Knights of the Wizard (of Knights and Wizards Book 2) (18 page)

MARCUS SLID OFF OF RYXA’S BACK, his face stained with tears. “She’s dead. My beautiful dragon is dead. I can’t believe it.” He hugged and kissed the black dragon’s leg. She was much too big to bury and he didn’t know what to do.

The golden knight stared at the dragon and then at Marcus, not knowing what to do or think. He certainly didn’t like seeing Marcus so devastated. If he could bring the dragon back to life he would but unfortunately he couldn’t.

“Oh Marcus I am so sorry.” Raina wiped several tears off of her cheek. “I didn’t think she was that sick.”

She hugged Marcus and he returned the hug, remaining that way for a time, only time would help him through his loss. Kevin made his way over to them and hugged the both of them. Marcus couldn’t believe that he would never see those beautiful dragon eyes staring at him ever again, never hear her wonderful voice. He placed his hands on Ryxa and tried his best to conjure up some sort of healing spell but nothing happened and he couldn’t be any more disappointed in himself. He realized that it wouldn’t be good to bring the dead back to life even if such a thing was possible.

Ash was flying high overhead, the first time that he had gone out since being attacked by the grey dragon, but a dragon’s thirst for flight is unquenchable, may as well ask a bird not to fly. He circled from the air examining the scene far below, finally deciding to touch down. “What happened?” said Ash as he landed.

Raina felt so bad for Marcus. “She said she wasn’t feeling good and we found her like this.”

Ash walked around Ryxa taking in her scent. “Are you sure she’s dead? She doesn’t smell dead.”

Marcus nodded. “She’s dead her heart stopped.”

“Her
heart
stopped? What about the other one?” said Ash. Everyone knew that dragons had two hearts didn’t they?

Marcus looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

Ash shook his head. “All dragons have two hearts, didn’t you know that?”

It gave Raina a little hope. “Are both hearts in the chest?”

“No, one’s in the tail.” Ash made his way to the center of Ryxa’s tail and listened for the heartbeat. “Dragons have two hearts because we’re so big and have so much blood to pump; at least that’s what I’ve been told. This heart is still beating. Come here and listen.”

Marcus ran over and placed his ear on her tail and sure enough he could hear Ryxa’s second heart beating and he had never heard such a wonderful sound in all his life. “She’s not dead?”

“Not yet,” said Ash. “But she won’t last much longer with only one heart.” He looked at the golden knight. “I can feel the magical energy coming off that knight. Does he talk?”

Raina smiled at Ash. “He doesn’t talk much. How come you’re such a small dragon?”

“I’m not full grown yet.” Ash commenced to blink his eyes, and with each blink he was going through different spells that might possibly help, but the only thing that he was being shown was him jumping up and down on Ryxa’s chest to restart her heart. It looked peculiar but he thought it might work. “I’m gonna try to jumpstart her heart.”

Marcus was puzzled. “What does that mean?”

“You’ll see.” Ash pushed Ryxa so that she was more on her back and then flew up about the height of her and then flew down landing on her chest with a thump, pushing her chest in and making her heart contract. He jumped up and down on her many times and then the black dragon twitched. The little dragon listened for a heartbeat, and it beat exactly seventeen times before it stopped. “It was beating but it stopped again. I’m gonna try it again but you guys should back up because if she wakes up even a flick of her tail could kill the both of you.”

Marcus didn’t know what to think, his hope was rapidly diminishing. If only her heart would have continued to beat. “Is she going to be okay?”

Ash shrugged. “I don’t know yet. Wait here I have an idea.” The little dragon took to the air and flew off heading south.

Marcus and Raina watched him go, keeping an eye on him until he was out of sight. Off and on he continued to listen to the heartbeat in Ryxa’s tail and it continued to be weak although no fainter than it had been. He went up and stroked the dragon’s face, telling her that she was going to be okay. Finally Ash returned from behind them and his sudden appearance frightened both of them.

“Oh my goodness, look at the size of that apple!” said Raina.

Ash had a beautiful shiny red apple that was taller than Marcus. “This is a dragon apple from the Oissi orchard and it has magical properties. It will give her a boost of health and with that hopefully the heart in her chest will start and then continue to beat.” The little dragon held the huge apple over Ryxa’s mouth and squeezed it until juice was released, dripping quite a bit of apple juice into her mouth; sparkles of red light converged in Ryxa’s chest, making Marcus hopeful once again. Ash again jumped up and down on her chest as Raina backed up pulling Marcus along with her just in case she did awake with a start.

Ryxa stood up looking confused. “What happened?”

Marcus ran and hugged and kissed her. “One of your hearts stopped beating.”

“The big one or the little one?” asked Ryxa.

Raina could see the joy in Marcus’s face. “The one in your chest.”

Ryxa continued to feel weak but tried to hide it. “Oh my, I’m lucky to be standing here. Who is this?”

“I’m Ash.”

Ryxa put her nose up to Ash and smelled him. “You are a wizard I can smell it. Never met a dragon wizard before. You must be the little wizard that everyone’s talking about.”

