Kazin's Quest: Book I of The Dragon Mage Trilogy (61 page)

Suddenly he was falling with the weight of the enormous demon directly on top of him. The demon instantly let go of the mage and flapped its wings to maintain altitude. It looked down in surprise at the falling mage but was suddenly distracted by the swooping unicorn. An epic battle occurred above Kazin but he was too weak to notice. He slowly turned so he was looking at the tiny fires below.

The wind whistled past his ears as he fell, and the cool air woke his drowsy mind. Down he fell, the lights below becoming rapidly larger. Suddenly he remembered to concentrate on his transformation. What was he thinking?

He squeezed his eyes shut, blocking out the sights and sounds. “Come on!” he murmured. “Come on, Kazin, change!” He opened his eyes. Nothing happened. He was still falling. The ground was unbearably close. He squeezed his eyes shut again.

“Change!” he moaned. “Change now!” It wasn’t working. He was becoming desperate.

He opened his eyes again. He was now only seconds away from the ground. He had failed. His life flashed before his eyes. He saw a vision of his friends after his death; Della tearfully stooped over his crumpled body. Suddenly he was angered. How could he allow this to happen? This, after all they had all been through?

Kazin clenched his jaw and concentrated. He stretched his arms out and braced for the inevitable landing which he could not possibly survive. He opened his eyes and screamed at fate in frustration and rage—and soared back up into the sky.

It took him a moment to grasp the reality of the situation. He looked down at his torn open belly. He was alive! Despite his overwhelming pain, he rejoiced. He did some painful somersaults in the air to express his happiness in time to see Frosty swoop under the demon’s outstretched arms and penetrate its tough torso with his horn.

There was the clap of a loud explosion and a bright flash of light. When the light vanished, Kazin saw the unicorn flying alone, shining in the moonlight. The demon was gone. The unicorn flew raggedly back toward the mountain and its sheltering trees.

A wail of despair washed over those in the army who had witnessed the battle. Kazin screamed in his dragon-like voice and swooped down on the remaining enemy forces.

Morale was at an all-time low among the mercenaries, goblins, and rock trolls. They had lost their mage and mercenary leader, and the demon the mage had called up to help them had been destroyed. They lost the lives of many of their allies, and the prisoners they were supposed to guard had escaped.

Kazin couldn’t resist blasting the enemy one last time as he swept over them. He was exhausted and worn out, and rest and healing were more important right now. They had done their part. No more could be done right now.

As he fried a group of zombies and their mages, Kazin noticed the rock trolls gathering in large groups.

Curious, he circled back to see what they were up to. It didn’t take long to discover that they were abandoning the incompetent army. Mages milled about within their ranks, pleading with them to stay, but the trolls were unmoved in their decision.

Satisfied, Kazin flew back to where the companions were to meet after the prison break. He thought his work for the night was over until he saw the dark objects running low to the ground below him. It was the wolves. Somehow they had broken free of Milena’s magical tree cage and were in pursuit of the fleeing centaurs.

A first Kazin was indifferent to the freed wolves. The centaurs were long gone. He looked to the south and suddenly noticed several injured centaurs on the horizon making their way slowly southward. They were unaware of the pack of wolves streaking toward them from behind. They would never outrun them.

Summoning the last reserves of his fading strength, Kazin flew to the head of the pack and blasted the bloodthirsty beasts with flames.

The wolves ran howling helter-skelter with their fur aflame. Some wolves still came bounding forward in the hopes of skirting around the dragon, but Kazin searched each of them out, clawing and burning the crazed beasts until they turned tail and ran back into their masters’ camp.

Unfortunately for the army, the wolves managed to set more tents on fire in their haste to have their own fires quenched. The beleaguered army had a bad night thus far, and it didn’t seem to be getting any better. Even mercenaries were departing the camp in large numbers. They didn’t want to be associated with this disgrace of an army.

Kazin flew wearily back to the base of the mountain and made his best landing as a dragon thus far. He transformed himself back into a human almost without thinking. He took two steps toward the safety of the woods but never got any farther. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

Two figures crept from the woods and picked up the weary mage.

“He’s full o’ surprises tonight, ain’t he?” said one figure.

