Drakonika (Book 1) (17 page)

None of that caught Darius' interest. He wanted only one thing and that was revenge. “And? I care about her just as much as I care about that scarecrow Magnus. Why should I pant after her?” he said curtly, a sour expression on his face. He folded his arms on his chest in order to show his lack of interest.

Viktor sighed heavily, “'Cause she's different. She's the only one who had the courage to stand up to you. My father taught me a lot about this, he was a wise man and a great alchemist,” he said impatiently, as though he couldn't believe that Darius hadn't noticed such an obvious thing.

“
Oh yeah? If he was so
clever
, then how come he's so
dead
?” said Darius sharply, his temper getting the better of him. He and Viktor exchanged furious looks.

Their three friends, Rodrick, Henry and Giselbert didn't seem bothered by the mention of Viktor's dead father. All of the novices in this guild were orphans or abandoned children, except for Maren who joined at the last minute and Magnus, who no one knew anything about. Not even Magnus himself.

Viktor clenched his fists, but he decided to ignore the last comment without fighting. “Well, I still think that you should try it,” he said, seemingly losing interest, just to get Darius' attention back.

“
Try what?” said Darius curtly, still looking rather affronted.

Viktor's lip curled into a malicious smile as he reached into his pocket to pull out a small, hidden bottle wrapped in leather. Nobody could see the hideous contents it held inside. “My father taught me the secret ways of making the most powerful potions,” he whispered.

“Wait, is that... a love potion?” said Darius unbelievingly, casting Viktor a shocked stare. He looked as though he had been scalded. “Are you serious? You're an idiot.” As much as he tried to make Viktor's idea look completely silly, there was also a great deal of fear and respect in his voice. And that wasn't supposed to happen. Not to the leader of the Black Squad.

Viktor frowned. “What, are you afraid? If you want something, you gotta go and get it,” he said simply.

“How do you know what
I
want? You do it if you're so brave,” said Darius defiantly as he looked straight into Viktor's face, his nostrils quivering from anger. If it was a real potion, he didn't want to have anything to do with it. What if it endangered his own safety as well?

“
I will,” said Viktor shortly.

Then, suddenly, all five of them drowned in something like a mountain's shadow. Before Darius could even realise it, he muttered something under his breath about the idea being utterly moronic.

In the next moment, Darius and Viktor jumped in terror; their tall teacher was standing right before them! They could only hope that he didn't hear anything from what they just talked about.

“
Are you looking forward to the feast?” said Aedan in his ringing voice.

The whole Black Squad was nodding indignantly.

“And what are you doing here, so far away from the others?” Aedan kept inquiring. It seemed like he had some suspicions.

There was a moment of painful silence. When no one answered, Darius opened his mouth irresolutely. “We... we're just getting ready for the big event,” he stammered.

Aedan seemed to be relieved. “I'm glad to hear that. I was afraid that you were up to something. Come join us, we'll make the toast in a short while,” he said, looking overjoyed again.

“
Of course, we'll be there in a minute,” Darius assured him, now in a much more confident tone. After Aedan had left and there was a safe distance between him and the Black Squad, it suddenly struck him. If he didn't find the courage to use the potion, he would tarnish his image. As the leader of the gang, there was nothing he wouldn't dare to do! And if Viktor did something he couldn't, it would be as if Darius had handed the leadership over to him.

Darius remained in deep thought for a moment. “Actually,” he said, gazing at the ground. “It would be a quite cunning way to punish her and get my revenge.” He quickly looked up, full of enthusiasm. “Let's do it!”

Viktor was surprised by Darius' sudden change of mind, but in a good way. The rest of the Black Squad beamed again too. They thought their leader would disappoint them, but in the last moment it was as though he had given them an unexpected present.

“
So, it wasn't such a moronic idea after all?” Rodrick said gleefully as he poked Darius' shoulder.

Darius cast him a bewildered glance. “And who said it was a moronic idea?” he said, his voice full of acted confusion.

“Eh, you,” Henry said carefully, as though he was afraid of him. That was a good sign for Darius; he has gotten his respect back.

“
Really?” Darius said, looking dazed, as if he didn't remember it.

Viktor joined the conversation. “All right, the dinner starts with a toast that Aedan entrusted to me. I guess it paid off to play obedient after all. I will pour the potion into her drink and it has a different colour so I'll know which one it is. Nobody else can see it because the goblets are metallic,” he said swiftly. It seemed he had already prepared a perfect plan.

