Dragonvein - Book Three (25 page)

The sound of the two shots would have certainly attracted the attention of the police. Markus knew he was out of time and options. Blood was dribbling steadily from the wound, and he could feel the bullet buried within his flesh. With David struggling wildly to get to the door, it was time to do things the hard way. Still with a vice-like hold on his wrist, Markus threw him hard back against the wall. David crashed into the plaster and slid to the floor, badly stunned. But this wasn't enough. Only after delivering a heavy blow to his temple that knocked him completely unconscious did Markus step away.

Voices from directly outside began shouting for him to come out. After slamming the bedroom door shut, he ripped off the pendant and threw it on the floor. He prayed that the police would use at least a little bit of caution before charging in with guns blazing. That might just slow them down long enough for him to escape. Without wasting another second, he grabbed the rock from his pouch and smashed it down on the rajni stone. At the same time, there was the sound of the front door being kicked in.

The portal exploded to life. Grunting with the pain of his injured arm, he used his good one to heft up the mercifully light David. But the portal wasn't yet big enough. This time, it seemed to be growing with agonizing slowness. The seconds passed desperately by.

The door to the bedroom flew open. “Don’t move!” shouted an officer.

At last the spinning portal had increased sufficiently. It was do or die time. The sinews of Markus' legs sprang to life in a single, desperate leap.

The last thing he heard before passing into the light was the sound of a final shot being fired.

Markus’ head was pounding as consciousness returned. He could feel that he now had another wound - this one just above his right ear - and that blood was soaking his cheek and shoulder. The injury to his arm was also throbbing like crazy. As he tried to sit up, a pair of hands helped him from behind.

“You are injured.” It was King Ganix.

“I’ll be fine,” he responded, though he wasn’t sure how true that was. He touched the wound to his head and breathed a sigh of relief. The bullet had only grazed him.

Renald was kneeling over the unconscious body of Lylinora. “She’ll be all right,” he said, sensing Markus’ concern.

David was lying a few feet away, still out from Markus’ punch.

After a few moments, Renald crossed over and began tending to Markus’ wounds. “I’m no healer,” he said, “But I can help you well enough until Lylinora recovers to do it properly.” As he let the healing magic flow into the wounds, he glanced over at David. “So this is him?”

Markus nodded.

“And what of Jonas?” The look in Markus’ eyes quickly told him the answer. “Goodbye my friend,” he muttered, closing his eyes. “You will be greatly missed.”

“What happened?” asked Ganix.

Markus recounted the events, pausing only to move to Lylinora’s side when Renald had finished healing him. The wounds still hurt, but the bullet was removed and the bleeding had stopped.

Both Renald and Ganix regarded David with troubled expressions.

“If he was so unwilling, I wonder if he will be of any use at all.” Ganix remarked.

“He’ll be useful,” asserted Renald. “I'll make sure of it. Jonas will not have given his life for nothing. That much I can promise you.”

“Are you sure he’s dead?” asked Ganix.

Markus shook his head, eyes downcast. “Not certain. But I'm pretty sure he was hurt. And before you ask – no, there was no way for me to save him. He was determined to do what he did.”

“I wasn’t going to ask,” said Ganix.

“No one is questioning your decision, Markus,” added Renald. “He knew the risks and he accepted it. You did the only thing you could. Had you tried to save him, both of you would most likely be dead and the final mage still would not be here.”

“The good news is that he was fifteen years old when he was sent to Earth,” Markus told them. “So he probably knows at least
some
magic already.”

Renald nodded. “He will for certain. At fifteen he would have been well on his way.”

Lylinora stirred and then her eyes fluttered open. When she saw Markus sitting beside her, she smiled and touched his cheek. “I knew you’d come back.”

“Of course I did. Nothing would keep me apart from you.” He leaned down to kiss her tenderly.

Taking his hand, she pulled herself up. “Where is Jonas?”

“Lost, I'm afraid.”

Lylinora's mouth set firmly as she nodded acceptance of this. “I see. And the mage.”

“He’s here.” There was more than a touch of disdain in Markus' voice. “And he was not very happy about coming back.”

“He’s waking up,” called Ganix.

David groaned and shifted. “What….?” His eyes popped open. “Where am I?”

Markus’ muscles tensed from a powerful desire to throttle him. “Where do you think?” He pushed himself to his feet and offered Lylinora his hand.

