The Wizard And The Dragon

by Joseph Anderson

  “What is your name?” I asked.

  “I don’t have a name,” he said, and then continued talking when he saw the look on my face. “I was born here, in the tower. I was raised in the tower. There have been people and,” he hesitated, looking for the right word, “things here over the years, but no need for names. I am part of the tower more than anything. Call me that if you wish. Tower.”

  The way he had said things made me shudder. It made me think of the dragon. I thought of it breaking into the tower and eating me, finishing the job of eating everyone in the village it just destroyed. I had one more question.

  “Do dragons ever come here?”

  Tower shook his head.

  “How do you know?”

  “Everything in here has some magic of a sort. Nothing can enter the tower usually. It protects itself. You can’t see it until you’re close, and there’s a spell that gently pushes people and animals away, like a feeling of dread or something bad up ahead if they’re getting too close. The only reason you found it is because you were running from something that scared you even more than the spell.”

  I remembered how I didn’t notice the building until I was almost standing on the stones. I felt a little safer, but I wasn’t entirely convinced yet.

  “But what about those things you said?” I made a face when I said the word. “How did they come here?”

  He leaned forward on the table and rested his chin on his hands. I watched him collect his thoughts and mull over how to say whatever it was he wanted to tell me. I shifted in my chair.

  Before he spoke he stretched out a hand and pointed it to the door on the other side of the room, the wooden one that I had tried to approach before I heard Tower coming down the stairs.

  “That door,” he said. “I told you that this place is magical. Your room has that candle. There are other objects around the tower. Some places are safe. Others are dangerous. That door leads to the most dangerous place of all.”

  My eyes were locked on the door. He was still pointing at it.

  “Do you have anywhere to go?” he asked.

  “What?”

  “A dragon destroyed your home. You said so last night. Do you have anywhere to go?”

  He lowered his hand as I lowered my eyes. I shook my head.

  “You can stay here then, for as long as you like. You’ll have to help me and some days there may be a lot to do. If you find that it’s too much you can leave. In return for helping me I will provide you with food and a roof over your head. Does that sound acceptable?”

  I turned and looked to the stone door, the one that opened to the forest, and thought about my chances outside. I had never traveled anywhere but my home village. I had heard about other settlements further up the roads and had met travelers from them. I didn’t know how far they were or how they would react to an orphan boy and that’s only if I didn’t get caught by the dragon.

  The word orphan stuck in my head and I felt my lips tremble. I forced them to stop before I turned back and faced Tower. I nodded once.

  “Good,” he said. “For now you must not go exploring unless I am with you. There are a lot of empty rooms in the tower but not all of them are safe. You can go outside but if you step away from the tower’s stones you may not be able to find your way back here again. Under no circumstances, however, are you allowed to open that door. You must never go near it unless I am with you.”

  He was pointing once again to the wooden door.

  “What’s in there?” I leaned forward as I asked.

  “No,” he shook his head and jabbed his finger at the door. “No, you cannot be curious about this. This place is dangerous for a curious mind. If you do not agree to these rules then you can be on your way. Do you understand?”

  I was young back then and curiosity was part of my nature. I tried my best to cast any thoughts of what might be behind the door out of my mind. It had only been a few moments but now that I had agreed to stay the thought of being cast out where the dragon could swoop down and gobble me up frightened me. I didn’t stop nodding until Tower stopped pointing at the door.

  “Good,” he said gently. “Any other questions?”

  “That fire last night. The fire person on the table. What was that?”

  “Ah,” he said and smiled. “That’s a friend of mine. He’s what wizards call a familiar. A companion of sorts. You won’t see him again for a while. I understand what fire must mean to you now.”

  I felt guilty but he was correct. Even knowing that the creature might be friendly didn’t make me feel any better about fire that was alive.

  I had no other questions after that and we both got out of our chairs. Tower headed for the stairs but stopped after he saw me eyeing the food, wondering if it was safe to leave it out as it was going to waste away. He stood next to the platter on the table and placed both of his hands over it.

  “Come closer,” he said. “Let me show you another spell.”

  The effect left his fingers in a similar way that light had the night before. There were small sparks from his fingers that traveled through the air like drops of water, displacing the light as it passed through them. They quickly landed and scattered over the food and formed together, shaping itself to the contents of the plate and hardening like a sheet of ice.

  Tower lowered his hands and we both assessed the finish result. The food looked frozen but oddly didn’t look cold. It looked more like it was trapped in glass. He directed me to place my hand on the barrier and I did so, finding it to be neither warm nor cold. I couldn’t feel the heat coming through from the food.

  “How?” I asked.

  “Maybe later I’ll think of a way to explain it to you. Follow me now.”

  Chapter Three

  We walked up the stairs. Tower took each step casually close to the open edge while I kept at the wall. We passed the first door that led to my room and continued going up. Half way up the tower when we came to the second door and stopped.

