Authors: S. G. Rogers
Secrets of Yden (26 page)
****
While Quixoran found a couple of cinnamon-laced buns and made some tea, Jon stashed the owl sculpture in a far corner of the tree house and tossed a drop cloth over it. After breakfast, he and his grandfather killed an hour playing a card game called
Capture the Unicorn
. Although Quixoran explained the rules several times, Jon was terrible at it.
"You have many fine skills," Quixoran said finally. "But cards may not be one of them."
"Sela won't play with me either. She says it's no fun to play with someone who can't even win at
Old Maid
."
"Your sister has a keen intellect. I look forward to her apprenticeship a few turns from now."
Jon put his cards down. "What was it like for you as an apprentice?"
"I learned magic from my father and my older siblings. As I grew older, I was expected to enter tournaments against other apprentices. Competition was fierce, as you might imagine."
"But to become a full-fledged wizard, you had to pass the Pytch Ritual?" Jon leaned forward, waiting for his grandfather's response.
"I rather suspected your questions were leading to the Pytch Ritual." Quixoran laughed. "You seem quite taken with the idea."
"I guess I am. What did you bring with you?"
"We were allowed to take nothing with us except our magical knowledge, the clothes on our backs, and our clan rings."
"I just can't picture rival wizards working together. I mean, that's what makes
your
apprentices different from the ones in the past."
"The whole point of the Ritual was to demonstrate even the most strident of rivals will come together for the common good. We were all young, arrogant stallions, cocksure of ourselves and of our superiority. In the end, we learned how much we needed each other."
"But not everyone made it."
A cloud came over Quixoran's face. "No."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to remind you of anything bad."
"On the contrary, you remind me every day what it's like to be young."
"Do you realize we're probably the only people conscious in two universes right now? I hope you don't mind I woke you up. I mean, maybe you would have preferred to sleep through it."
"And miss the opportunity to get to know you better? I think not. One benefit of this strange anomaly is a few stolen hours spent with my grandson."
Jon smiled even as a ripple of fear knotted his stomach.
Quixoran's mention of the anomaly had reminded him the spell of undoing hadn't been the effective weapon he'd hoped.
I'm out of options⦠except for one.
His hands began to tremble and he jumped to his feet.
"Would you like another cup of tea?" he managed to say.
"A cup of tea would be most welcome."
As Jon busied himself with the tea, he couldn't seem to catch his breath. The sudden screech of the draped owl in the corner startled him into dropping his metal cup. The clang of the metal against the floorboards made him and his grandfather wince.
"It seems the anomaly is over," Quixoran said. "The resumption of sound is not an altogether soothing experience, is it?"
Jon brought Quixoran his tea. "I should go home. Maybe I'll go for a run before school."
"In the morning, I'll send a message to Chairman Lux, asking to meet with him and the council after Bailey's hearing."
"You're going to tell them about the anomaly?"
He nodded. "The council cannot fail to act when it understands the anomaly affects Yden as well as Yrth."
Jon's spirits lifted a bit. Perhaps one of the elder wizards would come up with a solution not involving the permanent transformation of one Jon Hansen.
No Guts, No Glory
A weird sense of déjà vu descended over Jon as he testified against Bailey. While the young Shark Clan wizard glowered, Jon told the council how Bailey had transported out of the Tri-County Museum without regard to witnesses. He described the confusion caused when Bailey had mysteriously transported away, and how questions about the whole mess had dogged Jon in the press.
Although he knew his appearance at the hearing was a necessary evil, Jon couldn't wait for his testimony to be over. The suspension of magic spell was grating on his nerves like an itch he couldn't scratch. Plus, the case against Bailey had grown more complicated. Jon had expected to present evidence of a simple probation violation, but Bailey had been charged under Homa's new Protection of Yden Act instead.
Nothing like using a bazooka when a flyswatter would do the trick.
Jon tried to shake off his annoyance, since Bailey's case was the least of his worries now. Quixoran would be arriving shortly to talk to the Executive Council about the unstable portal and how Yden had been affected by the time anomaly. If the council wizards didn't have some brilliant suggestions, Jon would be at the end of his rope.
Admittedly, he still didn't understand what the newly discovered part of the prophecy meant in its entirety, but the first two lines seemed pretty clear.
The noble Champion in battle defeated,
His chance to save Yrth bitterly cheatedâ¦
Both wooden owls had identified Jon as the losing Champion, unable to save Yrth, or Yden either as it turned out.
I won't let that happen.
If the Executive Council had nothing to offer, he'd decided to shut the portal down before the next event window occurred in two weeks. Every chance he had, he was writing a kind of diary, trying to chronicle the important events and people in his life. After he passed through the portal, he hoped to find his way back home somehow, and maybe the diary would trigger a few memories.
Since Jon read the final bit of prophecy, regret had filled his every waking moment. Promises would end up broken, and there was nothing he could do about it. When he'd first found the ankh, he'd given it to his little sister as a gift, not realizing it was the Portal Key. After the Key had resulted in her healing power developing prematurely, he'd had to take the Portal Key back for safekeeping. Although he'd promised to hold it for Sela until she was old enough to train, he wouldn't be able to do that now. He'd never finish his apprenticeship with Quixoran, and he wouldn't be best man at Charles's wedding. For all Jon knew, he might not even be able to remember his uncle.
I just hope everyone will forgive me.
Immersed in his own thoughts, Jon almost missed the Executive Council's unanimous vote to hold Bailey for trial. Jon and Bailey locked eyes, and before anyone could stop him, the Shark Clan wizard vaulted across the table. When Jon saw him coming, he rushed to meet him.
