Drakonika (Book 1) (12 page)

“Jump, I'll catch you!” said Magnus as convincingly as he could, hoping he was right. He dropped his heavy backpack and reached out towards Maren.

Magnus' pretended certainty seemed to be working because Maren jumped over the hole in the old bridge despite her fear of heights. With all her strength she bounced from the last slab. However, that made the bridge swing again and one of her feet slipped.

Fortunately, there was Magnus standing on the other side, alert and prepared to handle even the worst possible fall. Except if she dropped straight down, of course.

Maren landed directly on Magnus who caught her without any trouble. Both of them looked down into the abyss as though making sure that they were safe. Now that they were on the other side, they felt as if that bridge was some kind of a test. And they passed it with A+.

Magnus looked at Maren who was still breathing heavily. “You're light like a feather,” he said, a friendly smile on his face.

This sentence made Maren forget all about the scary bridge they had just crossed. When she felt her face turning red, she immediately drew back from Magnus, looking in the opposite direction. That would be the last thing she needed, for him to see her blushing face!

“Really?” peeped Maren quietly, almost whispering. “Well, I think we should take the forest pathway. If we're lucky, we may arrive before noon,” she said, estimating and hoping that the red colour from her face would disappear just as fast as it came.

Magnus decided to pretend that he didn't see anything. He picked up his heavy backpack and tossed it over his shoulder. With a curious gaze he stepped onto the forest pathway which was hardly recognisable through all the weeds. He stopped for a moment. The scent of trees and freshly fallen needles filled his nostrils. With his eyes closed, he took a deep breath. How sweet was the scent of nature!

A light nudge from the side disturbed his moment of peace.

“I don't know about you, but I'm not going to wait here to be eaten by the wild beasts,” said Maren impatiently as she strolled by Magnus to get in front of him. She seemed to have the worst opinion about the forests. Apparently, she didn't hear anything good about them back in Ragna.

Magnus, on the contrary, had a completely different opinion. Quite recently he passed through a forest on his way to Ragna and he didn't meet any bloodthirsty creatures. Why should this forest be any different? “Don't worry, I got your back,” he said, letting out a small snigger. Maren definitely didn't feel like laughing though.

They managed to follow the forest pathway with great difficulty, but fortunately there was something that navigated their journey. The towers of the citadel were so tall that you could see them from any place in the forest. And the closer they came to them, the bigger they seemed to get.

When Maren finally understood that no vermin would attack them, her tongue loosened. “I still don't understand how you could seize that thief all alone,” she said, hopping from rock to rock.

Magnus shook his head lightly in disagreement. “I didn't do it alone, I had a helper,” he said humbly, waving his hand in an effort to get rid of a gnat that was annoyingly buzzing in front of his nose.

“Right, and I'm sure she helped you
big time,
” responded Maren pointedly and rolled her eyes.

Magnus knew what she wanted to say. He had an adventure without her. But what could he have done? She was locked up at home and on top of that, spell casting was prohibited in Ragna.

As they were walking through the forest, the shadows of trees flashed on their clothes and faces. In a while, they heard the burbling of a forest creek. Something different at last!

As soon as they noticed this sound, both of them took a run in the direction where it was coming from. They were looking forward to the beautiful sight of a forest creek, but they saw something much, much more wonderful. Seeing that, they both stopped like soldiers given a command.

A glass-clear creek streamed down through stones overgrown with moss to a rocky valley where the towering aim of their journey was – the citadel of Sinei. It was so tall that even the Mages Guild would look like a nursery next to it. After their exhausting journey, this promising sight pleased them greatly. The whole citadel was bathed in the sun rays of noon and it was completely impossible to overlook. The citadel was built from travertine, a stone as bright as ivory and it was also standing on a rocky hill composed of it.

However, it wasn't the citadel that caught their interest. There were tall walls coiling around, hiding a vast number of grey houses studded with wood.

Maren and Magnus' eyes brightened even more. Sinei was a town!

It wasn't necessary to persuade them, nor to poke them or force them to take a run at full steam, following the creek that was flowing down the valley and entwined around the city.

They both had tempting images in their minds, not to mention that they had gotten pretty hungry after the long trip.

“When we get there, I'm going to get a bowl full of cakes!” said  Magnus, a big grin on his face.

Maren's smile wasn't any smaller. “And I can't wait to go shopping! You still have some money left, right?”

Magnus wasn't looking forward to shopping, but he didn't say a word about it. “And I'm looking forward to exploring all corners of the mysterious citadel!” he said in an effort to distract Maren from her thoughts about boring shops.

With each step, their imaginations grew more and more majestic. That is, until they climbed the long serpentine road up to the town and crossed the open iron gates that led them inside.

If Ragna seemed like a ghost city to Magnus, he couldn't find a fitting name for this town. It was quiet like a cemetery. Small houses on the edge of the stone road were empty. Even those that seemed like shops were closed. There was no need to enter to understand the town was completely abandoned.

Or was it? Magnus' perceptive eyes noticed a small green flag tied upon a wooden stake close to the road. “Well, it doesn't seem that any of the things we imagined are going to happen, but I'd say that someone has marked the path for us. That's a sign we aren't all alone here,” said Magnus. When he looked back at Maren's face, he knew right away that she was fed up with everything.
      “I thought it would be fun,” Maren cried, looking at the ground. “That we'd have a pleasant (and romantic, but she didn't say that) journey by cart and that we would be welcomed warmly here, that we'd eat some tasty food, rest in comfortable rooms after the journey, that we'd learn powerful spells and instead, we had to walk half of the trip by ourselves, I am tired, hungry and this place looks like a graveyard, not like a town nor like guild! Let's go back, Magnus. Let's just go back to Ragna!” She wiped tears off her face with her sleeve.

