“Wh-what task?” asked Rubin. He still couldn’t believe his eye. Magic was at work here, he knew, but he couldn’t understand it. “What must I do?”
The mermaid let go of his hands and pointed at his key-shaped talisman. A bolt of blue light surged into it from her fingertips. The talisman felt warm against his chest. When that was done, the mermaid pointed at Rubin’s head. “Understand,” she murmured. Then a flash of light hit him in the face and he sagged to his knees.
When the bright light vanished, Rubin opened his eye. It was dark and he was in a graveyard. He looked at a torch-lit sign nearby which read, ‘Warral West End Cemetery’.
Rubin rose to his feet and sighed. He knew what to do. He took hold of his talisman and chanted some strange words he’d never heard before.
A scratching, swishing noise broke the stillness of the cemetery. Graves everywhere caved in. Dirt was thrown aside and white, skeletal bones emerged from the holes. One by one, countless skeletons and zombies rose from their interrupted slumber to stand before the sailor.
Rubin wasn’t surprised. In fact, he expected this. When all the skeletons and zombies stood ready, the sailor turned and left the cemetery for the empty streets beyond. The legion of undead followed.
The one-eyed sailor knew there was much work yet to be done. He had to visit many more cemeteries before the night was through. There was no time to waste…
Chapter 65
Sherman rode a borrowed horse as fast as he could to his parent’s farm. Dawn was just breaking as he reigned in beside the house and bounded up the stairs. He knocked and waited.
Ezra opened the door and her face registered shock and then pleasure at seeing her son for the first time in weeks.
“Sherman!” she exclaimed. She stepped forward and embraced her son. “It’s good to see you again!”
“Hi, Mom,” said Sherman.
Ezra let go of him and looked up into his face sternly. “You should have written! We were worried about you!”
“It was probably better that I didn’t,” said Sherman. “By letting you know where I was, I was giving away my location to those who were after me.”
“What do you mean?” asked Ezra.
“Who’s at the door?” said a voice from inside the house.
Sherman looked over his mother’s head. “Hi, Dad! Long time no see!”
“Sherman!” exclaimed Sam Takar. He strode forward and pumped his son’s hand. “I’m glad to see you’re safe and sound!”
“Of course,” said Sherman. “After all, I’m the Guardian, aren’t I?”
Mr. Takar’s face blanched and Ezra looked between the two uncertainly. “What? What’s going on? Sam?”
“I think we’d better go in and sit down in the living room,” said Sam. “I see that I’ve got some explaining to do.”
The trio entered the living room and Sherman and Ezra sat down.
Sam Takar remained standing and began to pace the room slowly with his hands clasped behind his back. “Maybe it will be easier to start at the beginning.” He stopped pacing and faced his wife and son.
“I came from a strange land,” began Sam. “It was a land north of here, well beyond the mountains. In that land, a queen reigned supreme. The queen’s brother, William, headed her personal guard. That position was called ‘Guardian’. It was traditional for the queen’s brother to hold this revered position.
“One day, a few months after her husband’s death, the queen’s children were kidnapped. William immediately went in pursuit of the kidnappers. He chose a few of the queen’s personal guard to go with him. I was one of the ones—um—selected.”
“You were with the queen’s personal guard?” asked Ezra.
Sam nodded.
“So that’s why you’re such a good fighter!” exclaimed Sherman.
Sam grinned sheepishly. “Let’s just say I was well trained. Anyway,” he continued, “William tracked the kidnappers to the Black Forest in the south. The Black Forest was forbidden territory because anyone entering it was almost never heard from again.”
“Did you enter it?” asked Sherman.
“We had to,” answered Sam. “It was our duty to bring back the queen’s children, and they were somewhere in that forest. We entered cautiously, but the trail of the kidnappers was impossible to follow. We searched for hours, and before we knew it, four of our number had disappeared mysteriously. We stayed close together after that.
“We were just beginning to lose all hope of finding the children when we heard what sounded like a baby’s cry. We headed for the sound and reached a clearing where the kidnappers were hiding. William charged the kidnappers, but was repelled by a magical barrier raised by a nearby mage. Members of the kidnappers surrounded William, and the rest of the home guard rallied to his side. The skirmish was fast and furious, but William was disabled by some kind of ‘slow’ magic and was slain. The home guard fought to the bitter end, but I didn’t see it happen because I was knocked unconscious by a blunt instrument.
“When I awoke,” continued Sam, “it was getting dark. Everyone around me was dead. There was no sign of the children, so I counted out the bodies of my fellow guards and determined that we had lost, although not by much. Any surviving kidnappers had taken the children deeper into the forest. I was charged with finding them and, since I had nothing to lose anyway, I looked for a trail where the kidnappers had possibly fled. I found one trail, almost overgrown, and followed it for a while. After a brief hike, I came across the body of the mage who had thwarted William’s rescue attempt. The mage was still barely alive; his eyes were closed and he breathed raggedly. His robe was torn and he had tears and scratches on his exposed chest. More importantly, he held in his lap a small, moving bundle. It was one of the queen’s children!
