Hidden Spark (Dark Magic Enforcer Book 6) (11 page)

The next few hours were just one long living nightmare.

We left the cave, and at the end of the corridor a nervous Urrad greeted us. Mithnite kept quiet but was mostly ignored anyway, and Dragon spoke through me, saying that he'd defeated the mighty Dragon and that the dwarves' gold was now theirs once more.

Urrad was ecstatic, hardly even paid any attention to the story Dragon was telling, lost to dreams of freedom now he didn't have to tend to Dragon. He led us back the way we had come, pace fast, never pausing, not even to eat.

By the time we got to the hall, the story of "my" mighty exploits were already legend, and the princess and her cronies were waiting for us.

With much thanks and her asking if I was sure I didn't want to take more gold, me saying no, and that I wasn't a greedy man, I found myself standing next to Mithnite under the massive tunnel that led straight up.

As the battle raged inside of me and I screamed a litany of abuse at my possessor, and he ignored me and smiled at the watching dwarves, the next thing I knew we were shooting up in the air and a reversal of the descent took us to the world of sky.

Would I be given my freedom, or did Dragon wish to keep hold of his newfound body? Even before the thought was finished he spoke in my mind, apologizing and saying he really was terribly sorry and that the moment we were on solid ground and away from the dwarven realm he would release his possession.

"You'd better," I spat through clenched teeth, the words my own.

I understood something then, however much Dragon tried to hide it. That shouldn't have been possible, for me to take back my body like that. We were one, and I knew him, the man, saw his thoughts and emotions just as he saw mine.

He knew who I was, what I was, and I knew him.

I felt fear.

Not mine. His.

A Big Mistake

"Dancer, it's me. I got the Dragon out. You won't believe what it is, who it is."

There was silence, but not a good one. A bad, ominous one. "What do you mean you got the Dragon out? You were supposed to deal with it. That was the job. Go and help the dwarves get rid of a dragon, get them their gold back."

"But it isn't a dragon, it's the Dragon."

"Yes, there's only one, apparently. Don't tell me there's a bloody dragon flying around Cardiff? How are we supposed to explain that one away? You've blown the lid on magic being a secret again, haven't you? Hell."

"You don't understand," I said, glancing at the Dragon, having to resist walking up to him and smacking him in the face. "The dragon is 'The Dragon.' You know, as in the Dragon Sage, legendary wizard of lore, more powerful than all other wizards combined. More powerful than anything we have ever known. Keeper of knowledge, seeker of truth, freaker out of young dwarves. And damn possessor of those who don't give him permission." That last one was for Dragon, not Dancer.

"Have you been drinking dwarf wine again? You know you aren't supposed to."

"No, they never offered me any. Look, it's Dragon. The first man to use magic, the one that gave it to us all."

I waited, listening to the cogs going around in his mind. I could picture him, pen in the corner of his mouth, frowning, looking like a confused funeral director. "Wait, are you telling me that the dwarves were being held ransom by Dragon? The man?"

"That's what I just said. Aren't you listening?"

"Shit."

That wasn't the response I was expecting. I glanced over at Dragon who was peering down the shaft then squinting up at the sky and smiling, moving away and stroking a stunted tree. I guess so long underground makes you appreciate what our world has to offer. Playing nice, I smiled and nodded at him, pretending there were no hard feelings, then whispered into the phone, "What's wrong with you? I assumed you'd think this was awesome. I'm not happy with him, after what he's just done to me, but I figured you'd be ecstatic."

"Can he hear me?"

"No, and why are you whispering?"

"Can you put him back?"

"No, of course not! He's out now. Look, I did the job, got the dragon away from the dwarves' gold, and it's him. He can teach us so much, as long as he behaves himself. He's not exactly up-to-date on what's allowed and what isn't, and I don't want anything to do with him, but I figured you'd be falling over yourself to meet him. He is a legend, after all." All I wanted to do was kill the bloody man, but I knew that was impossible, and for once I was thinking of the greater good. These proper old dudes, they all act like you owe them, and I suppose part of me was in awe of him as well.

