Kazin's Quest: Book I of The Dragon Mage Trilogy (53 page)

He shook off the idea when Sherman came over to give him a briefing on events while he was gone.

After he had run off, Milena was white-faced at his reaction to her. The group was uncertain of what to do next. It was finally decided that they should wait for a while before following; they didn’t want to scare him further into the forest or drive him off the edge of the mountain by accident. If they didn’t follow, they realized that Kazin would at least stop running.

When they finally prepared to go off in twos to search for him, they couldn’t agree on who was to stay behind to guard the camp. That’s when Della claimed she saw a shadowy form in the sky. It was gone by the time anyone else could glimpse it.

“By her account, it was a dragon,” said Sherman, looking at the elf.

“It was,” insisted Della with conviction. She looked defiantly at the mage and warrior, daring them to argue the point. “And you were out there in the woods all alone!” she accused Kazin.

“Sorry,” murmured Kazin.

“We should have left you out there to die,” she said seriously, but with a twinkle in her eye.

Sherman glared at her. He failed to see the humour. He cleared his throat and continued his narrative. “We agreed to search for an hour and then return to camp to see if you had returned.” He grinned. “Fortunately, some of us have a vague sense of time.”

Kazin grinned and slapped his friend on the arm. “Thanks, Sherm.”

Suddenly Zylor growled on the other side of the campsite.

“I don’t believe it!” exclaimed Rubin. “I’ve never seen anyone with worse luck at dice!”

“He always loses,” said Harran, throwing the dice in front of him. “That’s why I never gamble with him for keeps. He’d have nothing left.”

Zylor rolled the dice next. “Two kings, one queen, two crowns,” commented the minotaur. “Try to beat that!”

Rubin rolled. “Two kings, three crowns. I win again! I don’t believe it!” He gathered the pebbles in a pile to one side and added them to his own.

Zylor growled, picked up his last pebble, and threw it into the bush. “No one will win my last pebble. I guarantee it!” Then he stormed over to his blankets and lay down to sleep.

“That’s his way of winning,” murmured the dwarf quietly. “If he doesn’t get to keep the pebble, no one will.”

“I heard that, dwarf,” growled the minotaur. “Tomorrow you’ll eat those words, you’ll see! I’ll win every game and I’ll show no mercy!”

Harran grinned. “Then I guess I’d better practice for a while. Otherwise, I’ll be no match for you.”

“I hope you wear out your luck,” muttered the minotaur.

Just then Milena entered the clearing and pulled her blankets out of her pack. Without a word she lay down and went to sleep. The others took the hint and prepared to get a few hours’ sleep before dawn. Rubin took first watch while Frosty chatted quietly well into the night with Perenia about her people and their plight. As Kazin drifted off to sleep, he wondered if Frosty ever slept.

Chapter 43

K
azin woke refreshed the following morning to find everyone else already up. Della, wearing Kazin’s now dried cloak from the previous night, hoisted her pack onto her shoulder and carried it over to the horses. Frosty looked less than pleased as she strapped her pack to his back.

“You could ride Perenia,” he suggested haughtily. “You’re the only one she’ll allow to ride her.”

“I’d rather ride with Kazin,” answered Della. She looked over at the mage and blushed when she realized he was awake and had probably heard her. She quickly changed the subject. “Well, it looks like sleepy head is finally up!”

Kazin stretched. “Good morning to you too.” He got up and poured some leftover boar stew into a bowl. It was still warm and tasted rich and savoury.

“Hi, Kaz,” said Sherman as he walked past the mage with his own pack. “Hurry up. We’re getting ready to move out. Frosty’s got the young mage’s trail, and it leads to the same place where the lights come from.”

Kazin gobbled down the stew, rolled up his blankets and stuffed them into his pack. He brought the pack over to Frosty and attached it next to Della’s. He no longer reacted to Della’s pack being there. He had come to expect it.

“I hear you found a trail,” Kazin said to the unicorn.

Frosty nodded in a horse like manner. “Yes. He’s only a few hours ahead of us. I found his trail by accident last night.”

“Are we that close?” asked Kazin. “We must be moving faster than I thought.”

