Realm of Shadows Trilogy

by Linda McNabb

  The apprentice and his wizard walked off out of earshot and Seth withdrew back into the alley and felt a chill sweep through him. Kenan was still eating and hadn’t even noticed Seth’s sudden pale face. Seth had never given much thought to what could have happened if Eagan hadn’t wanted to help him. If he had met this apprentice instead, things may have gone very differently!

  ‘I need to go.’

  Seth felt ill and wished he hadn’t eaten so much this morning. He didn’t like Darius but the thought of someone harming Eagan wasn’t good. The old man had given him back a life of sorts and he wouldn’t have the dragon egg without him. He had to find a way to either stop Eagan coming to South Valley or warn him about Ryker.

  ‘When do you want me to show you around?’ Kenan asked, biting into an orange and ripping it open with his teeth. The juice dribbled down his chin and he grinned like a kid with a bag of candy.

  ‘Tomorrow maybe,’ Seth suggested.

  ‘Just come to the forest where you saw us this morning. Our camp is a little way into the trees,’ Kenan said as he dipped his hand back in the bag. ‘Hey, this food is going rotten!’

  Seth nodded a quick goodbye and hurried off around the crowds before he did anything worse than spoiling food.

  Chapter Ten - Ryker

  Seth found a quiet spot at the back of the main streets and did some of the deep breathing exercises that Marrik taught him. It still took about half an hour before he felt calm enough to go back to the market. He had to get food to take back as he had no intention of coming back to this village in a hurry. He tipped the rotten food out of the stolen bag he carried, and dug the mushy plums out of his pocket then headed back.

  By the time he had half refilled his bag it was almost the middle of the day. He saw Kenan working the stalls on the other side of the market and nodded to him. Seth was worried about leaving the egg for so long. What if someone had come to the cottage and hadn’t been scared off by Neras? Just the thought of someone stealing the egg made a sweat break out on his forehead and he slipped the last of the loaves into his bag and decided it was time to leave.

  ‘Stop thief!’ a voice yelled from behind him and he kept walking even though his heart skipped a beat.

  ‘Run, Seth!’ Kenan yelled and Seth did just that.

  Had someone spotted him? Had he been so careless? A hand on his shoulder told him he had and his survival instincts kicked in. He shrugged off the cloak, leaving his pursuer holding it and ran on without looking back. Either he was more tired than he thought or the soft living at High Gate had made him slow as he only got a dozen steps before he felt the heavy hand grab hold of him again.

  ‘It’s a guard from South Gate!’ an onlooker said with a gasp. ‘Why would he steal food?’

  Seth wriggled free and stumbled backwards. As he fell he instinctively drew the sword, then jumped into a crouch as the man backed away. This wasn’t good. He had attracted far too much attention. He looked around at the gathering crowd desperately wondering how he could get out of this situation and fast. He could feel the tension rising within him and that wouldn’t go well for anyone nearby.

  He blinked as his gaze settled on one man stepping forward from the crowd and he felt a shiver run through him. Ryker walked towards him with an odd smile.

  ‘This is interesting,’ Oran said, sounding surprised and curious. ‘Not what I felt earlier but definitely something I haven’t seen in a long, long time.’

  ‘Now put that away,’ Ryker said, waving one hand dismissively at the sword and immediately turned his back to Seth as he faced the large stall holder.

  Seth dropped the tip of the sword to the ground as he straightened up and watched the hazy figure move closer and stop just two paces away. Seth had to force himself to look away as if he hadn’t seen him. He didn’t want either Ryker or Oran to know that he could tell the wizard was there. He turned his attention to the well-dressed apprentice and glanced to the side to see if there was a gap to escape yet.

  ‘Did my guard forget to pay you, Good Sir?’ Ryker asked in a soft, apologetic voice as he drew a bag of coins from his pocket. He tipped a handful out and offered them to the stunned looking merchant. ‘I’m sure that will more than cover it.’

  ‘Your guard, Lord Ryker?’ the merchant queried in surprise and immediately his manner became agreeable and polite. ‘I’m sure he meant to pay but I just didn’t give him the chance. My apologies!’

