Path of the Magi (Tales of Tiberius)

by Stuart, Richard J

  He took another stroll around the green, then stopped suddenly. Marybeth was there, walking with her husband and her children. How long had it been since he’d seen her? About twelve years? The years had treated them very differently. Marybeth had put on some weight. She was a proper and respectable wife to a banker now. She looked like a happy and content housewife. Tiberius’ looks had gone the other way. As much as she had softened, he had hardened. For twelve years he had spent nearly every day studying the secrets of the universe, trying to master powers never meant for mankind to wield. All to make sure she could stay that happy and content housewife. Well, no, not just her. All the people of this town.

  She walked past without even recognizing him. He thought she might have seen him, and stepped slightly the other way. He didn’t feel like talking to her. The years had taken them too far on different paths. If he succeeded, she could keep on minding her children as if nothing had happened. He had other children to visit anyway. He owed Marcus and his kids a visit.

  Tiberius walked in the door of the print shop. He had a brief feeling of glad nostalgia. He and his brother had some good times here. For a moment, he just watched Marcus instructing his young son in how to put the ink on the plates. Then Marcus looked up and saw him. He ran over and threw his arms around him.

  “Ti! I knew you’d be around before long. We all heard about Dallen. Mr. Okubo’s a good friend of his these days. Let me look at you!”

  He took a long glance. “They aren’t overfeeding you. You look strong, though. Come say hello to your uncle.”

  Tiberius gave his nephew a hug and let him hold his staff for a moment. Just then the door from the back opened, and another familiar face stepped though.

  His father was older now. He walked slowly but his mind was still clear. His father’s eyes took him in with that strange mixture of pride and fear that Tiberius had almost become accustomed to.

  “Hello, son,” he said.

  “Hello, Father,” was the reply.

  Still the captain of the local militia, the general asked the question on his mind. “How long before the dragon comes here after Dallen dies?” he asked.

  “If he gets here, I’ve failed. He might not come here at all. If I fall he’ll be after gold, not revenge. Just my going to him will help keep the town safe. I’d clear everyone away from the bank, though. If he does come here, it will probably be quickly. A few days. Russ and Greentree will work with you to hunt him down and keep the town safe. It won’t be easy to trap him.”

  “I don’t say I approve of your methods, boy. But you’re my son, and I know you know how to execute a plan. I know you’ve worked hard at your studies. You’re our best hope of victory. You’re a Fuller. You’ll stop him.”

  “You know if there is anything we can do, Ti...” His brother let the thought trail off.

  “I know. I wouldn’t hesitate to ask if I thought there was any way you could help.”

  “How is Dallen?” his father asked.

  “Not well. It won’t be long,” Tiberius answered.

  “Well, you’d better come along and say hello to your mother, too.”

  Tiberius spent the night at his brother’s place. He woke up about 3 A.M. Dallen had died in his sleep. There was no message, but he knew it all the same. Tiberius thought for a moment, then went over and dealt out an array of cards by candlelight, using the random probability matrix as a crude indication of his fortunes. He had a little time. He went back to bed.

  ∴

  He woke up early the next morning, about six. He was already at the stables, saddling up his horse, when Maci came by.

  “Dallen's dead, isn't he?” she asked.

  “Yes.” Tiberius answered, “How did you know?”

  “God talks to me in dreams sometimes,” she said. “I'm going to miss him. When do we leave?”

  He looked at her, astonished. "What do you mean, we?"

  Maci returned a determined stare. "We both know what this means. Dallen's dead. That means the dragon is coming for you. Well, for me, Marybeth, Marcus, everyone here. I haven't forgotten. I know you haven't. He can have Marybeth, but I don’t suppose he’d stop there.”

  "No. I have to face him now," Tiberius said.

  "So what are we waiting for?" Maci said.

  Again he shook his head in astonishment at her. "Not we, me. This is much too dangerous for you."

  "Don't tell me you're going to do this alone?" Maci said.

  "Yes."

  "Don't be an idiot. Why should you do this alone? Why not bring Singh, Darras, and every other soldier you can find with you?"

