Wizard Itzel nodded at Lou. “You’re holding a part of Rock Lake. This is a safe place. Baron Orb cannot detect me here.”
Nelson waited for the wizard to continue.
The wizard stepped onto the beach, wading into the rocks that spilled onto the shore until they sluiced around his knees.
“That doesn’t hurt?” Nelson asked.
The wizard looked down at the rocks swirling about. “No, and if you dove in, you could swim and not incur injury, but we don’t have time for that.”
Lou said, “Wait, you said sticking yourself in your manservant’s body hid you. Why do you need this place to do that, too?”
“Because residing in this golem body doesn’t offer complete protection. On Earth, yes, but back here, the baron’s abilities are magnified. There are three places in the realm where geographical magic is socked away, and it’s of such magnitude it overshadows other magic. Plus, I’m not nearly as powerful when I’m divorced from my true body.”
“Which is where?” Nelson asked.
“In another refuge. That’s not relevant. May I continue?”
Lou said, “Yes. You left us hanging about the prince whose father disowned him for not having magic. I don’t remember his name.”
“His name was Wilk.” Nelson added, “And you were about to explain some fallen hero. And you said we each have some magic.” He thought of his conversation with the owl. The wizard had no idea he’d done that because Georgie had been present during the whole episode.
“Watch and listen.” Wizard Itzel again waved his arms about and directed the magic to the rocks. Like the water, they jumped into the air, forming a screen, this one much thicker and more irregular as it used all different sizes of rocks.
The rocks arranged themselves into a scene. It was of Wilk walking through a desert of black sand. He held a staff and carried a large backpack slung over his shoulder.
“Wilk Orb left his father’s domain. He walked into a world filled with magic. He spent years adrift, roaming throughout Perpetua.”
The rocks showed scene after scene of Wilk encountering other magical species. Elves, dragons, minotaurs, even mummies. In each instance, they ran him out when his lack of magic was exposed.
“Now, these examples are just speculation, but I’ve heard enough accounts to verify that many of his interactions played out this way. At least that’s how the boy saw it. He was wounded and felt ashamed. These feelings clouded his perspective, and he saw resentment and ridicule everywhere.”
Nelson winced at how Wilk was treated by a pack of werewolves who’d invited him on a hunt, and he’d been given the honor of slaying their kill, and failed.
“He disappeared for almost ten years. I can find no witnesses claiming to have come across him until the assault on the village Noulgran.”
The scene transformed, the rocks dancing about and sliding into place to depict a village of elves, the steep roofs of their homes mirroring their elongated ears. Elves were busy flitting about in a large market square.
The sky overhead darkened, and hundreds of gauntwings, shadow creatures that resembled flying alligators with tails ending in slashing barbs, dropped onto the ground. They attacked. Some elves fought back, but the gauntwings were relentless and didn’t stop until all had been subdued. Nelson didn’t spy any substantial weapons other than simple knives and a bow and arrow here and there. He got the impression they were a peaceful people.
A cloud of the gauntwings still loomed over the village. A figure clad in blue and black armor floated out from the center of the creatures and glided to the ground, landing in the market and striding toward a pair of elves dressed in much more lavish fashion.
“The elves have always been ruled by twins. King Loek and King Nistril were the first to face his insidious offer.” The wizard pointed to the armored figure. The camera swept in to reveal his identity as a much older Wilk. His red hair, like his father’s, only evident in his goatee, the rest having been shorn off. Twisted tattoos of different shadowy versions of gauntwings covered his head where hair would normally flow.
“Wilk. He looks so hardened,” Lou said.
“Now insisting on the name Baron Orb, Wilk was no longer powerless. We know not how he obtained magic, but he did. And his hunger for more was to prove our land’s undoing. He bargained with each species, promising to not bring them to ruin in exchange for a magical tribute each year, an offering that depleted them in terrible ways. Each race funneled a portion of their magic to the vile man, and he held his army in check. But some resisted parting with their magic.”
