Drakonika (Book 1) (42 page)

“
How do you want to get out? You know that the guards won't let us-” Maren said, breathing hard as she tottered behind Magnus, who walked too quickly. As they rushed into the hallway, turned right and walked towards the exit in haste, Maren's question was answered.

“
I believe we could use this to our advantage,” said Magnus with a faint sneer.

“
You're too weak,” Eagle said, throwing a card on the floor before Jackal. “Two cards down, come on, give them up!” He sounded rather bright and enjoying himself quite a bit.

Jackal's face was contorted with sadness and feeble attempts to summon pity in his partner so that he would spare him. But nothing seemed to help. “Why did ya do that?” He said, his voice full of acted disappointment.

“Because it's a game, Jackal.” Eagle said flatly. “You have to win at all costs.”

“
Ehm... good evening,” Magnus said, trying to sound polite, seeing the two guards who had caused him so much trouble.

Jackal gave a shrilly yelp and leaped to his feet instantly, while Eagle quickly stuffed the cards into his pocket. But it was too late; Magnus had seen everything.

“Please don't tell the general,” Jackal let out, trembling from head to toe.

“
Shut up, Jackal!” Eagle whispered furiously, but a little more audible than he wanted.

Magnus' uncertain expression was switched to a warm, broad smile. “I surely won't, how could I betray such
good friends
of mine?” Magnus said defiantly, exchanging a few wordless looks with Maren and Fjalldís, who just hoped that he would handle the situation wisely.

Hearing that voice, Jackal and Eagle took a closer look at the face hidden in the black hood. It seemed they understood who it was, because they both looked as though they had seen the death itself.

“M-Magnus?” Jackal stammered. He felt a drop of sweat running down his temple.

“
That's right, it's me. The winner of the worldwide Magiker tournament. I wish to pass the stairs and go out, if you...
let me
.” Said Magnus in a slightly superior tone. This was a completely different situation than when he came to Ragna for the very first time and wanted to pass through the guards. He had proven himself very powerful, witty and smart, and on top of that, now he had something that he could use against them. “Otherwise, I have totally no idea how, the general could hear a word or two about you playing Magiker while you're on duty... Moreover, you don't even have your helmets on,” Magnus said and gave them a significant took.

Jackal and Eagle cast themselves terrified looks. They did not show Magnus any mercy before... why would he be any different towards them now? “We can't let you through. There are beasts out there-” said Eagle, but Magnus cut him off before he could say another word.

“I truly appreciate your care, but in case you haven't noticed, I can take care of myself.” Magnus said confidently, then leaned a bit closer to Eagle and Jackal. “Nobody will learn nothing, if you let us pass now.”

Jackal tried to shake off his fear. “About us not wearing helmets? And playing Magiker on duty?” He said silently, almost whispering.

“No, nothing.” Magnus said.

“
And about us letting you go out tonight?” Jackal added, casting terrified looks from left to right, as though he wanted to make sure that nobody else heard it, although there were only walls around them.

“
Not a word.” Magnus answered, smiling faintly.

Jackal gave his partner a wordless gaze. “Alright then, get out,” said Eagle unwillingly, stepping away from their way. “Move it.” He muttered.

Magnus gave Maren and Fjalldís a significant smile. “Let's go,” he said brightly and as they were passing by Eagle and Jackal, he uttered a mocking: “Thank you, guys.”

Eagle was red from anger, but Jackal did not feel hatred towards Magnus anymore. It was them who were mocking him first, so it was only natural that he wanted to repay them when he got the chance. Jackal made a long step forward as the three friends made their first steps on the stairs up. “Wait!” He shrieked, then quickly turned to Eagle. “Give me the quill pen and the ink,” he said swiftly.

Eagle rolled his eyes and pulled the quill and ink flask out of his pocket. He knew what was going through Jackal's head.

Jackal opened the ink bottle and dipped the feather inside. In the next second, he forced the quill pen and a box into Magnus' hands. It was a box from Jackal's Magiker card deck.

With Eagle muttering something about Jackal's idiocy in the background, Magnus smiled and scribbled his name onto the battered card box. It seemed it was used quite often.

As Jackal took the box from Magnus back, his eyes were gleaming with joy. He could not believe that he held something that precious in his hands. Seeing his expression, Maren and Fjalldís had to let out a giggle.

They turned up the stairs and found out that the trap door leading to the surface was locked under several bars and locks. Eagle gave Jackal a mocking look. “Well, go open it, you're their big friend now,” he scoffed.

Jackal shot him a furious look and stumbled up the stairs to the wooden hatch. It took a while till he opened it, as it seemed even he did not know which key belonged to which key hole. When he pushed the door open, Magnus, Maren and Fjalldís climbed out and as soon as they set their feet on the pavement of the dark Ragnan street, the door slammed closed. They were out.

Magnus shook from the chilly air, while Maren and Fjalldís trembled from the fact that they were standing in the middle of a Ragnan street at night and they could had been an easy prey to any of the dangerous winged monsters that might had roamed the roads.

“
Alright... and now what?” Maren asked, cautiously looking all around, although it was very hard to see anything.

“
We are going to look for my amulet,” Magnus breathed. “It must be somewhere here, in Ragna.”

Before Maren could say anything, Fjalldís plunged immediately into the conversation of what she had understood about Magnus' true dragon nature.

“So you think you are... evil?” Maren gasped.

“
I don't know for sure... but think about it. I know nothing about myself, except that if I don't find the amulet soon, I will turn into a dragon completely. And, possibly, into a villain.” Magnus said swiftly.

“
Xanthar was right then! He was right about you...” Maren said, shivering all over.

“
I don't know Maren, I don't have any answers... but I have to stop that process before I hurt any of you.” Said Magnus with a serious look in his face.

