Kazin's Quest: Book I of The Dragon Mage Trilogy (56 page)

“You’re not the only one forgetting important things, Sherman,” said Kazin. “Remember the note the mage in the past gave me? He gave it to me in case I was unable to find a copy of the Book of Prophesy.”

“That’s right!” exclaimed the warrior. “What’s it say?”

Kazin opened the note and read:

“When the sky is red and the water is blue,

The conditions are right for the one who is true.

You need only to look if you wish to win

beneath the surface under the fin.”

“What the heck does that mean?” asked Sherman.

Kazin frowned. “I wish I knew.”

“The mage said things would make sense when the time came for them to happen,” said Sherman.

Kazin shrugged. “That would explain why it doesn’t make sense right now. I just wish it was a little more obvious.”

Suddenly Zylor appeared, towering above the two seated figures. “I must speak with you, warrior,” he said, addressing Sherman.

Sherman looked up in surprise. “What is it?”

“As we all know,” began Zylor, “myself in particular, your weapon skill is unequalled. But your last opponent could have been defeated much sooner had you known some close combat skills. I will teach you those. Now.”

Sherman grimaced. “Do I have a choice?”

The minotaur said nothing and looked on, impassive.

Sherman sighed and looked at Kazin. “Apparently not.” He rose and suggested a location away from the ledge’s edge.

Milena returned from a preliminary survey of their temporary campsite and stopped suddenly when she saw the two combatants exchanging blows. She looked at Rubin, who lay leisurely against a boulder nearby playing dice with the dwarf.

Rubin saw her and smiled. “Practicing,” he said, thumbing over his shoulder.

Milena sniffed and walked past them. “If they get hurt, they’re on their own,” she muttered darkly.

Harran glanced at the fighters and smirked. Sherman was going to have a sore night.

Darkness fell quickly and Kazin, Della, and Frosty prepared for their departure.

“Good luck,” said Sherman. “We’ll keep a sharp lookout for anything unusual while we’re waiting for you to get back with your report. Whistle the bird call if you’re in trouble and we’ll come running.”

“See you later,” said Kazin. “Don’t do anymore practicing while I’m gone. We might need everyone in shape for what lies ahead.”

Sherman rubbed a sore jaw. “Don’t worry. I’ve had enough of that for a while. Zylor can hit hard when he wants to.” He turned back to view the minotaur playing dice with Rubin and Harran. “At least I got some decent shots in on him a couple of times.”

“That’s funny,” mused Kazin. “He doesn’t seem to be hurt or injured.”

Sherman gave the mage a look and Kazin laughed. “I know, I know. Minotaurs don’t show their pain. I was just teasing.”

Sherman smiled ruefully. “Just wait. I’ll get you back! You’ll see!”

Kazin followed Della as she picked her way up the mountainside, her keen elven eyesight finding the easiest route.

Frosty followed, his mountain goat hooves sure and swift, finding adequate footholds where humans wouldn’t even consider stepping.

They climbed for about an hour, and at intervals could see the lights that the mages in the Tower of the Sky had claimed appeared each night.

“It looks like torchlight,” said Della.

“It probably is,” said Kazin. “The lights are moving left around and down the mountain’s side, just like Perenia had said. Let’s see if we can get closer.”

They climbed some more and Frosty called a halt. “We should pick a route to the right and above where the lights start,” he commented. “We can better see what is going on from above. I detect magic nearby also. It is meant to detect intruders. I will negate those spells only. To negate all magic right now could alert the mages in this area to our presence simply because they may be using magic right now, and if their magic fails, they will become suspicious.”

The three spies carefully wended their way to the right and ended in a position directly above the torchlight. Looking down, they saw two mercenaries and three mages standing in a semicircle on a half-moon shaped ledge. Two of the mages were lizardmages, the other one was human. Torches set in some trees nearby lit the ledge in an eerie light. The mages looked inward from the light while the mercenaries looked outward in a relaxed, lethargic pose.

Suddenly, light appeared in front of the mages, highlighting their faces. The light came from the mountain itself.

Moments later a lizardmage appeared, followed by a string of goblins, and a few zombie-like humans. The zombies wore ragged clothes and walked as though in a daze. They appeared to be undead soldiers; their bodies were too decomposed to be alive.

