“We’ll try some then.” Stone gestured for a glass. He examined the glass noticing that it was frosted, how odd. He sipped it and approved of its coldness, but when he quickly sank the rest of it down. “I’ve been poisoned! My head aches!”
Alexa went for her sword.
“Relax gentlemen; you are simply not used to how cold the drink is. It’ll pass soon, and you’ll be none the worse. I should have told you not to drink too fast. A peculiar side effect but harmless I assure you.”
Stone was glad when the pain passed.
“We are in search of a wizard.” Alexa sat down to rest as the others did likewise. “We need to, hire one for an important job, which could become full time if the wizard is interested. It seems that a kingdom needs a sorcerer these days.”
Cyrus studied their faces. An enemy to the Yurrosy was a friend to him. “Tell you what. I’ll loan you my son for some good money; however I’ll need him back in a month. How much are you willing to pay for such a service?”
“How much do you want?” Stone asked. He wondered if they would be able to get this one back to Leeander alive or not. Should they leave with him it might be the last time he ever saw his wizard, but, of course, he wasn’t going to tell him.
The barkeep was interested in gold coins. “Do you have gold?”
Stone nodded to Merrill who went out to the horses and returned with two bags of gold coins; he dropped them on the table as the barkeep’s eyes widened.
“If I didn’t need him for that amount of coin I’d sell him to you, but I do need him back in one piece. Do we have a deal?”
“We have a deal if you can show us a wizard,” said Alexa.
“Quentin! Show yourself.”
Quentin appeared out of a door in the floor; he had been down there searching for magical ingredients and then had become interested in the conversation. He was a young fellow that looked to be only sixteen or so, handsome with golden hair down to his shoulders and carried several pouches on his waist. “Hello.”
Obed looked the young fellow up and down: he appeared to be a little undeveloped to be much of a sorcerer. “Looks awful young to be much of a wizard. Is he off his mother’s teat?”
“My spells are limited gentlemen, but I assure you that I am a wizard. There’s a lot of energy in this body, but I do lack experience. If you have the spell written, I’m your wizard.”
Stone and Alexa both nodded at one another. “He’ll do.”
Obed was ready to go. “Let’s get the hell out of here before our luck runs out.”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
ZAK, THEON, TITUS AND URBAN ALL ATTACKED THE SNAKE simultaneously to save Marcus; they weren’t sure if he’d been struck or not. The force of the huge reptile striking against Urban’s sword not only knocked him down but flung him across the room. The strength in that thing was surprising even for its size. Luckily for him, it had only been his sword that had been hit by the venom. Zak cut into its stomach but was horrified to see it heal; if they couldn’t kill him, they were all doomed. They wouldn’t be fast enough to climb back out before it got all of them. Suddenly all that gold didn’t seem to mean much at all compared to their lives.
With a pause in the battle, Zak shouted, “The damn thing can heal itself!”
Marcus got up and backed away from the serpent, checking to see if he’d been punctured by it but he hadn’t. He had fallen at just the right time. “I’m okay! Hurry up and kill that stupid thing before it kills all of us!”
Theon swung at it and missed. “It's healing itself.”
Zak moved his sword over his head back and forth; the snake fixed on it and when it struck it drove his sword out of his hand and against the wall with a clang. Any movement caught its attention. That thing meant big trouble. Zak just barely managed to get out of its way as it took a piece out of the wall.
Above ground, Ashkoor stared at Ryxa. “So Ryxa, how have you been? Is life treating you well? You’ve certainly grown into a beautiful dragon.”
“Ashkoor you need to be quiet. I’m trying to hear what’s going on down there.”
The purple fellow shrugged. “Since we can’t influence what’s going on down there we may as well talk.” He sniffed Ryxa and found her most pleasing.
“Get away from me.” Ryxa put her ear to the hole, and she didn’t like what she was hearing. Marcus ran and looked up at Ryxa, startling her by his sudden appearance. “Ryxa, stick your head down here and when you see the snake blast it with fire!”
