Earth's Magic (4 page)

They were relieved to see that very little damage had come to Keswick’s sturdy old manor. Food and weapons had spilled off shelves in the storerooms, and a number of slate tiles had slid off the roof. But the old walls remained solid.

An hour later, seated before a fire in the main hall, Heather was trying to wash off the scrapes on Merlin’s face and shoulders. He was wincing at the sting and trying unsuccessfully to feed scraps of dried sheep to the baby silver dragon.

“I don’t understand,” he said impatiently. “Why won’t he eat this stuff?” The little dragon kept turning its head from the proffered scraps and spitting angrily.

“Maybe he’s a vegetarian,” Heather joked.

“Oh, right,” Merlin scoffed, looking around for something else to offer. A plate of someone’s half-finished meal had been left on a nearby table. Waving off Heather’s ministrations, Merlin got up and brought the plate back. He put it in his lap and offered the dragon a few chunks of stew meat. Again the creature snorted and looked away.

Suddenly it squealed, jumped, and landed right in the plate, splashing gravy everywhere. With all fours, it pounced on a withered apple and began taking eager bites.

“Amazing!” Merlin said, ignoring the food now splattered all over his lap. “It
is
a vegetarian.”

“He
is,” Heather corrected. “Rus’s dragon is a female. Yours is a male.”

“He’s not
my
dragon. He’s Blanche’s.”

Heather smiled. “Blanche made it plenty clear that once they’re hatched, baby dragons are pretty much on their own—though they could form early attachments.”

“I don’t need more attachments!”

“But little Silver does. Besides, think how it will enhance your image as a wizard to have a dragon riding on your shoulder.”

“I don’t need that either,” Merlin replied grumpily. “People are scared enough of me as it is.”

“But this will give them a reason for it—besides sheer stupidity and superstitiousness.”

Just then, another small dragon, the gold one, scurried into the room with Rus yapping happily after her. Two maids clearing up earthquake-broken crockery at the far end of the long dinner table shrieked and dropped more dishes. The dog and dragonlet dashed by them and skidded into a playful tumble by the fireplace. The maids shook their heads and hurried out of the room.

“See,” Heather said to Merlin,
“Rus
likes having friends.”

“I have all the friends I need, thank you,” Merlin answered grouchily. Tearing off a strip of dried meat, he threw it to the newly arrived dragon. “Let’s see if Goldie is a vegetarian too.”

The small gold dragon gracefully twisted into the air, snapped up the meat, and swallowed it whole. Responding to Rus’s mournful whines, Merlin threw more meat scraps to each head. They caught them, though less gracefully.

“Guess we’ve answered that question,” Heather said.

“The question about earthquakes or about dragons?” Arthur asked as he, Margaret, Otto, and Welly walked into the room. “Welly tells us that we are now the keepers of two baby dragons and one dragon egg.”

“Correct,” Merlin said as the silver dragon climbed back up his arm to his shoulder. “It seems that Blanche was killing so many sheep so she could lay up stores for her brood when it hatched. Though I don’t think she was expecting it this soon.”

“We still do have one whole egg,” Welly said, carefully unwrapping the bronze egg and showing it to the King. “Maybe we should put it in a box near the fire to keep it warm.”

Welly stepped toward the fireplace just as Rus and Goldie resumed their game of tag. Swerving from Rus’s lunge, Goldie dodged between Welly’s legs. Rus dove after her, sending Welly spinning sideways and toppling into Arthur. The King grunted, lost his balance, and fell over. He reached desperately for the reddish bronze egg as it jolted from Welly’s arms and arced through the air above his head.

Arthur grabbed it with both hands just as he and the egg collided with the flagstone floor. Blinking, Arthur found himself clutching two handfuls of eggshell and a small, damp creature with piercing red eyes. In an instant, tiny claws had fastened
themselves in his close-cropped blond beard, and the little coppery red body had wound itself around his neck.

Otto hurried to help the King to his feet but drew back when he saw the creature attached to him. Laughing, Margaret knelt down and tried to disentangle the claws, but they stayed firmly in place. “Well, at least that’s an appropriate match,” she said to her husband. “A red dragon is your emblem, after all.”