“Do I smell like a wizard,” said Marcus.

“Of course,” said Raina. “You’ve always smelled like a wizard.”

He thought about that. “I couldn’t have smelled like a wizard even before I was turned into a wizard?”

“You were born a wizard Marcus; it’s just that your abilities have been boosted a bit prematurely. Lots of people believe lots of different things about wizards but I know the truth.” Ryxa finished the rest of the apple and felt a little better. “I still feel a little weak so I’m going to go eat some more apples and go home to sleep. When a dragon is sick we need lots of rest.”

Marcus nodded and gave her another hug. “Okay but come back as soon as you feel better. I’m worried about you.”

“I know,” said Ryxa. “Ash, thank you so much for your help.”

Ash nodded. “You’re welcome. I should probably be going too.”

Both Dragons flew off and Marcus realized that it was time to get home and get that wand out of the tree.

CHAROX GAVE A MIGHTY HEAVE and broke more than half of his tethers, making several of the Dwagord gasp simultaneously. When he stood up he snapped the rest of them and shook the wizard off his back sending him flying, trying to snap him in two with a bite but missed. Arnald wasn’t so lucky, the dragon scooped him up and he found himself being pulverised by dragon teeth. There was panic as everyone realized what was happening.

Daijulan commenced to work fast on a protection spell, he knew a mighty burst of fire was coming and he didn’t want to be burned alive but he also knew that he would only be able to protect himself. He created a protective blue ball as the flame burned almost everyone else, a couple of the Dwagord on the perimeter lay down and feigned being dead. Charox picked up the tiny ball and blasted it with another burst of fire but the sorcerer inside remained unscathed; he held the tiny ball up to his huge eye as he examined him.

“There are a lot more sorcerers around these days,” Charox said to Daijulan. “Maybe I can’t kill you but let’s see how you handle my stomach juices.” He threw the sorcerer down his throat.

It was a nightmare that Daijulan would have never imagined in a million years, being alive inside a dragon’s stomach, and although he believed his protective enchantment would hold even against those destructive juices he couldn’t be sure. What a terrible way to die if it didn’t although he supposed it would be quick though painful. It was hot in there, stomach bubbling like lava, with partial remains of a pterocrit floating by. The acrid stench was horrible; it smelled like a combination of sulphur, rotten eggs and vomit. Daijulan would have to wait until he passed through the dragon’s system, an unpleasant thought. The sorcerer noticed waves of gastric juices lapping the stomach wall as Charox took flight.

Not only was the sorcerer frightened but he was also experiencing motion sickness from being tossed around causing him to vomit inside his protective bubble. He ended up stuck inside the pterocrit’s left nostril as if his situation wasn’t bad enough.

BERHTRAM FOUND HIMSELF IN THE FOREST surrounded by trees, walking through the woods and having no idea which way to go; he was aware that because he couldn’t fly he was in danger. Anything bigger would be able to take care of him now that Blackie had run off with a piece of his tail missing; he had become fond of the dog because he had been feeding him meat, and because of it he was regaining his strength, unfortunately he remained unable to fly. He missed flying as much as any child would miss running if he or she wasn’t allowed to do so, had dreams of taking to the air, and dreamt of filling the king’s bedposts with bread but when he awoke reality was disappointing.

The bird stopped near some pink and purple wild roses to rest. He longed to see Darius again but a noise to his left caught his attention, it was an unwelcome sight, might be the last thing he ever saw. A red fox was trotting by with a dead rat in its mouth and it stopped suddenly, it had picked up another scent, Berhtram’s scent in fact. It sniffed the air appreciatively and liked what it smelled but didn’t want to drop his rodent lest someone else get the tasty morsel. Two simultaneous meals was an unexpected treat.

The raven didn’t dare move; he remained exposed in the open, and all the fox needed to do was to look to its right and he would be in grave danger, the fox’s sensitive ears would likely hear him. The sound of the woodpecker made the fox look up and the raven tried to hop behind the rose bush but it was too late, the fox spotted him and charged, pinning him down with his two front paws. Berhtram vigorously flapped his wings desperate to escape but it was too late, the fox had him but was unwilling to release the rat, pawing at the poor bird. It was a peculiar situation for the fox to be in.

The raven was at the mercy of the carnivore, a single bite and he would be dead but the fox refused to drop the rat, having had quite a chase to get it. The large rat had gone into the base of a tree and it had taken more than an hour to get him out. The fox supposed it was a good predicament to be in, two meals at the same time because yesterday he had gone hungry. Things were looking up.

Blackie appeared and charged the fox, barking loudly and fox dropped its rat but when the dog lay down for the raven to get up on its back, the fox quickly returned, grabbed the rat and ran off, now feeling lucky to get away with the dead rodent. Berhtram was relieved to see his friend return and just in time.