“But I’ll get stuck again!” The dragon didn’t want to stick her head back in there; it had been such an unpleasant experience. Unfortunately, they were all in grave danger, and the frightened look on the boy made her uncertain of her next move.
“No you won’t the hole is bigger now!”
Ryxa thought she might be able to do it, but her fear appeared to have a mind of its own. “If I get stuck again I could be stuck forever. I want to, but I don’t think I can do it.”
Marcus pleaded for Ryxa’s help with fear in his voice. “If you don’t the snake is gonna get me!”
Zak, Theon, Urban, and Titus ran to where the boy was just below the entrance to the chamber. It was slowly and deliberately following them. They had cut the hell out of it, but it had healed every wound inflicted, and at one point it had almost been cut in two. The Knights were becoming exhausted from the fight and didn’t have much left in them; if it could be destroyed, they had no idea how. They had never swung their swords so much with nothing to show for it. They were against the wall with nowhere else to run and no strength to swing anymore.
“Ryxa now!”
Ryxa stuck her head back down into the hole even though she didn’t want to do it. She oriented on the snake and blasted it with fire. At first, nothing happened except that it stopped moving and was disoriented. Another wall of fire froze it in place. The third shot of fire made it glow red hot and with the fourth fiery discharge, the snake fell to pieces in chunks as if it was a puzzle that could be put back together. All the knights slid down to the floor to rest as Marcus walked past the collapsed snake and went in to explore. He just had to see what it had been protecting; he assumed that it would be something exceptional.
“Thank god that’s over with,” said Titus. He looked up and nodded appreciatively at Ryxa as she removed her head from the hole and was ecstatic to be able to do so.
Marcus entered the chamber where the snake had originated and discovered what appeared to be a small nest on the floor. No eggs inside the nest were made out of birch bark, but there was a little glowing glass ball. It commenced rolling around as if it was enticing him to pick it up. “What the heck?”
A strange wind appeared inside the chamber, like a warm summer breeze. There was no place for the wind to have originated but such was magic. It smelled as if the wind was blowing through a field of sweet alyssum flowers. Marcus got on his knees and fixed on the ball that had become still. Inside the sphere colors were swirling and changing like clouds moving, and it was surrounded by blue like the Earth’s atmosphere from space. The blue glow extended several inches beyond it. It looked a lot like a little spinning earth from space. The attraction as a bee to a flower. He picked it up and placed it in the palm of his hand and discovered that it was nice and warm to the touch. Marcus thought it was beautiful. It unhurriedly commenced to sink into his skin, and he was unable to stop it. He was terrified as he tried his best to get it out, even trying to remove it with his teeth but couldn’t. It was disappearing inside him, and there was nothing he could do about it.
“Oh no!”
He could see the bulge as it moved up his forearm, shifting and squirming with the unnatural displacement of his skin, slightly warm and now spinning? It wasn’t excruciating, but he was starting to feel strange. What was going to happen to him? Was he going to transform into a snake? What if that was how that huge snake had come to be? He was horrified at the thought that he would soon be a snake, attacking the knights and perhaps eve
n Ryxa. Several tears rolled down his cheeks as he had never been this frightened and all because of his stupidity. What had he done? The bulge went up and over his shoulder and into his chest, and when it got over his heart, it disappeared, making Marcus hold his breath. His eyes fluttered as he lost consciousness, sliding down to the floor in slow motion as his body commenced to twitch.
Zak found Marcus unconscious on the floor. “Marcus!”
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
WHEN ASH AWOKE FROM HIS NAP his two sisters were in the process of emerging from their eggs and the baby dragon was excited because he was going to have two dragons to play with, jumping up and down in anticipation. Ash felt like he was going to burst. Several drops of water landed on his head from the roof and when the little wizard shook red sparkles left him and stuck to the wall and then within moments disappeared. Ash was a ball of energy.
