Spirit Blade: Book III of the Dragon Mage Trilogy (9 page)

“I was hungry,” explained Amelia. She patted her belly. “Now I’m full. It was delicious.”

The waitress smiled and left with the dishes.

“You could have left her some, you know,” chided Kazin to the empty space before him.

Sherman burped. “Sorry.”

Amelia elbowed him and he winced.

“So now what?” asked Olag.

“We have to obtain information about the world beyond the elves’ borders,” explained Kazin. He nodded toward the quickly filling inn restaurant. “Let’s mingle.”

“Can you hold your spells while we’re doing that?” asked Amelia, concerned.

Kazin nodded. “As long as everyone stays within the building. If anyone has to leave for whatever reason, let me know and I’ll try to increase my spell power.”

Everyone nodded.

“Let’s not all get up at once,” suggested Harran. “That would look strange.”

“Good idea,” said Zylor. “Some of us should stay and pretend we’re having a conversation.”

“You can guard the sack,” said Harran. He tossed it to the minotaur, who was doubling as a tall, slender elf. Harran got up to wander around.

Kazin was already underway, bearing down on an elf at the bar who appeared to be a traveler who was not in his home village. He sat next to the individual and nodded to him as he sat down.

“Greetings.”

“Greetings,” responded the stranger.

“You don’t look like you’re from around here,” said Kazin.

The stranger shook his head and took a swig of his ale. “No. I arrived with my caravan yesterday and delivered my goods to the village.”

“What were you carrying?” asked Kazin.

The stranger waved toward the occupied tables behind him. “Take a guess.”

Kazin took a glance behind him and returned his gaze to the stranger.

“You brought milk?”

The stranger nodded. “Personally, I hate the stuff, but it brings in good money.”

Kazin chuckled. “I know what you mean. Some of my friends are the same way.”

The stranger held out his hand. “Shilar.”

Kazin shook his hand, noticing his delicate elven hands make contact with Shilar’s. “Kazin.”

“Interesting name,” commented Shilar.

“I didn’t have a choice,” said Kazin.

Shilar laughed. “Me neither.”

“Are you staying long?” asked Kazin.

Shilar sighed. “I was due to depart this afternoon, but the dragon attack set me back. Two of my wagons were set on fire. I barely had time to get the containers of milk off in time. With the wagons destroyed, I had to sell the milk containers to the village at a discount to get rid of them.” The crowd behind them erupted into a raucous laughter and Shilar winced. “I had hoped to get my shipment further inland where I could fetch a better price, but the dragon attack spoiled all that.”

“Do you have any supplies left?” asked Kazin.

“Two of my wagons survived the dragon attack,” said Shilar, “but only one still has containers of milk. The other one has herbs specifically designated for a town south of here.”

Kazin nodded. “So where do you do most of your trade?”

Shilar snorted and took another swig of ale. “With humans, of course. But it’s getting harder to do business these days.”

“Why?”

“Haven’t you heard? The war is all anyone is talking about these days.”

“War?” asked Kazin. When Shilar gave him a look, he added, “My companions and I have been on a quest for some time and have just returned. Any news is new news.”

Shilar nodded in understanding. “Well, as far as I can tell, there is a war going on between the humans and a sizeable number of evil creatures who see them as a threat. Ever since the humans sailed in from the east to settle in these lands a couple of generations ago, tensions have been building between them and the existing inhabitants. As far as we elves are concerned, it’s a good thing the humans arrived. The evil creatures north of here have raided and pillaged our towns for generations. The raids were starting to get more frequent and deadly. Now they leave our borders alone for the most part. The humans are dealing with them instead. What surprises me is how resilient the humans are. They’re building cities, farms, and even have a mage tower under construction - all this despite the raids being carried out by the evil creatures and the attacks by the dragons. And more troops continue to arrive by sea.”

“Oh, really?” mused Kazin. He had forgotten the humans had come from the east. In his day, ships did not arrive from the old lands. They had stopped coming since the end of the dragon wars. Any vessels that had gone east to discover why had never returned. Contact with the old lands had been severed at that point in time, never to be reestablished.

