The Apprentices (The Crimson Guard Trilogy Book 1) (6 page)

8

I awoke or at least I thought I was awake, everything was black and the silence was absolute.  “Hello, is anyone there?”  My words were broken; I feared that they had left me in that dreadful tunnel. 

“Lyndon!  You are well again?”  A familiar voice floated from somewhere close.

“Jes, is that you?”  I questioned.

“Ya, about time you woke up.”  A bright light flooded the room.  Now I could see that Jes had been sitting on a small wooden stool.  The room was very empty; all it had was a bed and the wooden stool, which were both occupied.  The figure in the door seemed out of place. 

“And who might you be?”  My question was aimed at the mysterious figure.

“Sssir, I am called by many things, but I would prefer Talon.”  The man was very polite.

“Thank you for helping Jes and us in the Library,” I looked at Jes, “Jes what happened to you after I entered the Library?  I had been in there for nearly three weeks.”  I said.

“Well, now that is an interesting story and it doesn’t look like you will be going anywhere soon. So I will tell you.  It all got interesting after there was a little fight at the Flying Horse.”

……………………………………………………………………………

Jes awoke in a daze.  “Hello, is anyone there? Damn it if you are, answer me.” 

A bright light illuminated the room, and a dark figure was standing in what seemed to be a door.  “Excuse me, but who are you, and why am I lying here?”  Jes nearly yelled at the man.

“Well, do you remember lassst night, when you attacked me, unprovoked?”  Now Jes could recognize the man, he was the cloaked figure with the big sword.

“Vividly, how did I end up here?”  Jes said

“When you went down I wasss very sssurprisssed, for you had alwaysss been very sssure footed.  That isss when I sssaw the guild massster and hisss horrible trap. When he found out that I had met sssomeone that could posssssibly bessst me, he decided to lay a trap in the ssstreet, hoping that our fight would leave the ale house. Sssadly he wasss correct.  Luckily! The trap hit you and not me.”

Jes interrupted him “Speak for yourself.” As he unconsciously rubbed where the spike had hit him. 

The interruption didn’t even faze him.  “After the trap hit itsss mark, I wasss undecided on what to do.  Never had I fought anyone sssuch asss you and I wasss curiousss asss to where you trained.  Ssso I brought you back to my home.” 

“This is your home, why is it so empty?” Asked Jes.  Surveying the empty room, he saw only the bed that he was currently occupying and a small wooden stool in the corner. 

“I have no want or desssire for treasssuresss or posssesssionsss,” answered the man.

“Okay, I have some questions for my rescuer. What is your name? Why do you have a god awful lisp and where did you get that wonderful sword?” The questions flew out of Jes’ mouth.

“To begin I am sssorry that I never introduced myssself.  When one isss trying not to be killed, they usssually are not worried about giving namesss and ssshaking handsss; my name isss Talon, once known asss Jayo.  Your other two quessstionsss warrant the ssstory of my life and it looksss like you are interesssted, ssso I will begin at the beginning.”

“It all ssstarted a few yearsss ago in a sssmall village North of the Badlandsss.” 

“When I was known asss Jayo I was very cocky.  No enemy had ever besssted me and my massster wasss worried that I may follow in another’s footsssteptsss; who thisss man wasss I wasss never told, but my massster wasss one of the six sssurvivorsss of the legendary battle of Red Beach.  I wasss only permitted to call him massster and Sssir, but I knew that hisss true name wasss Doxen.”  Talon paused and Jes took the opportunity to cut in. 

“Doxen? Wasn’t he the great battle mage, who was said to have killed three of the Queen’s Royal Guards?” 

“Yesss he isss the sssame.  I do not know why he chossse to teach me, but I took advantage of him and the ssskillsss he taught me; that isss until one day.”    

…………………………………………………………………………….

Three years earlier

“But Doxen I am ready to go, I am not the same as the other man, I will defeat him.”  Said Jayo.

“I told you never to call me that, show respect. Do you know what would happen if someone found out who I am?”  The rage in Doxen’s voice was evident.

“Please, you are more powerful than any other mage in this world and you have taught me to use magic unlike any I have ever heard of.  I could protect you.”  Doxen only laughed in response to Jayo.

“Do not laugh at me, master, ” said Jayo.

“Sorry, I am neither the great wizard that you speak of nor are you so well taught that you could protect me from my enemies.  But if you are so anxious to find your death and follow in reckless footsteps, then so be it. There is a dragon that has been terrorizing a hamlet.”  Doxen seemed a little sad as he spoke.

“Thank you master, but I am not reckless and I wear my own shoes. I am not like the one you always speak of and whose name is hidden, and I will strive where he failed.”  Jayo was very excited to meet the dragon who had killed so many. 

“One more thing Jayo, you cannot kill this dragon with magic, for it is born of it.  You must strike the final blow with a forge born weapon.”  Doxen handed his apprentice a short silver dagger.

“How am I supposed to kill it with this?”  Jayo fumbled with the dagger.  “It is too short and I will die if I try to get that close.” Doxen chuckled, “What did you think, killing a dragon was going to be easy?  It is not and if you are going to go then you will use the dagger.”  The master was very firm in his words.