“What surprised me the most was that he lasted as long as he did,” muttered the other. “Let’s get him to the druid. He needs healing.”

“You bet, Zylor.”

“Not tonight, Rubin. Not tonight.”

Chapter 49

K
azin awoke with a start. His body jostled uncomfortably in some sort of stretcher. The sun shone brightly and winked on and off with the passage of thick, leaf laden branches overhead. Birds chirped merrily and flew from branch to branch, displaying their bright multi-hued plumage to the travellers below.

Kazin raised his head and tried to sit up, wrestling for balance. The first thing he saw was a treeman, bearing half the weight of the makeshift stretcher Kazin rode. He turned awkwardly and saw that the front carrier was also a treeman. They were faceless, speechless beings who did their job precisely and unemotionally.

A horse pulled up alongside with Sherman astride.

“Well, well, well!” he exclaimed. “Welcome back to the world of the living, Kaz!”

“Hi,” said Kazin. “Where—are we? How long—have I been out?” He stuttered the words in unison with the jolting treemen.

“Three whole days!” exclaimed Sherman. “When you decide to sleep, you sleep!”

“What?!” cried a voice behind them suddenly. A horse galloped up to the other side of the stretcher. Della slowed the unicorn and glared at the mage.

“It figures!” she said hotly. “I leave for only a moment and you decide to wake up right then.” Then the elf smiled softly, tiny dimples appearing in her cheeks. “Welcome back. I—we were worried about you.”

Kazin smiled back at her. “It’s good to be back.” He turned to Sherman. “Has it really been three days?”

“Yup,” said the warrior.

Kazin’s stomach growled loudly. He blushed. “I guess I’d better eat something.”

“Did you hear that?” called the big warrior back to the others. “The dragon mage is hungry.” He put emphasis on the word ‘dragon’.

“Run! Hide!” jested Rubin not far behind them.

Della giggled.

Sherman raised a hand and gave a halt command. Kazin awkwardly rolled back in the stretcher at the sudden stop.

“Whoa, there,” said Sherman, holding Kazin’s arm to steady him. “We wouldn’t want the ‘dragon mage’ to get mad,” he teased.

“Very funny,” said Kazin dryly, climbing from the stretcher. He had to stretch to loosen his stiff limbs.

Milena rode up to them and dismounted. She did a quick spell and nodded in satisfaction. “Good. Your energy level is now up to normal.”

“It better be, if I’ve been asleep for three whole days,” said Kazin.

“It was a necessary sleep,” said Milena. “If you were awake at all during that time, you would have been in severe pain while your wounds were healing.”

“Wounds?” queried the mage. Suddenly he remembered the wounds he had received as a dragon. “You mean—?”

“Yes,” answered Frosty’s voice inside his head. “The wounds you received as a dragon made themselves manifest in your human form. Likewise, any wounds you receive in your human form are transferred to your dragon form.”

Kazin gingerly pulled open his cloak and raised his tunic. On his chest were some scarred-over wounds. They were not as bad as he thought they would be, but he could well imagine how bad they were three days ago.

“Your back wounds were far worse,” said Milena. “A poison of some sort had begun to take hold in a couple of the gouges. It took all of my skills as a druid to remove all the poison from your body. I had to do a spell to put you to sleep for your own good. The poison’s effects were severe even so. All day you tossed and turned, and your intermittent screaming at night kept most of us awake.”

“We could tell you were getting better, though,” said Sherman. “Each night your screaming lessened somewhat. Last night you slept peacefully for the first time, and so did we.”

“That’s good,” said Kazin.

“Here,” said Della, passing the mage a pouch full of berries. “Eat.”

Kazin took the pouch gratefully and ate hungrily.

“Hey! You told us you didn’t have any more of those berries left!” exclaimed Sherman. He reached for the sack.

Della slapped his hand hard. “You had your fill! These are for Kazin.”

“Ow!” yelped the big warrior.

The rest of the companions who had gathered around laughed at the look of consternation on Sherman’s face.

After Kazin had gorged himself, Milena dismissed the treemen. “There’s no more need for them anymore.”