Fjalldís took Maren by her shoulders and gazed at Magnus. “Where do we start?” She said while trying to calm Maren, who was, upon looking, totally shaken from what she had just learned.

“The police station. Let's go.” Magnus said with finality in his voice and stepped forward.

Maren and Fjalldís followed straight after. “The police station? Are you crazy? It's the best guarded building in the whole town, you'll never get inside at night!” Maren shrieked out.

“Then I'll have to find a way how to get there at day time,” Magnus answered grimly, not even looking back. “Besides, they have something the dragons want. And I think I know what it is ... the nine-pointed star that Fjalldís had seen there and that we have seen in the black book. It's required that I have it on me when I utter the incantation to open the gate to another world. If I can't find the amulet, I will have to go there. To find someone who could make another one, or to find out more about myself, or... or just depart before I can harm any of you.”

Maren remained in silence for a while, looking rather sad. She felt as though the time spent with Magnus had been nearing its end. “Yeah but... do you even remember the incantation?”

“I remember it all right,” Magnus said, confident of his good dragon memory. “It was...  Dar garoth im na lei, torokkur n' fir daher.”

As soon as he uttered these words, Maren jumped up and shivered all over. “Are you insane? I asked if you remember it, I didn't tell you to say it!” She scolded him.

“Relax! Nothing will happen until I get the star-shaped key.” Magnus said, looking around the streets they walked. He was leading the way across the roads he had never seen before, and that led Maren to a suspicious thought.

“
Are you using my mind as a map?” Maren said, sounding a bit annoyed. She did not receive any answer, and that was an answer good enough to understand she was right. “We definitely need to get that amulet back.” She said and shot Magnus a furious look.

With using Maren's mind as a Map, Magnus had safely led them close to the Magi police station. All doors and windows were boarded and locked, except a few on the very top of the lookout tower. “That's Xanthar's office,” Fjalldís said swiftly and pointed at the row of windows located at the top of the tower.

“Well we have to get a closer look at it,” Magnus replied in a distant voice, gazing up at the tower.

Maren mouthed at Magnus, then finally said what she had wanted to ask for quite some time already. “You don't really think that the police stole it from you, do you?” She said in a tone as though she could not believe it.

“It must have been someone who's got the license to cast spells in Ragna, otherwise he would be arrested, don't you think? I believe if it was a regular thief, I would have noticed him. No,” Magnus said and shook his head. “It must have been someone using the invisibility spell. And Xanthar uses it quite a bit, if you remember.”

“
Alright you two,” Fjalldís said impatiently, “There's no time for explanations now. We could be eaten by dragons or arrested by the police at any minute. They could be using the invisibility spell right now to hear what we're talking about.” She whispered insistently.

These words sent Maren a chill down her spine, and Magnus did not seem to feel much different. “Okay. I should climb at one of the higher houses to see into his office.” Said Magnus, but just as he let that sentence out, they heard a muffled rustle somewhere behind them. All three of them  turned around instantly, trembling all over. Maren and Fjalldís were expecting a huge lizard covered in scales with sharp fangs, while Magnus was afraid that either Xanthar or one of his police officers would emerge in front of them from the darkness. But they were all wrong.

As they were staring into the dark lane, they thought that they saw nothing; until, finally, a small, strange creature moved swiftly back into the shadows and they realized they had been gazing at it all this time.

Maren recovered first. “What was that?” She said, her voice completely shaken with fear. She had never seen anything like that in her life. It looked like a winged snake, or rather, a small winged lizard with a long body, mimicking the wall of the house they were leaning to and the stone floor of the lane perfectly. Could that be a dragon? But if not, what else would it be? Magnus scooted off forward in order to find it and catch it, Maren and Fjalldís exchanged totally shocked looks and after that, they set off to follow him. It did not take long for them to hear Magnus' victorious call.

“I got it!” Magnus bellowed from a nearby corner of the lane.

Maren and Fjalldís rushed to him in such haste that they almost ran into him and stopped in the last second, only because...

“Eeeeeek!” They both squealed in a shrilly tone, seeing the strange creature squirming in Magnus' firm grip.

“
What... what is it?” Maren said in a terrified tone, gazing with her eyes popped open at the small winged lizard. In seconds, it adjusted its colors to Magnus' black and silvery Magiker robe. Both girls flinched back.

“
Well, I think it's a dragon,” Magnus said, sounding much calmer now that they were a little farther from the police station. “One of those who cause the great havoc in these streets, I suspect,” he added, giving the small creature a threatening look.

The lizard shook from the top of its head to the very end of its narrow tail, swinging with it around Magnus' arm. “Oh please don't eat me, please don't eat me!” The dragon shrieked. “I- I taste really bad, I keep eating vegetables!” He said in a swift, stuttering voice.

“What?” Said Magnus, as though he could not believe what he had just heard.

“
It talks!” Fjalldís gasped, clapping her hand to her mouth. Maren gaped at the little creature with her mouth hanging open.

“
I'm not going to eat you,” Magnus said, his voice full of unbelieving snigger.

The little dragon scowled at him. “Well I wouldn't be so sure-” he said, but stopped himself from saying anything more.

Magnus frowned. Why did all those words sound a little too suspicious to him? A sudden wave of strong curiosity flushed him, but all he received when he tried to read the dragon's mind was an unpleasant stitch in his temples. He twitched his head jerkily.

“
Magnus, be careful! It could bite!” Maren said in a highly concerned tone.

“
What? Bite? Me?” The dragon said, looking quite shocked. He remained silent for a second, then scowled again, trying to look as fearsome as he could. “Yes that's right, I bite! And it hurts like... well... it hurts like...” He said, lowering his voice as he had ran out of all the fearsome words he could think of. Well, that was not many then. And certainly not enough to scare Magnus and his two friends.