“Fine, you will see.  I will kill him and bring back the treasures.” With that the cocky battle mage left to meet his destiny.

Doxen knew that he would survive, for he was indeed strong enough.

The journey to the dragon’s cave was short, but long enough for Jayo to develop a strategy for killing the beast.  Though, when he first saw the winged lizard all of the planning went out the window.  The dragon was the size of a small house.  Its horns were pure white and harder than steel.  The scales that covered its entire body caused the dragon to have an appearance of a river of blood, for its scales were red and the beast was as swift as the strongest river.

The battle was a fierce one, a tremendous amount of magic and fire collapsed the cave entrance, sealing the treasure and the battle from prying eyes.  Jayo was indeed a powerful battle mage and his prowess with sword and shield was unmatched by any. But in the end he was still foolish. 

Finally the mage trapped the dragon under a fallen beam and two treasure chests. 

“I have you now; I will not be another meal in your future.”  Jayo spoke to the beast. 

“Don’t be ssso sssure of that dragon ssslayer.”  The dragon seemed almost too calm for Jayo, and this unsettled him.

Wanting to return to his master and boast, Jayo summoned up one last bit of energy and struck the final blow.  This recklessness, led to his undoing.   Jayo compliantly dismissed the small dagger tucked in his belt.  The second the magic ended the beast’s life a surprising thing happened.  The stream of energy did not stop, but continued to flow; not towards the beast, but into Jayo.  The transformation had begun.

When a magical being is slain by a mortal weapon the soul is trapped within the blade at times giving those blades magical properties.  When a magical being dies by magic, the soul has not been trapped, and it will channel back to the caster. In Jayo’s case, that meant it channeled back to him through his blade. Two magical souls can occupy the same body, but with the split occupation also brings a split mind and body. In time the stronger mind will eventually take control.  Most dragon slayers end up looking similar to their prey, but with weak scales.  In Jayo’s case his power was great enough that his human features remained, but much of his skin became what the dragons’ once was, blood red scales.

……………………………………………………………………………

“And later that day when I returned to my massster I found out what had happened to me.  My cockinessss and rashnessss had causssed me to fail.”  Talon was relieved to have finished his story.

“Why are you so sad, you are impenetrable?”  Jes was fascinated with Talons scaled skin.

“No, it isss not a dream which sssome might think:  after the transssformation I wasss no longer able to ussse magic or to eat fruitsss and vegetablesss.  I have been craving the sssweet taste of grapes for many years.  My body is the ssshape of a human with the internal ssstructure of a dragon.  If you remember, I told you that I also have the presssence of a dragon in my mind.  I fought to control him for a long time and finally it gave in.  Sssince my appearance wasss altered I figured it right to change my name to Talon, it represssented the beginning of my new exissstance.  Alssso asss you might have noticed, I have thisss terrible ssspeach problem.”

“Yes, I have noticed, it’s hard not to,” said Jes. “So where did the sword come from.”  Jes continued

“The sssword wasss part of the dragonsss horn.  The hornsss denssse ssstructure causssed the weapon to be very difficult to forge.  Doxin completed thisss tasssk, for magic was required.”  Talon seemed conflicted when he spoke, Jes came to realize.  It is possible that he did not have very many people to confide in. 

“So does the dragon speak to you in your head?”  Jes asked.

“I can hear whissspersss, but I have come to accept them.  Sssometimesss it isss a great help, for thisss voice bringsss thingsss to my attention. Thingsss I would normally not sssee.”

“Oh!  That would be a great help.  So how did you end up here?”   Jes wondered.

“Well, after the battle I could feel I wasss different.  Doxen did asss well; ssso I left in an attempt to find my place in thisss world. What I found asss I traveled from town to town wasss ale and ssslaversss; which finally led me here, and the end of my ssstory.”

Jes and Talon continued to talk throughout the day and night.  Jes told the dragon-man of Lyndon and how he had supposedly survived the flame, and made it into the Library.  He also told of the incident in Townsmend.  The next few days they traveled around the city looking for some entrance to the underground; a week had passed before they got a break.

Out of the corner of his eye Jes saw a man sneak down an alley. 

“Hey Talon!   Let’s talk to this guy.”  As Jes elbowed Talon.

When they reached the bum, they realized that it was not a bum at all but the guild master; the same one who had tried to kill them earlier that week.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” Jes said to the man.

“Please, do you have some change?  If you have come to bother me, then be gone. I am just a lonely, old bum.”  The man was quick to answer as his body began to quiver.

“You are neither; now tell me how to get into the sewers.”  Jes was starting to get aggravated.

“I don’t know how,” the man’s attitude and memory changed when he found himself staring at a massive white blade.  “Well, maybe I do.  If you continue down this alley you will find a door that is hidden and this door will take you down.”  The man pointed a shaking finger in the direction of the alley’s conclusion.   “But no one ever goes there; it is haunted; voices drive people crazy.  Now please let me go.”  The thief’s voice was very shaky.