by Rain Oxford
“I haven’t seen the egg itself, only the chest it was in, which was kind of ordinary. It is incrusted with jewels, about this wide,” he said, gesturing at the size of the chest.
“That’s odd. It sounds familiar. I can’t remember where, but I know I’ve seen a jewel-encrusted chest.”
“Such chests are not so rare here, are they?” Merlin asked. “If they are, I should not have hidden it in its original case.”
“Maybe you didn’t,” I said in his mind. “Vactarus, did Merlin arrive on Caldaca with a hiding place in mind, or did he decide afterwards?” They both gaped at me. “What?”
“That is an excellent question,” Merlin praised.
I blushed.
“He had a place in mind, but he wasn’t able to hide it there, so he had to find a new place.”
“It’s not with the Rynorm family then.”
“Why do you think I would hide it with the Rynorm family?” Merlin asked.
“Because you would put the egg’s safety above all else and who knows how to protect a dragon’s egg better than dragon trainers? I bet you couldn’t hide the egg with them because that was when my mother met my father and it wasn’t safe there anymore. Maybe they told you about another family who could protect it.” Of course, there may not have been another family of dragon trainers, let alone one he could trust. “How long did it take him to find another place?” I asked Vactarus.
“A month.”
“Oh,” Merlin and I said simultaneously. That was a lot longer than we’d thought.
“How much of that was spent finding a hiding place, and how much was spent traveling?”
“Your questions are clever, but the answer to that one will lead you astray.”
I thought hard about my next question. When I first met Merlin, I said things that popped into my head without thinking. Merlin was teaching me to focus my mind and that helped me ask better questions.
“Where is the Rynorm family?”
“In a land northeast of here called Kalika, in the Moaning Mountains.”
“How long will it take by ship?”
“Twenty days or so.”
“I don’t think we have that much time to spare. How can we get there faster?”
“You can fly.”
“Um… no we can’t. I don’t have wings. Merlin, do you have wings?”
Vactarus sighed. “It astounds me how you can be brilliant and foolish at the same time. You can summon a creature to fly you across the ocean.”
“But that’s sorcery… oh, right, I can do that now.” Ships really didn’t bother me, but if we could avoid it, I was willing to try for Merlin’s sake. We could have traveled to Akadema by air instead of ship. “I can try summoning my monkey monster.”
“It might be too exhausting,” Merlin warned.
“As long as we don’t have to fight anyone as soon as we get there, it should be fine.”
“Very well, but save your energy until we reach the beach.”
“There is also the matter of your face,” Vactarus said.
“What’s wrong with my face?”
“Your stealth enchantments may prevent your mother from finding you through magic, but it’s not going to stop people from recognizing your face and turning you in.” He took off his hat. “Since I have my power back, I will disguise you.” Whereas wizards and sorcerers had wands or staffs, magicians needed hats to do magic.
He waved his hat in a sweeping gesture and a plume of black smoke flowed from it. The smoke swirled around me, gaining speed and thickness until I couldn’t see beyond the cyclone of magic. As the magic was absorbed into my skin, it itched like scratchy wool. After a moment, the energy dispersed. “Did it work?”
“Definitely,” Merlin said, sounding somewhat disturbed.
I studied myself as best as I could without a mirror. My hands were larger, my hair was long, and my robe was black. He had even disguised my staff, which appeared to be made of ebony wood and curved like a natural branch. At the top of the staff was a bloodstone.
I felt Merlin’s mind intrude into my thoughts and the image of a man appeared. He had bushy, arched black eyebrows over narrowed, garnet-red eyes. His oval face was wrinkled from age and weather. His long nose, thin lips, and choppy stubble gave the impression that he was irritable. His shoulder-length, oily hair was as black as a raven’s feather. Height was difficult to determine, for Merlin had to look up at most people, but I could tell even through his thick black robe that he was thin. As old as the stranger was, his posture was that of a much younger man.
