The Dragon Eaters

by Duke Kittle

  Chapter 6

  Tina had been able to rest for almost an hour while leaning against the saddle. She had let her mind drift into a meditative state, but her eyes remained open. She had been conscious of her surroundings as they traveled. After passing over the hill beyond the edge of the woods, mountains came into view on the horizon, and those mountains had remained in view as they crossed into tilled terrain.

  Farmland stretched out in all directions with simple, wooden houses dotting the landscape. Most of the farms were relatively small, but there were many of them. The land was mostly flat, and there were several tributaries running around and through the larger farms. Tina and Lazur had turned north after passing two smaller farms. Their path skirted the edge of one larger farm upon which a bigger house stood. It looked as if it could house three or four families by itself.

  After they passed the larger farm, they came to a dip in the landscape where a river ran between two farms. One of those farms had a small house and a field only large enough to support a single family. The second farm was considerably larger, but the fields of the two farms were so close together that they could have been regarded as one.

  “We’re getting close. This beast of yours moves very quickly.” Lazur clicked the reins.

  The creature snorted, bucking Lazur in the saddle once and glaring back at him.

  The corners of Tina’s mouth curled upward. “She doesn’t like that. The bridle is just to help you keep your grip and guide her.” Tina lifted her head, blinking her eyes a few times as her mind came out of the meditative state between dreams and the waking world. “This doesn’t seem like a journey that would have taken three hours on foot.”

  Lazur chuckled. “Like I said, your beast moves swiftly. The uphill hikes can feel almost abusive.”

  “She was made from the soil. It gives her strength and keeps her refreshed.” Tina pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her muzzle. “These two farms are very close.”

  “They are. Their owners are as well.” Lazur inclined his head toward the larger of the two farms, pointing out the house at the head of the field to which it belonged. “That’s mine. The other one belongs to Garina Stelliker.”

  Tina noted the tone of the stocky badger’s voice softening in the slightest manner when he spoke of the owner of the smaller farm. She decided, despite her natural curiosity, not to question the reason. Instead, Tina lifted one hand and curled her fingers as if holding a sphere in her hand. When she spread them, a small, golden orb appeared and expanded outward until it was approximately the size of Tina’s head. Within it, the landscape appeared along with several semi-transparent, waving lines which traveled through both the land and air.

  Lazur observed the orb. “Thought you were tired from using magic.”

  “The Abascus Compass does not require a wizard’s gift in order to be used. Only the knowledge of how to look into it.” Tina pressed her fingers into the golden sphere and closed her digits. The view within the compass spread to cover a larger area. At the center of the compass, Tina could see a pair of figures with several runes flowing around them. She knew the figures to be Lazur, herself, and her animated mount.

  Lazur could see them in the expanded view as well. “What are those?”

  Tina pointed to the three figures. “These depict the three of us. The runes tell a few minor details about each of us. Living, breathing, moving, awake. Details which help to define the kinds of entities we are according to cross-referenced categories.”

  Lazur grunted. “And those two bright, flashing red ones?”

  Tina adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her muzzle. Her ears stood up, and she rested her hand on the riding mount’s back. She thought of the direction in which she wanted to go, and the creature quickly turned, deviating from the road. “I told you I would be able to find the Maldavian once we were nearby. Those bright, flashing red runes denote a loose grip on a spirit.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “It means the Maldavian is dying.” Tina thought with urgency, and the riding lizard let out a keen. It lurched forward and hastened its pace as it headed toward the edge of the woods on the far side of Lazur’s farm.

  Lazur gripped the riding lizard’s reins firmly and locked his legs around its middle. He let his hips bounce with the animal’s movements. “What’s the other one beside it?”

  “A Maldavian Albatross. They are servants created by the Maldavians and bound to their life force.” Tina closed her fingers. She memorized where the Maldavian was relative to their own position so she could use her hands to maintain her balance. “If a Maldavian dies, so does its Albatross.”

  “Bad luck. Why would the Maldavians make servants who die when they do?”

  “Think of a Maldavian Albatross being like Shasta.” She patted the riding lizard’s back. “A fraction of a Maldavian’s spirit is invested in his Albatross. If I were to die, so would Shasta. So it is the same for an Albatross.”

  “Are you going to save them?”

