A Dragon Born (5 page)

"Aaron and the princess?" Stavros was a little surprised.

"Well, I'm not sure about that. They seemed very close, but I couldn't tell if they were lovers, and I can usually tell such things. Folks act different when they've shared a night. I couldn't be sure though. Aaron's different from most men I've met. He's full grown like a man, but younger in his way, more like a boy." She turned to Zachary. "You might not know him, but you've a fine son."

"Well, let's figure out how to remove this ward so we can let the lad speak for himself," Zachary said. Now he was the one getting impatient. "Thank you, for speaking well of him. I am sorry, please tell me your name again, young lady."

"It's Carly."

"Carly?" For some reason, Zachary felt like her name was missing something.

"For now," she replied with a vague smile.

"Let's see what we can do for young Aaron," Stavros said.

He took a deep breath and reached out with his power and touched the lines of energy, the intricate web of magic that was woven around Aaron. Stavros recognized the parts that he had created and, fortunately, they still responded to his touch. He focused his will on one of the threads and commanded it to release. The thread of power loosened and became weaker, but it was almost immediately strengthened by power that flowed from the other threads that were twisted beyond recognition. He tried again, pushing with a little more of his magic as he commanded the thread to release and it seemed to dissipate for a moment but energy leapt from the other threads and regenerated it almost immediately.

"I see the problem," Zachary said. "It is regenerating itself, almost like a living thing."

"Yes. It is almost as though the ward is alive."

"Maybe it is," Zachary said.

"Maybe it is what?"

"Alive, after a fashion," Zachary suggested. "You said he had power, even as an infant."

"Yes, a lot of it."

"Did you use any of his power when you created the ward, to sustain it, perhaps?"

"A small amount, yes," Stavros said, pondering what Zachary had asked, then he realized what could have happened. "His own power may not only be supplementing the ward, but it has taken control of it."

"Exactly. If he's had it almost his whole life, his power may have adapted to it, like a tree growing around a rock or an object of some kind. His power may have also adapted the ward, strengthening it and entwining itself with it, even if he was unaware of it."

"Then if he's intertwined with the ward, how do we untwine him? I can't dispel it while it is receiving enough power to regenerate itself so quickly."

"If we could drain him of energy, that might weaken the ward," Zachary suggested.

"But it's the ward that stops him from using his power."

"But it absorbs power. What if we drain the ward instead?"

"First of all, draining power is not easy to do. It is one thing to create a spell that can divert or even drain power, but for a mage to do it, that would be something entirely different; it is akin to death magic."

"I might know a thing or two about death magic," Zachary said, with a dark expression on his face.

"Death magic has been forbidden for generations." Stavros was surprised that Zachary would have such knowledge. "You, yourself, spoke against its use many times, and most vehemently, at the Council."

"Yes, I did, because I learned enough about it to know how insidious it is. It is naked lust, and theft, Stavros. It is a rape of the mind, worse, of a person's entire being, and it has no legitimate cause beyond fulfilling a desire of power for the sake of power. However, there are aspects of death magic that can be useful, though only aspects. This ward you created even bears similarities to it, though its purpose is entirely the opposite. I learned death magic then I removed all the books and scrolls pertaining to it from the libraries and locked them away before we even voted to ban its teaching. Even so, it appears this priesthood that has taken over the world of mages uses a form of death magic. That is the basis of their religion, that and their worship of this supposed one god."

"The way the ward absorbs energy might be similar, but it is most certainly not death magic," Stavros insisted.

He was appalled at the idea. No one knew, but long ago, he had conducted his own research into death magic and what he had discovered had repulsed him. It was beyond theft, and the notes in books by mages of ancient times considered it to be a form of magic that was worse than murder and rape, for it not only involved draining another mage's energy, but taking the mage's magical ability as well. Some of the notes suggested that a person might even lose their personality, the essence of who they were, but most often it ended in the death of the one whose power was taken. Many years ago, when Zachary was the head of the Council of Mages, he had both voted, along with most of the other members of the Council, to ban teaching even the theories surrounding it. One of the mages who had opposed them was Dakar, a principal of the priesthood, which, when looking back upon it, was no longer surprising.

"Stavros, I'm not accusing you of using death magic to create this ward," Zachary told him. "I have explored such magic further than most, so I do not stand on high ground, but it seems to be the best solution."

Stavros looked at the intricate lines of power surrounding Aaron.

"So, one of us drains the power from the ward and, at the same time, gets drained of power by the ward, in the hope of being faster than the power of the ward and having enough power to handle it, while the other dispels the ward itself. It could work, but if whoever is draining the ward runs out of power before it is drained completely, then what?"

"Let's not think about it," Zachary said. "I'll do it."

"You do realize that when the ward absorbs your power, it might divert it to Aaron, which would infuse him with more power and cause greater pressure behind the ward. The mage I spoke with said the ward was already putting him in a great deal of pain."

"Well, he's already unconscious, so if there is any pain involved, it is probably better that he isn't awake to feel it."

"Are you sure of that?" Stavros had forgotten how cavalier Zachary could be about risks. It was one of the things that had made him such a powerful mage, but there had also been consequences of a few of his actions over the years.

"No, I'm not," Zachary admitted. "I'm not sure of anything, except this young man, who you tell me is my son, which I believe to be the truth for a number of reasons, first among them being that you're a terrible liar, is trapped inside a spell that has gone horribly wrong and it is already causing him a great deal of pain. We can leave him like he is, which does not look particularly enjoyable or we can try to free him. Does that sound about right?"

