“My, you have lovely fur.” Donna’s voice shocked the romance right out of him.
Treb was so startled, he jerked forward and smacked right into the wall, knocking the wooden bowl of water to the floor. He turned around, holding his face with one hand where he had met stone wall, his other hand holding his tail—keeping it close to him and away from her. “Donna! What are you doing?” He attempted to contain his yelling, so as not to wake anyone, especially Kiin.
Donna gave him a very sultry smile and was sort of pushing her chest at him. “Oh, I just thought such a handsome, virile man like you needed a good woman.”
“Donna, what . . . I . . . how . . .” He was stammering and still holding his tail against him.
She pressed him up against the wall, her body leaning against his. Looking at his lips, she bit her bottom lip and grinned. Then her eyes turned up to look into his. “How fortunate I’ve found a man who is not afraid of having a family, but you should really consider adding a mother to this brood of children.”
“Mother?!”
Donna grabbed him by the arms and pulled him in closer. “Yes, a woman who can teach your children about magic and life, and who can make your life much more exciting.” She forcibly laid her head on his chest, put her arms around him, and used her hands to get a nice firm grip on his butt. “Whatever you need, I can provide it to you. Let’s make sweet music, my hunk of furry muscle.”
Treb was just about to lose his fur at that moment, because he was so shocked. “But . . . I already have a wife!”
Donna stepped back with her mouth agape. “A wife! You’re married?!”
“Of course I’m married! Who do you think Kiin is!?” Treb was angry, and still shocked.
Donna backed up. “But . . . but, you said that she was your daughter?”
Just then, Kiin came into the room with her bow and an arrow out. She looked around for what enemy had caused Treb to yell. “Honey, what is it?”
Treb smiled at her and endeavored to appear less shocked. He wasn’t sure if she would get angry at this situation, so it was best to not tell her about it. “Go back to bed. It was nothing. Donna just startled me.”
Kiin looked around to make sure everything was okay, then she smiled at her husband and left the room.
Donna sat on the bed, highly disappointed and embarrassed. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Mr. Treb. I would never have . . . what an idiot. I’m so sorry.”
Treb gathered himself and finally let go of his tail so he could not appear so frightened. “It’s all right, just a simple misunderstanding.”
“Okay, so, Kiin is your wife, and Crystal and Markus are your children?”
“Not quite. Crystal is my adopted daughter, but Markus is just a friend and traveling companion. And Kiin is my wife.” He wanted to repeat that last statement.
Donna got up and headed out. “I’m just so sorry. I . . . I’ll leave you to get some sleep. I’m sorry.”
Treb sat on the bed and let out a tightly held sigh. This was certainly not what he had been expecting tonight.
Chapter 13: Wizards among us
The Royal Guard office was quiet this time of night, but then again, with a curfew and so many Guards around the city, it was always quiet at this hour. The local constabulary branch of the Guard was out patrolling the city. The Blue Forests may have had a bad imp problem, but with the amount showing up from the Barren Mountains, the city could become infested quickly. So the Guards spent each night, making sure to watch for imps and keep them from disturbing the life of the citizens of Stillwater.
Captain Morris couldn’t care less about imps or about the menial security matters of Stillwater. In four years, he had not been so easily evaded by a wizard. Then again, most came willingly, obedient to the Royal decree. The few that did flee were often caught within hours. But the Rakki and the human seemed to have great skill in evasion. He anticipated that along the road to Stillwater, he would find them, but that had not happened. Then, he had expected that once he got to the city, the local legion of Royal Guard would already have had them in custody. But that was not the case either. Now, there were no signs of them anywhere, and it was making him mad. The few officers here were reluctant to speak with him at all, considering how he was fuming today.
Morris had planned on leaving the city and simply informing the local Royal Guard of the rogue wizards. But then came the Royal Courier with a strange message meant for Morris only. The wizard boy he had seen was now a priority objective. Only once since the original ordering of the decree four years ago, had any single wizard been a priority objective: Tolen. Did the King believe this child knew something about Tolen's dealings? How dangerous could an untrained wizard kid be? In his twenty years of service to the crown, Morris had never questioned an order from the King. If it had come from any other ranking official, Morris would have returned to Thendor to get all the details. But this order bore the stamp and signature of the King, thus Morris readied himself to find the child at any cost.
“Sir?” An older Commander of the station approached the desk where Morris pored over incident reports from the constabulary.
Morris did not even look up when he barked, “What!”
“Uh, you’ve been reading those reports for six hours, and it’s far past midnight. Surely you need to get some rest.” He was being a good subordinate to think of his superior’s welfare.
Morris did not see it that way, though. “I will tell you when I need rest.”
“Understood.” The Commander also knew when to not push a superior officer. He turned sharply to leave.
“Wait. Come back,” Morris ordered the older soldier. “I need you to ready all the men you can spare, tomorrow morning. We are going to canvas the city first thing.”
The Commander frowned. “Canvas . . . Stillwater. For what? We have the imp situation under control.”
“I’m not looking for imps. I’m looking for wizards.” Morris glanced over to the Royal Decree he had received.
