just get to the point.”

  Cyrus arched a brow, as if to remind Janik who held the power. The warrior-turned-janitor didn’t back down. He stared back at Cyrus’ blue eyes and waited for the answer.

  “Nagar was a powerful wizard. He fought alongside Tu’luh the Red in Hamath Valley. The two of them devised a powerful magic that could capture the very heart and soul of any living creature.”

  Janik remembered the history now. “Ah, that Nagar,” he said. “Yes, I know of that magic, but what does that have to do with the hatchling?”

  “Allun Rha didn’t destroy Nagar’s spell, he only crippled it. After the battle in Hamath Valley, the priests of Valtuu Temple seized the magic written down in a book called Nagar’s Secret. What they didn’t know, and couldn’t have foreseen, was that the book itself is a powerful artifact. Any dragon within the bounds of the Middle Kingdom is doomed by its power so long as the book remains in existence. It doesn’t work instantaneously, mind you, it has to wear down the individual dragon’s willpower. Sometimes that is a relatively quick affair, taking perhaps a few weeks, while other times it can take years. There is no way of knowing when it will conquer a dragon, but it is certain that as long as the book remains, all dragons within the Middle Kingdom will fall victim to its powers.”

  “I have been an instructor here, and I have been assigned to units of dragon slayers, why haven’t I heard this part before?” Janik asked. “The only thing we hear from the Battle of Hamath Valley is that Allun Rha stopped the curse and broke its power. Even the priests at Valtuu Temple hold to that fact.”

  Cyrus held a finger in the air. “It is a containment issue. Imagine the panic that would flood the land if the common folk all knew that the battle that supposedly won them peace really only bought them a semblance of peace for a limited amount of time.” The wizard shook his head. “It is better to appease the simple folk with stories of heroism and derring-do than to show them the full truth in all its ugly and dangerous horror.”

  “So if the dragon will ultimately fall, then why risk losing Kyra?”

  Cyrus looked around the dining hall. He snapped his fingers and suddenly he and Janik were enveloped inside a purple haze encased by a swirling, black mist. “The answer must not be overheard by itching ears,” Cyrus warned. “I have been working with a group of warlocks recently. As you know, I have been pursuing certain artifacts for personal reasons. They assure me that they can help, but first they ask me for payment.”

  “What do they want with the girl?” Janik asked as he quickly put it together.

  Cyrus shrugged. “I am not entirely sure. All they have said is that she can become an extremely powerful ally if handled correctly.”

  “What if she isn’t handled correctly?” Janik pressed.

  “Then she could be a terrible foe,” Cyrus said. “So, our job is to befriend her, help her see the power that resides in her and shape it to something that can be useful. However, failing that, I suppose the order of warlocks wouldn’t be too heartbroken if this potential enemy were killed by a dragon.”

  “So the betrothal was not to please you, it was to please others?” Janik asked.

  Cyrus arched a brow. “The betrothal pleases me. With it, I can purchase the information I need for my own cause.”

  “You still have never revealed what that cause is,” Janik said.

  Cyrus laughed, “Nor will I. There is no need for you to know. You are alive, you have your health, and you have a decent job here at Kuldiga Academy. That ought to be enough to make you content.”

  Janik thought for a moment, replaying Cyrus’ words in his head. “You said ‘we’ were to befriend her,” he said. “Have you met her?”

  Cyrus shook his head. “No, but I suppose you had already thought about requesting that I replace Lady Priscilla, yes? I will have plenty of time to work my charms on the girl.”

  “Charms won’t work,” Janik said. “She is too strong.”

  “Yes, I have seen that,” Cyrus noted. “As I told you those many years ago, she is the daughter of a vampire. We always knew that charms would have only a minute chance of swaying her mind,” Cyrus laughed and pointed a bony finger at Janik. “It isn’t like she is some oversized dolt who can be controlled with a simple powder that you mix into a drink!”

  Janik smiled half-heartedly. “Yes, well, without that powder, my brother was dead set against marrying her. I remember trying to persuade him before we met with Lord Caspen on Kyra’s fifth birthday. For days he insisted that he wasn’t going to marry at all, let alone a five-year old girl.”

