Zoran Chronicles Volume 1 A Dragon in Our Town (55 page)

I seem to have total control over my Circle from any distance away, like my
Circle is somehow a part of me. I’ve grown to see it as an extension of me.
Bandar suggests that this effect will wear off in future generations. He’s
apologized for the eye color change. Bandar claims that he was not aware that
this would happen.

Further on, he came across the following.

Yes! I have advance knowledge whenever anyone attempts to use my Circle for
Shadow Walking. Coming or going, I know in advance that it is about to occur.
Yes! I can prevent such activations, even when I am on Gladno! Incredible.

This is incredibly useful! So I can stop Kazimir if he tries to attack us here via my Circle.
Great. Even if I am off-world! Zoran was relieved somewhat.

            
A bit further, Valentýn noted:

My connection is even stronger than Bandar predicted! I’ve just discovered that
I have the same advance knowledge when anyone Shadow Walks anywhere
within a mile of the Circle! Coming or going, I know about it. Very useful. I have
not spoken to Bandar or the other Barons about this fact. It may well prove
useful to me.

            
He read through more mundane notes and several pages later came across
another fact that confirmed what Zoran had already experienced.

I received quite a shock when Rogdan’s Ceremony of Ascension was held last
night. As Priestess Ari began activating the Circle, I was immediately aware of
and a part of and witness to his ascension! It was like part of me went into him
or was with him. Conclusion: I will be totally aware of anyone receiving this
ceremony at my Circle.

            
On the next page, fascinated, Zoran read even more.

My archenemy, Dusan Clav, attempted to sneak into Castle Dorumova last night,
via a Shadow Walk. As expected, I had prior knowledge of his attempt. My guess
is a few seconds notice. What surprised me was that I somehow knew at that
instant what his intentions actually were: to raid my treasury. I reacted by
shoving him wildly back into the depths of the Shadows. Today, I received word
from his baroness that Dusan is now missing! She had the audacity to ask if I had
seen him. Of course, I replied truthfully that I had not seen him.

A bit later, he added a footnote.

Dusan finally showed up a week later. According to all reports, he looked to be
in terrible shape. His clothes were shredded, and he had a number of wounds,
none life-threatening, unfortunately. He claims that he somehow got lost in the
Shadows. Interesting correlation. I am not going to tell the other barons about
this either!

            
After several more pages, he came across this tidbit.

Talked to Bandar last night. He is of the opinion that all these effects that the
original owner of a Circle experience will not carry on down to the next owner.
He was most concerned about other baron’s complaints about having orange
and green eyes. He’s convinced that our heirs will experience none of this. This
is the best news I’ve heard, since I now suspect my own son, Rogdan, of pushing
my wife off of the roof. Treasonous son, poison from the womb! I am very glad
that he will not inherit the powers that I have as the original owner. Bandar
looked mystified about my cheerfulness over his revelations. I didn’t tell him
about Rogdan. The fewer that know, the better.

            
There followed some more rantings about his treacherous son. Then, Zoran came
across the most interesting datum yet.

Bandar came to see me. He told me how he sees me morning the loss of my
Duska wife and also that I have been seeing a lot of a local barmaid at the Dew
Drop Inn, where I get drunk nearly every night. I told him that I cared deeply for
this simple woman. He suggested that I marry her. I told him that she was not
Duska and that I could therefore not marry her. He kept hounding me and my
will failed me. At last, I told him about the treason of my heir, my son, Rogdan. I
explained that if I remarried, that unless she was Duska, she could easily be
assassinated by Rogdan. I just couldn’t face that again, not ever.

Bandar then cast Anti-spying spells and whispered to me. “There is something
that you do not know, Valentýn. No one but I know this. Considering your
situation, I’ll tell you, but you must promise me never to tell another soul.” I so
swore.

