The Queen's Champion

by Whiskey Flowers

  “This rider can strike whenever he wants to and disappear without a trace,” the Archmage said. “The damn dragon has to have a lair somewhere, it has to sleep eventually.”

  “No one can find it,” Jonathan replied. “This is the third town we have been to along the border.”

  “And yet we have to go to many more,” the Archmage said. “What is worse is that I found out the second dragon also survived, it has been seen near the border once or twice.”

  “Pit,” Jonathan said and spit. “So where to now?”

  “To Jubilee,” the Archmage said. “It is the biggest city on the border and is likely where we will find most of the mages and any others trying to hunt this thing.”

  “Why would they all gather in one place?” Jonathan asked. “Whoever the rider is, he is not stupid. He only attacks small undefended places and disappears long before any defense can be mounted. He would be an idiot to attack any sizable place.”

  “And the people after him are all too scared to go it alone like we are doing,” the Archmage replied. “Your Tower Mage is planning on taking all of the students from the Tower and keep them permanently in Jubilee for the foreseeable future. Jubilee needs the protection and most of the second years have already proven themselves by fighting the Raelin. I am going to call up all of the commoner mages if a month goes by with all the destruction that has been caused. If that doesn't work the noble mages may find themselves here as well.”

  Jonathan nodded and thought how anyone could fight a dragon. Jonathan believed the thing took and shrugged off a powerful mage bolt. It was armored in its tough scales were strong enough to bring down a wooden building using nothing but its body. Fighting that thing in close quarters was out of the question, it was bigger, faster and the flame it spewed would be tough to avoid. Jonathan followed the Archmage to the next town and was met on the road by four dusty travellers who stopped the Archmage’s carriage and told either some good news or bad news depending on how someone looked at it.

  “The dragon has been spotted!” the man said out of breath. “We were sent by the Lord Mayor to find you.”

  “Jubilee is the only city around that is big enough to be ruled by a noble,” the Archmage said. “I was hoping against hope that the dragon wouldn't go that far into our Kingdom but it has.”

  “It has already taken three riders who were sent out to find you,” one of the messengers said. “It is just luck we managed to get you in only half a day.”

  “Have you seen this dragon?” Jonathan asked.

  “Not close up,” they all replied in unison before the first messenger started talking. “A few mages flew up to meet the dragon, it flew away before they could reach it.”

  “Did they try to catch the damn thing?” the Archmage asked.

  “They did Your Luminous,” the messenger replied. “The dragon was too fast for them.”

  “Pit,” the Archmage said. “It is faster than we are in the air. Part of me knew that already, now I know it for a fact.”

  “Look!” one of the messengers said pointing to a far off speck in the sky.

  “That could be anything,” the Archmage said straining his eyes. The Archmage started a casting and used his hands and voice, seconds later a big square appeared in the air that magnified the dot.

  Jonathan let out an audible gasp, the dot was magnified and instead of a bird he saw two dragons flying side by side. One of them was a yellow dragon and the other one was a silverish color. The silver dragon had burns and nicks along its side. The wings of the silver looked a bit shredded and it was having a hard time keeping up with the fresher looking yellow. The men on them had thick coverings on their faces that only left their eyes exposed, Jonathan had no idea which one of the riders was the man with the moustache and wondered how anyone could tell what the Dragonknights really looked like under all of those scarves and different cloths around their face,

  “The yellow one is the one,” the messenger said. “By the Gods, now there are two of them!”

  “We are wide open right here,” the Archmage said. “We need to head to Jubilee and do so in a hurry. If they come this way I don't like our chances fighting them off.”

  Jonathan decided to ride outside with the carriage driver so he could see where the dragons were. The spell the Archmage used was a complicated one and Jonathan wished he would have paid more attention in some of his classes. The only thing he cared about was fighting and saw a scrying spell as something that was useless. He could just fly up to wherever his opponent was at and handle business once he got there. Jonathan was relieved that the dragons had gotten smaller and smaller in the sky until he could no longer see them. During the trip to Jubilee, all Jonathan could think about was what he saw. Dragons were real and they looked ferocious. The silver one was the biggest, it was about three times the size of a large draft horse and was rippling with muscles. Jonathan thought dragons couldn't have any natural predators, even on land that thing looked like it could rip apart a tiger with ease. The yellow dragon was smaller but still looked deadly, it had far less nicks and bruises and was still at least twice the size of a good draft horse. Fighting that thing would be impossible.

  Jonathan thought about his lightning magic, he would need to use it against a foe like a dragon. It was his best spell and he was good at aiming it. Jonathan was not sure of the distance he could get with lightning but knew he had to be closer than he would like to guarantee a hit. Jonathan and the rest reached Jubilee well after dark, Jonathan was relieved the full moon provided enough light for the horses to see. If the moon was not out the group had a dangerous decision to make, do they use mage light to travel? It could be seen easily by anyone looking for travelers or do they stay the night somewhere? A fire would be easily seen and if they didn't have one then they risked being caught out in the open the next morning. One of the messengers, a man named Braylon put the Archmage and Jonathan up for the night, in the morning Jonathan and the Archmage went to find the Lord Mayor who looked relieved at seeing him. The woman looked worn down and her husband was perhaps the most frightened noble Jonathan had ever seen. He shook even when saying hello to the pair and when shaking hands Jonathan felt his sweaty palms.

