Everyone shrugged their shoulders; no one had seen one. “I agree with Bernard,”
Zdenka spoke up. “Honestly, Jarka, if dragons actually existed and if a dragon was
around here, why hasn’t anyone else ever seen it? Answer that. Really, I think Evzen
probably saw something unusual and is calling it a dragon. Maybe it was a paleowasp
that he saw. Maybe he was really drunk and hallucinating. There could be lots of
reasons.”
“I’m dead serious! I asked some of the older folks about dragons. Katerina, who
works as a maid at an inn — she is in her sixties. She remembers seeing a dragon around
here more than a quarter of a century ago. Go ask some of the older townsfolk. They’ll
tell you so.”
“But what do they look like? Apparently they fly,” Zoran asked again. “Are they
dangerous? How big are they?” He got no answers, except that they must fly, since that
was how the hunter saw it. He decided to send a Message to the Archmage asking her
about this news. Shortly after he sent it, she materialized into their study.
“What’s all this about someone seeing a dragon?” she asked. Jarka repeated what
she had learned.
“Well, well, so we have a dragon in these parts again. Fascinating,” she said in her
usual quiet manner. Zoran glanced at his friend’s faces. Strange, but Emil and Renata
had not said even one word this whole time, and their faces were slightly flushed, he
thought. She went on, “Yes, dragons are very real and very, very powerful creatures,
highly intelligent, and many are deeply involved in magic, able to cast many of the spells
that we cast.”
“However, Jarka and the rest of you, I caution you about drawing many
conclusions from one lone sighting. That may well have been any number of things. I
suppose that you all should get educated about dragons. I’ll never hear the end of this if
I don’t. Come on; up to the third floor library.”
Oh’s and ah’s echoed. Never before had any of them been to the third floor, where
her more advanced students lived and trained. Eagerly they followed her up the steps,
though she took them excruciatingly slowly from their point of view. They entered
another library similar to the one that they had been using. Book shelves lined the walls,
along with a large scroll holder. She retrieved one small volume and laid it on a desk so
that everyone could crowd around and see. Zoran read its title,
A Treatise on Dragons
,
by Archmage Nadia Oldrich.
“Incredible! You wrote this book?” Zoran asked, very much impressed with her,
far more so than ever before.
“Yes, I wrote this over a quarter of a century ago in my youth. You see, I once
taught magic to a dragon. Yes, right here in this very tower. I traded the teaching of
magic for inside knowledge on dragon kind. Now then, some simple facts. Dragons are
usually between fifty and seventy feet long, with four legs, a long neck and tail, and a
wing span of over a hundred feet. Huge indeed. Their bite can crush a human; their
razor sharp claws can easily puncture all forms of armor known to man. Still, they
possess something remarkable in the animal kingdom to which even we belong: what I
call a breath weapon. Some dragons breathe out fire — a fire so hot it can melt iron.
Others breathe out electrical charges akin to the power of our own Lightning Bolt spells.
Other shoot out air so cold that our bodies would freeze into a solid statue in seconds.
Still others pour out a stream of very caustic acid, one drop of which can burn through
flesh down to the bone. A few shoot out a slime that causes living flesh to just rot away.
One should highly respect dragons and
never
provoke one.”
“Now then, there are a number of different species of dragons, just as there are a
number of types of humans, though I don’t know the entire story here. It has never been
studied by a human. From our point of view not theirs, each species has a different
temperament and disposition towards we humans. The only types which truly enjoy our
company are the golden dragons. The one that I taught here was a golden dragon. You
see, their species are differentiated by the color of their hides. They simply do not
interbreed. Now the ones with the nastiest temperament towards we humans are
supposedly the red dragons and the blacks. Reds shoot out hot flames, while the blacks
spew out the caustic acid. Both the white dragons and the brown dragons are ambivalent
towards us, usually ignoring humans. Only the green dragons totally ignore us entirely.”
“Finally, all dragons tend to love magic and spells and strive to learn all that they
can. This basic drive is second only to their love of gems and sometimes valuable metals,
such as gold and silver. The golden dragons collect only the finest of gems and could care
less about metals. Many of the other species also covet gold and silver as well. Generally,
each dragon has their own treasure hoard along with magical items they have found.
Now then, Jarka, did your sources tell you what color this dragon was?”
“No, he claimed it was too far away to see it clearly,” she replied, wishing now that
she could have asked more about its color.
Zoran asked what he had been mulling over while she told them about dragons.
“What is a dragon’s life span? Do they have any natural enemies? Can they be killed by
humans?”
She gave him a curious look, and then replied, “Again, life spans vary with
species. Golden dragons may live for five hundred years; some others may live
somewhat less. You might say, Zoran, that a dragon is at the top of the food chain. Their
only enemies are other dragons who desire their treasure, not unlike the criminals and
barons of our world.” She couldn’t resist a dig at the ruling establishment here on
Adapazan and Zoran’s father. “Can they be slain by us? Probably, but certainly not
easily. I suspect that a creature of these proportions can sustain wounds which would
kill a human twenty times over. Don’t get any wild ideas, Zdenka; arrows merely bounce
off their thick hides. Sword strikes might pierce their skin, though I know of no one who
has been stupid enough to test that theory.”
