Authors: S. G. Rogers
Secrets of Yden (28 page)
"I'm not going to hurt you, but you're not staying on Yden, either," Jon said. "After I return with the spell, I'm dragging your sorry mongrel tail through the portal with me. Think on that for a while."
A tone came from Jon's Wizport pouch. He emptied the pouch onto the ground so he wouldn't accidentally make contact with any object Lux might have included. This time, however, there was just a note.
To: Jon Hansen of the Dragon Clan
From: Chairman Lux of the Spider Clan
There has been a misunderstanding, young wizard. I have no interest in arresting you for your violation of the Protection of Yden Act. Return to the Executive Council chamber so we may discuss the amicable reconciliation of this matter.
Magically yours,
Chairman Lux
"Liar, liar, pants on fire," Jon muttered, sending the parchment up in flames.
How big an idiot does Lux think I am?
Well, he isn't the only wizard capable of being sneaky.
Jon brought out his pocket sketchpad and pencil and wrote a reply, telling Lux to meet him at the Andresen Waterfalls, alone, so they could talk. Of course, Jon had no intention of showing up, but he hoped Lux would send the Executive Council wizards who were on Dragon Isle to arrest him. No matter what the chairman had written in his note, Jon knew without a shadow of a doubt his arrest was the goal. Since he was now obliged to retrieve the portal spell, the fewer wizards he had to fight on Dragon Isle, the better.
After Jon addressed the note to Chairman Lux and tucked it into his Wizport pouch, he took Lialia aside. "I've no choice now but to go get the portal spell. If you can let me through when I transport back, I'd appreciate it."
Lialia rested her hand on his arm. "Can I not dissuade you from this plan? Let Efysian go through the portal in your stead."
"To close the portal, he'd have to be wearing a clan ring. And if he had a clan ring, he'd fight his way out of here and I'd be responsible for unleashing a monster on Yden again. It's just not going down like that, but thank you." He kissed her on the cheek.
Efysian couldn't hear the conversation, but he obviously could read body language. "How
sad
," he said as he struggled to free himself from Jon's binding spell. "I simply want to burst into tears."
Jon shook his head. "What I wouldn't give for a muzzle."
****
After Jon materialized inside his bungalow, Arielle flew to his shoulder and began to nibble on his hair.
Did anyone hear my transport?
Jon climbed the ladder to the crow's nest and peeked out. Two Executive Council wizards were hanging around the tree house, unfortunately, but at least neither one was moving toward the bungalow.
I must be too far away for them to hear me.
Jon chewed his bottom lip as he mulled over using a sleep spell to subdue them. Finally, he decided the risk was too high; even if he could sneak close enough to cast the spell before the wizards' clan rings warned them of his presence, Quixoran might somehow be blamed.
Moving quickly down the ladder into the bungalow, Jon opened his locker and retrieved the portal spell scroll. As his fingers closed around the scroll, he was suddenly struck by the magnitude of what was about to take place.
My entire existence is going to change.
He couldn't bear to see Adam and Eve, knowing it was for the last time, and if he spoke with Quixoran, he'd probably fall apart⦠but he had to say goodbye to Kira in person.
"Arielle, is Kira on Dragon Isle?"
The house dragon chittered a yes.
Since Jon wasn't sure if the Wizport network had been hacked, he scribbled a message to Kira and put it into Ariel's front claws.
"Find her and deliver this message. Make sure she's alone."
Arielle flew off, and Jon spent a few minutes composing personal notes to his family and friends â even writing something nice to Max. He left all the notes stacked neatly on his hammock, knowing they'd be found later. Just as he finished folding the last one into a square, Kira hastened through the door of the bungalow, bringing a subtle cloud of lilac fragrance with her.
"What on Yden is happening, Jon? The volcano nearly erupted when Dorsit told your grandfather that the Executive Council had tried to arrest you. He and Dorsit are at the Castle Ytherium with your father right now. In the meantime, Executive Council wizards are waiting for you at the tree house."
"Don't worry, Kira. Everything will resolve itself soon." Jon traced her beautiful face with his fingertips, trying to burn the memory of her so deep into his brain he wouldn't forget â no matter what the portal did to him.
