Kazin's Quest: Book I of The Dragon Mage Trilogy (80 page)

“What did you do?” asked Ezra.

“I asked the mage why he told me all this,” said Sam. “He said his life was almost over and he hadn’t been paid yet, so he wasn’t about to complete his task for someone else’s gain at the cost of his own life.”

“No honour among thieves, eh?” said Sherman.

“And then?” prodded Ezra.

“I asked the mage where the other child was,” said Sam, “but he chose that moment to die. It was a horrible thing to witness. A ring on his hand began to smoke. Then his entire hand disintegrated right before my eyes!”

Sherman gasped.

“What did you do next?” asked Ezra.

“Well,” said Sam, “I couldn’t very well go back without risking the child’s life, so I wandered aimlessly for a while, thinking of what to do. The dangers of the forest seemed like less of a threat than going back to face the queen’s advisor and his cohorts. So I slept that night on a pile of moss under a tree with the baby. In the morning, I came across a number of bushes with berries and stockpiled them in my pack.

“For the next several days, I wandered aimlessly, using survival techniques I had mastered as a member of the personal guard.” Sam grinned shyly. “I also had a crash course in diaper changing. It was a good thing many cloths and linens were wrapped with the baby. Anyway, the dangers of the Black Forest mercifully stayed away from us, and we reached the southern end of the forest. We came out on the west side of North Lake.”

“So the Black Forest separated your homeland from this land!” exclaimed Sherman.

Sam nodded. “That’s right. I wandered around the southern end of the lake and entered the towns northwest of the Five Fingers Mountains. I picked up odd jobs in Cowen and Drax, but needed someone to care for the infant while I was working. I hired a lady to take care of the infant and she grew to like me and the baby. Her name was Ezra.”

Sherman looked at Ezra but she was already looking at him in a strange way. Suddenly he realized what Sam was saying and his jaw dropped. “You mean, I’m—?!”

Sam nodded. “You were that infant. You are the queen’s son.”

Sherman shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t believe it!”

“It’s true,” said Sam. “Eventually, Ezra and I married, and we moved here to start our own little farm. The rest you know.”

“And you told me Sherman was your son and your first wife had died!” reprimanded Ezra. “Why did you lie?”

“The fewer who knew the truth, the better,” said Sam. “Sherman’s identity needed to remain secret for his own good. Anyone who knew his heritage would know that he was the future Guardian of the queen of my homeland.” He turned to Sherman. “Obviously, someone found him out, although I’m not sure how.”

Sherman shrugged. “Randall knew. He came after me to kill me.”

Ezra gasped. “What? Are you sure?”

Sherman nodded. “He was able to keep tabs on me while he lived here. Since I often sent word to you on where I was, he was able to give his bandits an accurate idea of where to find me, using his pigeons as messengers. That’s why I was drawing bandits like flies.”

“And I allowed it!” moaned Ezra. “I let him have the pigeons as pets up in the attic! I didn’t think for a moment that he was using them to send messages to track Sherman down!” She looked at Sherman. “You could have been killed!”

“It’s not your fault,” said Sam. “You couldn’t have known.”

“I should have known something was amiss when Randall left so suddenly,” snapped Ezra. She suddenly looked at Sherman. “You said Randall tried to kill you. You’re still alive. Does that mean he’s—?”

“Dead,” finished Sherman. “Yes. He was a mage, but his magic was blocked, so he chose to use his skills with the sword to try to defeat me. He almost did, too.”

“That’s when he told you that you were the Guardian,” said Sam. “Am I right?”

“Yes,” said Sherman.

“But what has that got to do with trying to kill you?” asked Ezra.

“All I know is he was working for someone called Grakath,” said Sherman.

Sam Takar stiffened.

“What is it, Sam?” asked Ezra.

“That’s the name of the queen’s advisor,” said Sam. “If he knows who you are and that you’re alive, Sherman, it explains why he has sent people to try to kill you. Be careful when dealing with him! He is a powerful necromancer. No one who tangles with him gets away alive. No one.”

Sherman and Ezra looked at one another fearfully.

Chapter 66

K
rendal beckoned for Kazin and Milena to be seated in front of his desk. He himself went around and sat behind his desk and looked curiously at his guests.

“Kazin,” he said after a moment of silence, “may I examine your staff?”