  Tina hesitated to reply. The runes she’d seen around the Maldavian had been grim. Saving the Maldavian and its Albatross would take a great feat of magic. “…If it is within my power.”

  Shasta broke into the woods which trampled the underbrush. Lazur ducked under the branches with a practiced grace which made Tina think he had spent a good deal of time riding. It was a thought she pushed to the back of her mind. The Maldavian was more important.

  As they rounded a large boulder, Shasta came to a sudden stop. Beyond the boulder lay a clearing unnaturally created. Several trees were felled, and if Shasta’s trampling of underbrush were increased in magnitude, it could be compared to the path of destruction which lay ahead of them.

  Tina touched the side of her glasses, and a small, runic circle appeared in her right lens. Looking through it, she could see that the equations running through the trees had not been modified through use of magic as far as she could tell. They’d been trampled. “The dragon must have caused that.” She looked at Shasta, thinking that the riding lizard should follow the path.

  Shasta responded to the thoughts directed at her and turned to follow along the path's edge. It stretched for almost a hundred yards, but a sudden sound brought Shasta to a halt. It was the ringing of metal.

  Lazur looked up suddenly. “Move!”

  Shasta didn’t respond to his command, but Lazur acted quickly. He dived off one side of the riding lizard and shoved her legs out from under her. Shasta fell with Lazur’s weight just as a halberd slammed into the ground right where Shasta had been standing. A red-skinned figure landed next to the halberd and ripped it out of the ground, raising it to strike again.

  Tina tumbled off Shasta, but caught herself on the ground. Lazur had swept Shasta’s legs in a way that kept his own from being caught under the beast. Provided the freedom to move, Lazur pushed up with his hands and threw himself back to avoid the halberd as it slammed down into the ground just above Shasta’s back, peeling scales from the saddle.

  Shasta swiped with her legs, trying to scratch at the red-skinned figure holding the halberd. The figure leapt back, taking the halberd with it and brandishing the weapon with menace.

  Tina rose quickly, observing who had attacked them. It was a woman with red, leathery skin. Tina thought it looked like the hide of a dragon bare of scales. The pair of black horns on her head curled backward like a ram’s with its tips jutting slightly outward and forward. The woman’s face was relatively flat with a triangular nose and long, wild, blonde hair. The hair looked ruffled and messy as if the woman had just awakened. The woman was baring her teeth, six of which were fangs. The four fangs on her upper mandible were in the place canines usually would have been. The two fangs on the lower mandible fit up between them which denoted a vicious, locking bite.

  Her feet were flat with the heels touching the ground, which was an unusual feature on a world dominated by creatures w
ith digitrade feet. Most Cerrans had feet with raised ankles and longer, broader toes. Her thick, reptilian tail had a bladed spade on the end which could be used for striking. The woman also had a pair of feathery, white wings protruding from her back, both of which were raised and fanned in a warning fashion. The spread wings made the woman appear much larger than she was in reality.

  On her body was metal armor fashioned for both protection and flexibility. The armor was finely made with flowing grooves which made it look like lava frozen in the metallic depiction.

  Recognizing the woman as a Maldavian Albatross, Tina threw her hands up and cried out loudly in the Maldavians’ native tongue. “Dragon daughter, we do not come to fight!”

  The Maldavian Albatross looked surprised to hear her native tongue spoken. Her stance did not become any less threatening, but she held from delivering a further blow and replied, “You are not Maldavian. Who are you to speak our tongue?”

  Tina walked forward, keeping her hands up in plain view. “My name is Tina van Schtoffen. I am an emissary of the Council of Stars.”

  The Albatross lowered her halberd, and her wings folded. “Your name is known to my master.” She stepped forward, letting one hand leave her halberd as she went to her knees. “Please, Wizard. You must help my master.” Her tone was suddenly much more pleading.

  “I will do what I can.” Tina climbed up onto Shasta’s side and knelt down. She rested her hands on the riding lizard’s scales. It didn’t take long for her to feel that Shasta was startled but unharmed.

  Lazur was on his feet and had taken a defensive stance. He relaxed a little when Tina and the Albatross spoke in a foreign tongue. “What’s going on, Tina?”

