Wizard in the Woods

by Jeffrey M. Poole

  “And if I could? It sounds like you wouldn’t have any objection to her joining us, would you?”

  The entire group waited with baited breath for Kahvel’s answer.

  “Very well. I did say I would be more open minded than Kri’Entu. I agree. If the human king agrees to allow his son to be transformed into a water dragon, provided it can be done, I will allow Pravara to do the same.”

  Why in the world was my name dragged into this?

  Mikal stifled a smile.

  Don’t blame me, blame our fathers. My father isn’t pleased about me being changed into a water dragon, and…

  And you think mine is?

  That’s the point. Look at your father. It looks as though he’s ready to bite Gareth’s head off, and I don’t mean that figuratively.

  I’m inclined to let him.

  Anyway, to answer your question, I think my father would secretly like you to accompany me in order to keep watch over me, as annoying as that is.

  What did I ever do to him?

  Nothing. I think he was trying to make a point.

  And that point is to allow the two of us to be shifted into water dragons?

  And Gareth, too. I think he wants to go. In fact, he has to. He’s the one that needs to see where the Athanaus was held prisoner.

  Be advised. Your father just asked you a question.

  Mikal’s head snapped up. He looked over at his father, “Did you say something?”

  “Aye. Mister Gareth says that he can have the necessary shifting potion ready by tomorrow morning. If you do not have any objections then we are going to return to the castle so you can prepare yourself for tomorrow.”

  “I understand.”

  I guess I’m going to be a water dragon tomorrow.

  My father just broke the news to my mother, Pravara admitted. We are indeed going together.

  Has he even asked if this was okay with you?

  It was more of a statement, with an offhand ‘are you okay with this’ question at the end. I told him I was.

  Thank you. I’m glad you’ll be there.

  You’re welcome. Just so you know, I didn’t do it for you.

  You didn’t? Why did you agree to go?

  To earn my father’s approval.

  What did your mother say about all this?

  She was part of the conversation. She wasn’t thrilled about placing me in danger but she does understand the severity of the situation.

  Well, until tomorrow!

  Until tomorrow.

  ****

  “I still don’t think is a good idea,” Lissa said the following morning.

  A small crowd had gathered at one of the many piers scattered across Capily’s waterfront. Two huge three-masted galleons floated serenely on the calm waters while several dozen much smaller vessels were mired nearby. There was room for dozens of more vessels, of all shapes and sizes, but thanks to the cooperation of the weather, most were in use. Fensham was there, holding his daughter’s hand. Peanut was also there, whining, as she pulled at the leash Lissa’s other hand was holding.

  “There, there, Peanut,” Lissa soothed, squatting down to drape an arm over the corgi. “Mikal will be back before you know it.”

  Unconvinced, Peanut shot Mikal an imploring look and continued to pull on her leash. Mikal dropped to one knee and stooped low in order to draw a hand through the water. He stared up at Gareth, who was silently watching him.

  “I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”

  Gareth waved off his concerns.

  “You worry too much. All I had to do was modify my shifting spell by changing the destination environment. Then I had to –”

  Mikal tuned the boy out as he described all the aspects of the spell that had to be changed. To him it wasn’t worth the hassle, but to Gareth, who assured him he could see what needed to be changed in his head, it was. True to his word, it had only taken the young wizard two hours to modify the spell.

  Shardwyn, intent on watching the young wizard at work, had wandered by Gareth’s temporary quarters no fewer than ten times. Each time he lingered in the doorway, moving off only when the young boy glanced up to see who was watching. Each time Gareth was only able to snatch a glimpse of an elderly man wearing a hooded cloak. Growing concerned, Gareth had contacted Mikal, who tried to pull Shardwyn into the room but was only able to grab a handful of puffy white smoke following the elderly wizard’s rapid departure.

  “It was Shardwyn,” Mikal had explained. “I think he’s curious about what you’re doing.”

