Knights of the Wizard
Fate appeared to have as many twists and turns as there were people.
Every single time a person took a different path than they normally would it changed things, and although Leeander didn't know it yet their path had been altered and not for the better, destiny had things up its sleeve, nasty things. Although it had been over two years since the Yurrosy had been altered, transformed into crows by the dragon wizard, a darker dawn was on the horizon. Struggle shaped people like a chisel shaped rock, transforming some and breaking others into pieces of their former selves. The tough and the resilient had always managed to flow with life's carnage and probably always would.
The time was approaching for both heroes and cowards to be revealed.
Thirteen-year-old Marcus had taken over Adorok's chamber in the castle after his passing, having been on an adventure himself and having been transformed into a wizard, life was now a lot more complicated. The boy's lot in life was to learn to be an adept wizard. But being a wizard was not the easy path that he thought it would be, not that he would have ever believed that he would have become one. He had had no aspirations to be a wizard even though he had imagined it a few times because of Adorok. He had believed that his path was to become a valiant knight like Stone, a fighter that everyone would look up to, but he had been knocked off that path and onto a magic one.
Being an accomplished wizard might take a lifetime of learning but being a boy his impatience was already getting the best of him. He had already experimented with adding extra ingredients to spells with disastrous results. He had transformed his father the king into a tiger for almost a week. What was the point of having such magical ability if one couldn't use it to one's advantage? He had tried hard to turn rocks into gold, transforming them into feathers instead, having launched himself more than a dozen feet in the air from the explosion. He had believed that he had followed that enchantment to the letter and yet it had been a resounding failure.
Marcus blinked his blue eyes as he combed his shoulder length hair, finding a knot he pulled out a chunk; his face was young and handsome although now he had a cut over his left eyebrow and a bump on his head from a spell gone awry. Outside the sun was just above the horizon although currently hidden behind a single cloud, the morning was new and fresh but his problems were of the old variety, how to properly cast a spell without blowing himself up. There were ingredients in the proper amounts to consider, proper pronunciation of words to be spoken and his own wizard's blood to be cast into the mix and god only knows what else. It was nothing short of a nightmare. And for a whole week he had decided that he wasn't going to be a wizard that he was simply going to ignore his abilities until he sneezed in his sleep and blew the side out of the wall.
Adorok's chamber had been changed around a bit and Marcus now had a beautiful large painting of himself sitting on a black dragon's back while Ryxa flying over Leeander; down below the Yurrosy were in the process of being transformed into crows, the painting was hung over the doorway. He had them install several more oil lamps hanging on the walls and a beautiful tapestry of a meadow where a dragon lay beneath an apple tree. He had his father commission another painting of him and Adorok standing near Ryxa by the river, even though that scene had never happened he liked to imagine that it had been real. He missed the carefree days of simply being a boy, now he was the kingdoms only wizard and he felt the pressure of it, especially since his dreams were showing him an epic battle that appeared so real that it left him shaking when he awoke. Being a wizard had transformed even his dreams; they were so colorful and real and not conducive to a good night's sleep.
At night Marcus liked to sit in front of the elaborate fireplace where different scenes of a wizard casting spells were chiseled into it and inlaid with precious metals; the knights and the wizards were displayed in silver and the sun and dragons in gold; he sat and pondered on things that Adorok might have pondered on, watching the fire crackling into the night.
“Well that's it then,” Marcus said as he placed the last ingredient in the silver bowl, a drop of dragon blood and spoke the words, “I infuse thee dacijiasas!” An explosion blew him right off his feet and threw him hard against the castle wall. In fact the blast had shaken the entire castle, spooked horses for miles and made some people smile, knowing that it was the boy practicing his craft, but some actually thought that the boy would be the death of all of them. He coughed and black smoke was emitted from his lungs.
“That can't be right,” he said to himself as he staggered around seeing spots before his eyes. It was one thing to have the power of a wizard and another to know how to properly cast a spell. Adorok had had age wisdom experience and patience behind him but Marcus had none of those things. Although Adorok's mind had slipped during his last year, the boy thought that he was probably more adept than him even then. He would never be able to stand up to his legend.
This wizard business was starting to get downright depressing; instead of being admired he was being ridiculed. Now there was rumor that his father was bringing in another wizard to test him and he definitely didn't need proof that he was an incompetent sorcerer.
Adorok's ghost appeared and smiled at the boy. “I tried hard to materialize to stop you from doing that Marcus, but being no longer amongst the living it is difficult to make my presence known. Never add dragon's blood to a sulphur compound.”
“Now you tell me. It is so hard to decipher your spells.”
Adorok looked into the boy's blue eyes and smiled. “What spell were you trying to cast?”
“A protection spell for this chamber to keep people out. I hate it when people move my things around. I hate it when my sister comes in here.”
“A simple but effective one exists in the bottom of that drawer.” Adorok pointed as he faded out and then back in.
Alexa entered the chamber and had to laugh at Marcus's blackened face. “Marcus, what on earth are you doing? Are you trying to destroy the entire kingdom? You knocked Stone off his horse.”
