Path of the Magi (Tales of Tiberius) (9 page)

“Ah, so you know about that do you?” Dallen said.

“I suppose you believe in that?”  Tiberius answered.

“I’m aware of the prophesy, but I know too much of elvish prophesy to put much faith in that sort of prediction,” he said.  “You needn’t blame Lord Gillyian, though.  Whatever you or I may think of these prophesies, there are others who put great store by them.  Rebel elves, Redcaps, might wish to do you harm on account of these stories.  Gillyian watches because by doing so he lets the Redcaps know that the elf king’s eye is on you.  They can’t harm you without rebelling openly, and this they will not risk, not on account of a mere Son of Adam.”

“So some of the elves want to kill me.  Others want to keep me alive.  And Salina wants me to take her dancing.  The lot of them are mental,”  Tiberius said.

“That’s a frequently expressed opinion.  I might know a dance master,”  Dallen said, thoughtfully.

“When would I have time for that?”  Tiberius protested.

“Oh, I fancy we could make a bit of time.  The math is going quite well after all.  Singh and Ian could use a bit of instruction too.”

“You’re joking,” Singh said, looking up sharply from whatever calculation he was working though.

“I am perfectly serious,”  Dallen replied.  “It’s part of the proper education of every young gentleman, and we are gentlemen first and magi second.  Salina properly reminds me that I’ve been somewhat deficient in this regard.”

Singh turned to Tiberius.  “What did this woman say to you anyway?”

Tiberius just shook his head.  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” 

It was late summer in S.R. 298.  Elves and prophesies and so on were forgotten over more important matters.  Marcus was back from the Army.  He’d done his two years with the Pikes and now had come home to get married and start his family.  It hadn’t taken much suggesting for Tiberius to convince him to meet him once more by the creek for a round of quarterstaves.  As usual, the loser would be taking a swim.   

Tiberius and Marcus faced off against each other over the old familiar creek.  From the very first exchange, Tiberius saw that things were going to be a little different this time.  Marcus tried one of his old favorite attacks, but now it seemed as if it was in slow motion compared to the attacks he’d faced from Mr. Okubo.  Almost effortlessly, he parried, and countered with a swift riposte, giving his brother a tap in the ribs.  Marcus drew back in surprise. 

“You’ve been taking lessons?” Marcus asked, stunned.

“Have I?”  Tiberius answered.  He let Marcus launch a new round of assaults.  Tiberius easily countered them now, blocking each in turn.  He launched no more counterstrikes, though, for two reasons.  First off, it was good strategy; he was letting Marcus tire himself out needlessly.  Second, and more importantly, he had noticed something out of the corner of his eye.  They had an audience. 

Marcus had always loved this town.  He loved the print shop and now that his turn in the army was done he hoped to settle down here, taking over the family business.  He had many friends here and they were all gathering round now to welcome him back.  Much as Tiberius would like to have given his brother a little swim, this wasn’t the moment to embarrass him.  Not if he loved his brother.  The whole neighborhood was about, it seemed, even Mr. Okubo.       

Tiberius changed tactics; he launched some wild attacks of his own, giving his brother a few openings.  Finally, he let him knock him over and into the creek again.  A moment later his brother jumped down after him, helping him up. 

“Ti, that’s really amazing, pure luck that I won.  No one in my unit even handles a staff the way you do now.”

“It’s just a few lessons.  I’ve caught up to you in height while you were gone, that’s all.” 

Marcus could see he was lying, but the crowd was around them now, slapping Marcus on the back.  His fiancée, Daisy, gave Marcus a big kiss and a hug, and his friends were dragged him off to a celebratory lunch.  Tiberius said he’d be along in a minute, after he dried off.  Most of the crowd moved along, but Mr. Okubo was there to meet him as he got out of the creek.  Little Maci was beside him. 

“You let him win,”  Mr. Okubo said.  He said it as a fact, but there was a question in his eyes.

“I’m better than he is now.  Much better.  We both know it.  There’s no need to embarrass him in front of his friends.”

“So you let him win to save face for your brother,” he gave a satisfied nod.  “I knew I had trained the right man,” he said giving a slight nod.   

“Don’t you want to win?” little Maci asked. 

“Not if it hurts our brother, little one,” Tiberius said.  “It isn’t enough to fight.  You have to know what you’re fighting for.  Dad says it doesn’t do any good to take the hill if what you want is the valley.”

“Maybe so, but you’re all wet,” she said.

“It’s a warm day.  In fact … can you swim?” he asked.

“A little, why?”

Ti made a grab for her.  “Little sister could use a dip in the pond.” 

Maci shrieked and ran behind her father's legs, who stood laughing.  Ti wound up settling for splashing a bit of water on her.  Then he went and changed.  He still had a party for Marcus to attend. 