The rocks shuffled about, and when they stilled, an epic battle raged in a rocky desert. Green monsters in threadbare armor fought all manner of gauntwings, with Baron Orb floating high in the sky and surveying the chaos. The scene raced through, depicting the ebb and flow of a brutal battle until there were no more of the green monsters standing.
“The goblins’ utter extinction served as a message to all that resisting Orb was hopeless.”
The screen shifted again and again. Each scene focused on a different magical species. What they did in each was the same. It showed them sending off their magical tribute to Baron Orb and then going about leading a diminished existence: faeries could no longer sow pixie dust, gorgons could temporarily freeze others but could not summon the power to imprison their victims in stone, elves lost their ability to craft music and art, and so many other instances of sacrifice and hardship.
“Everyone was diminished. Everyone was reduced to simply existing. We resigned ourselves to the magic tax. This went on for far too many years.”
“Until a heroic mage showed up, right?” Lou said.
The rocks separated and flew onto the beach, many pulled back into the lake by the next wave surge.
Nelson saw the rocks now came up to the wizard’s chest. He trudged out of the swirling collection of rocks, perhaps fearing a strong undertow. It sure looked that way as he stumbled twice from his legs, being sucked out from under him by two receding tides.
“Yes, Neruno, a warrior half elf and half wizard. This mage gathered the few wizards and witches who had kept themselves hidden from the baron and enlisted them in his plan. Their first meeting was here along these very shores.”
Nelson was disappointed not to see the story depicted with the rocks but sensed the wizard was spent from the spell.
“We pooled our magic and shared it with the mage. He crafted a spell that allowed all the donated magic to grow and self-perpetuate. That was a dangerous aspect because if it was wrested from Neruno by Orb, his powers would grow exponentially.”
“The elf mage didn’t secretly work for Wilk, did he?” Lou said.
“No, but I can see why you might think that. Neruno was a legend, his kind deeds well documented. He didn’t force us to give our magic to him. He showed us something missing from Perpetua—hope.”
“But he didn’t win,” Nelson said, staring out at the lake.
“No, and I was one of the three lieutenants at his side when he was defeated. We knew that there was a huge risk that Baron Orb would simply take his collected magic, and we had planned for that. To let such a replenishing wellspring of magic fall into his hands wasn’t an option. We acted quickly and took Neruno’s essence, removed it from his physical shell seconds before his death, and sent it across dimensions to hide it away in three receptacles. Being so remote, we thought his magic well hidden, but Orb was resourceful. He eventually found all three.”
“It’s in us—Hugo, Nelson, and me.” Lou tapped her sternum.
“Yes.”
“So Baron Orb sent over the first few gauntwings to scout about and locate us and then he tried to grab us with that big giant monster.” Lou shivered. “It probably didn’t help that we all three got together for the first time this weekend.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t he come over and get us himself?” Nelson asked.
“I’m unsure why, but perhaps he was worried t
hat something might have prevented him from returning to Perpetua if he hopped over to your world. Our magic is diminished here on Earth. I took a risk crossing over myself. It took quite a lot out of me to use any magic there and certainly to craft the portal. That was very taxing.”
“Well, you didn’t make it look tough.” Lou smiled.
“And so, why bring us back over here? Won’t he just gather us up and suck the magic hero out of us?” Nelson pictured Orb draining him like a battery.
“If we can reunite the three parts of Neruno, he will be quite powerful again. See, in the six months his essence resided in you, his magic replenished itself and grew even stronger.”
“So strong that it could let us do magic?” Lou said.
The wizard stared at Lou. “What?”
“Like, it got so built up it was enough to even let normal Earthlings like us do magic?” Lou sounded excited and fearful at the same time.
Nelson didn’t think calling them Earthlings sounded right in this instance, but he also didn’t want to correct her at the moment.
“You can work magic?”