  Tina looked at Lazur. She realized he hadn’t understood the Maldavian tongue. “This is the Maldavian’s Albatross. She probably thought us a threat moving toward her master. Please see to Shasta. I am going with the Albatross.” Tina looked up at the Albatross and spoke Maldavian again. “Please lend me your hand.”

  The Albatross lowered the hand she had taken off her halberd, and Tina climbed onto it. “I am Angelica, Wizard, Albatross of Master Shalizan.”

  Tina acknowledged the greeting with a bow of her head. “Thank you, Angelica. Please, take me to your master.”

  Angelica nodded and rose with her wings fanned. With a powerful flap and a leap, she landed on a thick branch above. Using it to jump higher, she flapped her wings again and was above the trees in an instant.

  Tina held on firmly as the Albatross took her over the path of destruction she and Lazur had seen from the ground. It was a trail which led back into the woods for hundreds of yards. It came to an end in the middle of the woods. Tina adjusted her glasses as she looked at its termination.

  Lying against a felled tree was a Maldavian dragon of great size. His wings were loosely sprawled over the ground on one side with gouges torn out of the nearer of the two. The dragon’s body was covered by red scales which matched the color of Angelica’s leathery skin. His body was powerful with a long, thick tail ending in a spade. While Angelica’s was elegant and sharp, his was thick and muscular. The dragon’s tail spade also had several layers which lay separated with twin blades on the upper and lower sides of the spade. One of the horns on the dragon’s head had a jagged edge. Tina could tell it had been broken in the middle by comparing it to the horn on the opposite side of his head. It swept back, dipping in the center before coming to a sharp point on the end.

  With the dragon lying on his side, she could see several claw marks across the upper part of his hind legs, chest, and a long tear across his middle. One of his arms was clutching the wound on his stomach. The other arm looked unusable, twisted and broken in several places. Tina had to put her hand over her mouth at the sight of the wounds, even from afar. They looked mortal.

  As the Albatross landed next to the dragon, she ran to his head. Kneeling down, Angelica put Tina on the ground and then quickly moved to touch the dragon’s brow. “Master, a wizard is here to help you.”

  The dragon’s eyes opened, and he looked up at Angelica. When the dragon spoke, his voice was deep and commanding, despite his grievous wounds. “Angelica.”

  The Albatross shushed him. “Please, master, save your strength.” She stroked the dragon’s brow. Even with the vicious looking halberd in her hand, the Albatross had a comforting expression as she cooed to the dragon. “Everything will be all right.”

  The dragon laughed weakly and closed his eyes. “Everything will be all right. But that does not mean I shall live, Angelica.”

  Angelica looked pained at the dragon’s statement, fighting to keep the corners of her mouth from curling downward. She looked to Tina, on the verge of tears. Her voice was weak and pleading. “Please… help him.”

  Tina looked at the wounds on the dragon’s chest. She started walking to his underside, but the dragon blocked her with his arm.

  “Your intentions may be honorable, Wizard. But you cannot help me. And trying to do so would claim your power and your life.” He put his arm down again.

  Tina looked at the wounds again. From afar, they had been sickening. Up close, they murdered hope. She looked up at Angelica. “I am sorry. But your master is right, Angelica. It would take divine intervention to heal your master’s wounds.”

  Angelica clenched her teeth, her fangs tightly pressed against each other. “No… master, please.”

  The dragon rumbled to Angelica comfortingly. “Be still, dragon daughter.” He opened his eyes and looked down at Tina. “You are known to the Maldavians, Theorist. Why have you come, Tina van Schtoffen, to the site of my grave?”

  Tina walked around the dragon’s head so he could rest it and still have her in his field of vision. “I wished to aid you, if it were possible. But I came to this place because I am bound to discover what may be done about the monsters the Likonians call the Eaters of Dragons.”

  The dragon closed his eyes and snorted in derision. “Eaters of Dragons. What fools these interlopers are.” He opened his eyes and looked at Tina again. “These Eaters of Dragons are more than that, Tina van Schtoffen. These creatures are devourers of magic.”

  Tina stepped forward and sat down. “I know your wounds are great, Dragon Shalizan, but I need to learn of these Eaters of Magic.”

  “Though it cost me my last breath,” the dragon replied, “I would tell you of them. But for what purpose do you take this offered knowledge?”

