Realm of Shadows Trilogy

by Linda McNabb

  ‘I am hungry,’ StarFire said, not even moving more than his head, which he turned to face Rem. ‘Bring me food.’

  Rem looked at the distance between the dragon and the food. It was no more than a single dragon length. She had a fleeting thought to tell him to get it himself then instantly got up and picked up an armload of fruit. If she wanted his help to find Seth then annoying him was not likely to go in her favour.

  ‘I do not wish to find the boy,’ StarFire said as she put the fruit down next to him. ‘Why would I seek him out?’

  Rem sighed. The dragon had picked up even her brief thoughts. ‘Because there is likely to be food where his dragon lives. There is none here in the mountains.’

  StarFire chewed noisily on a mouthful of fruit and stared at her. When he had finished he looked pointedly at the pile to indicate he wanted more. Rem suppressed a sigh, she seemed to be sighing a lot lately, and brought over another armload.

  ‘It is your job to feed me. I do not seek charity from a dragon of lesser birth than me. I am noble, she is common. Bring me more food.’

  Rem glanced at the pile. It was shrinking fast and her assessment that it would last the day was wrong. She pushed a small amount to the side for herself and deposited the rest in front of StarFire.

  ‘More,’ StarFire insisted, even as he chewed the last mouthful. He looked at her pile of food.

  ‘No,’ Rem said, folding her arms and blocking his view of the fruit. ‘I must eat as well.’

  StarFire rose, towering over Rem and scraping his head on the roof of the cave. He looked furious but Rem stood her ground.

  ‘Then you leave me no choice,’ StarFire said, obviously sensing that she was not going to give in. He pushed past her, causing her to gulp back her fear that he was attacking, and threw himself out the mouth of the cave.

  Rem walked over to watch him fly off. Where was he going? Was some other trader about to lose their cargo? He wasn’t heading towards High Gate so their fields were likely to be safe. Mind you there wasn’t much growing there these days since Seth had destroyed the crops in early spring.

  She sat down and picked up some fruit. There was nothing to do but wait for StarFire to return.

  **

  Feeding the dragon was even harder than Eagan thought it would be. While StarFire had been at High Gate it had simply been a matter of taking fruit and vegetables from the kitchens up to the courtyard. But now, there were several problems. None of the traders wanted to take food to StarFire and the guards all had duty guarding the pass which left just a few serving staff to pick from and an old donkey to pull a derelict cart Eagan had found.

  Finding spare food was also an issue as they relied almost completely on traders to bring food in this season and word of the dragon attack had spread in just one day, even though the traders had sworn to secrecy. Most merchants would not even deliver to High Gate now.

  But the biggest problem was finding where the dragon had gone. They had a small period of grace though. Judging by the amount of food he had stolen from the incoming wagons, StarFire wasn’t likely to be starving for a day or two but time was running out fast.

  ‘You’ll want to come and look at this,’ Darius said, floating around the corner of the narrow lane where Eagan walked. It opened out into the main courtyard and he could hear wagons arriving. Had they been attacked as well?

  Eagan hurried his pace to catch up to Darius and almost bumped into the head cook as he rounded the corner. Several wagons had arrived, and several more were already stopped and being unloaded.

  ‘I guess not everyone is scared of the dragon,’ Eagan muttered. He walked over to the nearest wagon where Darius was hovering, and looked at the produce packed into large baskets. The closest one was full of apples.

  Eagan picked up an apple and stared at it. It was almost twice as big as any apple should be. It looked edible though, and he sank his teeth into it to check.

  Juices dribbled down his chin as he savoured the amazingly sweet fruit. After he had taken a dozen bites he was only halfway through it. He looked at the baskets being unloaded from the cart and saw that they were all full of oversized fruit and vegetables. One carrot alone looked enough to feed a family!

  ‘Where did these come from?’ Eagan asked as he wiped his chin with his sleeve and wondered if he could even finish the apple.

