The Dragon's Apprentice

by Ben Marble

  Both Chandler and Brianne looked over to him, Brianne jumping in surprise. Both watched him for a moment before Chandler finally answered him. "You have been sleeping for most of two days. Brianne was able to heal you, but I think most of your injuries weren't physical."

  "Michael?" Part of Xander refused to believe what he had seen. Brianne had to have gotten to him right after he fell. His friend should be lying here somewhere healing along with Ember. It was then he noticed the large figure wrapped in clothing by Brianne. The whole body was covered, including the face and head. Looking at the size of it though, there was only one person it could be.

  Chandler met his eyes sorrowfully, "She is making sure his body is preserved so we can give him the proper honor but... there was nothing we could do."

  He looked over at Brianne and closed his eyes imprinting the image in his head. This is what his arrogance had caused them. Xander thought he had figured out the perfect plan to take down Dell. He should have seen that the enemy was bluffing. He should have found the energy to warn Michael. He had not been able to do either and now his best friend was dead.

  "What about Dell?" Xander opened his eyes back up and looked at Brianne in askance.

  "I left his body for the rats,” For a moment Brianne look fierce. The words drove some of the grief from her face and it gave Xander chills to see the hate on her face. Brianne was the gentle one, she was the one apprentice in the cave that would go out of her way to make sure everyone was happy. She was the healer, the caretaker. She should n0t have to feel hate and anger.

  "Alright, one more question. Where are we?"

  "We are a few miles from the cave,” Brianne answered. "We didn't feel it was wise to hang around since Nightfire knew where that cave was, and we didn't want to go too far before we knew where we were. Sierra tried to contact the dragons, but something seems to be blocking her attempts. She quit so whoever is blocking her couldn't use her casting to find us, and she has us holed up somewhere. She figured it was best if we stopped long enough to get you on your feet."

  "She's probably right," Xander stood up and walked over to sit by Brianne. "I am so sorry."

  And then Brianne was crying in his arms, and he felt his shirt dampen from her tears. He wanted to fix this, but he knew he could not. Nothing could fix this. Nothing would be alright now. Even if they managed to escape, let the dragons know what was happening and made it safely back to their cave. Michael's room would be empty. He would not be there to pull Xander out of trouble. When Xander shot his mouth off his friend would not be there to defend him, or to punch the idiots who might just deserve it. The world was broken now. Xander felt hot tears rolling down his cheeks before he knew it and he stuffed his face into Brianne's hair and cried with her. Later there would be time to escape, run, and maybe find vengeance. Now was not that time.

  He sat and let Brianne hold him for a few moments after they finished crying. Xander gently released her and then stood up and looked at Chandler. He did not just look but he tried to see all the bits of order and energy that made him up. He looked as deeply as possible to see if anything at all looked out of place. There of course was nothing that he could see, but he would not expect any bit of twisted magic to leave an obvious mark on Chandler. It would be so much better if things were that simple.

  "Sierra," He called out of the pocket dimension and there was no response. "Sierra?" He called again with the same amount of luck. He was about to pop out when Sierra finally popped in. Like the rest of them, her eyes were red, and he could tell she had been crying. Xander about jumped out of his skin when she stepped forward and gave him a rough hug, then released him. Brianne he could understand, but Sierra was not one to show any type of affection making that quick hug as meaningful as Brianne's. It took him a moment to speak and he fought back more tears from welling from his eyes. They had to start moving forward.

  "You need to take head apprentice Sierra,” Xander looked away and he felt Brianne and Chandler stiffen in shock. "I have led us into too many mistakes. I let Nightfire blind us. I let us stop with the dwarves which gave him the chance to catch up. I also led us straight into Dell's trap without even questioning whether Nightfire could have gotten ahead of us, and I should have. My mistakes keep costing us." He fought the urge to look at Michael's body. "I can't lead us into any more problems, we have enough as it is."

  The room was silent. No one spoke for several moments and Sierra stood sizing him up. He would give her what she wanted. There was no question in his mind that Sierra could lead them better than he had. His failures had killed their friend, and he could not lose any of the others due to his incompetence.

  "No," Sierra's voice was low and firm, she held Xander's eyes evenly. "I refuse; you are still the lead apprentice."

  "But... Look at what I've done to us."

  "Yes, and I want to know exactly what you think I would have done better." She walked up to Xander and stood with her face inches away from him. Her eyes were ice blue as they held him in place. "I know I would not have led us underground, which means we would not have survived this long. I don't know if I would have trusted the dwarves, which means Ember would still not be on the path to recovery. As it is, she should be waking anytime. I wouldn't have helped those dwarves and gotten us to the surface this quickly. I know that Dell would have killed us all under my leadership because I am not sure I could have trusted you in the way you trusted me when you linked your power to me." She grabbed Xander by the back of the head and pulled him forward, so they were forehead to forehead. "I want to lead, but only when I've earned it. You have saved us and proven yourself more than I could have. Don't let Michael's death do this to you. We need you to get us through this," Sierra hesitated. "I need you to get us through this."

