Dragon Sleeping (The Dragon Circle Trilogy Book 1)

by CRAIG SHAW GARDNER

  She sat up on the great branch.

  “Don’t try to move,” the prince cautioned. “This Raven will never get you down from here.”

  The black shape swooped down from the opposite direction. The few remaining People cried out and fled to adjoining branches. The bird alighted on the branch just below Mary Lou’s feet. “Raven is only the first,” he remarked. “There are many who follow. Together, we’ll work to save you.”

  “Again,” the prince said, “I tell you, there’s no way.” He waved to the nearby trees. The People lined the closest branches, and now they held their weapons, bows already fitted with arrows, their strange, short knives, and the last of the poisoned spears rescued from their battle.

  The bird ruffled his feathers indignantly. “Raven only has to take to the air to drive them away!”

  The People lifted their weapons in unison, ready to attack. The prince raised his translucent hands.

  “Stop it!” he called. “You will not hurt Mary Lou!”

  The People hesitated, as if they understood. Even Raven looked a bit startled. Mary Lou had never heard the prince talk in that tone.

  The ghost turned to regard the bird. “It’s too late to do anything now. The Ceremony’s begun. The Anno will fight to the death to see that she goes through with it.”

  The black bird cocked his beak defiantly. “And who gave you authority? Raven recognizes no authority but Raven.” Raven cawed suddenly. “Authority? That’s who you are! Raven remembers! Who would question Raven but a wizard!”

  Mary Lou looked up at the prince. “What is he saying?”

  “A wizard!” the bird called triumphantly. “You are the third! Raven always remembers!”

  “It doesn’t matter who I am,” the Prince replied matter-of-factly. “What matters is that I can’t stop the People from shooting you.”

  The bird considered this. “Raven may be immortal, but he can be inconvenienced.” He cawed again. “The third wizard! You were the third wizard!” He flapped his great black wings as he launched himself from the branch. “Raven will find you, Mary Lou! And this time Raven brings friends!”

  Mary Lou looked around as the large bird disappeared beyond the nearer trees. She wished she could fly like him. It was probably the only way she could have gotten out of here.

  The People hopped from one branch to the next, rushing toward her again with their ecstatic cries. In a few seconds, they would overwhelm her again, pressing hundreds of bodies around her as she was pushed toward their platform and the conclusion of their Ceremony.

  “The third wizard?” she said to the prince while she could still see him.

  “I’ll tell you about it, if you wish.” The prince shrugged. “At least, what I recall.”

  Mary Lou only had one wish, and that was for Raven to hurry back.

  Forty-Four

  Evan Mills had always considered himself a practical man. Before he had become a vice-principal, he had taught mathematics. Mostly geometry. You couldn’t get much more practical than geometry. So, no matter what happened, he always thought it best to look at all the angles, so to speak, before you went for a solution.

  He’d never seen angles like this before. He had started this day on a different world. Now he seemed to be in a different reality.

  Somehow, Evan Mills realized, he was a part of Nunn. And he was in here with Leo Furlong—or whatever had become of Leo Furlong— and some creature named Zachs. He imagined there were others here as well, maybe behind all those doors. And why did he see doors, anyway? Doors in a hallway, no less. No, no, that line of thought wasn’t practical. Doors in the hallway worked as a concept. For now, that should be good enough for him.

  Mills also knew Nunn held Leo Furlong inside him for a purpose. He had seen the magician take on the appearance of Leo. Nunn must keep some part of those he’d consumed; ready to wear like so many masks. He wondered if Zachs was held here for the same reason. Somehow, though, the creature of light seemed different, special. And strange.

  There were so many unknowns here, even for a practical man.

  But Mills knew one more thing. These individuals he had met since coming to this place were now able to act in a different way; and that difference was attributable to him. He remembered the way Nunn had absorbed Leo, the way Furlong had shrunk and Nunn had squeezed. The magician had had no time to do the same sort of thing with Evan. But Mills was in here, anyway. He was the surprise, the fly in the soup, the uninvited guest. That made him sort of a wild card.

  Nunn was able to control those he kept within. At least sometimes.

