The grey knight raised his visor and Marcus screamed, not loud but delicate like a girl because what he saw was most frightening, his attempt at being brave was shattered, backing up he bumped into Brother Knight and fell over. The armour wasn’t empty; this one contained a skeleton with empty eye sockets staring back at him, very unpleasant to look at, as if it had just dug its way out of the ground. He had been told that he would need to bind an evil knight but had not yet found such a spell, nor found sufficient time to research it for that matter. It appeared that being a wizard had more complications than five people speaking five different languages trying to communicate with one another. He wasn’t sure what to do. He supposed that he could make his golden knights hold it down while he tied it up, a temporary solution but a solution nonetheless.
“Marcus, it’s me,” said the skeleton.
The boy’s eyebrows lowered. The voice did sound vaguely familiar. What sort of trick was this? “What do you mean it’s me? Am I supposed to know you? I don’t remember being acquainted with any skeletons.” It was an attempt at humour.
“It’s me Adorok,” said the skeleton. “Somehow you pulled me out of purgatory into this hunk of metal.”
What had he done now? And what were the consequences of what he had accomplished? “Oh my, it is you! But you’re not a knight you’re a wizard!” Marcus ran and hugged Adorok but then remembered that he was also hugging the scary skeleton. “Adorok is there a spell to stop me from sleepwalking? I’ve had enough. I mean when a person is not in control of his own self!”
Adorok shrugged, making his armour clink. “I don’t know of any spell but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one. “I think I prefer this to being in limbo although I don’t know if I’d like to remain in this state forever and besides I really don’t know how to handle a sword. I’ll be quite useless as a knight. Marcus I’ve never seen such a complicated spell. You are a wizard of the wand indeed.”
The thought of Adorok being trapped in there forever and not being able to ascend into heaven was disturbing; Marcus certainly didn’t want to be responsible for that. Being able to accomplish things in his sleep that he couldn’t when awake was vexing. “You do know that you’re a skeleton?”
Adorok looked closely into the armour of one of the golden knight’s reflective metal and was surprised to see the skeleton looking back. “Oh that is quite scary. I must say that I have looked better. No wonder I got a scream out of you. Things that look like this belong in the ground.”
“Hello I’m Raina; I shall be Marcus’s wife.”
“Well it is nice to meet you. She’s a comely girl indeed boy. Think of all the beautiful babies you shall make.” Adorok rubbed his hands together to try a simple fire spell but nothing happened. “I was afraid of that. I am no longer a wizard in this form.” He was already considering that this reality might be depressing.
Marcus shrugged. “The wedding is not a sure thing as I haven’t quite decided yet.”
Raina handed Marcus his wand. “He likes to pretend that he isn’t sure but you mark my words we’ll be married as soon as he turns fourteen.”
“Marcus,” said Adorok, “You still have almost a year before you are thirteen so there’s lots of time to decide. Of course one shouldn’t decide on such a things by looks alone but she is exceptional.”
“No,” said Raina. “He’ll be fourteen next month. Right Marcus?”
The wizard scratched his head vigorously. “Actually Adorok is right. I wanted you to think I was older.”
Raina stared into his blue eyes because even though it was only a small lie it was still a lie and she didn’t like it one bit. A man was the sum of all his good and bad behaviours. “You lied to me?”
“Only a little one.”
Adorok could see that Raina wasn’t happy. “Marcus you are already in trouble with your future mate. Honesty is the proper path when it comes to women because they sniff out the truth like a dog sniffing out meat, and you’ll never hear the end of it, and at your age that’s a hell of a long time. We should go and see king Darius as I’d like to talk to him.”
“We’re going to Leeander in the morning so you shall have the opportunity then.” Raina smiled at the eerie skeleton, he would definitely take some getting used to and she hoped he wouldn’t be in her dreams tonight.
Adorok was anxious to catch up on things with the king. “Very well then. I must say that I feel very awkward.”
