Kazin's Quest: Book I of The Dragon Mage Trilogy (5 page)

By this time they had noticed him and the one with the breastplate spoke. “What do we have here? A young mageling come to rescue the poor old merchant?”

The other bandit laughed. “Why don’t you come and attack us?” he sneered.

Kazin knew he couldn’t travel far beyond the scepter, so he said, “I don’t need to attack you. I’m richer than both of you together.” He pointed to the scepter. “This scepter is worth far more than that entire wagon load of goods. If anything, you should be attacking me—if you dare!” Kazin wasn’t sure he should have told them about the scepter but he could think of no other way to bring them closer to him.

The bandits responded as expected, drawing their swords and circling to either side of him. The first one rushed forward, bringing his sword down hard. Kazin easily dodged him, swatting him in the back of the head with the staff. The helmeted bandit was already in motion but Kazin was ready and turned to face him. Parrying several quick blows, he clubbed the bandit on the arm and followed through with a stab to the mid-section. The bandit went down, gasping for breath.

Meanwhile, the first bandit regained his balance and held his sword up in front of him. “You think you’re good, don’t you?” he growled. “I was only playing up until now! This time I mean business!” With that he charged forward once again, bellowing at the top of his lungs. This time Kazin, instead of dodging, jumped forward and planted his staff under the groin of the attacker, catapulting him over and behind him. There was a loud crash as the bandit collided with his partner, who had just risen to re-enter the battle. There was no movement for a moment but then the second bandit rose. His helmet was gone. He bent over and pulled his sword out of his dead partner’s neck. “The fool was always one to rush into things,” he grumbled. He turned to Kazin and said, “It’s time to die, mage.”

The two fighters circled around one another several times. Then the bandit took several swings at Kazin with his bloody sword, forcing him to back up. Kazin was exhausted both physically and mentally. What’s more, his eye was beginning to swell shut from the bee stings. He had to concentrate on the battle and the flame. It was difficult. The bandit slashed once more. Kazin took another step back but ended up tripping over something. He fell hard but conscientiously rolled to the side, hearing his enemy’s sword swish into the ground where he fell. He quickly rose again, glancing at what caused him to fall. It was one of the dead bodyguards. He must have been concentrating so hard on the flame and the battle that he neglected to observe his surroundings. In fact, the scepter with his flame on it was now between him and his enemy!

The bandit seemed to realize Kazin’s fear and grinned. “Not so confident now, are you mage?”

Then the bandit made a straight thrust, a move Kazin had been expecting. He jumped aside, swatting the sword away from his chest and bringing the other end of his staff down hard on the man’s exposed head. The bandit crumpled to the ground, unconscious. “You forgot to put on your helmet,” said Kazin dryly.

He turned to see what he could do to assist the merchant but the merchant and wagon were gone. Kazin turned back to the fallen bandit but he was gone too. The only thing left in the clearing was the scepter, with Kazin’s flame still burning brightly on top.

Kazin re-sheathed his staff in the sling on his back and gently picked up his flame out of the scepter. The strain required to maintain the flame lessened and Kazin breathed a sigh of relief. He wondered how much longer he would have to last in order to pass the test. The arch mage neglected to tell them how the test would end.

Suddenly Kazin heard a cry behind him. He whirled around and faced a shocking scene. Before him, as far as the eye could see, was a battlefield filled with soldiers, minotaurs, trolls, ogres, and creatures he could not even identify. There were dead and wounded everywhere, with clerics running among them giving aid to those who could be helped. Beside him to the right was a line of mages and clerics struggling with some kind of spell.

“Hurry, mage,” yelled one between clenched teeth. “Assist us with this shield!”

Kazin quickly obliged, joining his shield spell with theirs. It was then that he noticed the fireballs and lightning coming out of the sky. They whirled toward what looked like tight groups of human soldiers battling in a sea of blood and gore. But just before striking them, the fireballs seemed to hit some kind of wall and bounced harmlessly away. Kazin and several other mages grunted under the impact. One collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

“Damn!” complained the mage nearest to Kazin. “Every time we gain one we lose one.”

