Knights of the Wizard (of Knights and Wizards Book 2)

by Gallant, A. J.

  “Your enchantments will be greatly reduced. Nydarien really should be killed before he does irreparable damage to the world.”

  Marcus was now extremely annoyed. “That is just GREAT! Damn it!”

  The wand cast an image in the air that they could see; the image was of Nydarien and Marcus had never ever seen such an ugly person. His ears weren’t in proper balance; his left one was much lower than the right. He had boils all over, a piece missing out of his skull, his nose was much too big for his face and he even had a droopy right eye that looked infected.

  “Wow he’s ugly,” said Raina. “And scary. I’ve heard that using magic for evil purposes makes a sorcerer ugly, maybe it’s true.”

  “I’m not gonna be able to help anyone if I get myself killed.” It was a lot for a boy to have to deal with and he wished he could talk to Adorok right about now.

  “I can’t decide for you,” said Raina, suddenly emotional. “It is important to rid the world of evil. Look what happened to my kingdom. If you go I can’t go with you; he would use me against you I’m sure of it. I’ve seen evil and it needs to be destroyed but like you said it won’t do anyone any good if you get yourself killed.”

  Marcus scratched his head vigorously, partly to help him think and also to dislodge the insect that was biting him. “I don’t know. I guess I’ll need to think on it. Maybe Ryxa can come with me if she’s feeling better, otherwise I’d just have to go with Kevin. A single bolt of lightning might do the bastard in if I’m lucky. It seems like nothing in this life is ever going to be simple.”

  His wand vibrated to get his attention. “You can reverse the damage to the tree.”

  He looked puzzled. “What do you mean? You mean I can restore the tree? But it’s just a pile of ashes.”

  “Yes, point me at it and say Da Cho.”

  Marcus did as he was told and the bolt of lightning returned to his wand, almost as if reversing time itself and miraculously the tree was whole once again. Raina clapped and then hugged and kissed Marcus.

  “Wow I think I’m gonna like having this thing. If I am going to seek out the evil wizard then I must make preparations for the journey.”

  Raina was worried about Marcus facing such an evil wizard but when good wizards didn’t face the wicked ones the whole world could suffer for it. The thought of losing Marcus was almost too much to consider and she was forced to push it from her mind.

  FIFTY-THREE

  IT WAS DIM AND DREARY inside the dragon; a peculiar dark fire was burning with a black and grey flame that didn’t give off much light, perhaps the beast had an upset stomach and maybe the sorcerer was the reason for it. Daijulan had slipped down into the dragon’s lower intestine and was awaiting evacuation, the insides of the dragon was a world in itself, pockets of steaming lumps on the sides of the intestine walls showed movement from within, occasionally spewing what might be fuel for the fire. What looked like small lightning bolts lit up the area sporadically. The sorcerer was not impressed as he lay against the wall of his protective bubble because all he could do was wait, and the time dragged on down there with nothing to do. If he wanted to look on the positive side he could say that he was lucky to have survived, supposing he came out on the other side intact.

  King Kai would not be happy that the dragon had escaped; the sorcerer was considering whether to head back there or to wander off seeking a life of his own. He hadn’t even been allowed to go to his own brother’s funeral. The king was stubborn and everything had to be done his way but he supposed that most kings had the same disposition.

  Charox was on top of Cherry Hill and like a dog he circled several times before stopping and squatting, releasing another torrent of diarrhea, covering a wide area. Daijulan flew out and rolled down the hill in his protective bubble unbeknownst to the dragon. The wizard would have loved to have had the ingredients for a transportation spell but he didn’t, some of those elements were extremely rare and might not even exist in this part of the word. Whenever a wizard moved to an unknown area he was at a disadvantage, not knowing where to search in order to replace his magical ingredients. It would be a hell of a long walk back to his people unless he managed to run into some of them, which wasn’t out of the question because they were out scouring the new land.

