Dragon Fire

by Randal Sloan

  Kelsey was struggling too. She had already begun to develop feelings for Jesse which he’d seemed to reciprocate. Now she feared he would no longer be interested in her. Why would he consider me when he could have his pick of the most beautiful girls in all the kingdom?

  Corrie was probably the least affected by the pronouncement. He had already sensed something was special about their young friend, something his “spidey sense” as he called it told him. His own struggles had been due to the feelings he knew he had for Jailyn, who he recognized from the beginning was going to be a powerful force in the world, and couldn’t believe she would consider him a friend. It’s much bigger than I realized, and now I know why my warnings of danger were so strong.

  Master Dacanay gave them as long as he could. They would have to deal with their feelings later, because he had much more to tell them.

  “But that’s not all of it,” he told them, tempering the words with a smile. “Years before the conflict with his brother and the appearance of Lord Vipero, we warned the king of the impending events. He professed disbelief and refused to do anything against his brother, but he did take a small measure to protect the kingdom. There are four objects of power, talismans if you will, that represent the authority of the king. Gregory secreted these objects away to a place of safety in the Land Between the Worlds.

  “The four of you, along with my apprentice Kynin, must travel to that land and retrieve those symbols of power before it will be possible to take and hold the throne. You must do so before the total eclipse of the sun that will occur in six weeks, for that is the time the portal will be open to the Land Between the Worlds where the objects are to be found.

  “You see, you four are the Chosen, ordained by Prophecy millennia ago and your Quest must be completed or all will be lost.”

  The shock to the four was total.

  “How?” Jailyn voiced for them all. “We’ve barely had time to get settled in on the wizard island and now we’re going to have to leave? On a quest? None of us have the skills for such a thing. We’ve only started to learn our magic; how could we possibly be able to master it in time?”

  “It’s not going to be easy,” Master Dacanay told them. “You have four weeks to train and then you must leave for your quest. By day you must complete advanced training in your magic under the care of Master Ashcroft, and by night you must come here to the dream world to train in your physical defense skills. Jesse must learn the sword, Kelsey the bow, Jailyn and Corrie the staff.

  “You must do this, or the world will be plunged into an age of darkness.”

  Before any of them could answer, the dream that wasn’t a dream started to fade away.

  Master Ashcroft silently slipped into the infirmary, expecting to find the four students asleep. Instead, they were all awake, arguing quietly amongst themselves.

  “I can’t do it,” Jesse was saying. “I’ve had no training to be a king, much less with the sword.”

  “You think the rest of us are ready?” Corrie said. “I don’t think any of us have a choice.”

  “He’s right,” Jailyn agreed. “We have to. You heard what the consequences would be if we don’t do it.”

  Master Ashcroft stopped in his tracks. “What is going on here?” he demanded. “You’re all supposed to be sleeping.”

  “We were,” Jailyn told him. “until we met the Dream Master. I assume you’re familiar with him? He seems to know quite a bit about you.” She saw the recognition in his eyes. “Good. Then you know what we must do. We’re going to need a lot of help.”

  She gave him a smile. “At least we can skip the part where you need to determine our affiliations. I think the Dream Master showed us that quite well.” She concentrated on her connection with Corrie, using his ability with spirit magic to show her uncle the color of their robes.

  “When were you going to tell us that Jesse’s really the prince who should be king of the realm?” she asked him accusingly.

  Master Ashcroft shook his head. “I only just learned it when you triggered the trap. Until then, his magical signature was hidden from me. That only reinforces our belief that you four are the Chosen. He’s also one of the strongest earth wizards I’ve ever seen, something that will bode well for him as our future king.”

  Jailyn stared at him for a moment. Up until now, there had been the smallest bit of denial that she could use to avoid accepting their fate. Finally, she shook her head.

  “I guess it doesn’t matter, Uncle. We still have to complete the quest first.”

  Master Ashcroft was glad she was coming around. He was more pleased to hear her call him uncle. “At any rate, you’re right. We can start immediately with your training. As before, you’ll be working under my tutelage in the garden. It’s even more important you train under my wards, now that Lord Vipero knows something is up.

  “You might as well return to your normal rooms. Be in the gardens right after breakfast in the morning. No side trips this time.”

  That drew a look of chagrin that passed among them, but before they could answer him, he slipped away. They wasted no time, pulling the partitions back around themselves and dressing again in their robes, lest one of the healers return, demanding that they stay.

  Jailyn had one more stop to make before she could sleep for the night. Luckily it was still early evening, so after the group had made their way to the dining hall in time to eat a late dinner, she slipped off from the others. Hurrying back up the path to the waterfall, she moved up as close to the pool as she could get without falling in.

  Calling out softly, she peered up in the dimming light at the spot where she knew she’d seen the dragon cave above the waterfall. “Gavr’iel, I know you’re there and I know you can hear me. I really need to talk to you.”

  With a rush of wings, Gavr’iel flew down to land carefully beside her. “How did you know I was here?” he asked as she turned to face him. “I could have been out flying somewhere just for fun or even on the hunt.”