“Be calm,” she said, sensing his fury building.

David sat up, his eyes flashing wildly around. The moment he saw Ganix, he scrambled back to the edge of the platform. It was then that he saw the dragons. “No!” he screamed. “This can’t be. Not again.” He slid further back until, with a yelp of fright, he tumbled completely off the platform and landed with a thump on the pebble strewn ground.

Ganix hopped down and knelt beside him. Renald looked as if he felt the same way as Markus and remained on the platform.

“There is nothing to be afraid of,” Ganix said in a soothing tone. “No one will harm you.” He offered his hand.

It took several seconds for David to recover from his fall. When he did, rather than take the king's hand, he scrambled to his feet and scurried around to the far side of the platform. “Stay back,” he shouted.  “I mean it.”

Holding up his hand, he muttered a single word under his breath. When nothing happened, he looked fearfully at the dwarf. Again he spoke, this time more loudly. “
Pyrifia
.” This time, a small ball of flame no bigger than a marble appeared above his palm. It flickered like a candle in a breeze.

Lylinora laughed. “I think what you are trying to do is this.” She held out her hand. “
Pyrifia
.” A ball of flame twice the size of a man’s head flashed into being.

At once, David’s tiny spell dissipated. Now in a complete panic, he ran for all he was worth. Ignoring the dragons, he raced along the wall of the canyon, only to discover he had gone in the wrong direction and had trapped himself. Searching frantically for a way out, he saw the path leading up the canyon face on the far side. But it could not be reached without first passing Lylinora. He cowered away from her in terror, pressing his back hard to the rock.

Ganix shot her a scolding look. “There is no reason to terrify the poor man.”

Lylinora dismissed the spell and smiled at Markus. “It’s one of the first elemental spells we are taught. Not very strong and relatively easy to master.”

“Do it again,” he suggested, a sinister grin forming. “Only this time, make it bigger.”

“No,” snapped Ganix. “I don’t care what he did, you will not torment him. Am I understood?”

Lylinora nodded. “Of course.”

Renald slid down and crossed over to David, stopping when he was a few yards away. “There is nothing to fear, lad. Come. We have much to talk about.”

“We have
nothing
to talk about,” he shouted. “Send me back. You had no right to bring me here.”

“First of all, we cannot send you back,” Renald told him. “And even if we could, we would not. The fate of this world depends on you being here. That alone gives me the right.”

“Are you insane?” David shot back. “I know why I’m here. You want me to fight Shinzan. Well, you can all just go to hell. I won’t do it.”

“Then you will die,” Renald told him flatly.

“You bastard! Why are you doing this? You can’t beat him. No one can.”

“Who was your family?” Renald asked, ignoring the rant. “You look familiar to me.” Not receiving an answer, he scrutinized David for a few moments, then raised his right index finger and waggled it. “No need to tell me, I know who you are. You are Jeric Lauben. Your father was killed during the first assault on the Emperor. I remember him well. A brave man. But your mother was the better mage, I think. Almost as powerful as Praxis Dragonvein himself.”

“My name is David Roberts,” he insisted. “And my father was a fool.”

“As you wish…David. But whatever name you choose to go by will not save you. If Shinzan is not defeated, he will eventually find you and kill you. And though you may feel our bringing you here is unjust, that doesn’t help your situation one bit. You are in Lumnia, and nothing can be done to change this. So your choices are to either fight or die.”

David glared hatefully at the old mage. “And who are you?” he asked.

“Renald Dragonvein, brother of Praxis.” He gestured for David to follow him.

After a lengthy hesitation and without any other options open to him, David did as suggested and joined the others on the platform. After introductions had been made, they sat down in a circle. Markus did not attempt to hide his contempt, nor did David conceal his.

“I would say that I’m sorry I shot you,” remarked David. “But I’m not. If my aim had been better I’d still be home right now, instead of getting ready to die at the hands of Shinzan.”

Markus felt Specter rising again. “If you’re not careful, you'll die long before you ever meet Shinzan,” he growled.

“Enough,” warned Ganix. “Whatever happened with you two, it needs to be left in the past.”

“Agreed,” said Renald. “You live. Which is more than I can say for poor Jonas. So let us move on and not squander his sacrifice.” The pain in his eyes when speaking Jonas’ name was clear for all to see. The two men may have constantly bickered, but there was no doubting they had grown close in their own strange way.

