Kazin's Quest: Book I of The Dragon Mage Trilogy (42 page)

“Pardon me?” said Kazin. “Did I miss something?”

“We are to save your lives by helping you to breathe under water,” said Shawna. “Did the oracle not tell you?”

“No,” said Kazin. “She told us very little.”

“They have their reasons,” said Shawna. “Beyond saving your lives, we were told nothing else. We are rarely told everything we wish to know.”

Kazin nodded.

The companions and mermaids exchanged backgrounds and stories and finally retired for the night, feeling much more comfortable with one another now that there was familiarity between them. Even Sherman and Harran lost some of their nervousness about the mermaids.

It wasn’t quite dawn when Olag came to wake them from a fitful slumber. He appeared to be in a dour mood. “It is time,” was all he said.

They followed him outside and noticed a red haze above them. A harsh wind tore at their cloaks and blew across the deck in a lonely, desperate howl. The mermaids huddled together in their pool and looked toward the bow. The water in front of them was choppy but the magical ship rocked only slightly.

“Where are we?” asked Kazin.

“We approach the whirlpool,” said Olag. “The druids have a strange sense of humour.”

“Whirlpool?” asked Sherman. “The only whirlpool I know of is the one in Skull Lake.”

“The one in North Lake is relatively unknown,” said Olag. “Anyone who even approaches it is doomed to be sucked under. I hate to say it, but we are probably closer to the whirlpool than any sane captain would go. This ship is magical, so it probably handles the eddies and currents better than any other ship, but you can never underestimate the power of a whirlpool.”

“Where are we headed?” asked Harran.

Olag smiled grimly. “Directly for the center of the whirlpool.”

“What?!” exclaimed Sherman. “We’ll be torn to pieces!”

“Not if we do as we are instructed,” said Olag.

“What do you mean?” asked Kazin. By now they had walked over to the pool where the mermaids were huddled.

“It’s quite simple,” chimed in Shawna who had overheard the last part of their conversation. “When the ship is at the whirlpool’s edge, we all jump overboard.”

“What?!” exclaimed the companions in unison.

“You can’t be serious!” exclaimed Sherman. He had to shout to be heard over the noise of the wind as it grew louder. He looked at Olag, who nodded.

“She’s right,” said the skink warrior. “The druid spoke to my mind when I woke this morning. How she did that I don’t know, but she told me we are to jump into the whirlpool. I would have told you sooner had I known. That’s probably why they didn’t tell us until now. Had I known, I would have refused to go, regardless of the consequences.”

“We’ll never survive!” exclaimed Harran. “We’ll drown!”

“That’s why we’re here,” said Shawna. “We’ll help you to breathe underwater. You must each hold one of us and hold your mouth to ours. We will do the rest.”

Olag hissed. “Good thing I won’t need your help. I’d hate to be saved by a mermaid, of all creatures!”

“I don’t like this,” murmured Sherman. “It feels like a trap.”

Zylor agreed. “I certainly never thought I’d die like this!”

“You won’t,” assured Shawna.

“Your mouth is not large enough to encompass mine!” objected Zylor. “You will fail!”

Shawna reddened. “That’s a good point. How could I have missed something so obvious?”

Suddenly a thought struck Kazin. “I’ve got an idea! I can turn Zylor into a human temporarily! Wouldn’t that work?”

“But you can’t maintain the spell if we get separated,” said Zylor.

“Oh, yeah,” said Kazin.

“No problem,” said Shawna. She held forth an amulet she was wearing. “This necklace has the ability to maintain any spell cast upon the wearer. It was meant to sustain a healing spell on someone who was gravely injured if there were not enough clerics available. The druids gave it to me last week and told me to use it wisely. Now is such a time.”

“How long will it last?” asked Kazin.

“One full day per spell,” said Shawna.

“Then it should work for this situation,” said Kazin.

Shawna nodded and told the minotaur to bend over so she could put it around his neck. There was some difficulty fitting it around his bulky neck but finally it was fitted.

Suddenly the ship shifted.

“We are here!” yelled Olag. “Hurry!”

Kazin cast his spell and Zylor was transformed into a handsome warrior. Kazin let go of his spell but the minotaur remained human. The amulet glowed a dull green.

“It’s working!” yelled Shawna.