Not far away, a number of minotaurs and ogres broke away from the battle and charged up the hill to where the mages stood. “Don’t break the spell!” yelled an old mage from somewhere in the middle of the line. “I’ll take care of them!” He broke away from the shield spell and started shooting fireballs at the approaching enemies. Several fell down, bellowing and howling in agony, but many still charged on. Several other mages, seeing that one mage alone could not handle the tide coming toward them, quickly let go of the shield to assist the old mage. The mage next to Kazin swore again. Kazin knew what he was feeling. The remaining mages and clerics holding the shield spell had to make up for the ones who let go. Another bombardment of fireballs struck the shield. This time two clerics and one mage collapsed. The strain was becoming unbearable. Including Kazin, there were now only five mages and one cleric holding the spell protecting the soldiers out in the field.

The battle between the charging minotaurs and ogres and the defending mages was nearing the end. The mages fought valiantly but were heavily outnumbered. Finally, the last of the defenders fell. There was a moment of reprieve as a contingent of archers appeared, sending volleys of arrows into the attackers. This diverted attention away from the mages and a majority of the attackers angrily charged off after the archers.

A few of the attackers remained, intent on destroying the last of the mages. Five minotaurs and two ogres charged toward them. The cleric was the first to fall. Two mages broke from the shield spell and fired at the minotaurs. They successfully brought down two of the huge beasts before they, too, were felled.

“That does it,” growled the mage next to Kazin. He let go of the shield spell to face the enemies. Kazin groaned and fell to his knees. Sweat poured down his face and his body quivered under the strain. It took him a moment to realize that the only other remaining mage had collapsed, leaving him to maintain the shield on his own. He had never held a spell of such magnitude on his own before, and certainly not while holding a flame in his hand.

The other mage blasted one minotaur and one ogre with fire balls and proceeded in hand to hand combat with the second ogre. The battle was mismatched, however, and the ogre crushed the mage’s skull with his meaty fist. The mage crumpled to the ground. The minotaurs were already running toward Kazin, one behind the other.

Kazin frantically reached into his pouch, wondering what course of action to take. He could take down one, or maybe two enemies if he dropped the shield spell, but that would leave the soldiers in the field exposed to the enemies’ magical spells. If he maintained the spell, he would die anyway and the soldiers would be exposed regardless. Suddenly, Kazin saw another volley of fireballs. If he could hold on just this once, maybe he could save at least a few lives. But the minotaurs were too close. Kazin was frantic. He drew some spell components from his pouch. They were a piece of flint, a dried leaf, and a vial of water. Then he chanted a spell, pointing a shaking hand at the minotaurs. Kazin completed his spell just as the fireballs struck his shield. He closed his eyes and screamed as he struggled under the strain of three simultaneous spells. When he opened his eyes, he was astonished at the result. The flame in his palm and the shield spell were still intact. But more amazingly, the minotaurs that seemed so threatening a moment ago were lying on the ground in a heap of smoking ashes and hair. His lightning bolt had worked! It had gone right through the first creature and killed the one behind it as well!

The ogre, who had witnessed the spell, stood with its mouth agape. Kazin and the ogre met gazes. The ogre’s eyes widened and it howled in fear. It staggered backward a few steps and then turned and fled, running as fast as its bulky legs could carry it. Kazin was relieved. He didn’t have the strength to cast another spell at the moment anyway. His strength was quickly waning.

He heard footsteps behind him but no longer cared. Then the shield spell began to lighten. Some other mages had come to lend a hand! Kazin almost cried with relief. A hand clasped his shoulder and murmured into his ear. “Let go of the shield spell for a time, mage. You need to rest.”

Kazin turned to squint at a young cleric’s kind face. He smiled. Letting go of the shield spell, Kazin allowed the cleric to tend to his swollen eye. The pain dissipated but the swelling remained. At least it was an improvement. The cleric helped him to his feet. He staggered slowly to the edge of the clearing and sat down under a large tree. Through his good eye, he observed the battle in the field below. The soldiers had advanced on the evil hoard. Reinforcements were now arriving, and the number of mages and clerics maintaining the shield grew steadily. They wouldn’t need him for a while. Kazin glanced at his flame. How much longer? Even though he was resting, his magical energy level was draining constantly.