  Cyrus cut in and smiled. “See what a bit of magic can accomplish? You mixed the powder in his drink and then what? He has been a tamed kitten ever since.”

  Janik shook his head. “I don’t know that I would call him a kitten, but yes, he has been much more agreeable since then.” Janik then changed the subject back to Kyra, “Will she begin to hunt people, like her vampire father? Maybe that is why the warlocks want her.”

  Cyrus shook his head. “She will not turn to lusting for blood. Apparently, the only way to pass vampirism in its full form is through bite. However, she will have powerful magic swirling inside her. It will work to our benefit, though, as it will help pull her to the types of magic we use.”

  Janik nodded. He looked into Cyrus’ eyes suddenly. “I want my brother to be headmaster,” he said.

  Cyrus’ eyes went wide and he cocked his head to the side. “I suppose that could be useful. If I were to put him there, then you could continue to influence him, and in turn influence Kuldiga Academy.”

  “Well, will you do it?” Janik pressed.

  Cyrus shut the man’s mouth with a fierce glare. “I will consider it. That is all. For now, I want you to go and tell the headmaster that Cyrus is ready to fill in for Lady Priscilla. I will make my arrival known on Monday, before the classes start.”

  “That is easier said than done,” Janik said. “Do I need to remind you that no one has seen you since that day fourteen years ago? They might find it a bit strange if you show up now.”

  Cyrus waved a hand dismissively. “Nonsense. Tell them that you helped me escape the lair, but that I traveled across the sea. Make something up, anything. Tell them I wanted to retire, or that I was hunting some demon. It doesn’t matter what you say.”

  Janik sighed and shook his head. “They will ask how I knew where you were.”

  Cyrus nodded and folded his arms for a moment while he contemplated the point. Finally he smiled. “Tell them that I traveled to the Eastern Wilds. Say that I stayed in contact with you because you pulled me out after the lair caved in. When they ask what I was doing, tell them that I was studying the Tarthuns and exploring the abandoned roads of the Sand Elves. Then say that as a favor to you, because you had to pay for the substitute, I was willing to help out an old friend. Leave it at that.”

  Janik nodded and then found himself sitting alone in the dining hall agai
n, with no magical orb around him or sign of the wizard. He dug another piece of wood out of the table before slapping the hard wood and standing to leave.

  CHAPTER 7

  Monday morning Kyra woke early and hurried to dress before slipping out and to the library. She wanted to get in a bit more reading before anyone returned for their classes in a couple of hours. She buried herself in a book about the great dragon riders of the north countries, their wars and conquests and how they lived in harmony with the dragons.

  She lost herself in thought, wondering what life would be like if she could fly on the back of this new dragon she had found and escape not only her betrothal, but from the entire Middle Kingdom. She could leave it all behind, if only she could protect the dragon long enough for it to mature.

  She moved to the nearest window that overlooked the courtyard, staring up into the clouds above and smiling as she imagined her dragon swooping down from the heavens to carry her away from here. The wizards would be too scared to interfere, and her betrothed would be helpless in the face of a dragon. No one would dare tell her how she was to live her life again.

  A commotion down on the ground caught her attention. A circle of young apprentices, third and fourth-years by the looks of them, were gathering around a single apprentice. At first it looked as though they were going to tease him, or perhaps push him around. Kyra had experienced enough of that to know how cruel the others could be. She prepared a simple spell to throw a few smaller fireballs as a distraction in case the one in the middle needed help.

  Just then, the young man looked up, directly at her. His dark hair waved slightly in the wind, and he smiled confidently at her as he shook his head and drew a waster, a wooden long sword, from his belt.

  “Are you ready then?” the boy shouted as he turned his attention to the circle around him.

  Kyra held the spell, wondering whether the boy had lost his senses.

  That was when she saw one of the instructors approach the circle. He was a large man, wearing a tan tunic and black trousers. Over his shoulder he held a leather bag filled with additional wasters.