Drakonika (Book 1) (27 page)

There was a sudden rustle in the reeds near the muddy swamp. The waterman stood up, finally taking his eyes off his victims. He quickly left to check, although he turned back at the children several times to make sure they couldn'
t get out.

As soon as the waterman disappeared from their vicinity, three boys in black emerged from the woods, carrying a long branch taken from a fallen tree. They immediately tossed one of its ends into the swamp where Fjalldís and Darius were holding on for dear life.

Darius didn't seem to be surprised at all. It looked as if he knew his friends were around and he had been waiting for their help. Now when they had finally come, he seized the branch with both his arms, stunned Fjalldís holding onto his jacket. She couldn't suppress the puzzled look on her face. Had all of them come just because of her?

While Henry, Giselbert and Rodrick were pulling Darius and Fjalldís out of the swamp, Maren and Magnus panted into sight, although Magnus looked as if he hadn't run at all. Apparently, it was them who fooled the waterman and lured him away. They were both quite surprised by the company Fjalldís had there though.

Darius wasn't pleased by Magnus' presence. Was there ever a moment when he wouldn't mingle into what they were doing? Fjalldís, on the contrary, beamed with joy again. As soon as she saw him, her face brightened, even though she was still sinking.

“
Magnus!” she cried, but then she realised they hadn't been on speaking terms.

“
What do
you
want here?” Darius snarled hatefully from below. To his astonishment, Magnus dared to respond.

“
I didn't come for you, don't worry. I came for Fjalldís,” Magnus retorted, stepping carefully at the edge of the swamp. Maren was holding one of his arms just in case.

Fjalldís had immediately let go of Darius and reached out towards Magnus who pulled her out within  seconds. Tearing the firm plants that held her feet wasn't the slightest problem for him.

Henry cast the merry couple an incredulous gaze.

“
What the hell...?” he said, when their leader had finally scrambled onto firm land.

Darius frowned wordlessly at Magnus with a spiteful look, his nostrils quivering with anger. But there was no time for another fight.

“Watch out!” Maren squealed in fear. Everyone looked in the direction where she was pointing and they all understood what alarmed her so much. Not just one, but a whole group of watermen was dashing towards them and it seemed that Magnus had made them quite angry.

“
YOU! You have set my prey free!” yelled one of them fiercely. It must have been the one they had seen before, but there was no telling — they all looked almost the same.

Maren jerked behind Magnus. She wasn't sure if he could beat them all at once, but they couldn't run recklessly, because swamps were all around. Magnus surely had exceptional abilities, but could he defeat this horde of angered watermen?

“WE'LL GET YOU!” the watermen growled, sniggering malevolently. All novices shook with horror.

“
Fire...” Maren said thoughtfully.

“
What?” Magnus looked around his shoulder, a confused look on his face.

“
Fire and water... Magnus! You have to use your fire!” Maren insisted, tugging on his sleeve frantically.

“
But I don't know how!” Magnus yelled desperately as he watched the nearing watermen who were waving their old cups threateningly. Water flew from them in all directions.

“
You have to do it now, they are not in their element! They're weakened!” Maren shrieked loudly.

The Black Squad covered their ears. That shrieking was one of the things they hated the most about her.

“NOW!” Fjalldís bellowed suddenly.

It seemed the sound of her voice had finally put Magnus into motion. Just in time to save them from the angry wave of watermen, something took over Magnus' senses and spitting a massive flame, he burnt the horrible watermen to dust. A few of them managed to escape with terrified screams, disappearing into the nearest swamp.

The surface of the water became still once more and the entire marsh fell silent. The only sounds they heard were croaking frogs and a few branches cracking as the dying fire consumed them. For a moment, no one dared to speak — not even Darius who had a whole collection of ugly words ready to spit out. It was true then — Magnus really could breathe fire!

Maren touched Magnus' shoulder, but when he rounded on her, she flinched back in shock. His face had a cold-blooded expression and his eyes vertical slits for pupils. He looked like someone completely different.

Fjalldís saw it too.

“
Magnus, are you okay? What's wrong with your eyes?” she said carefully, watching his pupils narrow as she came closer.