"I don't understand."
"I just want you to know I love you."
He'd always figured the first time he told a girl he loved her, it would be embarrassing or weird, but the ticking clock had changed his perspective.
I'm grateful I have the chance to say it to Kira in person.
She started to reply, but Jon silenced her words with a kiss. He held her close as long as he dared, but finally it was time to go. He stepped back, picked up the scroll, and gave Kira a lopsided grin.
"Goodbye, Kira Szul," he said. "Warrior Princess."
Something like panic arose in her violet eyes and Jon knew she suspected he was leaving to close the portal. "Don'tâ" she began.
With a lump in his throat, Jon transported.
****
True to her word, Lialia had not resealed Efysian's cavern, and Jon was able to transport directly into the center.
"Lialia, could you make sure no one else can get in here?" he called out.
The only answer was the echo of his voice. Puzzled, he glanced around, but the nymph was nowhere to be seen. With a pang of horror, Jon suddenly realized Efysian was also missing.
How did he free himself from my binding spell
?
At that exact moment, Ophelia sent a warning up his arm so painful Jon felt it in his jaw. He conjured a shield spell quickly enough to avoid most of the electric shock Efysian threw at him, but what got past his shield hurt â a lot. It felt like a souped-up jolt from Casey's invention called a Disrupter. When Casey had tested the device on Jon the past summer, it had evoked a sensation he hadn't wanted to repeat.
Desperate for cover, Jon darted into the forest of stalagmites punctuating the cavern.
How is Efysian working magic without a clan ring?
The sound of low growling raised the hair on the back of his neck; Efysian had transformed into a wolf and was stalking him. In this subterranean arena, four legs had the definite advantage over two.
Think, Jon! You have to even the odds or he'll rip you apart.
The huge black wolf was yards away when he attacked, leaping from the shadows with his fangs bared. Jon transformed into a dragon, and the wolf's claws scrabbled harmlessly against his tough, scaly hide. As the wolf slid to the ground, Jon brought his muscular tail around to slam the creature into a hairball. Efysian narrowly avoided disaster with an amazing sideways jump, and although Jon chased him with a huge gust of dragon fire, the wolf escaped unharmed. Several seconds of silence followed.
"Someone has been studying." Efysian's voice seemed to come from all directions at once. "Very good, Dragon Wizard."
The huge everlasting orb lighting the cavern exploded and Jon was plunged into darkness. He was obliged to return to human form to conjure another orb, but as soon as he created light, Efysian's wave of repulsion found him. Jon flew backward, colliding with a ten-foot tall stalagmite. The impact knocked the wind from his lungs and left him woozy, but he had no chance to dwell on it. With a wave of his hand, Efysian severed a huge swath of razor-sharp stalactites from the ceiling. As they fell, Jon couldn't be sure if his shield spell would hold against such a massive onslaught, so he transported out of the way. After he materialized on the other side of Efysian, he threw a sleep spell at him⦠to no effect. Dumbfounded, Jon sent a wave of repulsion, but again the attack seemingly passed through Efysian as if he wasn't really there.
A phantasm!
By the time Jon realized he'd been tricked, he found himself wrapped in a binding spell, helpless to move.
Efysian laughed and stepped into view. White streaks had formed in his long black hair, and his skin was spotted and wrinkled. More significant, however, was the Wolf Clan ring on his finger.
How did he find it?
Jon's head was still spinning from contact with the stalagmite, and he was having a hard time making sense of anything.
"Pitiful effort, Dragon Whelp, but I admit you fought better than I had expected. How does it feel to be betrayed by a friend?"
"W-What are you talking about?"
"
Lialia. You should not have trusted her."
Jon was confused. Lialia must have found Efysian's ring and returned it to him.
Of all people, why would she betray me?
"Where is the Portal Key?" Efysian demanded.
Jon's shirt had been ripped completely open from the fight and the silver ankh around his neck was clearly visible. Although his head was pounding, Jon chuckled.
Efysian doesn't know what the Portal Key looks like.
