Knights of the Wizard (of Knights and Wizards Book 2) (4 page)

CHAROX SPENT TWO DAYS TRYING TO FIND HIS WAY OUT of the elaborate tunnels far underground, having slept for so long he couldn’t recall the way out, which was particularly frustrating. He was extremely annoyed and flew up into the cave ceiling several times, causing large sections of it to fall, risking a cave in but he was much too angry to care. Grabbing onto the roof he commenced digging his way out, dislodging chunks of rock that fell into the flowing lava below. After two days he finally broke through the solid rock, having dug his way up almost a half a mile; he ended up pushing his head into a meadow of daisies, taking with him the smell of fresh earth. With only his head protruding from the ground, he took a whiff of fresh air, struggling he emerged from the earth.

“Finally I’m out.”

Like a dog, he shook the earth from his grey scales and then flapping his wings he sent chunks of earth flying. Charox tried to get his bearings, still tired from his nap. That was one problem with taking a four hundred year nap, one tended to forget things and it could take quite a while for one’s memory to return. In the distance, in the same meadow were a family of five that were having a picnic, thinking that they had just experienced an earthquake and for whatever reason there had been more of them lately. They were facing away from the dragon as the grey stared at them. The mother, father and the three boys had been having a wonderful day until the earth shook, scaring all of them because it has seemed rather close. When they noticed the grey dragon behind them, they tried to run, but it was too late. The monstrous dragon’s foot stomped them and twisted, much as a human would step on a bug with the same result. All that remained of the family were blood and guts and pulverised bones. Charox scraped them off his right foot, too much mud and daisies crushed into their mangled bodies for him to want to eat them.

“I got you little bastards!” The grey dragon raked his claws together as if clapping, and then cocked his head as he bent down and with his huge left eye to examine his work. “Not good to be you,” he said. “It’s much better to be me.”

The dragon took to the wind, the sound of his broad wings slowly whooshing through the air, the wind pushing the branches of the nearby forest as he did so, being lifted by a combination of magic and wing power. He was getting a lay of the land as he flew. He climbed to almost five thousand feet, realizing that some things had changed while he slept, including several new kingdoms that he couldn’t recall, although he was still a bit groggy. He observed several red dragons heading in his general direction but seeing him they turned and scattered, it was good to be a grey and even better to be a wizard. Charox thought that he would be king of all dragons soon enough, perhaps even king of the world. Perhaps other grey dragons might have something to say about that, but then again he was the only grey sorcerer that he knew.

King of the world did have a nice ring to it.

“What do we have here?” Charox flew lower to get a better look; two horses were each pulling a whitewashed cart and following one another, an old grey haired man in one and a young man in the other. The senior was hauling hay and the young fella a full load of pears and he had just bitten into one, enjoying its sweetness. The dragon landed in front of them with a thud, shaking the ground, and they couldn’t believe how huge he was, stretching their necks up to get a look. They both commenced to tremble at the sight, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to outrun its fiery blast.

Charox picked up the cart with two of his claws as the youngster fell off the wagon to the ground, emptying its entire contents into his mouth and when he had finished he even ate the horse. They both tried to run and the old man fell out of his seat being in such a hurry to escape the mighty beast, but the monster emitted a burst of flame, turning both carts and the two men to ash. The dragon again took to the air, heading north toward the Great Taishanda Mountain range, having to get up to more than twenty thousand feet to get over it. He glided down through the clouds on the other side, seeing what appeared to be a great army with pointy silver helmets and red armour that was gathering. Upon closer inspection, they had a tunnel that went into the mountain but there was yet no exit on the other side, at least not yet. He used his magic to see inside the tunnel where two powerful wizards, Chancailu and Daijulan, were tossing balls of energy as they made their way closer to breaking through.

“Oh my, what do we have here?” Charox took in the situation, realizing that as soon as they made it through the mountain it wouldn’t be long before battles would ensue; they were dressed to fight and fight they would. Their game was to conquer and kill and it could be quite entertaining, maybe he would watch them fight and then after the battle he would kill whoever remained alive. That was the only good thing about humans, they liked to fight.

As Charox hovered in place his eyebrows tightened, seeing Ash in his head, even from here, he could feel the power in that little one. Might be best to kill him and get it over with just in case, and so he headed back over the mountain as he zeroed in on Ash. He would return later and see how the army had progressed.

STONE ENTERED THE KING’S THRONE ROOM moving confidently across the stone floor with his right hand on the hilt of his sword. His captivating brown eyes had no effect on the king, but women were transfixed by them. His armor was dirty and dented from arduous training of others as they slowly made their way up the ladder toward knighthood, and as soon as he made his way back to the training area he would pound some of them out, and some of the dents too. “You summoned your majesty?”