  But Zachs had shown that it could control some of Nunn’s actions as well. Zachs was special, a creature of peculiar powers, but Mills imagined an uninvited guest would be special, too.

  And just like Zachs, perhaps Mills could learn to control the wizard as well.

  Mills heard a great moan from the end of the hallway. Nunn’s moan. The light-creature made a noise that seemed a faint echo of the one that drifted through the door. “Nunn knows now!” the creature wailed. Its light pulsed from red to yellow to sickly green. “You hurt Zachs! Zachs hurts you!” It paced randomly, making a great circle in the middle of the hall. “Will Nunn be too angry? Nunn can get very angry.”

  Leo looked up from where he sat on the floor. “Where are we?” Mills didn’t think Leo was ready to hear.

  “We are prisoners of Nunn,” Zachs answered for him. “Nunn keeps us inside, to use when he wants.”

  This light-creature seemed to understand their dilemma. And its comment had given Mills an idea.

  “But Nunn won’t attack us here, will he?” he asked Zachs. “Not when we’re inside.”

  The creature stopped abruptly. “He can’t.” It giggled, executing a little monkey hop. “That will only cause Nunn pain.”

  Another groan came from the open door.

  “But Nunn will know!” the creature cried, sinking down until its knuckles brushed the ground. “Will bring Zachs out! Will punish Zachs!”

  “Maybe,” Mills added quietly, trying to keep this creature as calm as possible, “he might bring one of us out. But what if more than one of us could cause him pain?”

  Zachs looked up, its glowing eyes large with fright. “More than one?”

  “Yes! That way one of us can give him pain first! That way we can protect each other.”

  Zachs’ head rose again. It giggled, very softly this time, as if it only barely dared to think of such a thing.

  It cringed when it heard a third groan.

  “Sayre,” Nunn’s voice said this time. “My dear Captain. I need your help.”

  The light-creature shrieked, throwing its arms above its head. “Nunn is awake! Zachs hides!”

  The light that was Zachs streaked away in an instant, leaving the other two behind.

  Mills wondered how anyone could hide inside someone. Or, for that matter, how he could expect someone as volatile as Zachs to share its secrets.

  Again, speculation like that wasn’t practical. There simply wasn’t enough information.

  “Evan,” Leo called up from where he still sat. “I’m afraid I don’t understand a lot of this.”

  “None of us do, Leo,” Mills reassured him.

  Furlong sighed. “I just wish I could get back to Margaret and Bobby.”

  Mills was afraid that was impossible. But then, they were in the middle of the impossible already, weren’t they?

  “Evan!”

  Leo clutched at Mills’ pant leg. Mills looked where the other man was pointing.

  Another door had opened partway down the corridor. This, Mills thought, could only be an invitation.

  “C’mon, Leo.” Mills pulled the other man to his feet. “We might as well see what’s waiting for us.”

  As soon as he thought about approaching the door, he was there. Leo stood next to him.

  “Do you think this is such a good idea?” Leo whispered.

  Heck, Mills thought, it’s better than havin
g no ideas at all. He looked inside.

  The room was filled with a sky of robin’s-egg blue, broken by three white fluffy clouds, and a larger thunderhead of a very deep grey.

  Mills realized that the thunderhead had eyes. Two eyes, as blue as the sky. It blinked at them.

  “I understand,” the cloud said, its mouth filled with a very pink tongue and a perfect set of teeth, “that you want to know something about causing pain.”

  Mrs. Smith wished she felt as confident as she sounded.

  “You will give Bobby to us now.” Those words came out of her somewhere.

  She wasn’t at all surprised when Nunn laughed.

  “So nice of you to come and visit.” Nunn nodded at the two men who carried him. One, she realized, was Hyram Sayre. The other was the Captain of Nunn’s guard. She had thought that the Captain had killed Sayre. Actually, at the moment, neither one of them looked particularly alive.

  The two of them slowly lowered Nunn to the ground.

  “I trust Obar has brought his dragon’s eye? I’ve been looking forward to adding it to my collection.”

