Kazin's Quest: Book I of The Dragon Mage Trilogy (57 page)

“We must go!” warned Frosty. “The explosion will draw the last ones who recently left this area!”

Voices could already be heard on the trail below.

“This way!” cried Della, drawing Kazin after her.

“I will find a different hiding place!” said Frosty. “When all is clear, return to our camp!” He bounded out of the torchlight.

Kazin nodded absently. He was too exhausted to talk. He allowed the elf to lead him, half walking, and half running. The resourceful elf found a narrow cleft in the rock that was concealed from many angles, including the moon-shaped ledge where the portal had been. She shoved the mage inside and followed, pushing him as far in as there was room.

They sat down and waited.

Della looked sternly at the mage and berated him for not telling Frosty and herself about the ring.

“How could you do such a thing?” she demanded. “One of my arrows might have struck you!”

“I’m sorry,” said Kazin. “I thought that it would give me an edge. I guess I miscalculated.”

“You certainly did,” she said. Then her voice softened. “At least you made up for it by destroying the portal. The elves and centaurs have you to thank for that. I’m proud of you. I think Frosty thought you couldn’t do it while it was opening. You proved him wrong.”

“I’m just glad it’s over,” said Kazin wearily. He laid his staff on the floor against the wall and suddenly it lit the narrow cavern with a dull orange glow. Alarmed, he quickly snatched it up again. The light faded.

“What are you doing?” asked Della. “You could have given our location away!”

“It does that automatically if there’s a secret door nearby,” explained Kazin. He held the staff against the wall beside him and it flared with an orange glow again. “There’s a secret door here!” exclaimed Kazin excitedly.

He pointed the staff in the now familiar manner and an outline of a door appeared in the rock face. He concentrated and the door swung inward.

Centuries of dust flew up into the air and temporarily blinded the two as they waited for it to settle. When it cleared, they saw a low-ceilinged cavern ahead of them. They entered cautiously. It was cool and damp in the cavern. The orange light glinted off a pile of shiny objects in one corner. It was a huge pile of coins.

“Gold!” cried the elf softly. She bent to pick up some of the coins but drew back in revulsion. “Uggh!”

“What is it?” asked Kazin.

“There’s a skeleton hand in the pile,” explained Della.

Kazin bent down to examine it. He looked around at the pile in the orange light and saw several more bones protruding at various intervals. “I think—just a minute.” He fished in his cloak for some spell components and chanted lightly. The entire pile of gold coins glowed with a dull pinkish colour.

“Just as I thought,” he said. “This pile of coins is cursed. It looks like whoever hid this gold here couldn’t part with it. They died here because they were so greedy for their gold that they wouldn’t even part from it for food.”

“That’s disgusting,” remarked Della distastefully.

Kazin pointed at some corpses nearby. “These other corpses are probably those of some people who came across this place and intended to take the gold as their own. They met with the same fate.”

“There’s some armour over there,” said Della. “Is it cursed?”

Kazin approached the pile of armour and cast his spell. Everything glowed pink.

“Wow! It’s all cursed!” said the mage. “Maybe being in the same confined space with the cursed gold rubbed off on the armour! We’d better not spend too much time in here.”

“A quiver of arrows” exclaimed Della from another corner of the cavern. She un-shouldered her now empty quiver and was about to restock her arrows with the ones in the quiver on the ground.

“Wait!” cried Kazin. He sprang to stop her and grabbed her arm. “The arrows might be cursed!” he said sternly. “Don’t touch anything until I check it out first, O.K.?”

“O.K.,” said Della softly.

Kazin chanted his spell but this time, instead of turning pink, the quiver of arrows turned green.

“It’s magical!” exclaimed Kazin.

Della rose. “It’s good that you stopped me, then.”

“No!” said Kazin excitedly. He picked up the quiver. “It’s good magic! The quiver is magical, not cursed!” He handed it to Della.

“What does it do?” asked Della.

“I don’t know,” said Kazin. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

Della took it and began to fill her own quiver with its arrows. When she was finished, she scratched her head. “Kazin, something’s wrong.”

Kazin turned from his visual examination of some cursed swords nearby. “What is it?”

“Well,” began Della slowly, “I’ve filled my quiver with arrows, see?”