Slowly Arthur stood up. “Well, if he’s an emblem, perhaps he can be persuaded to ride someplace other than on me—on a flagpole maybe.”

“You can try,” Merlin said, craning to look at the silver dragon on his own shoulder.

“And,” Arthur added sharply, “can we find him something to eat other than my ear?”

“Another nonvegetarian, it seems,” Heather said. She tore off a scrap of dried lamb and offered it to the red dragonlet. He gobbled it and hung his mouth open for more.

Through all this, Otto stood by the fireplace, arms crossed and watching with a disapproving frown. “This is all very well, Arthur, but what happens when that giant bad-tempered white worm returns and finds you messing with her young? My job is to help lead your armies, not stitch you back together after you’re shredded by an angry mother dragon.”

“I don’t think we need worry about that,” Merlin said. “Blanche made it very clear that, once hatched, baby dragons are on their own. Besides, Arthur Pendragon is a figure of legend among dragons and one of the few humans for whom she has any respect.”

Otto just grunted as Arthur took a seat at the table and gestured for the others to do so as well. “Enough about dragons, then. What concerns me now is this earthquake. The locals say they have never felt one here before. The damage wasn’t
insurmountable in town, though we haven’t heard from the outlying areas yet. But frankly, Merlin, the people are frightened. First the comet, then this. They’re concerned that this all means something—something that’s not good.”

“And they may be right,” Merlin answered. “Something major is happening, but I don’t know what it is.” He turned to where Heather was sitting by the fireplace. “Heather, have you heard any more from your mental contacts?”

She didn’t answer. She was staring unseeing into the dancing flames. Merlin got up and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Heather?”

She jerked and stared up at him. “Sorry. Yes, they had quakes in both North and South America and a lot of strong, unexpected storms. And Patma, the little girl in India, says their quake was strong enough to knock some of the statues off Kali’s temple. Ivan didn’t mention earthquakes, but he says there have been a lot of avalanches in the Carpathian Mountains. I’ve only one contact in Africa, an apprentice priestess in Zimbabwe, but she has contacts around the continent and reports there have been bad storms everywhere.”

Merlin nodded. “And earlier you told me they’ve all seen and been worried about the comet.”

“Yes. But, Earl, there’s something more. It’s not just the disturbances in nature that are troubling them. They all report that dark creatures are abroad, the less pleasant beings from their different Otherworlds. Not many, but enough to be disturbing.”

“All right,” Otto barked, “even pretending we believe all this hocus-pocus about mind-talking to people living in places we thought were totally dead—what does it all mean?”

Merlin’s throat was tight with the effort of not yelling. “Otto, for the last time, what Heather does is real and special. She and a few others like her around the world can talk with each other
through their minds. Fortunately, this seems to be a power that Morgan and her dark kind don’t share, though clearly they have other ways of communicating. But what all this is pointing to is that something major is under way. There’s some ominous change brewing, but so far we don’t know what it is.”

“Why not?” Otto shot back, his black beard fairly bristling. “All this vaunted power of magic that’s supposedly creeping back into the world—what good is it if you can’t come up with useful answers? At least the old dead technology did that!”

“As well as nearly destroying the world,” Arthur pointed out. Suppressing a sigh, he slid into his familiar role of keeping his chief military and chief magical advisors from squabbling too much. “Look, Otto, you were one of the first people to believe in me when I came stumbling back into this world again. That took a lot of faith. But I know you don’t have much use for magic. I admit, I don’t really understand it myself. It’s not as straightforward or easy to grasp as swords or plows. But we’ve got to accept it. Magic is everywhere. It’s changing and growing, and it’s a tool we can use. We just have to give Merlin and others who can use it time to figure out those changes and to manage them. I have complete faith that he can do that.”

Before anyone else could say anything, Arthur continued. “But what we need to do immediately is very concrete. After we help however we can with the earthquake damage, our troops need to continue training. Then, as soon as the weather permits, we must be on the march again. There are still pockets of Britain we have not yet convinced to join us. And from what we have learned, the forces of evil, the forces that want to destroy everything we have been building, are still very much alive in the world. Whatever is coming, having it face a
united
Britain is vital. Do you agree, Merlin?”

“That is the one thing I am certain of, Arthur.”

