In the Shadow of the Dragon King (22 page)

“I’m sorry,” he said through waterlogged eyes. I didn’t mean to yell.”

Trog backed away.

David rubbed his shoulder and sat down. Charlotte reached for him, but he waved her away. “Don’t.”

She recoiled.

He gritted his teeth. How dare they manipulate him! He glanced at Slavandria as she sat opposite him. Twice in one day he’d been attacked, bruised, beaten, and he was certain it would happen again if he didn’t do as she asked. He let out a defeated sigh and rubbed his shoulder. “What do you want me to do?”

“David, no!” Charlotte said. “You can’t give in!”

“Do you have a better idea?” David cocked his head in Charlotte’s direction. “I don’t see you getting the crap beat out of you or being told you have to sacrifice your life for a battle that’s not even yours!”

Charlotte rose to her feet, her hands clenched at her sides. “Don’t you dare yell at me, David! I’m the only one who has been by your side since this whole mess started, so don’t start throwing your poor pitiful David attitude at me. I’ll whack you so hard it’ll make what Sir Gorilla did to you feel like a smack on the hand with a wet noodle.”

Trog chuckled.

David glowered at the knight, a snide comment burning in his throat. The dull throb in his shoulder made him extinguish it. He didn’t need another lesson on when not to voice an opinion. He propped his elbows on the table and buried his face in his palms. His anger slipped away, but guilt wiggled into its place. He’d just yelled at his best friend, the girl he loved. The girl he’d go to the end of the universe to shelter and defend. What had this world done to him?

He turned and reached for Charlotte, his eyes pleading with hers. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

She took his hand and sat down beside him. “It’s all right. I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you, either.” Her gaze darted between Slavandria and Trog before settling back on him. “I suppose this is the only chance we have to get home, huh?” She squeezed his hand.

David nodded. “Yeah, I think it is.” He turned to Slavandria. “What do I have to do?”

The drawn lines in Slavandria’s face softened. “Outside of finding Einar’s offspring, you must locate a talisman lost during the first Dragon War. Once found, you must deliver it to Sir Farnsworth at Gyllen Castle where it will remain in the royal vaults until I can retrieve it.”

David sighed. “And what does this talisman look like?”

“It’s a circular piece, as large as your palm. Gold filigree threads swirl along the outer edges, forming a wreath. In the center is a vibrant red stone, a dragon eye. A sliver of gold forms the slit pupil. We call it the Eye of Kedge, and its last known location was the Domengart Mountains.” Slavandria steepled her fingers and pressed them to her lips. “It is very important this item is found, David. Without it, Fallhollow stands little chance against the Dragon King. Without it, you can never go home.”

“Why me? Why can’t one of your magic friends find it?”

“It needs your essence to work. It is difficult to explain. It’s something you have to experience to understand.”

“Well, now, isn’t that just peachy,” David said, exasperation swelling. “And how exactly am I supposed to find a relic in a mountain range? That’s like trying to find a grain of sugar in snow.”

Slavandria paced and nodded. “There is one who may be able to help you. He is the caretaker and overseer of the Doomideen Pass. He is the last known guardian of the Eye, but you must tread carefully for he doesn’t take kindly to visitors.”

“Am I supposed to kill him, too?” David folded his arms on the table and plopped his head down on top of them.

“No. Him
you must not kill.”

Charlotte rubbed David’s back. “This is insanity. How can you do this to him? He has no weapons. He’s not a fighter. You’re going to send him into a battle with nothing to protect himself.”

“Who said he will be unprotected?”

David lifted his head. “You’re giving me weapons?”

A triumphant smile creased Slavandria’s face. “No. I have something better. Come here. I have something for you.”

Slavandria balled her fingers into a fist, blew on it, and then opened her hand. Piled inside was a ribbon of dark blue fabric. She unfurled it, shaking it out to its full-length. Gold threads shimmered along the outer edges of the wide band of silk. Golden tassels hung at each end.

David laughed. “You’re giving me a scarf?”

“It’s a sash,” Slavandria said, tying it to David’s waist. “It is made of asthirium, a plant found in my homeland of Felindil. Soft as silk, yet stronger than dragon hide. I have woven many counter-spells within the fibers to keep you from dying should Einar attack. This is not to say he cannot injure you, but as long as you wear this sash, you will not die, allowing you time to seek the help you need.”