Then Magnus shook his head. When he opened his eyes again, everything seemed to be back to normal. He gave Maren and Fjalldís a bewildered look and then his gaze landed on the Black Squad who were standing several steps away, watching him wordlessly. Magnus could see respect in their eyes, although he was sure that they still hated him
— maybe even more than before.

It was good to know he didn't have to worry about Darius and his gang anymore, but he didn't waste much time on them. As if nothing significant had happened, he turned to Fjalldís who was still in shock from everything she had witnessed in the past few minutes.

Magnus mouthed at her, but then he heard rattling from the reeds. This time he had no idea who it could be. But as soon as he saw the curious faces of his two housemates, everyone could breathe again. Aurora and Belinda emerged right behind them. They must have followed them all the way from the town.

As the four newly-come novices cautiously avoided any puddles, Magnus decided to finish what he had started.

“I would like to apologise for not telling you that Maren would travel to Sinei with us. I don't want us to act like strangers anymore,” he said with a kind smile. “Today I have lost something that was very important to me. But I hope I have gained something that means even more to me — your friendship,” he added. As he said that, a jealous look dawned on Maren's face.

Fjalldís' cheeks turned pink at once. She couldn't suppress a wide smile any longer.

“Actually, not only me,” continued Magnus, “We all have come here because of you and we would be very happy if you let us get closer to you. You're not alone.”

Magnus spoke like a true friend, but he didn't expect what happened next. Fjalldís, who had been gazing at her dirty shoes shyly, suddenly gave him a tight hug. A few more words and she would have started crying from joy. They both heard scandalised muttering coming from the Black Squad.

Maren didn't seem to be very pleased either, but for Magnus' sake, she was willing to accept the strange girl into their party.

“
Well, I hope that we can be
–
” Maren started bashfully, but she didn't even have to finish — Fjalldís embraced both of them. Her face was beaming with joy and a charming smile that no one had seen on her face since their arrival in Sinei.

“
My friends!” Fjalldís said joyfully. When she finally released them, Lars, Elmar, Belinda and Aurora jumped to her side, a broad smile on their faces. She told them how happy she was that they came and then she looked at Magnus again with a very grateful, “Thank you for saving me, Magnus.”

“
My pleasure,” Magnus said simply, but no words could express the joy he really felt. He had wanted to be friends with Fjalldís since the first time he saw her.

Darius gaped at them as if it was all just a bad joke.

“I can't believe this. You're thanking HIM?!” he breathed furiously, his chest heaving rapidly.

“
Of course,” Fjalldís said, clearly convinced that Magnus deserved all the credit. “He pulled me out and defeated the monsters. Basically, he saved you too. I think you should apologise for the morning fight and thank him for saving your neck.”

Darius' next words made everyone except Magnus wince in fear
— even his own friends.

“
NEVER!” he snapped, his face contorted with rage. “There's not a SINGLE thing in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD that would ever make me thank him!”

“
You sound just like Xanthar,” Magnus said in an unimpressed tone. “How did you even get here?”

Henry, Rodrick and Giselbert exchanged a few uncertain looks, as though they wanted to make sure if it was all right to tell. Then Rodrick decided to speak.

“We... we followed the little mirrors –” his mouth was silenced by Darius' hand, but it was already too late.

Maren preached smartly, “Mirrors? That was a trap to lure the victims, you fools!” She giggled, along with the Lars and Belinda.

The mood was growing lighter again, but there was something else that Magnus wanted to say. He turned back to his new friend.

“
Fjalldís, the most important thing — I'd like to thank you for helping me out and protecting me from... certain malevolent people, although I probably won't need it any more,” he said brightly, casting Darius and his three comrades a victorious smile. It was clear that after seeing the fire show, they wouldn't bother him again.

“
I was happy to help,” Fjalldís said, still smiling through the mud on her face.

Darius rolled his eyes. He had tried everything to turn her attention away from Magnus, but nothing seemed to work. Well, surely there were other ways, but according to him, they were all meant for losers.

“This is lame. Let's go, guys,” he growled angrily, rushing his friends back into the forest which was much darker now than when they first came. The sun was almost gone. As the Black Squad stepped forward with Darius in the lead, a spooky owl hooting brought them to a halt.

Magnus and the others had left in a different direction which was actually a shortcut, but soon they noticed that the Black Squad were following them, although they were still keeping their distance. And it was only because he could keep them all safe
— that's the only time when he was good for them!