“Anyone, any human that is, can become a Duska merely by having the Priestess
perform the Ceremony of Ascension on them. Yes, everyone believes that only
we originals, we of Duska inheritance, can have our gland enhanced by the
Circles and be able to Shadow Walk and all that. But that is not true. Anyone
can. You can secretly have my wife perform the ceremony on your barmaid and
make her a Duska. Then, it would be safe for you to marry her. The only limiting
factor is age. It is dangerous to perform the ceremony on anyone who is older
than twenty-one or younger than ten.”

We made preparations to have this done. Unfortunately, Bandar’s wife died in
what I consider mysterious circumstances. Could Rogdan have found out what
we were planning? Worse, Bandar has now gone missing! The entire Federation
of Planets is out looking for him everywhere. Apparently, I am under suspicion,
since I was the last person to have contact with him here on Adapazan!

 
            
This was the last entry in the volume. Zoran stared at the blank page. “So there
was treachery even back at the founding of the Circles,” he mused. He began to suspect
that Bandar had gone to Sholov Province to build a new Circle of Ascension here on
Adapazan, one that Valentýn could give to his new wife, his new Duska, one who could
fight against his heir and son, Rogdan. Perhaps, Bandar had been killed there by Rogdan
as well. Most interesting, he thought. This was a sad commentary on the integrity of the
barons and the Duskas.

            
Now he wondered about giving Zdenka the ceremony. As much as he wanted to,
the caution about the age limits held him back. She was approaching twenty-one now.
The risk to her life just wasn’t worth it. After all, she was now an Archmage in her own
right. He also resolved to keep this detail a secret for now. If it became widely known
that anyone could become a Duska just by undergoing the Ceremony of Ascension, then
the many barons would certainly begin an all-out creation of Duskas, hoping to gain
advantage over their neighbors.

            
That night, Zoran had much to ponder. Zdenka lay next to him, sound asleep,
cradled in his left arm. So much he had learned, so much he had done, but mostly it was
her. “I love you,” he whispered in her ear.

            
Just then, his inner senses began throbbing! His Circle began sending him data.
Two were coming through his Circle right now in the middle of the night! No, they were
coming just outside the tower — he’d just sensed their destination point. One was
Kazimir and the other — the other’s intention was to assassinate him or Zdenka! Zoran
didn’t hesitate. Using his Duska expanded senses, he imagined swirling them away, off
into the Shadows, as Valentýn suggested that he could do. Zoran had the strangest
perceptions sweeping over his mind, as though he could somehow “see” the two men in
the black void of the Shadows. The others man’s grip on Kazimir’s hand loosened, and
the man, arms and legs spread out, went spinning off — a three dimensional spin, until
he totally disappeared. Kazimir, fighting madly, controlled his spin, reoriented himself,
and disappeared in the distance. Zoran’s senses returned to normal, but he certainly did
not!

            
He wanted to get up and move, but he’d wake Zdenka. He forced his breathing
back to normal and then worked to relax his fingers, then toes, then arms, then legs, and
at last his whole body. As he finally calmed down, he drifted off into a peaceful sleep, as
if this had been but a dream.

            
The next morning over breakfast, Lida made a strange comment. “Zoran, last
night, I had the strangest feeling that the baron was after us here. Weird, I know.
Obviously he wasn’t.”

            
Zoran decided to say something about it. “Yes, sis, he was trying to get here and
do his dirty deeds, but I took care of him and his companion before they actually arrived
here. Nothing to worry about.” She gave him a strange look and then let it pass, for
which he was grateful.

            
A thousand miles away and at midnight, Baron Kazimir finally appeared in his
red Circle of Ascension located in the depths of Castle Dorumova. His clothes were
shredded and his body covered in tiny scratches, as if thousands of razor sharp cat claws
had attacked him. His long hair was disheveled, and he was frightened, more afraid than
he had ever been in his entire life! He teleported directly to his room and grabbed his
bottle of whiskey, ignoring his usual glass. He downed half the bottle before pausing,
and then collapsed into his overstuffed easy chair.