The image cleared from my mind and I realized what it was.
“That’s not me!”
“It is a flawless disguise,” Merlin said, confirming my fear.
“I look old!” Neither of them was amused. It was a bad idea to anger a powerful magician and my best friend over a disguise. “What I mean is… I can’t pull it off. I don’t know how to move or talk like a… I mean…”
Merlin rolled his eyes. “Your mother might expect you to disguise your hair and eyes, but you are completely unrecognizable like this.”
“Did you at least make me taller?” I asked Vactarus.
“If I had, it would cause problems if anyone bumped into you.”
“How do I break it when I get off Akadema?”
“You have to say, ‘Ohwha tahjer kyam’ in a loud voice.”
Merlin snickered. I frowned. “Really? Does that mean something in another language?”
“All of my illusions are designed to be broken only with that phrase. I learned it from a very powerful wizard of another world.”
“Okay. I just have one more question. Will you please take my goat?”
* * *
After a fair amount of begging, Mira agreed to keep the goat, although she made me promise to return for the animal after we stopped the black star. I really didn’t want the goat, but I figured I could find a home for her later.
Vactarus offered to let us stay the night, but Merlin and I agreed that we should travel more before it was too dark. Before we left, however, the housekeeper entered the study. Merlin stiffened, preparing to fight. Despite having met the housekeeper before, I was just as cautious as Merlin.
The housekeeper was a stone gargoyle.
He had a muscular frame and large head. Although he stood on two legs, his arms were longer than a person’s in proportion. He had a short, smashed snout and sharp teeth protruding from between his dark gray lips.
With great difficulty, I kept my mouth shut.
The gargoyle stopped in the middle of the room and held out a bundle wrapped in cloth. “Don’t be afraid of the housekeeper. He’s shy, but he wouldn’t harm a bat,” Vactarus said.
I took the bundle hesitantly and the gargoyle left. I regretted not thanking him when I unwrapped the bundle to find it was cheese, fruit, and several loaves of bread. “Please thank him for me. The dumb goat ate our food.”
* * *
We left soon afterwards and traveled northeast. The roads were not as frequented as those to the west, because the trade routes usually followed the west coast. When we did see people on the road, I slowed my steps and leaned on my staff in a fashion befitting my disguise.
Every time we stopped to eat, drink, or sleep, Merlin made me visualize my wand. I really wanted to move on to another lesson. It rained the entire second day, but it was warm and didn’t slow us down. On the third day, we came upon a town that was bustling with activity.
There were tents set up like in tournaments. Under one tent, five tables displayed everything from candles to strange glass sculptures full of sand. Stranger still was that everyone was arguing over these devices. “What’s going on?” I asked a man who was studying a candle thoughtfully.
“You are supposed to be in disguise,” Merlin reminded me.
I cleared my throat awkwardly.
The man wasn’t bothered. “We’re trying to decide on the best way to measure the day length.”
I tried to make my
voice sound older, but I’m pretty sure I sounded like an old woman. “The day length? Isn’t the length of a day… a day?”
“Well, suppose you want to meet someone in the morning, but you don’t want to wait for them all morning. There is a lot of time between dawn and midday.”
I decided to leave my voice normal, since trying to change it was more suspicious. “That makes sense.”
Just like before, it didn’t bother him. “Well, if we break the day up, we can be much more exact.”
“That would be helpful in making potions,” I added.
“Exactly!” a woman behind me interrupted. She grabbed my arm, turned me to another table, and pointed to one of the glass sculptures. “My invention measures short intervals of time, which is perfect for making potions or cooking.”
“Or leaving someone in a pit to suffer, but when you don’t want them in there so long they’ll die?” I asked. Not that I wanted to throw anyone in a pit, I could just see the advantage for sorcerers.
“Actually, for that, my invention is best,” the first man said, grabbing my arm and pulling me back to the candle. He pointed at marked notches in the candle. “See, there are ten notches in a day, so you can light the candle at sunrise, put your victim in the pit, and decide how many notches you want to leave him in for.”