Kazin rode Frosty with Della hanging on close behind; closer than she needed to. He asked her about Perenia’s whereabouts and was told she had returned to her realm with her father immediately after the battle. Frosty told Kazin Perenia had sent her heartfelt thanks to the companions for their invaluable help and hoped to see them again soon; even the minotaur, whom she had grown accustomed to, albeit with a lingering fear.

Kazin breathed in the fresh air deeply. The elven woods were so lush and invigorating. He could get used to living here, he thought. That last thought would have stopped him dead in his tracks if he wasn’t riding Frosty right then. What was he thinking? No non elves were permitted in the elven woods unless by invitation, and most certainly not to live there. He brushed the thought from his mind. He decided he wasn’t thinking right as a result of his weakened condition.

Then he suddenly remembered Zylor. He wasn’t going to help them gain entry if he looked like a minotaur. Kazin stopped the procession and called the minotaur forward.

Zylor sighed. “I know. It’s necessary.” He allowed Kazin to transform him and his talisman glowed faintly.

The companions continued their ride south along a winding trail for about an hour before Harran grumbled something about being watched.

Della looked around curiously and then relaxed. “It’s just the border guards,” she said. “They’ll be stopping us soon.”

True to her warning, the guards swung down out of some trees and landed in the roadway, blocking further progress.

Sherman, who was in the lead, raised a hand to halt the party.

“Who are you?” demanded one elf. He was lean and tall for an elf, not much taller than Kazin. He had a pinched nose and penetrating brown eyes. His garb was mainly green and brown, giving him maximum camouflage.

“I am Sherman,” said the big warrior. He gestured behind him. “My companions and I are on our way to the king of elves regarding an issue of great importance.”

“State your message and I shall deliver it,” said the elf flatly but firmly. “Then be on your way.”

Della dismounted and came forward to confront the elf. “This message is for his ears only,” she said. “Let us through. It’s urgent.”

“State your message and tell them to leave,” said the elf, pointing past her. Obviously she was still welcome but the others were not.

“Let me handle this,” said Frosty. He had remained hidden behind Sherman’s horse until now and suddenly pushed himself to the forefront so all the elves could see him.

Surprisingly, there was no reaction.

“I thought you guys were supposed to respond when a unicorn presented itself to you?” said Della angrily.

The elf and his companions laughed heartily. “We’ve been watching you for a while now, elf girl,” said the tall elf. “That is no unicorn! It is only a horse made to appear like a unicorn! That horn is fake! We see false unicorns every year in our festival. This one is no different. Besides, a true unicorn wouldn’t let a human ride him, would he?”

Frosty gave Kazin a self-satisfied look. Then he looked back at the elf. “Then touch the horn,” commanded the unicorn.

“Wha—who said that?” demanded the elf.

“Me,” said Frosty. He turned to Kazin. “Would you mind dismounting for a moment, Kazin?”

Kazin obeyed.

Frosty walked up to the elf. “Touch it,” he repeated. “If it is not real, we will leave.”

The elf looked at his companions but got no support there. He grinned slyly. “I’m no fool!” he said. He reached up and touched the horn. A blast of magical energy suddenly threw the elf several yards back along the trail. He landed heavily and skidded to a halt. The other elves either gasped in surprise or raised their weapons in fear.

The tall elf rose and came forward slowly. His hands trembled and his eyes were huge. He looked at Frosty’s horn fearfully but the unicorn made no move. Then the elf drew a small horn out of his tunic and blew on it.

“Fall back and make way for the unicorn!” he cried loudly. Then he sprinted down the trail with several guards flanking him on either side.

Frosty looked questioningly at Della.

“He means we can follow him into my realm,” said the little elf. “Let’s go!”

The elf and mage mounted the unicorn and the companions followed the border guards for another hour through numerous winding trails and sub-trails and finally came to one of the elven towns.

“The town of Jandal,” explained Della.

By now the border guards were dozens strong and were shoving elves of all kinds aside to make room for the companions to pass through.

Kazin was interested in the fact that all the elves seemed to be young, even the older ones, who seemed to be merely in their fifties or so. But he knew they were much older than they appeared. Some elves were known to reach the ripe old age of two hundred, just like many dwarves.