  Tina glanced back toward the woods when she heard movement. She saw Lazur leading Shasta and waved to him. When he looked at her, she gestured for him to stay back and then turned back to the dragon. “Dragon Shalizan, I have come to Likonia to investigate the origin of these Eaters of Magic. They threaten your All-Father. They threaten the Likonians. They threaten your kind.”

  The dragon weakly chuckled. “I will grant you knowledge if you will grant me a last request, Wizard. I’ve not the strength to cast a Ritual of Preservation on my Albatross. I ask that you do so once I have given you the knowledge you seek.”

  Tina wiggled her whiskers. It took only a moment to consider. She had not the time to hesitate. “It is agreed, Dragon Shalizan. I will cast a Ritual of Preservation on your Albatross, though I fear I cannot buy her a great deal of time.”

  Angelica whimpered and dropped her halberd. She put her hand on top of her master’s head. “Please, master. Do not send me from your side. I would walk into the arms of Shahdazhan with you.”

  “So you shall in time, dragon daughter. But I wish you to walk this world awhile longer.” The dragon looked at Tina. “What do you wish to know of the Eaters of Magic, Wizard?”

  Tina asked the most pressing question she could think of first. “What do these monsters want here, Dragon Shalizan?”

  “They follow only what drives them, Wizard. They crave magic. They need it. In order to survive, they would devour all of Cerra if it kept them alive
.” The dragon made a sound like a cough combined with clearing his throat. “It is not unreasonable for them to wish to continue their existence.”

  “Where do they come from?”

  “Magic they crave. From magic, they were born. Beyond that, I know only that they appeared from the east and have driven my people back to the Ring of Fire.”

  “Do you have any knowledge of how they may be overcome?”

  The dragon grunted in pain. “Had I, I would have used it to keep them from performing my evisceration. I know not how they may be slain. Magic will not bind them. Fire will not burn them. The strength of dragons cannot overcome them. They possess protection from every measure we Maldavians may summon. They are as colossal as we, but mindlessly driven.” The dragon looked down at Tina. “A giant may not overcome a giant, but the giant who steps on a thorn may tumble down the mountain. Though we cannot touch them, perhaps you may find their weakness.”

  Tina questioned that notion but withheld comment. She had another question to ask. “How many of these Dragon Eaters are there?”

  “We have seen only three. Always the same three. A red-scaled male and two females, one with scales like moss and another with scales the color of the sun.” The dragon closed his eyes, craning his neck. “I fear my time has grown too short, Wizard. I ask you to cast the Ritual of Preservation on my Angelica.”

  Tina wanted to ask more questions, but she would not risk denying the dragon’s last request through inaction. She turned to look at Angelica. “Are you willing to fulfill your master’s last wish, Angelica?”

  Angelica had tears openly streaming down her cheeks by that time. She closed her eyes and hugged her master’s head more tightly. Though she did not hold long, it was obvious she was reluctant to let go. “I will.”

  Tina looked back down at the dragon. “Then I will perform the ritual now.”

  The dragon looked up at the Albatross. “I am too weak to aid you. Help the wizard to weave the spiral, Angelica.”

  “I will, master.”

  The dragon closed his eyes as Angelica rose. Though Tina knew the Albatross’s heart was breaking, she saw the mantle of control fall over the woman’s face. Her eyes had become calm in spite of the tears, and the frown on her face had been replaced by an emotionless expression. Angelica drew the halberd from the ground and looked down at Tina. “When you are ready.”

  Tina nodded solemnly. While it was against her nature to aid someone in the grips of an emotional decision, time had been too short, and her promise had been the price to which she had agreed. “Carve the spiral.” Tina looked at the dragon’s head. “I will require a drop of your blood, Dragon Shalizan.”

  “I had expected as much.” The dragon rolled his head to turn his face toward Tina. “I will not have you suffer the sight of my wounds.” The dragon’s jaw tightened, and a quiet crunch came from his mouth. He turned his head to show a drop of his blood on one of his second molars.

  Tina withdrew a small, glass globe from the rucksack on her back. Twisting it, she pulled the top half off and held up the bottom half. The dragon jerked his head, and the drop of lava-colored blood fell from his tooth. Tina caught it in the glass orb, letting her hand sink to prevent any splash. She replaced the top half of the orb and twisted it shut. Her eyes returned to the dragon Shalizan. “It is very likely that the performance of this ritual using your blood will claim what life you have left, Dragon Shalizan. Is there anything else you would have me do for you?”