Kazin shrugged and handed his staff to the arch mage.

Krendal set it against the wall and chanted a sophisticated spell. At once the orb, ordinarily invisible to the eye, began to shimmer with a milky white glow.

“Just as I suspected,” said Krendal in satisfaction. He cancelled his spell and looked at Kazin. “It took me a long time to figure it out, but finally it all fell into place. I just had to be sure, and the spell confirmed it. You had the orb all along, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” said Kazin. “Didn’t I—? Oh, no!”

“Oh yes,” said Krendal with a frown.

“I thought you knew!” stammered Kazin. “I—I didn’t know—.”

Krendal held up a hand. “Relax, Kazin. When I first suspected you had the dragon orb, I checked some of our ancient texts on orb possession. It turns out that dragon orb magic is similar to the magic used in the mage test. The difference here is that, instead of permanent secrecy, you are magically prevented from mentioning you have possession of the orb to anyone unless they already know you have it. Once they know, you can speak of it freely.”

“Why is that?” asked Kazin.

Krendal stroked his beard. “Well, from what I could gather from the ancient texts, whenever the orb changes owners, it requires some time to meld with the new owner. If it is known that the owner carries the orb, someone may try to steal it before the melding is complete. The orb weakens if that happens. Sometimes it even shatters, doing some irreparable damage to the owner. Creators of the orb installed such a magical safeguard to prevent this from happening.”

“I take it this magic affects everyone who knows about the orb as well?” asked Milena.

Krendal nodded. “Yes. You and I cannot tell anyone else about Kazin’s orb who doesn’t already know about it. As long as someone not aware of the orb is within earshot, the orb cannot be mentioned.”

“How did you figure it out?” asked Kazin.

“It was the culmination of unusual events associated with you, Kazin,” said Krendal. “Every time we talked, you did something to surprise me. I didn’t really suspect anything until your major success in the south. I kept asking myself how you and your entourage of companions could have dealt the enemy such a lethal blow.

“Afterwards, I wondered how you managed to get your minotaur friend behind enemy lines into the heart of minotaur territory in time for the election battles. Then, I found out you had the ability to open the magical portal in the mountains. Where so many had failed repeatedly, you succeeded!

“Finally,” finished Krendal, “you left the Tower of Hope two days ago and you’re here already! Unless you used some sort of haste spell—which is taxing for mere travel purposes—you must have flown! Considering your earlier encounter with Filbar, I could only draw one conclusion. You had possession of the dragon orb.”

“I guess it was bound to come out eventually,” said Kazin.

Krendal grunted. “Funny thing is, it was Sandor who tried to tell me first.”

“What do you mean?” asked Kazin.

“Benjamin and I were talking one day,” said Krendal, “and he told me a few of the things Sandor was rambling about. One of those things was the repetitive clause: ‘The orb is and is not.’” Krendal pointed to Kazin’s staff. The orb was not visible.

“I see what you mean,” said Kazin.

“I didn’t pay attention to it at the time,” said Krendal, “but I should have. His warnings of the tide coming from the north were fairly accurate as well.”

“Prophesies rarely make sense until they come to pass,” said Kazin.

“That’s a shrewd observation, Kazin,” commented Krendal. He picked up Kazin’s staff and returned it to him.

“So how many times have you transformed?” asked the arch mage.

Kazin shrugged. “Quite a few times. Why?”

“You must be careful not to allow the orb to control you,” said Krendal sternly. “If you succumb, insanity will follow, and the orb will control you! Things are bad enough now. We don’t need a raging dragon to make things worse than they already are.”

Kazin nodded. “My familiar taught me a few things about that. I’m fairly comfortable with the transformations now.”

“Good,” nodded Krendal. “Let’s keep it that way. If you’re careful, you could lead a long, fulfilling life. Dragon mages have been known to live for hundreds of years. Don’t plan on marriage, though.”

“Why not?” asked Kazin.

“You wouldn’t want to see your wife, children, and grandchildren grow old and die before your eyes,” explained Krendal. “If you must wed, choose an elf. They have a much longer life span.”

Kazin looked at Milena and reddened. Milena winked back.

Krendal sensed the awkward silence that followed and changed the subject. “Before we depart for Marral, I’ll fill you in on some of the details of our battle strategy, because I want both of you there with us.” Krendal sat back and outlined the details of the defence of Marral.