  “Then why hide?”

  “He probably hasn’t figured out how to lose the extra arms he grew during his latest botched potion attempt.”

  “Ah.”

  Having concluded his explanation about everything he had done to perfect his shifting spell, Gareth looked around.

  “We seem to be missing a dragon.”

  “You seem to be just as unobservant as ever,” Pravara’s dry response came.

  Gareth whirled around. There, sitting nearly a dozen feet behind the rows of people all facing the open water, was Pravara. Both wings were folded flat and she had lowered herself until she was resting comfortably on the ground. At the sound of her voice every person present turned to look back toward the village. Every human present, except for Mikal and Lissa, gasped with shock.

  “Do all you dragons move about as quietly as you do?” Gareth asked, amazed.

  “When we want to,” Pravara cryptically answered. “Do you know how you’re going to change us into water dragons? Do not be concerned if you cannot. No one will think less of you for trying.”

  “Trying? Please. I have it ready right here. And it’s a spell, not a potion. There will be no chance of us reverting to our air-breathing forms until I invoke the counter-spell.”

  Mikal nodded. “Smart. I hadn’t even thought of that.”

  “I remembered my shrinking potion wore off once Pravara washed herself in the water. The last thing I wanted was to be hundreds of feet below the surface and suddenly find that we have lungs instead of gills.”

  “Gills?” Mikal repeated, frowning. “You’re giving us gills?”

  “How else are you going to breathe underwater?” Lissa asked, trying valiantly not to smile. “Your body will need oxygen. You have to get it somehow.”

  “I didn’t think that far ahead, okay?” Mikal grumped.

  Gareth stepped up to the pier’s edge and looked down at the murky water. Mikal joined him a few seconds later. Together they watched a half dozen kytes floating languidly on the surface. Alerted by the presence of the dragon, the fluffy birds rose up into the air, but not before several of them relieved themselves on the way up. Mikal eyed the small floating piles of kyte excrement as they slowly dissolved.

  “That’s nasty.”

  Gareth shrugged.

  “Doesn’t that bother you? We’re going to be swimming in that.”

  “They pooped on the top. We’re going down below.”

  “Gareth, look at it. It’s dissolving.”

  “So?”

  “It means its mixing with the water. That’s gross!”

  “If you want to go swimming you’ll have to be willing to look the other way,” Lissa told him as she appeared on his left. “I usually choose a secluded spot to swim. I know what’s probably in the water but I choose to not let it bother me.”

  Mikal paled and swallowed nervously. This was not his idea of fun. Gareth grinned and looked back at Pravara, who was silently watching.

  “Is everyone ready? Who wants to go first?”

  Mikal glanced back at Pravara, who inclined her head as if to say be my guest.

  “I may as well get this over with,” Mikal remarked. “What do I have to do?”

  Gareth pulled three small clay figurines from one of his pockets. There were two small humans and one larger figure of a dragon.

  “Sorry. These figures aren’t modeled to scale but I think you’ll see where I was going with
this.”

  Mikal picked up one of the small human figurines and studied it. It was about two inches high and had several incredibly realistic details carved onto its features. Hair, facial features, crude outfit, they all looked like him! He looked at the other figure. This one had longer hair, was thinner, and had a knapsack slung over his right shoulder. Just like Gareth did now.

  “These are supposed to be us?” he asked the wizard.

  Gareth nodded, “Sorry. They aren’t very good. I was in a rush last night.”

  “You carved this last night in addition to creating the shifting spell?”

  “Carving time was included in the two hours. Be quiet. I’m trying to concentrate.”

  Gareth’s eyes closed and he fell silent. He picked up the figurine resembling Mikal. His lips began to move as he silently chanted. Mikal looked at the third figure. It was a dragon, and clearly had been carved to resemble Pravara. The figure was standing majestically on all fours and had both wings slightly extended, as if she was in the process of either folding her wings against her back or else was preparing to take off. Two spiraled horns protruded from her brow while the dragon’s tail was wrapped protectively around its feet.