“I’m going to bathe in preparation for the trip.” Raina still looked annoyed at Marcus’s dishonesty, thinking that little lies, if there was such a thing, could turn into big ones.
Marcus was in his lab looking through his book of spells which also had chapters on general knowledge for wizards of the wand. He was sure that the information hadn’t been there earlier but the book appeared to be adding new information. Additionally there were secret passages in the book which needed to be unlocked which made him feel important, taking but a pass of his wand to reveal new pages of important information. He wanted to read some of those chapters but the book continued to flip to a certain page with a distinctive looking bird, a Crested Caracara, said to be a spirit bird that traveled from the world of the living to the dead and back. He heard Brother pouring the last bucket of water into Raina’s tub, those knights came in handy. He knew he shouldn’t do it but he aimed his wand at the wall under the shelf that contained several scrolls, and with a small pop he created a small hole for him to peek through; she dropped her robe and stood naked as she prepared to enter the tub. Marcus was fixated on her beautiful breasts but then she noticed light peeking through where there hadn’t been any before.
“Marcus!”
Marcus jumped up and smashed his head on the shelf, knocking it down and sending the scrolls flying all over the place. He fell backward and landed on his rump, on his wand and was devastated to see that he had snapped it in two and every fibre of his being screamed oh no! A gasp was released that converted into relief when the wand pulled itself together and became whole again. He knew of no way to replace his precious wand.
Raina screamed but this time the scream was terrifying, causing Marcus to rush to her, finding her covered by a cloak though naked underneath. “What is it?”
“That skeleton friend of yours is walking around without his armour on and he scared me, like seeing the dead walking.”
“Why isn’t the door closed?”
“I did close it must have come open by itself.”
Adorok appeared at the door. “I beg your pardon miss I was exploring the castle and I opened the door not realizing that there was someone in here. My memory is not what it should be.” His skeleton was brownish as if he’d just been dug out of the ground, pieces of skin hanging here and there.
“I didn’t think it was possible for you to remove your suit of armour,” said Marcus.
“It’s more comfortable like this although I imagine not as pleasing to the eyes.”
Raina pushed the door shut so she could continue to bathe. “Marcus you stuff something into that hole right now!” She smiled now that she knew he couldn’t see her.
“I will.” He considered telling her that it was an accident but realized that fibbing was a hot pan best left untouched. He too smiled as he remembered her nakedness.
CHAPTER THREE
IT WAS COLD ON TOP OF MOUNT KACHENGA where three sorcerers were huddled together under a protective bubble of warmth; they were just inside a large cave system waiting for the sun to raise her beautiful face in order to continue the quest for the Staff of Herding. It had taken them two days and two nights to climb the mountain, and that was with using bursts of magic to accomplish it otherwise it would have taken them ten days. Each had a long walking stick and a determination to succeed, the thought of getting their hands on the staff pulled them forward. They thought the walking staffs made them look formidable, even though the sticks contained no magical abilities their enemies wouldn’t know that, and Kapano had carved a skull into th
e top of his.
It had been a long night but it was much safer to travel under the light of the sun, only heaven knew what deadly beasts traveled at night. Even a wizard could fall into a trap or be caught by some terrible beast that lurked under night’s shroud of darkness, by its nature surprise was not easy to defend against, an arrow to the throat or an unseen trap could be fatal. And some wizards created specific traps to capture other sorcerers, often with a magical item as bait, anything that glowed or sparkle caught their attention.
The night had been spent envisioning what they might accomplish with such a powerful weapon and the kingdoms that they might conquer; they were as excited as children who waited for a juggler to appear, an eagerness that danced in the pits of the sorcerer’s stomachs. Having control of others would make them kings or at least they believed it to be so and they couldn’t wait to get their grimy hands on it.