The last part of their journey back to Sinei was in complete darkness and despite Magnus' great abilities to protect them, Lars was shaking with fear all the way. As the night fell over the land, the Black Squad came closer to Magnus and the others, but they didn't say a word. The only light they had was a bright sphere of light floating above Fjalldís' right palm
— apparently she was already skilled enough to copy the spell from Solas in the Mages Guild. They shuffled into the town, crossed the streets and entered the underground chamber in the citadel together, but it appeared they had already missed the test. Aedan gave them a reproving glare as he surveyed them from their dusty heads to their muddy boots.

The novices who had stayed to write the test turned in their seats to cast them a curious look. Serena and Viktor were also among them and it was possible that they had told on them.

Maren gave an innocent smile, but it didn't seem to soften their teacher in any way. Elmar and Lars groped at the blank sheets of paper on one of the tables in an attempt to show Aedan that despite their disobedience, they were still willing to take the test. But the druid was no longer interested in their knowledge.

“
Leave the papers be,” he growled. “So you figured you'd have fun in the woods instead of doing your duties. Did you really think you could skip it?” He shifted his staff to his left hand as he made his way to them. “As I can see, you all stick together so you will certainly enjoy working together. You will clean all the houses. I want the floors shimmering, the linens dazzling white, the furniture to gleam like never before, the windows to be invisible and there will be no spider webs.”

As Aedan had spoken his verdict, there was an outbreak of annoyed muttering and the group of unfortunate novices exchanged highly disgruntled looks. Viktor gazed at them with a grim face as he provocatively put his legs on the table. But as bad as it was, Aedan didn't seem to know where exactly they had spent the evening. His last words were the “cherry” on top though.

“And one month of service in the kitchen,” he added delightedly.

XIV. The Druid Grove

“
See? What did I tell you?” Viktor preached, watching Darius and the rest of the Black Squad scrubbing the mud off their dirty clothes. “I advised you well, but you didn't listen.”

Darius impatiently flung his wet jacket against the flat rock. It appeared he had been listening to this for quite a while.

“Are you done?” he said irritably and gave Viktor an annoyed look.

“
Yeah, but I don't know if you're done too. Can't you see the little goblin doesn't appreciate anything you do?” Viktor said shortly.

Darius gave a heavy sigh, lowering his head.

Viktor continued, “Look, just leave it be. That's the best thing you can do.” Serena seemed to agree with him completely.

“
Yeah, you have your friends, don't you? Who cares about her,” she said airily and waved her hand.

Darius let out a bitter laugh.

“Like you, who turned your back on me at the first chance? Oh and by the way, that renowned love potion of yours doesn't work at all, Viktor,” he retorted as he continued scrubbing his jacket on the rock.

Serena gave Darius a significant look.

“Hmm, a love potion? That sounds interesting,” she chaffed, but the only answer to that was his venomous glare.

Even then, Viktor didn
't stop defending his alchemy skills.

“
It works, but you nullified its effects. Have you forgotten that you used it for revenge? Stop chasing after her 'cause that won't help. You have to let things happen on their own,” he said in a slightly affronted tone.

Darius looked up and gazed wordlessly at Fjalldís, who was having fun with Maren and Magnus on the other side of the creek. They were already done with their work
— all their clothes were dazzling clean. The best way to wash fabric was to twist it tightly and slam it against the flat rocks and it was clear that Magnus had done all the work for them. It was hard to believe what Viktor had said about the potion — everything suggested that if Darius let Fjalldís be, she would only stick around that “super-hero” Magnus.

Once Viktor and Serena left and Henry and Giselbert were busy talking, Rodrick brought his washing closer to their leader.

“Hey Darius,” he whispered, leaning closer to him. “Why
do
you care about it so much?”

“
I don't know,” Darius retorted gruffly. Rodrick gave him an understanding sneer.

“
Yeah right,” he said, poking his friend as he chuckled.

“
It's not what you think,” said Darius firmly, shooting Rodrick a slightly annoyed look.

Rodrick was still snickering, but then he gave Darius a friendly pat on the back.

“Don't worry man, I'm not gonna tell anyone.”