  The crowd had lost interest and most had wandered away already. Seth saw his chance to escape but decided it would only draw attention to him again. He would bide his time until nobody was watching. He slipped the sword away and felt the wizard watching him.

  ‘Walk with me,’ Ryker said, putting one hand firmly on Seth’s shoulder and steering him towards the edge of the market where it was deserted. The apprentice kept flicking his gaze up to the sky and looking around and frowning before smiling back at Seth. Seth looked up as well. There were a few clouds, but it didn’t look like it would rain any time soon.

  ‘Thank you for paying the merchant, but I really do have to be going,’ Seth said, not expecting it to have any effect, and it didn’t.

  ‘Perhaps I could offer you a ride home, Seth?’ Ryker asked. His smile looked so genuine that Seth would have believed him if he hadn’t heard him talking in the street a while ago. It was hard not to let his gaze flick to the wizard hovering just to his left.

  ‘He’s not going to be fooled that easy. Be careful not to upset him. You know what he is…’

  Seth felt another shiver run through him. Did they know about his deadly gift already? Was it that obvious? The man had obviously overheard his name when Kenan warned him to run, so he didn’t miss much.

  ‘Thank you, but I don’t need a lift,’ Seth replied woodenly, looking up at the sky in preference to looking the man in the eye. He did not want Ryker seeing the tear that had sprung to the corner of his eye at the thought of what the apprentice and wizard would do to him now.

  ‘Of course not,’ Ryker said cryptically and paused for a few seconds then indicated Seth’s uniform. ‘You’re a long way from home.’

  ‘I have no home,’ Seth replied honestly and shrugged. ‘I only stayed at High Gate for a short time.’

  ‘And you’re here alone? No parents … or anyone else?’ Ryker asked.

  Seth knew he was asking about Eagan but had no intention of giving any information to this man.

  ‘I really do have to be going,’ Seth said, nodding politely and backing away. ‘Thanks again for paying the merchant.’

  He expected the apprentice to stop him leaving but Ryker simply returned the farewell with a slight incline of his head. It was the half-smile that had Seth worried. It was a smile that said he knew something. Something important.

  Seth kept walking backwards until he reached the crowded streets of the market then turned and hurried off. He wondered why Ryker had let him go so easily and glanced back but the apprentice and his wizard were nowhere in sight. He clutched his bag of food and headed out of town. He definitely wasn’t coming here again.

  There was no sign of the boys from the forest as he jogged down the road to the farm. He was out of breath by the time the cottage came into sight and he stopped a short distance away to check it was all clear.

  He watched for several minutes but saw nobody at the windows or in the nearby field. Casually, as if out for a stroll, he walked around the cottage and in the front door. Anyone watching would have assumed he had every right to be there.

  ‘Neras. I’m back!’ he called as he dumped the food on the table and hurried up the stairs three at a time.

  He sighed with relief when he saw the glowing dragon egg sitting on the bed and the hazy form of Neras next to it.

  ‘You weren’t long,’ Neras said, moving to the other side of the room. ‘What was the village like?’

  Not long? Seth guessed that to someone who had been in a dark cellar for hundreds of years a single morning wasn’t really a long t
ime at all.

  ‘Bigger than I expected,’ Seth said flopping down on the bed next to the egg. ‘I’m exhausted.’

  ‘The dragon missed you.’ Neras’ tone said that he too had been lonely. ‘The egg was quite dull most of the time.’

  Seth saw that the egg was pulsing brightly but not as bright as it was yesterday. He looked closer and saw that the black dragon inside was more curled up than before. As he placed one hand on the egg he felt a jolt of worry shoot through him. The egg wasn’t as hot either.

  ‘What’s wrong with it?’ Seth asked, turning to the hazy patch of air by the door. ‘Does it mean it’s about to hatch?’

  Seth flicked his gaze around the room, wondering how quickly the dragon would grow and if it would fit out the door or window for long. He needed to get it to a cave soon. Neras hadn’t answered and Seth turned back to the doorway and waited.

  ‘How much do you know about dragon eggs?’ Neras asked quietly.

