The Dragon's Champion (10 page)

Erik lay in bed
that night with too much on his mind to sleep. Whenever he did manage to close
his eyes, the image of Tukai came and made him spring up in his bed. He
wondered if the omen was true, and if the prophecy would come to pass. After
dinner, Lord Lokton had sent everyone out of the manor, except Braun, who was
told to double the guard and stand watch over Erik.

Erik looked at
the crack under the door. Two shadows broke the line of light streaming in from
the hall. The shadows were cast by Braun’s legs, he knew. The captain of the
guard was always most dedicated when it came to protecting House Lokton, and
Erik was comforted by the fact that Braun had never failed to stop any threat.
He found himself wishing that Braun could somehow step into his head and clear
the image of Tukai from his mind.

The warlock had
frightened him more than anything, even more than Dimwater’s wolf. Yet,
somehow, he had managed to hurt Tukai with a fork. Erik didn’t know much about
magic, but from the look he saw on Tukai’s face, he knew that it should not
have been possible to injure the warlock. Erik marveled at his success when
only moments before Sir Duvall had tried to slay the warlock and his sword had
passed right through Tukai’s chest without harm. It didn’t make any sense.

Something tapped
at the window.

Erik turned
quickly to see a raven sitting on the sill, tapping the glass with its beak. He
regarded the bird curiously for a minute. The yellow eye reflected the pale
light of the moon as it glared at Erik. It tapped the glass three more times.
Erik rose to his feet and started to walk to the window. He flapped at the bird
to scare it away, but the raven just cackled at him. It tapped the glass three
more times and then cocked its head, looking right at him.

Erik was about
to call Braun in, but he stopped short. He felt silly. Why would Braun care
about a bird? He was standing watch to protect Erik from people, not birds. Erik
drew the curtains over the window and went back to his bed. The tapping
continued, growing more insistent with each set of three taps.

“Ah, sticks and
stones!” Erik wailed as he jumped back out of bed.

“Everything alright,
Master Erik?” Braun inquired from the other side of the door.

“Yeah,” Erik
replied. “There’s just a stupid raven tapping on my window, and I can’t sleep.”
Before Erik took a step the door flew open and Braun was inside the room with
an axe in his left hand. The large, muscular man shoved Erik to the bed and
tore the curtains from the walls. “It’s just a raven,” Erik said as he rubbed
his chest.

The raven flew
away at the sudden commotion and Braun slowly put his axe back on his belt.
“You said it was tapping on your window?” Braun asked.

“Yeah, but I
could have scared it away myself,” Erik said.

“How many taps?”
Braun asked, ignoring Erik’s complaint.

“What?” Erik
asked.

“How many taps,
boy?” Braun asked.

“I’m not a boy
anymore, Braun,” Erik gruffed, still rubbing his chest.

Braun crossed
the bedroom in three steps and picked Erik off the bed with a fistful of shirt
in his right hand. “The raven comes at night to tap the message of death. Six
taps means that a friend of yours will die tonight, five taps means that
someone in your house will die tonight, four taps means that you will die
tonight, and three means that death comes for you but can be avoided. Tell me
now, how many taps were there?”

Erik couldn’t
think. He gasped for air and finally managed to squeeze out a word as he
thought about the tapping. “Three,” Erik wheezed. “The raven tapped many times,
but each time it was a set of three taps.”

Braun dropped
him like a sack of rotten fish and threw the window open. “You two,” he shouted
to a pair of guards leaning against the wall below Erik’s third story window.
“Be on guard, we are soon to be attacked. Sound the alarm!” Erik heard the
sharp, piercing sound of a whistle being blown from below. An instant later a
bell sounded in response. “Get dressed, Master Erik, and be quick about it. You
may have to leave tonight.”

Erik didn’t
argue. He ripped his nightshirt off and threw on the closest clothes he had,
his brown training tunic and simple tan trousers. He slipped his feet into his
leather boots, without socks, and then grabbed a cloak from a hook inside the
wardrobe door. “I’m ready,” he said as he threw his cloak around him.

Lord Lokton
rushed through the doorway holding a great sword with an emerald in the pommel
and crossguard. “What is it?” Lord Lokton demanded. His shirt of mail shimmered
in the torchlight from the hall as he heaved to catch his breath.

