The Magic Wakes (8 page)

Landry was not aware of any magical season on Sendek. He had, however, learned to hide his skepticism in order to keep people talking.

“What exactly are you saying?”

“She’s different than us. Born on the sixth day of the first season just as the boy in the legend; the boy who could communicate with wild animals and turn the river back on itself. I’ve never seen the girl do those things, although she always kept to herself. She stayed up in the cottage with her folks at the edge of the forest. Her parents used to bring her down to the hospital a lot when she was about a year old, but eventually they stopped. I never heard if she was cured or not, but some people said she turned into a creature at night, and that can’t be cured.”

She shook her head sadly. “She still lives up there most of the time, but we just leave her alone. No need to tempt fate if you know what I mean.”

Because a little girl was born on a certain day and been sick as a baby, her neighbors ostracized her. It must have been a lonely existence, filled only with family. A family he had tried to take away from her.

“Why didn’t you file the birth record? Isn’t that a part of your job as midwife?”

“That’s for the hospitals to worry about.”

Landry wondered how many people with unrecorded births lived in Gneledar.

“One last question, did she attend school here in the town?”

“Oh, yes. She was a very dedicated student. She studied hard and was always top of the class. You could always find her in the library. They have one computer station that everyone just considered as hers. I think she even reprogrammed it. No one else in town uses it, not even when we know she’s traveling. It may not be safe.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“People die when she’s around. First her father, and then her mother. After her mother died, she went to live with her brother. He was such a good-looking man, but he didn’t live long after she moved in. We hoped she would stay away, but she always comes home to that house up on the hill west of town. Is she in some kind of trouble?” She looked eager to hear some new bit of gossip.

“No, she isn’t in any kind of trouble. We like to do security checks on anyone we work with, and we found we didn’t know a lot about her.” Landry’s head ached from the superstitious fears emanating from the woman. “Thank you for your time.”

“Oh, no problem at all. You know, I’ve never seen anyone with eyes the color as yours. Were you born in the first season? Only children born at that time of year have colored eyes. I’ve delivered a few myself, but none of them were as light blue as yours.”

“I guess I’m just lucky then. Thanks again.” Landry turned and walked away.

How did the woman know which season he had been born in? Was there something to her mystical mumbo jumbo?

He shrugged it off and decided to visit the hospital again before going to see the Zaryn home place. Then he would return to Joharadin and apologize to Miss Zaryn.

Ruin waited for the new recruit at the bottom of the stairs, just as he had a few days earlier.

Jaron jumped down the last few stairs and landed in front of Ruin.

“Ruin, nice to see you again.”

“Werner wants you to report directly to him from here on out.” Ruin shrugged his shoulders and turned away from the young man.

“That’s fine with me. Lead on.”

Jaron walked into Selvan Werner’s library behind Ruin and took a quick look around. The room was another chamber of the vast cave system that made up the Signum lair, but this one exuded wealth and comfort.

Armor made from dragon scales lined one wall, each suit sparkled green, blue, gold, or red in the circle from a spotlight. Behind the armor was a curio shelf filled with more magical wonders. Jars contained dragon eyes, heart, tongues, and even dragon lungs. There were talons and one large dragon egg in the center of the shelf.

Jaron’s lips twitched as he looked away from the shelf and focused on Werner.

“Ruin, you may leave us.” Selvan Werner dismissed the man with a wave and turned to Jaron.

A cloud darkened Ruin’s face before he closed the door.

“It is time for you to learn the details of your mission before you enroll at the university. Have a seat,” Werner said to Jaron.

Werner sat in a large overstuffed chair with his feet propped up on an ottoman. He picked up an old parchment from the table beside him. A special airtight slipcover protected it.

“Modern technology is useful for one very important thing—preserving the wisdom of the past. Come, sit down.” He pointed to a chair beside him while he fingered the parchment reverently.

Jaron sat down and held out his hand. “May I see it?”

“This is the oldest record ever written that mentions the Dragumon. It will give me the power to destroy them once they remove the Royalists from power, so you’ll understand if I keep it to myself.” Werner’s tight lips slid open to reveal a thin line of teeth. “Soon it will be my turn to rule, and your service will be a part of that.”

“I’m proud to be a part of this new world order. What must I do?”

Werner gently put the parchment down and detailed Jaron’s mission.

Jaron watched him closely as he cast the mind control spell. Werner’s lips barely moved and the only sound that escaped were small puffs of air. Absorbed by the sound of his own voice, Werner gazed at his shelves of books.

Jaron gathered the energies around him and spread the mind net. Werner’s mind bent to his will. It would only take a few moments for Werner to slip into a dream-like state allowing him to talk but not remember the conversation later.

Jaron slowly exhaled, then spoke to Werner.

“You have a story you want to tell me—a story about the Dragumon.”

A smile came to Werner’s lips. “Yes, a wonderful story. Would you like to hear it?”

“More than anything.”

“First you have to understand that our world was different thousands upon thousands of years ago. People not only believed in mages and dragons, they depended on their magic. That’s what made it possible for a mage to create the Dragumon in the first place.”

Werner sat limply in his chair, his eyes half closed as if trying to see something in the distance. He did not blink, confirming the spell was strong.

“How were the Dragumon created?”