“It seems magic is a new art to them,” added Shilar. “Any humans coming to the new land are immediately checked to see if they possess any magical inclination. If so, they are directed to join the mages or clerics to learn the art of magic. After that they are enlisted in the army to fight against enemy spell casters.” He grimaced. “Their blatant use of magic is offensive. Do you realize they use it for anything they wish?”

“You don’t say,” exclaimed Kazin, feigning shock.

Shilar nodded. “It is the most wasteful thing. At least our race reveres the ability and uses it only when necessary. Maybe the humans will learn the hard way that they cannot try to cast healing spells when their power lies with black magic, or the other way around.”

Kazin nodded. “To do so will leave them capable of doing both kinds of magic, but at reduced power. They will become grey mages.”

“Precisely,” said Shilar.

“So what kinds of creatures are they fighting?” asked Kazin.

Shilar shrugged. “The usual. Orcs, goblins, lizardmen, even human mercenaries.”

“Other humans?” gasped Kazin.

“That’s right. Apparently some humans have other ideas about the situation. It’s even rumoured that the enemy’s lead general is a human. He’s capable of magic, too.”

“Interesting,” mused Kazin. “What about the dragons?”

“What about them?” asked Shilar.

“Whose side are they on?”

Shilar laughed. “Their own of course! You didn’t think they would actually take sides with anyone, do you?”

Kazin gave a bashful grin. “I guess not.”

“So tell me,” said Shilar, “what are your plans, Kazin?”

Kazin scratched his head. “I think my companions and I might take a journey up north to check out these humans for ourselves. They seem like an intriguing bunch.”

Shilar shook his head. “I’d think very carefully about that. The roads are very dangerous. I have a security force that accompanies my caravans wherever I go. Bandits and roving bands of creatures are commonplace. Trolls in particular are a nuisance in these parts. They’ve been acting agitated and erratic lately.”

“I’ll keep my eyes peeled,” promised Kazin. He held out his hand. “It was nice meeting you, Shilar.”

Shilar shook his hand. “Good luck.”

Kazin returned to his table to find Brand the mayor talking to the group.

“Ah, there you are,” exclaimed Amelia, seeing the mage. “Brand was just telling us about the best routes to travel in these parts, and where to obtain various herbs that grow naturally in this area.”

“Excellent,” said Kazin. He noticed that Zylor and Olag appeared bored and were working on their second glass of ale.

“Well, it was good to chat with you all but I must discuss tomorrow’s events with some of my people. I hope you have a delightful stay.” He bowed and left.

“What a boring man,” muttered Zylor.

“Zylor!” berated Amelia. “He was just trying to be friendly.”

Olag yawned and Amelia glared at him, eliciting a laugh from the minotaur. He slapped the skink warrior on the back, causing him to choke on his latest mouthful of ale.

“Serves you right,” muttered Amelia.

Zylor just laughed harder.

Harran returned from mingling just then. “Well, all I could find out was that dragons are an occasional nuisance and that unified spell casting of shield magic helps reduce the damage they cause, especially if they can get everyone gathered close together.”

“That’s a good idea,” remarked Amelia. “It’s easier for villages to put everyone inside one building and protect that building than it is to protect the entire village.”

“That’s why this part of the village appears to be unscathed,” added Harran.

“I learned about dragons too,” said a disembodied voice. Amelia jumped again at Sherman’s voice but he continued without stopping. “I was listening in on a conversation between a couple who have a son working in the human’s realm. He sent a letter to them recently telling of a dragon attack on his village. The dragon was about to blast a number of cattle with its fiery breath when it crashed into the ground. When it recovered, it took to the sky and flew off in a daze. A couple of mages were seen shortly after in that same spot milling about. Apparently they were doing some kind of test. It looked as if they were trying to control the dragon, but he’s not sure.”

“That’s probably what they were trying to do,” said Kazin. He told the others of the war between the humans and the other races. “Whoever can get the dragons to fight for them can gain a major advantage in this war.”

Harran gave a low whistle. “So we’ve arrived in time for the dragon wars.”

Everyone was silent as the impact of that statement sank in. The world was about to go into an upheaval that would be so catastrophic that the landscape would be forever changed. No one knew what would cause this, but they all knew that it happened during the dragon wars.