  "How many of them are going to die fighting my fight? What good has all this been if I can't take him on myself?”

  "You've done lots of good. Don't be silly. You're just being stubborn," Maci said.

  "You were too young to hear him. He'll come after my friends, my family, whatever it takes to get me to face him. He wasn't joking. Anyway, a wizard's duel isn't like an ordinary fight. Numbers don't always help. I need Russ and Greentree to watch the town. I only think I know where to find him. If I’m wrong he may come after the town to try and lure me out."

  "He won’t do that if he thinks you’re coming to look for him on your own. You’re playing right into his hands. It's not like you to play by someone else’s rules. It’s bad strategy and you know it,” Maci scolded.

  “No, I don’t want him coming after me. The only way to get him off his guard is to come after him. If I bring up an army of wizards, he’ll just run and then attack on his terms. I’ve been thinking and praying about this for a long time, Maci. It has to be done this way,” he said.

  “You think you’re the only one who prays? I can help. I don’t know how, but I can,” she insisted.

  He turned to look at her. “You really believe that don’t you? Ok. You want to help, there are some extra blankets in the shed over there. Get them for me will you?”

  Maci nodded and turned back to the shed. She moved slowly, though; something struck her as not right. She’d almost figured it out when she felt the telekinetic shove into the shed. The door closed behind her.

  “Hey!” she said trying the door. It was locked. Magically locked.

  “I’m sorry, Maci; I know you mean well, but this is too dangerous,” he said. “It’s no place for a fifteen year old.” He quickly swung up into the saddle and turned to ride out of town.

  "Tiberius! Don't do this! You shouldn't go alone. Have you even solved Dallen's riddle?"

  Maci's shouting was in vain. She tried the door angrily. It wasn't moving.

  “Stupid stubborn idiot!” she shouted in frustration. She wasn't a ninja for nothing, though. At fifteen she’d learned a few tricks. She looked around the shed. If he thought she was just going to sit here while he went and got killed, he had another thing coming. There was a weak spot in the roof. Scampering up off a table and raising herself up off a beam she just managed to get in position. It took a couple of her best kicks, but the boards shattered and there was just enough of an opening for her to get out. She slid down the side of the roof, slowed her fall by catching the rim, then dropped safely onto the ground. Now her troubles were just starting.

  Well, at least he'd left her the horse. She got on and started riding. She had to stay with him but not let him see her. Thank God he evidently hadn’t felt the need to do his horse quickening spell again. It might even be possible to catch up. Why did he have to make things difficult? At least she had a vague idea where he was headed, as she had seen a map he was working on one time. There was a cave he’d marked with a question mark on the east side of the Black Hills, just west of Spider Lake. She’d have to be careful about spiders if she was going this way. Spiders she could handle, though.

  Luckily, Tiberius had other things on his mind as he rode again away from civilization and towards the woods. He took his horse back towards the Black Hills. By now the Rangers had mostly cleaned out the caverns, but caves were funny things. They wound aroun
d and though the hills and you never quite knew when a little crack in the wall was going to lead onto another chamber. Then again, where the type of rocks that produced caves existed there was no guarantee there would be only one cavern.

  Tiberius had been looking for that dragon for some time now. He’d wanted to be ready when Dallen passed away. It was a few months ago that he’d gotten his first premonition. He’d been walking around the Black Hills when he’d had a faint sense of something else nasty and powerful down there. It could have been anything or nothing, but it played at the back of his mind. The dragon hadn’t been seen raiding in this area. Maybe that was a reason to look for him here. Most dragons lived deeper into the fairy lands, and there had been no rumor of him there. Where then? Why not under their very noses? A dragon could conceal his departure and exit from his caves with ease. Any casual killings would be attributed to the goblins. Even among the goblins, probably only a few of them knew they had an ace in the hole in case of a major attack.

  He camped by Spider Lake, deciding to sleep under the stars. He set his evening wards carefully. Once or twice he thought he was being followed, but he paid it little mind. There were still goblins and bogies about, but one or two of them didn’t worry him.