“And what about Aedan?” Henry said in a slightly doubtful tone.

“
Yeah, what about Aedan? He's too tall, he'll see the colour from above!” Darius complained.

“
I'll give the goblet to Fjalldís before I come to him. He won't see a thing,” said Viktor confidently. Obviously it sounded convincing enough because in the next moment the five of them had set off back to the creek.

As they were leaving, Viktor stopped Darius and waited until there was a considerable distance between them and their three friends. “Wait. When she takes a sip from the potion, you've got to be the first she'll look at,” said Viktor in haste.

“Oh, that's great, and how am I supposed to do that?” Darius asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

“
Just do something abrupt that will make everyone look at you.”

“
That's easy to say, but what should I do?”

Viktor just shrugged, “Anything.”

Using the potion brought more trouble than Darius had bargained for. He did his part as the leader. He had dared to use it and restored his respect. He was going to get his revenge and that was all he wanted. He joined the novices along with his friends and didn't think about the potion any more.

The air was filled with chortles and joy; no one could guess what was coming. When Aedan called them to gather around, it was getting dark and the light of the burning torches slowly replaced the light of the sun. The novices stood in a wide circle under the stars that started showing up in the twilight sky.

Aedan told Viktor to bring the drinks as his cheerful expression changed to a worried one. The reason was the burning torches. He shuddered to think what would happen if one of them loosened and slumped down on the lovely healthy grass!

While Aedan was sinking in his worries, Viktor had opened the potion flask and quickly poured a few drops of the liquid into one of the goblets. Then he slipped the flask back into his pocket. Picking up the tray with goblets, he carefully turned around. There was as much cheer as when he had left; no one had seen anything.

Viktor quietly returned to the circle and started giving the goblets to the novices. He gave a cheesed glare to everyone who dared to look at him. As planned, Aedan got his drink last.

“
Finally,” Aedan whispered as his fingers tightened around the goblet. He was gazing inside as though he had seen all his desires granted there. Then, with a bright smile, he raised it high. “To this celebratory opening of our glorious Druid Grove!” he said in an ecstatic voice.

There was an outbreak of muffled muttering at this.

Maren leaned closer to Magnus, whispering, “I don't think this is supposed to be a Druid Grove
–
”

They didn't know how, but their teacher heard it. “Silence!” Aedan shouted, and among all the novices that were muttering, he cast his strict glare at Maren who stopped talking immediately.

“Now, everyone close your eyes,” said the druid in a calm voice. “And thank Mother Nature for providing all the delicious ingredients for making this wonderful druid drink.” He was talking with great pleasure now, closing his eyes while gently smiling. There was a moment of silence. Aedan furtively opened one eye and he found that none of the novices did what he told them to do.

“
I said
close – your – eyes
!” Aedan growled in a low voice. Yelling in the presence of Mother Nature was highly inappropriate, especially at this hour. All of his novices heard it though because they winced in terror and closed their eyes at once.

Aedan calmed himself again. “You have to feel gratefulness deep in your heart and only then can you drink. So, to your success!” Aedan made a toast and his novices were finally allowed to drink. Of course, he couldn't check if they really felt grateful.

A loud spatter interrupted them from their silent drinking.

“
Damn, this stuff is terrible!” said Darius sourly, wiping the liquid from his mouth. That was surely good enough to get the attention of all the novices.

Everyone broke into laughter, except for two persons; Fjalldís who was silently looking at Darius, and Aedan whose blood-pressure had risen to the skies. Couldn't they behave for five minutes?

“
That was good,” Viktor praised Darius, still sniggering, as though he had heard the best joke in the world.

Darius scowled. “That wasn't on purpose,” he snarled.

“That's enough,” Aedan stopped the fun with his grim voice. “I've had enough of your squeamishness. Everyone will drink it. All bottoms up!” he commanded them angrily. The novices had no choice but to drink the liquid to the last drop.

Magnus' face looked rather sour as well. “I'm glad I didn't give thanks for it,” he whispered, leaning closer to Maren. But Aedan heard them again.

“Second warning! Move away from each other!” Aedan shouted again. He shot Maren and Magnus a furious look. The two of them made a step to opposite sides as their eyes darted down into their empty goblets.