  “My room and study are in here. If you ever need me this is where I’m most likely to be. Always knock first. If I’m in the middle of a new spell and you come in at the wrong time things might, well, explode.”

  I looked up with wide eyes and he grinned at me.

  “I’ll show you around inside there one day. Let’s keep moving,” he said while he turned back to the stairs.

  We passed a few more doors as we climbed and Tower explained that each one was empty and unused like my room. My legs were aching by the time we reached the top of the tower and I couldn’t bring myself to look over the edge. There was a final door at the top that I guessed opened out onto the roof.

  I looked at Tower when he didn’t open the door and found him crouched against the wall. He had his hands against the stone and I knelt next to him to see what he was looking at.

  “Did you notice this as we climbed up here?”

  I leaned in closer to see his hands. There was a channel that was carved into the stonework in the wall. I put one of my fingers against the stone below it and traced it to my right and found that it continued down along the stairs, declining at the same pace as each step did. The channel was fairly deep and had been worked at such an angle that a ridge was on the lower portion of it.

  “It follows the stairs all the way down to the bottom,” Tower explained. “And look here.”

  I followed his finger to the door and noticed that the channel continued into its frame. I was more interested now and I eagerly followed him outside and onto the roof.

  We had stepped outside for only a few seconds before I realized my mistake. The roof was mostly empty and reached above the trees. The sky was open all around me and the sun was bright and warm and I was terrified to look at it. I felt more exposed and vulnerable than I did running through the forest the night before.

  I tried to convince myself that the tower was magical and could remain unseen to animals and monsters. I believed there was such a spell, it made sense considering how I had
n’t seen such a huge building, but I doubted that it could fool a dragon. Still I forced myself to stay put and not run back inside. I didn’t want to look cowardly in front of Tower.

  There was a small part of the tower that jutted out from the roof that the door was built into. There was a barrel next to it but the rest of the roof was empty. Tower waved me to stand next to him and I slowly shifted on my feet.

  “Watch now. Follow the groove in the wall,” he said and traced it with his finger. It stopped abruptly at one section of the wall and he pressed his hand against it. The stone compressed to his touch and he slid it upwards, revealing it to be a thin slab rather than a full stone.

  There was a compartment hidden behind it and I saw the same channel continue into it and end at a large bowl shape that had dug into the bottom of the stone. I couldn’t work out what I was looking at and frowned.

  Tower turned from me and faced the barrel now. There was a tap on the closest side of it and rain water came spilling out of it after he turned it. I made a face at it and couldn’t think of any possible use for dirty rain water on the roof.

  “Did we drink that?”

  He laughed and shook his head.

  “No, but watch.”

  He stuck a hand in his pocket and took out three small gemstones, the same kind as the one he had used to create our breakfast. These stones were a lot brighter than the previous one, and were a variety of colors. One was white, one was a particularly vibrant blue, and the final was black. He held them in one hand and cupped his free hand in the stream of water.

  He stretched out his hand to me so I could see the water. It was murky and a little dark. He passed his other hand over the pooled water and dropped the gemstones into it. A few seconds passed before I saw the reaction. The white and blue gems became pale and began to glow, while the black gem became even darker.

  Initially I thought the water was becoming clear, but I soon realized that it was glowing along with the gems. A few moments later I saw that the water was being filled with that light, brimming with fragments of it. They sparkled like hundreds of tiny stars

  “Here. Try holding them,” he said.

  He parted his fingers just enough so only the water drained away. The gems reverted back to their previous state. I held my hands out and cupped them together. He placed the stones in them.

  Both of my hands could barely hold the water that only one of Tower’s did, and I held my hands under the tap for only a second. I gazed down at them and watched them react in the same way they had in his hand, only I also felt the water warm up as it grew brighter. It felt like the water vibrated around the gems and sent a pleasurable tingle up my forearms.

  “How does it work? Are you making this happen?” I asked excitedly. I had all but forgotten how afraid I had been a few minutes before.

  “I only got it started. The gems are the source of magic. Here, place them into the bowl.”

  I did as he asked and watched the water continue to shimmer in the stone compartment in the wall.

  I found myself judging Tower again as he strained to drag the water barrel closer to the wall. I was trying to work out how this wizard was so different than the one we had in our village. That man had been old and thin, with barely any muscle or fat as though the magic melted any sign of health from his bones. On the other hand, Tower was strong and looked more like the swordsmen that guarded our walls than someone who cast spells.

  When he was finished the barrel pressed against the wall and the tap was directly over the stone bowl. It suddenly dawned on me what the channel was for, and that the water would glow all the way down along the stairs of the tower.

  “Most of magic is about manipulating energy, and the potential of that energy,” Tower explained as the water began to run through the stones. “Gems are a form of that energy, trapped and compressed tightly as layers of solid matter over thousands of years.”

  “Okay,” I looked at him without a single sign of comprehension. I was too young to understand or follow what he was saying, no matter how interested I was. He must have realized this and smiled and placed a hand on top of my head.