  At midnight he woke up. He knew it now. He was close and he knew where to go. The dragon had been sleeping but it was stirring now. It probably felt him as well. He waited a long time, measuring that feeling, and reflecting in prayer. The dragon was not closing. Not now. It was just stirring. No doubt it had its own wards set to warn the dragon on Dallen’s death. The conflict couldn’t wait long now, but he determined it would wait for dawn. He went back to bed.

  ∴

  In the morning he felt refreshed. He’d had a good nights sleep in spite of the short hours. He made himself a proper breakfast of biscuits and bacon. Maci was a ways back, still unnoticed. She’d made no fire, but it was a warm night.

  Tiberius took time to renew his defensive spells in detail. Starting with quiet meditation upon the psalms and the Lord’s Prayer, he then started channeling power though himself. The ritual was familiar to him by now. Internal strength, dragon skin, Dallen’s shield, the prismatic shield, and then the vapor shield. He topped it off with an extra fire resistance spell.

  Then it was time. He mounted his horse and rode towards the back end of the Black Hills, a spot just at the base of the Scorpion’s Tail.

  Rounding a corner he could see the dragon in the distance. It was sitting on the ground with its arms tucked under its head, waiting for him. They both knew this day had been coming.

  He rode steadily closer, keeping a sharp eye out. Finally, about 400 yards away, he stopped and dismounted. The horse wouldn’t help him now. The dragon started to stretch and pace as he approached.

  He was about halfway to the dragon when it gave a leap with its wings and landed about fifty yards away from him.

  For the first time in a dozen years, Tiberius saw the dragon face to face. It was just as large and just as terrifying as he remembered it. More terrifying, really. Before, Tiberius had been a young kid, knowing nothing of dragons. Now he knew exactly what a dragon was, especially what this sort of dragon was and just how dangerous it really could be. This was a class five dragon. It was an enemy that even Dallen had respected, and Tiberius was still very much younger than Dallen.

  “Barcharosias, I presume? I believe we have an appointment,” Tiberius said.

  “You didn’t waste any time,” the dragon replied.

  “I couldn’t find you till now, or I’d have come calling before. There’s a small matter of property damages back in Sherwood City. You toasted my pastor’s geraniums, among other things.”

  “Did I? Sorry, I missed the pastor.”

  “I take it that you haven’t repented of your ways and changed your mind about this then?” Tiberius asked.

  The dragon laughed. “Did you ever think that was a possibility?”

  “Not really, no, but I had to ask,” Tiberius said.

  “Strange friend you brought with you,” the dragon said.

  “Friend?” Tiberius wondered a moment, then followed the dragons gaze. He couldn’t see her; she’d done a good job finding cover under some rocks, but he could sense her all the same.

  “Maci?! Get out of here!” he said with some alarm.

  “You didn’t know? Curious. Not thinking of your friends now, are you?” the dragon chided.

  “Don’t mind me!” Maci said.

  “I won’t. I can’t. You shouldn’t have come,” Tiberius said, focusing on the dragon.

  The dragon laughed. “Don’t worry, I won't kill her till I'm done with you."

  "That's considerate of you,” Maci said from behind the rocks.

  "Not really, he just wants to take his time amusing himself with you," Tiberius said.

  "Great,” Maci answered. “Kill him and let’s go home."

  “Yes, let’s get this over with,” Barcharosias said.

  He let out a blast of fire. The heat was staggering, even though his defenses. It was well that Tiberius had taken the precaution of armoring his boots. The ground around him was glowing with heat from the dragon's blast.

  The dragon looked disappointed when his fire had no apparent effect on Tiberius.

  “A bit obvious,” Tiberius said. Drawing out an old arrow he said, “Last time you ignored this. Let’s see if I’ve improved any.”

  “Flugu fidela kai rapida!” he said. So saying he threw the arrow at Barcharosias like it was a dart. It was the very same arrow he’d fired at the dragon twelve years ago. The arrow had simply bounced off the dragon back then. But now it flew from his hands faster than any arrow had ever traveled from a bow. The dragon made a sudden dodge to the side, but even so, the hypervelocity dart cut though his wing. Rolling back up, he picked up a huge rock and threw it with deadly force at Tiberius. It shattered against Ti’s shields; he barely felt it.

