Dragon Magus 1: A Progression Fantasy Saga

by DB King

  “Well deduced. It’s common knowledge that some strange Spatial Magic spell holds perpetual sway over the junkyard, causing it to shift and change with every passing moment,” Yun Shen said. “That’s part of the reason why I established our headquarters in Lucia City in the first place, since I have a particular affinity for and interest in Spatial Magic, especially when it is manifested in such an unusual manner and to such sublime proportions.”

  “If it’s just a place that changes all the time, Raphael can find his way in there using the Dragon Meridian,” Fenix suggested. “We can scout the area, hunt down whatever is creating these monsters or causing them to attack, and then lead a massive strike force to it. I don’t believe there’s any foe capable of dealing with a simultaneous attack from thousands of armsmen and hundreds of mages.”

  “No,” Raphael replied, shaking his head. “I can only find my way back home from the junkyard. Neither Koshi nor I have ever been able to map the place. Also, I can’t bring a huge number of Hell Drakes along with me into the junkyard. What if we don’t succeed in finding out what’s going on before the next attack occurs? Then there won’t be enough people left to defend Lucia City. If I have to bring anyone along, it should only be a small group. We’ll also travel faster that way.”

  “That still sounds a lot better than sitting back and fending off attack after attack,” Sylvia said, the tone of her voice lightening. “And Bony, just to give what Fenix said a little context, we came across a semi-awakened geomantic loci in Vitoria yesterday. Damned thing’s terrain-shifting gimmick didn’t work at all on Raphael.”

  “This Dragon Meridian… it’s a path-finding spell of some kind?” the Guild Master asked. “Which school of Magic is it from? I’ve never heard of it.”

  “Neither have I, until I ran into Raphael. As far as I can tell, it’s some sort of innate ability that Raphael and Koshi share.” Sylvia punched Yun Shen playfully in the arm. “Isn’t that amazing, Bony? Even at our age and after all we’ve seen and done together, there’s still new stuff in the world for us to learn about.”

  “Yes, Sylvia, that is amazing. And very interesting indeed. If Raphael can use this Dragon Meridian to counteract the Spatial Magic veiling the junkyard, even if it’s only to a certain degree, then he will definitely prove to be an asset.” The Guild Master’s eyes bored into Raphael’s, making him recall Yun Shen’s final parting words to him before he left for Vitoria.

  He called me a Dragon Magus, then, Raphael thought. Both Koshi and Rayne call me that, too. I thought that the Guild Master knew exactly what a Dragon Magus is, but it seems that his knowledge isn’t complete, either. Raphael glanced at Sylvia, taking note of the grin creeping across her face. He understood the sudden change in her mood. Just moments ago, they’d been facing a dire, mysterious challenge. But now, they were putting together a plan to meet and overcome it, one detail at a time, with the first key one coming to light.

  Raphael nodded. “You need me to enter the junkyard, find out what’s going on, and somehow stop the monsters or whatever is behind them. That’s fine. I was going to do that anyway, because I need to find Koshi and make sure he’s safe and also because Lucia City is my home. I will protect it and everyone in it.”

  “I’m going with you, Raphael,” Eliza declared.

  “We are going with you,” Fenix corrected her. “You’ll need all the help you can get.”

  “Bold move, Fenix, presuming to speak for your High Captain,” Sylvia said wryly. She flicked a stray lock of hair from her face and sighed. “Still, it is slightly endearing that you depend so much on my prowess, though the day will come when you must spread your wings and take flight by yourself, like an adorable little fledgling robin.”

  “Oh, you? I wasn’t talking about you at all,” the battlemage replied, shaking his head and sighing. “After your dismal performance and effective non-presence in our last assignment, I’ve resigned myself to never counting on you to pull your weight.”

  “What? Are you forgetting who froze the poisoned river and saved everyone in Vitoria? Also, try to remember who saved your lives from the little prince,” the elf growled.

  “I wouldn’t be so proud about that last one. Thanks to you, we now have a Chimeric Grand Prince hell-bent on killing us, and possibly everyone in the immediate vicinity, at the earliest opportunity,” Fenix said.

