Spirit Blade: Book III of the Dragon Mage Trilogy (16 page)

The warlock smiled. “Just in time, Gorc. Just in time.”

“Sir?” said Gorc nervously. His master’s good mood was unnerving.

“Tell the lizardmen to re-supply and prepare to move out first thing in the morning. I’ll give them their instructions shortly.”

“Yes, Sir,” said Gorc. He left the tent not relishing the idea of telling the lizardmen that they were moving on so soon. He hated their hissing of contempt whenever he was sent to give them instructions. They obviously resented a creature like him giving them orders. Furthermore, he had to wake one of the lizardmen commanders to accompany him with the orders so they would realize the orders were legitimate. Newcomers in particular would never believe what he said otherwise.

Chapter 14

A
rch Mage Gresham could scarcely believe he had done it, yet here before him stood a menacing, fire-breathing dragon. The bronze giant towered above him like a giant elven tree, blocking out the sun with its massive head. The reptilian eyes never blinked once, and the nostrils flared as a result of the exertion expended in trying to resist the spell. Gresham’s own breath was ragged from the magical spell, and adrenaline still flowed through his veins even now. It was an exciting experience for him. He never would have believed he could accomplish something of this magnitude with mere magic, yet here he stood, with a magnificent beast under his control.

“Well?” said a voice inside his head. Instinctively he looked around for the speaker, though he should have known the source of the voice.

“Are you just going to stand there like a fool or are we going to do something? I’m kind of hungry right now, so I’m going to find something to eat.” The dragon looked across the field at some grazing cows.

Gresham shook off the strange feeling created by the dragon’s telepathic voice and mounted the orb atop his staff in the specially designed tripod clasp that Arch Mage Violet had made for him.

The dragon watched this action with great interest. It was the object that housed its spirit. How it worked it did not know, but the mage had control over it. All it knew was the orb was an item to be protected at all costs. To lose it or damage it could mean death.

When Gresham had the orb securely affixed to the staff, he looked up at the dragon. “We will deal with your hunger, my friend. But first I would like to know what to call you. Do you have a name?”

The dragon wasn’t interested in small talk, but knew somehow that it was expected to comply with the mage’s wishes. It wanted to get the upper hand in its relationship with this magic wielder, so it bent its head close to the mage and breathed out its name slowly, as if it was preparing to fry the puny human on the spot. “Hooraath,” hissed the dragon.

Arch Mage Gresham was shaking in his boots, but outwardly kept his composure. He wrinkled his nose. “Well, Horath, you ought to do something about your breath. Perhaps your diet needs to be changed.”

Horath recoiled away from the mage. He was shocked at the puny human’s impertinence. “Why, my breath is absolutely fine! Your nose is obviously too puny to distinguish good odours from bad ones!”

Gresham chuckled. “Obviously my puny nose works better than your massive one.” To prevent the conversation from deteriorating he added, “but bad breath aside, I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, Horath. I’m Arch Mage Gresham, but you can call me Gresham.”

“Hummph,” said the dragon. “Sounds almost like ‘greasy ham’.” He lowered his head to the mage but a bit farther away this time. “You wouldn’t happen to have any ham for me to eat, would you? North of the mountains there are prairies full of wild boars. They are so tasty!” The dragon pulled his head back. “I could devour dozens at a time!”

“Then why are you bothering with our cows?” asked Gresham.

The dragon tossed its head casually. “They’re here, aren’t they?”

“But they belong to us,” said Gresham. “We raise them for milk and food.”

“That’s not my problem,” stated Horath.

“It is now,” said Gresham with an edge in his voice.

“How so?”

“Because your priority will be to defend the herds of cows, as well as humans and villages, against others of your kind.”

Horath exhaled sharply, leaving a puff of steam in the air. “You can’t be serious!”

“Oh, but I am,” said Gresham. For added effect he reverently rubbed his fingers over the orb on his staff.

Horath jealously eyed the orb. “You pit me against other dragons? I could be killed!”

Gresham knew he had to proceed cautiously. “From what I can tell, dragons don’t die so easily. They are a very resilient and intelligent race. You know when to stand down or flee if the odds are against you. You don’t do things rashly; you put thought into your actions.”

“That much is true,” said Horath proudly.

“Besides,” added Gresham, “I would never put you into a position beyond your capabilities.”

Horath flinched in surprise. “Really?”