The thought of dying crippled his entire being. He’d never thought about it until now. Not really. He always thought he was too young to die. Death was something that happened to other people. Old people. Diseased people. Dragonslayers. Paladins. He adjusted the fabric on his hips. No matter what, he was never taking the thing off. Ever.

“Thank you,” he said.

And for a moment, he felt invincible.

Slavandria smiled. “You’re welcome. Now if you don’t mind, I need you both to join me, please.”

David and Charlotte exchanged a baffled look as they followed her across the open terrace.

“Charlotte, let me start with you. May I have your hands, please?”

Charlotte glanced at David, a questioning glint in her eyes. Despite his apprehension, he nodded, since there was nothing either one of them could do to stop the older woman.

Charlotte wiped the sweat from her palms and placed her hands in Slavandria’s. Threads of blue light danced over their joined fingers. Charlotte giggled as the lustrous glow clouded their bodies. Electricity arced within the veil. Slavandria tilted her head back, her eyes closed, and chanted some foreign words that sounded like pig Latin. Seconds passed, and then the cloud dissipated.

Charlotte laughed. “Oh my gosh, what was that?” She shook her hands as if air-drying them. “That tickled.”

Slavandria smiled, her eyes gentle and kind. Tender. “I bestowed a very powerful and important magical gift upon you — the gift of healing. From this point forward, you will know the properties of every root, every weed, every plant, and every animal in Fallhollow, and which ones will benefit you in the treatment of ailments and illnesses. In essence, you will be the healer, and responsible for the health and well-being of your companions while on your journey.”

“Seriously?” Charlotte’s eyes widened. “I can’t look at a drop of blood without passing out.”

Slavandria smiled. “That was then. Now you have the skills to patch the most despicable of wounds with nary a second thought.” She tucked a stray hair behind Charlotte’s ear and pressed her palm to Charlotte’s cheek. She seemed to search Charlotte’s face as if committing the lines of her face to memory. “Let’s hope the wounds you see are small and few.” Slavandria squeezed Charlotte’s hand and turned her attention to David.

His heart jumped in his throat as her gaze fell on him. Mesmerizing amber and lavender flecks swirled in her pupils. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t look away. A shiver raced through him as she took his hands in hers.

At her touch, the mark above his heart grew warm. Like an ember fed by a wind-blown fire, it grew hotter by the second, but it didn’t burn like before. The air around him shimmered and distorted. Tingles spread through his arms and legs.

“What’s happening to me?”

“The mark upon your chest is receiving the magic I’m spinning around you, preparing you for the magic I am about to awaken within you.”

David’s mouth fell open. “Huh?”

A cold sensation gathered at his feet and swirled upward until it exited his skull, leaving him with a dull brain freeze. The distortion faded. He marveled at his sense of clarity. Every smell, every object he saw was sharper than before, magnified many times over. He rubbed his chest, the sensations overwhelming.

“Your discomfort will go away with time,” Slavandria said. “Are you ready to learn your first spell?”

“Spell?”

“If you are to have any chance of succeeding in your quest, you must learn to ferry, and not the sort you experienced with Twiller. This will require concentration and practice as the portals you use are ones you create with your mind.”

David looked at Slavandria. Really looked at her. Like she’d lost her stinking mind.

“Repeating the words
Accelero Silentium
to yourself will ferry you from one place to another by merely thinking of where you want to be.”

Okay. Now we’re talking.
David glanced over his shoulder at Charlotte and grinned.

Slavandria turned his face back to look at hers. “This is not a game, David. As with all magic, there are limitations to its use, and if done incorrectly, it can kill you.”

There was that word again. Kill. He was beginning to develop a severe dislike for the four letter word.

“You may only ferry within Fallhollow,” Slavandria continued, “and you may only travel to a place you can physically see, or to a place you’ve been before.”

David rolled his eyes. “Figures.”

“Shall we try it?” Slavandria asked.

David gulped. “What? Now?”

Slavandria gestured to the furthest point on the terrace. “Charlotte, would you please stand by the terrace wall?”

