Marcus was annoyed. “See! Do you see what I mean! I’ll bet he didn’t mention its location now how to destroy it.”
“No I’m afraid not. Do you intend to give up being a wizard?”
Marcus again shook his head. “If only it were that simple, it follows me around like stink on a skunk. I’m stuck with it. And where the hell is Raina? I sent knights to her kingdom and she hasn’t gone back there.”
The king got up to look out the window, still weak from his ordeal, hoping that something untoward hadn’t happened to the girl. “What happened to the fire dragon?”
“He was destroyed by Stone’s magical sword but the sword in turn was also shattered and the knight that accompanied it as well.” Marcus was happy to see that his father was up and moving around again, though not as strong as he had been. “I’d go searching for Raina but I have no idea where to look; I suppose I should be off in search of the staff. I don’t know what to do anymore.”
Marcus spent several hours putting together a spell that would show him Raina’s location but for whatever reason the spell wasn’t working properly; it showed him empty space in the desert but clearly there was no sign of Raina. It even confused the wand as it informed Marcus that it should have worked. A second enchantment illuminated a large area on the wall showing him the location of the staff in a hut in the woods; he could see Kapano, Asher and Aewyn arguing in front of it, and the staff was a vibrant purple.
Perhaps he would end up a lonely old sorcerer deep in the forest.
Marcus departed early the following morning with his golden knights surrounding him; he had to get his father to order Stone and Alexa to remain behind, explaining that this ordeal was one of magic and that ordinary knights were ill-equipped for such a battle. He had had an argument with Daganth as well, finally convincing the baby dragon to stay behind otherwise he was going to tell Ryxa to take him home where he belonged.
The journey itself was quiet and the sorcerer would have enjoyed the solitude had it not been for Raina’s disappearance, his knights remained silent most of the way. What would he do if he never saw her again? The thought was just too painful and he had to force it from his mind, a distracted wizard in battle would most likely be a dead one.
He wasn’t sure how to fight three wizards at once. If he survived this nightmare he would need to hit the books and learn a lot more spells, necessary to become a wizard that was much more prepared to do battle, but again the thought of Raina saddened him something awful. What if something happened to her? What if she was dead?
Marcus left the forest path and approached the hut from the west, remaining quite a distance away as he surveyed it, not easy for so many knights to remain silent while traipsing through the woods but they tried. He was sure that a spell of silence existed but he didn’t have knowledge of it, and it seemed to him that his wand would have known of one but he supposed it didn’t know everything. The place appeared to be quiet. Asher exited and slammed the red door hard, the sound of it making its way through the trees; he sat on the ground and crossed his arms and frowned much like a child would that hadn’t gotten his way.
The young sorcerer nodded at what appeared to be a disagreement brewing, a fight amongst the three would certainly benefit his desire to destroy the staff; distraction might be the best that he could hope for.
Marcus’s wand vibrated. Remain quiet he’s about to return to the hut.
Asher was mumbling to himself as he suddenly stood up and returned to the hut. “Unfair!” He again slammed the door for effect as he entered.
Inside the hut Kapano was talking loudly to Aewyn. “Just give me some time to think on it!”
“Unfair!” Asher shouted. “We were all supposed to share in the staff.”
Kapano rolled his blue eyes and was about to speak when he stopped as he felt a wave of energy go through him. “TarCranian wizard! The boy’s outside! And with the staff I can control him!”
Marcus’s wand vibrated. Run!
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
RAINA SAT AT THE TABLE with a lump on the side of her head and some discoloration around her eye, her hands weren’t tied but her ankles were, making it much more difficult to give him the beating that he needed. She was eating some sort of fried chicken that Cyrus had conjured up, at least eleven spices and herbs, and it was delicious though she wasn’t about to tell him that. Cyrus wasn’t quite so handsome with his tooth missing, at least that gave her a degree of satisfaction.
“You like that chicken don’t you?” said Cyrus.
Raina had decided not to talk to the brute ever again and as she ate she was working on freeing her ankles from the rope, if she could free her legs she would knock out another tooth, better still she would knock his brains out, if he had any. It was funny how someone could hide their true selves for so long and usually it was men; their size and strength allowed them to be brutes with most women.
If was difficult to squirm out of her bindings without him noticing, otherwise he would just make them more secure. She could feel that her ankles were becoming raw. It felt as if she might be close if only she could look down and see what she had accomplished; he was like a cat with a mouse and he didn’t take his eyes off of her often. When Cyrus knocked down a bone off the table and bent down to get it she took the opportunity to take a quick peek, hoping that he wouldn’t see her; she pulled hard and suddenly her legs were free.
“I could have had my way with you while you were unconscious but I didn’t. Or did I?” Cyrus grinned at her.
Raina pretended that she was choking on a chicken bone, coughing and hacking, and as Cyrus approached to pound on her back she punched him in the throat and he went down struggling to breathe; she repeatedly kicked him in the head until he stopped moving. He was either dead or would wish he was when he got up. She had had to put everything into the attack, her escape was on her shoulders and she might never get another chance. Blood ran from his face and nose.
Raina ran to the stone where he had pushed her through the hole and pushed the stone out and got outside; she took his horse and rode off as fast as she could, when she dared to look back the place had disappeared. If he was dead it served him right.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
KAPANO STARTED FOR THE DOOR with the Staff of Herding, anxious to take control of the TarCranian wizard and as happy as a chickadee in a field of sunflowers, what a delightful day this was going to be, but as soon as he exited from the hut Marcus struck him with a bolt of lightning. Kapano staggered backward, the energy from the strike hurt but the staff absorbed most of it. Kapano launched the magical rope from the staff in an effort to grab Marcus, but unlike the other wizard he could see the rope and dodged it just in time.