The sound of dragon wings cutting through the air caught their attention; it sounded close but they couldn’t see it, the wind from it knocked off a branch that landed in front of the entrance. Not only did its proximity sound like its arrival was imminent but the whoosh of its wings was getting louder by the second. Asher worried that they might all find themselves caught in flames at any moment, an unpleasant though relatively quick way to go he supposed. All their eyes widened as soil was blown away from the entrance, their hearts thumping faster than they would like; the arrival of a dragon might mean certain death, depending on the creature’s mood.
As the large black dragon landed in front of the entrance it shook the ground, peeking in it startled all three of them, cocking her big head; the slit of the dragon’s pupil and her huge red eye practically took up the entire cave entrance. She snorted and they could hear the roar of fire bursting forth from her nostrils. “What are you doing in there?” asked the dragon. “You best not be in search of the Staff of Herding. Only a fiery death awaits those who seek the staff. I am its keeper. I protect the light and chase dark souls into the darkness where they belong.”
Kapano glanced at Asher’s big nose, some sort of bug was crawling around on it and then his attention back at the dragon, disappointed to hear that the staff had a defender but worse still a dragon. Why couldn’t anything be simple? “Never heard of it,” he lied. “What does it do? Heard sheep?”
Esmeralda stared at them wondering if he was being truthful. She had not conversed with many humans and so wasn’t aware of their character traits, sniffing them the dragon definitely didn’t like the odour, a lot like swamp gas she thought. Had they ever bathed? “Never mind what it does. What are you doing up here on my mountain?”
Asher felt like saying something disparaging about the dragon thinking that it owned the mountain but it was best not to antagonize the beast as they could be very temperamental things. They knew that the beast would be able to enforce its claims with its might, a single burst of flame and all that would remain of them would be ash. “We’re searching for magical ingredients that only exist high up on mountains.”
The dragon’s eyes blinked. “And what ingredient would that be?”
“That is none of your business,” said Aewyn, standing akimbo he stared at the eyeball. “We don’t want you to find it before we do, should you desire it.”
Esmeralda grunted, perhaps they were telling the truth, she had no desire to kill them without sufficient cause, and with that she spread her wings and took flight; they watched her as she flew up on top of the cliff to the right, and as she landed she displaced a bit of snow that drifted down toward the ground far below. They took note of her exact location. The morning wasn’t even born yet and already off to a terrible start and now they had more climbing to do. Unquestionably a dangerous undertaking awaited them.
Kapano shook his head. “You know what that means.”
Asher nodded. “I know what it means.”
Kapano crossed his arms, not appreciating the complexity of the situation. “Do we have enough of the poison to kill it?”
Asher shrugged. “I think we might have just barely enough but it is risky. A sick dragon could kill us all with a flick of its tail, never mind a fireball that would cook us. I guess it will take great risk to attain such power.”
Aewyn grunted much like the dragon had. “Yes and a fool is unaware that he is in fact a fool. We’ve no choice if we want the staff. It could take months to find another dozen of those Black Spotted spiders to create more poison and that’s the only poison that I know will kill a dragon.”
Kapano sighed. “Then we’d best get going it’ll take some time to get up there.”
They left the confines of the cave and steadily headed up the spiraling path that wound around the mountain which would take them to another encounter with the dragon and no one was looking forward to that. Funny how multiple people banded together could make them more asinine than one alone, feeding off of one another’s stupidity. As they got higher there was more snow on the trail and an eagle had commenced to follow them, flying in front of them from rock to rock, cocking its head at them. Whatever it was up to they had gained its interest.
“We have company,” said Kapano.
Aewyn stopped and stared up at the bird. “Yes I see that.”
They sky was now brighter and the sun was about to peek over the horizon. There was the sound of another eagle screeching from somewhere unseen. A single feather flew down into Kapano’s hand and it had writing on it. What are you doing way up here?
“Oh an eagle created by magic. Perhaps a human transformed.” Sometimes magical creations outlived their creators. Kapano stared at the bird as it looked down at him from a rock ledge. “Stop following us.”
