Drakonika (Book 1) (45 page)

Magnus was sitting on his bed with his back turned to them, his legs hanging from the edge helplessly, his long black tail hanging from the opposite side of the bed and his arms supporting his weary head. Apparently, he was not in the mood for studying.

Elmar followed straight after, and to Magnus' astonishment, he was ignoring Lars' babbling about studying. “Hey, are you all right?” Elmar said, placing a plate of druid wheat cookies and a water cup on Magnus' lap as he took a seat on the bed right next to him.

“
You should let me starve to death,” Magnus said in a cadaverous tone.  His face was grimmer than ever before, his room colder than usually, there was not even fire in the hearth downstairs, which would not be strange if Magnus were not in the house. But he was.

“
What are you talking about? We're friends, how could we let you starve to death?” Elmar breathed, sounding rather shocked, while Lars was doing his best to resist the temptation of browsing Magnus' books that looked so lonely and neglected in that derelict corner.

Magnus lowered his hands and turned on him fiercely. “Because if you don't, I'll turn into a real dragon shortly and probably eat
you
for dinner, don't you understand? Take a look,” he put the food plate aside on a small table by his bed, turned his back to Lars and Elmar and pulled his tunic up.

His friends gasped. There was a line of huge, thick scales on Magnus' spine, but what was even worse; two dark bumps on either side of the upper part of his back. “Dear Holy Moly, you're going to have wings!” Elmar said in ecstatic voice. “Will you give me a lift once you have them?” He demanded.

Magnus seemed to be pretty unimpressed and downcast. “Yeah... what? No!” He said indignantly, when he realized what Elmar had requested from him. He pulled his white tunic back on and rounded on his friends. “Are you crazy? We must not let that happen! You have to hide, or run away, or...” He paused for a moment, and it appeared he had just got an idea to solve this perilous situation. He leaped to his feet and grabbed the Thought Booster from his table drawer.

“
What are you going to do?” Lars asked carefully, looking scared.

Magnus gave them a quick look. “I'm going to say say my farewell to Maren,” he said swiftly.

“What? You're leaving?” Elmar said, gaping at Magnus along with Lars helplessly.

“
Yes. I am going to surrender to the Ragnan Magi Police so that they will take me away and you're be all safe,” Magnus said desperately. He shuddered when he thought of his evil nature making him hurt or even kill his best friends. There was no other way; he had to leave.

As soon as Maren heard the sound of gentle chimes in her head, she stopped reading her book and slapped her left hand on the Thought Booster lying on the desk before her. “Magnus?” She said swiftly, sounding very concerned. It seemed she had been waiting for him to call her for the whole day.

“Yes... it's me... listen,” Magnus said and took a deep breath before he told Maren about his sudden decision. “I have to leave... I'm going to surrender to the police and tell them everything I know about me...”

Maren was listening to the voice in her mind, her expression more and more frightened with each second. “No... it's not me... don't listen to me. I so don't have to leave. I'm not going to surrender to the police and definitely not tell them anything about myself!” There was a moment of silence, in which Maren was trying her best to translate the words twisted by the Thought Booster. As soon as she got the meaning, she sent a reply back to Magnus. “No! You can't do that!! We don't want to lose you... besides, the police won't believe a word from what you tell them! It's madness! Don't do it!” She said breathlessly, looking rather scared.

“Yes! You have to do that!! We want to get rid of you... besides, the police will surely believe all that stuff you're about to tell them! It's a great choice! So do it!” Magnus knew the Thought Booster was twisting the positive words to negative, but he always seemed to be stunned by hearing the outcome. Before he could even think of an answer, he heard a loud knocking on the door. And it was a muffled sound, as if somebody was bashing a staff against the door. Perhaps Aedan? But what could he want from them so late after the lights-out? There was only one way to find out. “Hold on, somebody's at the door,” Magnus said to Maren, then cast the Thought Booster aside on the table desk, and as he quickly wrapped himself into his druid cloak, he rushed out of his room and descended the stairs, leaving puzzled Elmar and Lars alone. But that did not mean they would not follow him downstairs.

Magnus reached his arm towards the door handle, but he hesitated. He could not deny that he was afraid. Aedan would certainly come to give him some more punishments or scolding, but when he finally opened the door, he gaped in great surprise. It was Zimbadur and Valezar.

“We are sorry to disturb you at this late hour, but it is utterly important that you come with us now,” Zimbadur said in a very serious tone.

“
Leave all that you have been doing, we need to leave at once,” Valezar added swiftly.

Magnus looked bewildered. He did not have a clue why they had come to take him away after the lights-out, nor what they were thinking; he came to the conclusion that all mages were able to protect their minds from reading somehow. If he only knew, how!

“But-” Magnus stuttered. However, seeing Valezar and Zimbadur who used to be all cheerful and smiling, now grim and serious, he decided to do as he was told to do. After all, he was certain they had a very good reason to come.

Magnus rounded on Elmar and Lars, who were peeking into the corridor from the stairs. “I have to go... I'll come back later,” he said, although he had no idea if it was true. Maybe he would not return ever again. There was a very strange feeling about this whole thing.

“But what about the cookies?” Elmar said in a concerned tone.

“
Eat them,” Magnus said over his shoulder, as he was crossing the threshold of their house.

“
And what about the books? You're not going to study tonight? I heard them crying,” Lars breathed quickly, but it appeared that hearing these words, Magnus simply left and closed the door behind him.

Maren was watching the three of them walking down the lane from her window. She felt her heart clench, as though it was the last time she would ever see him.