  ‘Merra,’ Cook replied. He looked delighted with each basket he peered into as it was carried past him and down into the kitchen. ‘It seems they’ve had an early growing season and bumper crops this year. I’ve had many a complaint lately about the lack of fresh fruit and veg lately.’

  Cook hurried off after the produce and left Eagan staring at the next wagon being unloaded.

  ‘I bet Seth has something to do with this.’

  Darius said it just as Eagan was thinking it but even as he finished the thought he shook his head.

  ‘He’s known for killing things, not helping them grow,’ he pointed out.

  ‘Many things have changed since we last saw Seth. He may have tapped into the magic of the staff he took and he has the control of a dragon. Dragons have magic too, remember. Even if they don’t know how to use it. There has never been a combination of wizard, apprentice and dragon before, who knows what they will be capable of.’

  ‘We need to go and find Rem,’ Eagan said. ‘Her dragon may be able to help control Seth and his dragon.’

  ‘Her dragon has been sighted down the valley a little,’ Marrik told him as he walked up to Eagan and overheard the end of the conversation. He pointed south. ‘About half a day’s ride that way.’

  Cook looked less than impressed when Eagan ordered a good portion of the food to be loaded into the old cart and he set off south as soon as it was done.

  ‘So how are we going to find StarFire?’ Eagan asked several hours later as the donkey walked steadily down the track along the edge of the marshes.

  ‘Perhaps if you whistle loudly he’ll find us,’ Darius suggested.

  ‘That’s not quite what I had in mind. I need to talk to Rem,’ Eagan replied, holding back the urge to whistle now that it had been mentioned.

  ‘You’re assuming she’ll want to talk to you,’ Darius pointed out. ‘We don’t know why she left yet. She might have overheard you, but it could be for an entirely different reason.’

  Eagan couldn’t think of any other reason for her to suddenly leave but arguing the point seemed futile. They would find out soon enough.

  Darius floated up in the air as far as possible and kept a lookout for any sign of either the dragon or Rem and it was well into the afternoon when he drifted back down with news.

  ‘I can see a cave over there and I’m sure I saw Rem sitting at the entrance.’

  ‘Can you find me a way to get the wagon up as close as possible?’ Eagan asked as he scoured the rocky mountains to his left for any sign of a usable track.

  It took another hour, with Darius guiding him, before they reached the cave. Eagan pulled the reins tight and the donkey came to a halt. It had its ears flattened back and the whites of its eyes showed as it stared around in fear. Yes, the dragon was definitely nearby.

  ‘Rem,’ he called as he craned his neck up the cliff they had drawn up next to. Far up above he could see a pair of legs dangling from a cave entrance. Rem leaned forward and looked down at him with a blank expression.

  Eagan felt a stab of sympathy mixed with fear. She was such a different girl these days and now it looked as if she had cut all her hair off! It made her delicate features stand out even more yet she seemed hard and unapproachable.

  ‘I have brought some food for StarFire. Where would you like me to put it?’ he called up when it was obvious that Rem had no intention of greeting him in any way.

  Her only reply was to point at a plateau where dark spots on the rock showed the dragon had not been feasting solely on fruit stolen from traders. Eagan swallowed the ball of fear that rose and began carrying baskets of fruit over to the dragon’s dinn
er plate. When he had finished he was out of breath and he leaned on the donkey as he looked up again. Rem had not moved, but the dragon was halfway out of the cave and looked down eagerly at the fruit. Rem had a hand resting on one of the dragon’s forelegs and that appeared to be all that was stopping the dragon from launching itself onto the feast.

  He took a small amount of comfort from that as she appeared to have retained control even though the beast had clearly tasted fresh meat.

  ‘Can we talk?’ he called up to her.

  Only silence met his query.

  ‘It’s about Merra.’

  Again nothing.

  ‘And Seth.’

  Rem’s head flicked down and she stared at him – waiting for him to continue. Eagan resisted the urge to look away from her intense stare. It was only a short time ago that she had looked upon him with a smile.

  ‘Let the dragon feast while we talk,’ Eagan suggested as he guided the donkey and cart to a safe distance, just out of sight of the plateau.