Whatever Aedan did, it was pointless. His novices kept getting back into their shrieking, poking, giggling, misbehaving state within seconds. Fjalldís was the only one who behaved according to Aedan's rules. She seemed to be pious, but that wouldn't save her from the sinister glares of the Black Squad. She felt herself tremble. Four of them were throwing covert looks at her, but Darius didn't hide anything. He stared at her with a malicious sneer on his face, his arms folded on his chest. It seemed to Fjalldís that something unpleasant was going to happen and she started regretting that she mingled in the quarrel between him and Magnus. This probably hadn't given her the easiest start in the guild.

After the entertaining toast which was by no means anywhere close to what Aedan had imagined, they were allowed to sit down and feast on the delicious cookies, biscuits, fruits and roasted potatoes. This must have been what they smelled back at the courtyard before lunch.

When they finished it was already dark. Since they had been sitting on the blankets for over two hours eating, chatting and resting, Aedan came to the conclusion that they got lazy. A few novices let out a heavy sigh as they slowly stood up, reluctantly groping at the things they had to gather back into the linen bags.

“Are you sure it worked?” said Darius in a doubtful tone, when he saw that Fjalldís was still watching Magnus and except for the toast, she didn't give Darius a single look. Quite the opposite, she seemed to be avoiding him.

“
Yeah, I'm sure. You just have to give it some time and you'll see how powerful it is,” said Viktor, completely certain of his words. “My father didn't make any fake stuff,” he added proudly.

Suddenly they heard a fake cough behind them.

The Black Squad already knew who it was and what he wanted. They slowly turned around to find their fears manifested right in front of them; Aedan with five big overfilled bags that were waiting for their carriers.

“
Oh no,” Darius muttered, making a face-palm as though he didn't even want to see anything.

After walking the serpentine path and streets back to the citadel and listening to the Black Squad constantly muttering about how unfair it all was, they could finally go to their houses and get some decent rest. There wasn't a single novice who wouldn't be ready to drop off to sleep. That was what they would need the most right now, for the first day of study was ahead of them!

VIII. The Mysterious Sphere

Everyone slept tightly that night. Even their teacher Aedan slept like a log, as he had truly enough from his first day with the novices. Fortunately for him, he had done some arrangements that would allow him to sleep in. That was to be taken care of by the Black Squad.

Yet, one of the novices couldn't sleep at all. Although you would think it was someone from the Black Squad having cooking nightmares, it was actually Magnus. For several hours he had felt as though he would drop off to sleep at any moment, yet nothing seemed to help calm his thoughts that were wildly racing through his mind. What was the clear crystal ball that he saw in the cave under the well? Would he ever see it again? And what would happen next?

As he turned again and fixed his gaze upon the wooden canopy of his bed, Magnus let out a long, slow sigh. Above all these questions, one prevailed.

“
Who am I?” he asked in a silent, distant voice, although he knew that he wouldn't get any answer. He was tossing in his bed for so long that soon he gave up on sleeping completely. He was lucky that he didn't have to share his room with anyone because his constant moving probably wouldn't please them much. His two house mates had their own rooms. Before he could even realise what he was doing, he was already wearing his pants and shoes.

“
I've got to take a look into the cave once more,” he mumbled, pulling a tunic over his head. Despite his exhaustion, he jumped to his feet, dashing to the door. But how could he let Maren know without waking her house mates up?

Maren wasn't as lucky as Magnus. She had to share her room with the fiery-haired girl Serena and they didn't have much to talk about. There were two more girls in the next room, but it seemed like they had their own secrets that they wouldn't share with anyone. Maybe Aedan didn't make the best matches when dividing his novices into groups, but perhaps they simply needed more time to get to know each other. After all, this was their first night in Sinei.

Maren's pleasant slumber was disturbed by a short, yet shrill sound. Feeling that she heard something, she lazily opened her eyes. When she got up from the bed, half sleeping, she saw a small stone bouncing off the window glass. In a second, she bolted to the window and swung it open just to make the racket stop. She was ready to release a shower of grumpy words, but when she saw who was standing under her window, she hesitated.

“
What are you doing here?! Are you insane? It's late night! You should be sleeping like the rest of us!” Maren whispered indignantly, but her whisper was audible enough for the boy down there to hear it. After all, they were separated only by one floor.

“
I have to go somewhere,” said Magnus insistently, raising his lantern, which was now the only source of light on the whole street. “Will you come with me?”

Although Maren was always glad to see him, she didn't look very happy now. He woke her up in the middle of the night and he even expected her to go out!