“A raven tapped
three times on Erik’s window,” Braun replied.

Erik half
expected his adopted father to burst out laughing, or perhaps to chastise
Braun, but he didn’t. Lord Lokton didn’t even crack his usually confident smirk
or make any comeback remark at all. His eyes steeled over and his jaw set as
though it were made of stone. “Then we have no time to lose,” Lord Lokton said.

Braun shoved Erik
forward. Even if Erik had forgotten something, it was too late now. Lord Lokton
led the way down the hall and Braun was pushing Erik on like a crazed bull.
They ran until Lord Lokton stopped at a painting in the hall and ripped it from
its place. He tore the false plaster the painting had covered and pulled an
iron ring, connected to an old, strong chain, out of the wall. A heavy clicking
sound was heard through the wall and then the sound of gears and cogs spinning
and creaking. A section of the wall was pulled back to reveal a secret
passageway. Before Erik could say anything, the three of them rushed in.

The tunnel
quickly gave way to a set of spiraling stairs that led down dizzyingly. Erik
tried his hardest not to trip as Braun kept shoving him relentlessly forward.
Erik wasn’t sure how far down they had gone, but it seemed like a lot more than
three stories worth of stairs. Once they were at the bottom, Lord Lokton ran to
a metal box on the wall and opened it. Inside the box were several levers and chains.
The first lever Lord Lokton pulled opened a hole under the spiral staircase and
the metal stairs flew straight down into the hole, like a prairie dog darting
into its mound, until they disappeared from view. The second lever opened a
hallway inside another wall.

“Get him out of
here, Braun,” Lord Lokton ordered.

“What about you
and Raisa?” Braun asked.

“Go, Lady Lokton
will be safe, but I must stay and help our men.”

“With respect-”
Braun started to argue but Lord Lokton came up fast and hard, grabbing him by
the collar. Erik had been afraid of Braun when the large guard had picked him
up, but the rage boiling in his father’s eyes seemed to dwarf the large guard
completely.

“Do as I say,”
Lord Lokton yelled. “Protect my son, and don’t you fail me Braun, or I will
find you, and you will pay for it.”

Braun said
nothing. He grabbed Erik and swept him into the hall. The door to the hallway
slid closed. For a second it was completely dark. Then Erik heard another
clicking sound followed by a loud hiss. Light exploded through the hall as fire
ignited across the walls of the hall in parallel lines above Braun’s head.

“Don’t be
afraid,” Braun said as he kept pushing from behind. “The fire was lit by your
father, to light our way. There are two troughs of oil that run the length of
these walls.”

“Where does this
tunnel lead?” Erik asked.

“First to a
secret chamber where we can outfit with weapons and equipment, then out to the
stables. Our horses will already be waiting for us.”

“How do the
stable hands know to prepare our horses?”

“The alarm,”
Braun said simply as he pushed harder. “Run your mouth less and your legs more,
if you want to live.”

Erik ran for all
he was worth, but it still wasn’t fast enough to keep Braun’s enormous hand off
of him. It was like trying to run in front of Goliath. Soon the end of the
tunnel was in sight. A large, brown metal door stood closed. Erik tried to slow
down but Braun kept pushing. The door was coming closer and closer. Erik felt
his heart skip when he saw that there were spikes jutting out toward him from
the metal door.

“Braun?” Erik
asked weakly. The big guard pushed harder, and Erik went hurtling towards the
long, shimmering spikes.

*****

Master Lepkin
sat back from the table and stared at the papers in front of him. He had spent
the last few hours studying the ancient texts in the library at Kuldiga
Academy. He had told Master Orres that he would be back Monday morning, but
something inside had told him that he couldn’t delay. So, shortly after Orres
had left, Lepkin mounted his horse and raced back to Kuldiga Academy. First he
had gone to his study to retrieve an old, brown tome. He had also gathered a
few things that he felt were necessary for Erik’s training and packed them onto
his horse, hidden out in the nearby forest. After that, he came back to the
library, where he now sat looking over charts and diagrams.

“Doing a bit of
reading, are we?” a familiar voice called out to him from the shadows.

“Yes, a few last
minute preparations,” Master Lepkin replied. He turned in his chair and smiled
as Janik came into the candlelight. “I was sure I had snuck past you this time,
old man.”