He didn't want to show his sister at how inferior he was at being a wizard but his blackened face made it difficult. “I ah, I guess I need practice.” Marcus was still a bit dizzy as he staggered and sat down to recover from the blast. He would so love to wipe that look off his sister's face; it seemed that all she did was laugh at him.
Alexa again laughed at Marcus. “That's an understatement. You're no Adorok.” And when she saw Adorok's ghost she gasped but was also happy to see him. She had heard that he was appearing to Marcus but had thought that he was lying. Now that she realized he wasn't it also made her a little jealous. “Adorok, it is so nice to see you! What's it like to be dead?”
Adorok blinked several times. “Certain things I can't talk about my dear. You'll see when your time comes.”
“Why don't you take her with you,” said Marcus.
“I'm a knight now you know.”
The boy shook his head. “Some knight. A knight in rusty armour.”
Alexa gave Marcus a kick and knocked him right off his chair. “Adorok, why do you only appear to Marcus? I'd like to see you too,” said Alexa.
Adorok blinked several times. “I have business with Marcus and you'd do well to show him more respect.”
Marcus wiped some of the soot off his face as he got up. “Yeah respect and he likes me better than you that's why.”
Alexa walked around checking on what her little brother had done to Adorok's chamber. “Oh, he does not. He's just trying to help you get a handle on this wizard business before you blow us all up.”
Marcus directed his hands toward Alexa, making threatening circles. “That's it, I'm gonna blow you up!”
“Marcus, don't you dare try your magic on me I'll kick your ass! You're incompetent and you know it, who the hell knows what would happen.”
Marcus chased her out of the chamber and down the hall, and when she stopped he actually tried to spell her, but all he managed was to form another eagle which took f
light and then headed out the far window that he had just blown out.
Alexa chased after Marcus and caught him as he ran back into the chamber. She pushed him up against the wall and then pushed him partially out the window; she held on tight but it was still a dangerous thing to do. “There's nothing worse than a stupid wizard. What if you had turned me into a frog or something and then couldn't turn me back!”
“Then Stone would be married to a frog, an improvement I think,” said Marcus. “Stop it you'll drop me!”
The sound of large wings beating filled the air as Ryxa hovered outside the window. “Alexa, put him down.”
Alexa wasn't at all happy to see the black dragon. “Not you again? Ryxa, why is it that every time I'm trying to teach Marcus a lesson you show up?”
“Just lucky I guess,” said Ryxa.
Marcus managed to break free of his sister's hold and jumped out the window onto the dragon's back. “Alexa, if only you could fly but you can't. And just wait 'till I figure out my spells I think I will turn you into a frog and feed you flies.”
Alexa picked up a small metal cup and bounced it off of Marcus's head and then she watched as he flew off. “That pest is gonna be the end of all of us. A wizard he isn't.”
Marcus and Ryxa flew around the castle several times enjoying the view from the air. Ryxa hovered for a bit as below them Stone was training several young soldiers and although they had shields and he didn't they were no match for him; he was repeatedly correcting their technique and becoming irritated by them repeating their errors over and over. He kicked the bigger one in the ass and sent him flying.
“Ryxa, you can bring me back to my chamber now, I'll bet she's wandered off.”
The dragon pumped her wings and was a little disappointed because she thought they would end up flying around for a few hours; she had liked Marcus right from the moment he had climbed up the cliff that should have been an impossible climb for a human. And now that he was a wizard they were spending less time together. “You want to go back already?”
Marcus nodded. “I might be a wizard but everyone is laughing at me. I want to at least make a spell that will keep everyone out of my chamber, and one that works properly. Being a wizard is hard. Everyone looks at me like they look at the court jester.”
The black dragon got as close to his chamber as she could and he ran and launched himself off her head catching onto the window but was unable to pull himself in and so Ryxa gave him a boost with her head and pushed him back into his chamber, and sure enough Alexa was gone. He again went through several note books that Adorok had kept over the years, sitting and reading for over an hour until he came upon a most interesting spell. He checked his ingredients and smiled because he had everything necessary for the enchantment. The hard part might be to get it to work properly.
Marcus disappeared down the hall and returned with a bucket of dragon manure, which was great for keeping a single log in the fireplace burning for weeks but was also used as a catalyst in some spells. Hard black lumps that looked a lot like coal and had no odor. He got a cloth and ran it all around the doorway including along the floor. Then he took three wooden bowls and in one he ground up the bark from a duwub tree that was planted by dragons, in the other bowl he put in three hairs from a donkey's tail with a large pinch of ground up tree roots from a dead sycamore tree, and finally in the third bowl a small drop of his blood onto a bread crumb that had been infused with some magical words. He put it all in a single bowl and mashed it together, the ingredients morphed into a single round rock. He took a chunk of the manure and smashed into a fine dust and then sprinkled it over the rock. Marcus then took the rock and scratched all around the doorway with it and it commenced to glow.
Alexa was chasing Abbey down the castle hall; she was a precocious toddler and a handful. Abbey ran into the chamber and suddenly she was transformed into a baby donkey, looking around puzzled she attempted to figure out what happened.
