Wizard Pair (Book 3) (34 page)

"What are these?" Zhimosom asked. He had been practicing his reading and writing skills almost every day. Rotiaqua had sat with him night after night reading along with him. He had studied the histories of the Wizards and of Amedon. He was getting proficient, but these he could not make out.

"These are written in the ancient language of the Wizards. You will need to learn it in order to cast these spells." He flipped the book to one page containing a diagram like a stylized cage with gilt filigree. The cage was washed with a brilliant purple light. On the opposite page, a Wizard was trapped in the cage, tugging at the glowing bars.

"See, containment." Helmyer rubbed his hand over the image and traced the words beneath the image. "This is the spell. It is derived from one used to direct and contain energy. It speaks of separating the Wizard's energy from him and fashioning it into this cage. If you can master this, you can contain your opponent."

"How do I practice this spell?" Zhimosom peered at the words.

"I will prepare a transcription for you. First, you will need to master the language used in the spell. It's not difficult. I will write out the words you need to learn, just don't speak them aloud. They are quite powerful."

Helmyer took out a piece of parchment, scrawled out the spell and handed it to Zhimosom.

Zhimosom scanned the words that Helmyer had written. They were hard to pronounce. He worried that he would forget them under pressure in the heat of battle.

Back in their study, Zhimosom sat with Rotiaqua. He struggled to learn the Wizards' tongue and was a little frustrated that she had picked it up so much faster than he had.

"Roll your tongue and try to make the sound in the back of your throat," Rotiaqua said as Zhimosom tried to imitate her pronunciation. "Reprehendo."

"Depdehendo." Zhimosom thought he came close.

"Reprehendo." Rotiaqua exaggerated the sound. She reached out, took his hand, and placed it on her throat. "Here, feel where I make the sound." "Reprehendo," she said. "It means to restrain, or as close as you can get to that. It means more than that, to hold back or coerce, but mostly restrain."

"I'm afraid I'll get it wrong and the spell won't work."

"You're doing fine. It takes practice." She looked the parchment over. "The words all seemed to deal with restraint and capture. What is this spell going to do?"

"I want to restrain Sulrad, not kill him. We don't know what killing will do to you." Zhimosom worried about her. He had come to depend on her advice and her magic. She was a fast learner and had a way with people that he lacked.

"I see. But, do you really think that's wise?"

"I can't take the chance. You're more closely connected to him than I am. I wish you were coming along with me. Maybe we could come up with something together. Then at least I could see if my attack on Sulrad had any effect on you. That way I wouldn't have to worry so much."

Rotiaqua squeezed his hand. "That's sweet, but you know that we have no choice. If it comes down to Sulrad dying to stop this war, then that's what it takes. If that means both of us die with him, then I am willing to take that chance."

"No." Zhimosom stood up and began to pace.

"Zhimosom. We're just two people. Look how many died in the last attack. How can you say your life is worth more than theirs?"

"Not mine, yours."

"Even mine. I am no different from you."

"You're royalty, I'm a commoner. I can't forget that."

"I'm no more royalty than you are. Father has banished me. I'm on my own."

"That's all the more reason why you have to live. One day we can go back and you can reconcile with your father."

"Zhimosom, those days are past. There is no reconciliation with my father. I am dead to him and that's the end of it. We have a life here in Amedon if we survive the war. I'll be happy just studying magic here."

She stood up and grasped him by the shoulders. Zhimosom looked down on her. He was taller than she was but that didn't stop her from looking him in the eyes when she had something serious to say.

"If it comes down to it and you have the chance to kill Sulrad, don't hesitate. Don't think of me or anyone else. Kill him. He will do the same to you and not give it a second thought."

"I hear you," Zhimosom said.

"I know you hear me, but are you listening?" Rotiaqua asked.

Zhimosom shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't going to kill Sulrad if it meant killing Rotiaqua. She was too important to him. He'd find another way to deal with Sulrad when the time came.

A few mornings later Helmyer told Zhimosom to get his things packed. They were heading out to Ryden immediately.

"But I'm not ready yet." Zhimosom had mastered the Wizards' tongue, but he was far from confident in his ability to cast the complex spells he needed.