  Jailyn smiled. “I could sense you from as far away as the dining hall. I don’t know what happened earlier, but somehow we seem to have some sort of connection. But that’s not what’s important right now. I came to thank you. Without your intervention, I and my friends might not have survived and I know you helped supply me with magic afterward. I’m very deeply in your debt.”

  Gavr’iel was silent a moment as he struggled to find a way to express his feelings. He instinctively knew he had to tell her the truth. “Ever since I met you, I’ve been drawn to you. As a human, you’re very pleasant to look at, but as a magical being, I find your magic irresistible. You are so beautiful. When you pulled the magic from the pool, you were glowing so brightly I couldn’t take my eyes off you.

  “That is why I was following you and the darkness of the trap was obvious to my dragon vision. I only did what I had to do to protect you, and later when you needed a little more magic, I wanted to share it with you.”

  How could Jailyn resist such a powerful declaration? A huge smile crossed her face. “And I thought it was only me. Your magic signature is no less wonderful to my sight. I know that you have a heart of gold.”

  Gavr’iel couldn’t resist a soft laugh. “You know we dragons really do covet gold? That is quite a lot to say to a dragon.”

  Jailyn laughed with him. “That doesn’t make it any less true. I sensed it the moment I met you as well.”

  She glanced around at the dimming light. “I have to go before it becomes too dark for me to see. You know I meet with Big Boy and the other hellhounds every evening. Why don’t you come join them tomorrow evening and we can talk more?”

  Gavr’iel bobbed his head in delight. “I’ll do that. I look forward to it.”

  “As do I.”

  Jailyn slipped out into the night, lest she be tempted to stay. She couldn’t help but wonder as she made her way back, safe in the knowledge that she felt him flying overhead as she made her way carefully down the path. She’d really cut it close
, the path rather dim with the trees blocking so much of the sky and even with her enhanced vision it was difficult, but for some reason her steps still treaded lightly. Even the dark look Carisa gave her when she entered the doorway to their room didn’t phase her.

  The next evening and every evening after that when she met with Big Boy and his pack, Gavr’iel would appear and they would spend the time together talking quietly. Neither of the two would admit it even to themselves, but they both came to treasure their time together.

  Only Master Ashcroft noticed and he could only wonder. Of course, even in his wildest imaginings, he didn’t come close to understanding the real meaning of it.

  Nearly the same time Jailyn was meeting with Gavr’iel, Master Ashcroft met in his garden with a hooded man. “Are all the island’s defenses in place?” Master Ashcroft asked the man.

  “Yes, despite the fact we missed the trap the girl and her friends triggered. King Johan’s pet snake must have put it there before he left. He and his allies can read prophecy as well as we can.”

  The Master shook his head. “I think you give Johan too much credit. You and I know Lord Vipero really is the one pulling the strings with the king instead of the other way around. Johan strikes me as one too lazy to care as long as he has a steady supply of his favorite wine and women. No, this was all Vipero.”

  The hooded man nodded. “You’re probably right. Nevertheless, we were quite lucky that it wasn’t much worse. Without a doubt he knows the trap was triggered, but hopefully he won’t know exactly what happened. At least we know he can’t reach the boy here.”

  “Sooner or later Lord Vipero will send one of his spies here to check on us. We must not allow him to determine our plans before we’re ready.

  “I think we have enough safeguards in place.”

  “I hope so. I very much hope so, for all our sakes.”

  Across the kingdom in the capital city, Lord Vipero had finally recovered from the backlash of magic that had struck him. That was one of the principles of using dark magic. If the dark magic a wizard used failed in its task, the backlash from that was ten times that of the original magic. Plus, in this case, the backlash was fueled with another’s magic, the like of which he hadn’t seen in some time. That left him more than a little worried about whoever it was that opposed him. That magic had been quite strong.

  To make things worse, the backlash came from his trap on the Wizard Island. It told him a lot of things. First, he was right, the missing Prince had reappeared as he expected and he had made it to the island. But the failure of his trap meant that not only had the Prince escaped, but the wizards now knew he was looking for him. As long as he stayed on the island, effectively the Prince was out of his reach.

  It also told him that someone had shielded the boy and contributed to that backlash of magic. If it was a Master level wizard, even the Dark Arts he had learned might not be enough. If he or she was a student, as long as they remained on the island, they would be safe. I’m sure I could defeat a student, even one with magic as strong as the magic I felt, but no way will either the wizard or the Prince leave the island for years.

  Lord Vipero immediately reached for a message globe. He would send a request to meet with his mentor. They needed to talk soon. Perhaps his mentor would have a suggestion.

  He certainly hoped so.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Magic and More

  THE NEXT MORNING a rather quiet foursome made their way to Master Ashcroft’s garden. Each had spent a rather restless night, struggling with the burden placed upon them, a burden they preferred not to bear. But it all came down to the answer Jailyn had given the day before. We don’t have any choice. The consequences of not doing this are just too great.

