Dragon Fire

by Randal Sloan

  Their conversation was interrupted as a magic gong reverberated in the house. “Oh, that’s the dinner bell,” Kelsey told her. “If we hurry, we can get good seats.”

  She led the way, some of the other girls catching up, although a few lagged behind.

  Kelsey remained thoughtful as they made their way to the dining hall. If her uncle hadn’t gotten injured so that her parents had to move to Daikon to take over running his farm, she would have grown up together with Jailyn. Perhaps they would have been friends even before now. Yet maybe it wouldn’t matter; they seemed to be off to a good start and Jailyn seemed to be quite down-to-earth to be such an amazing future wizard.

  She felt really good about it. Yes, it was quite possible they were going to be very good friends and Kelsey knew she could use a good friend.

  She hadn’t had many friends in her village. She blamed it on the “incident” as everyone called it. When she was six years old, Kelsey had disappeared from her village for a week. Her parents had frantically searched for her, only to find her days later sitting in the center of town with absolutely no memory of what had happened to her.

  It had been bad enough that Kelsey felt terribly confused with the gap in her memory and her parents acting crazily protective of her, but as kids often do when someone seems a little different, she’d become the subject of their teasing. In particular, Stephany Blaese, who had once been her friend, turned against her.

  “Watch out, here comes the Touched One,” Kelsey’s nemesis would call out to her, shaking her hands at her as if to make her stay away. Many of the other kids went along with it, so Kelsey had eventually started avoiding the kids in the village. It had gotten better, but even years later she didn’t fit in with them.

  All of that meant she’d not had many she could call friends and none had been close. Luckily, Kelsey lived on her uncle’s big farm where she had lots of family that kept close together and thus quite a number of cousins to spend time with, so she never became the loner she might otherwise have become.

  Once her sister had been discovered by the wizards, the attitude of the village regarding her had changed, for wizardry often ran in families. Unfortunately for them, to Kelsey it was too late, so she’d mostly ignored their attempts to get back in her good graces. Instead, she spent her time learning about the wizard school, dwelling on every word when her sister visited and begging her to send letters when she was away at school.

  That meant she had learned a lot about the Wizard Island and knew all the gossip about the students and the wizard instructors and assistants. All along something told her she would follow in her sister’s footsteps and she’d lived her life accordingly once she became aware of the possibility.

  That was how she’d gotten tested earlier than most and caught the first ship in, so she already had been on the island when Jailyn and her group arrived. That meant she’d had time to get settled in their house and that same something that had told her to be ready for school had told her she needed to save the cot next to her for someone special.

  Of course, there were a couple of other early arrivals, so Kelsey hadn’t been alone that evening when Reisa told her all about Jailyn. Already fascinated by the orphaned girl’s story, Kelsey had been thrilled to learn she would be living in the same house as her. She hadn’t thought Sarina and the other girl were listening to them, not until Sarina blabbed it to the whole room of new arrivals.

  Jailyn seemed to be taking it all in stride, not holding it against her, and Kelsey really thought they could be good friends. Something told her this was all going to be a lot bigger than anything she’d ever been involved in before and she was going to need a really good friend despite being denied that all those years.

  Yes, I don’t know what it means, but I think we’re going to be great friends. That’s all that’s important right now.

  Despite whatever else might happen, Kelsey was never going to regret forming this new friendship. Of that, she was certain. Of course, she had no idea where it would all end up. Later she would look back and wonder at her own naiveté, but she wasn’t wrong about their friendship. It indeed was going to be something special.

  That evening Jailyn enjoyed a meal that to her was quite good, although a number of her classmates complained quite loudly about how plain it was. She knew it was a matter of perspective; in her village they all knew how difficult the next meal might be to find, so they had learned to appreciate what they had. It was the same way with their clothing; those in her village were much more interested in practical than any type of finery. Fortunately, while on the island everyone wore wizard robes, so she didn’t feel out of place, her robe a dull gray, the same as that of all the other first years.

