The Magic Catcher (3 page)

She
emerged from the boat first, analysing their surroundings as Marcus
pulled the boat onto higher, flatter, land, to stop it from sinking
back into the ocean and leaving them stranded. Marcus gazed at the
mountain, looking a little daunted. Aprestine fought back a smirk;
Marcus had always had an act-first, think-later attitude.
Unfortunately for him, it seemed the thinking part of things had
finally started to set in.

“
Perhaps we’re rushing things.” Marcus said. “Don’t we need a
weapon?”

“
You have a sword, don’t you?” Aprestine said.

“
Yes, but-”

“
Well then.” She replied. “What more could we possibly
need?”

“
Why do I feel like you’re not taking this
seriously?”

Aprestine stopped, turning around to face him. “Fear gets you
nowhere, Marcus.” She said. “And for the record, we won’t be
killing any dragons today.”

“
What?” Marcus exclaimed, striding towards her, stopping just
short of touching her. “What about my sister?”

Aprestine rolled her eyes. “Relax. I didn’t say we weren’t
going to get your sister. But dragons can’t be killed with a
regular weapon, and we haven’t got the time to go and find an
enchanted one. So, we’ll just have to be stealthy.”

“
Stealthy?”
Marcus hissed. “That’s
your grand plan? To
sneak
in
? I could have done that without
you!”

“
Without me, you’d still be in Deniz trying to get a boat off
a man who clearly didn’t like the look of you.”

Marcus
cursed, turning away to look at their surroundings once
more.

“
There isn’t even a door.”

“
Then you’re not looking hard enough.”

Truthfully, she’d have missed it too if she hadn’t already
known where to look. The last time she’d been in this place, the
door had been visible from the second you stepped foot on the
island, but now it was partially obscured by a thick set of vines,
their trunks as wide as Aprestine’s palms, with dagger sharp spikes
protruding from them at various intervals.

Aprestine narrowed her eyes. The vines had no roots, nowhere
to come from, and this door was the one and only entrance to the
mountain. Whoever was feeding the dragon had to have put them
there, a falsity to hide the door from prying eyes. It was almost
as if they had expected visitors.

Aprestine unsheathed Marcus’s sword for him, prompting a
sharp gasp of “
Hey!”
, as she wielded the weapon and began hacking at the plant.
She wasn’t as strong as she used to be, and she grunted with the
effort of slicing through the vines, their green skin as thick as
elephant hide.

“
Aprestine, let me…” Marcus placed a hand on her arm just as
the final vine gave way, the plant breaking clean in two to reveal
the door underneath. The wood was starting to rot in places, and as
Aprestine ran a hand over it bits of timber flaked off, dusting her
dress like ashes from a fire.

“
What are you doing?” Marcus asked.

“
Checking for heat.” She replied.  Dragon breath could be
felt from an age away. The wood beneath her palm felt cool to the
touch, and once she was reasonably satisfied that they weren’t
going to find the dragon sitting right in the doorway, she pushed
the door open. It swung open easily, as though the rusty joints on
the hinges were just a ruse. Aprestine pursed her lips. They
stepped inside, Aprestine leading the way, and a rush of stale air
hit her in the face, causing her to turn her nose away in disgust.
Something in the mountain was definitely rotting.

Once she
was used to the odour, she turned back towards the dark passageway,
whispering a few words of magic to create a glowing ball that
floated in her hand. It illuminated the passage – barely - but she
couldn’t afford to make it any bigger. If Marcus asked, she would
say it was so she didn’t draw unnecessary attention to their
whereabouts. The truth of it was that she didn’t want to waste any
of the magic he had given her on this mission of his.

“
Where now?” Marcus whispered in her ear.

“
This way.” Aprestine said, leading him down the path, running
her hand along the stone walls to help feel her way through the
bleakness. “There’s a small antechamber at the end of this
corridor; not big enough for a dragon but plenty big enough to hide
your sister, if someone wanted to.”

“
Someone?” Marcus said. “Who else do you think is
here?”

“
Keep your voice down.” Aprestine said, tilting her head so
she could look at him. “Someone’s kept that dragon alive, haven’t
they? We’d have seen it leaving the mountain if it had been flying
through Deniz itself.”

“
Who do you think it is?” Marcus said, clearly not
understanding the word
quiet
.

“
Well, who was it who took your sister?”

“
The magic-catchers, but…”

“
Well then.” Aprestine said. It was the only conclusion she
could come to herself, but she still found those magical vines odd.
It was unusual for catchers to use the magic they stole for their
own purpose. But who else could it be? And why? There was nothing
for them to gain by feeding up a dragon, and certainly not this
one. George had taken all its treasures when he thought he’d killed
the thing, so there was no money to be had, and the beast would
soon want to plunder somewhere larger than Deniz. Somewhere like
Ezeth. The kingdom of Ezeth had always turned a blind eye to the
catchers in the past, but King Annar wouldn’t stand for a dragon
being let loose over his city. He would kill every last one of them
if he found out they’d been harbouring a dragon. So why risk
it?

Marcus
was silent, at last, pondering this. Eventually, the tunnel came to
a fork. The left passage was the larger of the two, and it led to
the main cavern in the centre of the mountain, the one that
stretched downwards into the underground lair where the dragon was
sure to be sleeping. Aprestine quickly led him to the right,
pricking her ears for any sign of movement behind them. She had
been a lot quicker on her feet last time she had met a dragon. The
passage didn’t last much longer, and at the end of it they came to
another door, this one in much better condition than the one at the
front of the mountain.

It swung
upon with a groan. The room was dimly lit by a few sparse candles,
but it was enough for them to see a figure on the floor. She was
slumped over, her arms chained to a handle in the wall, and her
face was partially obscured by her limp, dark hair.