“Yes, and?”

“Well, this quiver is still full, as though I haven’t pulled any arrows out at all.”

Kazin examined the quiver. It was still as full as it could possibly be. He grabbed some arrows and pulled them out. The quiver was still full. “A quiver of many arrows!” he exclaimed. He turned to the elf. “Discard your old quiver, Della. This quiver will never run out! It’s magically enhanced so it will produce as many arrows as you’ll need!”

Della looked at Kazin for a moment in stunned silence. Then she grinned and slung the quiver of many arrows over her shoulder.

Kazin was temporarily entranced by the elf’s beauty in that moment. She was reflected in the orange light of the staff and her golden hair hung down over her shoulders. The fletching of the arrows in the quiver extended slightly above her left shoulder and gave her a hunter look, while her golden hair and hazel eyes were soft and enticing. Her elven forest cloak enhanced her supple form, and her sheepskin moccasins encased her dainty feet, allowing stealthy movement over a variety of terrain.

Della noticed Kazin’s stare and craftily gave the appearance of being embarrassed.

Kazin reacted the same way and was about to apologize but the elf placed a slender finger over his mouth. She said nothing and smiled enchantingly. Then she turned and exited the chamber.

A couple of hours later they were back in camp with the others. According to Frosty, the mages and goblins returned and scanned the ledge and came up empty handed. They retreated back down the mountain muttering about the situation, but did nothing to indicate they would be returning.

“That means the rest of them will soon know the portal was destroyed,” said Harran.

“Precisely,” said Frosty. “I suggest we get some sleep and hurry down the mountain and rendezvous with Perenia and the horses. We have to find out where the last bunch of goblins and zombies are headed, and that means we have to track the ones that came out of the gate tonight. If we lose them, there won’t be any more.”

“I still think you should have called on us before you acted,” said Sherman. He was displeased about the fact that Kazin had gone and done something without him. He still didn’t know about Kazin’s close call and Kazin planned to keep it that way. He returned Sherman’s ring and assured him that he had used it, but gave no further details.

The following morning they rose weary-eyed but determined. The sun had not yet risen and the reddish glow in the east was hindered by the morning clouds. To the west the sky was clear, indicating nicer weather later on.

“Let’s hurry,” prodded Frosty. “Perenia will have rounded the mountain’s base and is moving toward a potentially dangerous area. If my guess is correct, the groups from last night’s exodus from the gate are probably gathered at the southern base of the mountain by now. If Perenia goes too far before we reach her, she may encounter more trouble than she can handle.”

“Are you sure it was wise to trust her?” said Harran.

“Yes,” said Frosty. “I sensed her thoughts when she accidentally entered our camp the other day. She was genuinely afraid and concerned for her people.”

“It’s too late to worry about it now in any case,” said Milena.

“Speaking of late,” said Frosty, “let’s get going!” The mountain goat surged through the shielding trees Milena had strategically placed and led the way down the mountain on a parallel course with the one used by the previous night’s visitors.

The companions made good time, since the north and west side of the mountain was more of a gradual slope, making the hike considerably easier. Even Sherman felt comfortable with this portion of the trip, so long as he didn’t look down too often.

It was late in the day and they were at a lower altitude when Sherman discovered the tracks of horses.

“Do you think they’re ours?” he asked.

“Yes,” answered Zylor unexpectedly.

“How do you—?” Sherman held up a hand. “Never mind. I already know the answer to that.”

“I smell it too,” said Frosty. “By the strength of the scent, Perenia and the horses are only a couple of hours ahead of us. We must hurry.”

Milena sat down. “I can’t go any further right now. We’ve marched right through the day without even stopping for a lunch break. I’m hungry and tired. I’m not accustomed to this kind of travel. Why don’t some of you go on ahead and catch up with her? The rest of us should reach you a short time later and we can make camp.”

“We shouldn’t split up,” said Harran. “We’re safer as a group.”

“Harran’s right,” said Kazin. “Frosty, why don’t you go on ahead and catch up with Perenia. You can travel much faster without us to slow you down, and you can track her from here easily enough. The rest of us will stop and have a quick bite to eat before proceeding. We have enough skill among all of us to track you down.”

