Dragon Rider (DragonMage Saga) (21 page)

They hear a nose above and the
Renegade is coming down the stairs and he is not happy. From what they hear his
dragon is in for a rough ride home. They wait in the room till as long as it
takes for the wizard to get away. They can just see him walking into the cave
to get his dragon and the way he is walking he’s not happy.

Seeing the Renegade Wizard come
out on his dragon and the dragon jumps into the air and away. They wait for a
while before leaving the tower, where Angel proceeds over to the rock face
where the old spell is getting worked on.  Placing his hands on the rock
face and lets his magic feel it. The spell is holding and this brings a smile
to his face.

Turning to the others he tells
them the good news. ‘The spell is holding but for how long I don’t know. If the
wizard brings another back with him like last time then the spell will weaken
again. I think he will do this, Aura and I have been able to get a feel for the
spell which we will show you when we get back.’

‘We are going to have to find
some way of stopping him and I don’t know how much time we have before he
decides to bring more than just one. If he brings more and they really pour
their magic into the spell to get it working then we are in big trouble. Let’s
give the dragons a goodbye and get back to the school. I would like to have a
look at the spell in the Crystal Chamber, that way we may be able to turn it
against the Renegade Wizard.

Contents

Dark Realm

Getting back without being seen
they find, students and what teachers were on deck, going for the evening meal
and finding them selves quite hungry after walking back this time. Going into
the hall they find a table in the corner and get stuck in.

‘I will try to create the spell
from what I saw of how the Renegade was doing it. I will need you three to make
sure the spell does not work outside the room. If it works on the spell holding
the school it will not bode well for us?’ He was not going to enjoy using this
spell for knowing what it can do.

Medwin had an idea Angel would
try something like this but they were with him all the way. ‘Ok Angel lets get
up there now while it’s quiet, hopefully there won’t be any wizards in the
chamber at this time of night.’

They head up to the Crystal
Chamber where they find no one there. The chamber is good for learning about
how to create spells and is used for that purpose. What it is also good for is
working on a spell and trying to see how you can change it or make it stronger.
It’s a way of trying to add new patterns to the ones that are there in the
spell already.

A wizard might have a spell for a
jet of water and another wizard starts to turn it to ice. Then you quickly
change the spell from water to fire as it is almost at the other wizard. The
Crystal Chamber can let a wizard see how the pattern is and what you might be
able to add or take away to change that spell.

This is what Angel and his
friends want to do is to change the Renegade spell to something that can help
them. They know the spell weakens the old spell till there is a hole in it and
then their spell expands and opens the hole more each time the spell is cast.

The spell that the Renegade
Wizard use’s is like a fire that is trying to burn through a piece of wood, it
will keep going till there is a hole in it. Then the fire starts burning
outwards till the whole wood is burning.

Getting themselves set, they sit
in a circle until Angel is ready to create the spell as he had seen the
Renegade do. Angel draws Aura into him and they bring their magic together and
start to build the spell like the wizard did. While he and Aura are creating
the spell, Medwin, Maive and Shylyn with their dragons make sure the spell
doesn’t really go to the old spell holding Nirvana.

The spell is forming and Angel
and Aura are now seeing how the old magic spell has been put together. What
they mean by old magic is the magic that was used long before the magic they
use now came into being. It is very hard magic to try and understand let alone
change.

The Renegade is testament to
that, with him having trouble trying to get the magic to open a hole in the old
spell. If he had been able to use it properly the spell holding the school
would have collapsed the first time they used it. That tells them they never
created the spell but found it and are trying to get it to work.

The spell is very complex and the
patterns are so many that it is hard to get right. From what Angel can see the
spell has not been built properly, the patterns are nowhere near what they
should be. If done properly from what he and Aura have been able to discover is
that the spell was never meant to do what the Renegades want it to.

Angel and Aura come back to the
others and starts telling them what they think the spell is for. ‘The spell was
never meant to break the old spell holding the school. We’re not sure what it
was for, but we will work on it. We will have to keep coming back to look at
the spell and try working out how the pattern should work and what it was
really meant to do.’

‘Angel what if you looked inside
the pattern and see if that might help make some sense. Maybe the spell is
inside out or upside down?’ Shylyn was busy looking into the pattern of the
spell seeing if she could find what was truly there.

Angel was thinking along the same
line when Shylyn talked about it. ‘Lets all look into the spell and see what we
each see. Then we talk about it and see if that will show us what the spell is
really for?’

They are all looking at the spell
even to the point of going very close to it and trying to look at all angles.
Still they could not see the pattern; it was like looking at a kaleidoscope and
trying to make a pattern out of it.

It was getting late and getting
dark when Angel calls it quits for the day. He decides they need some fresh air
as it might be a while before they get to the bottom of the spell.

The following morning found
Gavrie back and Angel’s mother sitting at the meal table waiting for Angel to
turn up. ‘Hi I’ve been here most of the night waiting for you to get up. I
didn’t want to wake you so been sitting in here drinking. How are you feeling
now that you have rested up for a few days?’

‘I feel really good and glad to
see you, I miss you heaps and Rho and Etha as well. Are they going to be coming
by sometime or are they busy with the attacks?’ Angel did miss his mother and
brothers even with all that was happening.

‘Your brothers are well and they
guard the hatchery so wont be able to come see you for a while.’ She could see
Angel really did miss his old life but she didn’t want to say anything not
wanting to upset him.