"You have always had a way of making perfect sense while saying very little of meaning and, at the same time, sounding like a pompous ass," Stavros told him.

"Thank you. Now, what do you say we give it a try?"

"And you are fine with the possibility of having your power drained, perhaps almost entirely?" Stavros did not want to think what might happen if things went further than that.

"The day my power is drained by a spell created by you is the day I give up drinking," Zachary replied, though he was more concerned about the young man who lay before him.

"May I quote those words to you later?" Stavros could not help but chuckle.

"No, you may not," he responded with a look in his eye that reminded Stavros of a time, long ago, before the mage had withdrawn from the world. It was good to see a hint of the old Zachary, as arrogant and obnoxious as he was. "Just be quick about dispelling this ward. If what you said about the priesthood is true, this is not a particularly opportune time to be weakened of one's power."

"True," Stavros said.

"Are you ready?" Zachary asked.

"Whenever you are."

"Carly, please step back. In fact, it may be best if you leave the room and make sure no one disturbs us. This may prove difficult for my friend here and it is best that he work with as few distractions as possible," Zachary said. Stavros did not miss the insult.

"Yes, it would be very helpful if you could guard the door, Carly," he said. "Zachary's pride and vanity might not survive if a young and beautiful woman such as yourself saw him grovelling on the floor, weak as a kitten, berift of his power and destined to waste away while outlandishly claiming that he was once someone important."

"I'll leave the two of you alone. Feel free to throw as many barbs at each other as you like, so long as you solve whatever this ward or spell is that you put on him," Carly told them as she exited the room.

Zachary smiled at Stavros. "Shall we begin?" he said as he placed a hand upon Aaron's shoulder. He focused on the ward itself, hoping to minimize his contact with the power that resided in the young man, the son he had never met.

Once he had grasped the threads of energy and was sure of his grip, Zachary pressed with his will, sinking his own energy into it, feeling the flow of it move around his own, the current shifting and swirling like what happens when one sets foot in a fast moving river. He felt the power of the ward begin to tug at him and absorb his energy as the spell activated and he was surprised at how strong was its pull. He could feel his magic being drained away and saw that it was being infused into Aaron. The young man stirred a little and looked to be feeling some pain as Zachary took a deep breath and began to pull the energy from the ward, sucking it toward him, toward the core of his being. The power flooded into him fast, quickly replenishing that which the ward had absorbed and the powerful rush of it reminded him of why death magic was so seductive.

Many years ago, when he had experimented with it briefly, Zachary had tasted the elation of raw power flowing into him. It had taken every bit of his will to force himself to stop and the other mage who had agreed to let him test the magic had nearly died and was severely weakened for a very long time as a result. Even though they had both agreed to it and knew the risks, the other mage had held a grudge against Zachary about it for years. It was entirely irrational, but the mage had continued feeding his bitterness toward Zachary, and eventually even became an opponent of his on the Council of Mages. Later, that same mage went on to found the religious order known as the Priesthood. Zachary wondered about his former friend and pupil, and was both saddened and angered at what Dakar had become and he wondered if it was time he did something about it.

"Can you dispel the ward now?" he asked. Stavros reached out with his own power and began to tug at the lines of power and Zachary saw them begin to dissipate at the mage's touch.

"Yes," Stavros said. "It's working."

"Good," Zachary replied, unable to say more as power flooded into him much faster than the ward drained his own.

Aaron's power was flowing into him too quickly and it was all Zachary could do to absorb all of it. The sheer force of it was overwhelming and he caught a few echoes of the boy's thoughts as well, which was not a good sign. Zachary worried that if he went too far, he could absorb Aaron's mind and personality, which was the last thing he wanted to do, but the flow of power was much stronger than the one time he had used this kind of magic and there was little he could do to slow it down. Stavros had been right; the boy was exceptionally powerful, made more so by the ward, which had pent up his energy for so long. Zachary watched as Stavros severed the lines and links of the ward, like unravelling the threads of a tapestry, and it seemed like the process was happening unbearably slow.

"Hurry up, Stavros."

"It is delicate work," he explained. "The ward is so intertwined with his power and mind, that if I am not careful, I could harm him."

"If you take too long, there will be nothing left of him. It is moving fast."

The grey-cloaked mage looked as his old friend and saw his eyes take on a silver sheen deep within the inky black pools and he saw sweat beginning to bead on Zachary's forehead. Stavros was so focused on the threads of the ward that he had not noticed the flow of power between the boy and his father. He saw the connection between the two at Zachary's fingertips and was astonished at the sheer amount of raw energy flowing between them. It would be enough to level the entire town and all of Meer Island, possibly more than once. Rather than worrying about the wisdom of their choice of location to work with such powerful magics, Stavros focused on the ward and began to cut the lines as quickly as he could. Before long, he had removed almost all of the original lines and was left with one part that was a tangle of power that had warped into something he barely recognized. Stavros paused for a moment, unsure of where he should start.

"Hurry," Zachary said from between gritted teeth.

Stavros had only once seen such a grim expression on the man's face, the day he had learned that the woman he loved had died, and he knew they were running out of time. He touched the tangle of power and pried at it, looking for weaknesses, parts that might not be bound as tightly and, after some prodding he found one line that looked like it might release some of the others. Stavros dispelled it, but it turned out to be a very small piece and removing it barely affected the rest. He tried another one and it too did very little to loosen the others. Aaron's body began to shake with tremors and Stavros could see that an unfavorable pallor had fallen across his face.