“Let’s get ready!” yelled Olag. “It’s time!”

The ship was riding the rim of the giant whirlpool now. Everything was a churning mass of water. The companions each grabbed a mermaid and stood on the side of the deck facing the center of the whirlpool.

“I still think this is a lousy idea!” yelled Sherman.

“I do too!” answered Kazin. “But it’s too late to turn back now. Call it a leap of faith!”

The boat listed further and Olag jumped. He splashed into the churning water and was lost from sight.

The remaining companions looked at one another and each wondered the same thing. What in the world were they doing?

They didn’t have time to think of an answer. The ship tipped sharply, pouring its occupants unmercifully into the whirlpool.

Kazin felt a numbing cold surge through his body as he hit the water. The cold was almost paralyzing. Suddenly he could feel lips searching for his own. When their lips met, he felt a warm, soothing rush of fresh air enter his lungs. It was as though he were breathing. He gripped the mermaid closely, feeling the warmth of her entire body engulf his own. Together they swirled, deeper and deeper, and finally Kazin lost consciousness.

Chapter 36

W
here are we?”

Sherman groaned. “Beats me. How about some light?”

Kazin cast a spell on his staff and a sharp burst of light surrounded them.

Harran shaded his eyes. “Ouch!”

“Sorry,” said Kazin. He peered around at their surroundings. Sherman and Harran sat in hunched forms nearby. Directly in front of him, Kazin could see the still form of Olag. Judging by his breathing, he was still alive.

“Where are the mermaids?” asked Kazin suddenly.

“They’re not here,” said a voice behind him.

Kazin turned to see a handsome, dark warrior standing over him. An amulet dangled from his neck and pulsed with green light.

“Oh, hi, Zylor,” said Kazin. “I’ll change you back, if you like.”

“Thank you,” said Zylor. As an afterthought he added, “This kiss you humans often share; it is—unusual.”

Sherman grinned. “Especially when you kiss a mermaid.”

Harran chuckled.

After Zylor was returned to his original body, the companions aroused Olag.

“Oooh! My head,” winced Olag.

“You’ll get over it,” said Harran.

Olag looked around. “The mermaids?”

“Not here,” said Sherman.

“Doesn’t surprise me,” said Olag. “They got out while they had the chance to abandon us.”

“I don’t know about that,” said Sherman. “They might have had to do something else for the druids that we don’t know about.”

“A hidden agenda,” spat Olag. “What else is new?”

“Be that as it may,” interrupted Kazin, heading off a confrontation, “where do we go from here?” He looked at Harran.

The dwarf shrugged. “I cannot sense any direction here. We aren’t under the ground, or I would sense something.”

The companions looked around them. As far as the eye could see in the staff light, there was nothing but a never ending grey stone floor.

“What can your staff tell us?” asked Sherman.

Kazin shrugged. “Let’s see.” He cast a search spell and immediately the staff pulled his arm to the left. “Something’s there!” said Kazin triumphantly. “I’m glad I’ve been studying my book often.”

Sherman rose. “Then let’s go and check it out. Anything is better than sitting here.”

They followed Kazin slowly in the direction his staff led them.

“I wonder why we’re not all wet?” mused Harran. “We cannot have been unconscious all that long.”

“It’s probably some form of magic,” said Olag. “Ask the oracles.”

Suddenly Kazin stopped. “I see something.” He pointed ahead of them.

Reflecting from the staff’s light was a golden door in the middle of nowhere. It was set in a plain steel doorway. The companions neared it and examined it from all sides. It was simply a golden door with a shiny brass knob on each side.

“I see some words,” said Harran. “They’re near the top.”

Kazin held up his staff and the words etched into its surface came into focus. ‘The past—do not disturb the sands of time. To do so will ensure your destruction.’, read Kazin.

“There are some words on this side too,” said Sherman from the opposite side.

Kazin went to the other side and read, ‘the future—to escape the past without fulfilling your destiny will lead to a dead future.’

“But it’s only one door,” said Olag. “Which way does it lead—to the past or the future?”

“Both,” answered Kazin. “It depends which side you enter by.”

“The druid told us we were to go into the past,” said Harran. “That means we enter from my side.”

“What about the warnings?” asked Sherman.

“I’m sure the druids know of the warnings on the door,” said Kazin.