“You haven’t been an inventor long, have you?”
Merlin groaned and walked out of the tent. With a little bit of shoving, I was able to follow him. Before we could get far, however, I found myself drawn to another tent, where strange metal torches were on display.
“What are these?” I asked a woman who was cleaning one. It was only as long as my arm and was attached to a wall that was placed in the middle of the tent.
She smiled brightly. “These are gas lanterns!”
“What’s the point in them?”
“They don’t melt like candles.”
“Neither do torches, and I can carry those around.”
“Leave it, young sorcerer,” Merlin said. “You should not hinder the progression of inventions, no matter how slow they may be.”
I followed him out. “I don’t understand.”
“I have seen these inventions on other worlds. Although they may seem silly, you cannot run before you learn to walk. This is the beginning of technology on your world and you must let it take its natural course.”
“But you can show them things that are way beyond this,” I said, pausing to watch a boy strap two wooden wings to his back. They were covered in bird feathers, though, so I could definitely see it working.
“It would be wrong for me to interfere with the technological development of Caldaca.”
“But I can, right? I can share my ideas?”
“Absolutely. However, I suggest you not introduce inventions you may see on other worlds.”
“Didn’t you do that?”
“I did. Whether I was right or wrong, it is better to heed caution when it comes to soothsaying.” I nodded. Merlin hated divination because he believed it caused his mother’s death.
At the end of the city was a cliff drop overlooking the northeast shore, so we had to find a safe passage down. We traveled downhill until we reached a set of stone steps, which were barely large enough for Merlin to use.
Once we reached the shore, I held out my staff, closed my eyes, focused my mind on the presence of my monster, and pulled on that sensation until he felt me calling him. My staff created blue magic that flowed upward into the air. Out of that, my monkey monster formed.
He had the general body of a monkey about Merlin’s size, with two arms and two legs. He was dark brown, furry, and slender, although he had much more strength than a person. He also had two large, black bat wings suspending him in the air and a row of four black tentacles down each of his sides. He landed and glared at me.
“Hello, Monkey. I need you to---” The monkey flapped his wings and I had to jump away to avoid being struck by them. “Stop it, Monkey, I need you to…” I stopped talking as the monkey took to the air and tried to fly away. I pointed my staff at him. “Get back here!” Magic shot from me, through the staff, and into the monkey, who crashed into the ground with a startled screech of pain.
“Ayden, be gentle,” Merlin warned.
“I’m sorry,” I said to the monkey. “I need your help and I can’t let you go until we get to Kalika, in the Moaning Mountains.”
The monkey pounced on me, slamming me to the ground and landing on top of me. One of his tentacles tore my staff from my hand as he screeched in my face. Merlin attacked him and they both rolled in a snarling, biting, clawing frenzy.
I pulled my wand out of my pocket. “Stop! Both of you!” The monkey froze, but Merlin didn’t stop. “Merlin!” I grabbed the staff off the ground where the monkey had dropped it and pointed it at him. “Let him go!” The crystal flashed blue and Merlin leapt back, snarling. After a moment, he shook himself and turned his back on the monkey.
“I apologize for losing my temper,” he said, shame all over his face.
“You’re the most level-headed person I know.”
“He attacked you and the wolf took over.”
“He’s upset because he doesn’t like being controlled.”
“Trust me, young sorcerer, I know. It was not my intention to attack him.”
“Maybe you’re under a curse, like I was.”
“I am afraid it might be worse than that.” Before he could explain his concerns, the monkey shook himself out of his stupor and flapped his wings.
I pointed my wand at him. “Please don’t make me make you, Monkey. I promise I don’t like controlling you. Merlin and I have to save magic and we need you to do it. We need you to take us to Kalika quick. Please.”
The monkey’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t try to fly away. After a moment, he reached out with his tentacles to take my wand and staff.
