Peter did not like that idea at all, for that would only draw more attention to him, and that was the very last thing he wanted or needed.
“No, you’re dad’s right. You shouldn’t have to fight your friends; it wouldn’t be right,” said Peter. “I’ll tell you what -”
Just then, the door of the tavern swung open, and the three sat up straight, as though they were just sitting quietly. They were delighted to see Jert walking in with chattering teeth and rubbing his hands together.
“Bloody cold out there,” he said. But when he saw that his three friends were the only ones in the room, he immediately grabbed the nearest chair and sat at their table. “So what’s going on so far?” asked the farmer, sounding just as excited as Braten.
“Nothing yet,” Peter informed him. “We’ve just recruited a new soldier into our cause.”
“I heard that just before I reached the door.”
“Sorry,” said Braten, feeling foolish.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for, my boy. After all, there’s no harm done; no one heard. They’re too busy getting everything ready for those things,” said Jert.
“Good,” said Euol. “Now what were you saying before Jert came in, Drago?”
“Start from the beginning. I don’t want to miss anything,” added the farmer.
“Right. As I said, I don’t think it would be fair to make you expose who you all are to your friends. It would destroy the lives that you’ve all built here,” said Peter sincerely. “So I think that because I’m not so well known, I should be the one to face the Lores when they come.”
The mouths of the others fell open at this suggestion.
“No, you shouldn’t have to fight them alone,” said Euol firmly.
“I can handle myself. And besides, if I get into trouble, the three of you will be there to help. I just think that’s the best way of doing this. It means that if all goes well then you’ll live in peace and the town’s people will be none the wiser. So what do you say?”
“I’ll have to think it over,” said the innkeeper.
“The boy’s right. If anything goes wrong, we’ll be there to help,” said the farmer.
“I just don’t like the idea of letting you go it alone,” said Euol. “It means that I’ll have to miss out on all the fun while you get to play around.”
Peter laughed. “And we can’t have that now, can we,” he said. “Don’t worry Euol. I think there’ll be plenty for you all to do. After all, I’ll have a whole town against me. Like you, I don’t think I can fight these people. So I might need a little help. But promise that you won’t do anything to blow your cover, and that’s not a request,” said Peter, unaware that had just given his first official order.
“If that’s your order, my lord, then I promise,” said the innkeeper.
“I promise,” said Jert.
“I promise too,” added Braten.
Peter said nothing.
“You never know. They might just let you go,” said Braten.
“Somehow I don’t think that’ll be the case. Normals are all the same. They all fear, hate and destroy what they don’t understand,” said Euol.
“I think that can be said for most people,” added Peter. “So it’s settled. I face them, and if anything goes wrong, you help, but only if it’s needed,” said the King.
“Fine,” said the Tavern owner, clearly still unconvinced that it was the right course of action.
“I agree,” said Jert.
“Okay,” said Braten, disappointed that he might not get use magic. But then it occurred to the boy that even if the occasion did arise, he didn’t have a wand anyway. He leaned closer to his father. “Dad, I don’t have a wand.”
Peter had heard the boy whispering, and before Euol could reply, he said. “I’ve got a spare wand in my trunk upstairs. It was my dad’s, but you can borrow it until you get your own, if you want.”
“The King’s wand,” said Braten, totally gob-smacked.
Peter shrugged. “Well, if you don’t want it -”
“Are you kidding? Of course I want it.”
“Fine,” said the young King. He held out his hand palm up, thought of the wand. There was a blue flash of light, and the wand was lying flat on the palm of his hand. “There you go. One wand as ordered. That’ll be five Hiwwerts, please.”
“Very funny,” said the innkeeper’s son as Peter handed the wand over, though Braten was truly impressed by what his friend had just done.
“I think we’d better go. By the time we get to the others, they’ll probably be finished setting the food and drink out,” said the innkeeper.
Peter and the three Wizards shut the pub and headed to the town square.