Even from a adistance, Magnus saw Maren roll her eyes.

“
I hope you don't want me to go with you to the toilet? You're old enough for that, aren't you?” she retorted in a disgruntled tone.

“
What?” breathed Magnus silently, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard. “No, nothing like that. You see, when Aedan sent me to help Rodrick to gather the scattered things, I saw some kind of a strange crystal ball around here and I'd like to take a second look at it. I think it's something rare
–
”

Hearing the word “rare”, Maren's expression brightened. “Wait, I'll be right down,” she interrupted him, disappearing promptly. She seemed very intrigued by what Magnus had told her, at least enough to make her leave her warm bed in the middle of the night and shortly leave the house, ready to go. But she didn't realise that in the great haste she made quite a lot of noise.

Magnus' story sounded utterly exciting, but Maren couldn't help giving him one last snippy comment. “You want to get into trouble, right?” she said sharply as she pulled the hood of her mage robe over her head. “I hope it's worth it.” Upon these words she stepped forward, leaving Magnus with no other choice but to silently lead her to the crossroads where he and Rodrick started the “racing game” earlier that day.

It took only a short while of walking for Maren to already lose her patience. “Well? Where's this great artefact?” she said doubtfully.

“There,” said Magnus as he pointed somewhere beyond the marked pavement when they finally made it to the place he had intended to go. Maren's reaction was exactly what he expected.

“
Are you insane?! Have you gone mad? We're strictly forbidden to
–
” Maren chided fiercely, but before she could even finish the sentence, Magnus had already appeared on the other side of the pathway marked with ropes.

“
Are you afraid? Fine, I'll go by myself,” said Magnus, lighting the narrow street with a lantern.

“
No way,” Maren said curtly as she jumped to his side. “Who's going to save you when you fall into danger again?” As a sign of decision, she grabbed the lantern from his hand. The message of this gesture was clear; the leadership was hers!

But if a leader should hide behind her soldier and be scared of every mouse that peeped out of its hole, she was an entirely new sort of commander. Maren remained silent all the way, trembling with fear, expecting a ghost gang to charge at her from behind every corner.

As they slowly approached the well in the middle of the street, Magnus' eyes were shimmering with excitement. He took a quick run to it, as though it could have disappeared at any moment.

Maren followed straight after. She leaned over the well to look down. “I can't see the bottom,” she whispered, looking into the deep black hole. Then, as if she couldn't look at it any longer, she made a sudden step back.

“All right, a well. Can we go now?” said Maren hastily.

“
Go where? We're at the spot. This is where I found the artefact, it's in a cave beneath the surface,” said Magnus calmly, the light and the shadows thrown by their lantern reflected on his face.

“
What? How do you know that?”

“
Because I've been there.”

“
What? You CLIMBED down there?” asked Maren in a highly shocked voice.

“
Well, yeah, Rodrick's card deck fell in there
–
”

“
What?! You climbed down there to get Rodrick's CARD DECK?!”

There was a moment's silence in which Maren was casting dazed looks
to Magnus at the well and back.

“
We don't have to climb down. There's a door,” said Magnus after a while, but his words didn't seem to make her feel any better.

“
Great, do you at least know where it leads to? Maybe it wasn't even an exit,” Maren said doubtfully, hoping it would make Magnus change his mind and turn away. But it didn't.

“
I think we'll learn that in a while,” said Magnus quietly, trying to imagine where the door could have led to. “It's there,” he said abruptly, taking a run to one of the abandoned houses.

“
H-how can you be so sure?” Maren squealed. Suddenly, she was left alone in the middle of the darkness and right next to the creepy well. It even looked as if the light of the lantern was growing weaker in fear. That was enough for her to dash after Magnus, yelling at him to wait and not do anything stupid.

Magnus stopped in front of the entrance to a house that was no different than the others. “When I was down there, I saw a ray of light coming through the keyhole,” he said merrily. “It must be this house, I know it.”

“And how do you want to get there? I'm sure it's locked
–
”

Before Maren could finish the sentence, Magnus pushed on the door with force. What happened in the next moment was a big surprise to both of them.

Magnus fell inside like a bag of rocks. How was he supposed to know the door would open so easily? Or rather, how was he supposed to know that
he
would open it so easily?

As he was sweeping the dust off his clothes and getting up from the floor, Maren remained silent for quite a while, looking inside with her mouth hanging open.