  Later that night Daijulan sat beside his campfire with the sparks floating majestically up towards the starry sky; he stared up at the Shield constellation. The moons were rising in the western sky as he considered whether to return to Kai or not, even though he was heading in that direction. It was an unfamiliar land to make one’s way in alone and he supposed it would be best to head back, perhaps in time he would be better equipped to make an appropriate judgement. The sorcerer heard a noise coming from his right but it was so dark that he couldn’t make out much; he blinked his eyes several times so that he could switch to night vision but it did consume a lot of magical energy. Six creatures with tusks growing out of their heads were headed in his direction, there was no such animal where he had come from and they didn’t look docile, in fact he was quite sure that they were out to kill him. They were Torkur's out on a hunting expedition.

  An arrow whizzed by Daijulan’s left ear, so close that he both heard and felt the wind from it as it actually touched his hair, making him crouch down low to the ground. The light from the fire lit up his position as he heard another arrow stick into a piece of wood in the fire. The wizard launched a fireball, striking one in the chest and setting him on fire, making the others realize that it was a wizard they were attacking. They turned and ran while they were still able to do so, the burning corpse of their comrade lighting up a small section on the ground in the distance.

  It took Daijulan two full days to get back to King Kai’s castle, finally being picked up by a small group of the Dwagord.

  King Kai was happy to see his only remaining wizard as he approached the throne. “Where the hell have you been? I thought you were dead.”

  “Don’t ask,” said Daijulan.

  “Well I am asking.”

  The sorcerer had wanted to keep such an unpleasant happening to himself. “The dragon escaped and killed most of us; I created a protective bubble but it swallowed me so I had to wait until I passed through the beast.”

  A smile slowly emerged on Kai’s face as he visualized it. “You don’t mean to tell me that you were dragon shit?”

  Daijulan nodded slightly. “Something like that.”

  “Get some rest I have an important task for you.”

  “Yes your majesty.”

  “I want you to conjure a spell that will allow us to track that boy wizard.”

  FIFTY-FOUR

  BLACKIE COULD SMELL A WONDERFUL SCENT as he made his way out of the forest; he had picked up a trace in the woods earlier but eventually lost it because a hunter had cleared his snare and placed the muskrat in his pouch making the dog lose the scent. The current scent that he was following was so tantalizing that he couldn’t wait to get at it.

  Berhtram jumped off of Blackie’s back as they approached a campfire that had been extinguished for hours. Two skinned rabbits had been cooking over the fire but there was no sign of anyone in the area; the smell of the cooked rabbits was irresistible. The dog took down the now cool spit and commenced to eat one as the raven started to peck at the other. Blackie thought that the slightly burnt rabbit was so juicy and delicious that he consumed it in no time and lay down to watch the bird get its fill and when Berhtram was finished the dog ate the remainder of the other rabbit including most of the bones. They might never get another meal that was so tasty.

  The dog picked up an unpleasant scent, the odor of a nearby corpse just inside the treeline, the owner of the campsite. The tall fellow lay dead with two arrows in him, killed by Dwagord warriors for no reason except to kill, although they did take his sword and shield. It had been a sneak attack and the poor fellow never knew what hit him as the first arrow pierced his heart.

  Brother and Kadyn came out of the forest,
past the dead body and both knights picked up the aroma almost simultaneously. They walked up to the dog and the bird and stared at them; Blackie sensed that they weren’t human but also detected no malice from them. Brother approached the dog and then got closer to the raven, realizing that he was picking up the boy’s scent from the bird. Obviously the bird had come into contact with the boy at some point.

  Brother was confused. “Marcus’s scent is on the animal, it is faint but unmistakable.”

  Kadyn bent over and took in the scent. She whispered. “I agree. Perhaps the bird belongs to Marcus.”

  Brother picked up the bird and whispered to it. “Can you lead us to Marcus? It’s important that we get back to him. He could be in danger.”