  Rem lifted her hand from the dragon’s hide and, sensing permission had been given, StarFire launched himself at the pile of food. Even Rem stared for a few long seconds at the enormous produce before she turned back to Eagan and nodded.

  She made no attempt to help as Eagan navigated the steep incline up to the cave.

  ‘Do you want me to lift you up?’ Darius offered.

  ‘No,’ Eagan hissed softly. ‘Seeing me struggle may well soften her attitude.’

  When he finally dragged himself onto the shelf that extended from the cave mouth he paused to catch his breath. Rem sat watching silently and her expression was completely blank.

  ‘Well, that was a waste of a climb,’ Darius pointed out.

  ‘What do you want?’ Rem asked bluntly

  ‘Take a look at this,’ Eagan said, pulling an overlarge plum from the pack on his back. It looked more like a large red apple and Rem took it despite her sour expression. She turned it over in her hands and sniffed at it.

  ‘You did this with magic?’

  ‘Well, it’s magic for sure, but not mine,’ Eagan replied.

  ‘What does it have to do with Seth?’ Rem asked bluntly.

  ‘I don’t know yet, but there’s nobody else it could be. He has a staff that could do this. There is one more staff, but the owner of it would not use it for good.’

  ‘What do you want my help for?’

  ‘You are the only person he might listen to,’ Eagan said hopefully. At least she hadn’t sent him away.

  ‘What is the harm in growing large fruit? It’s not like he is hurting anyone,’ Rem pointed out.

  ‘If he has accessed the magic in the staff, and it is this strong, he needs to know how to use it. And to be aware of what happens when he does as there is only so much magic available in one staff.’

  ‘Then what?’ Rem looked up from the plum.

  ‘He becomes trapped within the staff.’

  ‘Like you will be one day if you keep travelling without your apprentice-in-waiting.’

  ‘And your plans to send me away? What about them? What do you know about my past?’

  Eagan suppressed a sigh. So she had overheard him talking to Darius after all.

  ‘I don’t know much at all. Just that your people come from the far south beyond the deserts. They do not mix with others and consider us their enemy.’

  ‘And you did not want your enemy to control a dragon,’ Rem stated the fact.

  ‘She’s clever.’

  Eagan nodded. She had grasped the situation completely and although she did not look quite as furious with him, there was definitely no sign she understood his reasons.

  ‘I do not know my kin. Why would I be a danger?’

  Eagan could not answer. He felt ashamed that he had not given her the chance to understand before he decided to take action. An uncomfortable silence settled and Eagan was first to break it.

  ‘We have a chance to save Seth from almost certain death. Will you help?’

  **

  Chapter Four - Seeking Seth

  Several days later Rem watched the old man, and his ever-present guard, walk into the crowded market. She stayed up near the gate - a position that offered a good view of a large part of the town. She still didn’t understand how the town’s good fortune could have anything to do with Seth. He wasn’t known for bringing good luck of any sort.

  Still, she couldn’t help flicking her gaze around the crowds to seek him out. If she did find him she was going to give him a piece of her mind. She was still furious with him for running off - twice.

  There was no sign of Seth and she watched, bored, waiting for the old man to come back. As reported, the town appeared to be doing very well. There must be a lot of visitors as there seemed to be more people than the town looked capable of housing.

  The stall nearest to Rem boasted the largest chickens she had ever seen and she wondered if they were a new breed entirely. The boxes on the table were filled with eggs that looked big enough to contain a small dragon!

  Rem’s attention flicked out across the town wall. She had left StarFire out by the marshes, keeping well out of sight. The town of Merra wouldn’t appreciate a visit from the grumpy and irritable dragon. He was likely to burn half of it down just because he could. She wondered what Seth’s dragon was like - were they all so unpredictable? From the little she had seen the black dragon had seemed even more troublesome than her own.

  The mists had descended on the marshes again and it had taken quite some convincing to get StarFire to fly all three of them here.

  She scanned the crowd one more time for Seth’s distinctive head of messy blond hair, more than a little disappointed that he wasn’t there.