That fall was a happy time.  Marcus got married and Tiberius was his best man.  Things were getting a little more serious with his own girl.  His eighteenth birthday was coming up.  Now that New Year's was past and year S.R. 300 was coming up, thoughts were turning to the future.  He was starting on his formal application to the Military Academy.  His father got the papers by post and he started in on the paperwork.  It was almost anticlimactic the one day Tiberius took Marybeth walking down by the creek in late February. 

“It’s a bit cold for a walk, Ti,” she said.

“Let me put my arms around you and warm you up,” he said. 

“I love you,” she said,  “but I’m still cold.”

“I only need a minute alone with you.  I just wanted to do this someplace beautiful, someplace you could remember it.”

“Do what?  Why, Mister Fuller, what ever are you on about?” she said smiling, and yet with a question in her eyes.  Tiberius thought she’d never looked more beautiful. 

He led her over to the railing, looking out over the creek towards a perfect sunset. 

“I sent in my application the Academy today.  There’s no guarantee, but with Dad’s connections and my grades being so high, it’s pretty much a sure thing.  I think my future is pretty well set, except for one thing.  I need someone to share it with.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his grandmother’s ring.  “I’d like you to be that woman, Marybeth.  Will you marry me?”

She took a quick glance at the ring and then looked at Tiberius.

“Oh, yes!” she said, and then they needed no more words. 

Before long the engagement was the talk of the town.  Most folks were enthusiastic about the match though Tiberius noted that some were more enthusiastic than others.  His father was happy as he said he thought it would settle him down, having a wife.  Even Dallen and the magi congratulated him, though Ti thought Dallen’s congratulations were a bit muted.  His kid sister didn't think much of Marybeth, but what did she know?  None of it mattered to Tiberius.  He was happy, his future was set, and everything was going well. 

His brother arranged for a spring hunt, just the two of them out for a weekend.  They rode just out of town and camped out on a hill, talking about the future.  It was good to catch up with his brother's adventures, and it gave him something to talk about besides the engagement.  Marcus gave him some hints as to what he could expect in the army. 

What neither of them expected was that the dragon should choose that moment to wake.

Chapter IV

The Dragon

There was a quick blast of flame and the dragon soared into the sky.   Its name was Barcharosias and it was out hunting this morning, not for food, but for gold.  The dragon loved gold and wealth in all its forms, as dragons are wont to do.  It had collected a fair store already.  It had plumbed the depths of the sea, raided goblins and trolls, and even other dragons.  Ever the dragon’s eye was on more treasure, though, and that morning it had a plan to acquire more. 

It was a dangerous plan.  The omens weren’t good.  Throwing the bones he saw the presence of a powerful enemy.  Well, that was no surprise; he’d be trying to steal a fortune in gold from under Dallen’s very nose.  General Fuller wasn’t stupid either; the town had a ballista or two about in case of a dragon attack.  Still, the reward made the risk worth taking.  He didn’t have to fight Dallen, just run from him.  His timing would have to be perfect, but if all went well, a fortune in gold was at hand.   

Tiberius woke early that morning.  The first hints of dawn were in the air, and Tiberius stretched and looked out at the beauty of the sky.  It was a fine morning; the sky was still a deep blue and there were just enough clouds in the sky to give it a bit of texture.  His eyes fixed upon a bird for a moment.  Then they grew wide as realized it was a not a bird that had caught his eye.  It was a dragon, off in the distance.  How he’d noticed it in the morning sky, he had no idea, but once seen he could not take his eyes off of it, especially as it seemed to be flying towards his hometown.

Unknown to Tiberius, a large shipment of gold had come though town.  The money was being moved to finance the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Stewardship.  There were no public announcements.  The shippers had decided their best bet was to keep things quiet and make it look like an ordinary shipment.  Certainly no one had told Tiberius or his brother.  Dallen and General Fuller had not been told either, or they would have taken precautions.  Somehow, however, the dragon had learned, and now his greed for gold had overcome his fear of marching into a land populated by knights and men. 

Tiberius quickly shook his brother awake.  Marcus jumped up, took one look though his spyglass, and said simply, “We’ve got to warn the town.”

No more talk was needed.  The two of them leapt on their horses and rode for all they were worth.  Their hearts were filled with fear as they rode.  Neither of them had ever seen a dragon before, but they’d heard the stories.  They knew such creatures existed and what they were capable of.  Now they had seen one.  The question was would they ever see their town again. 

The dragon was moving fast and was past them already.  As they rode into town they could already see fire leap up ahead of them.   

There was no point in ringing the bell now; the town was already on alert.  People were running everywhere.  Either they were fleeing from the dragon, grabbing buckets to put out the fires, or else they were trying to find the soldiers. 