  “We are so glad you are here,” the Lord Mayor said as she waved over a servant with some tea. “You and the others came at the right time, a dragon has been spotted above our city and the people are scared. Some want to take to the road but there have been reports of travelers being attacked. Two of the groups claim the dragon riders touched down and flew away with their daughters.”

  “What?!?” the Archmage said. “They just let these men take their women?”

  “What were they supposed to do?” the Lord Mayor said. “It is either let them go or watch your family burn. There has been enough burned remains around to know that these men mean business. Imagine what they could do here. They haven't taken any money because they do not need to. They can just take whatever they wanted and fly away.”

  “We saw two of them,” the Archmage said.

  “A silverish dragon and a yellow one?” The Lord Mayor asked.

  “Yes,” the Archmage replied. “They were flying away from here but I did not see any women with them.”

  “I wish we could find them but we cannot think about that now,” the Lord Mayor said. “You need to meet with the others, I am sure they will be glad to give you command.”

  “How many mages are here Milady?” Jonathan asked.

  “Ten,” the Lord Mayor said. “And I can tell that they do not like each other. The one calling himself the Mage Commander has been trying to take charge of the other mages that came to Jubilee. They refuse to listen to him since the Mage Commander apparently only has jurisdiction over mages attached to the army. The Mage Commander had to threaten to kill them for them to fall in line. Most of them left rather than listen to him, at one time there were twenty four mages.”

  “Jonathan,” the Archmage said looking at Jonathan.

  “T
his is larger than me and my feelings for Kevin Wilson,” Jonathan replied. “I do not like the man but there is a lot riding on us.”

  “You are a better man than anyone would like to give you credit for,” the Archmage said. “I didn't want to have to beat you with my cane, especially since I never wanted this job. I don't like the man much either but he is a competent mage with a lot of power.”

  “Do you think you can stop it?” The Lord Mayor asked. “We have a military man here as well but his force is small.”

  “Any help is better than no help,” the Archmage said. “The dragons look like they have taken damage so they are not invincible. We just have to come up with a way to take them down.”

  “The rest are supposed to meet me here in a few hours, a schedule is still being worked out on guard rotations,” The Lord Mayor said. “I am lucky that my home was built with an escape tunnel in mind, any dragon who manages to get in will have a hard time capturing me and my husband. I have most of the city working on underground tunnels and caves to hide in if we are attacked. I don't know what else I can do. If you all come up with a plan and need extra bodies just let me know. The men and women of Jubilee will fight when backed into a corner and I don't think we have ever been backed into a corner like this one.”

  Jonathan brainstormed with the Archmage until the rest of Lord Mayor Mia’s party arrived. Jonathan ignored Kevin Wilson who gave him a look of disgust but kept his mouth shut. Jonathan saw most of the mages who were with him were noble with only two of them being commoners. Senior Commander Sideland Burns was there, Jonathan was happy to see the man was present and knew he had a good military mind.

  “Okay we have everyone here,” Lord Mayor Mia said. “We might all have information that hasn't been shared with the group. I am going to start off by talking about the last reliable sighting of the dragons and then we can go from there.”

  “Why should we be listening to you?” Kevin Wilson asked. “You are a mundane, it is obvious if this dragon is going to be taken out then it will take a mage to do it. I should be leading this meeting.”

  “The Archmage is here,” Lord Mayor Mia said. “He is the head of the mages, not you.”

  “Please,” Kevin said waving her away. “He is a pretender who does not know real power.”

  “But I am the Archmage and you are not,” the Archmage replied. “Now shut your face and settle down. I am an old man, too old to be cowed by some idiot who thinks he is greater than what he really is.”

  “What did you say to me?” Kevin said standing up. “You are not even half the Archmage I was!”

  “Was,” the Archmage said emphatically. “That is the key word. Now the Dragons are the real threat and this is the Lord Mayor’s town. I have not authorized you to have any mages under your control so they can be easily moved. Now sit down, shut up and start listening.”

  Jonathan thought the man would storm out of the room but was surprised when he sat back down. The Lord Mayor went over what the Archmage and Jonathan had told her about their sighting and then went backwards into some things Jonathan did not know. When the Lord Mayor was finished Jonathan thought he had a better grasp of the dragon attacks as well as what happened when Russell attacked one of them.

  “I know I am just a mundane,” Senior Commander Burns said. “And I am not the greatest judge of magic but I have seen it used in battle enough times.”

  “You are right, you are just a mundane,” Kevin snapped.

  “As I was saying,” Burns continued. “I think the best answer is always the one right in front of you. This dragon has shaken off arrows, sword thrusts and magical attacks like it was nothing. I don't know which attacks but I don't think it matters.”