Everyone who had partaken in the marsh adventure had to wash their clothing right now because if they didn
't, it would be waiting for their return from a tiresome journey. Aedan was going to take them on a druid trip.

When they finished washing, they left to the dining room to join the rest of the novices and have the lunch that they had prepared themselves as a punishment for yesterday. There were several meals to choose from
— some better, some worse, depending on who cooked it. Afterwards, they were all summoned to gather 'round at the courtyard. It seemed they would have a nice weather, except for a few clouds in the sky.

Before Aedan could give them any instructions, Elmar's arm darted up from the crowd.

“Should we take our books?” he asked diligently.

“
No, you won't need that,” Aedan said with a soft smile, but then his expression hardened. He shifted his druid staff into his other hand and strode to Rodrick, who was carrying a backpack full of “
something”
and obviously, he was also chewing on this “something” with almost indecent enthusiasm. “What's the meaning of this?!” Aedan growled wrathfully. “Take it off at once. This is a druid trip, not a picnic.”

Rodrick stopped chewing and fixed his horrified green eyes on his teacher.

“And what will we eat?” he said with his mouth so full of biscuits, the words came out totally muffled. A few crumbles fell out of his mouth.

Aedan took a deep breath.

“For those who haven't understood — listen closely, because I won't repeat it a hundred times — this is a DRUID trip. You won't need books, writing tools, food, water, spare clothes or a bed. All that will be provided by Mother Nature, but only if you behave. And She knows if you behave or not,” he said flatly.

The last words sounded as if he was addressing them to five-year-old children, so they didn't take it seriously. But the fact they would go into the wilderness without any food or blankets made them doubt they would live to see another day. However, Aedan was completely certain of his words.

“But you will need one thing. Follow me, everyone!” Aedan commanded, sounding a bit brighter now. With a brisk pace, he led the novices through the long dim hallway down into the underground chamber where the test was held last evening. But this time, there was something else on the tables.

“
What
is
that
?” Darius asked in a horrified tone.

“
Your druid cloaks,” Aedan fizzled through his teeth clenched tightly, as if he considered it impossible that they couldn't tell by themselves.

The novices edged closer to take a look at the rags they would have to wear for at least the next twenty four hours. Each one of them had to dress in a simple cloak of dark green colour, made of thick cotton which had a hood on its top and laces to tie. They did it with extreme muttering. When they turned to their friends to look at each other, they weren't sure if they should laugh or cry. Could Aedan even choose something worse for their druid cloaks?

“I hope it doesn't have fleas,” Giselbert commented, a little more audibly than he should. Aedan's stern gaze landed on him immediately, but he didn't say anything. There were too many complaining novices, so the moaning of the Black Squad was lost in the crowd.

Maren leaned closer to Magnus.

“Do you think we can survive this?” she whispered.

“
Let's get surprised,” Magnus said with very little hope as he was tying his “
royal”
cloak under his neck.

“Getting surprised” was really the only thing they could do. Aedan led them down the lanes out of the town. As soon as they descended the serpentine path to the rocky valley and crossed the little bridge over the crystal clear creek, the druid expedition had begun.

Aedan's gentle steps were hidden under his long druid cloak and as usual, it looked as though he was floating.

“If you want to learn exemplary druid behaviour, the best thing you can do is follow my example,” Aedan said proudly, raising his staff higher. “And the first thing is — your druid staff.”

“
But we don't have one,” Lars said bashfully.

Aedan was glad that at least someone had realised this.

“Exactly. You think fast, Lars! Now, you will find a long stick that will feel comfortable in your hands. It's very important that you find it yourselves, enhance it yourselves and put your own effort and energy into it. Don't forget to test its hardness — you don't want it to break with the first hit. Take only what you find on the ground, never from the living trees!” Aedan said grimly and surveyed them all with his stern gaze to make sure they understood. “And never forget — before you take anything, you need to ask Mother Nature for permission.”

Belinda raised her hand.

“And how do we make sure if the stick will break or not?” she asked curiously. She was one of the few novices who were actually interested in this druid expedition. But it seemed that Aedan didn't think about this.