"Go howl at the moons," he muttered.
Efysian retaliated with a nasty punishment spell, lancing Jon's head with excruciating pain. He tried to bite back a scream, but failed. Something warm rolled down his face from the corners of his eyes and dripped into his mouth. He spat out his own blood while praying for strength.
Come on,
focus!
His lips moved as he remembered the spell of undoing, and suddenly the pain eased and he burst free of the red strands holding his arms to his side.
"How did you do that?" Efysian gasped.
Jon fired off an uncontrolled wave of repulsion, sending the Wolf Clan wizard skidding into the shadows twenty feet away.
The fur is flying now.
Intending to pick Efysian up by the scruff of his neck and shake him like a rug, Jon covered the distance between them quickly. When he reached the spot where Efysian had landed, the wizard was gone. A peculiar sensation gripped Jon then, like a horrible premonition. The eerie feeling was so intense he had to lean against the nearest stalagmite for support. A heartbeat later, he saw a woman sprawled on the ground nearby. Her identity was unclear right away, since she was partly hidden behind a rock formation.
Not Lialia!
Surrounded by a shield spell, Jon crept closer until he could see the woman's eyes, glassed over with death.
It was Kira.
Seven Mortal Challenges
Jon drew on every ounce of strength he had to keep it together. His emotions were saying one thing but logic was telling him something else.
This can't be Kira
. He'd left her minutes before, happy and healthy.
This has to be an evil trick
. He murmured the spell of undoing as if it were a prayer, nearly crying out in relief when Kira's image dissolved. Efysian had cast a night terror spell to unnerve him, and it had worked in a spectacular fashion.
Two can play that game.
Into the hollow of his cupped hands, Jon whispered, "Come and get me, dog-face!" before magically throwing his voice into the cavern clearing. He taunted Efysian several more times, hoping to lure him into the open. All the while, Jon edged toward the center as he listened for the sound of movement. When Efysian's faint footfall reached his ears, he cast his own
night terror spell into the clearing as wide as possible.
A thin wail echoed off the cavern ceiling, and Jon inched around the stalagmite until Efysian became visible. The elderly wizard was kneeling on the ground next to Conundrum, his dead wolf. The enormous creature was probably the only thing Efysian had ever cared about other than himself. Jon felt a slight pang of guilt since he'd been responsible for Conundrum's death. The wolf's appearance was just a night terror illusion, but it reminded Jon how he'd felt when Adam had been injured at the Fox Clan stronghold. Efysian's sorrow hardly made Jon feel triumphant. Instead, he felt a vague sense of shame.
I'm better than this.
He lifted the spell and the vision of Conundrum disappeared.
"Sorry about your pet," Jon mumbled.
"He wasn't a
pet
," Efysian snarled in reply. "He was a wolf."
Before Jon could blink, Efysian used a wave of repulsion to pin him to a stalagmite. Moments later, one of Efysian's withered hands was squeezing Jon's throat, choking off the flow of oxygen. With an evil laugh, he shoved a long dragon bone into Jon's gut.
Weakened from shock and with mere seconds until he lost consciousness, Jon peeled Efysian's thumb away from his windpipe, breaking the stranglehold on his neck. Fortunately the Wolf Clan wizard was aging fast and Jon didn't need too much strength to get free. Gritting his teeth against the torturous pain at his core, Jon clocked Efysian with a left hook to his temple. The wizard staggered and fell to the ground in a swoon.
Now for the fun part â to heal myself.
The bone stiletto was needle sharp, the thickness of a pencil, and about eight inches long. Despite his frail appearance, Efysian had done a good job of skewering Jon nearly all the way through. Blood was welling up from the wound, staining the remnants of his shirt with bright red. His fingertips trembled as he reached for the few inches of bone protruding from his abdomen.
Don't think about it, just do it!
A quick burst of gravitation did the trick. The stiletto flew out, but Jon couldn't stifle a scream. Fighting to remain conscious, he slid down the stalagmite to a sitting position and clutched the ankh. A burst of light healed him of his mortal injuries, but he didn't feel especially fantastic.