“I hope so,” said Harran.

“You first,” said Olag.

Harran waited until they were all in position and tried the knob. He jiggled it. “It’s stuck!”

“Let me try,” said Kazin. He held his staff in front of him and pointed it like he did at the tomb entrance in the Plains of Grief. The doorknob turned and the door opened outward, revealing a foggy, pale background framed in the doorway.

Kazin took a deep breath and stepped forward cautiously. “Here we go.”

The companions nearly trod on each other’s heels as they crammed through the doorway, intent on keeping together. They didn’t want to become separated in this unknown underworld.

They stopped a few paces in. Just beyond Kazin’s staff’s light they could see the floor drop off into nothingness. Two posts could be seen off to their right.

“A crosswalk,” said Harran, the nearest of the five.

The others moved forward cautiously and peered into the fog. The posts were indeed the markers of a swinging crosswalk made of wood and rope. It swung slowly in an unfelt breeze, creaking under the stress of its own weight. Rope railings flanked either side of the narrow bridge.

“A crosswalk to what?” asked Sherman. He was obviously not eager to find out for himself.

Kazin shook his head. He could only see a short way down the length of the swinging bridge.

“Our door has vanished,” said Zylor behind them.

They spun around and, sure enough, the golden door was gone. All that could be seen was the edge of the ledge they were standing on. They hurriedly investigated their ledge but, by all accounts, it was supported by nothing but thin air. The only way off the ledge was by way of the swinging bridge.

“Well?” said Olag finally. “What now?”

“I guess we have no choice,” said Kazin. “We have to go across the bridge.”

“I was afraid you’d say that,” said Sherman ruefully.

“We’ll have to go in single file,” said Harran. “It’s not wide enough to hold more than one abreast.”

“I will lead,” said Zylor, pushing his way to the front.

“Why you?” grunted Olag, clearly displeased about being pushed aside on the narrow ledge.

“I am the heaviest,” explained the minotaur. “If the bridge holds me, it will hold all of us.”

“Good point,” said Kazin. “Olag, you follow him. I’ll stay in the middle to give equal light in both directions. Sherman, you can follow me. Harran, you take up the rear. You can help me keep Sherman steady if he needs it.”

“Right,” said Harran.

The companions waited for Zylor to test the crosswalk. After testing his weight on the ancient wooden rungs, he motioned for them to follow.

Sherman was sweating. “How do I get myself into these situations, anyhow?”

They walked cautiously for several minutes before Olag halted them.

“I saw something out there,” he said, pointing into the milky haze to one side.

“I don’t see anything,” said Zylor.

“I tell you. It’s out there!” insisted Olag.

“Well, let’s leave it alone,” said Kazin. “Maybe it will ignore us as well.”

After a moment Olag shrugged. “Let’s go. The sooner we get off this crosswalk, the better.”

They continued and after a while the crosswalk levelled off and began to rise ahead of them.

“We’re halfway there,” called back Zylor.

He may have spoken too loud, for suddenly an ear-piercing shriek broke the stillness. A dark shape loomed into view above them and flew straight toward the minotaur.

Zylor ducked and exchanged a glancing blow with the creature. It swerved aside and two rapidly fired arrows embedded themselves in its side as it flew past. It shrieked loudly once and then flew away.

“Nice shooting, Olag!” said Kazin, noticing the skink warrior as he applied another arrow to his bow.

Olag hissed. “We are not out of the woods yet.” He pointed. Another black thing hurtled into view, larger than the first. The skink warrior fired two arrows into the creature’s front side and it shrieked like the first, flapping past them and into the mist.

“Let’s hurry!” interrupted Sherman from behind. “There may be more!”

“Good idea,” hissed Olag. “I didn’t bring that many arrows!”

They started forward, faster this time, and all went well until the minotaur growled and stopped.

Olag, following closely, bumped into the huge beast and grunted.

Kazin looked ahead and in a hushed voice asked, “What is it?”

“Something comes,” said Zylor. Being stopped they could feel the vibrations of someone or something approaching.

A large figure appeared on the bridge ahead of them. It looked like a zombie.

Zylor surged forward to meet its attack. The creature screamed as the huge beast sliced into it with his large axe. Spurred by the cry, the winged creatures swooped down on them once more.