The dragon's attack was carefully planned.  He wanted the gold from the bank, but he had to be quick.  There were too many soldiers here with ballista and crossbows with special arrows that could hurt him if he wasn't careful.  Above all, he knew that Dallen the wizard was nearby.  He feared the magi, above all.  Dallen's magic had slain foes nearly as great as himself.  Fortunately he didn't need to fight Dallen, he just had to distract him for a few minutes.  The dragon planned to cause chaos in town, then swoop in, grab the gold and leave.

Accordingly, he did not fly straight to the bank.  He flew instead around it a couple of times in a broad circle, breathing fire, seemingly at random.  The fires would serve as a diversion while he got down to his real business at the bank.  Hopefully Dallen would be delayed saving people from the fire.  The fires would at least block off some roads and delay the army's archers from arriving for a few precious minutes.  He laughed as he set fire to the church gardens.  Destruction was useful and fun.  He'd kill the old pastor on his way out if he had time.  For now it was down to business.  Barcharosia circled around the main green, making his final approach to the bank.  

It was here that Tiberius and Marcus saw their chance.  They knew one thing about dragons; the armor of a dragon was not perfect.  A small chink was always there, vulnerable to a swift strike, such as a champion archer might deliver.  The boys were ready with their long bows, and the dragon flew so low that a shot was possible.  Just before it landed on the bank steps, the dragon came straight overhead and the boys loosed their arrows. 

Tiberius made as sure a shot as he’d ever made.  He watched as the arrow bounced harmlessly against the dark spot on the dragon’s hide.  The arrow did not even reach the dragon.  Some dark magic had stopped its flight even before it reached the skin of the great worm.  The dragon didn’t even bother to respond; it simply hopped up the short steps of the bank. 

Tiberius looked at his brother in horror.  He tried to speak but he didn’t feel like shouting with the dragon about, so ducking low, he ran over next to him.    

“Our arrows are useless.  How do we stop that thing?”  Tiberius asked.

Marcus gave the practical answer.  “We don’t.  We keep our heads down, work on crowd control.  Ti, they’ve got specialists for this.  It’s not up to us.”

Tiberius didn’t like it.  A true knight did not recoil before any enemy, but Dad had long taught him there was a difference between cowardice and suicidal stupidity.  Even Hector fell back at times when forced by circumstances.  Marcus was right, too; the town had professionals, ballista teams with special holy arrows. They would be here soon.  The two of them took cover by the brick steps of a nearby building. 

The dragon was an awesome, terrible sight.  The look in its eyes sent a chill down Tiberius’ spine.  There was a vile darkness in its heart that chilled him to the bone just to be near it.  It landed in front of the bank and uttered some dark incantation, making a gesture in the air and drawing a mystical symbol with its claw.   In response, the steel bank door ripped off of its hinges and flew aside.  Then the dragon smiled.  The vault was filled with gold, piles of it.   

Tiberius could only watch.  There was nothing he could do to hurt that thing.   He had just made up his mind to be sensible when he heard the scream. 

Across the green, not a hundred yards away from him, he saw Marybeth cowering in a corner of the building.  Worse, she’d screamed because the dragon had seen her too.  Slowly turning its head away from the vault it was methodically ripping open, it had paused to spy the young, virginal female cowering nearby. 

Tiberius didn’t know what sort of vile lusts had arisen in the dragon, but no knight let his lady die while he stood by and did nothing.  He had no hope of victory, no weapon that could harm this dragon, much less kill it.  Still, he might at least distract it and give Marybeth a chance to flee to safety. 

He charged forward.  It was only a few feet away and he might just cover the small bit of ground in time.  If he whacked it on the back of its head, or the eye, if he could get close enough, he might at least distract it.

Marcus was there too, though, and read his mind, as only a brother might.  To his horror, he heard and saw Marybeth scream.  He saw Tiberius leap out and charge the dragon.  He did the only thing he could, which was to madly leap out and try to grab hold of his brother and stop him.  Barely catching hold of an ankle, he managed to trip Tiberius.  He wasn’t sure if that would be enough, so at the top of his lungs he screamed. 

“TIBERIUS, NO!!!”  

The dragon stopped and jerked as if stung by a hornet.  Then its head whipped around, fast as a viper.  It sent out a blast of flame behind it.  Fortunately Tiberius was not in range; he’d barely moved a foot. The dragon’s blast hadn’t been aimed at him, just a quick defensive blast over the shoulder.  All the same, that was much too close.  Even from here that felt hotter than anything he’d ever known. He could barely breathe through the heat and smoke.  He tried to push his body deeper into the earth but the ground was unyielding.  Marcus at least had a little cover from the corner of the nearby building.   

At least he got its attention, Tiberius gulped.  Or had he?  Had the dragon gone nuts?  It wasn’t looking at him, but it was looking all about, looking for something now.  It obviously heard Marcus shouting.  His name upset the dragon.  Why was he still alive?  Why didn’t it aim at him?  He couldn’t miss at this range.