  The dragon laid his head back down and closed his eyes. “There is a dragon named Methystra in Maldavia, protected within the Ring of Fire. Once I have perished, I would wish for you to return to her and tell her my last thoughts were of her.”

  Tina knew of the dragon Methystra. She nodded. “She will know of your final thoughts, Dragon Shalizan.”

  “You are compassionate, Wizard van Schtoffen. In the words of your Council of Stars, may the stars guide you.”

  “Though the soil defy you,” Tina replied. She bowed her head to Shalizan. “In the words of the Maldavians, the All-Father grant you grace, Dragon Shalizan.”

  “Goodbye, Tina van Schtoffen.” The dragon’s body relaxed. His chest still slowly rose and fell, but she knew he would not rise again.

  Tina lowered her head respectfully and turned away. By the time she and the dragon had shared his last words, Angelica had completed the spiral required for the casting of the Ritual of Preservation. Tina inspected it, wanting to be sure that every detail was correct, lest she run the risk of something going wrong.

  Using her halberd, Angelica had carved a rune into the open ground. The rune represented breath. Individual lines had been carved from the sides of the rune which led out in the four cardinal directions, though they curved around the other sides of the rune in a spiraling pattern. At specific spots on the spiraling lines significant to only a spell-caster, four more runes had been drawn.

  Tina crossed each one, carefully stepping over the lines. The runes were drawn with practiced grace. Little more could be expected from the servant of a race of beings so thoroughly entwined with magic as the Maldavians.

  Once her inspection was completed, Tina set the orb of Shalizan’s blood down on the rune in the center of the spiral. She removed another from her rucksack and held it up toward Angelica. “Your turn.”

  Angelica looked down at the bottom half of the glass sphere. She knelt down as she lowered the tip of her halberd. She pricked her finger and squeezed a single drop of blood into the glass sphere. The Albatross’s blood was similar to that of Shalizan’s but in a deeper red hue.

  Tina closed the glass sphere and walked to one side of the rune in the center of the spiral. She placed the two spheres down on the sides of the rune, one sphere on the northern side and the other on the western side. She then walked to the eastern side of the sphere and retrieved her metal wand. Using it, Tina traced a glyph into the ground, the symbol representing thought. On the southern face of the central rune, she inscribed one more rune which represented speech.

  With the final runes drawn, Tina walked out of the spiral and seated herself in lotus position. She put the metal wand back into her rolled up kit. Pausing briefly to take a breath, Tina gathered her thoughts. The extensive lengths to which she had been using her gift for magic that day were starting to wear on her, even with the time she’d been allowed to meditate on the way to Lazur’s farm.

  Tina began multiplying the organic variable within her personal equation. Her eyes half opened, and she focused on the four runes drawn on the branches of the spiral. She placed a small portion of the result from her organic variable into each of the four runes, and magic wove a path back through the spiraling lines until it reached the two small, glass orbs. The glass orbs shook as Tina’s magic reached them, and the orbs suddenly burst open. The blood within them seemed as though it had multiplied a thousand times as it followed the trail of Tina’s magic back to the four glyphs drawn on the branches of the spiral. The blood filled the lines of the central rune for breath, flooded into the rune for speech, and then poured into that of thought.

  “The spiral is prepared.” Tina turned her half-lidded gaze to Angelica. “Place yourself within it.”

  Angelica looked back at the dragon Shalizan with her halberd still grasped in hand. The dragon seemed to sense it, and his head turned to gaze back at her. The two of them shared a long look before Angelica turned her head away and crossed into the center of the spiral.

  Tina spoke calmly, but loudly. “Ageless wonders of stars beyond number, heed my word and do not encumber. Delay you the cold hands of unfeeling death, render to this one a final breath. One thought, one word, one breath do we ask, enough for this one to fulfill a final task.”

  The four runes on the branches of the spiral glowed brightly with silver light which spread from the runes to flow through the branches of the spiral. Once they reached the three center runes,
Angelica gasped as she was bathed in the silver glow.