Tish got up. ‘I must go as I’ve
been away to long, with the attacks happening more often now, I must go you
take care and I will see you when I get a chance.’ Feeling she had spent too
much time away. At the moment there had not been an attack for a week now but
she knew they would attack soon; it was just a matter of time.

Gavrie came up to them after Tish
left. ‘Ok now as I’ve been away for a day with regards the creature attacks, it
might be time for you to learn where they come from. So the lesson today will
be all day and it will be about the Dark Realm.’

‘What is the Dark Realm it sounds
if it is night all the time?’ Shylyn asked.

‘That you will find out when you
get to class. Your class is with the other first year students. Because of the
attacks first year students will get a course in the Dark Realms when normally
that does not happen till year three.’ Gavrie looked at them to see what their
reaction would be, for this was dealing in darker magic not normally suited for
first and second year students.

‘Will we be learning about dark magic
when learning about the Dark Realms?’ Angel looked at Gavrie knowing this is a
very important subject, to get to do this in their first year when normally
it’s two years away.

‘Those that live in the Dark
Realm use dark magic and that magic is very dangerous so you will be watched at
every corner when dealing with the Dark Realm. Now understand this for you four
to learn this when you have started two years earlier than is normal means
dangerous times have come on us and has forced this decision on us. You need to
know where the creatures come from and how they are brought here. Do you
understand this?’ Looking at each as he waited for there answer, seeing the
uncertainty in their eyes but also there was a hint of excitement.

The four of them looked at Gavrie
and in unison gave him there answer. ‘We understand.’

‘Then when you are ready follow
me?’ Gavrie turned and was out the door like a shot not waiting for any answer
or questions.

They quickly run out to catch up
as they had not expected Gavrie to move so quickly. He took them to the far
side of the school and up into a tower at the far corner. Climbing the stairs
the four where running to keep up with Gavrie. Finely they get to the top where
there is a class in progress.

They stand at the door till the
teacher who is working with the first and second year students notices they are
there and indicates seats in the front. The four are quickly in their seats and
listening to the teacher.

‘For those who have just arrived
my name is Elmeck and I will be teaching you about the Dark Realms and their
magic and the creatures that inhabit that realm. Now none of you would normally
learn any of this till you are in your third year here. But I have been
instructed to start showing you and teaching you.’ He looked around at them and
seeing the fear and surprise in their faces, he could well understand this.

Elmeck decided to get straight
into the facts not holding anything back. ‘The creatures from the Dark Realm
are the most evil and vile monsters that exist today. What is happening with
the attacks means someone is opening gates into that realm and bringing
creatures here to attack people.’

He looked for the fear to really
show on their faces so that he could tell which ones would carry on learning
and which would not be allowed to learn about those realms. If they did not
show fear then they would not be careful and could make mistakes that could end
up hurting students.

There were a couple who had to
leave the class and report to the headmaster as they would be sent to other
classes. They may be allowed to learn about those realms in a couple of years
if they can show the fear needed and caution when learning the spells that are
needed to control opening gates into that realm.

The class has got to learn how to
open gates to that realm in order to be able to close them. There are creatures
there that can use its own magic to keep open a gate. Learning about those
creatures and how to stop that from happening is what this class lets them
achieve.

Angel calls Aura into his mind to
learn about the Dark Realm, and indicates to Medwin, Shylyn and Maive to do the
same. As they look around the class they can see pictures of weird creatures,
some of them so indescribable. Up front on the table was a dead creature, taken
from the attack and preserved to show the class.

The creature was as big as
Elmeck; with large wings with sharp spikes along the edge. It stood on two legs
with four very sharp claws and a hook on the back of the heal. The head was
like a little dragon with the jaw longer and narrower with razor sharp teeth.
Its skin had a leathery look to it, but up close they could see it had a film
of slime over it.

All students were trying not to
look at it, but the teacher made them. ‘Look at it as this is what you will have
to defend against and many others that are even more grotesque?’

The kids looked but did not like
it and showed their fear of the thing. This is what he wanted them to feel, for
if they feared it then they would be more careful when trying to defend against
it. Elmeck looked around the class to make sure they showed the fear that was
going to be needed to fight them.

‘Now I want you all to come up
front and take a closer look but do not touch it, is that understood?’ Looking
at them as they all nodded their heads to his words.

All the students came up to the
front and circled the table with the creature on it. They did not come that
close and Elmeck looked happy. They had shown respect for something they did
not know much about.

Standing at the table he looked
at them waiting for their response to what he was about to say. ‘If any of you
had disobeyed me and touched the creature you would have been sent from this
class and not allowed ever to work magic again. The slime on the creature is
deadly and you would have had to be taken to the healing room where your magic
would have had to have been almost completely taken from you for you to live.’

The class all backed up very
quickly away from the table and what was on it. There were looks of utter
surprise and deep fear, for to have to lose most of your magic would be like
losing your arms or legs. Magic was apart of you, once you have it the magic
becomes part of the living body.

Elmeck waved his arm indicating they
should they go back to their seats. Still shocked with fear to talk, all the
students were this way and that’s how Elmeck wanted them to be. He went to the
door and indicated to two attendants that waited to remove the creature.

‘Now we get down to learning
about the Dark Realm and what lives in it. Once we’ve done that you will learn
how to open gates to that realm and close them before you let any of the
creatures into this realm. I tend to think that there are enough being released
here now without this class letting more in.’ He went to his desk and he
proceeded to show them the creatures and what magic properties they have.