Zoran Chronicles Volume 1 A Dragon in Our Town (29 page)

            
“I did it! I did it! I did it!” Karel whooped it up, impressed with his own spell.

            
“Can you do it again?” asked Archmage Oldrich, softly as usual.

            
Karel calmed down and proceeded to go through the intricate chant. Magic
flashed and the falcon reappeared! When he resumed his human form, Archmage
Oldrich exclaimed with a good deal of enthusiasm, “Well, I would not have believed it
had I not seen it with my own eyes. Congratulations, Archmage Karel Ambrose!”

            
Everyone began talking at once, patting him on the back. As the rest of the tower
came into the room, Jarka rushed up, pushing others out of the way, and gave him a big
hug and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Way to go, Karel!” He seemed a bit unnerved by all
this sudden attention, however.

            
“Me, an Archmage? Who would have believed it?” Karel yelled in disbelief.

            
“Students, there is a lesson to be learned here. Karel persevered in spite of all
signs that he would not be able to learn any more spells. He just doggedly kept at it until
he finally succeeded,” the Archmage commented to her gathered students. She also saw
that no more studying would likely occur and gave them the rest of the morning off to
celebrate. Study resumed after lunch.

            
That afternoon, both twins also succeeded with this spell. Zoran speculated that
their success had a lot to do with the fact that, as dragons, they inherently could change
into human form anyway. Now they could change into any form desired, and they were
smugly pleased with this, because neither of their parents could cast this spell.

            
Zoran and Zdenka, alone of the five, continued to have trouble casting this spell.
The Archmage encouraged them to continue practicing it during the week. By Friday,
both finally gave up and stopped trying and suddenly the magical energies flashed at
nearly the same instant. A pure white horse appeared, shoving the tables aside, while
alongside stood a grey wolf! A minute later, the two returned to their normal selves,
laughing hysterically. Then they hugged each other, followed in turn by Karel, Emil, and
Renata.

            
Emil suggested, “Now you three can change into a golden dragon like us and we
can all go flying together!”

            
“Yes, but we would be real dragons, wouldn’t we,” Zdenka was hesitant. “And that
would mean we would need to eat like a horse.”

            
“No not a horse, silly, a hoofer, an antelope. Tasty morsel, really, you ought to try
it,” Renata suggested. Zdenka turned up her nose slightly, deciding she’d rather be a bit
hungry instead.

            
They worked on the remaining few spells with little success. As the third week in
December approached, Zdenka alone managed to learn the last spell and she did it in a
remarkable fashion. Her spell functioned. She saw the four moving in extremely slow
motion compared to her. Hastily, she tied her hair ribbon onto Zoran’s hair, making a
small ponytail out of it. She took Renata’s sweater off of her and put it on Emil, and then
quickly tied Karel’s shoe laces together. She rose just as her spell terminated.

            
“What?” exclaimed Zoran, pulling on the back of his hair. His hand returned with
her hair ribbon. Zdenka giggled.

            
“Give me back my sweater, Emil!” Renata said annoyed, but couldn’t remember
having given it to him or his taking it from her. Karel began laughing and stood up only
to trip and fall over. When he saw his laces tied, he roared even harder. The other three
now realized what had happened and laughed along with him, before congratulating
Zdenka. In the end, she was the only one would could exercise intimate control over
time, but then she was into controlling things anyway, Zoran concluded.

            
At last Yuletide week arrived. The seven had finished their studies, except that
Jarka and Bernard wanted to continue their studies of potion making and scroll making
after the new year began. All of the magic students went to the Stodgy Inn on the first
night of the festival to celebrate. They all had much to actually celebrate, and even
Archmage Nadia joined them, one of her rare excursions out of her tower.

            
Sipping a heavy stout, she explained to the five, “Tomorrow I must send your
names into the official registry. After that, the entire Federation will know that you five
are indeed officially registered Archmages.” All five thanked her for all that she had done
for them. A bit later, Aldrick and Sofie joined their children and friends to celebrate as
well. Janos arrived later that night and brought Zdenka her surprise present: a
beautifully made quiver with two dozen arrows of exceptional quality, ready for her to
enchant them, turning them into magical arrows.

            
On the fourth night of Yuletide, Zoran and Zdenka sat in a corner of the inn
chatting. He said, “You know, love, I really want to get you a special present, but I don’t
have all that much money, and I can’t go shopping without taking everyone else with
me.”

            
“Same here. I suppose I could slip away for a bit, but I don’t have much I can
spend either. We have all been really supported by Archmage Oldrich all this time,” she
replied.

            
“I know, why don’t we go shopping tomorrow and we can each get a little
something special for each other?” She liked the idea. After all, Yuletide was the season
for giving presents.

            
Their shopping spree didn’t last too long. At the jewelers, they spied a matching
pair of rings with a pale blue gemstone in them. Spontaneously, they both decided this
was it. Grinning because they each had the very same idea at the same time, they bought
them. Gently, Zoran placed one on her finger and she, he. “Now we are a matched set,”
she proclaimed. “I can’t wait for the other ring,” she teased him. He passionately kissed
her right there in the store. Jarka made some coy cat-calls, however.

            
The fifth night of Yuletide, Brother Jiri visited Zoran. “Duke, it is done, I’m proud
to say. No way to know if it will work though. It has to be activated in a ceremony
conducted by my wife and a Duska — that’d be you. I guess I’m saying we’re ready
whenever you are ready to attempt to activate the first new Circle of Ascension in
centuries!” Brother Jiri was quite proud of his achievement and rightly so. If it actually
worked, he would become incredibly famous indeed.