Rubin sat nearby sharpening his knives and overheard the conversation. “Maybe he’s taking his time.”

“I don’t think so,” said Frosty. “He was on foot, whereas we are not. Except me, of course.” He looked pointedly at the mage. “And I have to carry two people on top of that!”

“Della can ride with whomever she wants!” retorted Kazin. Then he blushed, realizing how his outburst must have sounded.

“That should about do it,” said Rubin, re-sheathing his knife. He rose. “I’m all set.”

“Good,” said Harran a short distance away. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

The companions mounted their horses and continued their journey.

Kazin wondered about his experience of the previous night. How could he control his transformation? Worse still, what if it happened to him at an inconvenient time?

“Don’t worry,” said Frosty to the mage only. “It will happen when you need it, and it will happen soon.”

Kazin wanted to ask a question but he didn’t want anyone else to hear.

“Then ask,” said Frosty. “Just think and I will hear you.”

“Do you hear me all the time?” asked Kazin in thought only.

“No,” said Frosty. “Only when your thoughts are not guarded, which is rarely. But I haven’t been listening all the time, either, especially since you’re always thinking of the elf. Those thoughts are private, and should remain so.”

Kazin fumed at this unexpected invasion of his privacy, but was thankful the unicorn was sensible about it. “How do I guard my thoughts?”

“You often do it subconsciously,” said Frosty. “I will train you in the days ahead. However, you will not be able to keep me out all the time. After all, what good would I be as a familiar if I don’t know how you think and reason? I must know your thoughts in order to counsel you, and I must know when you are in trouble so I may come to your aid. As for your knowing all your thoughts, I didn’t know about the dragon orb, did I? Had I known about that I could have made you aware of some things and helped you adjust to your new ability.”

“I suppose you’re right,” said Kazin. “I appreciate your respect for my private thoughts.”

They rode in silence for a few minutes and suddenly Kazin remembered what he was originally going to ask Frosty.

“You say I will transform soon,” said Kazin. “How soon, and how do you know?”

“Your next transformation will probably not come until after we reach our objective,” said Frosty. “My magic allows me to feel it. Your magical power is not quite up to par yet, and though you may not be feeling weak, I can sense it. Each transformation will come easier, and after a while, you will be able to change back and forth at will; but not yet. I will train you tonight to use your mind and perhaps you can become more comfortable with your new ability. Maybe we’ll even get you to transform into a dragon and back again just for practice.”

“You’d better run when I change into a dragon,” said Kazin. “Last time I got hungry and nearly ate a whole cow!”

“That is a natural response,” said Frosty. “When you grow, so does your stomach. That means that the meagre human food in your stomach is equivalent to a fraction of a snack. You will always have a need to eat when you transform. Once you’ve eaten, your stomach will temporarily settle. Fortunately, it doesn’t work the same way in reverse. Otherwise you would explode when you changed back into a human.”

“That’s a relief,” said Kazin.

“As a dragon, the burning sensation will soon return,” continued the unicorn. “The acids in your stomach will consume your dinner, and that dinner will in turn become fuel for the acid, enabling you to blast fire at everything in your path. It will take great control to avoid frying things that you would otherwise wish to avoid. I think I can help you to use your magic to change your flame into a directed lightning bolt, since you’re so adept at that particular type of magic, but it will take time.”

“It sounds complicated,” said Kazin.

“It will take some getting used to,” admitted the unicorn. “Fortunately, you will rarely need to transform. When you do, it will mostly be due to fear and anxiety on your part. If that’s the case, transformation may help you to defeat a dangerous enemy at a crucial moment.”

“But I thought you told me I could change at will?” said Kazin. “Now you’re saying I must be in danger for it to happen. Which is it?”

“Both,” said Frosty. “You can change at will depending on your mind set. If you will yourself to be in fear or danger, or if you will yourself in deep meditation to transform, that will be enough to enable the transformation.”

“What about last night?” asked Kazin. “How did I enable myself to transform? I thought it was the burning sensation in my stomach.”

