Dragon Fire

by Randal Sloan

  He nodded. “We need to keep the balance. We must endeavor not to change the areas we pass through beyond what we have to.”

  Jailyn found she could easily agree to that. “Is that a belief of your church or is it just the woodsman in you talking?”

  He shook his head. “It’s more my philosophy as a traveler. Our church serves the Creator as does the Wizard Council, but our real purpose for existing is to study and support the words of the Prophecies. We tend to try not to push a lot of other beliefs on those that follow our way.”

  “Well, I’m glad that we have some things in common, since we’ll be spending a lot of time together. One thing I learned about the hellhounds, they don’t really need to eat but mostly thrill in the chase. Just like the deer in the Dream World, they chase but never actually try to catch them. So they wouldn’t have wanted to kill the deer anyway — no sport in it.”

  Jesse had been foraging along the side of the stream. He returned with a handful of fresh greens, which he rinsed in the water at the edge of the stream.

  Kynin spoke up loudly enough for all to hear. “The water’s safe here, with the running stream, but you need to get in the habit of spelling any water before you use it. Further on in our travels, the water may well not be safe.”

  They all nodded their understanding. “You probably should also fill your canteens here. That’s another habit you should start. Any time we find water, top off. You’ll appreciate it later.”

  Everyone did as he said, also taking his words to heart. As soon as they were finished, he motioned to Jailyn and onward they went. The trail grew steeper from there on, so they had to work harder and it narrowed more often. That meant they grew tired more quickly, so Kynin gave them more rest stops, although he didn’t let them sit very long.

  The next time they stopped for a longer break, Kynin remarked, “We’re making good time and I believe we’ll arrive at the base of the mountains in a couple of hours. That gives us more time to set up our camp before dark, something I’m sure will be of benefit for our first camp.”

  Jailyn just had to ask, “How do you do that? Under the trees like we are, I’ve lost all sense of time and I have no idea how far we’ve traveled.”

  “It’s just something you get used to. You’ll start to get the hang of it too, I’m sure.” He looked around at the group. “You’re all doing very well. It doesn’t hurt that our packs are magically lightened and that the trail is relatively easy here, but still we’re off to a good start.”

  But he warned them, “I expect the path will grow even steeper the closer we get to the mountains, so we’ll have to slow down. Better tread more carefully too; I’ve noticed the sides of the trail are starting to drop off into ravines and deep valleys. You don’t want to go over the edge of any of those.”

  The group continued more slowly, but they moved onward and upward. For most of them it became a chore of placing one foot in front of the other. They were all so intent on just taking the next step, everyone was surprised when Kynin called them to a stop.

  They had finally reached their destination for the day.

  Under Kynin’s expert directions, their camp was quickly set up in a sheltered area next to the cliff wall. Fortunately, they all knew how to put up their tents, so that went quickly. A few were sent to gather firewood, while others were sent to get water. It all took shape rather quickly. Starting the fire was a snap with so many fire wizards and they soon had a good fire burning.

  They had just finished setting up camp when Jailyn got an excited message from Big Boy. She’d asked them to search the area around the camp.

  “Mistress, we’ve found a deer that should be suitable for you. It’s not far from the path, but he’s fallen and taken an injury, and so can’t escape.”

  “Thank you. We’ll be there shortly.”

  She passed the information on to Kynin, who nodded and told them, “Like I warned you, even surefooted as a deer, the trail is dangerous.”

  He took the lead, moving carefully but still making good time. It didn’t take him very long before he reached the place where Big Boy stood looking down into a shallow ravine. Down below was a deer with his antlers caught in a thicket.

  “It’s an older deer,” Kynin explained. “It looks like it got too close to the edge here, which gave away under its weight.” He looked it over a moment. “It looks like one leg is broken.”

  Jailyn had caught up to him and she immediately recognized what that meant. “I see what you mean about the balance. Killing this deer will be a mercy, whereas killing the mother and fawn would have just been wrong.”

  Kynin nodded. “I think I can get down to it if we go back a few feet. Have the others pull their ropes out from their packs. We’ll need them to pull it back up.”

  Moving very carefully, Kynin made his way down a small break in the wall of the ravine, such that the way down was broken by small ledges and a few scraggly bushes strong enough to give him handholds. He then made his way over to the deer, which had stopped struggling as he came up to it.

  Looking the deer in the eyes, Kynin spoke gently to it. “Old man, you’ve lived a good life. I ask that you give yourself up for us so that in your death you may further our lives.”

  He laid one hand on the deer’s head and with the other he quickly cut the deer’s throat. Watching above, Jailyn understood and she said a word of thanks to the spirit of the deer.

  It took some work to get the deer up to the trail. Kynin immediately placed a preservation spell on it to prevent the meat from spoiling while transporting. Fortunately, this species of deer grew rather small and it wasn’t too difficult for them to handle. Kynin quickly made a travois and they used that to transport it back to the camp.