  “Will you get to the point?” Kevin said annoyed.

  “The point is, the dragon is well armored and can compete with a mage in whatever environment,” Burns began. “Then why do we keep trying to attack the dragon?”

  “That build up was for nothing,” Kevin said. “You have wasted everyone’s time with your nonsense. You just want the dragon to run rampant while we run and hide?”

  “I am saying why don't you just attack the rider on its back?” Burns said. “A horse will not continue with whatever action if its rider has been felled. Why not just go after the rider instead? A group of mages or even mundane archers could distract the dragon while a mage flies up and blindsides the rider. Now Mage Wilson, since I have been called an idiot and snapped at, I want to know your better plan.”

  “Well let's hear it,” the Archmage said. “I think he has a great plan. But I am just a pretender, I want to know what the real power has to say.”

  “Well I uh,” Kevin began.

  “You have nothing,” Burns snapped. “You were chased out of your position by a boy, took over for the same boy on the border and got a lot of my men killed by having poor mage support. Then you needed Prince Jeffrey to come down there and chase the Raelinians away for you.”

  “Wilson you are a strong mage but a horrible leader,” the Archmage began. “A good leader listens to everyone, perhaps you will learn this. I don't want to be Archmage, I was forced into this. If you want some level of your respect back then you need to work with everyone instead of snapping at everyone like an unmannered child. You see young Thunder has set aside your differences to be here. He has every reason to hate you more than whatever disagreements you may have had with Senior Commander Burns.”

  “I do not have to take this,” Kevin said and stood up. “I can take the dragon on my own. I am attached to the military, I listen to the Queen, not to you.”

  Jonathan watched the man storm out of the room and quickly forgot about him. If he could take out the man on dragonback then that could change everything. Jonathan had already been practicing with his lightning magic to hit smaller and smaller targets. Jonathan wished he would have practiced hitting fast moving smaller targets. All of his targets were stationary but perhaps he needed to try and hit thrown ones.

  The next couple of days were a blur for Jonathan, one of the dragons had been spotted but it only flew over. Burns had began making ballistae but the going was slow, there was only one blacksmith in town and he was not familiar with the metal components of the machine. Burns thought it would take up to two weeks to have a decent prototype up and working. Nevertheless he saw it as important that the people of the town saw them building something. Archers were placed everywhere, their job was to fill the sky with arrows if the dragons got too close, one thing no one could decide on was how far away the dragon fire could hit. No one knew if it was a spout of flame or if they were fireballs or both. It was the fifth day since Jonathan had been in Jubilee that the students and instructors from the Tower showed up.

  “Where is she?” Russell said angrily as he stormed over.

  “Where is who?” Jonathan asked.

  “You know damn well who I am talking about,” Russell snapped. “Where is Lauryn, what have you done with her?”

  “I haven't done anything with her,” Jonathan said. “She left you on your own account.”

  “Is this because of Farrah?” Russell asked. “Because I would not have her with a commoner?”

  “You messed that up with Lauryn on your own,” Jonathan said. “Now we are here to fight a dragon, not talk about women.”

  “I know you fancied her,” Russell said. “She chose me though, not you. It was my lips pressed against hers, not yours. You thought trying to woo my sister would work on our trip there. I knew what you were doing, you were hoping I would send Lauryn out and make Farrah come ride with me.”

  “I don't know what you are talking about,” Jonathan replied. “But you tell Monica if I see her father or whoever that was he is a dead man.”

  “You are getting your money,” Russell snapped. “We all know that is the only thing you care about and my father saw to it himself since you were taken unaware. Now tell me where Lauryn is!”

  “Money?” Jonathan said then shook his head. “I w
ant the arena and I am sure I can get it. Monica is no great noble and none of her family hold any real titles.”

  “There is a hundred gold coins commoner,” Russell spat. “Way more than you deserved after you threw my mother’s generosity back into her face and took most of her guests back with you. A room full of people with only three commoner mages and three noble ones, you made us look like fools.”

  “You made yourself look like a fool,” Jonathan snapped back.

  “Can't we handle this like gentlemen?” Bradley said coming between the two. “You are both starting to cause a scene. You are a future Duke Lord Russell and you are dirtying yourself by arguing with a commoner.”

  Jonathan let the insult slide as Russell stormed off. Jonathan could see Red was lying in wait, probably to sucker punch Russell if any real fighting happened. Red came over and Poppy was with him, Jonathan knew he would have to tell Poppy what had happened and wondered if the girl would get angry. Red smiled at him then looked around for a second before he started talking.

  “That great big blonde idiot has been trying to track down Lauryn,” Red said laughing. “He even threatened to beat me and Poppy to a pulp if we didn't tell him. I think him and Monica are just about through, she hasn't spoken to him since they came back to the Tower.”

  “About Lauryn,” Jonathan began. “Poppy I told the Archmage about her and about your spell. The man is a friend and one of the reasons I am traveling with him instead of you is that he agreed no actions will be taken against them.”