  Master Ashcroft was waiting for them. “Good. You’re all here. Before you leave for your quest, I’ll send you back to the pool for another recharge of your magic, this time properly supervised.” He shook his head, “And properly warded. You have no idea of how bright your magical episode was to the magically enabled sight.”

  He pointed to a set of benches in the garden. “You might as well be seated. This is going to take a while.” Choosing a large stone facing the benches, he perched on it.

  “Most students come here thinking that we’re going to teach them how to use magic. That’s entirely untrue. You’re born either with your ability to use magic or not; as you reach the age of maturity, if you have such an ability, it becomes evident and you’re able to exercise it with your will.”

  He glanced at Jailyn. “Sometimes in extremely urgent circumstances, a younger person is able to temporarily access their magical abilities. Such as when Jailyn and Jesse were pursued by the hellhounds. The hounds recognized her strength of magical power and the will to exercise that power. Since that power was stronger than that of the master who had sent them, they immediately became subservient to that power.”

  He looked around the group. “You have to understand. The master that sent those hounds was undoubtedly a peer of Lord Vipero, meaning he was a student of the Dark Arts. For all its drawbacks, the dark side does give a sorcerer access to more power than the light. Jailyn’s innate power is stronger than his even with that aid. That’s one reason I believe you have a chance to succeed in your very difficult challenge.”

  He gave them a smile. “The other reason I believe you will succeed is the strength of your union. You complement each other so that the whole is more than the sum of the parts.”

  Looking around, Jailyn realized he was right. In just the short time she had known the others, she already felt she had gained much from her connection with them. She didn’t say anything, but she saw some of the others nodding too.

  Master Ashcroft continued. “That’s enough digression. Let’s move forward with your instruction. So what do we teach you if we don’t teach you how to access your magic? Focus is the most important part of using your magic, and that is one of the things we must try to teach you in the short amount of time that we have. We’ll work on that for most of today.

  “The other thing we’ll teach you is how to use structures that can be used to help you manage the raw magic you have access to. We’ll be limited in what we can teach you in the time we have, but fortunately a lot of it your group seems to already do by instinct, especially Jailyn whom you’ve already chosen as your magical leader.

  “So let’s work on the easy one — Focus. It’s easy to conceive but not so easy to achieve. Later, I’ll bring in other masters that share your affinities and they’ll work with the specific attributes of that magic. Today, I just want you to reach out to your magic and concentrate on placing a little of it in a ball of magic you can hold in your hand. Kelsey, I suggest you stick to water for now, as your air affinity can do the same, but it’s much harder. The rest of you should probably do fire, although I beseech you—“ he pointedly looked at Jailyn “—try not to burn the garden down. I rather like it here.”

  That drew smiles from the group and got them to relax just a little, which is what he wanted. The wards on the garden should be strong enough, so he wasn’t really worried. Looking at Jailyn and the glow of magic she still retained from the day before, he hoped they were!

  “I want you each to close your eyes and look within yourself for your calm center. That’s where your access to magic is based. Now slowly, carefully, reach within that calm and gather just a small amount of magic.

  “Now comes the focus part. You must roll that magic up into a small ball, push it out to your hand, and hold it there. Calmly and carefully; make sure you have control of it. Perfect, you’re all doing well.”

  He smiled as Jailyn, try as hard as she could, her ball of fire was considerably larger than the balls the others held. He could sense she was also just a little worried about her control of it, but she was managing for the moment. “Now, concentrating on your magic, slowly open your eyes and look at your magic—Concentrate!” he said as their magic wavered for a moment, each surprised by what the
y held in their hands.

  Jailyn still looked worried, made even more so when she looked at the size of her magic ball compared to the others’, so he knew he needed to reassure her. What he hadn’t told her was that the strength of will was critical in their magic, and if she continued with her lack of confidence, that would negatively affect her. He couldn’t allow that.

  “It’s alright, Jailyn,” he told her. “With time you’ll learn more subtle control. Your ball of fire is bigger because you have more magic to work with.” He shook his head. “I shouldn’t have made the comment about burning down the garden. You’re doing fine.”

  He turned his gaze back to the group. “Good. Now comes the hard part. Slowly let that ball rise until it’s floating a few inches above your hand. That’s it, perfect!” he said as he watched the four balls floating in the air. Even Jailyn seemed to have settled a little.

  “Feel your connection to the magic; do you see how it’s not directly connected to your body? You’ve all been doing that instinctively before now, so now that you can see it, I want you to understand it. This is how you do most of your working of magic as an extension outside your body. Now, one last exercise. Without bringing it back to your hand, absorb the magic back into yourself.”

  A couple of the balls wavered but they all managed, slowly shrinking the balls of magic until they disappeared. All except Jailyn. One moment her ball of fire was floating there, the next it was gone. Master Ashcroft couldn’t help it; he stared at her in disbelief. Most students never mastered that trick. First day, she was already way ahead. Not that I mind. I suspect she’s going to need it.

  “Perfect! You all did just great. Now I would like you to all practice this for a few minutes. Jailyn and Corrie, once you think you have fire down, try one of your other affinities; I would suggest water. Once you have the concept, it’s all the same.”