  “I never stand like that,” Pravara noted.

  Mikal turned to see that the large dark green dragon had moved up quietly behind him. He held the small figure of the dragon up so that its much larger counterpart could get a better look.

  “It’s not bad, is it? He’s a pretty good carver.”

  Pravara grunted noncommittally. Mikal turned to hand the dragon figurine back to Gareth when he caught sight of his hand. It had started swelling, just like a balloon. More confused than alarmed, he turned to Pravara and opened his mouth to ask a question when all of a sudden he began having difficulty breathing.

  Mikal clawed at his neck, confused and scared, as he struggled to take a breath. His body continued to swell as large bumps formed all over his skin and rapidly grew into scales. His clothes peeled off his body as his torso lengthened, thickened, and then lengthened some more.

  Mikal gasped for air. He still couldn’t breathe. He tried to stand but found that his body refused to cooperate. He blinked his eyes and tried to look down at his chest to determine what had happened but was unable to get his eyes to focus. Everything was blurry.

  What was happening? What was wrong? Why wouldn’t his eyes work? He made another gasping noise and instinctively reached for his throat. This time he tried to clear any obstacles away from his neck but got the distinct impression that his throat was now much farther away than his hand and it would never be able to reach it. He tried twisting to see for himself what the problem was. Off balance, Mikal toppled over onto his side and flailed about helplessly. His eyes stung terribly so he closed them.

  “You need to get him into the water!” he heard Gareth snap. “Hurry!”

  The next thing Mikal felt was something ramming into his stomach, propelling him off the pier and into the cold murky saltwater of the Erudian Ocean. He quickly sank out of sight.

  At a depth of around three hundred feet Mikal regained use of most of his senses. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times. He took a deep breath and felt a cool tingling sensation near where he thought his stomach should be. He cast his eyes about, worried they would still be blurry like they had been a few moments ago. What he saw had him gaping with astonishment.

  Everything was crystal clear.

  A school of fish zoomed by him to swim in circles above his head. Each tiny fish sparkled radiantly as it swam in and out of the sunlight filtering down from the surface. The playful school of fish pulsed and throbbed, as if it were alive. A grouper, easily the size of a normal human man, but much smaller than his present form, entered his peripheral vision and lazily swam by. Mikal stirred, stretching his unfamiliar muscles. The grouper flicked its large powerful tail and disappeared in a swirl of phosphorous algae. Mikal grunted. He could actually trace the path the grouper had taken by simply following the glowing line, much like he had seen the huge mechanical birds do high up in the sky back on Steve and Sarah’s home world years ago. He reached for the glowing blue trail but frowned when he realized his arm was so short that it could barely extend out far enough to scratch his other arm.

  A loud thumping noise caught his attention. He craned his neck up to view the surface of the water far above his head. Something was disturbing it. He could see the water churning and bubbling. He should investigate. His first instinct was to kick with his back legs, but apparently water dragons didn’t really use their legs to swim. In fact, both of his back legs were disproportionately smaller than the rest of his body. Remembering what Gareth had said the first time he had become a dragon, he tried to not think about which muscles to use in order to achieve movement but rather he instructed his body where he wanted to go.

  Mikal felt as though he had begun swaying from side to side, yet his tiny arms and legs remained inert. With a start, he realized that this was how a water dragon must swim. He was undulating back and forth, much like what he remembered seeing serpents do when they were swimming through the water. Mikal shrugged. If that’s how it was done, then so be it.

  As he ascended to the surface Mikal discovered that the neck of a water dragon was similar to its airborne brethren. He was able to bend his neck completely around and inspect the form he had been shifted into. Mikal grinned. Water dragons were incredibly cool!

