The Dragon's Flame (The Chronicles of Terah # 2)

by Morgan, Mackenzie

  “Ryan came by this afternoon,” Warren said, changing the subject. “He ran into Wilhem at the conference. From what Wilhem said, their new sorcerer is working out pretty well. The people like her, and she goes out of her way to try to help them. Wilhem couldn’t say enough good things about her. Of course, after Gaynor … but I thought you might want to drop in sometime and let her know that she is appreciated.”

  “I’m planning to go down there next week. Wilhem sang her praises to me, too.”

  Torrey rinsed out the bowl Chris had brought the ice cream in and set it on the counter next to the slices of cake.

  “Would anyone like anything else?” she asked.

  “No, thank you,” Kevin said. “Chris and I really should get back to the castle. No one knows we left, and if we don’t get back soon, someone might notice.”

  “And send out the alarm,” Warren said with a nod. “Come back anytime.”

  Torrey picked up the bowl and cake and handed them to Chris. “And thanks for the ice cream. That was quite a treat.”

  Warren nodded enthusiastically. “Be sure you think of us the next time you fix some.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Kevin brought them back to the kitchen so they could put the bowl away. When they reached Kevin’s office, a piece of paper was on his desk right in front of his chair. It was a note from Brena, saying that she had found a sister to take the clinic in Glenco. Sister Rochelle was already in Prosidian and should arrive in Glenco by the following Friday. Brena wanted to know if Kevin could pick Theresa up on Saturday. If so, she would send a message to Glenco to let them know to expect him.

  Kevin picked up a pen and quickly wrote back saying that he would be glad to pick Theresa and her companions up next Saturday morning. Then he folded the piece of paper and put it on Ariel’s desk with a note to send it off first thing Sunday morning.

  Then, before anything else could happen to sidetrack him, he went upstairs to bed.

  Chapter 25

  Rolan’s Quarters

  After Rolan ate his usual Sunday morning brunch, he removed the protection ward that he had woven over the door to the closet that had once been Taelor’s bedroom. When Taelor had lived in there, there had been a small pallet on the floor and a couple of pegs on the wall for his clothes, and that had pretty much filled up the room.

  Last month Rolan had told the castle carpenter to build a hutch-type storage cabinet against the back wall. Sitting on the open shelf between the top and bottom cabinets was the three-tiered oil lamp that had once belonged to the Sisterhood, and lying next to the lamp, on a small crimson pillow, was his spare pendant, the one that used to belong to Gerry.

  As his fingers brushed over the cool opal, Rolan smiled. His plan had worked even better than he’d expected. The lamp was a nice little bonus, but the extra pendant was an unexpected windfall. If anything ever happened to the one he was wearing, all he’d have to do was hold the spare opal in the flame for a couple of minutes to get it started and he’d have a new pendant. He’d seen Gerry do it. She hadn’t even burned her fingers. He’d already made up his mind never to be without a spare. If he ever had to use that one, he’d just kill another sister and take hers.

  Rolan fingered the dragon’s flame pendant that was hanging around his neck. The only nasty surprise was finding out that he had to wear it all the time. That had really put a damper on his evening entertainment and had taken all the fun out of his Sunday diversions, but he figured it was a small price to pay all in all.

  He slowly closed the door to the little room and wove the protection ward back over it. No one had noticed the extra bulge under his tunic at the council meeting yesterday. Rolan smiled as he thought back over that brief session. He still couldn’t believe his luck. It was all he could do not to cheer when Myron brought up the idea of establishing procedures for replacing seated sorcerers, and having Damien chair the committee made it all that much sweeter. Who better to advocate a similar plan for replacing the Master Sorcerer? With a little nudging, Damien would probably bring that up at the August meeting, and that was one committee Rolan planned to be on.

  Once the council adopted a plan, Rolan would find a way to get Myron off by himself, and that’s when he’d strike. Then, after it was done, he’d pick up the key to the Gate Between the Worlds out of Myron’s ashes, just like he’d taken the pendant out of Gerry’s. Myron would just disappear. No one would ever know what had happened to him, not even Glendymere.