“Very well,” said Frosty. “I’ll leave signs in the trail for you to follow if the terrain becomes confusing.” He turned and bounded through the undergrowth in mid-transformation and was gone.

Perenia was cleaning her blood-stained arrows when she heard a noise behind her. She spun around and prepared her bow in a single, fluid motion, her eye peering keenly down the length of the salvaged arrow. A moment later she relaxed and lowered her bow.

“Hello, Frosty! I’m glad you’re back. How’d it go?”

Frosty trotted up the centaur in his original form. “Reasonably well! I came to warn you—what have you got there?” he asked suddenly, peering at a greenish object behind her.

“Just a couple of stray goblins,” said Perenia. “Dissenters, I guess.”

“I was just about to warn you to be on the lookout for such things,” said the unicorn.

“These days, I’m always on the lookout,” said Perenia. “Where are the others?”

“They’re on their way,” said Frosty. “We should find a good place to make camp and prepare for their arrival.” He looked around. “Where are the horses?”

“They’re safe in that grove over there,” said Perenia. “I led them there and told them to be quiet when I heard something coming. It turned out to be a couple of those pesky goblins. Some arrows made quick work of them.”

“Very good,” said Frosty. “Let’s get that camp ready and I’ll fill you in on what happened last night.”

About two hours later Kazin and his company arrived and Perenia came up to them and greeted them warmly. The uncertainty and concern that had ridden her features since she had joined up with them was now gone. That was replaced by happiness and respect.

“You’ve done it!” she exclaimed, prancing in front of them as a young pup would its owner. “You’ve stopped the hordes of evil from pouring out of the mountain!”

“Settle down,” laughed Kazin. “We’re only part way through this mess. We’ve still got to deal with the ones that are here. That won’t be an easy task.”

“We will prevail!” cried Perenia exultantly. She was unfazed by the dangers that lay ahead. Her race had suffered defeat at every turn. Here was a victory worth celebrating.

They prepared a meal of grouse and rabbits that Della had shot along the way, as well as some preserved boar meat Zylor still carried in his pack.

As night began to approach, Frosty contacted Kazin mentally and told him it was time for his training.

The mage excused himself and followed the unicorn into the bush.

“Don’t get into trouble this time,” Sherman called after him.

“Don’t worry,” Kazin called back. “This time Frosty will keep an eye on me.”

When they were far enough from the camp, Frosty instructed Kazin in the methods used by the mages in the past on how to transform into a dragon at will.

Kazin was familiar with concentration techniques from his studies in the mage academy, but the concentration he required here was on a much higher level. After a long spell of failures, he finally succeeded. Within seconds, he transformed into a majestic, leathery-winged and long-tailed dragon.

He looked at himself in surprise and awe. It wasn’t that difficult after all, he thought.

The voice inside his head gasped in astonishment. It quickly recuperated and began its maddening laugh, causing Kazin’s belly to burn. He looked down at the almost inconsequential unicorn.

“The voice is inside my head again,” said Kazin in a hoarse, throaty rasp.

“That is merely the remnants of the original dragon’s mind and thoughts,” said Frosty. “You must learn to suppress it when it is not needed.”

“I never need it!” rasped Kazin angrily. “It only goads me to anger!”

“You might have need of certain advice from time to time,” said Frosty. “That voice can provide you with it. Take last night, for example. Did it tell you anything?”

Kazin thought back. “Well. It kind of guided me there.”

“You see, you need only harness its thoughts by making it believe it is in control. Then it will tell you what you want.”

“Why is that necessary?” asked Kazin. “I own the orb now. Shouldn’t the voice be gone?”

“No,” answered the unicorn. “The voice is the lingering thoughts of the original dragon. It probably sounds mad or insane, but that is because it is disembodied now. That means those thoughts drift without guidance. You must guide it by controlling it. Another thing to keep in mind is the fact that the voice may sound insane because it is insane. The mind of the original dragon is merged with the mind of the mage who originally controlled it, so the thoughts are distorted. If the previous mage succumbed to the pleasure of being a dragon and remained that way too long, he might never recover, and his mind would lose itself in the power at his command. He would then deteriorate into a dragon’s mind set. Power and greed would consume him.”