Tiberius had never been more terrified in his life.  He and Marcus just lay there in the scorched earth of the village green.  His eyes were watering from the smoke in the air.  He didn’t dare do or say anything but push his body deeper into the earth as best he could.  He prayed that Marybeth would have the sense to run now, while she had the chance.  At any instant now he expected to die, to be burnt to death or torn apart by those terrible claws.  But death did not come.   To his utter and complete amazement the dragon had stopped what it was doing, but it wasn’t attacking.  The dragon spun around, crouched down, and put its back against the wall.  It looked about cautiously.  It almost looked frightened.  How could that be?  What could frighten a dragon?  It couldn’t be frightened of him.  Then it spoke. 

“Where are you, Tiberius?” it said quietly.  “I sense that you are here, though you've cloaked yourself well!  Has our hour come already?  Come and fight if you dare!"

Tiberius didn’t dare answer.  He didn’t dare to even breathe.  He just froze, staring at the dragon in shock.  Where was he?  He was lying down in plain sight.  Had he turned invisible somehow?  No, Marcus was staring at him.  So was the banker and Marybeth.  What was wrong with this crazy dragon?

The dragon’s mind was racing.  A trap, a trap, it had all been a trap!  He knew it was too easy, too tempting a target; the omens were bad; he should have known.  Tiberius was here! He knew it!  He felt it in his bones!  Something had been nagging at the dragon all morning long and the moment that boy called out it hit the dragon like a thunderbolt.  The prophesized enemy, his mortal enemy, the wizard Tiberius, he was here!  Tiberius had set a trap for him and he’d walked right into it.  The demons said he’d be a clever one.  Where was he?  Those boys weren’t wizards; where was Tiberius?  The dragon felt his heart racing; he had to force himself to be calm.      

The dragon cautiously stepped away from the bank and the gold.  Its head darted from left to right as he tried to find the wizard, tried to catch some scent or hint of his presence.  He made an intricate gesture in the air with its claw and lights flashed around its body.  A little extra protection never hurt.    Where was the wizard?  Suddenly it called out in anger. 

“Where are you, wizard?  Why don’t you show yourself, Tiberius?  I know you are here.  I smell your blood nearby.  I sense you but not your magic.  What trick is this?  Show yourself!”

Tiberius almost laughed.  This dragon was frightened, terrified, of him!  Tiberius the dragon slayer!  Tiberius, with his useless bow, against the dragon’s iron scales.  Yet there he was, cowering and raising every defensive spell he could think of.  What utter madness.   How was he supposed to hurt it?  He had to fight back a desire to leap up and shout, “I’m over here you daft worm!  I’m Tiberius!  I’m the only Tiberius here!”  Fortunately, he was too terrified to do anything of the sort.  He could only lay there and think.     

The dragon started a series of additional magical gestures.  There was a sudden rushing wind from the direction of the dragon and a light mist abruptly covered the ground.  The dragon was hiding him in a mist?  Why? 

The dragon’s mind raced.  He’d hoped the mist would show the wizard’s outline.  He might be invisible, but he’d still see the shadow in the fog.  But no luck.  They warned him!  Oh, the demons warned him he’d be clever, with new defenses never seen before.  He must have some sort of new cloaking shield.  No, not invisible, unnoticeable.  That must be it.  His senses kept going to some teenage kid, but the kid wasn’t the wizard.  Any mortal powerful enough to kill a dragon had a presence.  There was no magic about that kid at all.  Kill him? No that’s what the wizard wanted him to do.  It was part of the trap.  But why wasn’t the wizard attacking?  What was he waiting for?  How did that other kid see him?  Hmm, ‘Tiberius, no.’  Maybe the boy was a dragon lover and was begging Tiberius not to kill the cute dragon?  Humans did weird things like that some times.  But no, that couldn’t be right. 

The dragon called out again in rage and frustration, “Why don’t you show yourself!  I know you are here!”

Suddenly with a sweep of its wings it leapt into the middle of the green.  Tiberius felt the crash as the mighty worm hit the ground.  It let out a roar and circled itself with a blast of fire.  It brushed over the heads of Ti and Marcus though. 

“Come, let's begin our final dance, Tiberius!”  Barcharosias  roared.  “I’ve waited long for this day!” 

Tiberius now could do nothing but wonder.  What was wrong with this crazy dragon?  It was ignoring him and yet calling him by name?   All at once it hit him, and terror gave away to astonishment. 

The dragon said, ‘it was waiting for this day.’  That was it!  The dragon was just like Salina; it could see into the future.  Just like her, he got confused.  It could sense him, yes, but it was expecting him to be a wizard, not some teenaged kid.  That creature was terrified of him, the future him.  That was crazy, too.  Tiberius wasn’t going to study magic ... or was he?