“So you’ve decided to join us cowards, have you, husband?” said Kireth scornfully.
“You know I wouldn’t let you near those things alone,” said Euol. “Besides, something’s going on, and I want to see what it is.”
“That’s fine, just don’t do anything stupid, please,” his wife pleaded.
“I do something stupid never. You know that I’d never do anything stupid,” said the innkeeper.
“Don’t do anything dumb then,” the woman added
Euol said nothing; he stuck out the tip of his tongue instead.
“MY CART! MY CART IS STUCK IN THE MUD!” shouted a stout man whom the friends recognized as Deril Jint, who played the flute at the tavern in the evenings.
Euol, Jert, Braten, and Peter among others ran to help him, for he was right on the path that the Lores would certainly use.
“Don’t you think we should empty it first?” asked one of the helpers.
“No,” said another. “They’ll be here soon. We’ll just have to try and lift it as is.”
“Drago, it would be better if you don’t help. Just make it look as though you are. You’ll need all your strength for later,” said Euol.
“Okay,” said Peter as they all grabbed a part of the wooden farm cart.
They managed to lift it a little, but not enough to free it.
“Come on, lad, put your back into it,” said the man to Peter’s right.
Peter turned to Euol.
“Just a little,” whispered the Wizard.
Peter pushed the cart up easily, but he had to make it look as if he were struggling like the rest. He lifted it a little just as the innkeeper had said. However, when they were moving it, Peter didn’t see a rock in front of his foot, and his foot hit it. He stumbled. His arms flew up, accidentally throwing the cart into the air.
As this happened Peter whispered the words, “Oh crap,” which was quite normal for him.
Euol, however, covered his eyes with his hand and shook his head. He was afraid to look, though couldn’t help it. He looked up, and he, like all the others, couldn’t believe his eyes. After a short but stable flight, the cart landed on the small building that was the Town Hall, smashing down on the clock tower, which had never before stopped ticking since its construction. And the Town Hall just happened to be the first building built.
Peter was too busy ranting and raving to notice or even to care about the clock tower. “That Bloody Cart, damn rock, and mud,” he raged.
As the cart took off, he fell flat on his face down in the muck, and again his whole front was covered in it.
Peter suddenly realized that all eyes were on him. “Wow, it’s amazing how light they make those things nowadays,” he said, not realizing that his blue Dragon eyes were blazing out at the crowd.
It was only when some of the women screamed at the sight, the men yelled, and those who weren’t too afraid to do so pointed at the boy in pure astonishment. It was clear to all there that he was anything but ordinary. They all took a few steps back, but not the three Wizards and the two wives.
Peter gave them a low backhand wave, and they quickly followed the rest, but Euol, Jert, and young Braten had their wands close at hand, waiting and ready for anything that might occur.
Just then, the bell in the looko
ut tower rang out. “THEY’RE COMING! THEY’RE COMING!” yelled the guards.
Peter turned to the south gates, and with his remarkable eyes, zoomed in on the five figures moving very quickly down the dirt path. Three of them were wearing helmets. Each had a small skull perched just above their visors and long thick human hair of all different varieties sticking out from the top. Their breastplates were pure black, as was the rest of their armor, and the blades of their swords were dull and stained with blood.
Peter walked closer to the gates and waited for them to arrive.
They stared straight at the Draga-Wizard-Elf.
“You dare stand out of line,” growled the biggest one, who Peter thought was probably the leader.
“I’m the welcoming party,” said the boy arrogantly.
“Get in line,” barked the beast.
“Why? What are you planning to do?”
“I SAID, GET BACK IN LINE NOW!” the creature bellowed furiously.
“Fine, fine, don’t get your pants in a twist. I’m going.” Peter walked toward his friends and got in line with them.
“Now I’m sure you’re all wondering what’s going on,” said the Ledgite. “The truth is that we need more.”
“More,” said one man. “How can you ask for more when we’ve given you all we can spare.”