  “Fulmo trafu!” he responded, firing lightning back at the dragon. The lighting just crackled around Barcharosias’ own shields.

  The dragon in turn breathed fire again, hoping that Tiberius’ shields, though powerful, might not be immortal. Ti felt it get uncomfortably hot when he did that, but he’d been working too long on fire resistance to be bothered seriously by the dragon’s fire. Fire was a resource though. As the flames wrapped around him he spoke his own incantation.

  “Forma fajrego virina bonveno Sorcha!” he spoke, and from the tails of the dragon’s fire blast Tiberius formed his own fire elemental. He sent the elemental forward to attack the dragon. Even a dragon can feel the heat from a dragon’s fire, so Barcharosias was forced to take defensive action. It rolled in the dirt; then, coming up it cast a word of dispelling destroying the fire elemental. A second later the dragon had to swerve again. A tree behind him, enchanted by Tiberius, tried to smash the dragon with a well-aimed branch. The dragon toasted the tree with a puff of fire. It felt a telekinetic blow smash into its shoulder. Angrily, it turned back and cast a spell of its own, hurling a bolt of lighting towards Tiberius. Again the spell rolled off Ti’s shields. Tiberius countered by trying to dispel the dragon’s defenses.

  “Dispelu,” he said. That wasn’t quite right, Tiberius noted. Well, dispels were always tricky.

  The dragon then jumped into the air, trying to pounce on Tiberius and rend him apart with its powerful and razor sharp claws. Tiberius teleported to the side. The dragon swerved towards the spot where he appeared, aimed another claw, and missed again as Tiberius rolled out of the way. Again it lunged, and Tiberius dodged with a teleport. This time Tiberius managed to inflict a light wound, grazing its iron skin with a slash from his staff, the tip glowing with plasma. Tiberius narrowly dodged a tail swipe, but was sent sprawling by a backhand from one of the powerful claws.

  Quickly rolling to his feet, he had to summon his staff back to his hand. That blow would have killed a knight in armor, but Ti’s shields were still holding, though he would have some nasty bru
ises if this kept up. The dragon flew towards him, claws outstretched. Tiberius gave his staff a twirl and it spun faster than the eye could see, suddenly flying out of his hands to strike the dragon in the head as it approached. The heavy blow stopped the dragon, forcing it to take a step back. Stunned slightly, it shook its head and spit out a tooth.

  That gave Tiberius the chance to do something slightly more complicated. He cast a phantasmal dragon. His dragon leapt on the back of the original and caused them to tumble together in combat. After a moment, though, the real dragon composed itself and dispelled the phantasmal creature.

  It looked up to meet the spray of acid that Tiberius hurled towards it. Tiberius wasn’t overly surprised to see it didn’t affect the creature much. It drew some ancient sign in the air, then slammed down with one of its claws on to the earth. There was a rumble, and a small earthquake knocked Tiberius off his feet. Rolling to the side, he came up and tapped his staff on the ground and vanished. The dragon sniffed in the air for a moment and then breathed a wall of fire on the ground. With another mystic sign he sent it advancing forward. A wall of ice appeared out of nowhere and blocked the wall of flames, the two of them canceling each other in a cloud of steam. The dragon made another sign, and the steam cloud then clung to the ground. The dragon studied the currents in the steam, looking for the telltale sign of footprints. From another direction came a glowing disk of metal, streaming towards the dragon’s neck. Barcharosias made a sign and the disk impacted on the glowing sign, shattering into drops of liquid metal. With a gesture, the dragon picked up a fallen log and hurled it towards the direction the disk had come from.

  Again it raised its claw and drew an intricate sign. This time a half dozen ants suddenly grew into full sized warriors and started forward. From the other end of the ground, a pile of rocks suddenly formed into a man-shaped warrior of stone which charged forward to meet the ant men, smashing them aside. The dragon called up its own earth elemental, and the two stone constructions smashed one another to pieces.