Pandemonium ensued as their brawl commenced, with the big Australian wizard doing his best to destroy Jon's face with his knuckles. Most of the Executive Council members were far too old to intervene physically, so Jon was startled when he felt a huge pair of hands grasp him by the shoulders and lift him into the air. Fortunately, he was able to aim one last kick at Bailey's gut before he was pulled away.
To Jon's shock and dismay, he realized several cygards had entered the chamber. A pair of the armored cyclopes flanked Bailey on either side and had clamped down on his arms. Jon cast a squirming glance over his shoulder to confirm he was being restrained by a cygard as well.
What are cygards doing here
?
"Put me down, you one-eyed creep!"
The cygard set him on the ground, none too gently. A half-dozen of the overgrown enforcers had burst into the chamber during the fistfight, and two were now guarding the door. Dorsit, Lady Marla, Nedd of the Bee Clan, and a few other members of the Executive Council looked angry. Even Bailey was clearly scared, and Jon didn't blame him.
"Are you all right, Jon?" Dorsit asked.
He wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Yeah. What's going on?"
"I don't know, but I mean to find out. Chairman, what is the meaning of this?" Dorsit demanded. "These cygards must remove themselves immediately."
"Members of the Executive Council, I beg your pardon for the element of surprise," the chairman replied. "But in the absence of magic, we simply have no choice but to employ force as well as a tincture of croyrus root."
"What's tincture of croyrus root?"
Jon asked, bewildered.
Lux ignored the question as he nodded at the cygards holding Bailey. One of the enormous guards uncorked a small bottle with his thumb, and forced Bailey to inhale. Almost instantaneously, the young wizard became as limp as kelp.
"Are you crazy?" Jon exclaimed. "Drugging him can't be legal!"
"It is
not
legal," Dorsit said. "Chairman, I protest."
Homa cocked his head. "Pardon me, Leopard Clan wizard, but the croyrus root tincture is required to move this wizard to a dungeon without incident. How is that any different from the sleep spell which, I am told, Jon Hansen is fond of using?"
"I use a sleep spell in mutual combat so nobody gets hurt," Jon interjected. "You could have asked Bailey to cooperate first."
Several wizards hooted in derisive laughter.
"Wizards seldom cooperate with one another," Homa scoffed. "Have you never learned that?"
"We prove it can be done every day on Dragon Isle." Jon shook his head in disgust. "I'm out of here."
"Not so fast, young wizard," Lux said. "We must first adjudicate the Protection of Yden Act charges leveled at
you
."
What
?
Cygards blocked Jon's path toward the exit. The smirk on Homa's face confirmed Jon's dawning realization that he'd been set up. Stunned, he watched as Lux passed around several of the insert cards from the museum exhibit pamphlet. How he'd obtained those cards, Jon had no idea. Dorsit's lips were set in a thin line and he refused to look at the card set in front of him.
"Jon Hansen of the Dragon Clan, I have in my hand an Yrth parchment describing your art exhibit entitled
Secrets of Eden
," Lux said. The lurid way he spoke already made Jon sound guilty. "In the exhibit are your depictions of all manner of Yden's magical creatures."
"You can't charge me under the Protection of Yden Act! That exhibit began before you passed the law."
"Is the artwork still on display?"
"Well, yeah."
"In that case, it's a continuing violation. In addition, you have knowingly revealed the existence of Yden to the non-wizard Yrthlings named Fred Spencer and Casey Scott."
"That happened before the law, too!"
"Are you willing to bring your friends back to Yden to have their memories altered?"
"Never."
"Therefore, you are hereby charged with violating the Protection of Yden Act. Do you have anything to say?"
"Yeah," Jon said. "Bite me. Hard."
"Keep calm, Jon," Dorsit pleaded. "This is an outrage, and Quixoran will sort it out when he arrives."
As Lux called for a vote, Jon glanced around the room, searching for any possible escape. Two cygards blocked the exit. Bailey was a puddle on the floor, and should the vote not go Jon's way, four more cygards stood ready to render him unconscious, too.
Maybe Quixoran can break me out of jail or maybe not, but in the meantime I have a portal to close. I can't afford to waste my time rotting in a suspension of magic dungeon.
There was only one thing to do.
Jon rested his hands on the heavy wooden chair directly in front of him. Although he pretended to be cool, his muscles coiled for action. One by one, Executive Council wizards raised their paddles to indicate their vote. As soon as Jon saw the seventh white paddle sealing his fate, he swung the chair at the nearest cygard. The wood splintered as it made contact, knocking the cygard back a few paces.
Lux gesticulated wildly. "Stop that!"
Jon heaved the next chair through the stained glass window directly behind the podium, sending shards of glass to the ground below. Daylight streamed into the chamber and he made a break for it.
No guts, no glory
. He took a running start and hurled himself out the window, as far away from the suspension of magic spell as possible.
As gravity took over, Jon rapidly said the animal transformation spell. Panic and fear numbed his brain when he continued to fall toward the ground.
Maybe I should have said a prayer.
At the last second, Jon remembered to spread his wings. Although he flattened a hedge with his belly as he swooped upward, at least he'd avoided breaking his neck. Glancing down, he watched his shadow skimming along the lawn below.
I'm a dragon⦠and a fugitive
.
The sensation of flight was exhilarating â once he figured it out. After he reached a certain altitude, he discovered flying was almost effortless. Able to ride the air current like a hang glider, he compensated for the occasional gust of wind. He turned his head, admiring how the glint of the suns shone off his golden scales.
With no particular destination, his only goal was to stay up and to keep moving. As the distance from Castle Ytherium increased, he scanned the countryside for somewhere to land. Quixoran had warned him about getting lost in the transformation, and Jon had learned the hard way to pay attention to his grandfather's admonitions.