  “What? A Chimeric Grand Prince?” the Guild Master interrupted. He glared at Sylvia. “You have some explaining to do.”

  The elf laughed nervously. “Well, don’t worry about it. It isn’t important. I’ll explain everything in my official report later, Bony.”

  “But you haven’t written an official post-assignment report for the last decade. And the last time I asked you to write one, which was last month, you said you would rather tear your eyeballs out with a rusty fork than do something so boring,” Yun Shen protested.

  “So that means that Sylvia isn’t going to explain anything about Huo Xian to the Guild Master. Ever,” Raphael concluded.

  “Shut up, Raphael!” Sylvia hissed.

  “Huo Xian? The Thirteenth Chimeric Grand Prince? And Fenix said Huo Xian wants to kill all of you?” The Guild Master’s fleshless jaw fell open. “Sylvia! What did you do?”

  “Eh, like I said, don’t worry about it, Bony. It’s no big deal,” Sylvia told him.

  “She’s right, Master. You don’t have to worry about learning the details of our assignment,” Fenix said, his voice laden with more than a dash of smugness. “You can read all about them in my official report.”

  “Why you little—”

  Turning away from the sight of Sylvia throttling Fenix, Yun Shen addressed Raphael. “Raphael, I must tell you something before you go. I knew Koshi. Or rather, I knew of him, though I did meet and speak with him briefly. I was drawn to Lucia City by the junkyard twenty years ago, during the final stages of the Ogre Wars. There, I found one man holding off an entire army of ogres with a bow of golden light, and I knew right away that it was Koshi the Dragon Knight, the revered hero of yore. He fell in battle, then, but my followers and I managed to save his life. He turned down my invitation to the ranks of the Hell Drakes and insisted on being left alone. I had no choice but to respect his wishes. And then shortly after that, there was you, Raphael.”

  “You said you came to Lucia City because of the Spatial Magic affecting the junkyard,” Raphael said. “But that isn’t the only reason, is it?”

  “No. Something evil has been festering in the depths of the junkyard for a long, long time already, and once I found out about it, I came here to put an end to it, only to discover that it was beyond my reach.” Yun Shen looked out the window once more. “So I did the next best thing I could. I established the Hell Drakes in Lucia City, that we might confront the evil when it did spill forth. It seems like that moment has finally come, only for me to find myself capable of doing little more than directing efforts to hold it back.”

  “What is this evil you’re talking about, Master?” Eliza asked.

  “Draconic Malevolence,” the Guild Master said. “Nearly eight hundred years ago, when the dragons turned on the world, they were filled with an overwhelming hatred for all other living things. It was so strong that it remained in their flesh even after they were struck down. Their corpses warped and corrupted everything around them, turning mundane beasts into horrific monsters or driving men, elves, and dwarfs to madness and ruin.”

  “And thus did mages across the world enact mighty spells of sealing and containment about their carcasses, that the malice of dragons might not extend beyond the confines of death,” Eliza recited, as if she were reading from a book.

  “Beatrice Malossini’s Thesis on Containment Magic, volume seven,” Yun Shen said. “Impressive, young lady. I didn’t expect you to be so well read.”

  “Platina the Gilded Death!” Raphael cried. “Koshi’s partner! She died near Lucia City, didn’t she? I remember Koshi talking about her when he wasn’t feeling well.”


  “Yes. In my research, I have come across many documented eye-witness accounts of how her corpse drifted into the junkyard, borne on the fading flight of her tattered wings, before crashing out of sight,” the Guild Master confirmed.

  Was that why Koshi kept going into the junkyard? Because he wanted to find Platina’s body? Raphael thought. But of course, he’s never succeeded in all this time, so why did he go in again a few days ago, when he’s in such bad shape?

  “Understand, Raphael, that this all occurred before my time, and I am only a few hundred years younger than Sylvia,” Yun Shen said, his voice heavy with regret. “If I’d discovered earlier that the junkyard contained a dragon’s corpse, I would have come to Lucia City a long time ago and perhaps accomplished in two centuries what I couldn’t in two decades: unravel the veil of Spatial Magic across the junkyard and seal Platina’s dying rage away, like I have done for two of her kin.”