“Anyway,” continued Sam, “I tiptoed up to the mage and gently lifted the baby out of his lap. The mage opened his eyes but made no attempt to stop me. Whether that was because he didn’t want to or couldn’t, I don’t know. I turned to leave but the mage began to speak.”
“What did he say?” asked Sherman.
“He said: ‘It’s too late now. The queen and her brother are both dead. The baby is of no consequence now.’”
“What did he mean?” asked Ezra.
“I wasn’t sure at first,” said Sam. “I asked him who had hired him and why. He said the queen’s advisor hired him to take the children away, and use them to lure the queen’s brother into an ambush to be killed. With the queen’s brother dead, and her children lost, the advisor could advance his plans to take control of the palace for himself.”
“Wouldn’t the queen object?” asked Ezra. “Or was she dead too?”
“I don’t know,” said Sam. “I suspect the queen was under the advisor’s spell. The advisor was a spell caster. Either way, he had all the power. Anyhow, I tried to intimidate the mage, threatening to disrupt those plans by bringing the child back to the palace and telling the queen everything, but the mage laughed. He said the advisor would have me and the child killed before we could get back. Apparently some of the advisor’s supporters were waiting at the fringes of the forest just in case we succeeded in saving the children. Their orders were to kill everyone—including the children.”
“Monsters!” raged Ezra.
“Did you go back anyway?” asked Sherman.
“How could I?” asked Sam. “Fighting with a child in your arms is next to impossible! It would have been suicide!”
“What did you do?” asked Ezra.
“I asked the mage why he told me all this,” said Sam. “He said his life was almost over and he hadn’t been paid yet, so he wasn’t about to complete his task for someone else’s gain at the cost of his own life.”
“No honour among thieves, eh?” said Sherman.
“And then?” prod
ded Ezra.
“I asked the mage where the other child was,” said Sam, “but he chose that moment to die. It was a horrible thing to witness. A ring on his hand began to smoke. Then his entire hand disintegrated right before my eyes!”
Sherman gasped.
“What did you do next?” asked Ezra.
“Well,” said Sam, “I couldn’t very well go back without risking the child’s life, so I wandered aimlessly for a while, thinking of what to do. The dangers of the forest seemed like less of a threat than going back to face the queen’s advisor and his cohorts. So I slept that night on a pile of moss under a tree with the baby. In the morning, I came across a number of bushes with berries and stockpiled them in my pack.
“For the next several days, I wandered aimlessly, using survival techniques I had mastered as a member of the personal guard.” Sam grinned shyly. “I also had a crash course in diaper changing. It was a good thing many cloths and linens were wrapped with the baby. Anyway, the dangers of the Black Forest mercifully stayed away from us, and we reached the southern end of the forest. We came out on the west side of North Lake.”
“So the Black Forest separated your homeland from this land!” exclaimed Sherman.
Sam nodded. “That’s right. I wandered around the southern end of the lake and entered the towns northwest of the Five Fingers Mountains. I picked up odd jobs in Cowen and Drax, but needed someone to care for the infant while I was working. I hired a lady to take care of the infant and she grew to like me and the baby. Her name was Ezra.”
Sherman looked at Ezra but she was already looking at him in a strange way. Suddenly he realized what Sam was saying and his jaw dropped. “You mean, I’m—?!”
Sam nodded. “You were that infant. You are the queen’s son.”
Sherman shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t believe it!”
“It’s true,” said Sam. “Eventually, Ezra and I married, and we moved here to start our own little farm. The rest you know.”
“And you told me Sherman was your son and your first wife had died!” reprimanded Ezra. “Why did you lie?”
“The fewer who knew the truth, the better,” said Sam. “Sherman’s identity needed to remain secret for his own good. Anyone who knew his heritage would know that he was the future Guardian of the queen of my homeland.” He turned to Sherman. “Obviously, someone found him out, although I’m not sure how.”
Sherman shrugged. “Randall knew. He came after me to kill me.”
Ezra gasped. “What? Are you sure?”
Sherman nodded. “He was able to keep tabs on me while he lived here. Since I often sent word to you on where I was, he was able to give his bandits an accurate idea of where to find me, using his pigeons as messengers. That’s why I was drawing bandits like flies.”
“And I allowed it!” moaned Ezra. “I let him have the pigeons as pets up in the attic! I didn’t think for a moment that he was using them to send messages to track Sherman down!” She looked at Sherman. “You could have been killed!”
“It’s not your fault,” said Sam. “You couldn’t have known.”
“I should have known something was amiss when Randall left so suddenly,” snapped Ezra. She suddenly looked at Sherman. “You said Randall tried to kill you. You’re still alive. Does that mean he’s—?”
“Dead,” finished Sherman. “Yes. He was a mage, but his magic was blocked, so he chose to use his skills with the sword to try to defeat me. He almost did, too.”
“That’s when he told you that you were the Guardian,” said Sam. “Am I right?”
“Yes,” said Sherman.
“But what has that got to do with trying to kill you?” asked Ezra.
“All I know is he was working for someone called Grakath,” said Sherman.
Sam Takar stiffened.
“What is it, Sam?” asked Ezra.