“Really,” said Gresham. “We’re linked in more ways than you can imagine. You are too valuable to me.”

“I am?”

“Absolutely,” said Gresham. “In fact, I’ve considered your hunger before I even captured you.” He pointed over to the other side of the field. “There’s a cow over on that side of the field that I’ve purchased for you. It’s only one, but it should tide you over until you can find some proper food somewhere where there are no people around.”

Horath looked across the field and then back at Gresham. “For me?”

Gresham smiled. “Yes.”

“And you won’t try to stop me?”

Gresham shook his head. “It’s yours.”

Horath turned and prepared to launch himself into the air.

“You’ll find that I put thought into my actions as well,” said Gresham. As Horath sprang into the air, the mage called after him. “We’ll make a good team, you and I.” He could only hope that his statement was true as the dragon flew toward his meal.

Elsewhere, Arch Mage Belham had been in a village not far from Sorcerer’s Tower obtaining supplies for magical artifact production when a dragon had been sighted at the edge of town. He had hurried to the scene with the orb he had been given earlier that day and did the spell as he had been instructed. To his surprise, the spell had worked, and he had captured himself a female red dragon.

Fillith, as she was called, had a sense of humour that rivaled his own, and an appetite that only he could appreciate. She was considerably overweight, yet she soon convinced him to purchase an additional cow to satiate her hunger, and he was more than happy to oblige. In exchange, she offered to take Belham for a ride once she had finished eating. At first he had been nervous, clumsily climbing onto her back and trying to get comfortable. He laughed at his own awkwardness. Fillith must have been ticklish, because his awkward movements caused her to laugh as well. This resulted in Belham being bounced around, making them both laugh even more. As they took to the sky, they were both in tears they were laughing so hard.

After a while, though, they settled down and Belham marveled at the view below them. He hung onto Fillith’s neck, his hands finding a comfortable spot where the scales joined. The arch mage had the time of his life. He enjoyed it so much he rode Fillith all the way back to the tower where he prepared to land in the courtyard as Brendan had done. The security guards and mages were alarmed at first, and Belham had to do several passes, yelling at the top of his lungs that he was not a threat, before he was given a signal that he was clear to land. He made a mental note to design some sort of password that could be given for a friendly dragon approaching the tower so there would be no confusion in the future.

Belham had to bring his supplies inside, so he left Fillith in the company of the guards with strict orders not to hurt anyone or damage anything. She was a big hit with the guards who were on duty, allowing them to get near and touch her scales and claws. To their delight, she even spoke with a few of them and joked around with them. Unlike Horath, Fillith was not bothered by the fact that her life essence was in the possession of a human arch mage. Her easy-going nature was a testament to the fact that not all dragons were ruthless, bloodthirsty, self-centered creatures. They were actually very intelligent and highly emotional, and could wreak havoc when things did not go their way, but they were mostly fair and cool-headed when one got to know them. How they managed to communicate with all of the various races in their own languages was a mystery that no one could solve. So it was simply attributed to some form of inherent magic on the dragons’ part. In fact, it was learned that magic use acted like some sort of magnet, drawing dragons within a certain radius to investigate. When Fillith had been captured, she was being drawn to a couple of master mages who were practicing their art in a field so as not to bother anyone. Fillith had been innocently circling the mages when Belham had appeared and captured her life force in his orb.

Fillith had everyone’s attention for about three hours, but that changed when a speck was spotted in the sky to the south east. As it got closer, it was identified as another dragon. The guards scurried to their posts and Belham was alerted. He came running into the courtyard out of breath and flustered.

“Oh, dear!” he panted. “I - I guess we have to do battle with the intruder.” He looked at Fillith. “Um - I’m going to have to ask you to deal with -.”

“The dragon,” finished Fillith. She eyed the approaching dragon warily. “Ok then,” she growled. “We’d better get moving. Hop on, Belham.” She lowered her wing to let him climb on.

“What - me?!” squeaked Belham. “Are you sure -?”

“Just get on!” snapped Fillith. “You know magic, don’t you? Having you with me improves my odds considerably. Now hurry up!”

Belham scrambled up to Fillith’s neck, mumbling, “I don’t think this is such a good -.”

Fillith didn’t give him a chance to finish. She launched herself into the air with a speed that belied her girth. “Oh, stop worrying!”