King Darius nodded. “I want you to take a couple of men and search out Tymon. He has a dwelling that is situated up Mount Ikwadinawoe. You are to bring him here as soon as possible. Should he refuse you are to remind him that he owes me a favor, he won’t like it but remind him anyway.” It was good to be able to call in a favor but not so good to be bound by one.

Stone nodded. “You’re going to have Marcus tested?”

“I am.” Berhtram flew in and landed on the king’s shoulder, the raven cocking his head at Stone. The bird received a piece of bread from the king and then flew off. One of the bird’s tail feathers was white, having gotten into some of Adorok potions years ago, obviously permanent. “I’m told that my son might be a danger to all of us. Look what he did to me. If he’s a low-level wizard the risk is small and his enchantments won’t last, but should he be a powerful wizard he might actually do us all in.”

Stone thought about the formidable energy of a potent wizard running through the body of an unpredictable 13-year-old, and from what he had seen the boy was no low-level wizard. “So what happens if Marcus is deemed to be a powerful sorcerer? Off with his head?”

Darius shook his head. “That is not the least bit funny Stone. I imagine that I would have to banish him for a time; of course I won’t tell him that he’s being banished. We’d have to move him about ten miles or so from the kingdom into his own abode while he learns how to control his magic; he could come back to visit as long as he promises not to do any spells while he’s here, which is not an easy thing for a wizard. He casts in his sleep for goodness sake. But we’re putting the cart ahead of the horse. A wizard has a degree of protection from himself, but the rest of us have no defence against his enchantments. He tells me that Adorok’s ghost is trying to help him, but his time here is limited, only appearing from time to time. Too bad because that’s exactly what he needs. Most sorcerers don’t want to share their knowledge lest a fellow wizard become an enemy.”

“Yes, Alexa’s annoyed that Adorok doesn’t visit her.”

“I’m a little jealous myself. We were friends from way back you know. I occasionally see him in my dreams, but it’s not the same thing.” Darius tried to imagine what it would be like to talk to Adorok’s spirit. “In any case, you are to fetch Tymon and bring him here so that he can test Marcus. You can offer him gold or whatever it takes to get him here and assure him that he will also have knights to escort him back.”

“Your majesty, why not bring Marcus with us and have him tested there? Wouldn’t that be easier?”

Darius watched as Berhtram flew back in, holding up his left hand for him to land on, and upon doing so received another crust of bread and again flew off. “I’ll need to consult with Tymon on the results; he may have ideas that don’t include banishment. You are aware that he’s a little person?”

“I am. I’ve met him.”

The king smiled. “That’s right you have. You best pretend that he isn’t. He was spelled years ago and fights like a demon, don’t be fooled by his stature. Be sure to instruct your men as well to hold their tongues, we don’t need any of our guys killed because of a stupid remark. Treat him as a friend and he will do so in kind. Mock him and he will hand you your head.”

Stone thought that no little person could best him but of course magic always complicated things, cheating as far as he was concerned. “I’ll leave at dawn.” He started to head out, but he paused and then turned back to face the king. “Your majesty, what do you suppose it’s like to be a ghost?”

The king thought about it and had wondered that very same thing on occasion. “I have no idea, but I guess we’ll all find out one day. And don’t tell Alexa you’re going. She can’t take Abby with her and I don’t want to hear her crying for a week.”

The handsome knight shook his head at the thought of it. “The baby or Alexa? I don’t know how I’m supposed to keep it a secret, but I’ll try. She wants to know every detail about everything. You know I’ll never hear the end of it if I don’t tell her and if something happens to me you’ll never hear the end of it.”

The king nodded knowingly. “Yes well, it’s for the best.”

Berhtram flew in once again, landing on the king’s shoulder, taking the time to examine Stone as he was handed yet another piece of bread.

A silence ensued as Stone stared at the bird. “Your majesty, will Alexa one day be queen?”

The king nodded. “I imagine so. And you know what that will make you.”

Stone scrunched his eyebrows and slowly shook his head at the thought. “It’ll make me sorry, that’s what it’ll make me.”

Darius laughed. “Stone you’ll be an honorable king and you know it. You could leave all the ruling to my daughter if you like.”

Stone grunted.

Stone left early the next morning under a grey sky, taking two archers with him Obed and Merrill. Obed was so tall that he made his horse look small, and although Merrill was short he had huge powerful arms that looked almost too big for his body. When they were about a mile out Lance joined the group; a rugged looking knight that could fight like the devil, dispatched by the king as he was anticipating trouble, seemed like there was always trouble brewing these days. The idea of a lasting peace appeared to be unsustainable.