Lou nodded. “I can talk to dead things, well, their spirits.” She pointed at Nelson with an elbow. “He can talk to plants and animals. Although, I’ve only seen him chat it up with an owl so far.”
“And Hugo can dash about in his astral form. I thought that was just a fluke,” Wizard Itzel said.
“So what do we do now?” Nelson asked.
A booming voice intruded on Nelson’s thoughts. Explain why you are trespassing on dragon territory, wizard.
From the others’ shocked expressions, it was clear they’d also received the same telepathic transmission.
They turned around.
A huge green dragon flew down and landed between them and the safety of the forest. It kept its wings unfurled, further blocking escape.
It doesn’t want us to disappear into the woods because it can’t follow us very easily. Nelson looked away from the close-packed trees, focusing on the rocky beach.
The dragon swiveled its head to stare at Nelson. You aren’t very good at hiding your thoughts, child. That’s a real shame.
The school-bus-sized dragon lumbered forward on all fours, bobbing its long neck to the rhythm of its gait.
Nelson looked down at his unconscious friend. No way could they flee and drag Hugo’s comatose body along. We’re sitting ducks.
The dragon shot him a questioning look, raising a brow of bleached spikes protruding just above its right eye. What are ducks? The dragon swept its long, ridged tail back and forth as if greatly bothered.Nevermind, time should not be melted away with pointless gibbering. Time to do what I came here to do.
The dragon reached out a clawed hand and scooped up Hugo.
Lou said, “No! Put him down!”
The wizard tried to calm her.
The dragon stood on just its hind legs. Follow if you dare. The creature swept its wings toward the ground, and the downdraft buffeted them. Another two much faster flaps, and the dragon took off. It flew over the lake, heading toward the opposite shore.
For the first time, Nelson paid attention to the other side of the lake. He squinted. The beach over there butted up against steep cliffs riddled with large holes. And from those holes, other dragons spilled out and climbed down the rock face to the shore below. They all looked eagerly at the dragon making its way to them high in the air.
Wizard Itzel raced into the stones. “Hurry, never good to keep a dragon waiting.” He dove into the lake, disappearing in a sizable wave.
Lou slid into the tumbling rocks much more cautiously. She surfaced a few feet along and looked back at Nelson. “C’mon, it doesn’t hurt at all. It’s like swimming in packing peanuts.”
Nelson high-stepped through the shallows until he could no longer do so. When the rocks got to his neck, he submerged and held his breath. He swept his arms forward and was surprised to see that it felt exactly like water, only slightly thicker. The rocks didn’t so much bump and crash against him as flow over. He followed each stroke with a kick, propelling himself swiftly across the lake. Every third stroke, he surfaced to catch his breath.
He tried his best not to think of what the dragon would do with Hugo. He hoped it found him unappealing. Big predators lost interest if their prey didn’t put up a fight. Maybe the dragon would decide Hugo’s limp body was unappetizing and abandon him for a livelier meal.
Nelson shuddered. A meal it could pluck out of the lake with its impressive claws. He suddenly wasn’t as fired up to swim with so much gusto. He saw Lou had no such worries. She plowed through the swells at a manic pace.
Her frantic movements are easy to spot from on high, he thought.
Chapter 11
Lou Marvels At Their Scaly Allies
Lou didn’t understand why Nelson was slowing down. Swimming was downright effortless. She wasn’t the least bit tired. In fact, she felt keyed up. Maybe since Rock Lake was a place of magic, a little of it seeped into any swimmers, giving them a boost of energy. Maybe Nelson wasn’t receiving the same jolt as she was.
She called out to him, urging him to pick up the pace.He frowned but eventually did just that.
This whole situation was absolutely bananas. They’d traveled to a completely different world. Her mom would be terrified, but her dad would’ve eaten up every bit of it.
As she fell again into a rhythm with her strokes, she reviewed what she knew. So, they could do magic. Baron Orb wanted the hero magic from inside them. Wizard Itzel wanted to bring the warrior magic together and—what? Extract him from them? It sounded weird that having a warrior elf mage tucked away inside them helped strengthen the magic, but it made sense. And the proof was they could each do magic. That detail had surprised the wizard, but she also thought it confirmed his notion that the magic was growing immensely.