"Those goddamn dwarves, they are so bloody sneaky," whined Dancer. This was so not going the way I had planned. Okay, not planned, but I'd assumed Dancer would be floored by this.

"What the hell are you going on about? I thought you'd be pleased?" My anger was rising. I'd had a bad day and I thought it was finally over.

"He needs to go, right now. Kill him, Spark, that's an order."

"Don't be ridiculous. How could I even if I wanted to? And besides, I—" Dragon snatched the phone away from me; I just stood in shock.

"Hello, Dancer. Or should I say, Dansator?"

What on earth was going on? How did Dragon know Dancer's true nickname, his Romanian one?

"My friend, Sorin Chisca-Marandici, it is I, Dragon. I've been wanting to meet you for some time."

I heard the scream from the other end of the line and then Dragon dropped my phone and stomped it with a worn heel of a rather nice pair of leather boots—the dwarves do make the best boots.

"Um, that was my phone."

"And the man I was talking to is in a little bit of trouble I'm afraid."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Time to go pay him a visit."

What could I do? Whatever was going on there was no way I could even think of going up against this man. A fight would leave me totally dead, and I really didn't fancy being quite that dead.

Instead, I said, "All right, if you insist. We'll take my car."

"Ah, cars. I've heard so much about them. It will be fun to ride in a vehicle powered by a combustion engine. Lead on."

So, I led on. I turned to Mithnite and nodded at him. The poor lad was as confused as all hell, not knowing what was what, but he held it together and just walked ahead of us.

At the car, I unlocked it and said, "Stand back while I start it up. It's a bit temperamental. Mithnite, you get in the back. It's only fair to give up the front seat to our guest. Come on, in you go."

"Okay." Mithnite got inside and I closed the door. "Let me get the engine warm and then we can head off. It gives off noxious fumes when first started and you aren't used to them, so keep away until I give the signal, okay?"

"As you wish. How exciting." He took a step back, looking amused, concerned, and interested at the same time.

I got in, hardly believing how he'd changed from all-powerful sage to excited child in the face of a new experience. I started the engine, put my foot on the clutch, crunched into first gear, released the handbrake and got the hell out of there before he realized what was going on.

I'd just left the most powerful human being in the world stranded by an old, abandoned coal mine that was a portal to the dwarven realm. I hoped he wouldn't be cross, but right then all I cared about was getting away from what I knew in my heart was nothing but trouble. And I still hadn't worked out where his new old body had come from. Man was he powerful.

A Sidekick

"Wow, you are one seriously hardcore dude, you know that, Spark?" said Mithnite, sweating and hyper as he clambered from the back seat into the front.

"Careful! Hurry up and put your seatbelt on." I kept glancing in the rearview mirror, expecting to see an elderly man with white flowing hair and too much dwarven leather chasing after us like something from the Terminator, but all was quiet as we weaved our way out of the Welsh mountains.

The sun was low now, almost gone, and the mist rolled down the hills into valleys, temperature dropping dramatically as in the blink of an eye the sun gave up and dusk settled over us like a damp shroud.

We drove towards Cardiff in a sullen mood, unable to shake the strange encounter, the craziness of the day, and above all else, the knowledge this was far from over. What did Dragon want with Dancer? More to the point, what was he going to do with him? And us, what about us? Had I dragged Mithnite into something he had no hope of ever getting out of? Did I?

"At least we're rich," said Mithnite, the first words either of us had spoken for some time as we got close to the city.

"Damn, I'd totally forgotten." No wonder my shoulders felt so tired. The weight of the gold in my jacket pockets was substantial, but I'd put it down to sheer exhaustion, not being rich. We were almost off the country lanes so I pulled over before we hit the busy city and parked up in a small picnic area where people could stretch their legs and admire the view.

We got out and sat at a rotting picnic bench while I emptied my pockets. Only then did it hit home just how much this was all worth.

"You know we're in serious trouble, right?" I asked Mithnite.

"I know. But how cool is this? I went to the dwarf HQ, met a princess, met Dragon, although I can't say I like him," he added hurriedly, "and besides, look at this."