“
Well, try it on the rocks... or... or on yourselves,” Aedan said, lowering his voice at the end of the sentence. He waved his had carelessly, taking a seat on a flat rock nearby. He let them do their work while he was listening to the lovely chirping of forest birds. Aedan could hear cheesed muttering behind him and then the children slowly shuffled into the forest and scattered around to find their staffs. But not all of them were searching so hard. Magnus, Maren and Fjalldís used this moment alone for a secret conversation.

Once Magnus reached the minimum safe distance, he decided to tell Maren what she missed when he spoke with Valezar telepathically.

“Valezar mentioned there was no meeting of mages these days,” he said in a slightly worried tone.

“
Really?” Maren said, curiously turning to Magnus. “That's strange. But where did Zimbadur go then?”

Fjalldís' amazed voice interrupted their conversation.

“Zim... Zimbadur? The Master of the Ragnan Mages Guild?” she asked as she stopped walking, a stunned look on her face.

“
Yeah, why?” Maren said casually, stopping as well to look at her.

“
Well, I just... You know him?” Fjalldís said. Clearly, Zimbadur's name was known even outside the walls of Ragna.

“
We just –” Magnus started, but Maren cut him off immediately.

“
We visited him personally in his office,” Maren bragged. “We got along perfectly, he even cured me from cold and he let us smell his flowers,” she said dreamily, imagining Zimbadur's charming smile.

Magnus suddenly started scratching his back, wriggling madly. Maren and Fjalldís paused to give him a suspicious look, as though he had fleas biting him under his clothes.

“What's the matter?” Maren said in a concerned tone.

Magnus looked desperate.

“Nothing, gnats I guess. Excuse me for a while,” he said with a forced smile, quickly vanishing into the trees and bushes before they could ask anything else.

Fjalldís and Maren exchanged puzzled looks, shrugging.

“So, where were we? Oh, of course — I almost received an autograph from him!” Maren said merrily, embellishing story quite a bit.

“
Wow! That's something!” Fjalldís exclaimed in amazement. “Wait till I tell this to Belinda and Aurora —Zimbadur is their idol!”

While Magnus heard the girls sighing admiringly from a distance, he flung himself against a nearby tree. He drew his druid cloak aside and groped under the tunic on his back. To be honest, he was glad his friends weren'
t there.

Maren gave a light giggle.

“My dream is to become a famous and respected mage. I want to join the Mages Guild when I finish this training. Actually, this is the first step that will take me there. magick is in my blood — my father was a very powerful mage!” she said proudly.

“
Really? That's terrific! So your mum lives in Ragna? And your father was a mage.” At these words, she saddened a little. “I wish I knew my parents as well,” she said bitterly.

It appeared that this moment helped Maren and Fjalldís to break the ice between them. But now that they finally started getting to know each other, they were interrupted by Magnus, who had just returned from his little “walk”. Both girls gazed at him wordlessly. He was as white as a ghost.

“Magnus? Did something happen?” Maren said, sounding rather worried.

Then suddenly all colour returned to Magnus' face, as if there was nothing wrong.

“Oh, nothing. Look, I have found my staff!” he said cheerfully as he showed them a strong healthy stick that was taller than himself and certainly quite heavy. But to Magnus it was as light as a feather, so he had no trouble handling it.

Maren and Fjalldís had immediately forgotten what they saw just seconds ago.

“Where did you find that?” Maren said, surveying the beautiful piece of wood with curiosity, but Magnus remained silent.

“
Oh come on, share with us! Just tell us the location!” Fjalldís demanded.

“
I can't do that, you have to find your own, without my help –” Magnus said, hoping they would understand, but they had obviously forgotten all the instructions that Aedan had given them.

“
Magnus! Don't be such a meanie! Where did you find it?” Maren shrieked. When she saw him take a run instead, she bolted after him. “Fjalldís, help!”

The three of them were having fun, but we could hardly say that about the Black Squad. They were shuffling around the forest, surveying the surroundings with bored looks, expecting to find something astonishing that way.

“There's nothing here. Not a single stick,” Darius groaned. “This stupid druid expedition is completely useless. It's a waste of time,” he said, kicking everything out of his way.

“
Tell me about it,” Giselbert said in a tired voice, as if he had walked miles without taking a break. “And on top of that, we have to wear these lousy cloaks.” He pulled the laces tied around his neck as though the cloak was strangling him.