“You think you’re so clever!” Kapano shouted, tossing a small bottle in amongst the golden knights; they were instantly trapped inside an unbreakable clear glass sphere, many of them slipped and fell inside as they moved around trying hard to break their way out, but their weapons had no effect against the glass. Several golden knights were furious as the struck with all their might.
“You’re in for it now boy!”
Both sorcerers launched bolts at one another, Marcus’s lightning was grey and Kapano’s yellow, the bolts met with a loud bang, the boy’s bolt pushed back the other, disintegrating it, falling to the ground like a line of dust. Asher and Aewyn ran out to join the battle making it three against one and Marcus was afraid that it would be impossible to defend against three simultaneous attacks. And with a wave of his hand Aewyn started to pull boulders from the ground, they tore up grass and dirt as they pulled themselves out of the soil and were tossed at the young sorcerer. He moved out of the way of some and destroyed others with lightning. Asher flung blue daggers at him, two of them cutting into his left arm before he reversed them, sending them back at Asher, who caught two in his right thigh making him scream. The young wizard’s wounds weren’t serious but they burned like hell fire, allowing Kapano to get the noose around Marcus
’s neck and tighten it. He felt no physical pain but now was unable to move.
Marcus stood expressionless, his wand dropped down to his side and toward the ground; he was in Kapano’s control. His eyes didn’t blink as he stared off at nothing in particular; he was a pawn to be manipulated.
Kapano danced. “I have him!”
Aewyn raised his hands in celebration. “A TarCranian wizard to do our bidding. Glory be to us!”
“I should have him kill a dragon.” Kapano envisioned a black dragon being blown out of the sky. He looked skyward searching but there was none to be seen. His mind raced like a wild horse.
Asher wasn’t so happy having been wounded. “I’m in pain. Make him heal me. Can a TarCranian wizard really kill a dragon?”
“They are notorious dragon killers.” Kapano nodded enthusiastically. “Or so I’ve been told.”
“I never heard of that,” said Aewyn. “You’re making stuff up.”
“I command you to heal Asher.”
Marcus pointed the wand at Asher, small globules of liquid emerged from the end of the wand and floated into Asher’s thigh instantly healing him.
“Enter my little sorcerer and have a seat at the table.” Kapano watched as Marcus did exactly as he was told.
The wand being a sorcerer that had been a TarCranian wizard during his lifetime wasn’t at all happy with the predicament; he existed to serve the boy not these three miscreants. It became aware that although Marcus was under the staff’s control the wand was only partially so, he still needed to do Marcus’s bidding but he did have some freedom to act on his own in defense of his sorcerer. He might only have one opportunity to act so it was necessary to make the proper move; it would be easy to make him get rid of the wand.
Aewyn sat down across from Marcus and stared at his blank face. “Things are moving so fast. What should we make him do? I know, send him back to Leeander and command him to kill his own family, starting with his father the king!”
“That does sound delicious,” said Asher. “Do it!”
So many different paths for Kapano to take and that was a problem in itself; although their idea was delightful he didn’t want to do it simply because they wanted him to, but exactly what should he make him do first? Taking control of a kingdom sounded like it would be a well placed first step but which kingdom was the most powerful? He would need to do some research as there were four possible candidates. He could then command the king to destroy whatever kingdom was closest to it and reap the spoils of war.
Aewyn pounded his fist on the table. “Are you going to do it or not?”
Then again it might be best that he did destroy the boy’s family, if only to appease the two wizards that had become alienated by the fact that he wouldn’t let them touch the staff. “Marcus, you will return to Leeander and kill your entire family and anyone that gets in your way before return here with the king’s head.”
“I will do as you command,” said Marcus. He got up and headed for the door.
Outside the hut the wand spun Marcus around, bringing his arm up and pointing at the dwelling, accomplishing tiny circular motions; the dwelling pulled itself out of the soil and rose, so high that it went up over the trees. It spun so fast that it became a blur, the three wizards inside were pushed against the wall unable to move. Kapano tried his best but wasn’t even able to move his arm away from the wall as they all shouted to one another. The rotation broke the link from the staff to Marcus permitting him to return to his normal state.
The cabin impacted hard to the forest floor, with such force that part of it collapsed. The golden knights were freed and surrounded the hut as Brother entered and then exited with the staff in hand and gave it to Marcus. He then placed the small pouch that he had found inside the book onto the Staff of Herding, backing up quite a distance before hitting it with a bolt of lightning; the explosion was impressive and completely destroyed the staff, nothing remained of it except for crystalized dust.
“Do I kill them?” the sorcerer asked his wand.
I cannot make decisions of judgment that might alter you either now or in the future.
Marcus didn’t like how that read, might it be a warning not to kill them without actually saying it? Suddenly there was the most unpleasant sound of vomiting coming from within, all three of them had started to retch, emptying the contents of their stomachs, and even vomiting on one another. Asher tried to run outside but was so dizzy that he ran sideways and smashed into the wall where Aewyn threw up on him.
Marcus nodded. “It’s time to head back.” He grimaced at the sound of retching so violent that he thought they might actually be throwing up their insides.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
The huge dome that covered the volcano cracked noisily, the fracture continuing to spread as ash began to escape the enclosure and the resulting explosion destroyed part of the island.
Look for Braeden the Barbarian: Forbidden City in January or February 2015.
http://www.independentauthornetwork.com/a-j-gallant.html
Knight of the Sword (of Knights and Wizards Book 3) Page 22