  ‘Not much,’ Seth admitted and the knot of worry grew larger in his stomach.

  ‘Eagan woke the dragon in the egg with a spell from Darius.’

  ‘I didn’t know that,’ Seth admitted.

  ‘It can’t hatch without another spell from an apprentice and his wizard.’

  Seth sat in silence, absorbing this new information and having no idea what it really meant. He frowned and looked at the egg again. ‘So it will just stay like that until a wizard hatches it?’

  Neras didn’t answer.

  ‘You’re a wizard. Can’t you hatch it?’ Seth suggested hopefully.

  ‘Without an apprentice I can’t do any magic at all,’ Neras said with a sigh.

  ‘Will it go dormant again, like the others in the nest back at High Gate?’ Seth asked slowly. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like the answer.

  ‘No, it will die if it doesn’t hatch soon,’ Neras said and his voice was so soft that Seth only just heard him.

  Seth leapt off the bed and stared at the wizard’s hazy form. ‘Why did you let me take it then? I never wanted to kill it!’

  ‘It wasn’t up to me. The dragon was the one who convinced you to take it. It wanted to come with you.’

  ‘But it didn’t know it would die,’ Seth snapped back. He could feel his anger growing but had no idea how to calm himself down. The thought of his dragon dying before it even hatched was just unthinkable.

  ‘It knew. The bond is stronger than logic.’

  Seth’s mind raced. How could he save the dragon inside the egg? He would do whatever he had to, even if it meant going back to Eagan. When the mists lifted he would take the egg back and beg forgiveness. He would let them give the dragon to someone else and he would never go near it again!

  ‘It won’t last three weeks,’ Neras said sadly. ‘Perhaps one or two at most. It is ready to hatch now.’

  Seth looked up. How had the wizard known what he was thinking? He gulped and looked over at the egg. Was it dimmer than when he arrived back? He sank onto the floor with his back to the wall and drew his knees up to his forehead. What had he done?

  ‘Seth!’ Neras hissed in a low voice. Seth ignored the wizard.

  ‘Seth! Seth!’

  Seth finally looked up and gulped as he heard footsteps on the stairs. Slow, deliberate steps that were getting closer. The only way out was the stairs or the window and he couldn’t jump out of the window with the egg. He stood up and quickly threw a blanket over the egg then faced the doorway. He licked his lips as he tried to think of a reason to explain why he was there.

  A figure appeared in the doorway and Seth blinked twice, and then blinked again.

  ‘Seth. We meet again.’

  It was Ryker and hovering in the distance was Oran’s hazy outline. The apprentice smiled at him but this time there was no hint of friendliness or pretence of good will.

  A lot of things raced through Seth’s mind all at once. Not the least of them was how Ryker had found him.

  ‘Lord Ryker, I wasn’t expecting you here,’ Seth said, going for the only angle he could think of. He would pretend he knew nothing about the man except what he had heard from the merchant. ‘I’m sorry but I don’t have enough money to pay you back for the food.’

  ‘I don’t want money – and I wasn’t expecting you either, Seth,’ Ryker replied, tilting his head sideways as if a little confused.

  ‘I…’ Seth was confused too now as why else would Ryker be here? ‘I live here.’

  ‘Where is Eagan?’ Ryker asked bluntly and dipped his head to look under the bed. ‘He can’t be far away.’

  ‘I’ve told you it’s not Darius,’ Oran said with a sigh as if he had repeated it several times. ‘Whoever it is he’s hiding in his staff but it’s definitely not Darius.’

  ‘He’s back at High Gate I guess,’ Seth replied innocently.

  ‘So who owns that?’ Ryker used his own staff to point at the one lying on the bed.

  ‘That? I stole it,’ Seth said and shrugged. ‘It’s just an old broken walking stick. I didn’t think anyone would miss it.’

  ‘You stole it?’ Ryker asked, clearly not believing him.

  ‘He’s definitely not apprenticed to it so I’d say he’s telling the truth – but that’s not all he stole. He’s not a dragon keeper just yet. He doesn’t have control of a dragon at all. He just carries the mark on his forehead and the sword. He’s not the threat we thought he was,’ Oran said as he drifted across the room. Seth tried not to watch as the wizard stopped by the large bulge under the blanket.