  “Ah, brother,” Obar said abruptly, as if he had only just now remembered how to use his voice. “You should be even more pleased to know that we’ve brought more than one dragon’s eye.”

  She supposed this was the best time to hold her own gem aloft. She held it in her fist, only revealing it when her arm was fully raised.

  “Yes,” she said, far more calmly than she felt. “We have two.”

  “So that explains your power!” Nunn replied with glee. “You’ve had the stone all along. I was afraid you were something extraordinary, something new. Two dragon’s eyes? Perhaps we can negotiate.”

  Actually, Mrs. Smith thought, she had only found the stone quite recently. However, that didn’t seem to be the most important point to bring up at this minute.

  “Negotiate?” Obar mused. “Oh, yes, oh, my, the threats are gone, aren’t they? How different the world becomes when things are equal.”

  Nunn snorted at that. “Things are never equal. I have allies as well.” With that, Hyram Sayre and the Captain lurched into the room.

  Nunn raised his hands. A glowing jewel was embedded in either palm.

  “Now,” Nunn said calmly, “do you prefer to be killed by my servants or by my eyes?”

  Mills was transfixed. A cloud with eyes was too far beyond the practical.

  Leo spoke first. “Who are you?”

  “The proper question, I imagine, is ‘Who was I?’” the cloud replied gently. “I was a wizard, too. There have always been wizards in this place.

  “Before that, I was a human, just as Nunn was a human before he developed his skills. Humans and wizards are not so different. We are all the sum total of all those we meet, and all that we consume. The true wizard is only more so— especially someone like Nunn, who consumes so many of those he meets.”

  The cloud smiled serenely. “He ate you?” Leo asked.

  “Of course. There’s really no other way to get rid of a wizard. We just sort of hang around forever. Unless, of course, you’re careless around the dragon.”

  Mills was sure he should be paying close attention to all of this. But he couldn’t get Bobby out of his mind, especially since Nunn seemed about to do something to the boy. Nunn had hurt enough people. He wanted to stop him now.

  “This is all very interesting,” he told the cloud, “but I need to do something now.”

  “Yes?” the cloud asked.

  Mills decided it was best to be direct. “I need to cause pain this minute. To stop Nunn.”

  The cloud closed its eyes for a second. “Ah. So you do. And after this, I suppose you’d want lessons?”

  So this cloud, or wizard, or whatever it was, really would do what he asked. Suddenly, Mills felt overwhelmed.

  “Lessons? In giving pain? If it isn’t too much trouble,” Mills agreed. “No trouble at all,” the cloud replied genially. “I haven’t had anyone to talk with in ages.”

  When Hyram Sayre screamed, it was an awful sound, ragged and raw, with a tone that shifted from a grumble to the kind of high whine you heard in those damn rock and roll songs.

  Sayre decided to scream again. It was awful, but he liked it. The way he felt now, he was ready to get back at anyone who’d done anything to him, his whole life long. If he met someone he didn’t know—hell, he’d do it to them, too. It was time to let everything out. It was time to make everyone pay.

  No one would laugh at his lawn now.

  Look at this fat man in front of him, with the long mustache. How’d he like it if that mustache got pulled off his face!

  Sayre felt no pain. He only felt how strong his muscles had become, how much they wanted to choke the life out of anything that got in his way.

  The sooner he killed these people, the sooner he could get back to his lawn. He’d forget this twerp’s mustache. A single twist of the neck would do instead.

  “Hyram! No!”

  Sayre stopped short. Who knew his name?

  He looked over. It was someone he remembered. A lady who lived across the street. Why couldn’t he recall her name? So many things seemed to be slipping by him. She never made fun of his lawn. At least to his face. But behind his back, yeah, they all made fun of him behind his back. How could they imagine he wouldn’t know?

  Still, she’d been nice to him, out on the street. Sayre decided to give her a few more minutes and break the fat man’s neck first.

  She held something in her hand. It flashed green, pushing away some guy with scars on his cheeks.

  Hyram Sayre forgot all about the fat guy’s neck. What a wonderful shade of green that was.

  He wanted that green, almost as much as he wanted that lawn.