Magnus dropped his backpack to the ground, and right away, they could hear a bunch of annoyed screechy voices from inside. He must have had grounded several of Valezar's gingerbreads to dust.

Maren continued on in despair, “The coachman was right, we should have never come here!” When she felt the touch of Magnus' hand on her shoulder, she looked up.

“Come on, it won't be that bad. We didn't have luck with the trip, but that doesn't mean everything is ruined. We've gone a long and difficult road so we shouldn't give up now. We'll follow the green flags and I'm sure they'll lead us to a place where we can find everything we imagined. You'll see, it will be better after we eat something. And then we can decide whether we want to stay or not,” said Magnus, smiling encouragingly at Maren. “Is that fine with you?”

At these words, Maren seemed to calm down. “All right,” she said quietly with a faint smile.

“Let's go, lunch is surely waiting for us! We shouldn't let it get cold!” said Magnus as he picked up his backpack from the ground.

“Oi, just wait! One day we'll have our revenge,” a screechy voice resounded. Magnus wasn't sure if he really heard that or it was just his imagination. In any case, he stepped forward, Maren after him. Who knows, maybe there really were ghosts in this town and it would be wise not to provoke them. They were most likely going to spend quite some time here and it surely wouldn't be good to make enemies right at the beginning.

The marked path led them higher up the pavement which wasn't steep but clearly ascending. The edges of streets were always lined with houses and it wasn't uncommon that a rope with clothes was connecting them.  Apparently they had been hanging there for a long time because they were completely dry. Whatever happened here, the town folk had left in great haste.

Maren was looking around, feeling uneasy, “I still don't understand why Zim sent us to such a place. There are hooligans here and complete wilderness. I don't like it one bit.” She kept talking, if only to not be enclosed in silence. As soon as she stopped various frightening scenes were appearing in her mind immediately.

They soon turned right, still going up, and they walked through a passage in the walls of the citadel. Finally they ended up at something resembling a courtyard.

And finally they caught sight of someone other than themselves. When they came closer, Magnus suddenly stopped.

“What's wrong?” asked Maren, giving him an uncomprehending glance.

“Do you remember saying there were hooligans here?”

“Of course I remember,” answered Maren impatiently, “What about it?”

Magnus' gaze pointed to the entrance of the citadel. “Aren't they the same ones who raced our cart like crazy?”

On top of the stairs next to the doors there stood a group of five boys of the same age as Magnus and Maren, all of them completely dressed in black. One of them sitting distantly on the stairs. He had hair as black as a raven, tied in a short ponytail. Another one had short blonde hair neatly combed to the left side, only above his forehead it was slightly bristly. He looked bored, leaning on the entrance door of the citadel as if he owned all of it. Next to the stairs there was another one with red hair pointing to all directions and finally, two other boys with brown hair. One looked like a spoiled prince and the second like a silent rogue. Even from afar it was clear that the three of them were playing some kind of a card game together. There were small groups of children standing along the courtyard walls, a little father from the citadel entrance. It looked like the group
of five boys had chased them away or the others were afraid of them. Those five together looked like a black squad and that's exactly what they called themselves.

Maren's face turned so sour it looked as if she had eaten a lemon. “Oh no, that's the last drop! We're going back, I don't want to be here! And I don't want to study here either,” she said firmly and to show that she meant what she said, she grabbed Magnus' elbow. “Quickly, before they see us!” she whispered indignantly as she wheeled him about so fast that his big shoes scratched on the stone floor. But it was too late for them to vanish without being seen.

“Hey! Hey you two!” resounded behind them. Without even looking behind, they understood that the boys in black took a run after them.

Maren and Magnus were chilled to the bone, but they didn't stop, not even for a second. Walking away, both of them pretended they didn't hear a thing.

But soon they were forced to stop. Their path was sealed off by the light-haired member of the Black Squad.

“Darius, wait,” said the boy with the short dark ponytail and, out of breath, he ran into him. The rest of their band caught up with them in a few seconds.

Darius shot his friend a scowled look. “Why are you clambering on me, Viktor? It's not my fault that you're so slow,” he said, sweeping his black coat. Then he shifted his gaze back onto Magnus and Maren. “But you can't be slower than these two.”

The whole Black Squad burst into laughter.

“Do you think they'll be so slow in learning too?” asked their ginger-haired friend who almost started crying from all the mirth.

“You bet, Rodrick,” said Darius, a nasty smirk on his face.

While Magnus was just silently listening to the jeers at their expense, Maren was ready to say something. But before she could spit it out, a tall man in a dark green cloak stepped between them and the Black Squad, separating them from each other. Seeing this burly man, even Darius and Viktor had to step back.

“Finally,” said the man in a resonant voice, “I thought you wouldn't even bother to show up.” With a grouchy face, he shifted his long wooden staff into his right hand. “All right, I think everyone's here now. And if not, we won't wait for them, because they won't come anyway.” Even though this man was tall, he definitely wasn't skinny. He had broad shoulders and without any doubt, firm muscles. He had chestnut brown eyes and short stubble all over his face. His long, greyish hair was reaching to his shoulder blades and nobody could deny that it was a great mane.

Magnus was very confused from everything that had happened so far. “Eh, excuse me. We're looking for a friend of Zimbadur Ravan. He's supposed to be a druid. Is he around here somewhere?” he asked carefully.

“Can't you see?” said the tall man, irritated. “I'm standing right in front of you.” Right after that, he turned his back to them.

“Yes, that's what I was afraid of,” mumbled Magnus under his nose.

“All right, kids, end of games, the party's over,” said the druid, suddenly in a much better mood. But everyone knew there was no party and most likely there would never be one.