  There were two things that he needed to do first though. One was to test the pendant so he could find out how it worked. But who could he use to test it on? Rolan paced a little while he thought about it. Maybe he could use a sorcerer, one who had just finished his apprenticeship, someone who was used to using magic on command but who wasn’t really skilled.

  He could write to some of the established sorcerers and enquire about their recent apprentices, even ask them to rate their skills. But what reason could he give? Rolan paced some more. Then the solution hit him. He could say that a vacancy was coming up in a novice position and he wanted to interview some candidates. Then he could find one who was weak in sparring, arrange a meeting, and use him for practice.

  One wouldn’t be enough though. He’d need more than that, probably half a dozen or so before he was ready to go up against Myron. Rolan chuckled to himself. Myron would never know what hit him. The only drawback to this whole plan was that Myron would never realize that he, Rolan, had defeated him.

  Maybe he could set up his first practice session for next Sunday. The sooner he learned how to use the pendant, the better. But how could he cover up the novice’s disappearance? Rolan frowned and paced some more. Then the perfect solution hit him. He would write to the novice and offer him a position provided they could agree on the contract. That way when he disappeared, everyone would assume he’d been hired.

  Rolan could tell the novice to meet him some place private to settle the terms of the contract, then when the novice showed up, he’d tell him that he needed to evaluate his sparring ability first. He could take him up north to the ice flows where there would be no witnesses and spar with him up there. Rolan nodded to himself. That would work.

  The next thing he needed to do was to come up with a plan to get Myron to meet him. Rolan frowned again. No, not meet him. Meet someone else. That would be better. He didn’t want his name connected with any of this. Who would Myron agree to meet in secret? Taelor? That might work. Rolan thought about it for a few minutes and then shook his head. That one might backfire. Since Myron had offered Taelor protection, he’d probably know where he was, and would see it as a trap. No, better think of something else.

  Rolan started pacing again. Who would Myron be willing to meet? It wouldn’t really matter if he brought bodyguards with him. As long as Rolan was wearing the pendant, Myron could bring an army. They couldn’t touch him. Maybe he should pretend to be someone who had a complaint against one of the seated sorcerers, maybe even against himself, or better yet, against Gwendolyn. Rolan smiled. That would get Myron there. And Gwendolyn wouldn’t object. She’d love it.

  But should he tell her? Should he let her in on his plans? Rolan shook his head. No, not yet. In fact, it would be better if he didn’t say anything at all to her. After Myron disappeared, he could let her know that he was responsible, but he didn’t want her to know about the pendant, not now, not ever. She’d want one for herself, and there was no way he was going to stand for that.

  As long as he was the only sorcerer wearing a pendant, no one was a threat to him, not Gwendolyn, not even Glendymere, and that made him the most powerful man on Terah. So what if no one else realized it. He knew it. And soon he’d be the most powerful man on two worlds.

  He sat down on his couch and made a list of the sorcerers he wanted to contact about novices. When he finished, he looked at the list. He would have quite a few letters to write, but that could wait until after dinner, or better yet, he’d call Captain Yardner in later and have him write t
hem.

  Rolan felt like he’d put in a good day’s work. His plans were made. His goal was within reach. With a sense of accomplishment, he stretched out on his bed and yawned.

  Chapter 26

  Brena Goes to Glenco

  The next Saturday morning Dora was in the barn feeding the horses when Kevin suddenly materialized. A strangled cry escaped as she clasped her hand over her mouth and jumped backwards, slamming into a barrel of oats and sending the scoop flying.

  “I’m sorry,” Kevin said as he took her arm to steady her. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to be in here.”

  “It … it’s all right, sir,” Dora panted, trying to catch her breath. “Sister Theresa told me that you’d be coming this morning, but I never expected to find you in the barn.”

  “I’m sure you didn’t,” Kevin said, as he swallowed a chuckle. “You must be Dora.