  **

  ‘Make way! Make Way!’

  Eagan cringed as Peiter tried to push the crowds aside to allow him easy passage through the market.

  ‘Enough, Peiter,’ Eagan hissed quietly. ‘We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.’

  ‘But surely the peasants here must know of your importance, Master?’ Peiter argued, looking confused.

  ‘To the good folk of Merra I am simply a travelling entertainer. It suits my purpose and I wish to remain just that,’ Eagan said, pulling his eager apprentice-in-waiting to one side of a covered market stall. ‘People talk more freely when they are not afraid. Be assured that if they thought magic was real, and that I had use of it they would most certainly be afraid. The job of an apprentice is to know what is going on and I can’t do that if nobody will talk to me.’

  Peiter didn’t look convinced but he nodded and hung back several paces when Eagan re-joined the crowd. Eagan still felt tense as the young guard dogged his steps like a shadow and glared at anyone that came too close. The old man’s attention was drawn away a minute later as a youth crossed his path. The dark-haired boy pushed a handcart, overflowing with immense watermelons. Such a crop had no business being ripe at this time of year at any size. A small child, a boy of three or four, sat balanced across the handles of the cart and appeared to be enjoying the ride.

  ‘Faster, Waide!’ he called and the youth obediently sped up, earning a squeal of delight from the boy.

  There was something about the cheeky grin and sparkling green eyes of the toddler that piqued Eagan’s interest. As Waide made his way across the market the crowds parted easily to let him pass, but it wasn’t in fear. Every person bestowed them both with a smile and a nod before resuming their original path. The youth looked familiar and Eagan was still trying to work out where he knew him from when Waide stopped at a stall.

  ‘Thanks, Waide. I was almost sold out again. Your brother has grown… as has our fortune!’

  ‘Mother sent me to get new clothes for him. He’s outgrown the last ones already,’ Waide said, giving his brother a playful shove, and almost sending him tumbling off the cart.

  The stall owner reached out and gently touched the dark curls on the toddler’s head. It was the affectionate touch of a fond unc
le but it brought Eagan’s eyebrows down in a frown as the man spoke again.

  ‘Long may you live, Caden.’

  Several others muttered an echo of the sentiment and a chill ran down Eagan’s back.

  ‘There’s another boy who will be trouble,’ Darius muttered right next to Eagan’s ear, but the apprentice didn’t flinch. He was thinking exactly the same thing.

  There was nothing natural about the sudden wave of good fortune that Merra was experiencing. If this young child was indeed the source of the change of fortune then there was definitely trouble. A normal human child was not capable of anything like this.

  Eagan stared at the child and Caden looked over as if sensing the apprentice’s attention. He smiled and waved in such a friendly and natural way that Eagan instantly knew that the child had no idea he was different in any way. Eagan also knew that Caden was the one they were looking for.

  ‘And now to work out how to get hold of the child,’ Eagan muttered.

  ‘Why do we want the child?’ Peiter asked, a little too loudly.

  Eagan shot Peiter a glare that made the young guard shrink away several steps.

  ‘It’s not too late to pick someone else,’ Darius commented dryly. ‘Can you imagine what two hundred years with him would be like?’

  Eagan ignored the comment. He had more important things to deal with right now. It had only been six months since he was last in Merra and there had been no talk of this child.

  ‘Your Wizardness!’ A familiar voice came from across the market, and Eagan smiled as Nyal hurried towards him. The simple-minded youth looked delighted to see Eagan.

  ‘Who is the child over there?’ Eagan asked as he steered Nyal away from the crowds. Caden was still watching Eagan and grinned broadly as Nyal waved at him.

  ‘Caden,’ Nyal said, nodding and smiling. ‘He’s special. Mother says I’m special too.’

  ‘What’s special about him?’ Eagan prompted, handing Nyal one of the honey sweets the youth loved.

  ‘He makes things grow fast,’ Nyal said, popping the sweet in his mouth and savouring the taste with a look of delight crossing his face. ‘He grows fast too.’