“What have you done?” Alexa screamed. She was furious as she entered the chamber to put a beating on Marcus but now she was a donkey as well.
Chapter Two
Deep inside the bowels of the earth the smell of sulfur was pungent, bubbles in the lava expanded and popped as water dripped down from the concave ceiling high above creating hot steam. It resembled, to a degree, what humans thought hell looked like. In another area more water dripped noisily into a shallow pool of tepid mud and water, and out of it crawled a baby mole than quickly waddled off. The uneven walls glowed red from the molten rock as shadows slowly moved around.
A giant mole was digging through rock down a distant side tunnel, it broke a claw and it screeched but another grew back instantly and it resumed digging. The giant moles were the product of a wizard that had lived over five hundred years ago, an inexperienced wizard that had liked to play with his magic.
It was a hot and humid and dark and oppressive atmosphere for some but not for Charox. The dragon was comfortably asleep on a huge circular pillar that went deep into the bubbling lava. The monstrous gray dragon awoke from his four hundred year nap and was immediately aware that there was another dragon wizard in the world besides himself, another beast that could cast spells. He yawned and cracked his own neck, the sound of it echoing loudly off the walls. Charox stretched out his massive wings and scratched the sleep out of his eyes. He ran his claws over his chest, feeling the ridges and bumps on his scales, discovered a parasite the size of a large rat and ate it. The gray dragon knew that the only way he could be killed was by another dragon wizard; perhaps it was time for him to make his way up to the surface world, anyway he hadn't terrorized humans in centuries. It would be a lot of fun.
Humans knew very little about grey dragons except that they were the largest species of all and by far the meanest, they rarely showed their ugly rutted faces but when they did it was big trouble. The number of grey dragons was unknown as were their weaknesses but a grey dragon sorcerer was a different animal. Centuries ago several kingdoms had been destroyed by a grey dragon; in fact he had been the dragon that had destroyed them. He loved it when they screamed and cried because it was just the thing that made life worth living. He ate people like humans ate blueberries, by the handfuls, and once had crushed more than fifty of them with a single stomp. They had a lovely crunch to them although they did taste a bit salty. The history books showed the last appearance at just over four hundred years with more than a thousand human casualties, perhaps he would have destroyed all humans had he not needed that nap.
Charox repeatedly blinked his hot red eyes until he summoned a vision of Ash, swirling him around as a frozen entity in his mind. He didn't look like much until he used his remote sensor to detect his level of power, thereby realizing that he could indeed be a genuine threat. Ash's aura looked fiery hot with sparkles of white light dancing inside it, further examination revealed no other information so whatever those sparkles were he had no clue but he definitely didn't like the look of them.
The sound of rocks tumbling out of a side tunnel caught the dragon's attention; he got up and flew off in search of it, turning down a left tunnel and then right, a rock bounced off his head. He guessed that it was most likely a mole but it was best to be sure, he certainly wouldn't put up with any trespassers, and it would be fun to terrorize intruders. His mate Charissa had wandered off a long time ago and perhaps she was returning but then again she might never come back. Charox listened as he heard more digging and then the mole fell through the rock wall and down more than a dozen feet to the ground, momentarily stunned; the dragon bit it in two, roasted it with a blast of fire, and then swallowed the pieces.
Just as the sun was peeking over the horizon Ash woke himself with a blood curdling scream, so loud that it frightened the entire family awake. Cinder-Ella shook her head as she thought oh no not again. Her brother was having the same nightmare at least once a week where a large gray figure would emerge from underground and immediately grab his father by the neck, shaking him so har
d that his head came off. The baby dragon refused to tell his mother the details of his dream, pretending that he was unable to remember.
Chapter Three
Alexa was inside Marcus's chamber and she was furious. She chased Marcus around and bit him several times on the ass until he pushed her out of the room and as soon as she crossed the doorway's threshold she returned to her human form. Abbey followed her out and also returned to her human form.
Alexa grabbed Marcus by the scruff of his neck and lifted him right off his feet. “Are you insane? What if we had remained donkeys?”
“Calm down,” said Marcus. “As soon as you leave my chamber you change back. Now put me down. If you don't start showing me just a little more respect you are going to be sorry.”
Alexa put Marcus down and picked up Abbey. Although she wouldn't admit it to him she was frightened of Marcus, especially since he didn't know what the hell he was doing. How long before he concocted some terrible enchantment that he couldn't reverse? “Marcus, you need to be more careful.”
Although he wouldn't admit it to anyone, Alexa was a beauty and could fight like a demon possessed by the devil himself. His big sister was impressive but he would never tell her that. “Alexa, when you were a donkey did you have the mind of a jackass or a human?”
“I was still me but trapped inside of a donkey you jackass!” She so wanted to put a beating on him but now didn't dare.
“That's not the way that spell is supposed to work! You were supposed to be all donkey. Why are these spells so difficult? How will I ever be a powerful and respected wizard if nothing ever works right? Not even one of my enchantments has turned out the way they are supposed to.”
Infuriated Alexa stormed off with the baby struggling in her arms, Abbey had liked being a donkey and wanted to be one again.
Chapter Four
The Saucer Club Page 18