Adventurers Wanted 2) The Horn of Moran (2 page)

This morning Alex was grateful for the privacy. He leaned back in his chair and reviewed the details he had written down about his dream. His teacher, Whalen Vankin, had told Alex that the dreams he was having might be warnings. “Dreams are often more than they appear to be,” Whalen had said in his letters. “As your power grows, you will have many dreams, and many nightmares. You would be wise to pay attention to both.”

Alex wondered when he would be able to meet the great wizard face to face. Whalen was perhaps the greatest wizard alive, and he had agreed to take Alex as his apprentice. Unfortunately, Whalen was currently on an adventure of his own, so Alex was stuck at home waiting, learning magic by magical mail.

Whalen had sent Alex several books about magic—some of which could only be read by moonlight—and several small magical objects as well. He had also sent a letter instructing Alex about what he should do and what he should try to learn. Whalen had warned him not to join any more adventures, at least not until they had met in person.

Alex was learning a lot, but he hated waiting for a new adventure. It was hard for him to imagine what was taking Whalen so long. And apart from waiting, there were other things that annoyed him. Though his first adventure had taken a year and a half, he’d come home as his fifteen-year-old self. He wasn’t as strong as he remembered being, or as tall, or anything else. He felt trapped in his own small, weak body.

Being smaller and weaker than he remembered wasn’t the worst thing about being home. What really annoyed him was the way people treated him. On his adventure, Alex had been treated as an equal. His fellow adventurers were always willing to listen to his opinions and ideas. Here, at home, there were few people who even pretended to listen to a sixteen-year-old. Some people would smile politely and nod, but if anything that was more frustrating than the people who simply ignored him.

Alex tried hard to push his frustrations away, but it wasn’t always easy. He often found himself becoming angry for almost no reason at all. Whalen had warned him it would be hard to control his emotions—anger most of all—and Alex was working hard to keep his emotions from running away with him.

Sighing, Alex realized he wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep. At least not for a while. Pushing aside the notepad, he reached for his magic bag and whispered into the top. As soon as he had finished speaking, a second magic bag appeared in his hand, a bag that had once belonged to his father. Setting his own bag aside, he whispered the password that would allow him to enter his father’s bag.

After returning home from his first adventure, Alex had spent a lot of time searching the bag and, with Mr. Roberts to answer his questions, he felt like he was finally getting to know his father.

There were the things he’d expected to find in his father’s bag: stored food, a bedroom, clothes, a treasure room that was at least as large as his own, and lots of other things that adventurers would find helpful or useful. But then there were the things he had not expected to find. His father had a surprisingly large library, sculptures of different creatures, maps of places Alex had never heard of or even read about, a kitchen big enough to cook for a hundred people, and a room that was set up like a blacksmith shop.

“Your father was a gifted smith,” Mr. Roberts had said when Alex had questioned him about the workroom. “He won lots of awards for the weapons and armor he made. He also made all kinds of jewelry—rings, necklaces, brooches, and such. Never sold any of it as far as I know; he used to give the pretty things away to friends, or sometimes to people who helped him on an adventure.”

Once inside the bag, Alex headed directly for the workroom. Whalen had suggested, more than once, that he find a hobby; something to take his mind off waiting. Something that had nothing at all to do with magic. Making things with his hands, not with magic, seemed like a perfect hobby. There were plenty of books in the workroom to get him started, as well as piles of his father’s notes.

Alex was walking past the large stone dragon statue that stood next to the workroom door, when he noticed something he was sure he had never seen before. A golden chain was dangling from the dragon’s mouth.

Curious, he looked at the chain for a minute, wondering where it had come from. He could feel magic near the dragon’s head, an old spell with little power. He’d never felt magic like that before, so he carefully reached out and touched the chain. Nothing happened. He pulled gently on the chain, ready to let go of it if he felt the magic change, and he heard something move inside the dragon’s mouth. As the chain moved inch by inch, the mouth of the dragon slowly opened. A pendant attached to the chain dropped out of the dragon’s mouth where a rolled-up piece of paper now appeared.

Slowly Alex reached for the paper, half afraid that the mouth would snap shut on his hand, or worse, close before he could get the paper out. The dragon’s jaws didn’t move, and the old magic he had felt was fading, its purpose fulfilled. Carefully unrolling the paper, his jaw dropped open as he started to read.

My son,

I cannot tell you all that I would wish in this short note. I have left this pendant for you, not to wear, but to study. The ancient symbol on the pendant is an important one, with great meaning to those who know what it is. All I can say is that you may freely trust any person who wears this symbol or a pendant like this one. Do not wear this pendant yourself, but remember it. Do not ask questions about the symbol unless you meet a person who wears it. I hope, in time, that you will learn more and understand why I cannot explain more to you.

Your loving father, Joshua

Alex was dumbfounded. He looked at the pendant, and then read the note again just to make sure he wasn’t imagining things. He looked at the dragon, whose mouth remained open as if it had always been that way. His head spun with excitement, and for several minutes he wasn’t sure what to do.

Wildly at first, and then with more control, Alex sent his magic searching. If his father had left him one magically hidden message, maybe he had left others. He searched every corner of the bag, and then to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, he searched again. There was no magic to be found, no hidden compartments or doors, nothing. If there were other messages for him, his father had hidden them very well, and all he could do was wait until they were ready to be discovered.