Charlotte glanced nervously at David as she passed and took up her position.

Slavandria paced before David, her fingers steepled against her lips. “David, I want you to focus on Charlotte. Imagine she’s in trouble. You need to go to her right away, but you cannot use your feet, only your mind to get there. Repeat the following words to yourself,
Accelero Silentium
. Picture yourself rushing to her side. Go to her.”

David laughed. “You’re joking, right? I can’t do magic.”

“Yes, you can. All you need to do is believe.”

“But there’s nothing wrong with her. She’s fine.”

“I’m asking you to imagine she’s in danger.”

Charlotte hopped up on the wall and leaned back slightly, her hands in the air. A wide smile brightened her face. “Look, David, I’m going to fall.”

David’s stomach churned. “Come on, Char. That’s not funny. Get down.” He turned to Slavandria. “Look. I know you have this crazy amount of faith in me, but I’m not what you think I am. I can’t just—”

Trog slapped his hand on the table. “We don’t have time for this.” He stormed across the terrace toward Charlotte. Her eyes widened as he grabbed her by the back of her leather shirt and lifted her in the air.

David stared, wide-eyed, her cry for help stabbing his heart. “What are you doing? Let her go!” His feet kicked out with the urge to run, but Slavandria held him with the touch of one finger.

“Concentrate and use the words.”

Charlotte kicked and flailed. “Put me down!”

Trog held tight, his eyes on David, his brows arched in a taunt.

David swept Slavandria’s hand from his shoulder and darted forward. “I said let her go!”

His contact with an invisible wall propelled him back several feet. He landed on his back with a thud.

Slavandria knelt beside him.

“Get away from me!” He scampered back.

“David, this could all be over if you would just use your words.”

“I can’t!”

“You must.
Accelero Silentium
. Say it.”

David’s heart rat-a-tatted away in his chest like never-ending machine gun fire. Sweat beaded his brow. How could he use words to conjure magic he didn’t believe in? He wiped his palms on his leather pants.

“This is getting old,” Trog said, studying his fingernails. He swung his arm to his left. Charlotte dangled over the edge of the terrace like a wrecking ball from a crane.

Terror struck, David dashed into and propelled off the invisible wall again. He pounded his fist on the ghostly barrier. “Please. I beg you. Let her go. I’ll do whatever you want, just put her down.”

“Ten,” Trog said.

The blood in David’s veins froze.
No. He wouldn’t drop her, would he?
“Stop that. It’s not funny.”

“Nine.”

Charlotte whimpered.

David jammed his fingers in his hair and spun around. This couldn’t be happening.
Why? Why me?

“Eight.”

Charlotte screeched. “David, do something!”

“Seven,” Trog said.

“Stop it! Just stop it!” David spun around, his eyes wild. He pressed his palms to the sides of his head, and shouted, “
Accelero Silentium
!”

Nothing happened. He fell to his knees.

“David, calm yourself,” Slavandria cooed. “You must settle your mind.”

“But those are the right words!”

“Six.”

“Stop it!”

“You must settle your mind!” Slavandria said again.

“You settle your mind!” David locked eyes on Trog.

The knight opened his grip on Charlotte. She screamed as he let her fall a few inches before catching her again. Tears streamed down her face, her pleas painful to hear.

“Damn you!” David yelled, standing. “You’re supposed to be a knight. Where is your sense of mercy, your honor?”

“Five.” Trog swung Charlotte around, grabbed her with his other hand, and hung her over the steepest edge of the terrace. “I am growing tired of this. How long do you think it will take for her to hit the rocks below?”

Loathing settled in David’s gut. His lips twitched before settling back against his teeth.

“Four.”

Charlotte cried out. “David, please. Say the stinking words.”

Trog cocked an eyebrow. “Three.”

“I will never forgive either of you for this!” David closed his eyes and breathed through the emotions welling within him.
Accelero Silentium
.

“Two.”

Warmth oozed over him as he repeated the words in his mind, each time, stronger and more focused. Energy swarmed like bees around him, the buzzing loud in his ears. It grew louder, tighter. Suffocating.

“One.”

Save her. Get Charlotte.

The buzzing soared deep into his ears, shooting into his veins. His limbs stung and grew numb.