I held them against my chest. “If I give these to you, will you take us to Kalika?”
He screeched, which sounded like an agreement to me.
“If you do, and then give them back to me when we land, I’ll set you free,” I promised. “I can do that, right?” I asked Merlin in his mind.
“Yes. Ask him if he knows where Kalika is.”
I did, and the monkey made a deeper hooting sound than normal. “I guess that’s a no.” I pulled the magic mirror out of my bag, pressed my wand tip to the surface of the mirror, and said, “Show me how to find the Rynorm family at Kalika, in the Moaning Mountains.”
My magic flowed into the mirror and it fogged over. When it cleared a moment later, it displayed a map with a red line from Akadema to a cluster of islands to the far northeast. I showed it to the monkey. “Take us there, and I’ll free you.”
When he screeched in a higher pitch again, I put the mirror away. The monkey took my wand, staff, and bag with his tentacles. Then he easily picked me up with one hand and Merlin with his other. Without a moment of hesitation, he took flight. His wings almost struck me with every flap, but it quickly became my secondary concern. He flew so much faster than a ship that the water was a dizzying blur beneath us.
“Close your eyes,” Merlin suggested.
I did. Although the wind was cold, the nausea went away. “That worked. Thanks.” It wasn’t long before my face was numb from the cold.
Chapter 5
I sensed Merlin’s alarm, opened my eyes, and groaned. A dark shape followed us beneath the water’s surface. “Monkey, can you fly us higher?” I asked. The monkey ignored me. I couldn’t reach my wand or staff, so I couldn’t command him. We were lucky he didn’t drop us. “What should we do?” I asked Merlin.
“Unfortunately, young sorcerer, I have no idea. Try not to look like food.”
“Isn’t there a spell you can teach me?”
“Not in the feeble grasp of your monkey. If your magic explodes, it may spook him, and we do not want to be dropped in the middle of the ocean.”
A row of leathery black spikes
broke the surface of the choppy water. It was merely a portion of the creature’s massive body. “Okay, I have an idea, but you’re not going to like it,” I said.
Merlin said something in another language, which I ignored.
“Monkey, expect an explosion. Don’t drop us. Do you hear me? Don’t drop us!” He didn’t make any indication that he heard me, but we didn’t have many choices. I focused my mind and magic on turning the monster into stone. I had never tried to transform such a large creature but it was my best skill aside from breaking curses.
Magic stirred inside me, gaining strength but not finding an outlet. I couldn’t channel it through my wand or staff, so I forced it out. Not surprisingly, it exploded wildly, burning my hands.
The blast struck the monster and it dived. “Merlin, are you okay?” I asked when the dark shape was gone.
“Yes, I am unscathed.”
I sighed with relief. Merlin, on the other hand, didn’t relax. I reached for my staff, but the monkey wasn’t giving it up.
“Ayden, it is coming back.”
Although I didn’t see it, I trusted him. I focused my magic again, this time on a spell I had never mastered. Merlin said that the elements were the easiest of dragon magic to master. Moving rocks or water wasn’t useful, so that left wind and fire. Since I had created fire before, it was what I decided to go with.
I focused with all my might, imagined fire streaming down into the ocean below. “Vaka hyrr.”
“Brenna is more accurate in this case, young sorcerer, and be confident,” Merlin said.
Only Merlin would correct me and tell me to be confident in the same sentence. I tried again, this time shouting the command at the top of my lungs. Magic burst out, half forming fire, half exploding in colorful light. Unfortunately, my timing was off. Just as the flames and light died, the massive sea monster erupted out of the water. Its jaws snapped closed around us before I could even take a deep breath. I felt the creature’s descent as its tongue pinned me against the roof of its mouth.
I heard Merlin snarling and biting to defend himself until it was drowned out by the monkey creature’s strange wailing. I opened my mouth to tell the monkey to give me my staff, only to choke on the thick, hot, wet air. I couldn’t breathe.