And an honest-to-gosh dragon? It had been a little scary but also downright incredible. The creature’s reflective scales, just how its wings moved and the way it took to the air, all of it was plain outrageous. Her amazement was dampened by the fact that the dragon had run off with Hugo.
Lou paused to survey her progress. It seemed like they were halfway across. The middle of the lake was calmer. Ahead, Itzel plowed through the stones. She wondered if the real golem would like taking a dip in this special lake. She understood Georgie couldn’t exactly submerge himself in a lake of water. This was tailor-made for the golem. She looked along the other parts of the shoreline. Maybe there was a golem village set up nearby.
The stones rolling around Lou reminded her of the Thing. Sure, the rocky hide of the Fantastic Four strongman was orange—a color she hadn’t spotted in the lake once she’d imagined Ben Grimm’s rough-and-tumble exterior—but it was hard not to think that she was swimming her way across a giant version of the hero.
Wizard Itzel surfaced and stared back at her. “Hurry now.”
Lou noticed Nelson had passed her while she’d been imagining a lakeside village of golems and musing on a hero who thought it was always clobbering time. She resumed swimming, eager to pull ahead of him.
Lou hunkered down, keeping her mind focused on the task of making it across. It was hard not to dwell on what the wizard had shared with them, but she needed to stay sharp. Hugo’s life was on the line here.
In what seemed like ten minutes later, they came ashore.
Lou marched beside the wizard, while Nelson hung slightly behind them. She looked down at the wizard. Initially, she’d thought the appearance of the dragon might spook the golem into coming to the surface. But that hadn’t happened. The voice was a dead giveaway to tell who was who, but she could detect when the wizard was in charge by his more assertive body language, like now.
Wizard Itzel waltzed out of the lake and right up to the dragon who’d taken their unconscious friend.
Hugo lay on the beach, his eyes still open and staring into space. The large green dragon stood on its haunches, watching them exit the rocky wa
ves.
Other lesser dragons formed a semi-circle. She noted they were half the size of the lead dragon, their wings tiny and shriveled as if in need of a good ironing. While there were quite a few green dragons, all different shades, there were also yellow and red ones. She did spy a white dragon and two that were black. Surprisingly, no blue dragons. Lou looked up at the cliff face, expecting to see maybe a blue one issue from a cave, but there were no more dragons climbing down the cliffside.
She caught Nelson counting the dragons.
I’m going to guess about fifty and check with him later to see if I’m right.
The dragon snaked his head down until it was level with Wizard Itzel’s gaze. The wizard held his ground, not intimidated in the least.
The dragon broadcast telepathically to everyone. Lou could tell as much from Nelson and the rest of the dragons’ expressions. You’ve brought back the three not quite whole. This one is missing his spirit. The dragon nodded at Hugo.
“Yes, that’s an interesting twist but in a good way. Hugo here can send his spirit form out and about,” Wizard Itzel said. “The magic in each has grown so much that they can actually manipulate it themselves.”
The dragon looked at Lou and Nelson. All of them, not just this inert one?
The wizard nodded.
Nelson surprised Lou by entering the conversation. “You’re not going to eat Hugo or any of us?”
The dragon emitted a throaty chuckle that filled the air and not their minds. No, I merely wished to transport your unconscious friend to our village. Welcome to Mag’s Landing.
Lou sent the wizard a look. The dragon had clearly tried to frighten them.
The wizard whispered to her, “Silurf can be a prankster. Best not to make a big deal about his little terrorizing dragon act.”
Nelson didn’t hear the wizard’s advice. He marched forward and kneeled next to Hugo. “That’s just mean.”
The dragon arched a spiky brow. Mind your tongue, young one, unless you wish to stir my ire, which I don’t think you want to do.
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