"No time. We're leaving now. We can study on the way."

"Why the sudden departure?" Zhimosom wanted to study more of the binding and transformation spells.

"Uskin has had a vision. Sulrad is preparing to call more dragons. He will release them against Amedon. We are going to meet him in Ryden before he gathers his dragon army against us."

They departed Amedon at a fast march. Over half the Wizards in Amedon were on the move and they were taking no chances.

The journey from Amedon to Ryden was hard. Alwroth encouraged the Wizards to keep on the move as long as there was enough light, and on occasion even into the night. When they finally made camp outside of Ryden, Zhimosom caught up with Alwroth.

"Why did we have to leave in such a rush?" Zhimosom asked.

"Uskin is frightened," Alwroth said. "She has visions, and they are getting stronger."

"Surely she's not afraid of Sulrad."

"She's not afraid of Sulrad. She's afraid for the dragons."

"For the dragons?" Zhimosom knew Sulrad had successfully commanded a dragon, but he had only the one dragon at his command. Surely, the rest of the dragons were safe.

"Sulrad was getting ready to call more dragons," Alwroth said. "The more dragons he calls, the more he kills, and the more he has to attack us with again. Uskin was certain of this. She urged us to get to Ryden and stop him. She was unsettled and couldn't sleep at night."

"We have to deal with Sulrad. How are we going to do that?"

"I'm sending you to spy him out and find out what he is up to."

"Me? Why me?" Zhimosom didn't feel ready to take on Sulrad. He was still unsure of his ability to wield the spells he needed to defeat the Priest.

"Because you are attuned to him. You can direct Helmyer to him. Perhaps we can stop him with the simple assassination plan, as the Council has recommended. You will be a key part of this plan."

"We should capture him, not kill him." Zhimosom didn't want to betray his concern for Rotiaqua. If it came down to it, he would capture Sulrad and, using some of the spells he had learned in Amedon, prevent him from harming the dragons.

"We'll capture him if we can, kill him if we must. This has to end now, before he does any more damage."

"What exactly are we going to do?"

"You and Helmyer are going to find him first thing in the morning. Scout out his position and report back to me. We will march on him as soon as you return."

The next morning, while they broke their fast, Helmyer asked Zhimosom, "How are you going to find Sulrad?"

"I can already sense him," Zhimosom answered. "He's near. Somewhere outside of the city, somewhere where he can summon the dragons and not frighten the folk."

"Are you sure you can locate him?"

"We are tied, if only weakly. It allows me to sense where he is when I really push. If I am tuned in when he performs magic, I can find him."

Zhimosom searched for Sulrad all day. Near evening, he located Sulrad near a small outcropping of rocks that poked out of the rolling hills.

"There." Zhimosom held out his arm to stop Helmyer. "He's in that canyon there."

Zhimosom felt a stir of magic. He looked up to see the familiar curtains of light in the sky. They were insubstantial, barely visible in the fading daylight, but they were there.

"He's summoning a dragon." Zhimosom scrambled over the rocks to get a closer look. Sulrad stood between the rocky ledges that formed a canyon, arms raised. There was something around his neck. It was made of gold that glowed with an internal light and had a strong sense of magic to it.

Overhead, Zhimosom heard the beat of mighty wings as the dragon descended. He felt its magic as it drew nearer. This was the same one he had met before, the one Rotiaqua had sent back across the void after the attack on Amedon. It was large and brick red, but there was another dragon. The second dragon was black and smaller than the first.

The black dragon's magic was just as powerful as the red one's from what Zhimosom could tell, but the black one was not bound to Sulrad's will. It had been summoned but not commanded.

Zhimosom reached out with all his power. He would bind Sulrad in his own magic just as he'd planned. "In tua magicae eritis involvint," he cried out, willing Sulrad to be wrapped in his own magic. As the words rolled off his lips, he knew he had gotten it wrong. He tried again. "In tua magicae erititris involvent." Still nothing. It didn't work. Sulrad took no notice of his efforts.

Zhimosom felt Helmyer behind him as the Wizard prepared his own magical attack on Sulrad. Helmyer's attack at least caught Sulrad's eye, but it did little to deter him.