“Wizards? But, we have that under control. Each of my men carries a sensing stone and are told to take into custody any wizard found.”
“I’m not questioning your men’s actions.” Morris pinched the space between his eyes. “They’re a credit to the Kingdom, I’m sure. But there’s a priority wizard on the loose, and I believe he might be here in Stillwater.”
“Priority? The Wizard Tolen?” Every Guard knew that name.
“No. Tolen is dead. I witnessed his death myself.” He glanced over at the Royal Decree. “There’s another. A child seems to have worried the King.”
“A child, sir?” This was highly unusual. The idea of making a child a priority objective to the Guard was unheard of.
Morris glared at the Commander. “Yes, a child. I suspect he might know something about the Dragonwand we’ve been searching for. He might even have something to do with Tolen’s plans. Either way, it doesn’t matter to you. The King has made his order clear to me, and I’ll see to it that it is followed to the letter. If you have a problem with that, I can relieve you of your duties and find another commander who’ll be willing to follow the King’s orders.”
The Commander stood at attention. “I will do as you ask. My men are at your command.”
“Good. When dawn breaks tomorrow, have them come here, and we’ll begin the search. Lock down the city tonight and don’t let anyone leave. Send patrols out on the roads, starting as soon as possible, and make sure anyone who is found is inspected thoroughly. I’ll not allow a runner on my watch.”
“Yes, sir. At once.” The Commander had all sorts of questions about such orders, but he knew better than to voice them now. Out the door he went, with the haste of a Shlan, to make sure Captain Morris’ orders were fulfilled quickly.
Morris sat down at the desk and looked over the orders again. Something about them struck him, for they specifically mentioned the wand the child carried. When they brought in the boy, the wand was to be accounted for and kept under guard until it
was brought before the King and Hallond. It made Morris wonder if this child had somehow found the Dragonwand, which would end their four-year-long search.
After stacking up all the important documents so he could keep them to himself, Morris left the office to go and get some rest.
Markus stood out on a hill near Stillwater. He was alone in the dark of night. He could not remember going out there, or why he was alone. Suddenly, a great roar echoed in the distance. He saw a dragon flying with flame-drenched wings, outstretched. It was searching for something, because its head was darting around, scanning the ground. Markus highly feared this dragon. He knew this dragon, and it was extremely bad news. But he had no idea why.
“Oh, no, not again!” He realized it was one of his bad dreams, the first in many nights now.
“Tolen! Where are you!?” the dragon yelled out in a deep, desperate voice. Then its eyes fell upon Markus, who was standing on the hill. “Where are you?! I must find you!
Markus turned to run, but he could no more outrun a dragon than he could fly. He stopped running and realized something. “This is my dream. I will not let it win. Wand!” he called out, and a new wand appeared in his hand. It was not a small magic wand, but a staff. Markus knew this staff. He trusted it and was ready to use it to fight the dragon.
The dragon raced toward Markus, its eyes fixed on the wand. “Give it to me! Tolen will not stop me!”
“ELDR!” Markus yelled, and a huge torrent of flame shot out and blasted the dragon. It did nothing.
“I will destroy every last part of you, Tolen! Even this child!”
Just as the dragon got to Markus, another dragon appeared and rammed it out of the sky. The new dragon was white with golden highlights covering him. It lurched back, releasing a volley of lightning at the other dragon, and sent it even farther away.
Markus was about to ask its name, or who the other dragon was, when it suddenly turned on him and commanded, “WAKE!”
Markus sat up on his mat with the last word of the strange dream echoing in his ears. He half expected to hear the booming sounds of a thunderstorm outside, but the night was clear. After a moment or two, he lied down and tried to go back to sleep. The dream did not disturb him, as it might others, for he had dreamt of strange things for so long. The only element that struck him as odd was that the evil dragon had seemed to be searching for him, even though it had stared right at him. Markus simply shook it off and turned over to go back to sleep. His dreams for the rest of the night were not as frightening.
Hallond fell back from where he had been holding tightly to a large mirror in his tower. The surface was rippling like water with blue electricity dancing across it.
Suddenly, he held a hand to his head. It felt like ice had just filled his brain. “GAH! Dammit!” It was always painful for a wizard to be forced out of a spell right in the middle of its casting. The pain would subside, but the rage wasn’t going to fade as quickly. With a terse slicing motion of his hand in the air, he canceled the magic, and the mirror returned to its normal, placid appearance.
Hallond slowly rose from the floor and closed the windows. The spell had made the room hot while it was cast. Now it was over, and the chilly night air quickly cooled down his old body. All the while, he muttered to himself, “So, Tolen, you found a boy willing to fight for you. He’s brave, I’ll give him that.” He paused before closing the last window. “And here I thought fighting a child would be easy. It might prove a little more difficult if he is this brash. Then again, his bravery might just be his undoing.”
With a quick slam, he closed the last window and left his tower to get some rest. His aged body was easily tired, and he had a lot of work to do.
Fredrick, the head of Stillwater’s City Guard, came in early that morning. He had prepared everything to Morris’ specifications and was happy to tell this to the illustrious Captain. Morris, who had come in with a sour mood, had been barking at everyone. Perhaps Morris would look favorably on Fredrick for his diligence.