“I think it might be best if we told him exactly why we brought him here,” Lylinora suggested. Hearing no objections to this, she began to give David an account of what had been happening in Lumnia since he was sent to Earth. David listened silently, occasionally glancing over at Markus, but looking away before their eyes could actually meet. It was getting late, but Lylinora pressed on until bringing him up to date on the situation.

“Let me see if I understand this,” David said when she had finished. “You are thinking about challenging Shinzan just because of an elf prophecy you happened to hear? Are you stupid, or just plain crazy?”

“Not simply because of the prophecy,” Ganix corrected. “We are doing this because if we don’t, all life on this world will be extinguished. And you should not discount the wisdom of the elves so easily.”

David threw up his hands. “And I’m supposed to care about this? Listen, I’m thirty-six years old. This hasn’t been my world for a long time. My family is dead; slaughtered by the very person you want to pick a fight with. I have nothing here.”

“So you would allow the murder of your family to go unanswered?” said Markus. “Then you
are
a coward.”

“Fuck you,” snapped David. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“My family was killed as well,” Lylinora interjected. “Everything I once knew has been ripped away. I never met your father, but I knew of him. And you are right. He
was
a fool. He, along with the rest of the Council of Volnar, failed to act when there was still time. They allowed Shinzan to grow powerful. And when they did finally do something, they did so blindly. In the end, they paid dearly for their folly.”

She leaned in, compelling David to meet her gaze. “We will not be so foolish. Nor will we walk blindly into danger.” She raised her hand in an exaggerated sweeping motion. “Look around you. The dragons are keeping Shinzan at bay. The son of Praxis fights with us. Even the spirit of Martok the Destroyer has joined our cause. I do not think you a coward. But you would be a fool not to fear the Emperor. I know
I
do. But he can…no...he
will
be defeated. I know you would avenge your family if you believed there was a chance for us to win.” She reached out and took his hands, squeezing tightly. “There is a chance. I swear to you – there is.”

Slowly, David’s face betrayed the deep sorrow he'd been concealing. Tears welled in his eyes, threatening to burst into a flood. “I saw what Shinzan can do,” he said. “I watched him raze my home to the ground and slaughter every one of the innocent people who lived nearby. They weren’t even soldiers. Just farmers and craftsmen. It didn’t matter how old or how young; he killed them all. How do you fight against that? With words and hope? My mother sent me away to protect me. She knew I would never be safe so long as Shinzan lived.”

He pulled his hand free of Lylinora's grip. “I was happy on Earth. I was safe. And now, here I am again. You want to know the truth? I don’t give a damn about revenge. My family is dead and there is nothing I can do to change that. So I don’t give a damn about Lumnia, or the elves, or the dragons, or you and your useless war.”

With a flash of anger, Renald rose to his feet. “Then care for your own life. If you need a reason to fight, your own survival should surely be enough. Because if you choose to run and hide, Shinzan will find you, wherever you flee. He will certainly kill you, but very, very slowly. You will be begging him for death long before it ever arrives.” He loomed over David, his bent frame suddenly straight and menacing. “Or perhaps I should save our despised Emperor the trouble.” His hands began to glow green.

This time, surprisingly, it was Markus who became the voice of reason. “Enough of this. If you want me to apologize for what I have done, then I will say that I'm sorry it was necessary. But bringing you back here could save millions of lives. I don’t blame you for being afraid - I really don’t. But you’re just going to have to find a way to get past it.”

There was a long tense pause while David considered his situation. Eventually, he nodded. “Okay, you win. If there's no way back to Earth for me, I don’t really have a choice, do I?” He laid his head in his hands. “What do I need to do?”

“Learn. Learn as much as you can, as fast as you can,” Renald told him. “I assume that you were well taught by your parents.”

David looked up. “Yes. But I don’t remember most of it. Only a few spells. I was only fifteen.”

“I am sure it will come back to you,” said Lylinora.

They decided to spend the night in the canyon and head out in the morning. They talked for a time. It turned out that David was an engineering professor at M.I.T. After arriving on Earth, he was adopted by a couple who found him wandering the streets of Boston. Both were academics, and they'd seen to it that David was given the finest education.