  “I’ll think of a better way to explain it later. For now, just think of the gems like trapped sunlight. I made a tiny hole in each of them with a spell and now the sunlight is leaking out. So when we do this,” he pointed to the stream of water falling against the gems. “The water will absorb that sunlight and carry heat and light down throughout the tower. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” I said. “Why wasn’t it on before, though? Didn’t you get cold?”

  “I’ve been alone here for a long time. I keep in my room mostly, where it’s easier to heat just one room. With you here now I think it’s worth it. We’ll have to change these gems every so often, but that won’t be a problem.”

  “Where do you get the gems from?”

  “Ha!” He grinned at me. “So many questions, which I’m sure will make you have even more questions. I will show you one day, I promise. For now I need you to do something. We don’t want to flood the tower, so go back downstairs and yell up to me when the water gets all the way down so I know to turn the tap off.”

  I turned immediately to the door, excited to help and be part of a magic spell in any way. I was a few steps from the door when Tower called to me.

  “Wait. Not so fast. Here,” he dug around in his pocket again and produced another gem. This one was at least double the size of the others, and was a deep purple. It was the most striking of any I had seen so far. He held it out to me.

  “Take this with you. When the water gets to the bottom, it should drip out onto the floor. Where the drips land you should find a small impression on the floor—a small dent. This gem should fit perfectly into it. Place it there when you get down.

  I cradled the gem carefully on my way down the tower, both fascinated and frightened by the magic that was held within it. At each doorway I stopped to let the water catch up and build to more than a trickle. I watched to see how it would flow passed each door and discovered that the channel dropped down into the floor and would continue from there. It would stretch out horizontally back into the wall and then revert back to its spiral following the stairs.

  The water was glowing the entire time I walked along with it. When I reached the lowest door, the one that led to my room, I had gotten too far ahead of the stream and knelt down to wait for it. I ran my finger along the water when it reached me and found that it was warmer than when I had held it on the roof. There were dust particles, dirt, and grime that had been swept up in the water that dulled the glow of the light. I guessed that it would take some time until the channel was washed clean.

  I raced down the stairs and regained my lead on the water. On the final few steps I traced along the end of the channel and followed it into the wall and down into the floor. Sure enough there was a small slot that looked to be the perfect size for the gem I carried. I placed it carefully inside and jerked my hand back when it seemed to snap in place, as if the floor pulled and latched onto it.

  The water took a few minutes to reach the bottom and I sat on the floor, legs crossed, and waited for it. The water came out in scattered drips at first, and I watched with singular interest as the droplets fell from the channel and down onto the purple gem. The stone didn’t seem to be doing anything that I could see and I began to worry that I did something wrong.

  A minute or two passed and I realized that the water should have filled up the hole and be threatening to soak my boots. I couldn’t bring myself to touch the gem but I felt around the slot and found it to be dry. The gem didn’t look like it was glistening or submerged in water either.

  I gasped when I worked out what it was doing. The gem was catching the water and making it vanish. I got on my feet and took a deep breath, preparing my lungs to shout as loud as I possibly could up the tower.

  “The water is here!” I roared and my voice echoed and bounced up the walls.

  I heard something res
pond to my shout but I couldn’t make it out clearly. I held my breath and focused on my hearing, trying to block out the sound of the running water. I could feel my pulse in my ears. I heard the sound again and my pulse became frantic when I realized what it was.

  The sound wasn’t from Tower. The sound came from the wooden door across the room.

  I turned my head slowly, as if I could ease the scare and not be startled by not snapping my eyes to it and having its image leap out at me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the door and found that it was still closed. A small sensation of relief ran through me before I heard the noise again. I dug my fingernails into my palms and tried my best not to imagine what sort of things Tower had meant.

  The noise was like a rush of air and in that moment I hoped it was the wind. I stepped backwards onto the stairway and the sound seemed to react to my footstep. Something was breathing behind the door. Something had stuck its head into the gap below the door and was inhaling, trying to smell what was in here to eat.

  “TOWER!” I screamed, even louder than I had yelled before, and broke into a run up the stairs.

  Something close to a squeal came from behind the door and I felt a shiver run down my back as if to push me faster up the steps. The stairs were a little too big for me to run up properly and I lowered myself toward them, using my hands on the steps above me to pull and propel myself up further. I hadn’t heard the door break or open but I didn’t want to be anywhere near it when it did.

  I launched myself from the last step and crashed through the doorway and onto the roof. My eyes reeled from losing balance as I tried to find Tower. He was standing by the water barrel and regarding me strangely.

  “Is the water there?”

  “No! Yes! There’s something down there!”

  He cocked his head at me. I saw him turn the tap of the water off. Behind him, I saw that a second purple gem had been put into a similar slot above the bowl in the wall. Water trickled down out of it, seemingly from nowhere, and into the bowl, keeping it full and running down the channel through the tower. It had created a loop with the other gem.