  They were seated at the tables separated by their houses, with the older students at the head of the tables, but it appeared the first-year girls in Jailyn’s house had separated into two groups, the one consisting of the girls that had gathered around Jailyn and the other group with the red-haired girl Jailyn had learned was named Carisa. Jailyn had learned quite a bit more in fact; Carisa was from a family with strong wizard ties and she expected to be the center of attention.

  Jailyn sighed to herself. She’d gladly swap places; she wanted nothing more than just to hide from it all. Looking over at the girl, suddenly she sensed something else. Fire — the girl was a fire wizard. That matched her red hair and no wonder she was so hot-headed.

  Jailyn’s worries about Carisa were pushed to the back of her mind as an older woman wizard came to sit at their table. Jailyn could tell instantly that this lady would tolerate absolutely zero nonsense, but she also sensed she had a good heart like her uncle. That was okay with her; well, maybe, if she could manage to stay out of trouble. Otherwise, it didn’t bode well for her. Somehow she knew it wouldn’t take her long to find trouble.

  Everyone had finally chosen a spot at the table, so the lady wizard rose to address them. “I am Master Andrade. Welcome to House Eldridge. You are to be my charges this year and I expect it to be a fine year. If we all do our part, House Eldridge will win the house competition again this year.

  “In your welcome kit you each were given your list of house rules and the more general rules for classes. If you all follow those rules, then all will be well with you. Those rules are there for your protection and for the good of all. For the sake of those of you who can’t be bothered to read them, the most important one is to be in your rooms and ready for lights out at the proper time. For first years that is half past nine. For second years it is half past ten. Those at Young Master level do not have these limits, but I expect you to be a good example for the younger students. Exceptions will only be made for a very good reason.

  “Again, welcome. If any of you require assistance, you just need to ask either the resident wizards in training or myself. We’re here to ensure that you all do well.” Again, despite her stern appearance, Jailyn could tell she meant what she said and really cared about her students.

  “Eat up, because you’re going to need it tomorrow.” Smiling, she sat back down and with that everyone dived back into their food.

  Jailyn couldn’t help but notice a lot of people kept staring at her, including some of the young men. Jailyn didn’t have a lot of experience with that kind of thing. At the village she’d always felt with absolute certainty that someday she’d be leaving. So she’d avoided any entanglements with the young men of the village. Now already she noticed a couple of guys staring at her quite intently more than once, one perhaps more so than the others.

  With all the new people to meet, her attention was diverted elsewhere and she forgot about her newest admirer for the moment. That meant she missed it when he followed her out of the dining hall.

  After their meal, Jailyn slipped off from her group using a trail behind the cottage that led off into the woods. She could sense no danger nearby and she needed to meet Big Boy and her hellhounds. She just knew that they’d be waiting for her and she wasn’t disappointed. The tr
ail ended in a small clearing with a stream that flowed through the middle of it.

  One moment she was alone, the next she was surrounded by an enthusiastic bunch of hellhounds that rushed around her in circles. “Did you miss me, boys?” Jailyn asked as Big Boy and the rest knelt before her.

  “We did, Mistress,” Big Boy told her, speaking for all of them. Then he sniffed the air. “One comes,” he said.

  “How rude,” Jailyn said. She was beginning to grow tired of being interrupted every time she met with her hounds. At least this time the hounds did not rush off to disappear.

  A young man stepped into the edge of the clearing, pulling up short when he saw the hounds. She was surprised to see it was her secret admirer from dinner. She had eventually learned from Kelsey his name was Corrie. But she was even more surprised to see the hounds didn’t leave.

  She couldn’t help but laugh when Big Boy whispered in her head. “No, you can’t use him as your chew toy,” she said aloud so Corrie could hear her too. “Not unless I tell you to.”