The red dragon fell in behind the black one as it descended towards the ground. The black dragon landed outside the canyon and waddled in between the rocky ledges until it stood before Sulrad. The Priest shouted something Zhimosom could not hear and the red dragon jumped on top of the black one.

Powerful claws dug into wings and held them tight. The red dragon used its head to pin its victim to the ground, exposing its neck to Sulrad's advance.

Zhimosom jumped up as Sulrad drew his knife but stopped himself, because he had no more spells to try. Sulrad advanced on the dragon's exposed neck. Zhimosom watched in horror as Sulrad lifted a large scaly plate and slid the blade deep into the neck of the black dragon.

Immediately, the red dragon released its victim and took a step back. The injured dragon bled its dark blood onto the sand at Sulrad's feet.

The magic separated from the black dragon. It swirled in a tight vortex surrounding Sulrad, filling him with its power, overfilling him. Surely, this was enough to kill the Priest, but Sulrad reached for the Charm around his neck and held it aloft.

The black dragon turned into a shower of light as it released its magical energy, free of its physical body.

The magic swirled around Sulrad, tighter and tighter, until it looked like a small tornado. It focused on the charm and the stone set in it. The whirling magic penetrated the stone and vanished within, leaving Sulrad standing in the canyon surrounded by darkness.

Zhimosom shifted his position to find out where the red dragon had gone. In his haste, he dislodged a stone. It clattered down into the canyon, careening off the walls with such a din, Zhimosom thought it could be heard all the way back at the Wizards' camp.

Zhimosom cringed and turned to signal Helmyer. The old Wizard ducked behind a boulder and Zhimosom sighed with relief. He turned back to see what Sulrad was doing, but Sulrad seemed not to have noticed the noise. He was performing some ritual with the amulet.

Zhimosom was so engaged with Sulrad's actions that he was not prepared for what happened next. He heard the sound of stones falling and then a scream. He looked over to see Helmyer hunched down, trying to keep out of the jaws of the red dragon as it perched on the rocks overhead. It struck at him with its massive head, jaws snapping.

"Stop that," Zhimosom shouted. He tried the spell of binding on the dragon, but it did nothing. The dragon struck again. Helmyer rolled to the side and the dragon snapped its jaw shut on empty air. Zhimosom knew that the Wizard could not stay out of the dragon's reach for long.

Zhimosom stood up and shouted at the dragon, trying to distract it, but it did not waver from its pursuit of the Wizard beneath its perch. The dragon attacked again and again as Helmyer rolled from side to side, trying to get to his feet and escape the attacks.

Helmyer screamed as the dragon finally found its mark. The beast clamped him in its jaws, but did not bear down. It raised its head up and took to the wing, bearing the Wizard away. It swooped low over Sulrad and dropped Helmyer to the sand to lie on the bloody stain of Sulrad's first victim.

Sulrad advanced on Helmyer with his knife.

"No," Zhimosom screamed as the knife flashed. Helmyer's magic was released just as the dragon's had been. It was absorbed by the amulet Sulrad wore around his neck.

Zhimosom cradled his head in his hands. He had led the Wizard to his death. He should have stayed in Amedon.

Zhimosom heard the sound of rocks falling, and turned to see the dragon flapping its mighty wings just over his head. He was too late to take any action before it took hold of him with its massive claws.

Zhimosom struggled to breathe, but he was held tight in the grip of the dragon. The ground dropped away beneath him as the beast took flight. The jerky up and down motion of its wings made his stomach queasy as they rose higher and higher into the sky.

Soon, the rocks below looked like pebbles on the grass. The mountains loomed ahead, but quickly fell beneath.

Zhimosom was dizzy, and his lungs burned. Just as he thought he could endure no more, the dragon ceased beating its wings and started to glide. The the air whistled past Zhimosom as they descended towards a mountain peak below.

There was a small town perched among the rocks on the mountainside. The homes were rustic, made from scraps of stone and little else. A square lay open in the center of the town where the dragon descended. It flared its wings and settled to the earth, releasing Zhimosom just as his feet touched the ground. Zhimosom gulped in air as the pressure on his chest released.