I felt a pang of guilt for getting him involved. He was young, had a long way to go before he could call himself a real wizard, and was yet to show any real flair for one particular aspect of magic, of which there are countless paths he could follow, but mostly I envied him for still having that choice.

There was also the very pressing question of what to do with him. He had lost his friends, lost his teacher, and for us that was like having a limb cut off. He needed guidance, and I realized then that I knew nothing much about his life.

He was a face, someone I had known on and off for years. Watched grow from snotty little brat into a young man immersed in our culture, but I knew little of his history, only assuming that, like the others taken under the wing of his now retired master, that he was orphaned and found himself in this life somehow, either through accident or design.

"Do you have family? Friends?" I asked. "Sorry, but we have to get you somewhere safe."

"I'm not going anywhere," he said, defiant. I could tell he meant it, and knew there was no point arguing.

"Okay. But answer the question."

"I have parents, if you can call them that. But I left a long time ago, when I was fourteen. Never spoke to them again. Leave it at that, okay?"

"Sure, and I'm sorry. So where are you staying?"

"Here and there," Mithnite mumbled.

"What does that mean?" I knew, but he had to tell me, be honest.

"Anywhere I can find where I won't be disturbed." He looked embarrassed, as if he should be ashamed for finding himself homeless at his age.

Heck, he was just a kid, had grown to young adulthood under the protection of a very powerful, if somewhat batty wizard. He'd never had to think about bills, earning much money, any of the life experiences Regulars take for granted. He simply had no concept of how things functioned, and certainly had no money to be able to rent a house somewhere.

"Sleeping rough, you mean? It's nothing to be ashamed of, it happens."

"I'm not ashamed. Just annoyed with myself for letting it come to this. I'm such an idiot. I thought Master would provide for us for years yet. Damn, it was all going so well." Mithnite slammed a fist into the table, making the gold bounce and me jump.

"At least you don't have to worry about money any more," I said, as I pulled out more and more of the gold stuff and added it to the pile already on the table.

"You mean I can have some?" Mithnite didn't act greedy, didn't take for granted he deserved the riches, and he rose in my estimation greatly by showing such a genuine nature.

"You get half, and no objections. This is worth millions, you know? We're set for life." I was relieved, I admit it. Things weren't desperate, we had money, but being financially secure for the rest of your life is a different thing entirely. It puts a new perspective on everything.

"No way. Seriously?"

"Yep. If you'd panicked back there, or done the wrong thing, neither of us would still be alive. You deserve it. Wait here."

I went to the car and grabbed two small satchels used for various chores on the land back home, now perfect for our needs. I emptied out packs of seeds, clippers, and assorted bits of string, and put it all in a plastic bag. Then I went back to the table.

"One for you, one for me," I said, counting out the gold. "Ah, what the heck, just grab some and keep on grabbing."

For a few minutes we did nothing but marvel at the riches, picking up handfuls of gold and laughing and joking as we let the coins and nuggets fall through our fingers and clatter dully into our leather satchels.

When we were done I got serious. "You are to tell nobody about this, understand?"

"Sure, I understand."

"Good. Now, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I need to finish my training. There's so much left to learn, I can't give up now."

"What happened? What really happened?"

Mithnite bowed his head, a deep sadness taking him over, but then he lifted his face and spilled it all in one go. I think he was pleased to finally give the incident words.

"Master had been losing it for a while, getting forgetful, then taking it out on us when things went wrong. We all kept getting hurt, he wasn't teaching us important parts of what we needed to know. He thought we'd messed up once too often, and he... He went nuts, okay? He blasted us all, killed the others, my friends, and I ran. I ran like a coward." Mithnite broke down then, and when he'd finished I gave him my first real lesson.

"Your teacher is an old man, very old, not that it excuses him, but he's still powerful. You did the right thing, Mithnite. There's a time for fighting, and a time for running, and when someone more powerful than you, and someone you think highly of, becomes unstable, well, the best damn advice that you can ever get is to run like hell and don't look back. You did that, right?"