“That’s the name of the queen’s advisor,” said Sam. “If he knows who you are and that you’re alive, Sherman, it explains why he has sent people to try to kill you. Be careful when dealing with him! He is a powerful necromancer. No one who tangles with him gets away alive. No one.”
Sherman and Ezra looked at one another fearfully.
Chapter 66
Krendal beckoned for Kazin and Milena to be seated in front of his desk. He himself went around and sat behind his desk and looked curiously at his guests.
“Kazin,” he said after a moment of silence, “may I examine your staff?”
Kazin shrugged and handed his staff to the arch mage.
Krendal set it against the wall and chanted a sophisticated spell. At once the orb, ordinarily invisible to the eye, began to shimmer with a milky white glow.
“Just as I suspected,” said Krendal in satisfaction. He cancelled his spell and looked at Kazin. “It took me a long time to figure it out, but finally it all fell into place. I just had to be sure, and the spell confirmed it. You had the orb all along, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” said Kazin. “Didn’t I—? Oh, no!”
“Oh yes,” said Krendal with a frown.
“I thought you knew!” stammered Kazin. “I—I didn’t know—.”
Krendal held up a hand. “Relax, Kazin. When I first suspected you had the dragon orb, I checked some of our ancient texts on orb possession. It turns out that dragon orb magic is similar to the magic used in the mage test. The difference here is that, instead of permanent secrecy, you are magically prevented from mentioning you have possession of the orb to anyone unless they already know you have it. Once they know, you can speak of it freely.”
“Why is that?” asked Kazin.
Krendal stroked his beard. “Well, from what I could gather from the ancient texts, whenever the orb changes owners, it requires some time to meld with the new owner. If it is known that the owner carries the orb, someone may try to steal it before the melding is complete. The orb weakens if that happens. Sometimes it even shatters, doing some irreparable damage to the owner. Creators of the orb installed such a magical safeguard to prevent this from happening.”
“I take it this magic affects everyone who knows about the orb as well?” asked Milena.
Krendal nodded. “Yes. You and I cannot tell anyone else about Kazin’s orb who doesn’t already know about it. As long as someone not aware of the orb is within earshot, the orb cannot be mentioned.”
“How did you figure it out?” asked Kazin.
“It was the culmination of unusual events associated with you, Kazin,” said Krendal. “Every time we talked, you did something to surprise me. I didn’t really suspect anything until your major success in the south. I kept asking myself how you and your entourage of companions could have dealt the enemy such a lethal blow.
“Afterwards, I wondered how you managed to get your minotaur friend behind enemy lines into the heart of minotaur territory in time for the election battles. Then, I found out you had the ability to open the magical portal in the mountains. Where so many had failed repeatedly, you succeeded!
“Finally,” finished Krendal, “you left the Tower of Hope two days ago and you’re here already! Unless you used some sort of haste spell—which is taxing for mere travel purposes—you must have flown! Considering your earlier encounter with Filbar, I could only draw one conclusion. You had possession of the dragon orb.”
“I guess it was bound to come out eventually,” said Kazin.
Krendal grunted. “Funny thing is, it was Sandor who tried to tell me first.”
“What do you mean?” asked Kazin.
“Benjamin and I were talking one day,” said Krendal, “and he told me a few of the things Sandor was rambling about. One of those things was the repetitive clause: ‘The orb is and is not.’” Krendal pointed to Kazin’s staff. The orb was not visible.
“I see what you mean,” said
Kazin.
“I didn’t pay attention to it at the time,” said Krendal, “but I should have. His warnings of the tide coming from the north were fairly accurate as well.”
“Prophesies rarely make sense until they come to pass,” said Kazin.
“That’s a shrewd observation, Kazin,” commented Krendal. He picked up Kazin’s staff and returned it to him.
“So how many times have you transformed?” asked the arch mage.
Kazin shrugged. “Quite a few times. Why?”
“You must be careful not to allow the orb to control you,” said Krendal sternly. “If you succumb, insanity will follow, and the orb will control you! Things are bad enough now. We don’t need a raging dragon to make things worse than they already are.”
Kazin nodded. “My familiar taught me a few things about that. I’m fairly comfortable with the transformations now.”
“Good,” nodded Krendal. “Let’s keep it that way. If you’re careful, you could lead a long, fulfilling life. Dragon mages have been known to live for hundreds of years. Don’t plan on marriage, though.”
“Why not?” asked Kazin.
“You wouldn’t want to see your wife, children, and grandchildren grow old and die before your eyes,” explained Krendal. “If you must wed, choose an elf. They have a much longer life span.”
Kazin looked at Milena and reddened. Milena winked back.
Krendal sensed the awkward silence that followed and changed the subject. “Before we depart for Marral, I’ll fill you in on some of the details of our battle strategy, because I want both of you there with us.” Krendal sat back and outlined the details of the defence of Marral.
An hour or so later the three spell casters emerged from Krendal’s study.
“I’ll meet you there shortly,” said Krendal. “I’ve got to check on the artifacts we may be able to utilize for this battle.”
Kazin's Quest: Book I of The Dragon Mage Trilogy Page 65