“But what if the other dragon decides to fry us with fire?” complained Belham. Fillith’s speed made it difficult for him to maintain a secure hold.

“Don’t you know shield magic?” asked Fillith. “I thought you were a powerful mage!” The approaching dragon increased rapidly in size.

“Of course I know shield magic,” retorted Belham. He had a good grip now and was peering ahead at the oncoming dragon. It was very light in colour. Sunlight reflected off its wings displaying pure white scales. He wondered what sort of dragon it was.

“An albino!” hissed Fillith.

“A what?” asked Belham.

“A white dragon,” explained Fillith. “They don’t fry their prey like I do. They freeze them with ice breath.”

“Ice breath?” repeated Belham weakly.

“Yes. What magic do you have at your disposal to combat ice magic?” asked Fillith.

“The best way to deal with ice magic is with fire magic of equal or greater intensity,” said Belham. “I know quite a few spells that are based on fire.”

“Good,” said Fillith.

“But why don’t you fry the dragon with your fiery breath?” asked Belham. “Your flame will be more powerful than my magic.”

“That is true, but when two fire breathing dragons clash - as is the case most times - if one spews fire, the other can do the same. Fire dragons are naturally more immune to fire, but fighting like this could seriously injure or kill both of the dragons. Thus, dragons often clash with teeth and claws instead. But in this case, when dragons of opposite types fight, we use our ability to cancel out the opponent. If I spew fire, the ice dragon will cool off my magic with its ice breath before my flame reaches it. The resultant effect is a blast of hot steam at best. The same holds true if the ice dragon fires first. My flame will heat the ice breath and neutralize its effect. The only way to score a hit would be to catch the other dragon off guard so they don’t have an opportunity to fire back. If we clash with teeth and claws, it causes pain and distracts the opponent, so flame or ice breath has a chance of doing damage. That’s why I told you having you along will improve our odds. After you shield us from the first ice breath with your magical shield, you have the opportunity to go on the offensive immediately before the other dragon can prepare another shot. Any damage you do will distract it and I can hope to get in another shot of fire before there is any retaliation. It’s all about getting in the first shot. The one with a successful first shot usually wins.”

“It sounds like you’ve done this before,” said Belham.

“Once or twice,” muttered Fillith vaguely.

By now the approaching dragon was only a few hundred yards away. Belham readied himself for a shield spell but hesitated when he saw something unusual. Straddled across the white dragon’s neck was an object that looked strangely - human. The figure straightened as Belham got closer and he could see the individual’s hand raise into the air. At the same time, the white dragon veered away to the left.

Fillith adjusted her flight path to follow but Belham called out to her. “Wait! There’s someone on that dragon!”

“I see them,” said Fillith. “Do you know who it is?”

Belham squinted as they neared.

“Tell me soon or I’ll attack!” snarled Fillith.

Then the figure on the back of the white dragon raised both arms and waved them back and forth. At the same instant the figure’s hood flew back revealing blonde hair. He recognized the figure instantly. It was Arch Mage Violet.

“It’s a friend!” cried Belham. “Stand down!”

Fillith veered away and let a small fireball loose as she exhaled. She looked back at her rider. “That was close!”

Belham sighed in relief too. He had almost attacked a fellow arch mage. He had enough excitement for one day and told Fillith to return to the tower.

As they turned, Violet and her mount pulled up alongside. “Hooray! You got one too!” she cheered.

“I almost fried you!” shouted Belham sternly. “I thought your dragon was a threat until I saw you!”

“Sorry!” called Violet. “I’m glad you held off long enough to see me!”

“I’m surprised you didn’t shoot at me too!” said Belham.

“I saw your dragon rise from the tower’s courtyard,” said Violet. “I figured your dragon was one of ours, but I didn’t know if it would see me as a threat or not - until I saw someone riding her. Then I knew I had to show that my dragon was under control and being ridden, and wasn’t on a mission of destruction. I was counting on you to see me.”

“I did see you,” said Belham, “but I couldn’t identify you until we were almost on top of you. My visual range is not much different from the dragon’s attacking range.”

“We’ll have to be wary of that sort of thing when we get into combat,” said Violet. “We don’t want to be attacking each other.”

“That’s for sure,” said Belham. “Now I know that if I see a dragon with a rider I should proceed with caution. I did notice you shortly before we were within attacking range, even though I couldn’t identify who you were yet.”