  Of course there was no response from Berhtram but the dog did bark once.

  Brother examined the raven. “The bird is injured and cannot fly but I feel compelled to protect it.”

  “As do I,” said Kadyn.

  They continued on their way as Brother carried Berhtram with the dog following close behind. Later that afternoon they ran into two knights from Leeander, Alaster and Benedict immediately stopped their horses to stare down at the strange group. The bird is what caught their attention. Could it really be the king’s raven?

  “That looks like Berhtram the,” said Alaster. “In fact I’m sure it is. He has that slight discoloration on the side of his head.”

  Benedict nodded. “The prince’s golden knights. You, has something happened to Marcus? Answer me.”

  Because Brother could only speak in whispers he was forced to approach Benedict. “We have lost contact with the little wizard. His current condition is unknown as is his location.”

  Alaster had a short blond beard and short hair and even though he was only in his twenties he was going bald. “Hand me the raven and follow us back to Leeander and from there we’ll head back to Marcus’s castle and begin the search.”

  “I’ll protect the raven,” Brother insisted.

  Charox flew down and shook the ground when he landed in front of them, giving them dirty looks. “What do we have here? Who wants to be eaten first?”

  FIFTY-FIVE

  STONE AND HIS KNIGHTS found themselves facing King Kai in the courtyard after a long night of interrogation; they were tired and disheartened by their situation. Their mission to capture some of the Dwagord ended up with them being taken prisoner, an unfortunate turn of events most likely with dire consequences. King Darius must certainly be having fits, and in fact he had sent out a thousand knights in search of them but locating them wouldn’t be easy, in fact might be impossible. And from what Stone had seen the numbers of the Dwagord were massive, perhaps forty thousand and maybe more, and so even if Leeander’s knight did figure out the location they would almost certainly be defeated.

  It was a mild though windy morning inside King Kai’s courtyard. In the far corner more than a hundred horses were being fed. Stone, Alexa and the others were to face off one by one against Dwagord warriors, and any that could survive three battles would be permitted to join them but the others would be put to death. They were all forced to sit on the ground facing the king as he walked by each and every one of them, stopping and staring down at Alexa.

  “Stand up,” said the king.

  Alexa stood up. “You must know that this is an act of war.”

  Kai grunted derisively. “Since we will soon rule this entire area it means little. We have more than a thousand warriors coming through the mountain every day. You will be the first to do battle. Pick up the battle axe and prepare yourself for the world of spirits.

  Alexa picked up the axe and immediately realized that it was a little too heavy for her, would in fact seal her fate. She knew that she needed a more appropriate weapon to have a chance at defeating her Dwagord foe. “Your majesty, may I chose my sword instead?”

  King Kai considered her request. That she had called him majesty made all the difference. “Very well.”

  Alexa was given her sword and had felt undressed without it; she swung it around several times as the Dwagord that was to be her opponent approached. He was a full head taller than Alexa and the battle-axe that he held glowed red; she wondered if a single touch from its magical blade might do her in.

  It was almost more than Stone could bear but he knew they were so outnumbered that to attempt to defend his wife would mean death for all of them and so he was forced to watch as Alexa’s life hung in the balance. The thought of Abbey being both motherless and fatherless was an awful consequence of both parents being knights he supposed.

  Bolgar looked at the king and as soon as he nodded he swung his axe and Alexa just managed to get out of the way, it would have sliced her stomach open; he didn’t want to be dispatched by a female. She swung her sword and its tip cut into the top of his chest, blood now running down all the way to his stomach, a shallow wound but painful nonetheless. Stone closed his eyes unable to watch. Bolgar feigned another swing and kicked Alexa knocking her down, bringing his axe over his head preparing to render a fatal wound but she managed to roll away as the axe brought sparks as it hit a rock in the ground. Alexa cut into his leg, almost severing it completely. He screamed and she jumped up and took his head, everyone watching as it rolled awkwardly across the ground.