“Who are you
calling
old
?” Janik replied disdainfully. He pulled a chair up quietly
and sat it down next to Lepkin. His eyes studied the papers on the table. “The
spell of the nighthawk,” Janik said as he traced one of the papers with his
finger. “What exactly are you preparing for?”

“Your brother
has sent me and Erik away for the rest of the year,” Lepkin replied.

Janik raised a
curious eyebrow for a moment, but continued to scan the papers. “I see.”

“You aren’t
surprised?” Lepkin asked.

“No, there are
not many things that Orres does that surprise me. I have known him for a very
long time, after all.” Janik pulled a small book from behind his back and laid
it on the table. “Perhaps this will help you.”

Master Lepkin
took the book in hand and read its title aloud, “Anecdotes of the Forgotten
Traveler.” Master Lepkin opened the cover and gently flipped a few of the
pages. “What is this? The pages are blank.”

“The pages are
blank, but there are words on the pages, as sure as I am breathing now. It is
my brother’s journal. He writes in it most nights before he goes to sleep. He’s
had it since he was a boy.”

“Why would I
want your brother’s journal?” Master Lepkin asked skeptically.

“I have a
suspicion that he is not playing on the same side as you and I,” Janik replied
evenly.

“What makes you
say that?”

Janik got up and
went to the window, limping and rubbing his sore leg as he went. “Come here,”
he whispered. “But leave the candle where it is.”

Lepkin rose and
walked over beside Janik. His gaze followed Janik’s finger and looked down to
the courtyard. There, in the moonlight he saw Master Orres standing with his
arms crossed over his chest. Janik tapped Lepkin’s shoulder and pointed across
the courtyard. Master Lepkin looked up and saw a light through a window on the
third floor. It was his window.

“That’s my
study,” Lepkin said.

Janik nodded and
gently pushed the window open as three men entered the courtyard and approached
Orres. Janik held a finger up to his mouth, telling Lepkin to be quiet.

“Well, did you
find it?” Orres demanded.

“No, it wasn’t
there,” one of the men replied.

“What do you
mean it wasn’t there?” Orres fumed. “He is the Keeper of Secrets; I know he has
the book!”

“Master Orres is
after the book?” Lepkin whispered. Janik placed a finger to Lepkin’s mouth and
gave him a stern look.

“Maybe Master Lepkin
has come back and taken the book,” one of the three men said.

“No,” Orres
growled. “I saw Lepkin myself, back at his cabin. He said he wasn’t going to
come back until Monday. Besides, he would never come here while Erik’s life was
in jeopardy.”

Lepkin removed
Janik’s finger and glared at him. “What is your brother talking about?”

Janik grabbed
Lepkin’s face and made him look back down to Orres.

“I am sure Lord
Lokton would have sent for Lepkin after Tukai paid him a visit. Lepkin would
not have come here if he knew about the prophecy given at Erik’s Konn Deta
feast. Now go back up there and don’t come back to me until you have found
Nagar’s Secret!” Orres slugged one of the men, hard, knocking him to the
ground. The other two were quick to help their companion up and then run back
into the building.

Janik closed the
window and pushed Lepkin back to the table. “I was making my rounds when I
heard Orres give the initial order to search your study. I thought it would
attract too much attention to stop them, so instead I snuck into Orres’ study
and took his journal. I’m not sure why he seeks the dark tome, but I suspect
you’ll find the answers in that journal, if you can figure out how to make the
words appear.”

“You did right,”
Lepkin said. He started organizing the papers and hurriedly stuffed them into a
saddle bag that he had brought up. “Orres can look all night. They won’t find
the book here.”

“You’ve hidden
Nagar’s Secret elsewhere then?” Janik asked. Master Lepkin didn’t respond.
Janik paused for a moment and inhaled deeply. “Did you hear about Tukai?”

“Yes, I heard
your brother mention the warlock,” Lepkin said grimly. “If that is true, then
it is likely too late for Erik.”

Janik grabbed
Lepkin by the shoulders. “Look at me,” Janik implored. “If Erik is strong
enough to defeat Dimwater’s wolf, he can probably hold off a warlock, for a
while at least. You have to get to him.”