Ella laughed at how excited Ash was. “Look at our little wizard.”
Zedock had to stop repeatedly Ash from helping them out of their shells as it was a well-known fact that they had to make their way out; breaking the shell barrier infused them with the magical properties that were contained within the shell and was a process that should be allowed to proceed naturally. But the impetuous Ash didn’t want to listen to reason so had to be restrained both physically and verbally. Zedock was lucky that Ash permitted his father to control him.
Cinder-Ella started to walk around with both her legs through the shell as if she was wearing it like a pair of pants. She attempted to blast the shell with fire, but only hot steam emerged. They could all see the sparkles of light that emanated from the shell that was pulled into the baby dragon. Finally, the shell came off as she ran into the wall. The small red dragon stomped the shell with attitude. She stared up at Ella and to her it was like staring up at a mountain. “What’s my name? What’s my name?”
Ella picked her up and smiled at her. “I named you Cinder-Ella.”
“Oh how beautiful,” said Cinder-Ella. “Is that my Dad?”
“It is, and that’s your brother Ash.”
Cinder-Ella perused the cave taking it all in; it was a lot different than cramped inside that egg, and all the voices from the outside world were mostly muffled. Her cute little dragon face made them all smile as she looked around, cocking her head abruptly one way and then the other. She had to blink her eyes as she focused; she wasn’t able to concentrate at all when she was inside her egg. What a wondrous world it was. Her father looked so handsome, and her brother was jumping around so that she thought he might burst. She wasn’t sure if she liked Ash or not; he appeared to be a little too aggressive.
“Put her down!” screamed Ash. “I want to play with her.”
Cinder-Ella shook her head. “No, I want to snuggle.”
“Get down here I want to play!”
“No, I want to snuggle.”
“Mom, put her down so we can play! Please! Please!”
“Ash, you can play with her later. You must learn to be patient. A patient dragon usually makes better decisions than an impatient one.” Ella watched him to see how he would react to those words. Dragons were so evolved even from birth they had speech as other animals had instinct, although it could take a hundred year to reach their full potential.
“I want to play now! Later is too far away!”
Zedock was looking from one baby to the other, realizing that the days of peace and quiet might well be behind them. How difficult would it be to get in a nap now? The only quiet he was going to get was when they were all sleeping or when he took to the air. “Maybe there’s a way to put them both back in their eggs for a while longer.”
Ella shook her head. “Good luck with that.”
Of course, Zedock was only joking as he watched Ash run around in circles trying to get his mother to put his sister down. He attempted to pick up Ash, but he jumped out of his arms and walloped the floor, but appeared no worse for the fall.
“Dad, make Mom put Cinder-Ella down, or I’m gonna turn you into a chicken! I mean it!”
Ella glared at Ash. “No one is turning anyone into a chicken.”
Now Zedock realized what Ella was saying. Disciplinary actions on a wizard would always have risks. “Don’t you dare! You need to respect your parents. You cluck, cluck, cluck!” Zedock, now a chicken, scratched around and pecked at the floor.”
“Ha ha, Dad’s a chicken.”
Cinder-Ella was excited. “Mom, how did he do that?”
“He’s a wizard.”
“Am I a wizard too?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because if I had two wizards I’d jump off a cliff and not use my wings. Ash, you turn your father back.”
“I’ll change him back later.”
Cinder-Ella now had her eyes on Ash as she spoke to her mother, wondering what else he was going to do. “You’d crash huh? Put me down. Ash, can you make me a wizard?”
“I can’t.”
They ran and jumped over one another, and then they ran into the cave that Zedock had excavated to play in there. They weren’t able to fly yet they were capable of launching themselves like a chicken. The third egg hatched, and Ella picked up Firestorm, and she went right to sleep.
Just as Ella was ready to scream at Ash to change his father back into his dragon form, Zedock was suddenly a dragon once again. Ella gave Zedock a big kiss. “Well, all the babies are red like me. You know I was having nightmares about it, how they would be black with red dots or some other such nonsense.”