“What's happening?” Magnus said, as they quickly strode through the moonlit street. “Could you at least tell me where we're going?” He demanded. His senses were growing more anxious with each passing minute.

“
There's no time for explanations, my lad...” Valezar panted, as his old legs carried him briskly. Magnus had no idea he could walk like that! Or should we rather say; run like that?

Zimbadur turned to Valezar and covertly leaned closer to him. “Do you think he is all right?” He whispered. “I am not sure if he is ready...”

“He'll be just fine,” Valezar said calmly.

Magnus frowned. Although they tried to be as silent as possible, he could still hear them well. What could they possibly hide from him? Was there something they had known about his dragon origin? Well if it was that, it did not seem like they would have any problems about it.

“We'll turn here,” Zimbadur said stoutly, when they came to an aisle well known to Magnus; the same forbidden aisle that had led him to the crystal ball twice before.

Magnus felt very strange about all this. He was told that Zimbadur had not been in Sinei since his childhood. “I thought you did not know this town so well, Zim.” He said in a slightly suspicious tone.

“Oh trust me, I have been here a couple more times,” Zim said and repaid Magnus' question with a wide smile. “But you know these lanes better than anyone else, right? Lead us to the crystal ball, Magnus.” He said, this time sounding a little more stern.

Magnus was totally confused, but despite his strange feelings and anxiety, he decided to trust his two friends; after all, they had helped him a big time before. He strolled past Zim and Valezar and stepped forward into the dark narrow aisle, when suddenly there was more light than the moon itself could have provided them with.

“Want some light?” Valezar said lightly, a roguish smile on his face. There was a bright white ball floating above his right palm, lighting each block of the house walls and each stone on the pavement.

“
Thanks,” Magnus muttered without much effort. For some reason, he was more comfortable with the darkness; but his two friends probably preferred light. He set off and led the way to the ancient well, Zimbadur and Valezar following straight after.

“
Yes, this is the well...” Zimbadur mumbled. His eyes slid the way to one of the old houses on the left; and saw the broken door.

“
See? This is the sign... He is ready, I am telling you...” Valezar breathed and along with Zimbadur they sped off to the opened house. Apparently, they knew what was hidden inside.

Magnus rushed after them.

All three of them, they carefully descended the slippery stairs that steeply led the way through a narrow corridor into the dark cave.

“
You are right...” Zimbadur said, sounding rather dazed, when he spotted the burned remains of something that once was a door. He dashed to the middle of the cave along with Valezar, but Magnus remained standing at the end of the stairs, peeking into the room carefully. He did not have the slightest intention on getting wet. But although he did not step into the cold water, his eyes popped in shock. The ball was gone.

Valezar and Zimbadur took one swift look at the empty pedestal. “Perfect, this should make the police busy... let's go!” Valezar said, as they tore away in the opposite direction.

“Police? Wait, where are you going? The only way out is here!” Magnus cried, but like everything about this evening, he had a feeling they knew something more. And they did.

“
There is a teleport in the dungeon behind this wall.” Zimbadur said swiftly.

“
What? How do you want to get through the wall?” As Magnus said that, Zim was already pushing against the wall, opening a secret door with a muffled sound.

“
Come on, get in.” Zimbadur whispered, waving his arm wildly to stress the seriousness of the situation.

Want or not, Magnus was forced to step into the freezing water; and he started shaking immediately. He rushed through the flooded ground and slipped into the damp dungeon though the opened secret door. But the dark corridor felt in no way any warmer.

Zim and Valezar followed him inside, carefully pushing the door back into one level with the wall.

“
What's a teleport?” Magnus asked, as they hurried together along the corridor.

Zimbadur leaned to Valezar again. “We will have to teach him a lot of things,” he whispered, casting Magnus a furtive glance over the shoulder.

Valezar only let out a muffled snigger as an answer.

They took the first turn on the left; then descended another slippery staircase even deeper into the ground and rushed towards a strange circle of stones inscribed with characters of odd shapes, which looked like some sort of runes.

“What-” Magnus said, but before he could formulate his question, Zimbadur and Valezar had pulled him into the circle with them; and as they stepped inside, the runes coruscated and cast a soft blue light on Magnus, Zimbadur and Valear; and within a few seconds, both the lights and the visitors vanished.

Just like Maren, Fjalldís could not sleep that night either. She let Belinda and Aurora get upstairs, while she continued mourning over the torn picture by the candlelit table downstairs. She was just wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her white blouse, when she saw something weird move over the book.

She gave a terrified yelp. “For heaven's sake, don't do that! You almost scared me to death!” she chided in a shaking voice, as the little dragon finally stopped mimicking the surroundings.

“You shouldn't linger on the things that are gone,” the lizard said, his tail regaining the its green colour. “You can't change what happened in the past, but you can change what will happen in the future... by living in the present time.” He gathered the picture scraps with his small claws.

“
What are you doing?” Fjalldís said, and the tone in which she asked this question suggested that she considered it something ridiculous.

“
Collecting the pieces of past. We need to burn them, otherwise you will keep mourning over them.” The dragon mumbled, as he jumped off the table desk and dashed to the lit fireplace.

“
Oh no, wait! That's my favourite picture!” Fjalldís squaled, as she rushed from the table towards the fireplace, but when she heard the lizard speak again, she came into a staggering halt.

“
Torn
favourite picture, we need to get rid of it. Broken things bring sadness and bad luck.” The dragon said over his tiny shoulder, then tossed the scraps of paper into the fire without hesitation.

There was a moment of silence, in which both of them gazed at the torn pieces of Fjalldís' favourite picture burning to ashes, her and Magnus' face vanishing in its black remnants.