The lizardmage who first appeared stopped and instructed a goblin carrying a torch to lead the way down a moonlit path extending down the mountainside. The goblin complied and the other goblins followed. The lizardmage turned and gave an unintelligible command to the zombies. Slowly, raggedly, they followed the mage down the path. Another mage, a human one this time, appeared and took up the rear. A zombie in front of him fell and the mage cursed. He bent over, helped the zombie to his feet, and pushed him roughly after the others. Miraculously, the zombie never fell down again. The mage in the rear raised his staff and chanted a spell. A small, white skull at the top of his staff flared with blood-red light, its eyes appearing menacing in the dark.

Kazin recalled it as being similar to the one in Harran’s story of when he encountered a lizardmage.

The light in the clearing vanished suddenly, leaving the ledge once again in the shadowy light of the torches.

“Where did they all come from?” whispered Della. “There was not enough room for all of them on the small ledge.”

“There’s either a cave or a magical portal in the mountain’s face,” whispered Kazin in return. “My guess is it’s a magical portal.”

“You are right,” said Frosty, his voice loud in their thoughts. “I sensed strong magic when the bright light appeared, and now it’s gone.”

“I think I know what kind of portal it is,” said Kazin. “I’ve encountered it before north of the Tower of Hope.”

“Can you open it?” asked Della.

“Possibly,” said Kazin.

“Can you seal or destroy it?” asked Frosty.

Kazin looked at the mountain goat in surprise. “I’ve never tried.”

“That is what we must do or our mission is in vain,” said Frosty solemnly. “We must stop these evil creatures from entering this area via the mountain if we are to help the centaurs and elves to defeat them. This is where the evil enters the land. If it is not stopped, the elves and centaurs will be fighting endless swarms of these creatures. They could end up fighting for years. That will not help our cause in the north.”

Kazin shuddered. What was being asked of him was not something he knew he could do. He had successfully opened such a magical door once, but sealing it or destroying it was an entirely different matter. A fire began to burn inside him.

Suddenly he had an idea. What if he transformed into a dragon? Couldn’t he do enough damage to the door to seal it in rock? Couldn’t he—?

“No!” came the answer in his mind sharply. It rang loud and clear. At first Kazin didn’t know if it was the voice associated with the transformation or Frosty’s voice.

“No!” repeated the voice again. It was Frosty. “As a dragon, you will attract the attention of numerous mages and other enemies. They will come back up the mountain and work to undo any damage you may have done to the door. There may even be enough mages in the area to strike at you magically, and a dragon, especially an inexperienced one, can come to great harm. You are formidable as a dragon, but not invincible. Remember that!”

“O.K.,” said Kazin meekly. “But what do you suggest we do?”

“We will wait,” said Frosty. “When the next group of creatures comes, we will try to determine the time gap before the following ones arrive. With this in mind, we will take out the guards and the three mages approximately halfway through the next time frame. This will allow the ones who were here most recently to travel a good way down the mountain before we strike, yet allow us time to seal the door before the next ones arrive via the gate.”

“Shouldn’t we get the others?” asked Della.

Frosty shook his head, his goat beard wagging comically. “No. It would only complicate matters. You can shoot the enemies before they know what hit them, I can block the mages’ magic, and Kazin can seal the door. No one else is required. Besides, the sooner we act, the fewer enemies we’ll have to deal with later.”

“There’s only one problem with your plan,” said Kazin. “What if I can’t seal the door?”

“You will know what to do,” said Frosty. “You did it in the Plains of Grief. You will do just fine here.”

“But I simply opened the door there,” objected Kazin. “I didn’t seal it. It must require much more magical—.”

“It will come to you,” assured Frosty. “You never knew what to do in the Plains of Grief but it came to you there. This situation is no different.”

Kazin gave a dejected sigh. “I hope so.”

Some ten minutes later another group of goblins, accompanied by zombies and two more mages, appeared the same way as the first. When they disappeared in the darkness below and the gate light vanished, Frosty nudged Kazin.