Zoran still had more questions forming in his mind. All this was totally new to
him and potentially very critical information. “If there has not been a dragon around
here for a quarter of a century, why has one come here now?”
“I suspect, Zoran, that if you could find the answer to that question, we would all
be far wiser. Who knows what goes on in the mind of a dragon? Certainly not I, even
though I trained one in my youth. Now unfortunately, this is the only copy of my book.
Please read it together; look over each other’s shoulders if you must. It should only take
you an hour or so to learn all that I know of dragons. It is very little, actually.” She left
the group crowding close together to read this incredible book.
Zoran said what they were all thinking, “We are learning something that no one
else on Adapazan knows!” No one noticed that Emil and Renata stood well back of the
other five and only pretended to read.
That night, Jarka pulled Zoran aside. “We need to talk, talk privately. Come on.”
She pulled him into her room, closing the door, but only after making sure no one was in
the hallway.
“Look, don’t you think that Emil and Renata are doing something really weird? I
just found out from the doorman, Marek. Those two really
do
leave around three in the
morning on Sundays. They don’t get back until at least midnight on Sunday. They’ve
been doing that
ever
since we began our training. Now don’t you think that is just a
little
weird?
I
certainly do. Whatever could anyone be doing leaving in the
middle
of the
night, eh? Nothing is even open, I mean stores and shops and stuff. Where
can
they be
going? I’ve never seen them with horses, so they must go on foot. I just
know
that they
are up to something. You are
supposed
to be our leader, so investigate or something. I’m
sure the others are just as concerned about those twins as I am, although they haven’t
said anything about it to me yet, but I’m sure they don’t trust them either. I certainly
don’t trust them.”
She would have continued, but Zoran cut her off by putting his finger on her lips.
“I’ll see what I can find out. Until then, we have no reason to distrust them, but I admit
they are a little strange. Still, Archmage Nadia seems to trust them leaving and returning
at those hours, so I think we should extend them the same courtesy — at least until we
know what they are up to going out at that time. Okay?”
She flashed him a smile, “Okay, but
do
check on them. Where
can
they possibly
going and doing?”
Back in his own room, Zoran realized she did have a valid point. He was their
supposed leader, and two of their team were certainly acting strangely on this one day of
the week. Perhaps they knew how to teleport; if so, they could go anywhere on
Adapazan, but why?
When the next personal day came around, Zoran decided to try and follow the
twins. However, he was sound asleep at three in the morning. After grabbing breakfast,
he too left the tower. Outside, he cast Invisibility on himself and then cast Fly and flew
up high over the city. His plan was simple: see if he could spy the twins down there
among all of the ten thousand who lived in Brn. Exhausted, he returned at suppertime.
“Well?” Jarka asked. She had once more cleverly gotten him into her room.
“I searched the whole city all day long. I saw no sign of them, but they could well
have been indoors during the day. I overslept, but then I don’t know if Marek will let me
out that early.”
“Well,
I
did a bit of my own searching. No one in town has
ever
seen the twins
since the day we all entered the tower! Now isn’t that even stranger? They go out and no
one sees them? Really!”
“Okay, okay, I’ll keep trying, Jarka. Honestly, I think in the end they will have a
valid excuse, though we just cannot foresee what that might be. I’m pooped. See you in
the morning.”
Chapter 6 A Service
Two days later, Archmage Nadia called the group into the study. “I have a small mission
for you. I know that you have been cooped up for months. This will get you out into the
fresh air. I need you to provide protection for a wagon. Laval Mining produces many fine
raw gems and gold. Each year about this time, they make a delivery run to Brn, carrying
an entire year’s worth of product with them. The value of their cargo is larger than
normal this year, something bordering on perhaps three hundred thousand gold pieces.
The owner has requested that I provide security for their trip to Brn. I agreed, as I
always do.”
“The mine is located about seventy-five miles from here by road, shorter if one
could go in a straight line. It is down range from here and around on the other side of
the mountain. You will have to travel a good distance along the twisting mountain road
and then pass through nearly forty miles of the Dark Forest, before the road winds along
up our long valley road, passing numerous patches of pine forests. The laden wagon will
make only about fifteen miles a day, so you ought to be back here late Saturday, if all
goes well.”
“Of course bandits are well aware of the mine’s yearly shipment. Perhaps more
than one group will attempt to waylay it, who can say. I doubt that you will encounter
Yellers; our patrols have pretty much driven them out of Brn territory. However,
banshees are known to inhabit some of the mountainous areas through which you must
pass. As Zdenka knows well, the woods is home to packs of megalowolves. Both will be
nighttime threats, while I would anticipate that the bandits would prefer daylight
attacks.”
“I would be surprised if you didn’t get a chance to exercise your magical spells
this trip,” she coyly hinted. Zoran knew every aspect of this trip smelled of danger, real
danger.
“After you all get your things together, I will open a Mystical Door from here to
the mine. You simply step through the door and you will be there. The owner will
provide you with horses for the return trip to Brn. If anything bad happens that you
cannot handle, send word to me. Also, I will send along three healing potions with Jarka,
just in case of an emergency. Now go pack what you think you will need.”