Zedock tried to warn her without actually telling her that all black dragons started out red with a little bit of black on the end of their tales. “Ash has a bit of black on the end of his tail.”
“You already said that. Look how beautiful she is!”
“She’s beautiful just like you.”
Outside a black dragon flew by and then a red one. It flew by in such proximity that the wind from its wings blew straw across the floor. Six dragons were flying around out there, three red and three black, and all had come to see the baby wizard. They all took turns flying by and making comments as they tried to get a glimpse of the little sorcerer. They were all excited at the prospect of seeing him.
“I can’t believe it,” said Zedock. “There are red and black dragons out there, and they’re not fighting. It looks like they are friendly to one another.”
Ella had to close her mouth. “That’s amazing. They all want to see Ash.”
“You do realize that had you not picked me for a mate there would be no baby wizard.” Zedock smiled and nodded.
“Yeah, yeah be quiet.”
Just then Ash ran out of the side den yawning. “I’m too tired to play anymore. Cinder-Ella is sleeping. All her yawning made me yawn too.” He curled up beside his mother and went to sleep.
A black dragon hovered outside the den. “Which one is the wizard?”
Ella was proud that they wanted to see him. “The one sleeping beside me.”
“Oh, I see him!” shouted the black dragon. “I saw him first!”
The black dragon was pushed out of the way by a red dragon. “So that’s the little wizard? He’s so small and so cute. I’m gonna tell my father that I saw the little wizard.”
And then the red dragon was pushed away by a black dragon. “He’s really a wizard? Can I bring him a gift? They say it’s good luck to bring a sorcerer a gift.”
Ella stuck her head out of the cave and glared at all of them. “If you want to see our wizard there will be no fighting. What kind of example would that be for the baby? I am sure that you wish him to grow up with the proper morals.”
“She right,” said a black dragon.
“Definitely no fighting,” the red dragon agreed.
Ella was amazed at what she was seeing. Because of Ash they were willing to get along. Perhaps she could take advantage of her little wizard. “We’re going to be on the cliff by the apple tree tomorrow at noon. If you promise not to fight you
can play with him there for a short time.”
“I promise,” said one.
“I promise too,” said another.
After they all had a peek at the baby wizard, they all flew off in a good mood. The last time a dragon wizard had been born was over a thousand years ago, and he had united all the dragons. That wizard had become a well-known granter of wishes. They all couldn’t wait to play with the baby dragon at noon tomorrow. Ella thought that a black dragon bonding with a red dragon might not be so bad after all.
Zedock stared down at his son and then at Ella. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it.”
“There’s a legend of a wizard king,” said Ella. Ash made a noise in his sleep as his feet looked like they were running. “What if we’re looking at him?”
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
KING DARIUS WAS SURPRISED to see that the Yurrosy wasn't attacking; they were moving forward so that even more troops could take up the rear. The king had never seen so many troops in one location. When the troop movements were completed the King guessed that they were surrounded by perhaps two hundred thousand, maybe more. King Chromos wasn’t happy that they destroyed his wizard, more like furious. In fact, Chromos was in a rage that scared practically everyone. When King Chromos was angry people died, lots of people. He liked his people always to think that he was in control, but it wasn’t always possible to maintain that decorum.
Cynric had been his highest wizard; he had others but none as powerful as Cynric. He counted on him for many things. He had been instrumental in rounding up other wizards and had developed powerful spells that only he could cast. The king thought that he understood wizards better than anyone else. It was the biggest blow that Chromos had received in years, and he personally executed the bearer of the bad news. The mighty king had had high expectations for the powerful sorcerer, and the word of his death had caught him by surprise. He had thought of the sorcerer as being invincible, his demise a slap in the face. Now no one dared to look in his direction, and since the dead couldn’t be brought back to life, there was no way to appease him.
Knights of the Dragon (of Knights and Wizards Book 1) Page 20