  Kai again grunted low and guttural. “Tomorrow we will have another fight to the death,” said the king. “Great entertainment when a life is at stake. Take them away.”

  “I see no way out of this,” said Lance as he stood up and was pushed forward.

  “Neither do I,” said Stone.

  FIFTY-SIX

  MARCUS WAS YET AGAIN SLEEP WALKING in the castle, moving through the halls with his newly discovered wand in his hand, repeatedly saying “Where are you?” In his dream he was in a dark forest in search of Nydarien, following the sorcerer who wasn’t much more than a shadow. He made his way into the great hall where he bumped into almost empty wine barrels several times before moving beyond them. His wand was lit up brightly; the magical instrument was confused by the boy’s state of mind, wandering around aimlessly in the middle of the night.

  Marcus stopped abruptly and looked puzzled, turning in a complete circle as he felt something. He looked skyward and then down at the floor. He moved his wand making tight little circles of light and then quickly pointed toward the ceiling and out of the floor formed a golden knight on a white stallion complete with a shield and sword. He commenced to make even more of the knights, replete with horses, shields and swords, appearing magically from out of the floor. The fifth one had a red bow and quiver equipped with black arrows. Keven was following close behind watching Marcus’s every move, fascinated by the number of knights popping up, each one nodding down at him in greeting, assuming that was how he was created as well. He continued to wield his wand and every time he pointed up toward the ceiling a new knight was created. When the boy was finished there were eight more knights, nine in the Great Hall including Kevin. One of the spirited horses reared up and whinnied.

  Adorok’s ghost appeared and all the knights immediately looked at him and nodded for the sorcerer was also from the spirit world. “Marcus, wake up.”

  Marcus was in his own world, in a distant forest staring at two eight-foot guards at the entrance of a trail that led down into a deep canyon and they weren’t about to let him pass, each had a sword so big and heavy that he wouldn’t even be able to pick one up. The guards had stern ugly faces with shoulder length brown hair and goatees; both had identical scars across their cheeks. The guard on the left smiled at him as if to belittle his chances of making it past them alive. Behind them lay a headless skeleton that had obviously not made it past.

  Adorok clapped his hands trying to wake the boy, but being a spirit it was difficult to make much noise. He needed to concentrate to make the clap audible but he was upset and couldn’t manage to do so; he thought it might be best for spirits to remain in the land of the dead, certainly a lot less frustrating. The knights continu
ed to watch the apparition as it continued to try and clap Marcus awake.

  Kevin clapped his hands together hard, the metallic sound brought Marcus out of his dream and he immediately wondered what he was doing in the great hall, and then he saw all the knights that he had created. “Holy hell! Adorok!”

  “Marcus, your sister and Stone are in grave danger. You must rescue them or you will lose them. From here I can see them just beyond the portal and they will all soon be let into the land of the dead. You need to hurry!” Adorok’s voice sounded like whispers but at least Marcus could understand him.

  Marcus looked up at the golden knights on their horses and then back at Adorok. “I don’t even know where they are!”

  “Follow the rabbits they will take you there.” Adorok was trying to impress on the boy the urgency of the matter. “You must hurry!”

  Marcus was puzzled. “I don’t see any rabbits!”

  “Outside Marcus! Time is not on your side.”

  Marcus ran outside as fast as he could with all his knights following him. He was pulled up onto the back of one of the stallions as was Kevin, and they all rode off into the darkness as sunrise was still hours away. In the distance they spotted a glowing pink bunny and as they approached it another rabbit appeared in the far distance for them to follow. They were guided into a portal and just before sunrise they arrived at the castle of the Dwagord.

  The wizard and his eleven golden knights halted a ways from the castle where they could see about fifty of the Dwagord warriors fast approaching and they were as scary as hell with their battle axes and swords raised for a fight. Marcus aimed his wand and sent a lightning bolt through them, killing nine of them and injuring others but they continued on towards them.