An hour or so later the three spell casters emerged from Krendal’s study.

“I’ll meet you there shortly,” said Krendal. “I’ve got to check on the artifacts we may be able to utilize for this battle.”

“O.K.,” said Kazin. He and Milena entered the alcove and stepped onto the rings glimmering faintly in the floor. They were instantly whisked to the tower’s main level.

Valdez was there and he led them to the exit.

“You won’t likely see your mother, Kazin.”

“Why not?” asked the young mage.

“The women and children were evacuated to Arral,” said the arch mage. “I suspect your dad will be with Marral’s defence forces, though.”

Kazin suddenly realized how close to home this war had come. Until now, only others had lost family and property to the attacking forces. Now, Kazin’s father was defending the home he had worked so hard for, the same home that Kazin had grown up in. Kazin set his jaw as he emerged from the Tower of Sorcery. He was going to make the enemy pay dearly for his beloved home.

It was already night-time on Skull Island, but torches everywhere lit up the square to give it a surreal look. Della and Perenia came up to the spell casters and Kazin introduced them to Arch Mage Valdez.

“Where’s Rubin?” asked Milena.

“We don’t know,” said Perenia. “He told us he’d wait for us by the fountain while we checked out the herb shops. When we got back, he was gone.”

“One man reported seeing a sailor with an eye patch standing near the fountain,” added Della. “He said he looked in that direction again a moment later but the sailor was gone.”

“That’s odd,” said Milena.

“We looked everywhere,” said Perenia. “He just disappeared.”

Kazin frowned. “That’s the second time he disappeared on us.”

“Don’t worry,” said Milena reassuringly. “He’ll turn up again. You’ll see.”

“I hope so,” muttered Kazin.

Kazin used the portal on Sorcerer’s Island and arrived in Marral’s outskirts. It was early morning but preparations were still being made for the impending battle. When he entered the town, he was surprised at the number of mages and townsfolk gathered in the square. There were a good five hundred people milling about already, and more were arriving. The townsfolk wore what armour they could find, and some master mages went around casting spells on them to temporarily enhance the armour’s strength. Weapons were equipped, from old, rusty swords to simple pitchforks. Some magical staves, swords, and shields were handed out to those who had previous battle experience.

Kazin found his father and, after a brief reunion, saw to it that he got a magically enhanced weapon. Calin chose a large, lightweight mace. He hefted it easily and grinned at his son.

“I like this one.”

“But Dad,” objected Kazin, “why don’t you take this instead?” He offered Calin a longsword from the weapons still available. “It gives you a longer reach.”

“No, son,” said Calin. “There are undead troops coming to attack us. A mace is more capable of damaging such troops.” He swung the mace in a wide arc. “See? Their bones will shatter on impact.”

Kazin nodded sheepishly. “Good point. I never thought of that.”

“I’ll be fine, Kazin,” assured Calin.

When Milena sailed into Marral with Della and Perenia, the town was blanketed in early morning mist. They disembarked the cargo ship and made room for the sailors to unload yet another load of weapons and artifacts.

Entering the town, Milena looked around at the densely packed defenders. Townsfolk and mages were deployed along the perimeter of Marral behind the first of many makeshift barricades. They looked to the east with determination in their eyes. Unfortunately, the druid knew that determination alone would not necessarily win a war. These people were ill-equipped to handle the hordes of undead coming to destroy the town. Their best hope would be to weaken the advancing army so they could be defeated at a later stage elsewhere. The humans would probably fall, but maybe the enemy would be sufficiently depleted before attacking the stronghold of the elves. On the other hand, dead humans would undoubtedly be raised by necromancers to be used against the elves. This would bolster the enemy and make them stronger. The druid shook her head sadly. She didn’t know how to solve this one.

A young cleric girl came up and tugged on Milena’s sleeve. “Hello. Are you a druid?”

Milena nodded. “Yes.”

“Could you come with me?” asked the cleric. “We have a makeshift compound set up for the injured at The Rising Moon. It isn’t much, but we could use the help when the casualties start coming in.”

“Certainly,” said Milena. “Lead on.” She looked back at Della and Perenia who stood nearby. “You’ll know where to find me if you need me.”