  “But why now? The dragon’s corpse fell into the junkyard many hundreds of years ago and has been festering there since then. So why are the monsters, if they are indeed a product of her rage, attacking the city now?” Eliza asked. “Did something trigger this attack, or did the corrupting influence of her corpse simply accumulate beyond some kind of tipping point?

  “We know too little to tell,” Raphael said. “But right now, I’m sure of two things. We need to find Koshi, and we need to stop the monsters. The only way we can accomplish that is to enter the junkyard.”

  “Take whatever you need from our armory and supply room,” the Guild Master instructed Raphael and Eliza. “Mr. Esposito told me that we’ve received a fresh batch of potions from our apothecary. I’ll authorize your access to them. As soon as you’re ready, head out toward the junkyard and meet up with Bjorn Hammerstar, the High Captain of the Second Seat. I will send a message to him ahead of you, so that he knows to coordinate his efforts with yours.”

  “Yes, I will,” Raphael replied. “Thank you. Will you be joining the fight as well, sir?”

  Yun Shen bowed his skeletal head. “No. I cannot cast spells beyond the walls of the Guild House. Out there, I would be more feeble than the lowliest skeleton warrior. That’s just one of the many shortcomings of my… worsening condition.”

  “I see. I won’t let you down,” Raphael promised.

  “I’m sure you won’t.” The Guild Master patted him on the shoulder. “In the days to come, I can see you accomplishing great things. But right now, your most pressing task will be to convince Sylvia to remove her fingers from Fenix’s nostrils.”

  “…yes, sir.”

  Chapter 24

  Guild Master Yun Shen warped the war party to the armory, but he didn’t come along with them. He had to meet with the King’s chancellor and plan a larger evacuation of Lucia City just in case the monsters succeeded in overwhelming the Hell Drakes.

  The armory was exactly as Raphael remembered it: rack after rack of weapons lined the plain stone walls, interspersed with bow cases, crossbow spikes, and armored mannequins. Eliza walked toward one of the mannequins, muttering softly to herself. Meanwhile, Sylvia and Fenix still bickered, but at least the elf had stopped pummeling the battlemage.

  Sighing, Raphael made his way to the rack that held polearms and lifted another glaive off it. The weapon felt comfortable and familiar in his grasp, as if he’d spent a lifetime wielding it. Sylvia had said that Raphael picked up both martial techniques and magic spells much faster than anyone else. Perhaps once he’d mastered the glaive, he could start learning how to use another weapon. That would give him many more options in battle.

  I’ve got to at least learn a bit more about archery. After all, I can now use Koshi’s bow, and I can draw and fire it, but I’ve got to do better than that, he thought, casting the light of the Dragon Meridian deep within himself once more. This time, he could clearly sense the Sunkiller bow within the depths of the Fourth Brazier. It would answer his call, as long as he had enough Ryu-To-Ki to manifest the weapon and fuel its arrows of light.

  But there was something else too. Raphael focused the light of the Dragon Meridian on the Fourth Brazier. The outline of a sword emerged, and its name rang into his mind.

  Skyfang.

  Raphael was tempted to reach for it and call it into his hands, but somehow, he knew that doing so would expend a lot of his Ryu-To-Ki.

  “Skyfang hasn’t fully accepted you yet, Magus,” Rayne sent, poking its head out of his pocket. “It will answer your call, but not easily. Prove yourself first. Then it will be yours.”

  “How?” Raphael asked, but Rayne gave him a look that suggested he was being silly. Raphael already knew the answer. He had to continue his cultivation, deepen his Ryu-To-Ki reserves, and ignite more draconic braziers. Perhaps he also had to use his Deliverance spell on more creatures warped by dark magic, so that he would have more mana to fuel his spells. That would not only make him stronger, but also shed further light on what it meant to be a Dragon Magus.

  “What about Sunkiller?” Raphael asked. “Has it accepted me? I haven’t done anything to earn it yet.”

  “Sunkiller is bound to you through Knight Koshi’s fatherly love, Magus. It will serve you as it does him,” the faerie dragon answered.

  Koshi. Raphael tightened his grip on the glaive. Stay safe. Hold on just a bit longer. I’m coming to save you.