  Tina spoke again with her gaze focused on Angelica. “Your word.”

  Angelica closed her eyes and released her breath in a quiet word. “Who.”

  Tina watched as the rune representing speech changed shape into the single word. She spoke again. “Your thought.”

  Angelica replied quietly. “My master, Shalizan.”

  Tina watched as the rune representing thought changed shape into the dragon’s name. She spoke a final time in the casting of the spell. “Bound you are to the conditions of this extension. Until the time comes, you will be held in detention. When you awake, and heed these words well, you will be afforded only the offerings of this spell. One thought, one word, one breath once returned. These gifts, use wisely. No more may be earned.”

  Tina sucked in a deep breath and rose to her feet. The muscles of her body flexed, and she extended her hands. Drawing them together, she grasped the threads of magic woven into the branches of the spiral. The light coming from the runes on each of them grew more intense and bright, and silver lines rose out of the ground. The carved lines disappeared as each silver line of magical energy rose into the air.

  They lashed around Angelica and inscribed her body with the runes each one held. Angelica closed her eyes as the glow of magic became blindingly bright. Tina’s hands continued to weave in the air as the bright glow swirled around Angelica like light being sucked into a dark star. In a sudden flash, a spire of light ascended into the sky. The brightness blotted out the light of the sun, its glow so intense that Lazur and Shasta turned away.

  The world was dark for an instant following the flash. The darkness faded in the light of the sun, and Tina fell to her knees, her hands resting in the dirt. She panted heavily. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she felt a few moments of panic as if she’d pushed herself too far. Tina could feel that her grip on her mind was starting to slip. She wanted to scream, but she clenched her jaw tightly shut, and her incisors pressed hard against her bottom lip. She thought she might bite clear through it.

  After a few moments, Tina’s breathing slowed, and she began to calm down. The pace of her breathing became more steady, and the pounding of her heart lessened. The feeling of panic slipped from her mind. The organic variable of her personal equation slowly stabilized. She felt herself coming back under control.

  Shalizan let out a quiet groan, and his head fell to the ground with a dull impact. Tina looked to where the spiral had been drawn. It was gone. All that remained was a small, lava-colored crystal the size of Tina’s palm and a pair of empty, glass spheres. The spell was complete.

  Lazur turned back to survey the scene once the light had faded. He rested his hand on the back of Shasta’s head, and the riding lizard turned to face Tina again. Lazur spoke quietly. “What in Ulfengir’s name was that?”

  Tina rose from the ground and collected her shawl in the crooks of her elbows. She walked to the crystal lying on the ground and picked it up. Opening her rolled up leather kit, she slid the crystal into a small pouch and closed it. She replied with a single word. “Dramatic.” Tina wobbled on her feet before her legs gave out from under her, and she landed on her rear. “Oof.”

  Lazur grunted. He walked to Tina with Shasta following next to him. The riding lizard picked Tina up in her beak and lifted her carefully to place her onto the riding lizard’s back. The stocky badger looked down at Tina. “You look like a ghost, wizard.”

  “I do not think I was far from becoming one.” Tina sagged against the front of the saddle. “I need rest. Much more than meditation.”

  Lazur nodded. “I’ll take you to my farm.”

  The sound of a distant roar suddenly echoed through the forest. Tina tiredly lifted her head. “That… is not a Maldavian.”

  Lazur climbed onto Shasta’s back. “It’s the Dragon Eaters. On second thought, my farm may not be safe.”

  Tina lowered her head. “The Maldavians call the Dragon Eaters ‘Eaters of Magic’. The spell probably attracted them. We need… to go.”

  Lazur nodded and looked down at Shasta as he took up her reins. “When you’re ready.”

  Tina turned her thoughts to Shasta. She rested her hands on the lizard’s back. The lizard sensed Tina's thoughts to return to Likonia with all possible haste. Shasta turned and ran with a hurried pace. Tina rested back against the saddle. “Thank you, Lazur.”

  The stocky badger looked down at Tina. “For what?”

  “Protecting Shasta from the Albatross’s halberd. The Maldavians… bless the weapons of their Albatrosses to purge magic.” Tina closed her eyes. “Shasta would have been killed… and I would not have been able to bring her back.”

  Lazur grunted. “Was more habit than anything. You’re welcome, either way.”