  Dora nodded slowly. “Yes, sir.”

  “If you’ll just point me towards Theresa, I’ll let you get on with what you were doing.”

  “She’s in the chapel, sir. I’ll take you,” Dora said as she started to step around him.

  “No. That’s all right. Stay here. Go on with what you were doing. I’ll knock on the back door. I’m sure someone will answer.” With a smile and a nod, Kevin turned and walked out of the barn, leaving Dora to calm herself down.

  A few moments after Kevin knocked, Hayley opened the door. “Myron, you’re here early this morning. Come on in. I’ll fix you a mug of coffee while Theresa finishes packing.”

  Kevin sat down at the table with his coffee. “Have you enjoyed your stay in Glenco?”

  Hayley nodded. “The folks here are just like the ones back in Milhaven. In fact, I sort of hate to leave.”

  “I know what you mean,” Kevin said. “There have been several places that I’ve hated to leave, and a few I couldn’t wait to leave. Here’s hoping you never come across any of the latter.”

  Theresa walked in and heard Kevin’s last comment. “I’m not going to ask where the ones you couldn’t wait to leave were, but I bet I could name a couple of them.”

  Kevin grinned and said, “I’m sure you could. Now, are you about ready to go?”

  “Just about. Brena asked me to bring her a sample of some mushrooms I found growing here. I need to go to the workroom to get that. Then I’ll be ready,” Theresa said as she headed out the back door. Then she stopped and looked around. “Where’s your bodyguard?”

  “Shh,” Kevin said, placing his finger over his lips. “I forgot to mention to either of them that I was coming here this morning, so rather than bother anyone, I just slipped away.”

  Theresa chuckled. “They’re going to be angry with you, you know.”

  “I know,” Kevin said with a sigh, “but if you’ll hurry up, I might be able to get back before anyone notices that I’ve gone anywhere.”

  “Right. You just keep on believing that,” Theresa said as she slipped through the door.

  Marcus stepped into the kitchen as Theresa was leaving. “Good morning, sir. I thought I heard your voice.”

  “Good morning. How has your stay been? Were you able to find any work while you were here?”

  Marcus grinned. “Actually, quite a bit. In fact, I had trouble getting around to everything they wanted me to do because I had to take a bit of time to do some work around here. I’m afraid a few things had fallen into disrepair over the past couple of years.”

  “Did you mention that to the town director?”

  “In a round about way. I asked his advice on the best place to get wood and nails, and I borrowed a few tools from him. He did mention that he hadn’t realized that there were so many things that needed fixing around here, and said that he’d make a point of coming around a bit more often to check on things.”

  “Good. Are you packed?”

  Marcus nodded. “We only have our bags of clothes this time. Hayley’s leaving Dora the rest of the preserves and things, and Theresa’s leaving the extra herbs and bandages with Sister Rochelle.”

  “Sister Gerry’s replacement?”

  “Yes, sir. She went out to the workroom right after breakfast this morning. She’ll probably come back in with Theresa.”

  About that time, Theresa and an older lady walked into the kitchen. “I’d like to introduce Sister Rochelle, Myron. And Rochelle, this is Myron.”

  Rochelle stammered out that she was pleased to meet him, and quickly found a reason to escape into her office.

  After they heard the door to Rochelle’s office shut, Theresa sighed. “You scare everybody, Kevin.”

  “What did I do?”

  “It’s nothing you do; it’s who you are,” Theresa answered. “Have you met Dora?”

  “Yes, I popped into the barn while she was feeding the horses.”

  “Oh no,” Hayley said with a little giggle. “Did she faint?”

  “No. It shook her up a bit, but she was all right by the time I left. I’m surprised she hasn’t come in yet.”

  “I’m not. She’s waiting for you to leave,” Theresa said. “Come on, Hayley. Let’s go say goodbye.”