  So it was that Jesse cooked deer steaks for their dinner and they had left over as much meat as they could handle. Using an earth aging spell, he magically prepared it for them to carry the next day. Some would be eaten dried; the rest, as Jesse pointed out, would make soup stock. All the remaining meat, Kynin gave to the hellhounds to drag off, even though he knew they didn’t need to eat.

  Finally, a tired but contented group gathered around the campfire. Everyone was enjoying themselves so much, Jailyn hated to disturb them. But some things needed to be decided before they continued any further.

  Jailyn spoke quietly but she addressed the entire group. “We need to decide on the division of labor. I have a few suggestions.” She looked around the group, and with no objections forthcoming, continued, “Jesse has some talent at the art of cooking, so I volunteer him for that task. Kelsey, I believe you have some ability at cooking also. Anyone else?”

  Carisa shook her head. “Myself, I always burned everything. A side effect of the fire magic, I believe.”

  Corrie just shook his head. “Not any better here.”

  “Okay, you two alternate if you will, when we have opportunity to cook, that is. I suspect we’ll have times we won’t be able to cook at all and that’s only going to get worse. Those times we’ll have to get by on travel rations. As a reward for that task, we’ll allow you to take the first watch at night.”

  That sobered everyone up. “Yes, the hellhounds will be roaming around and will be our primary protection at night, but I still believe we need one of our group on guard at all times. Anything is possible with magic and we need to be prepared. Each of us will need to sleep with our weapons nearby.”

  Kynin nodded. “I was going to suggest the same. We know at some point our enemies will attack and they will probably do so at night, expecting to gain the advantage in surprise. I will also set up wards around the camp and I suggest you prepare a number of defensive spells, set up to trigger on a moment’s notice.”

  Everyone had grown quite serious, contemplating just what that might mean and how to prepare themselves. Jailyn spoke up. “We need to turn what they think is an advantage for them to be one for us. They’re used to darkness since they live in it, but we can use our magic to memorize the layout of
each night’s campsite, so it will become our advantage.”

  Carisa smiled. She liked that idea. “We can set up some of our null magic traps too, a magic minefield they’ll have to cross, yet we’ll know exactly where they are and can avoid them.”

  Jesse was just as enthused. “You’re right. Plus I can add some earth traps, just in case they can sense the null magic and dodge your traps. I can hide them so they won’t be able to see them until the ground drops off underneath them.”

  Jailyn smiled. “With jagged ice stakes at the bottom. That’d do some damage.”

  Corrie was quick to add to their ideas. “I can help with both sets of traps. I can use my magic to cover the whole thing in a web of illusions. What looks like solid ground may be a cliff edge, that kind of thing, plus make it all a confusing maze.”

  Kynin just stared at the group. “You’re right. We’ll do all of them.” He laughed. “I’ve never been with a group as devious as you guys. No one has ever even thought to do such a thing.”

  He sobered up quickly, though. “Of course, I’ve also never been so sure as I am now that we’re going to face an attack. I’m certain of it. Probably not for a few days, but we can’t count on that.”

  So it was, beginning with that night and each night thereafter, the small group set up its defenses. They didn’t know when they’d need them, but they all knew for certain they’d be needed.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Onward and Upward

  THE SPY FOR the Dark Forces was more than a little confused. He had been told to keep an eye on a particular group of new students, something about the burst of magic they’d produced some weeks before. He didn’t see anything special about them, other than the one being the niece of Master Ashcroft, but if he was told to watch them, he would. As long as they paid him well, that is. A minor wizard, he worked in the dining hall as a food preparer, so he hadn’t been concerned the first day or so he’d missed them. He was looking forward to maybe even getting a bonus for his efforts, but now the next payday seemed less likely, since he’d obviously lost track of them.

  That night he slipped out from his mediocre quarters the high and mighty grand wizards allowed him, traveling to the special place he used to call in his reports. When he reached the area in the back of the former home of the one now called Lord Vipero, his magic was too weak for him to notice anything different. Slipping the ring on, he made his report.

  “The four you had me watching seem to be missing. It’s been three days since I’ve seen them. I will advise at the next contact if I see them again.”

  He had just slipped the ring off when he heard a voice in the background, “That’s going to be rather difficult for you, where you’ll be.”

  Before he could move, a magic web was thrown over him. Seconds later his hands and feet were locked into iron manacles. He didn’t think missing his next payday was going to be his worst problem.

  As the prisoner was carried away, Master Sabine remarked to Master Ashcroft, “A pity we didn’t have this cleaned up sooner. We might have bought a little more time for our young friends.”

  “Yes, but we knew they would find out sooner or later. Let’s hope we’ve bought them enough time. Most especially, we must hope the amulet Lord Von Barso gave them is still working. That’s our only real hope. We just didn’t have enough time to train them like they needed to be.”

  Master Sabine nodded. “We did the best we could. I just hope it’s enough.”

  “That group may just surprise you. I do worry about Lord Vipero, but he’ll be pressed to reach them before they get to the valley. It’s his allies I worry about more. We’ve often suspected that they have portals that they can use to quickly cross large distances. We must hope they aren’t able to use one to stop them.”