“In those days, for help in conceiving a child, you went to the local witch or offered prayers to various gods. Many people did both. The first hatching of Dragumon came from a woman named Quilla and her husband, Danik. The villagers later said they remembered a very old man enter their small home. No one came out for two days. No one knew what was going on inside, and the sad thing is no one cared. They should have.”

“Do you know what happened?” Jaron did not want to lose the connection with Werner’s mind, but he needed to guide him to the information he needed.

“Oh, yes. It took a long time to figure out, but the first Signum learned what happened. The old man was a mage named Elvin Thule, and he performed an abomination that day. He carried dragon eggs and other mystical ingredients needed to perform a binding spell into the house with him.”

“How did he carry more than one egg? Dragon eggs are huge.”

“I don’t know. The record doesn’t say, but the drawings show much smaller eggs. They were only the size of your fist.”

Jaron was confused but filed his questions away for later. “Please continue.”

“He bound those eggs to Quilla, using her blood and who knows what else. Somehow, that spell made it possible for Quilla to carry the eggs in her womb just like a human child. The pregnancy was short but taxing, and Quilla died during childbirth. Elvin Thule and a dragon arrived shortly after the birthing and carried away the hybrid creatures before anyone else could see them. Before leaving, the dragon burned down the house with Quilla and Danik inside.”

Werner showed no signs of the spell weakening, so Jaron ventured another question.

“What happened to the babies?”

“The mage took them to be raised by the dragons, but that was not the end of his work. He began building an army of these creatures. Women all over the country found themselves pregnant without any memory of the mage visiting them. They died in childbirth, making it clear that the mages and the dragons had declared war on us. The king decided to stop the mages before they killed all the women of childbearing age. People no longer trusted each other, and those with magical tendencies went into hiding.”

“Why would they declare war on the people who depended on their services? That doesn’t make sense.” Jaron couldn’t help but think of his own world where magic and science worked well together.

“They denied it, of course. Elvin Thule said he was trying to bridge the gap between humans and dragons so all could live in peace, but no one believed that.”

“How long did this go on?”

“For twenty years. After the first five or six years, women stopped dying in childbirth, so we believe that is when the last clutches were born. The next fifteen years was time enough for them to grow and be trained in the way of the dragons.”

Werner blinked and shook his head. The spell was weakening.

Jaron refocused his mind, moved closer to Werner, and once again tightened the net. The demon within him moved to the surface to lend extra strength.

“Why did the Dragumon leave Sendek?”

“One day Thule and the dragon lord Jenska flew to the royal city of Johar with a hundred dragons and their demonic spawn. The Dragumon stood on two legs, taller than any man, covered with scales and with faces like the dragons. The men of Johar rallied against them, killing the mage and the dragon Jenska. The other dragons and their spawn flew away. The sight of them terrorized the countryside, and the king’s scholars used that to their advantage, waging war against all things magical. It turned the kingdom toward scientific advancement instead. The king raised a great military to fight the dragons and the Signum were formed to help get rid of the mages.”

“How does one dispose of mages without magic?” Jaron’s mind reeled. He tried to imagine the wizards of his world fighting the men of science. Orek would have been ruined in the process.

“The first Signum counsel pitted the mages against each other by promising land and power to any mage that would work for them. It attracted those who were willing to hunt down and kill other mages. When only the greedy remained, the king threw a banquet to honor them, but it was a trap. In the end all the mages were wiped out.”

“How did the king kill the mages? They had magic on their side,” Jaron asked.

“The cooks mixed herbs in with the food that dulled their magical talents and slowed their reflexes. It was a simple matter for the Royalists, the king’s new military arm, to come in and slaughter them. But no one ever found a single Dragumon. We later learned that the Dragons opened a portal and sent them to another planet.”

“How do you know these things?”

“I have the ancient texts. I have everything that was ever written, before the world forgot all about the Dragumon.” Werner’s glazed eyes cleared as he blinked more frequently.

“And how have these texts come into your possession? How could they even survive for so many thousands of years?”

Jaron put the last of his strength into holding the spell, but he had grown weak and knew he was losing control. He reached forward and grabbed Werner in an effort to hold onto the connection.

“The King of Johar organized our group to take care of the mages. These mages worked for us, and before the Royalists killed them, we used them to gather knowledge. When the Royalists captured the great dragon lord, Thraned, our mages learned everything that I have told you, and much more. We kept careful records, and carefully tended and copied the records when necessary.”

“How has your group survived? It is unbelievable. What was your purpose once the last of the mages were killed?” So many questions cluttered Jaron’s mind that he could no longer contain his eagerness as he asked them.

“The Signum knew the Dragumon were out there somewhere. If the Dragumon ever found their way home, someone would need to be ready to destroy them. That is the power we have gained through the gathering of knowledge.”

“Yes. That is the power I want. Tell me how to destroy the Dragumon.” Jaron tried to calm his heart rate because the connection was slipping away.

“There is . . .” Werner blinked and Jaron cursed himself.

The spell dissolved and he was too exhausted to reestablish the connection. A groan escaped as he called on the demon for strength, but it laughed at him as it retreated to the back of his mind. His only option was to release Werner and hurry to his seat.

“I’m sorry. What were we talking about?” Werner’s brows drew together and he shook his head for a moment before frowning at Jaron.

“The Kiyan Bridge.”

“Ah, yes . . .”