The Sorcerer's Legacy (33 page)

“Well, we have spent the winter educating them in various subjects and thought to apprentice some of them to several of the skilled laborers once work resumes on the keep,” Azerick answered.

“An interesting proposal, Magus. So do you plan to house the children and young men and women indefinitely?”

“Until they are ready to make their own way in the world I suppose.”

“Orphanages and schools for the poor are usually financed by the state. What is it you are going to want from me, Magus Azerick?” the duchess asked suspiciously.

“Absolutely nothing, Your Grace. I am sufficiently able to take care of the details and expenses with the help of my friends and those that I hire.”

“It costs an exorbitant amount of money to finance such a school as you propose. I hope you will forgive my rudeness, but how is it that a man as young as you came into such a fortune?”

“Mother, you know it is not proper to ask someone that kind of question,” Miranda chided her mother.

“No, it is not, but I have a responsibility to my people to protect them and if that requires me to ask rude questions then so be it,” Mellina returned curtly.

“If you are concerned that I am a slaver, please be rest assured, Your Grace, I am not.”

“Did you come into a large inheritance then?”

“No, if you must know I killed the original owner of my fortune and took it for myself,” Azerick replied with another wry smile.

The duchess pursed her lips again and narrowed her eyes. “Are you mocking me, Magus? That is something I would not recommend.”

“I would not dream of such a thing, Your Grace.”

“Very well, Magus, I shall take you at your word that your actions are benevolent and I do offer whatever support I can for your school. It is
my
citizens who are benefiting from it after all. Good day, Magus, Lady Colleen.”

The duchess inclined her head in farewell to each of Azerick’s guests and departed.

“Azerick, you should not tease mother like that, she lacks the humor for it,” Miranda warned.

“Who said I was joking?” Azerick asked, cocking his head and raising his eyebrows. “Rusty and I and Magus Allister worked on something that we thought might make the festival more enjoyable.”

“What is it? Is it something magical?” Miranda asked excitedly.

“Something like that, yes,” Azerick answered and pulled a scroll out of the inside pocket of his cloak. “You all may wish to stand back for a moment,” the sorcerer advised as he unfurled the scroll.

Everyone took a couple steps back as Azerick and Rusty began reading the words of magic off the scrolls they each held. Miranda and those not familiar with magic watched in amazement as the words burned away as each was read aloud. When the final word vanished, Azerick and Rusty threw their hands into the air with almost perfect symmetry and released bolt after bolt of brilliant streaks of light that burst in spectacular displays hundreds of feet over the heads of the people that stared up at the sky in wonder.

Instead of the bright sparkles falling back down towards the ground that each bursting flare created, they zipped about like massive swarms of fireflies before converging into the shapes of dozens of luminous, armored swordsmen tens of feet tall. The swordsmen were obviously of two opposing forces as they ran across the sky and engaged in a furious battle.

Whenever swords clashed or shields blocked a powerful blow, dazzling bursts of sparks showered down. The crowd gasped and cheered every display of lights as they burst. When a warrior was slain, his entire body exploded into a colossal shower of flares that would once again race across the sky in a loose swarm. When the last fighter of the losing side was destroyed, the swarms of radiant sparkles belonging to the fallen swordsmen coalesced into several knights riding huge chargers and wielding long lances.

The knights tore through the remaining previously victorious swordsmen who immediately exploded into the multicolored mass of twinkling lights before quickly forming into mounted knights of their own.

The two sides charged each other like jousters in a tournament. Thunder pealed across the sky as luminous lances shattered against shields and armor, sending sparks and lightning bolts in all directions. The knights who lost their lances and still survived went at each other with swords until one side was victorious.

In seconds, wizards replaced the knights who sent lightning, fire, and streaks of magical energy flashing across a wide expanse of sky, each side rendering the other into motes of swirling lights once again. The radiant motes of light swirled, raced, and seemingly danced across the sky for a full minute before joining into their final shape.

Suddenly, there were only to enormous shapes in the sky above the city. Two dragons flew in large circles and loops over North Haven. One was red with dark maroon belly scales and black patterns that streaked across its scales. The other was dark blue with much lighter blue belly scales and a similar pattern of white stripes.

The red dragon managed to climb higher than the blue and broke into a swift dive, breathing a massive jet of flame at the blue just below it. The great blue dragon banked hard to the right but still caught the edge of the flame and suffered burns on its belly and tail. Swifter than anyone would have imagined possible, the blue reversed its direction and raced towards the red as it pulled out of his dive.

The blue dragon opened it great maw and a great breath of frost arcing with lightning raked the red’s back, causing it to let out a massive roar of pain and anger. The spectacle was made even grander by the wisps of light that darted through the sky, created by the scales and blood the dragons lost in battle. The dragons circled higher once more trailing brilliant streaks of light like the wakes created by swift moving ships.