  Nunn would win. Nunn always won.

  Two wizards with two dragon’s eyes could defeat him if it was a direct contest and there were no other elements to confuse the combatants. But Nunn was a master of confusion. And it was that confusion, really, that would win the day.

  Power to power, this would have been a fair fight. But Nunn never fought fair. He had tossed his two minions into the fray as a diversion. The poor Captain wasn’t much good. Nunn’s other plans had almost used him up. The woman brushed him aside with the power of her own dragon’s eye.

  Ah, but this Sayre fellow was a revelation. Nothing seemed to stop him. Certainly, whatever pitiful spells his brother could muster seemed to do no more than flake off another bit of skin or hunk of bone. Dear Sayre didn’t even seem to notice. He might even be able to kill Obar without a bit of help from Nunn. Wouldn’t that be jolly. Nunn could think of so many things he could do with as naive a wizard as Mrs. Smith, once she was all alone.

  And then dear Constance had actually managed to distract Sayre for an instant. Perhaps his dim, reanimated brain remembered something from the old neighborhood. Obar shot another bolt of energy at Sayre’s back. The reanimated corpse staggered as the energy bored a hole through his shoulder. But it was only a small hole, and Sayre kept on moving.

  Now, while both Obar and Smith were distracted, would be the perfect time to rid himself of them.

  Nunn called to his eyes. He felt the heat of power first in his palms, then flowing up his wrists and arms and across his shoulders to his neck. So much power. The dragon’s eyes were excited by the possibilities. The heat was intense, searing his face as it reached for his brain.

  It was too much. Something was wrong.

  “Noooo!” he screamed as pain lanced through his skull.

  “Yes!” Mills exclaimed. “That’s exactly what I want.”

  The inside of the room, which had suddenly shown a view of the battle in the room beyond, just as suddenly shifted back to sky and clouds.

  “Good,” the thunderhead remarked jovially, “because you’re the whole reason this is happening.”

  “Me?” Mills said. What was he doing besides trying to survive? “These dragon magics are delicate things,” the cloud explaine
d.

  “Nunn has learned how to use them well. But no one, save perhaps the dragon itself, can ever have complete control of these things. If Nunn has a weakness, it is his confidence. He leaves himself open to attack from unexpected quarters. You are that attack.”

  “Well,” Mills replied, a bit overwhelmed by the magnitude of what he might have done, “I did want to fight him back there.”

  “And that’s what you’re doing!” the cloud agreed eagerly. “But you’re going to be able to fight him in a way that neither he nor you have ever experienced before.

  “By entering Nunn without his proper preparation, you have stirred up the powers that reside in his brain: all those things that he has consumed that stay, ghostlike, in his memory. Suddenly, Leo Furlong can think for himself. That light-creature, Zachs, finds it has the will to move. And an old wizard awakes, and thinks of retribution.”

  The cloud chuckled. “I think, if we handle this properly, we shall not only succeed, we shall also be properly entertained.” The image of the thunderhead faded again, and Mills could see the first outline of the room beyond. “But maybe we should get back to our battle. I think we might be able to adjust the outcome here very easily. Don’t you?”

  Mills decided for the moment that he was content to shut up and watch.

  Oh, dear, Obar thought, this wasn’t going at all well. Mrs. Smith’s lack of experience with her eye was already showing. And this damned corpse seemed to shake off minor spells. Obar was afraid that if he occupied himself with a major spell to rid them of this pest, Nunn would counter with a major spell of his own when Obar was unprotected.

  Then Mrs. Smith called out the corpse’s name. The Sayre-thing lurched around and started for her. Obar’s attacks didn’t seem to have any more effect on the corpse’s rear. And what about Nunn?

  That’s when his brother wizard screamed, without Obar doing a thing. Somehow Mrs. Smith had gotten through to him. She was such a wonderful raw talent. How could Obar have ever doubted her?

  Now was the time for Obar to strike.

  “Bobby!” Mrs. Smith called as she lifted her jewel. “Get Bobby!”

  Oh. Of course. That was the whole reason they’d come here, wasn’t it? Bobby first, Nunn later.