  It was almost a hollow feeling that Xander felt at her words. It took a moment for him to recognize the fear for what it was and push it back into his soul. "I hope you are making the right decision, because I feel completely lost."

  "You're not any more lost then the rest of us." A bitter smile moved Sierra's lips. "We will get through this, you will lead us. When we get back to the cave I'm going to work as hard as possible so that I can challenge you and take the lead spot properly. I don't want it like this."

  "I look forward to the challenge." Xander quickly kissed her on the forehead and watched Sierra's eyes go shocked as she stepped back stuttering for words. Xander was sure he would pay for that later. He turned back and faced both Brianne and Chandler. "Do you guys agree with Sierra to have me still lead despite my mistakes?"

  There were nods from both Brianne and Chandler, neither spoke but they were watching him intently. He could feel Sierra's eyes on his back. Now was the time to make decisions and hope they were the correct ones. Xander prayed they would be the right ones.

  "First thing first." He sat down and looked at all of them. "Chandler can't remain tied up and cut off from magic." Xander looked straight at Chandler, "I can't tell if you have a spell on you, or if Nightfire has converted you to his way of thinking. I do know I can't sit here and leave you tied up forever. I must trust you eventually, and we may need you if we are going to survive this. I can't help but think that if you had been fighting with us when we faced Dell that it might have ended differently.” Xander paused for a second, “I can't take the chance you will turn on us." Once again, he looked between the three. "Any suggestions?"

  "I had an idea, but I wasn't sure if you would go for it." Sierra pulled a stone neck chain from her pocket. It looked like obsidian and steel rings linked together. "Both when we had our accident on the training grounds, and when we fought Dell we were able to use our energy behind the defenses that had been put up. If Chandler wears this, and we have it already enchanted then if he turns on us, we can simply use it to stop him. That means if he betrays us, we can literally blow his head off. Not that I want to use that option."

  "Is that acceptable to you Chandler?" Xander gauged the other apprentice’s action. "If you're
not comfortable with this precaution we can figure something else out. I won't force you. I want your consent."

  "It's more than acceptable," Chandler looked at the chain carefully. "Though you realize you’re just trading one set of chains for another one, metaphorically speaking."

  "I do. That is why I won't do it without your permission."

  "I will do it then."

  Sierra, Xander, and Brianne all surrounded Chandler as Sierra clasped the chain around his neck. All three channeled their energy into the chain and infused it with raw power. Sierra made the clasp on the chain fuse shut and shrunk it so that it held firmly against Chandler without being so tight as to restrict his movement or choke him.

  "Make sure you don't go poking the necklace with your magic or try to rip it off or all the energy will be released all at once." Sierra checked the chain one last time. "Hopefully you won't have to wear it very long. Once Ember wakes up, we will have her check you over and if you pass we can get rid of the neck chain." With that she dropped the spell shielding Chandler from using magic.

  Brianne quickly untied Chandler and the newly freed apprentice stood rubbing his wrists and then stretched. "Thank you, I'm know it's not easy to release me." He looked down to where Michael's body was wrapped. "Now we need to get somewhere where we can contact the dragons, if something is blocking us how do we do that?"

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  A couple hours later under the black night sky Brianne sat outside with Xander. She tried not to look at him. It troubled her they had to fight chaos magic and that the dragons had not prepared them at all. How were they supposed to fight something they knew nothing about? It was pure luck that Xander had figured out how to fight Dell, and they could not depend on that happening again.

  They knew that they had no way to counter chaos magic it was a safe assumption that Nightfire was the one keeping them from contacting the dragons. This meant they had few options. The first was they could stay here and wait for Ember to wake, or for the spell blocking them to dissipate. At this point Ember was healed enough she should have woken. Brianne had spent extra time examining the wound which was almost completely healed to try and figure out why she still slept. Nothing suggested a reason for their mentor to still be down. They could not guess at how long a spell blocking them from reaching out might last either. So, option one, staying here wasn't going to work.

  The second option was to continue what they were doing. Keep running and try to get clear from either the spell or find somewhere they could contact the dragons by other means. This plan was better, but not perfect. All they knew is that they were somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. They could be anywhere from Canada to the southern United States. Ember had not given very specific directions on where Torch's cave was, and with the running underground who knows where they had come up. They could not be sure what direction the nearest town would lie. They were deep enough in the mountains they could not even be sure what direction would lead them out more quickly.

  The third option was not really an option at all. They could go back to the cave they emerged from and try to find another way out or an ally underground. Neither option was likely to bear fruit, and Nightfire was almost surely keeping an eye on that path making it a sure way to get caught. They had barely survived the apprentice. Fighting Nightfire himself would be nothing but a great way to get killed.

  "What do you think happens after all of this?" Brianne's voice caused Xander to jump. "I mean, when we get back home what do you think will happen. It's not like the order dragons will just forget about the chaos dragons or vice versa.”