Disappointed that he hadn’t found more, Alex turned his attention to the pendant in his hand. It was made of gold and silver, and it looked like a small flower or a blossom of some kind. He tried to remember if he’d ever seen anything like it before. Nothing came to mind, but he had never paid much attention to the jewelry that others wore. He focused on the pendant for a few more minutes, promising himself that he would remember it if he ever saw it again.

Finally, Alex looped the chain over the dragon’s head, letting the pendant hang around the neck of the statue. His father had left him a message, and he would remember it. He had questions, and in time he hoped he would find the answers, but he wasn’t going to find them in his father’s bag, and he wasn’t going to find them today.

* * *

“You look tired,” Mr. Roberts commented when Alex sat down for breakfast.

“Another nightmare,” Alex replied.

“I guess that goes with being a wizard.”

“It’s not so bad,” said Alex, trying to be casual.

“Bad enough, it would seem. What does Whalen have to say about it?”

“He says that dreams can sometimes be warnings and that I should try to remember them.”

“Well, it’s good to have a warning, even if you lose some sleep.”

“It would be, if I knew what the nightmare was about,” Alex replied in a resentful tone. “The dreams are always so mixed up, it’s hard to know what any of it means. Or even if it means anything at all.”

“Don’t let it get to you, Alex. I’m sure you’ll understand the dream in time,” said Mr. Roberts. “It takes time to understand most things after all.”

“I just hope the warning isn’t for something that’s going to happen today,” said Alex.

“I doubt it,” Mr. Roberts replied with a chortle. “Why don’t you have some breakfast and then get a few more hours of sleep. If a dragon turns up, I’ll be sure to wake you.”

* * *

It was nearly noon when Alex woke up again. He still felt a little tired, but he rolled off the bed and stretched just the same. There were things he needed to do, and he wasn’t going to let his bad dreams stop him.

Sitting down at his table, Alex looked at the notepad he’d used the night before. What he remembered from the nightmare didn’t make any more sense to him now than it had when he’d written it down. He was sure it must be a warning, but the broken bits of his dream were impossible to piece together no matter how hard he tried.

“Just have to pay attention and keep my eyes open,” Alex said to himself as he tossed the pad back onto the table.

A small popping sound and a loud ding interrupted his thoughts.

Looking around, Alex saw a yellow bowling-pin shaped creature with a red zigzag line around its middle standing on the far edge of the table. The geeb was balancing on its single birdlike leg, waiting for him to say something.

“Hello,” said Alex in surprise.

“Ding,” the geeb replied, its head changing into the shape of a small bell.

“Do you have a message for me?” Alex questioned.

“Ding!”

“Can I have the message, please?”

“Ding,” replied the geeb and an envelope appeared from what Alex always thought of as the geeb’s mouth.

“Thank you,” said Alex.

“Ding!”

“Have you been paid?”

“Honk.” The geeb’s head took the shape of a small bicycle horn.

“Hang on a moment,” said Alex as he opened the letter. “Let me see what this is, then I’ll pay you.”

“Ding!”

Alex recognized Whalen’s handwriting on the front of the envelope, and he felt certain that this would be another long letter explaining magic, answering questions, and telling him what he should study next. To his surprise, however, the envelope contained only a short message and no instructions at all.

Dear Alex,

Have just heard about a new adventure our friend Silvan Bregnest is putting together. He is in a bit of a rush and has asked me for permission to take you along. As the adventure is happening in Norsland, I thought you might like to go.

I will expect you to keep up with your studies while you’re away and to keep me informed of your activities. If you promise to send me a report every two weeks, I think you should join Bregnest on this adventure.

Yours in fellowship, Whalen

P.S. I believe Bregnest will be sending you a geeb shortly. Good luck, and remember to keep me up to date.

Alex was stunned for a moment. His chest felt like a large balloon had inflated inside of him, and he thought he might float away with happiness. He had been waiting for months, and now Whalen had said he could go on another adventure. Better yet, Whalen had even picked an adventure for him to join. And best of all, his friend Bregnest would be leading the adventure. It was much more than Alex had dared to hope for. He was so distracted that he almost forgot about the geeb standing on the edge of his table.

“Ding!”

“Oh, sorry. Can you take a reply back to Whalen?” Alex asked as he reached for a piece of paper.

“Ding!”

Alex thought for a moment, and then wrote a quick reply to Whalen. He reviewed the page once before folding it and putting it in a new envelope, writing Whalen’s name as neatly as he could on the outside.

“Can you take this to Whalen Vankin?” Alex asked the geeb again, wanting to make sure it would deliver the message to the right person.

“Ding,” the geeb answered, but made no move to accept Alex’s letter.

“Oh, yes, your payment. Sorry about that.”

Alex retrieved a small ruby from his magic bag and tossed it in the general direction of the geeb. The geeb hopped into the air, catching the ruby with ease before landing back on the table. Once on the table the geeb produced eight gold coins and seven silver coins as change for the ruby.

Alex held his letter out for the geeb to take. “If you require more payment, please return.”

“Ding.” The geeb accepted the letter and then disappeared with a single hop on its birdlike leg and a small popping sound.

Almost immediately, a second geeb appeared with a loud ding.

“Do
you
have a message for me?” Alex asked, surprised.

“Ding!”

“May I have it, please?”

“Ding!”

“Thank you,” said Alex, picking up the envelope that the geeb had dropped and tearing it open. He had trouble unfolding the letter and getting it right side up, but once he did, a smile spread across his face.