The dog made its way out of the forest, resting and drinking out of a pristine brook, with a small waterfall flowing over mossy rocks. Blackie lay down and went to sleep with Berhtram doing the same beside his friend, both glad to have each other’s companionship. They awoke to the sound of heavy footsteps, Blackie stood up and stared at Brother and Kadyn walking by; he smelled them but for whatever reason they’re scent wasn’t human, which really puzzled him. He watched as the sad looking knights continued on their way, their posture giving away their emotions.

They next morning they were on the move once again with Berhtram riding on top of the dog. Blackie was heading for another village and could already smell the scent of meat cooking in the distance, which was making him hungry. Hopefully it would be an easy meal.

STONE MADE THE DECISION TO HEAD BACK to Leeander. There were so many of the enemy around it was going to be impossible to capture any of them. He couldn’t guess at their numbers but he imagined it wasn’t favorable. If King Darius insisted upon a prisoner then he would have to send out at least a hundred knights and maybe more, with perhaps many lives being lost in the process. Maybe it was an idea that for now should be abandoned.

Stone knew they were being followed by the Dwagord but to what purpose he was uncertain, perhaps they were looking to be led back to Leeander, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to head straight back. The more he thought about it the more it made sense. He hated to think about Leeander being overrun by these bastards, if only Marcus could get a hold of that wizard thing. There was a time when Adorok’s reputation was known far and wide and no one dared to start a fight but now all that had changed.

“Stone, we should be going,” said Alexa. “I want to get back home to Abbey.”

Stone shook his head. “Plans have changed. I think they want us to lead them back to Leeander. We’re going to camp here until I’m convinced they’ve moved on.”

Lance took a bite of the rabbit that they had cooked a little too long, a little burnt but not too bad. “I’ll wager that we end up being their slaves before that. Or maybe our heads will be on their pikes.”

“That’s the way to think positive,” said Alexa.

Lance looked at Alexa and then back at Stone. “How long are we going to camp here?”

Stone shrugged. “As long as it takes. We know little about them; they could be a hundred thousand strong. Our shield only works sporadically, we have no wizard, well we have Marcus.”

“He’s no wizard,” said Alexa. “He’s useless is what he is. I’m more of a sorcerer than Marcus.” She stood up and looked to the west, seeing a single rider on a brown horse fast approaching, one of the Dwagord carrying a shield and a battle axe. “Look, here comes another one.”

They all stood up as the enemy approached. He was a scraggly looking fellow with several teeth missing and an evil looking smile if ever there was one. They could tell that his battle axe was enchanted by its glow and he smelled musky as the wind blew his scent to them, an unpleasant smell.

“I am Poole of the Dwagord. You are outnumbered and surrounded. Surrender and we’ll consider absorbing you into our army should any of you be worthy. Refuse and we will hear your screams long into the night.”

“I don’t scream,” said Merrill. “I make people scream.”

Alexa looked around and couldn’t see anyone else. “What are you an army of one?”

Poole smiled derisively. “We are cloaked for now. We have portable enchantments that can be cast by non-wizards.” He was attempting to impress their superiority over them.

Lance was tempted to kill him but would follow Stone’s lead. “Where are you Dwagords from? We’ve never seen the likes of you around here before.”

Poole grunted. “I ask the questions I don’t answer them. What is your response?”

Stone shook his head at Poole’s attitude, an aggravating son-of-a-bitch. “Well you should get the hell out of here before I put my sword in your ass. And trust me you won’t like it in there.”

Poole again shook his head. “It’s your funeral.” The Dwagord turned and rode off as Stone nodded to Merrill, who nocked an arrow and sent it flying through Poole’s neck, a fatal wound. The warrior tumbled off his horse, shuddered and then remained motionless.

“Your funeral first,” said Stone.

Alexa turned to her husband. “Do you think that was wise?”

Stone shrugged. “They’re going to kill us, maybe torture us as well. One less Dwagord is better than one more. We have fresh horses let’s ride and see if they can keep up. Hopefully their horses are not so fresh.”

The dozen knights mounted and followed Stone as he rode his stallion as fast as it could run and they maintained the pace as long as they were able. They rode hard for almost four miles before they eased up on their horses, but when they stopped they could see the Dwagord behind them, only a dozen of them had managed to keep up their pace and there were no archers amongst them.

“Archers ready your bows,” Stone commanded.

As the enemy approached within range arrows were launched, Merrill killed two of them within a few seconds. Soon the dozen Dwagord were down to five, being picked off one by one, halting as they realized how few of them remained, the others having run their horses into the ground. A discussion ensued as another took an arrow in his back and into his heart. Stone and the others surrounded them, forcing them to yield. King Darius would now end up with four prisoners if Stone could manage to get them back safely to Leeander.

The knights continued to ride their horses at a much slower pace, wanting to put even more distance between them and the enemy. He had several knights ride west even though they were heading east and built a huge campfire to catch the Dwagord’s attention, and that night Stone was happy to see that they had managed to catch up with the camp, and could see that the fire was still burning on the horizon.

After two days Stone finally decided to head back to Leeander but were soon surrounded by more than two hundred of the Dwagord.