It took the four of them three days to reach the base of Mount Ikwadinawoe, and that was with taking a portal that shaved several days off their journey. It was late evening when they arrived and although the sun had not yet set they decided to make camp and ascend in the morning. There was a dirt road that led up the mountain that had been created by magic some years ago, cutting a road all the way around the mountain to the top. Beautiful purple flowers with white insides were along the road, even pushing their way up through the snow at higher elevations; they couldn’t be cut or pulled and once a year they spit out round red seeds that would dry out and float off into the wind. Sorcerers were responsible for strange things here and there, some seemingly with no reason to them, curiosity made for some bizarre experimentation, especially early on in the life of a wizard.

Stone looked up at the dark clouds foreshadowing the rain that was sure to come as they commenced to set up the tent, and sure enough before they were finished they were under a downpour and in no time thoroughly drenched.

“The rain couldn’t have held off for a little while longer,” Merrill complained over the sound of the loud precipitation.

Lance liked the sound of rain, at least from inside. “It’s really coming down hard.”

Stone smirked. “I hadn’t noticed.”

In the morning, the rain had moved on and they started up the mountain, seeing large sections of rock that had been burrowed into since the last time Stone was here. A long day of ascending the mountain turned into evening and then suddenly all the horses had become skittish as if something untoward waited for them. The animals refused to move forward and then the stench hit them, smelling like a mixture of burnt carrion and skunk, nastiness that offended to such a degree that it made their eyes water. Obed shook his head and felt like he might actually vomit.

“What the hell is that smell?” Merrill asked Stone.

Stone nodded slightly. “Smells a little like the niiwu but I’ve never known them to be in this area. Maybe we smell as bad to them.”

“I doubt that,” said Lance. “I took a bath last week.”

Stone pulled his sword, looking around and listening for movement. “If we can smell them they can smell us and they know we’re coming. Why can’t anything be simple? Their strength gives them a great advantage in a fight.” They saw a mother skunk travelling with a baby and Stone realized that was most likely what they smelt.

As they circled around the mountain, the group came upon a road block. A half dozen of the niiwu had set up a circular dwelling in the middle of the road and because the wind was blowing toward them by the time they spotted them it was too late. The niiwu were armed with both swords and bows; they were muscular humanoid creatures, having two heads that would sometimes argue with one another, brutish faces with grey-blue skin. They only wore loincloths and had gold bands of various styles on all their wrists, their bare chests were quite muscular, and where humans had nipples they had patches of miniature scales. Stone knew that every damn one of them had the strength of three men, realizing that they were in big trouble as they were facing six. He couldn’t see this ending well.

The tallest niiwu crossed his arms defiantly as he talked to the shorter female next to him; his second head appeared indifferent but was in fact staring lustfully at the female. “Krasta nar brate finitba cruta nor cruta.” (
I haven’t eaten humans in months)

“Thak gratee nar baisuh Strabo finitba.” (
They make the best stew)

Obed looked at Stone. “What do you think they’re saying?”

Stone shrugged. “I have no idea, but I’d wager we wouldn’t like it.”

“We need to get by here,” said Lance. “Is there a problem? Do they understand us?”

They were virtually identical except that some were bigger than others and some had distinguishing scars. “No problem for we, for you problem.” The female smiled showing her ugly teeth as she commenced to salivate.

Stone could see that the niiwu were all shifting slightly; preparing to attack was his guess. “Can we pay you to let us through? We have gold.”

“Get gold we will,” said one.

One of them walked up to Obed, each head smelling a different side of his neck. “This one I eat.”

“Mine that one!”

Merrill stared at Stone. “I hope I give them diarrhea.”

One of the niiwu kicked Obed so hard that it drove him against the rocks knocking him out, his brain receiving a terrible jolt as it hit. Stone blocked two mighty blows from another and tried to kick her, only managing to hurt his foot, like kicking a boulder. She smiled showing all her crooked teeth and swung at Stone with all her might; he barely managed to get out of the way as she accidentally split one of her companions in two. The moment of shock allowed Stone to cut off both of her heads.

But the five remaining overpowered the three knights; Stone was rendered unconscious with the hilt of a sword. Merrill and Lance were also taken prisoner, beaten into a stupor and then tied upside down from a tree. One of the niiwu started to pinch and bruise their legs, trying to decide which one he wanted to eat first and it was a difficult decision.

The four knights were tied one against the other hanging upside down as Stone returned to consciousness. Although his vision was still blurry he could see that three of the niiwu were busy sharpening their swords, while two others had commenced to argue and push one another. Stone shook his head at the thought that Alexa would never know what happened to him but if she ever found out heaven help the niiwu.