The King started to put a hand on his old friend’s shoulder, then drew back as the little silver dragon there ruffled its wings. “And what are we going to do about these charming, annoying little dragons?”

Merlin laughed. “Keep feeding them. Dragons grow quite fast, I believe. Very soon they should be too big to cling all over us, and maybe they’ll find some other interests.”

The King sighed. “Like hunting local livestock. Some things about this returning magic—dragons, for instance—are going to be harder to live with than others. Now, everybody, get some sleep. There’s much to do in the next few days.”

As the others left the room, Heather grabbed Merlin’s hand and whispered, “Don’t worry, Earl, you’ll work it out. I know you never have much confidence in yourself, but Arthur and I do—and we’ve never been disappointed.” She kissed him on the cheek, carefully avoiding the dragon asleep on his shoulder.

He smiled wanly. “That confidence may be misplaced, but I’m glad of it anyway.” Then he reached out and rubbed a finger along the flowing designs on the bracelet he’d given Heather as a betrothal gift. “We really must make good on this promise soon.”

She smiled and reached to touch the carved wooden staff that he’d leaned against the table. It was what she had given him at the same betrothal, and he always had it with him. “And please don’t tell me we must wait until all the troubles of the world are solved.”

He laughed. “We’d both be incredibly old by then. I was thinking more of this summer, when the Earth gives at least the illusion of hope and renewal.”

She kissed him again before turning to leave. “Summer it is.”

His mellow mood didn’t last long. Merlin stood for a while staring into the dying fire, watching half-imagined shapes shift
through the glowing embers. Then he tucked his hood around his sleeping passenger and, taking up his staff, headed toward the small tower room that served as his when the court was in Keswick. Most of the others shared accommodations, but a moody wizard, even one apparently still a teenager, didn’t strike many as a desirable roommate.

Sunk in thought, he’d turned a corner in a torchlit corridor when a dark shape flung itself at him, clinging to his leg.

Barely swallowing a cry of alarm, Merlin looked down and scowled. “Troll! You’re lucky I’m not carrying my sword.”

“Sorry, sorry, but Troll got important message for Great Wizard.”

“Well?”

“Very important
secret
message. Can’t tell here.”

“Troll,” Merlin said impatiently, “there’s nobody else around.”

“Walls and shadows got ears. Go outside.”

Sighing, Merlin followed the scuttling troll down several hallways. Torchlight threw grotesque shadows as they hurried past, making Troll’s fears of eavesdroppers seem almost real. In that light, Troll’s scraggly beard looked a particularly sickly yellow. Merlin smiled. At least his own young beard wasn’t the most meager in the company as long as Troll was around.

Once through a small side door, Troll led them to the center of the courtyard, away from prying ears. Still, he lowered his voice so that Merlin had to squat down to hear him.

“Great Wizard, I come with message from big white worm.”

“From Blanche? Why didn’t she come herself?”

“This very
secret
message. Folks notice dragons.”

“True, she does draw attention. So what’s the message?”

“She just come from Faerie. Someone there wants talk with you.”

“From what part of Faerie? Avalon? Who wants to talk with me?”

Troll looked dramatically around. “Worm not say. Just important meeting secret. You go far side of lake by birch grove. Know place?”

“Yes,” Merlin said after a moment. “There’s a small inlet of the lake.”

“That place. Go quick and very secret.”

“When?”

“Now.”

Merlin groaned, but his tiredness had vanished. This sort of thing could sound like a trap, except that he totally trusted both Troll and Blanche.

“All right, I’ll go.” Then he peered at the silver dragonlet asleep on his shoulder. “But could you take this thing for me?”

“Troll take? No, no! That worm little but got sharp claws and hot fire. Great Wizard make behave.”

“Maybe,” Merlin muttered. “But thanks for delivering the message.” Careful not to disturb the sleeping dragon, he fastened his cloak more securely against the cold. Then, gripping his staff, he set out into the night. The streets of Keswick were deserted. People had weighed the biting cold against the possibility of aftershocks and gone back inside.

Once out of town, the only light came from two sources. One was the waning moon, its light diffused by the high clouds and reflected back by the white snow. The other light, far more disturbing, was from the comet spangled across the southern horizon. If anything, it seemed a little brighter now.