“We will wait for about five minutes. Move back down the way we came and wait just outside the circle of torchlight. When I give the signal, Della must fire precisely aimed arrows. Once her first shot is fired, I want you to climb up to the ledge and locate the position of the magical portal. When you find it, aim your staff at it. The rest should come to you. You will have approximately five minutes to seal the portal. If you fail and the portal begins to shimmer, pull back and we’ll escape while we can.”

Kazin nodded. “What about you? Can’t you go down there and help me?”

“I cannot,” said Frosty. “My vantage here is superior. Anything I have to do is done best from this location. Now, hurry! Time is wasting!”

Kazin scrambled to his spot as fast as he dared. Should the mercenaries or mages hear him, all was lost before it began.

He waited silently behind some shrubbery, a guard standing only a stone’s throw away. Suddenly the man gurgled and fell.

Kazin sprang from hiding and climbed onto the ledge. He was just out of range of the torchlight and the mercenary lay on the ground before him. Slipping Sherman’s ring out of his pocket, he put it on, hoping it would work despite Frosty’s ‘negate magic’ spell.

Summoning a reserve of courage, he stepped into the light.

A mage had now fallen and the other two stared at their comrade in surprise. The remaining guard was more interested in the absence of his counterpart. Already he was running over to where he had seen him last. Kazin’s heart leaped. The man was headed directly toward him!

“Kazin! Where are you?” called Frosty.

“I’m here!” answered Kazin mentally. Deftly he sidestepped the mercenary and struck him across the chest with his staff. The man fell backward to the ground in a daze. His expression was one of surprise.

“I can’t see you!” exclaimed Frosty. A second mage fell to the ground and the last one bolted for cover. He never made it. An arrow in his back sent him sprawling into a nearby bush. He lay still.

“I’m wearing the invisibility ring!” said Kazin.

The guard began to rise.

“Take it off!” ordered Frosty. “I don’t want Della to hit you by accident!”

Kazin complied but realized his mistake too late. The mercenary saw him and lunged with his sword. Kazin didn’t jump out of the way in time and was knocked off his feet, the mercenary’s sword going wide. An arrow whizzed past overhead and missed both combatants.

The guard raised his sword and was about to bring it down on the helpless mage when he was distracted by a shimmering light from the magical gate indented in the rock face behind him.

Kazin took advantage of the pause to bring his staff up and jab the mercenary hard in the midriff.

The man gasped and collapsed, groaning and gasping for air.

“Kazin, get out of there!” cried Frosty.

Kazin ignored his familiar. He was angered by the setback and the fire in his stomach had returned. He moved closer to the portal, pointed his staff, and concentrated. The shimmering was getting brighter, the mercenary was slowly returning to his feet, and Frosty was calling out to him incessantly, but he pushed it all from his mind. Another arrow whizzed past him but he took no notice. He even ignored the fire inside himself. Sweat beaded his forehead.

The shimmering became a dazzling white light. Within the light, he could make out the forms of people approaching. Still he concentrated.

“Good!” said the voice inside his head. It wasn’t Frosty. “Very good!”

A figure began to take on more solid shape within the gate. It was a lizardmage.

“Now!” screamed the voice in his head. “Let the fire out now!”

Suddenly the fire within Kazin surged into his pointing staff and shot into the dazzlingly bright portal. The lizardmage mage in the lead of his procession gave a brief scream and disappeared in a puff of smoke. The goblins and zombies behind him followed the same path of extinction. When the mage bringing up the rear was destroyed, the portal began to radiate with intense blue heat. With a blast like a distant explosion, the portal began to collapse in on itself, starting at the other end and burning toward the exit. The portal on the ledge exploded outward, its force sending Kazin a step or two backward. The mountain rumbled menacingly and the ground shuddered violently beneath his feet. Then, just as suddenly as it began, all was still.

Kazin stared at the mountain’s face in numb disbelief. The portal was gone. Not a trace of it remained. Where the portal had been was now only solid rock.

Chapter 45

Y
ou did it!” exclaimed Della at his side. She squeezed his hand.

Kazin weakly squeezed back. He noticed the second mercenary on the ground close by. He had three arrows in his chest. If it wasn’t for Della, he might very well have failed.