He glanced back at the battlefield, watching various skirmishes succeed and collapse. One such battle caught his attention. A group of ogres advanced on a battalion of soldiers. Before they clashed, a collection of lightning bolts surged out of the woods and blasted several of the soldiers. The remaining soldiers were quickly subdued by the ogres. Then the ogres advanced on another battalion of soldiers and the same thing happened again. Kazin scanned the woods and spotted a blurry figure lurking behind some trees. The reason the lightning bolts succeeded was because he was shooting below the shield, which was designed to prevent aerial magical attacks. It was too hard to devise a magical shield to completely surround a group of soldiers when they were engaged in combat. The best protection they could get for that was to be blessed by the clerics. But that did not prevent what was happening now.

Kazin rose and stealthily worked his way toward the enemy mage. His flame must have given him away because the renegade mage spotted him. With a vicious smile, the renegade slipped behind some trees and re-emerged a moment later riding a horse. Kazin wanted desperately to follow but without a horse … As if on cue, a riderless horse appeared beside him, nuzzling him in the shoulder. Without another thought, Kazin swung onto its back and dug his heels into its flanks. It galloped off in hot pursuit of the renegade mage.

The renegade led him deeper and deeper into the forest. Kazin wondered why but didn’t give up the chase. After a few minutes it began to rain. Then it poured. Kazin cursed and created a shield for his flame. He then placed the flame on the pommel of the saddle. He might need both hands to deal with the other mage.

The rain seemed somewhat refreshing, allowing Kazin to concentrate on his riding skills. Despite his training, he couldn’t seem to gain any ground on the renegade. He thought about a way to speed up his horse. That was it! Cast a swift spell on his horse! All he needed was a raven’s feather. A raven’s feather! He lost his raven’s feather at the beginning of the test! Kazin cursed again. He would have to find another way to catch the renegade.

Suddenly a lightning bolt struck a tree behind him. The renegade mage was shooting at him! Kazin rode his horse behind a small rise and peered between some trees through the rain. He could just make out the form of the renegade on his horse. Kazin quietly pulled a piece of flint and a dried leaf out of his pouch, taking care not to let them get wet in the rain. He whispered a fireball spell and rubbed the components together in his hand, pointing at the renegade when he was finished. A fireball leaped forth, flying toward its intended target. Unfortunately, the fireball fizzled out in the rain and by the time it reached the renegade, it was no more than a ball of mist to be swatted casually aside with disdain.

The renegade laughed. “You’ll have to do better than that to knock me off my horse!” With that he whirled and galloped off into the rain soaked forest.

Kazin started after him, furious at his mistake. The fireball was more taxing than he had expected. It just occurred to him that this was the second time today that he had cast and held three spells at once. He never thought it possible. First it was the flame, the shield and the lightning bolt. This time it was the flame, the shield on the flame, and the fireball. The first time it was more difficult because of the massive shield spell that was required to shield entire legions of soldiers. The second time there was less energy available but less was needed. It was also less successful. Kazin looked wearily at his flame. Chain around his neck indeed!

He opened his hand and allowed the fragments of dried leaf to blow away and the flint to get wet. Then he pulled another dried leaf out of his pouch in preparation for his next spell.

Kazin entered a clearing and spotted the renegade, who was nearly on the other side. He quickly chanted a spell and fired off a lightning bolt. It flew accurately but the renegade must have been expecting this, because he turned and deflected the bolt to the side. “Is that the best you can do?” he taunted. He turned his horse and once again galloped off, laughing evilly. Kazin wobbled in his saddle. He couldn’t do this much longer. Nevertheless, he galloped off in pursuit. No point in quitting after going this far.

For what seemed like hours, Kazin chased the renegade, exchanging his lightning spell for a shield spell when the renegade decided to shoot back at him. If only he could cast a swift spell. As if in answer, his horse began to change. There was a momentary vibration as it transformed beneath him. It became lighter in colour but seemed to blur, as if it was out of focus. To Kazin this difference was negligible, his swollen eye causing everything to blur anyway. The noticeable thing about the change was the ride, which became smoother and swifter. Kazin began to gain on the renegade.