  Jailyn could see the fear in the young man’s eyes, but he answered her anyway. “I’m sorry I interrupted, but I thought you were in danger. Now I see it’s quite to the contrary.” He looked back and forth between her and the hounds. “You’ve got to admit it’s not so very common to see a student with her own pack of hellhounds.”

  Jailyn laughed. “No, I guess not. These guys have been with me several years, so I tend to take them for granted. The best pack of hounds in all of hell.” She gave him a smile. “We might as well be introduced. I’m Jailyn Ashcroft, this is Big Boy and his pack. I understand you are Corrie.”

  “Corrie Reinhardt. Same as you, I’ve just arrived today.” He gave her a crooked smile. “I promise I wasn’t stalking you. I knew from the moment I saw you that you were special, but it was much more than that. I have a rather unusual ability to see auras.”

  Jailyn nodded. “I guess I can too, although I don’t understand what I see in them.”

  “I can help you with that since I’ve had quite a bit of practice. But there’s more. Sometimes I can see shadows attached, and I’ve learned that means the person is in danger. I see that with you.”

  Big Boy’s ears perked up with that. He had come to care deeply for his Mistress and he would do anything to protect her. He inched a little closer to her.

  Jailyn shook her head. “You can tell I’m quite safe at the moment with these guys around. I don’t know any reason why I should be in any particular danger.”

  Corrie turned to look at her, despite the presence of the hounds, who made him quite nervous. “It’s still there. That’s all I can tell you.” He gave her a smile. “Guess I’ll have to continue keeping an eye on you, if you’ll let me. Sometimes I can see when the danger is closer and warn the person.”

  It was Jailyn’s turn to smile. “Only if you do it out in the open. This sneaky stuff is creepy.”

  “That comes from the one who sneaks off to meet with her pet hellhounds.”

  “You got me there. But you have to admit, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to try to keep them in my room.”

  Corrie laughed. “No, I guess not.”

  Jailyn found she liked his laugh. “Big Boy, now that you know where I’ll be for the next little while, you guys can come visit me every day. I guess I’d best return while I have my escort to watch over me.”

  Big Boy came up closer to Corrie to give him a sniff, making him even more nervous.

  “No, we can’t keep him,” Jailyn answered with a smile. “It doesn’t work that way with humans.”

  She turned to Corrie, “That means he likes you. The only other one he’s ever said that about before is my friend Jesse, who came with me from my village. You should be flattered.”

  Corrie gave her a rather nervous smile. “As long as I’m not on the dinner menu, I am.”

  Big Boy gave her a tiny little bark of approval and a wag of the tail before bounding off with the pack, leaving Jailyn staring after them. “He’s never done that before,” she told Corrie. “He must really like you.”

  Corrie shook his head, wisely keeping quiet. He held out his arm. “Shall we return to the student compound? It’s beginning to grow dark.”

  Jailyn took his arm. She found she rather liked that. “Lead on, my prince.”

  Corrie laughed, but she could tell he was still worried. Before she could ponder that, he led the way back out.

  He didn’t let go of her arm. Neither was Jailyn inclined to break the contact.

  Corrie had never seen an aura quite like young Jailyn’s and he was quite fascinated by it. He didn’t miss the fact that she was rather pretty and seemed to have a great personality to go with that. Nevertheless, he couldn’t get the fact that she was in danger out of his mind.

  He learned his lesson about ignoring those feelings the hard way. Corrie had only been sixteen when he first discovered his ability to see auras and the sensing of danger that went with that. The first time he’d not known what it meant and it had ended in a disaster of the worst kind — his father had been killed in an ambush of his caravan.

  The youngest of four sons, his father had been a merchant guard captain and he expected his sons to follow in his footsteps. All of his older brothers had excelled at their sword craft. Corrie had been the only one of them who hadn’t been physically able to learn the sword.

  It wasn’t for a lack of trying. Corrie had learned all the forms when practicing with wooden swords and he’d actually been good at it. But hand him a real sword and he couldn’t function. Corrie remembered the day his father gave up in exasperation.