  He let the light of the Dragon Meridian linger a moment longer on the Fourth Brazier. Faint shapes swirled within its fiery depths, but he could not make them out. They were definitely the other draconic weapons, but they hadn’t deigned to reveal themselves to him yet.

  Well, just wait. You’ll all have to acknowledge me one day, Raphael promised, feeling a bit silly at sending his thoughts toward a collection of weapons.

  He didn’t expect to get a reply from them. It came as an incoherent jumble of cheers, mutters, and shouts from many different voices, tumbling across the corners of his mind. Raphael blinked. One of the voices sounded like Koshi’s.

  “The echoes of Knights long gone have heard your challenge,” Magus, Rayne sent, its thoughts laced with amusement and pride. “Rise to it.”

  “I will, Rayne.” Raphael turned from the rack, tucking the glaive under his arm. “Wait. All these weapons were wielded by other Dragon Knights? Could they call on all of them?”

  “No. Koshi the last Knight has only Sunkiller. Skyfang was Lillia’s. But as Magus, all will heed your call, should you prove worthy,” Rayne told him.

  “I see. Thanks, Rayne.” Raphael scratched under the faerie dragon’s chin gently. It purred with delight.

  Eliza stepped out from behind a bow case. She’d shed her leather armor and was now wearing a suit of chainmail. Her blonde hair had been gathered into a tight bun, so that it might fit beneath the helmet tucked under her arm, and a small buckler adorned her left wrist. Tiresias’s dagger was sheathed and slung cross-wise from the rapier at her left hip, and she also held a short-handled spiked mace, carrying it by its shaft just beneath its head.

  “Is… is something wrong?” she asked shyly, causing Raphael to realize that he’d been staring for a heartbeat too long.

  “No,” he said. “Nothing’s wrong! You look as grand as any of the King’s knights!”

  “Thank you, Raphael,” Eliza replied, her face reddening at his words. She hefted the mace in her hand. “By the way, when I squired for my father, I saw him fight skeleton warriors. Rapiers aren’t too good against them, so he used a mace. It can buckle their armor and slow them down or smash their limbs and joints if they aren’t wearing any.”

  Raphael felt that Eliza’s brutal explanation was somewhat at odds with her blushing cheeks and bright smile, but he nodded dutifully. “I see. What about bale-wights? Do you know anything about them?”

  “Bale-wights are animated corpses that can cast spells of the Lowest Order. Alone, they aren’t too threatening to a seasoned adventurer or someone as gifted as Fenix or as powerful as you, Raphael,” Eliza continued. “But they like hidin
g behind skeleton warriors while they bombard you with spells.”

  “How’re they casting spells? Did someone give them Spell Dust?” Raphael asked.

  “No. Bale-wights, like skeleton warriors and the sanguine treants we fought, are creations of dark magic. The very magic that sustains them also powers their spells, and they can replenish it by eating the flesh of humans, elves, or other sentient mortals,” Eliza said. She patted the enchanted dagger at her hip. “Up close, I can dispatch them with this.”

  “Ah, you use different weapons against different foes, depending on the situation.” Raphael glanced dubiously at his glaive. “Should I bring another weapon as well, just in case?”

  Eliza shook her head. “Even though it’s a bladed weapon, the glaive’s length and weight makes it effective against skeleton warriors and bale-wights, especially with your strength. Still, it never hurts to know how to use more than one weapon.”

  “I can use Koshi’s bow now, but I think I can get much more out of it, if I only just knew how. Do you know anything about archery?” Raphael asked.

  Eliza gave him a rueful smile. “I’m afraid I never trained with the bow. I spent some time with the crossbow, though, but I believe that’s a whole different skill-set.”

  “Sword, dagger, mace, and crossbow.” Raphael counted the weapons off on his fingers. “You know how to use all these? That’s very impressive, Eliza.”

  She blushed again. “Thanks, Raphael. If you want, I can go over the basics of some other weapons with you later, when we get back from the junkyard.”

  Raphael opened his mouth to reply, only to notice something hurtling toward him in the corner of his vision. He snatched the object out of the air before it could hit him in the head. It was another suit of leather armor, tossed toward him by Sylvia.