  This body was smaller than the winged dragon he had become earlier and resembled a serpent much more so than any other dragon he had ever seen, including the rare two-headed zweigelans. At least the winged dragon Gareth had turned him into when they were trying to break Cylandria out of her trance actually looked like a dragon. This one looked like a snake. A quick check of his back confirmed that this wyverian body didn’t have any wings, but then again, why would a water dragon concern itself with flying through the air?

  Mikal detected his momentum was slowing and automatically felt his entire body give a slight jerk. He easily zipped through the dark murky water as he headed towards the surface. He caught sight of his tail and briefly wondered what color he might be. In this light it looked as though he were a shade of blue usually only found in the deepest ocean. A quick glance down had him frowning. The scales covering his belly, namely his incredibly elongated torso, were more of a dark sea green color.

  What color was he? Would he be able to tell with the limited light filtering down from the surface? Granted, it was getting brighter and brighter the higher he swam, so maybe he should wait to address that question as soon as he broke the surface.

  His long, serpentine neck rose gracefully out of the water and he stared at the silent spectacle before him. There were people everywhere. There was Pravara. He blinked a few times and noticed his vision began to blur.

  Mikal? Are you well?

  Pravara sounded concerned, Mikal decided.

  I’m fine, Pravara. This is weird. Much weirder than being a winged dragon, but you know what? I think I’m enjoying it. I don’t know what’s wrong with my eyes. The longer I’m up here the more blurry everything becomes.

  Dip below the surface. Your eyes are drying out. After all, you are a water dragon now.

  Ah. Got it.

  Mikal dunked back into the water and felt his stinging eyes clear. He extended his neck back out of the water and again looked at Pravara.

  I think this is the coolest thing that I’ve ever done. Promise me you won’t tell Gareth I said that.

  Your secret is safe with me. Speaking of which, Gareth’s about ready to change me, too. Do you have any advice?

  You’re going to end up swimming just like a serpent would. Don’t fight it. Tell your body what to do and it’ll do it.

  Understood.

  How is it that I’m able to stick my head out of the water? Shouldn’t I be suffocating, like I was earlier?

  Pravara leaned her head out over the water’s edge and inspected Mikal’s new form.

&nb
sp; No. As long as you don’t extend your neck any farther out than you already have, you should be fine. Do you see those slits on either side of your abdomen? They are three feet long and there are two on either side. Those are your gills.

  So, that’s what that feeling was earlier. I thought I felt something tingle down there. It must have been when I breathed in water for the first time.

  Mikal noticed that Lissa had tapped on one of Pravara’s claws to get her attention. He wasn’t able to tell what she said as his vision had become too blurry again. He quickly submerged back into the water to clear his eyes and surfaced once more.

  Did she say something to you?

  Your mate wanted to know if you were alright. I assured her that you were. She says she’ll wait in the village for you at her father’s office.

  Perfect.

  She says that you are very brave for doing this. How would you like me to respond?

  Oh, uh, I don’t know. Tell her that I’m doing this for her. Girls usually like it when their boyfriends do something heroic.

  Pravara mouthed something to Lissa, who then turned to face him with a look of sheer adulation in her eyes. She looked back at Pravara and said something else.

  What did you tell her?

  Exactly what you asked me to tell her.

  Did she say something else?

  Aye. She said she loves you.

  Mikal paled. His jaw fell open, revealing a nasty set of wicked fangs.

  Pravara turned to Lissa and said something else. Lissa looked back up at the huge dragon Mikal had become and blew him a kiss. Gripping Peanut’s leash tightly in her hand, she turned to walk with her father back to his office.

  What did you say to her?

  You didn’t ask me to say anything else to her.

  Yet you said something. What was it?

  Just that you loved her back.

  What? I never said that!

  But you do, don’t you?

  Even if I did, I’d want to say that to her myself.

  Have you?

  Have I what?

  Told her you loved her?

  What? Pravara, what business is that of yours?

  I may not be proficient on human customs, but typically if the human female says those particular words to a human male, shouldn’t the human male say it in return?