            
The next morning, Janos, the Zors, Archmage Nadia, and the seven gathered in
the basement of the Archmage’s tower. One section, roughly thirty foot square,
contained the new dormant Circle of Ascension. The back side of the room was curved,
the outer wall of the circular tower. In the center of the room, a circle precisely twenty
feet in diameter lay etched into the stone floor. Brother Jiri had removed part of the
floor here, installing his creation. “Duke Zoran has picked the color for his ribbon, sky
blue. Each House has their own color.” Two weeks earlier, Jiri had asked Zoran what
color his wanted to use for this tower and Circle. To avoid confusion, Brother Jiri
suggested that he pick something other than the sixteen already in use. Zoran had
picked sky blue.

            
“This House, whatever it is going to be called, is indicated by the sky blue thread.
If we are successful, these seventeen threads will intertwine and activate Shadow
Walking between the seventeen Circles of Ascension,” Brother Jiri continued his
explanation. “If it works, this will be the first new Circle of Ascension since the time of
my great-great-great grandfather, a monumental event to say the very least.”

            
He advised, “Zoran, the moment we activate this you must be prepared for all of
the consequences. I’ve discussed this with my wife and we owe it to you to prepare you
for this activation. All of the other Houses will know that this one now exists the very
instant ours is activated. That a new Circle of Ascension has been built will be most
profound, and many, many others are going to want to know how it is done, will demand
that more be built, attempt to come and steal Bandar Zor’s detailed instructions, and so
on. My wife and I, plus these documents must be protected. I do not want to find myself
being coerced into making another Circle by barons such as your father.”

            
“There are many other factors to consider as well. Obviously, the other Houses,
barons, and their families are all going to want to come and see this one for themselves,
if only out of intense curiosity since this is historic in nature. It also opens this place up
for invasions, that is, assassins can be brought through by barons or the baron’s men
and wizards can be brought through or even attempts might be made to steal it from you
— the list is endless. Great protections must be put in place to either prevent these from
happening or to at least sound an alarm if enemy forces or unwanted people arrive
here.”

            
“Then, there are all of the political ramifications of a new House being
established. I am not remotely qualified to even discuss such things. All this will happen
the instant we activate it. Are you prepared to deal with all of these things, Zoran?”

            
“No, but I have no choice but to ask some barons that I trust for their help and
assistance. Janos, how goes our meager Security forces?” Zoran asked.

            
“I have sixty good men trained and ready for service, Duke Zoran. They will be
split into three shifts, so that this tower is guarded day and night, every day. Twenty will
be on duty for eight hour shifts. The only problem I foresee is if we are attacked or
invaded, these will be wholly insufficient,” Janos replied honestly and a bit worried
about this possibility.

            
Aldrick spoke up, “I have a dozen golden dragons ready to move here from Voss
as soon as you are ready to have them stationed here. Of course, they will be desirous of
receiving gems for payment.”

            
“Terrific, Aldrick. Yes, the Security men and the dragon guards must be paid. We
still have some of the funds given to us by Warlord Mikolas. We’ll use that as long as it
lasts. Obviously, I must quickly find a source of funding. I didn’t realize just how many
problems creating this new Circle of Ascension was going to create.”

            
Archmage Oldrich commented softly, “You are yet young, Zoran; you have much
to learn besides magic. Here in Brn, I provide the protection for the province. Each fall, I
receive a small amount of monetary support from each household. While not large, this
allows me to survive well and provide what is needed for these people to live in safety.
However, I have never promised them that I could stop Baron Kazimir’s army, if and
when he should decide to invade Brn Province. With this new Circle of Ascension, you,
Zoran may be able to provide that guarantee that they can live in peace and prosper
without fear of an invasion. It would be reasonable, then, that the households provide a
little more each year to help pay for their security.”

            
“But where will we live?” Zdenka asked the question uppermost in her mind. She
knew nothing of politics and armies and money, she only wanted to be able to setup a
household with Zoran and soon.

            
“Er, I haven’t worked that one out either, dear,” Zoran apologized.

            
“You may stay here in your rooms for as long as you need,” Archmage Nadia
offered and was thanked. Still, Zdenka knew this would have to be short-lived.

            
“Say, Brother Jiri, I have a question. Once we activate this Circle of Ascension,
suppose that I am able to build a better place to house it nearby. Can it be moved? Can a
Circle of Ascension be moved slightly from where it began to someplace nearby?” Zoran
asked, wishing that he had thought of this far earlier.

            
“Yes, if it is only a little ways,” Priestess Anezka answered, since this was her
province not her husband’s. “It is often done to obtain a more secure location within a
castle. The Circle of Ascension is tied to this location, this vicinity. You cannot move it
to, say, Sholov Province.”

            
“Well, that is a break. I seem to have found myself embroiled in a multitude of
problems,” Zoran laughed nervously. “Say, once we activate it, can it ever be deactivated,
perhaps for a little while?”

            
“Obviously it can, if you are going to relocate it,” she replied. “However, all of the
other Circles of Ascension will still have your sky blue ribbon in them. Anyone could
come here to investigate. The only way to remove the identifying ribbon is to destroy the
Circle.”