  “I don’t understand, son. Tor and Caelan are both good enough they should get hired to go out with the caravans next year and Declan will probably the year after. You did so well in learning your forms, I was sure you’d be ready to move up. You wouldn’t last a minute against a real swordsman and I dare not even attempt to teach you for fear you’ll be injured.”

  “I know, Father. I want to do well, but for some reason, when you hand me the sword, I can’t seem to use it even in training. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  “That’s why I’m taking you to see the merchant guild’s wizard. I’m hoping he can tell us what’s the matter with you.”

  The wizard had taken one look at Corrie and had refused to even take his father’s money, pointedly speaking directly to Corrie, “There’s no way I can help you. You’ll never be able to handle a sword or anything with a blade. I bet you have even trouble with knives.”

  When Corrie nodded, he went on, “What you have here, Guardsman Reinhardt, is a future spirit wizard. Your son is destined for greater things than guarding our caravans.”

  Corrie’s father had bragged on him, proclaiming to all how glad he was to have a wizard in the family, but Corrie had seen the disappointment in his eyes.

  That winter was the last one he’d had with his father, for it was the next spring when Corrie had first seen the dark shadows attached to someone’s aura and it had been his father’s aura just before he left for that ill-fated caravan run. That was the last time he saw his father alive.

  Ever since then, when Corrie saw someone with those shadows, he paid close attention to that person. He never forgave himself for not saving his father, but he tried to at least make up for it by saving others.

  He shook his head. I’ve only been here a day, and I’m already on the job. Then he smiled. It’s not like I mind staying close to this one.

  Jailyn had finally relaxed a little bit. Not that she’d admitted it out loud, but she had been more than a little worried about the threat that Corrie had seen. But he escorted her safely back to their student dormitory with nothing else happening. With a smile and a quick grasp of her hand, he’d headed off to the boys rooms on the other side of the house, leaving Jailyn alone and just a little confused about her feelings. She hurried inside, the night suddenly much darker than before. Something about Corrie had made her feel safe and n
ow he was gone.

  Kelsey had been waiting for her when she came inside and she tried to give her the third degree, but Jailyn just shrugged it off. As much as she liked Kelsey, Jailyn didn’t think it was a good idea to try to explain to her about her hounds. She certainly wasn’t going to talk to her about Corrie. Nevertheless, she smiled to herself as she got ready for bed.

  It’s certainly going to be interesting around here, was her thought as she dropped off to sleep.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The Chosen Ones

  HAVING SLEPT MUCH better than she expected to, Jailyn was awakened by a magical touch. At first tempted to stay in the bed that had been much softer than she was accustomed to, the magical sounds in her head grew more demanding. Realizing the sound would probably become more and more jarring the longer she resisted, Jailyn quickly drug herself out of bed and rushed through her morning ablutions, once more pulling on her wizard robe. Not surprisingly, Kelsey was waiting for her when she came out.

  Jailyn just shook her head. “Not a morning person. You probably don’t want to talk to me until I’ve had my coffee.”

  Kelsey just smiled. “Come on then. Breakfast awaits, along with that cup of coffee.”

  All of the new students were excited as they gathered in the dining hall for breakfast. Not surprisingly, Corrie and Jesse were waiting for them. Jailyn was glad to see the two were friends. Something told her they’d all be spending a lot of time together.

  However, Jailyn was somewhat surprised that Kelsey and Jesse seemed to hit it off really well after they found seats together for their breakfast meal. That left her and Corrie to talk. Neither brought up the incident from the night before, instead sticking to light conversation.

  That meant it was the four of them that walked together to the building where the new students were directed to assemble. Everyone was going into the big auditorium, so the four followed suit. The students gathered there were all talking nervously, curious about what was to come next. Even Kelsey’s sister hadn’t given her any hints, so the four were at just as much of a loss as everyone else.