Yet another feather dropped into his hand. I want to see the dragon eat you, or burn you, or stomp on you, or tear you into tiny little pieces. Are you going to scream?
Kapano shook his head. “Get the hell out of here.”
Aewyn took the feather from Kapano and read it. “Stupid eagle wants to see us get eaten.”
This time the feather slowly drifted into Aewyn’s hand. You’re the stupid one.
Aewyn launched a fireball at the bird and accomplished a direct hit, but the eagle flew around unaffected, a rare animal that was immune to spells. Perhaps it was a wizard that had transformed himself into an eagle. Maybe it was also after the staff. The bird hit Aewyn with an attack of his own, dropping his waste on his left shoulder before flying up to a higher perch to view the result, its head bobbed up and down as it laughed.
Kapano shook his head. “It survived a fireball?”
Asher grunted. “Magic seems to be spreading, give it another century and maybe everyone will be a sorcerer.”
“Perish the thought,” said Aewyn.
The trail curved up and to the left when suddenly Esmeralda’s big head stuck out from the cliff looking down the path as she watched them climb. What if they had something that was catching? Were they really in search of magical ingredients or were they in fact after the staff? Perhaps she should kill them just to be safe.
“You three are trying my patience,” said the dragon.
“Are there bushes up there?” Kapano asked the dragon.
Esmeralda looked around and then nodded. “A few I guess. Stunted things they are.”
They slowly made their way up to where the dragon was and all three went over to a bush that was partially covered in snow, Asher gave it a good shake to remove some of it. The dragon snorted and a plume of fire went into the air and then she watched as they commenced to examine the bush, they now looked suspicious to her as Kapano glanced back. It appeared to be an ordinary bush but then again she knew nothing of magical ingredients. Esmeralda noticed the eagle circling around, gliding majestically, unfortunately for her it was the distraction that was needed for Kapano to reach into his pouch and throw a small bottle at the dragon, and as it smashed on her neck the gooey liquid within burned a hole in one of her scales and she collapsed as its venom burned into her body, her monstrous w
eight shook the ground as she fell.
Asher went up to it and kicked its huge claw. “I think it’s dead.”
“Yah I think so,” said Kapano.
Aewyn shoved his staff into the side of her mouth to make enough room so that they could go in and the others did the same. When a dragon was hiding a magical weapon it sometimes swallowed it, being able to regurgitate it when necessary. Her fire was extinguished but it remained incredible hot in there, a stench of sulphur and stomach acid. They all conjured small cubes of illumination to light their way; there were still glowing red embers way down, its shadows dancing on her stomach wall, the light reaching all the way up to the three wizards.
“Oh no,” Kapano exclaimed, feeling the vibration from her beating heart. “One of her hearts is still beating, the smaller one I think. We best get out while we can.” But then a glow caught his eye, the Staff of Herding, tucked inside a flap of skin on the side of the dragon’s throat, about a third of it was visible. The others hurried to get out as Kapano went for the magical weapon, desperately hoping that it wouldn’t be the last thing that he ever did.
Asher was glad to be back out on solid ground “He’s a goner if he stays in there much longer; the fire can ignite at any moment.”
“Better him than I.” Aewyn climbed up on the dragon’s tail which wasn’t easy and then listened for her heartbeat. “The heartbeat is quite strong although somewhat irregular,” he said with his ear on Esmeralda’s tail. “I don’t think she will recover but I can’t say that for certain.”
Kapano fell out of the dragon’s mouth with the Staff of Herding and all their faces lit up like a child getting the gift that he had always dreamt of; the staff was now in their hands. The dragon belched emitting hot gas and a piece of pterocrit that had not been fully digested; part of its head perhaps, in any case an eyeball was stuck to the side of it. Kapano’s stomach lost its contents from the stench.
Knight of the Sword (of Knights and Wizards Book 3) Page 2