“If that’s true, there is another way,” said the Lore as his companions laughed. “If you really can’t give any more, we’ll just have to take one of you.”
Gasps and cries could be heard as the creature smiled with delight.
“You adults have nothing to worry about. We’re only interested in the more tender. The children should satisfy or people.”
Louder cries now, and some cursed them, and others spit at their feet.
“How about your cute child?” the creature said to the man who had addressed him earlier.
“No,” cried the man reaching for his daughter. He was too late. One of the Lores had grabbed her.
“Let her go,” said Peter stepping out of line again.
“I’ve already warned you, boy, get back in line, or we’ll take you too,” said the large Ledgite.
“Now let me warn you,” said Peter. “Leave before I kill you all.”
The five disgusting things laughed at the thought of this (what they thought) mere boy threatening them. “How dare you?” said the biggest. “When will your kind learn their place? People like you are just cattle. Now take your place in line, or you know what’ll happen.”
“Oh, no. Oh, dear. Whatever am I going to do?” said Peter. “To think I almost forgot about your two hundred imaginary friends,” he laughed.
The large Lore lifted its sword an inch just before an energy ball blew its head clear off its shoulders. The one with the girl quickly put a knife to her throat.
“Don’t move, Wizard, or I’ll cut her,” he screeched.
Some of the townspeople were crying, and others were saying how they were all going to die, when the other creatures came forward. Peter raised his hand. The knife was consumed by a burst of blue light and vanished. A split second later, there was another flash of blue light, and the knife appeared in Peter’s hand. He threw the knife into the ground, blade first. Then he jumped on the beast, grabbed each side of its head and snapped its neck. One of the other creatures ran up behind Peter with its sword drawn. Just as he turned to face it, an arrow struck it down. Almost everyone looked up at the bell tower where the shaft was shot from and saw one of the guards waving his bow to and fro victoriously.
Peter, on the other hand, did not have time to look up, for as soon as that Lore fell dead, one of its last two friends shot an arrow at him. He hit the dirt, and when he ducked, it flew past him. Unfortunately, it struck the poor hostage girl in the chest. An arrow and an energy ball soon took care of the last of those dirty creatures, and Peter turned to see what all the shouting and screaming was about. At first he just thought that they were worried that the stories the Lores put round about reinforcements were true. But when he looked, a crowd had gathered around someone, or something, and Peter had to push his way through them to see what it was. A terrible feeling struck him, and he was truly worried that his actions had caused it.
When the boy finally found the center of the mass, he saw the girl dying in the mud. Her parents were kneeling at her side as she lay on the ground struggling to breathe. Peter knelt down beside her and took her right hand. However, this would be short-lived.
“I’m so sorry this happened. I tried everything I could to -”
“HOW DARE YOU!” screamed the girl’s mother. “YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN MAKE UP FOR THIS BY TRYING TO COMFORT US? ALL THIS IS YOUR FAULT! MY MOTHER ALWAYS SAID THAT WHEREVER THERE’S A WIZARD, DEATH IS NOT FAR OFF! PLEASE, JUST LEAVE US ALONE!” she cried.
A shadow came over Peter, and when he looked, he saw a tall, beefy man. The King knew him from the tavern, and they talked on a daily basis and had become good friends in the short time that the boy had been in the town. The man’s name was Jaroe, and he was the sheriff in that small community.
“I don’t really know what’s going on, but I know you where at the center of it,” said Jaroe, as though unsure of what to do next.
Just as he said this, his two Deputies turned up, shaking at the thought of having to arrest a Wizard.
Peter, who now was riddled with guilt, got up slowly. “It’s okay. I’ll go with you,” he said mournfully, “but I won’t put on handcuffs.”
The sheriff nodded. “That’s fine with me,” he said, for truthfully he liked Peter, and the fact that the boy was a Wizard didn’t deter him at all. The mayor, Wedret, who just happened to also be the magistrate in the town, came forward.