The great wyrms circled each other in opposing concentric circles several times in an effort to gain altitude. After several passes, the colossal creatures both charged and slammed in to each other, talons as hard as steel and as long as swords tore into the dragons’ belly scales while tooth-filled jaws snapped at the other one’s long neck and face. A torrent of luminous blood and scales rained down upon the astonished humans below in a mass of sparks as the dragons plummeted towards the earth.

Just before the two enormous combatants were sure to strike the ground, they pushed away from each other and snapped open their gigantic wings. The dragons skimmed just above the tallest buildings of the city, giving the spectators a fantastic view of the illusory creatures in great detail. Just as the dragons raced over the heads of the crowd, the blue released another blast of frost and lightning, scoring a gruesome wound across the red’s flank.

The red dragon roared in pain, releasing a jet of super hot flame across the sky. Once again, the dragons circled to regain altitude. Higher and higher, they flew up into the twilight sky. The two great reptiles broke out of their ascensions in opposing directions before making a wide turn and racing back towards each other.

The sun had just dipped below the ocean’s horizon when the dragons slammed into each other with a crack of thunder that seemed to shake the entire city. The red dragon managed to sink its powerful jaws into the base of the blue’s serpentine neck. With a roar of rage and pain, the blue dragon snaked its head around and sank its own dagger-like teeth deep into the back the red’s neck about halfway down. The two dragons plummeted towards the sea, neither willing to loosen its grip on the other until one of them was vanquished.

Just before the two majestic and terrible beasts struck the water, bright beams of light shot out of the scaly hides and mouths of both dragons before a final burst of brilliance swallowed them both.

So bright was the sudden eruption of light that the citizens of North Haven were forced to shield their eyes from the brilliant radiance. An eerie silence fell over the city as people looked out towards the harbor where the dragons had disappeared.

A soft orange glow began to form just above the water, growing larger and larger until it seemed that the sun had reversed its descent into night and was determined to cast its warm glow upon the land once more. The bright orange ball continued to grow until it dwarfed the size of the sun as it appeared to human eyes. Then in another brilliant flash of light, the orange globe split like an egg and from its confines erupted an enormous flaming phoenix of legends past.

The great fiery bird flapped its majestic wings and soared up into the night sky. When it appeared that it was going to try to fly to the stars themselves, the phoenix burst apart into thousands, hundreds of thousands, of tiny suns that floated back down onto the city.

The people below were nervous of the fiery snowflakes until the curious children among them began catching them in their small hands. Soon children were running about catching the motes of light as if they were snowflakes and adults began dancing in the streets under the luminous shower.

Miranda turned towards Azerick, tears streaming down her face. “Oh, Azerick, thank you, it was so beautiful,” She said as she hugged him tightly.

Azerick stiffened under her embrace, not certain what to do. He put a hand to her shoulder in return but that was all. Miranda released the sorcerer and moved towards Rusty who tried to backpedal but she caught him with an equally fierce hug. Rusty’s eyes went wide but he returned her hug when he looked over at Colleen who nodded her assent.

“Thank you so much, Rusty. This has been the most wonderful winter fest we have ever had,” she told him as she released her hold. “The people will remember this day for the rest of their lives.”

“We were glad to help, Miranda,” Rusty replied.

“Is that right?” Miranda asked coyly, locking eyes with Azerick.

Azerick grinned under her stare. “Yes it is. I thought that my adoptive city deserved to be entertained by their local sorcerer and wizards.”

“So does this mean that some of those sorcerers and wizards will no longer be quite so standoffish and sullen?” Miranda asked, smiling.

“Time will tell, My Lady, but they are at least willing to make the attempt,” Azerick answered, grinning back at her.

***

The Rook stuffed a small amount of gear into his travel pack. Most of the snow had melted this far south but he knew there were still a couple feet of it further north. It did not matter. A horse could make the journey easy enough and he was eager to fulfill his contract. It was highly unlikely that there would be any further storms of any real consequence.

The assassin had just tugged the straps tight on the pack when a soft vibration emanated from one of his many hidden pockets. With a soft curse of annoyance, he pulled the bird’s egg-sized black gem from his pocket and concentrated on it.

“What do you want?” the assassin snapped irritably.

“Watch your tongue, Rook, I will not brook such disrespect, even from you,” the voice admonished, his words carried through the stone.

“And I will not be scolded like an impudent child, even by you,” the Rook replied menacingly.

“Enough of this posturing, there are more important things at stake than our pride. You are needed. Go and speak with Duke Ulric at once. He will tell you what he requires.”

“The duke will have to wait. I am busy with another matter at the moment, one in which I have already been delayed enough.”

“You will have to be delayed a while longer. This is too important to put off and the timing is crucial to our larger plans.”

“Your plans, I take no interest in your petty politics of who gets to mark what tree the highest,” the assassin scathingly replied. “The way I see it, the one who pisses the highest usually ends up with it on his face.”

“Whether you are interested in our politics is irrelevant. You are still a part of this tower, and at this time, I command the tower and those in it. You must go and speak to the duke at once. I doubt you will be delayed overmuch and you just may find the job interesting.”