  Xander sat silently for a moment without talking. When he did Brianne could hear the worry in his voice. "I think our studying is over. The dragons are going to war, and I think we all will be wrapped up in this war with them. For better or for worse the secrets behind the reason the dragons are obsessed with controlling things will come to light and I think we will see a lot more death and destruction." He then looked over at her and his dragon eyes glinted strangely in the night. "I think from the beginning this has all been out of our hands. The best we can hope for now is to be prepared enough that some of the damage might be mitigated." He then looked across the clearing and cocked his head. "We also need to be prepared for the fallout when people are divided on which dragons to back, and prepare for a civil war between elves, dwarves, and the rest of the magical creatures."

  "No one is going to side with the chaos dragons." Brianne couldn't believe that Xander had even suggested it. "Nightfire attacked us! He killed Torch, and he killed Michael! How could you suggest that people might follow him? He is a murderer and he is the one picking this fight."

  "Is he?" Brianne felt uncomfortable as Xander turned his gaze on her again. "What if everything he told us is true? If our dragons, the order dragons started this war and this was his way of doing exactly what he said, a pre-emptive strike. That makes us soldiers on the opposite side of the battle, but that doesn't necessarily mean we are on the right side, if there is a right side. Yes, he has tried to kill us, and Dell under his direction killed Michael. That doesn't mean he wasn't doing what he thought he had to do for his survival."

  "You are sympathizing with him?"

  "No, I am facing the reality that there is every chance that there is no good side in this fight." Xander stood and took a step forward as he watched the forest line again. "That in my mind would be the worst kind of war, the type in which there really was no one deserved to win."

  "It doesn't matter. We were attacked without provocation. Nightfire did try to kill us, and then only talked to us when he had to.” Brianne crossed her arms and glared at Xander “You can't seriously think he's telling the truth?"

  "It makes sense, Nightfire's story. It makes a lot more sense than anything that Ember and the others refused to tell us. It would also explain why they didn't want to answer any questions when I asked them about why they had taken up the benevolent dictator role. How embarrassing would it be to have started a war that put you in the kind of situation where you would have to put the magical world asleep for thousands of years?"

  "You are seriously debating if Nightfire was in the wrong, aren't you?"

  "I'm not sure how you can't be." Xander must have seen the look on her face. "I am not thinking of joining his cause by any means, but I want to know what is motivating our enemies to try and kill us."

  "Good, because I worry about you sometimes."

  "Yeah, I worry about me too." Xander's eyes narrowed even further and he seemed focused on a clump of pine trees several feet away.

  "What do you keep looking at, you’re giving me the creeps."

  "I thought I saw something move out that way." Xander took a couple steps forward as if to get a better look.

  That was when the arrows suddenly started raining down.

  Ambushed

  Xander managed to snap his shield up and block the arrows as they almost hit him. A glance to his left showed that Brianne had managed to stop the ones aimed at her as well. All that was left of the projectiles were splintered bits of wood.

  A group of five elves charged at the two apprentices with swords ready to strike. Xander simply flipped them back with an arc of force. This took four of them out of the fight, and left one still charging him. He wanted to time this right. If he could make a show of force it might make the elves hesitate long enough to talk.

  The elf raised his sword and screamed slashing at Xander. Without budging, Xander simply shielded his arm and raised it into the path of the blade stopping it cold. He then coated his other arm in energy and punched the elf straight in the chest knocking him back and down on the ground. The elf lay crumbled and gasping for breath. Xander had made sure he had not hit the elf with enough force to kill him, but he might have broken a rib or two.

  "I can do this all night long," Xander yelled. "Come out and let's talk before I have to get aggressive."

  "I think you are bluffing my friend," Another elf stepped out of th
e shadows not five feet from Xander, and to his credit the apprentice managed not to jump. Xander had always thought that the Romani had been closely related to the elves. True the elves were a lot thinner than a human would likely be, but from the accent to the long curly hair they seemed cut from the same cloth. Gold hoops adorned this elves ears and large green eyes regarded him from an angular face that seemed to be largely cheekbone.

  "I don't think I am. Arrows are relatively easy to stop. I would also assume that your archers only have so many arrows and let's be honest, I could reduce this whole area to ashes before you managed to pierce my shield. " Xander crossed his arms determined not to back down. “You also saw how effective your swordsmen were.”

  "This may be very true Dragon Eyes, but I don't think you would risk turning the elves against your dragons when you might just be needing us." The elf gave a wicked grin and cocked his head. "Plus, your advantage assumes I have only archers and swordsmen at my command. You know as well as I do that isn't likely the case." To back up his words the forest was suddenly alive with elves. Several were of course armed with bows, arrows, and swords. Others simply stood there in long robes watching intently. Xander had no doubt these were wizards who were more capable then he might ever be. Humans could learn and use magic, elves and their kin breathed it in with the air.

  "Dragon Eyes? You couldn't come up with a better name for me." Xander tried not to look uncomfortable but he knew if they were attacked it would be a losing battle. "All we are doing is passing through. We will be out of your forest as soon as possible, no harm to you or your kin."

  "I call you Dragon Eyes because that is who you are." The elf gave Xander a look that a parent might give a child when explaining something that should be perfectly obvious. "I see you and the Mender are here. The rest of your group are where exactly?"

  "The rest of our group are close by. Now, if you don't mind, we will be leaving now." Xander made a move to pass past the elf, but a firm hand on his chest stopped him completely.