“That case was slightly different,” admitted Frosty. “The burning in your stomach was the magic of transformation coming alive within you. It needed to be freed. The burning increased until you thought you were in danger and allowed your fear to assist in enabling the transformation process. Becoming a dragon mage takes time, and your time came due last night. You shouldn’t experience any more burning in your stomach unless you encounter danger. Once you feel it, you can judge for yourself if a transformation is required and act accordingly. At least, I hope to teach you how to do that.”

“I hope so, too,” said Kazin. He gently slapped the unicorn’s neck. Then another question entered his mind. “Frosty, how do you know so much about dragons and dragon mages?”

Frosty slowed his pace and tilted his head. “You know, Kazin, I somehow just knew that. I’ve always known that, oddly enough. It comes with a vast store of knowledge I was born with. Perhaps it’s part of my magic.”

“Maybe,” said Kazin aloud.

“What?” asked Della behind him.

“Uh—maybe we should stop for a brief lunch,” suggested Kazin. The sun was now high overhead and the air was crisp but refreshing.

“We’re almost there,” announced Perenia. “Just around the next corner.”

They rounded the bend and came to a steep grade where trees gave way to a narrow path with tough vegetation clinging ponderously to the mountain’s surface.

“Here’s where I can climb no further,” said Perenia bitterly. “Nor can the horses.”

Frosty raised his head and sniffed. “The mage has climbed from here as well. He is less than an hour ahead of us.”

“We’ll take a quick break here and then proceed on foot,” said Kazin, dismounting and helping the elf down after him.

“It’s about time,” muttered the unicorn.

“Frosty, I’ll let you take care of the horses. We’ll—.”

“No,” interrupted the unicorn.

“What?” said Kazin.

“I will go with you. My magic will allow me to climb further.” The unicorn suddenly shimmered and changed into a mountain goat. “They’re not particularly bright animals, but they can climb,” he explained.

“I will tend to the horses,” said Perenia. “I will bring them around to the south. If you fail, I will return them to the Tower of the Sky and appeal for help. Perhaps by then there will be others who can assist the centaurs.”

“We will not fail,” said Frosty.

The companions spread out and sat down to have a quick lunch before starting their trek up the mountain.

Kazin started to eat when he noticed the absence of Della.

“Where’s Della?” he asked no one in particular.

“I think she saw something in the sky and went to investigate,” said Milena, who sat on a nearby log. “She’s been looking skyward ever since she saw that dragon or whatever it was.”

Kazin looked at Milena and was relieved that she was talking to him again. Until now she had avoided him and he gave her a wide berth, not wishing to offend her further. He got up and sat down beside her.

“It wasn’t—,” he began.

“It’s O.K.,” interrupted Milena.

“Hear me out,” insisted Kazin. “Please.”

Milena stopped chewing and nodded.

“It wasn’t your fault,” said Kazin. “I had a problem that the clerics in the Tower of Hope couldn’t heal. Even though you’re a druid, you wouldn’t have been able to help either.”

“How do you know—?” began Milena.

“Just hear me out,” interrupted Kazin. “I was undergoing a change. What exactly that was I can’t tell you right now. But the burning in my stomach was a part of it. I didn’t understand it any more than you do now, but it was necessary in order for me to change. That change happened last night. Now the burning has stopped—temporarily. When it returns, I hope to be ready to deal with it. The condition is more magical than physical in nature. You couldn’t have healed it because there was nothing to heal. If anything, your magical touch brought about the change sooner. I was not ready for it and I blamed you because I was afraid. I temporarily lost control of myself. I’m sorry.”

Milena sat motionlessly for a moment. “You are a complex individual, Kazin,” she said at last. “You have aroused my interest from the start. When I became a druid, I thought I knew all there was to know about you and your companions. I also thought there was nothing I couldn’t heal. I see that I was wrong. I suspect you have a few more surprises in store for all of us.”

Kazin grinned. “You have no idea.”

Milena smiled back. “Apology accepted. Next time I’ll ask if you need healing.”

Suddenly Della sprinted from out of the woods nearby. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Kazin sitting with Milena and smiling. Frowning, she marched over to the magic wielders and reached into a small sack at her side. She withdrew a dead pigeon.

“Here,” she said, practically throwing it into Kazin’s lap. “There’s a note in a tube tied to its leg. You might want to read it.” She turned and sat down under a tree just out of sight of the mage.