  Master Sabine shook his head. “If only our hands weren’t tied by the prophecy, we could be there to help them.”

  “No, we can’t do that. But I still think perhaps they’ll get help when it’s really needed. We’ll just have to see how it develops.”

  Master Ashcroft didn’t explain what he meant. He really didn’t know himself, but he hadn’t forgotten the interaction between Jailyn and the dragon. Something in the back of his mind told him that would become important in the coming days, whatever that meant.

  If he had known the truth, he wouldn’t have believed it.

  Lord Vipero was unhappy. His meeting with his mentor had not gone well. It was like the man was blaming him for what had happened. Melthevis had practically demanded he produce the boy right then and there, as if he could do so. Neither of them could set foot on the island as long as those wards were maintained. It wasn’t like the boy was doing anything there. The wimpy version of magic they taught on the island would never be a threat to him or his Master.

  There was something else too. Lord Melthevis appeared a little distant, as if he no longer considered his disciple to be of any importance. That meant something was going on he didn’t know about, something to do with the Dark Prophecies.

  The fool. He’d show him. Those stupid prophecies meant nothing. Nothing that a properly delivered spell wouldn’t fix. It wasn’t like they were real wizards; just students with a little luck. They must have stumbled on the magic at the pool and were probably still drunk with it when they triggered his trap. Otherwise, it would have done the job and he wouldn’t have to be worrying about a bunch of kids.

  He stared at the report he’d just gotten from the spy network. This one was from the idiot on the island, who’d never delivered anything of real use. It didn’t make any sense. If the boy had left the island, he would have picked up a hint of his magical signature in his scrying. No, they were probably just laying low; he’d get them soon enough, whenever they left the island.

  He sent the report on to his master, but he didn’t wake him to emphasize it. After all, there wasn’t a reason to do so.

  Jesse had found enough eggs to add a little variety to their breakfast along with the loin cuts from the deer, so they enjoyed a rather good meal the next morning. Then they followed Kynin’s instructions, taking down their magical traps, packing up their camp, and removing all traces that they’d ever been there — even magically erasing the signs of the fire.

  So it was a reasonably satisfied group that started out. That went away rather soon as they stood staring up into the pass that would be the next step on their journey. In the early morning light it looked quite daunting.

  “Are we absolutely certain this is the best way through the mountains?” Jailyn had to ask Kynin.

  He nodded. “Unfortunately, it is. We would have to travel hundreds of miles before we could find a better way through. If you remember your history, when they arrived in this land the Ancestors had to travel through this same pass from the other side, after trying several other possible paths that eventually became impassable. They managed it, even with young children, but it wasn’t easy.

  “The pass is broken up into several sections based on the travel conditions. The first part involves a rather strenuous climb, much like the last part of the trail yesterday, only worse. The second part is easier and even dips into a small valley. We should be able to stop there for a brief midday meal. The last section is the worst, a hard climb. We won’t be able to depend on your hellhounds to scout that area, so we’ll have to be especially vigilant. That will put us in the middle of the pass, so we’ll camp for the night there in some of the caves along the area.”

  Jailyn knew there wasn’t anything to do but to get started, but she had some changes in mind for the day. Jesse was a little ways off, so she spoke quietly to Kynin.

  “Kynin, we definitely want you in the lead today, so you can set the pace, but if it’s okay with you, I want Jesse to go up front with you. He needs to learn as much as possible about leading the others while he has the chance. He’s going to need it later, I’m sure.”

  For the moment, Kynin didn’t press her for details, but she knew he would later. She had left
unsaid a lot of her real reasons, some of which she didn’t really understand herself. All she knew was that she had a strong feeling that at some point Jesse would need to take over as leader. Of course, he would have to when they returned with the Talismans of Power and accepted his role as the uncrowned king.

  Kynin just nodded, giving her a smile. “Yes, I think young Jess has the makings of a pretty good leader. I expect there’s a few pointers I can give him. That sounds like a good idea.”

  He went over to speak with Jesse and Jailyn could see Jesse’s nod of agreement. She didn’t miss the glance Jesse sent her way, as much as saying, I know what you’re up to.

  A few moments later they started up the path. Everyone fell in, albeit a little less enthusiastically than they had the day before, with Jailyn bringing up the rear. They didn’t even bother to try to talk to each other in the early morning gloom.

  Jailyn just shook her head. That was only going to get worse. She called the hellhounds, who appeared almost instantly.

  “Scout ahead to the valley on the other side of this section of the pass. You’ll need to wait there until we arrive.”

  Big Boy answered for them all. “Yes, Mistress. We’ll explore the whole valley; it’ll give us a chance to run a little while we wait.”

  They were off with a scattering of dust. Jailyn started up the trail behind the rest. She wasn’t so very enthusiastic about it herself.

  Kynin was spot on with his description of the first section of the trail, although it varied over the course of the climb in its level of difficulty. Sometimes it felt like just another trail, but at other times it turned into a climb that, while not difficult, wasn’t easy either and the group quickly tired. If they hadn’t had all the time working out in the Dream World, they probably wouldn’t have been able to go on.