            
“God! What happened to me?” he muttered, but no answer came, only the total
silence of his room. Slowly, the alcohol kicked in and he relaxed and dozed. Images of
his ill-fated attack on Sholov Province swirled in his mind. There were the fire breathing
dragons swooping down. He re-felt his efforts to reach his heir and son, Radek. Now he
was holding the burned shell that moments ago had been in the vitality of his life. Now,
he saw the shell of a son jumping to his death. A tear formed, but the man detected it
not. The funeral of his wife appeared, along with his attempted assassination of Lida.
Again, all magic failed and everything went black, as black as the void tonight had been.
When the images returned, he saw himself unleashing his most powerful assault group
that he had ever fielded, all charging toward the Brn Archmage tower. Dragons again
appeared! Screaming, dying bodies flew everywhere before his eyes! Milos died, his
Mages dropped like flies. A dagger headed his way as he stepped into the Shadows once
more safe. The darkness gave way to this evening’s attempt. His top assassin, at least the
best one of those still alive, took his hand. Armed with all manner of poisons, he’d swore
to secretly kill either Zoran or Zdenka or both. He would not fail. Into the Shadows the
baron led him, but then as he zoomed in on the deserted street before the tower,
someone else appeared in the Shadows!

            
Kazimir began sweating profusely. He strained to see who was there, but the
figure remained but a shadow among the Shadows. No, it did something! This shadow
had wrenched his assassin from him, sending the helpless man sailing off wildly in to the
depths of the Shadows, lost forever. He, himself, was sent spinning after him. Only by
his powerful will had he been able to regain control of his senses and mind and force
them to do his bidding, returning to his Circle at last. He could not see the creatures
which had attacked him there in the lost depths of the Shadows.

            
Baron Kazimir sat bold upright! The alcohol in his system seemed to evaporate in
an instant! Someone was out to assassinate him! That had to be it. “Yes, yes, an assassin
is lying out there in the Shadows waiting for me! That’s what happened. Well, he took
me by surprise this time, but I out maneuvered him all right! Damn. Who would want to
assassinate me?”

            
As he sat there, his answer was a very long list. “Think old man! It has to be a
Duska! No one else can go into the Shadows. It has to be a master of Shadow Walking.
But who? Baron Milan? Baron Viktor?” He named some of his top enemies, but none of
them felt right. This shadow person seemed small and relatively youthful; his fellow
barons were much older. No, this assassin was dexterous, highly skilled. He ruled them
out. “A Duke, perhaps?” He thought of the young sons of his enemies, seeing their
youthful faces in his mind’s eye. Somehow, he didn’t think any one of them was bright
enough to have done this incredible thing. At last, he finished off the rest of the bottle
and fell into a deep sleep.

            
The next day, he made mental contact with Baron Bogdan Clav. He told him of
his narrow escape. “Honestly, Bogdan, be wary. There really is an assassin hiding in the
Shadows ready to assassinate us. No, I am not going mad. I tell you he’s real!” He argued
with his top ally for several minutes and finally broke off the contact. He contacted his
other three allies, but met with similar disbelief. Kazimir gave up. “Sooner or later they
will meet this secret assassin themselves. Then, they will come running back to old
Kazimir for help!” He headed to his private bathroom. His body was covered in his own
dried blood from the night before.

            
After a hearty breakfast, he sat down at his private desk and began to outline his
strategic position. If Jiri was successful in the creation of another Circle, surely Baron
Milan would give it to Duke Leo. He’d as said as much at the High Council meeting.
Since his announced heir, Lida, had already married Duke Leo, as soon as the Circle was
built and activated, Baron Milan would seek recognition of Leo as a new Baron. The
High Council would accept it, as it had already done with Zoran. That eliminated all
possibility of Lida inheriting his Circle and throne. No one can be a double baron or
baroness. The High Council would not stand for that, no way. So in a few weeks, Lida
would no longer be of any concern. Well, not unless she divorced Duke Leo. He quickly
dismissed that thought. She was in love. She’d never do that, not just for a throne. The
fool wasn’t politically minded.