  After the girls left, Marcus went back into the living quarters of the chapel, got their bags, and carried them to the back porch. Then he and Kevin stepped outside to wait for Theresa and Hayley.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Half an hour later, Kevin, Marcus, Hayley, and Theresa arrived in the backyard of the chapel in Milhaven. Theresa handed Marcus her bag, turned to Kevin, and said, “I need to go on to Timera Valley. Brena asked me to report in as soon as I got back to Camden.”

  “Okay,” Kevin said. Then he turned the key and the two of them vanished again.

  When they reached Timera Valley, Theresa said, “You don’t need to wait. I’m sure Brena is going to have a lot of questions for me. Too bad I don’t have a lot of answers.”

  “When do you want me to come back for you?”

  “How about tomorrow morning? About this time?”

  “That’s fine. See you then,” Kevin said, as he turned his key once again and left.

  Theresa walked up to the front door of the chapel, opened it, and stepped inside. She called out to Brena and heard an answer coming from the direction of Brena’s workroom.

  By the time Theresa reached the workroom, Brena had set aside the tea she was mixing and was wiping her hands.

  “I’m so glad to see you,” Brena said with a big smile. “It gives me a wonderful excuse to take a break. Let’s go down to the kitchen, fix a pot of tea, and get comfortable while you tell me all about Glenco.”

  After Brena put the kettle on the stove for tea, they sat down at the table and Theresa brought her up to date on everything she’d been able to find out about Gerry’s disappearance, which was basically nothing. When she finished, Brena shrugged and said, “I don’t know of anything else that we can do.” Then after a couple of minutes, she asked, “What about the chapel? What shape is it in?”

  Theresa didn’t describe things the way she found them, but rather the way she left them.

  “Good. It sounds like things are in pretty good shape. I was worried that they might have been a bit of a mess. If I remember correctly, Gerry wasn’t too good about taking care of details,” Brena said. “Now, did you bring me one of those mushrooms?”

  Theresa nodded and took it out of her apron pocket. Brena stared at it for a moment, then carefully lifted it out of Theresa’s hands, and said, “Go wash your hands, and use plenty of soap.”

  Theresa looked at Brena as if she’d lost her mind, but she got up, went over to the sink, and washed her hands.

  Then Brena said, “Now do it again.”

  Theresa turned towards her to ask why, but she stopped when she saw that all the color had drained from Brena’s face. “Are you all right?” Theresa asked as she stepped back towards the table.

  “I’m fine. Go wash your hands again,” Brena said, staring at the mushroom. “And then take that apron off and go put it in the burn barrel o
ut back.”

  “All right, but tell me what’s going on,” Theresa said as she picked up the soap.

  “I hoped I would never see one of these again. You said she had these growing in her workroom?”

  Theresa nodded. “A whole trough. I’d say there were at least a couple of dozen of them. Why? What are they?”

  “We’ve got to destroy them. Now. Do you think Myron will take me to Glenco?” Brena asked without taking her eyes off the mushroom.

  “I’m sure he will, but have you ever traveled through the energy field before?”

  “No, but what does that matter?”

  “Well, it feels like your insides turn to jelly and when you come out, you cramp all over. You’re still weak. Let me go. I can take care of it.”

  Brena shook her head. “No. This is something I need to handle personally. When’s he coming back for you?”

  “Tomorrow morning,” Theresa said as she dried her hands once more.

  “No, that’s too long. Rochelle might think they’re edible. I’ve got to get down there now.” Brena’s voice was cracking with panic.

  “Brena, calm down. We talked about it. She didn’t recognize them either. I told her I’d send her a note and let her know what they are and what they’re used for. She won’t do anything with them until she hears from one of us.” Theresa sat back down at the table. “Tomorrow will be fine.”

  “I don’t know. I’d never get over it if someone ate it. All it takes is a drop of the juice or a fleck of the meat. Then, within a couple of hours, the person slips into a coma and just wastes away, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. It’s a horrible, lingering death.”

  “Isn’t there some kind of antidote?”

  “Antidote?” Brena said, looking up at Theresa for the first time since she had taken the mushroom out of her hands.