“
Katherine!” Marcus pushed Aprestine aside, kneeling down
beside the woman who Aprestine could only presume was his
sister.

Marcus pulled Katherine into his arms, cradling her against
his chest. Not wanting to interrupt, Aprestine took the opportunity
to look around the room. If the magic catchers
were
the ones storing Katherine
here, who knows what else they might be keeping stashed away in
this lair? There could be more magic here.

She
opened a small chest which sent a cloud of dust flying into the
air. Aprestine sneezed loudly, which seemed to coax Katherine
awake. Aprestine turned around at the sound of the girl’s groaning.
Marcus hushed her, stroking her hair away from her face. Aprestine
looked away from the intimate gesture, returning her gaze only when
she was sure they were finished. She tried to mentally calculate
the last time she had shared affection with another person and
found herself drawing a blank.

“
Wh-where am I?” Katherine asked, looking around. Her eyes
were unnervingly blue, like water on a bright summer’s
day.

“
You don’t remember?” Marcus said.

“
No, I…” Katherine trailed off. “I was sent a note. It said I
had to come to the water’s edge or something terrible would happen
to you, so I went and then…I remember something hard hitting my
head. I woke up here…I can’t remember how I got here, Marcus, how
did I get here?” There was a tremor of panic in her voice, and her
knuckles whitened where they clutched Marcus’s jacket.

Marcus’s
jaw clenched. “You were kidnapped.”

“
But by whom?”

Aprestine fought to stop herself from rolling her eyes at
Katherine’s insipid tone. “Perhaps we should leave?”

“
Yes.” Marcus said, reaching across and wrenching Katherine’s
chains out of the wall, leaving her wrist still encased in iron,
the chain dangling to the floor. “Do you think you can manage like
this until we find a way to get them off? Unless, Aprestine, do you
see a key anywhere?”

“
They’re hardly going to leave it hanging around, are they?”
Aprestine said. Katherine was looking at the iron links rather
doubtfully, as though she couldn’t possibly stand up and move with
them still on. With a small sigh, Aprestine clicked her fingers and
the chains undid themselves. Katherine ran her fingers over her
wrists, exclaiming that Aprestine’s use of magic was
“marvellous!”

Aprestine had only known Katherine a few minutes and she had
reached the point of irritation. She had always had an intense
dislike for anyone who couldn’t help themselves – survival was
something that been instilled in her from an early age – and
Aprestine was starting to worry that if the dragon were to turn up
now she would find herself having to use even more of her precious
magic to help the girl.

Aprestine didn’t reply to Katherine’s comment, instead giving
the room one final, sweeping glance, before suggesting again that
they leave. There was a niggling feeling in her gut that something
was starting to stir beneath their feet.

And she
was right.

She felt
it first. They exited single file, Aprestine in front once again,
Marcus a step behind her with Katherine holding onto his arm for
dear life. They were just reaching the fork in the tunnel when she
felt a blast of hot air on her flesh. She raised her hand to cover
her face, wincing as the tender skin on the back of her hand began
to blister and boil.

And then
she saw it.

Fire,
burning its way steadily towards them, red around the edges but
pure-white in the middle, hotter than anything Marcus and Katherine
would have ever experienced.

But
Aprestine had seen it before. She knew what it meant.

“
Run!”
She screamed.

FOUR

The fire
was followed by a roar of anger. It felt like a clap of thunder
echoing throughout the tunnel, causing clumps of rocks to cascade
around them. Aprestine kneeled over and flung her hands over her
head, whilst Marcus covered Katherine with his body to try and
shield her from the onslaught.

“
We have to go!” Aprestine shouted over the chaos. Rocks were
still tumbling around her, but less so than before, and she risked
a glance over her shoulder. Marcus was on his feet but Katherine
was still cowering on the floor, visibly trembling. Something was
stamping its way down the tunnel to their left, the roof above them
shaking with every step, and Aprestine knew it wouldn’t be long
before the dragon was in their view. She reached out for
Marcus.

“
If she won’t get up, we’ll have to leave her.” Aprestine
said. “We can’t out run the -”

It was
too late. Another burst of flame shot towards them, and Aprestine
braced herself against the wall. It travelled in a straight line,
sailing over the heads of Marcus and Katherine who now lay flat on
the ground, but clipping Aprestine’s hair slightly as it flew past.
She grimaced as several strands fell to the floor in blackened
pieces.

“
Come on!” She gestured in the direction of the exit. “Marcus,
leave her and
run!
”  They could easily get there in less than five minutes
if they ran flat out. The dragon still hadn’t reached the fork in
the tunnel, they had time. The passage that led to its cavern was
large, but not large enough for it to move easily. It would have to
squeeze its way through, which would buy them valuable
time…

If only Marcus would
move
.

He was
looking at her as though she’d grown two heads. “I won’t leave my
sister!”

Aprestine cursed, exasperated, and looked once again towards
the exit. She could leave them both to it. Take the boat. She had
the magic Marcus had given her, that would buy her enough time to
get to Ezeth and get the jewel. That’s what she
should
do.

And
yet.

Marcus
was dragging Katherine to her feet; she was wailing incessantly and
clinging to his arms, tears running down her cheeks. The next thing
Aprestine knew, without even really being aware she was doing it,
she was making her way back towards them, putting one of
Katherine’s arms over her shoulder whilst Marcus did the same with
the other, and they were carrying the distressed girl towards the
exit. Aprestine could feel, rather than see, the dragon gaining on
them. It hadn’t emitted any more fire but she could still feel its
breath on her back, scorching through the fabric of her cloak and
searing her back with heat.