“Eh, that was strange, right?” said Magnus, laughing humbly as he looked at the broken lock.

After a long silence, Maren finally closed her mouth. “Yeah,” she said, stepping on the battered door as she watched Magnus suspiciously. His amazing feat didn
't seem to make much of a heroic impression on her.

It was clear they would need some time to recover from this shock, but for some reason they felt that they would soon experience something even more surprising.

Maren coughed. Heaps of dust floating in the air suggested that nobody had entered this house in years or perhaps even longer.

“
Look, there!” Magnus yelled so loudly, as though Maren was a hundred miles away from him.

Their two curious faces peeked into a dark staircase which led somewhere deeper under the town. When Maren raised the lantern, Magnus' words from before were proven; this house had doors that led underground. And in a short while they would learn if the underground was really a cave.

Another moment of silence ensued and then Magnus took the first step on the way down.

“
Careful,” issued Maren's worried voice behind him.

Magnus immediately turned to her, “It would be better if you stay here, Maren. I'll call you when I'm sure it's safe.” He then rounded back and continued on his way down, leaving disgruntled Maren behind. A cold and humid air soon filled his nostrils.

As Maren was waiting upstairs, her anger quickly vanished. After all, maybe it was better to let Magnus check it out first. At least he was a gentleman... in his strange way.

Maren trembled more with each passing minute. Even though this town was built from white stone, at night it seemed dark like a tomb. And on top of that, she heard unpleasant sounds as if someone was walking around. But at this time, anyone would imagine scary things.

Being alone in the abandoned house was creepy, but she didn't have to wait for long.

Seeing an orange light of blazing fire coming from the stairs, Maren stood upright in a second. Then she heard a familiar voice echoing from below.

“I'm okay! I'm fine!” Magnus announced with a guilty voice.

Suddenly, there was more than enough light in the steep staircase. Magnus must have lit all the torches with his hilarious fire-breathing feat. In her haste, Maren didn't even think the stairs would be slippery like ice! And she definitely didn't expect her foot to slip on the way down.

It was a long and painful fall, but the landing wasn't so bad. At least not for her.

“
Ouch,” Maren yammered in pain, shivering. There was water at the bottom, enough to reach to one's knees. The only source of light was the torches from the staircase. But didn't she have a lantern? And wasn't it carried by- “Magnus?” she said in a perplexed tone, but the only answer was desperate burbling and splashing of water.

As soon as she climbed off of him, Magnus bolted to the nearest islet, shaking from cold. “Y-you pushed me into the c-cold water!” said Magnus with difficulty, clacking his teeth so loudly, even a dead man could have heard it. Luckily for them, there was no such thing here.

“And you burned the door to dust!” Maren shot at him. “First one broken, second burned. Wonderful. Anyone can find this place now!”

Maren complained on and on, but she couldn't wait. If she was to see a magickal artefact, she wanted to see it right now! As she grabbed a torch from the staircase and held it high, her eyes opened wide in awe.

“Magnus! Magnus! You were right! The crystal ball is really here!” squealed Maren in excitement, as if Magnus needed a detailed description of the surroundings.

Magnus shook from cold again, but his curiosity gave him the strength to step back into the freezing water. He drew closer to the crystal ball which was the pride of the whole cave.

When Maren came closer with the torch, they could finally see the details. This massive piece of crystal was completely flawless. It was perfectly polished and clear.

Magnus held his hands above the ball but Maren's voice brought him to a halt.

“Careful, you don't know what it can do,” she said cautiously.

Magnus glanced at her shortly and with his breathing still shallow, he placed his hands directly on the ball. In that moment, many a strange feeling ran through his body. He felt a great power as the ball started glowing and its surface turned orange like the flames of fire. What happened next could only be experienced by him and no one else.

There stood a dark figure, engulfed in searing flames. Magnus didn't know who it was nor why he saw him. He couldn't see any features of the person's face as the figure appeared completely black, as if it was a void. The next thing Magnus noticed was a big, dark tome carried by the mysterious figure. Holding the heavy book, the person was making their way up the stairs and Magnus soon realised he was familiar with the place. It was the Ragnan Mages Guild! The figure strode right into the library and placed the book into the highest shelf in the farthest corner of the library. It seemed there would be more, but then a sound of closing footsteps issuing from upstairs forced Maren to stop Magnus' divination at once.