But when he came into his office, he found Captain Morris was not there yet. Then he discovered that Morris had already come and gone. There was a letter on the desk with Fredrick’s name on it. He opened it and read the part where Morris was demoting him and placing the next in line in command of Stillwater. His reasons: he didn’t like Fredrick.
Fredrick was furious. He had been a loyal servant of Gallenor for years and worked very hard to earn his position. Now, Morris was stripping him of his rank simply because he didn’t like him? It wasn’t just rude; it was unprofessional. Morris had some nerve. He might have been the Captain of all the Guard of Gallenor, but he had a responsibility to be a great leader, not a tyrant.
It was then that Fredrick noticed something odd on the table. There sat a royal letter; the paper was unmistakable. Few royal letters came here. What was normally received were the copies written on the less important paper. This was truly a unique occurrence. Perhaps this would explain Morris’ unusual behavior.
Fredrick opened it and began to read. It was the letter from the King to Morris about making a boy a priority objective. This struck Fredrick as unusual. Why would a boy be so dangerous? What could possibly make this seem logical? Well, that was between the King and Morris. Fredrick should have left it alone, but something about it didn’t seem right.
Fredrick Greystone was probably the oldest serving soldier in Stillwater, even older than Morris. He had been serving for decades and was loyal to his mission. He had seen a few of these letters in his time, and he knew something seemed peculiar about this one in particular. Its handwriting was a bit off, and the wording was not normal for a royal decree issued by King Anthony. Maybe the King’s age had changed his style, or maybe this was a fraud. Perhaps Fredrick should bring this up with Morris? Or, perhaps he should send it back to Thendor to let the palace have a look. If they didn’t see anything wrong, then nothing would happen. But, if they discovered a strange conspiracy, then Morris would be in trouble for not investigating this himself. Somehow, that notion made the old Guard smile.
With a careful wrapping of the letter, and a quick visit to the hawk keeper, the letter was sent on its way back to the palace. After that, Fredrick would play dumb if Morris wondered what had happened to his letter. The sun was coming up, and the canvasing of Stillwater was about to begin. There was a decidedly sneaky smile on Fredrick’s face as he readied himself to leave.
A master blacksmith slammed his hammer down on the anvil to shape a hunk of metal in the early stages of becoming the needed parts for the carriage maker. Each hit was loud and echoed throughout his forge. Once he was satisfied with how much he had altered it, he thrust the metal into a bucket of water to cool off.
Setting the hammer down, he pulled out a cloth to wipe sweat from his brow. “All right, the first thing you must remember is to keep your water full and near you. That metal is blazing hot and could easily set something on fire if you make a mistake.” He spoke to a group of young children.
This time of the year, the children who had turned fifteen began to seek their future job, if they hadn’t already chosen. Not everyone in the room would become a blacksmith, but they would learn about the process, helping them make their decision.
A boy spoke up. “Master William, can you show us how to make a sword?”
“Sorry, Jonathan, but I don’t make swords. I know how, but I don’t have what I need. The blacksmiths who make swords are in Thendor and Mildrani City.” He wiped his forehead again and picked up the hammer. “All right. I’ll show you the proper way to swing this hammer and how to do so without hurting your arm.” He swung it over his head and then let it clang against the anvil. “Let it bounce; don’t hold it tight, or you’ll injure you wrist and elbow—and it doesn’t go well for the smithing work, either.” He did it again and hit even harder. Each time, the forge echoed with a rather loud clang and bang at the same time. “Sometimes, you have to let it . . . do you hear something?”
There was a loud
banging on the door. Then, without giving him a chance to answer it, someone kicked the door in. A mixed group of City and Royal Guards spilled down the steps into his forge.
Master William was not amused. “Look here, I’m in the middle of a class. This forge is off limits to anyone, even the Guard, without permission. It’s for your own safety.”
While the City Guard sort of backed up, the Royal Guard marched down the steps and came up to William. The Commander scoffed, “Nothing is off limits to Royal Guard.”
“What do you want?” William set his hammer down so as not to look threatening.
The Guards all pulled out sensing stones and began to walk around the room. The Commander held up a paper signed by the new Captain of the City Guard. “We’re looking for wizards. Your cooperation is appreciated.” His tone was dry and uncaring.
William was appalled. “These are just children, and I certainly have passed enough of your tests. There are no adults in this room.” Just then, one of the Guards grabbed an older boy by his collar and lifted him up. The sensing stone had reflected the glow of the furnace for a moment, but upon closer inspection, it did not show a true glow. The Royal Guard carelessly dropped the child.
William was furious. He even took hold of his hammer. “Now, see here!”
The Commander slapped the paper onto William’s chest and then let it fall to the ground. “Thank you for your time. Have a nice day.”
The frightening invasion of the class’s lesson was over when the Guards left through the door they had destroyed. A young girl picked up the paper and read it. “Master William, they’re searching for a child wizard.”
Legacy of Dragonwand: Book 1 (Legacy of Dragonwand Trilogy) Page 15