Kazin took the sack of endless coins from Zylor and was about to go and order rooms for them all when cries could be heard outside. An elf came barging into the room and everyone stopped talking to see what was up.

“Trolls!” he cried. “Trolls are attacking the village!” He turned and ran back outside. The inn became a flurry of activity as the guests ran and evacuated the room to hide or find weapons. When everyone had left, the companions looked at Kazin in alarm.

“We cannot interfere!” reminded Amelia in a hushed voice.

Kazin swallowed. “Amelia’s right. We’re going to have to make a break for it. We have to get out of the village!”

“Flee?!” exclaimed Zylor. He slammed the table with his fist. “I will not flee!”

“Like Amelia said,” said Kazin sternly, “we can’t interfere. It could alter the future.”

Zylor growled.

“We’d better act fast,” admonished Harran. “If anyone sees us sitting here doing nothing, they’ll suspect something is up.”

They all got up and headed for the door.

“Sherman, see if the way is clear,” ordered Kazin.

The door opened slowly and Sherman peeked outside. The commotion was louder out here. Elves were battling trolls using swords and magic.

“If we stay to the left,” said Sherman, “we’ll stay in the shadows. That way appears to be clear.”

“Let’s go,” said Kazin. He turned to the minotaur. “Under no condition are you to draw your axe, Zylor. To do so will cause your appearance to revert to normal.”

Zylor growled. “Then I don’t see why you brought me on this quest.” Nevertheless, he obeyed and followed Kazin out the door.

“Harran, you take point,” instructed Kazin. “Trolls can only be defeated if their heads are cut off, and you’re the only one armed with an axe other than Zylor.”

Zylor growled again but said nothing.

“We have to hurry!” urged Amelia. She was gazing into her orb. It was a light pink in colour. She groaned. “We may be too late already.”

“What do you mean?” asked Kazin from ahead of her. He did not slow his pace.

“The orb glows like this when history is changing. We must have done something to alter it!”

“We did nothing unusual,” said Kazin. They had by now successfully ducked out of the village and were on a path that was washed in moonlight. This allowed them to move quickly and safely, since Kazin could not light the way with his staff.

Suddenly, a troll appeared in front of them, blocking the way. It was tall, about six or seven feet, and its arms hung down to its knees. Its body had a dark greenish cast similar to an orc. Its face was ugly, with ripples and creases overlapping one another, practically covering the slits where its eyes were. It opened its mouth and drooled in anticipation as it saw them coming.

Harran braced himself to deal with it, but out of nowhere a sword materialized and swung in an overhead arc. With incredible accuracy, it sliced through the troll’s neck and the spittle splattered as the head flew from its shoulders into the brush at the side of the trail.

“Swords work just as well as axes,” panted Sherman. The troll’s body thumped to the ground and dark ooze leaked from its neck.

The companions stepped past the body and Amelia wrinkled her nose at the stench. They moved at a brisk pace for another ten minutes before halting to catch their breath.

“I’ll have to fly us to a safe location far away from here and we’ll have to sleep under the stars tonight,” said Kazin.

“At least we had something good to eat,” commented Sherman.

“I don’t understand,” muttered Amelia. She was sitting on a log and looking into her orb. It was now glowing with a darker shade of red than before.

“What is it?” asked Olag.

She looked up at them with a perplexed expression. “It’s not right. According to my orb, the village is going to be destroyed.”

Kazin put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Then that’s as it should be. We can’t change history.”

Amelia shook her head. “You don’t understand. That village was never destroyed in our history. It became a prosperous town and a valuable trading center for the elves. According to my orb, if it disappears, it will not be rebuilt, and the loss of this village will set back the trading with humans for generations. Then there will be considerable changes to history. For one, it’s the town where the unicorn first appeared to the elves. If that event didn’t take place - well, you know the consequences.”

Kazin blinked. “You mean that village was going to become the town of Jandal?” He remembered the town when in his past he had arrived with the companions that were with him at the time. Among them was the unicorn, who had persuaded the elven king to assist the humans in a war.