  Seth gulped as Ryker strode over and lifted the blanket with the tip of his staff. So that was why they didn’t want to upset him at the market. They had no idea of his true nature or what he was capable of.

  When Ryker turned back towards Seth he was grinning broadly. ‘It looks like we got here just in time!’

  ‘We?’ Seth queried, looking around the room. He could tell by the man’s face that he had no idea that Seth could hear the wizard.

  ‘Just a figure of speech,’ Ryker said, still grinning and shook his head in disbelief as he looked from egg to staff and then at Seth. ‘So you thought you could hatch it with the broken staff? There’s a lot more to it than waving a stick.’

  Seth would love to point out that Ryker did nothing and had no real power without Oran but that would give away too much. Instead he looked crestfallen and sad. He had no idea his acting was this good!

  ‘They were going to take the dragon from me,’ Seth said, going along with it for now.

  ‘What interests me more is that the egg was woken at all. Eagan’s stories must be true after all. The night-shadows are coming.’

  Ryker paused as he listened to the wizard and blinked a few times as he thought things through. He turned to Seth and this time his smile was more genuine, if a little creepy.

  ‘I’ll tell you what, Seth. We’ll make a deal shall we? I’ll help you if you help me.’

  Seth gulped. He had no desire to make a deal with Ryker.

  ‘What sort of deal?’ Seth asked.

  ‘I will hatch the dragon for you and you will work for me.’

  ‘What sort of work?’ Seth queried suspiciously.

  Ryker shrugged. ‘Just little things really. Errands. Small tasks for which I need a dragon.’

  Seth stared at the egg. It was definitely not as bright as this morning. It didn’t look like he had much choice at all. It was either that or just sit by and watch the dragon die.

  ‘You have a deal.’ Even as he said it he knew he was going to regret it for a long time.

  Ryker led him down to a carriage parked a short distance away and they were off before Seth had the chance to change his mind.

  Seth sat in the rocking carriage, looking out the window at the countryside racing past, and wished he had never left High Gate. The egg sat beside him and he had one hand resting on it to keep it from rolling of the seat. The staff was next to him but he had neither heard nor seen Neras since Ryker and Oran showed up at the cottage.
>
  ‘You’ve made a wise choice, Seth,’ Ryker said, still grinning from ear to ear as he looked at the egg. ‘We’ll make a good team.’

  Seth didn’t want to be part of a team, especially one that included the apprentice opposite him, but he said nothing and pretended interest in the passing scenery.

  They passed by South Gate late afternoon and Seth couldn’t help but stare. It looked exactly the same as High Gate, right down the huge white tower that rose from the centre of the small settlement. He half expected to see Eagan or Rem walking down the slope that led to the main gate. Guards in blue uniforms patrolled the entrance to what Seth knew must be another pass, just like up north. He wondered if there had been any sightings of the huge black cats here as well. He flicked a look towards Ryker and decided he didn’t want to ask the apprentice any leading questions. The less Ryker knew about him the better Seth liked it.

  After another half an hour they left the main road and headed towards a castle on the side of a large hill. The stonework was the colour of shadows, deep grey and black and just looking at it sent a shiver down Seth’s back.

  ‘Welcome to Arrow Castle,’ Ryker said, grinning broadly.

  The immense castle may well have looked more cheery if it was painted white but as it was it almost blended into the surrounding forest and did not look at all inviting.

  The drawbridge lowered as the carriage approached and rose immediately after they passed into the courtyard. It closed with a bang that made Seth feel like a prisoner.

  Chapter Eleven - The Deal

  Seth fidgeted in the new green tunic and trousers. It wasn’t that they were uncomfortable, for he had never owned any clothing so well-tailored, nor of such expensive cloth. What made him fidget was the fact that his other clothes had been taken away. He wasn’t particularly attached to the grey tunic of the High Gate guard uniform, but these marked him as a servant to Ryker. So far, he had only seen a handful of people in the castle, and all were dressed in some form of the clothing he now wore.