“Well, what are you waiting for Jaroe? Arrest it,” he said.
“It has a name, if you don’t mind,” Peter insisted.
“I don’t particularly care; you see, you’ve upset the natural balance of this town. In doing so, you’ve caused the death of an innocent child, and if found guilty, you could face the death penalty,” said the mayor.
“You call those things coming to your town stealing from you and threatening to tear down your homes and kill your people a natural balance? And the girl would’ve died either way; at least I tried to stop it, unlike the rest of you.
“Euol, I hope you don’t mind, but we’re going to need your place. The Town Hall isn’t in the best shape at the moment,” said the mayor, suddenly shifting his gaze to Peter again. “And that’s something else you’ll be charged, with destruction of town property.”
“Whatever you need,” said the innkeeper.
Peter didn’t move a muscle.
“So what are you waiting for? There are three of you,” the magistrate said to the sheriff and his Deputies. “Arrest him already, so we can get this all over with.”
Peter took one last look at the little girl. “I already said that you don’t need to arrest me. I’ll go quietly.”
The young King was escorted back to the pub that he left only half an hour before.
Chapter Seventeen
The Ruling
Euol, as the owner of the establishment, managed to get close to the accused.
“Why don’t you just walk away?” the Wizard asked him.
“Because in a way, they’re right,” said Peter. “If I had been a little more careful, the girl wouldn’t be lying in the dirt out there dying. Just wait to see what happens.”
Jaroe and his deputy’s rearranged the tables and chairs. The mayor, also the judge, sat with the sheriff at the top table.
One of the deputies sat Peter down at the table in front of theirs. He stood beside the boy, and another stood at the other side, as though they were guarding him, which Peter’s friends thought was completely laughable.
“Now I would like to thank all of those who helped us get this all arranged,” said the mayor. “Though I’m afraid I’ll have to ask all non-essential personal to leave the building.
“Doesn�
��t he have the right to have someone defending him?” asked Kireth.
“True, true,” said the mayor. “Well, chose your advocate,” he said to Peter.
“I would like to be my own defense, if that’s okay?”
“I’m afraid that is not possible. You have to choose someone else to defend you. It’s the law,” said Jaroe.
“If you’ll have no abjections, I would like to defend the boy,” said Jert. “After all, I did bring him here,” the farmer said loyally.
“I do wish that you hadn’t admitted that to me, my friend, for that makes you an accomplice to his crimes,” said the mayor. “But I’m sure you had no idea what he really is, or that he would cause so much trouble, so I’ll overlook it. But I can’t let you be his council.”
“That’s right,” said Peter. “He didn’t know I lied to him just like I lied to everyone else in your stupid little town.”
“So you admit that you lied to gain the confidence of the good people of this fair town?” said the Magistrate. “Well, at least that’s a start. But now we’ll have to find someone to defend you.”
“I’ll defend myself,” said the defendant.
“I’m sorry, but our laws do not permit that,” said the mayor.
“Then I chose Euol,” said Peter, “if he’s willing.”
“I don’t have any problem with that,” said the mayor.
“Nor I,” said the sheriff.
“So are you willing to defend the boy?” the mayor asked Euol.
“Yes,” replied the Wizard.
“Then let’s get on with it,” said the Magistrate as the room emptied.
“Wait!” said Peter. “Where’s the jury?”
“I am your judge and your jury,” said the mayor calmly.
“Can you be judge and jury?” asked the boy. “I mean, is that allowed?”
“I am the mayor. I run this town; therefore it is up to me. You have to remember that the child who was fatally wounded was well-loved by all. You should count yourself lucky that it was not up to them whether you live or die. I’m sure they wouldn’t be as kind to give you a trial.” When the door shut, the mayor looked to see that all had vacated the premises. “Now if you have no further objections,” he said as he watched Peter and Euol, “then this court is in session,” said the mayor.
The Second Prophecy (Part 1 of the Dragdani Prophecies) Page 27