The Dragon's Champion (13 page)

“What are you
doing?” Lepkin demanded with his eyebrow arched. “Stop this.”

“You aren’t
Master Lepkin,” Erik shouted. “You are Tukai, aren’t you?” Erik backed away a
few steps and held the dagger out threateningly. Lepkin rose to his feet and
picked up the sword the Erik had laid down next to his discarded armor.

“You are
stronger than I thought,” Lepkin said with a wicked sneer. His face seemed to
lose its features, as if covered by a sheet of water. Lepkin’s face vanished
and was replaced by that of Tukai. “It is not easy to break a warlock’s
hypnosis spell. But it does not matter.” Tukai waved his hand and the dagger
Erik held vanished. “I have left you without a weapon, boy,” Tukai hissed.
“What will you do now?”

Erik bent down
and picked up a long stick. He slammed one end of it against a tree and snapped
a third of the wood off, leaving a sharp, jagged point. “Come at me if you will,
warlock,” Erik growled. “I am not afraid of you.” Erik focused all of his anger
into the stick he held. He could not let fear take him again. He had come too
close to the edge already.

Tukai laughed.
“You can not defeat a warlock, boy.”

“I hurt you before,”
Erik replied sternly.
“With a fork.”

Tukai nodded,
but his sly smile did not disappear. “I let you get too close the first time,
but I will not make that mistake again.” Tukai pointed a hand at Erik and a
large ball of green flame erupted in the air. The fireball flew for Erik, but
he dove behind the tree. The fireball slammed through the tree and engulfed the
trunk in green and yellow flames. The trunk burst open and the burning tree
fell to the ground, cracking and breaking as it slammed through the forest.
Erik rolled out of the way only to see another ball of fire zipping toward him.
He ducked behind a rock. The flames licked his makeshift spear and tickled his
shoulders, but he was safe as the fire died away.

Erik jumped to
his feet and launched the spear at the warlock. Tukai waved his other hand and
the spear turned to dust. “Nice try, my boy, it would make your old master
proud to know that you fought to the end.” Tukai clapped his hands together and
a force of thunder blew through the air. Trees snapped from their trunks or
were ripped from the ground. Erik was thrown to the dirt, hard. After he
regained his senses he pushed up and felt a trickle of warm liquid across his
forehead. He put his hand up and felt a small, stinging cut.

“Impressive,”
Tukai commented. “Not many can withstand the warlock’s clap. But now you can
see you have no place to run.”

Erik looked
around. All trees in a radius of approximately fifty yards around Tukai had
been cleared more efficiently by the spell than loggers could have done in a
month. There was no place to run, and no cover to hide behind. Erik pushed
himself up to his knees and felt the aching in his bones. His strength was
gone. The warlock had him.

Tukai took a few
steps toward Erik, smiling all the while. Then he turned at a sound off in the
trees. Erik followed his gaze and out from the forest came Dimwater’s wolf. It
charged in with blinding speed. Its gray and black fur was little more than a
blur as it raced through the open area. Tukai turned and stretched his hand at
Erik. Three green fireballs erupted into life and were sent toward him.

Somehow Erik
managed to dodge each of the magic fireballs, though he was grazed on his right
ankle by some of the flames. He looked up, expecting another ball of fire
coming at him, but the wolf was already at Tukai, biting and snapping. Tukai
roared in anger. A crack of thunder boomed through the area and a bolt of
lightning streaked down for the wolf. The wolf jumped away just as the bolt of
lightning crashed through the ground and ripped a hole in the dirt. Tukai
summoned his staff into his left hand and continued to call forth lightning
bolts to kill the wolf.

Erik didn’t know
what he was going to do, but he had to use this moment of distraction before
the warlock regained the upper hand. He first thought of running, but then what
good would that do? If the wolf was killed the warlock would pursue him. Erik
gritted his teeth and ran toward the warlock. If he could get to the sword, and
then attack Tukai, he just might win.

He sprinted for
all he was worth. His body still ached from the warlock clap, but he forced the
pain out of his mind. Silverfang seemed to know what was happening. The wolf
advanced on the warlock from the opposite side, keeping Tukai’s back to Erik.

Lightning
scorched the ground, thunder assaulted the clearing, but Erik kept his eye on
the sword. He ducked his head as the hairs on his neck rose to stick straight
out. He swore he could smell the stale scent of the lightning in the air. Smoke
rose around him as the ground groaned under the magical assault. Then, without
warning he was flying backwards through the air. The wind was gone from his
lungs and his eyes stung. He landed hard, but barely made a sound. His ears
rung so badly he clutched his head with his hands and wailed at the pain.

He heard a yelp
off in the distance and knew that Silverfang had finally gotten struck by the
lightning.

When he was able
to open his eyes he saw Dimwater’s wolf lying on its side, several yards away from
Tukai. Tukai had turned and was heading toward him now. His eyes shimmered with
delight as he approached.

“It will take
more than the sorceresses’ dog to beat me, boy,” he hissed.

Thunder rolled
across the sky and the moon was covered by the sudden arrival of an intense,
black cloud. Tukai stopped cold in his tracks and looked up. The smile
disappeared from his face as a hail storm broke out. Hail the size of oranges
fell from the sky.

Tukai raised his
staff and yelled something that Erik didn’t understand. A shield of light,
similar to the one Erik had seen Dimwater use against Be’alt, appeared over
Tukai’s head and protected him from the icy assault.

A hand slipped
under Erik’s arm. He jumped, but relaxed when he saw Master Lepkin lifting him
up. “Is it you?” Erik asked in a daze.

“It is, Erik,”
Lepkin replied grimly. “Get behind me.” Lepkin pushed Erik behind him, similar
to when he had argued with Orres, but with more force and purpose. “Tukai, why
have you come for Erik?”

Tukai growled
and sent a fireball hurtling toward Lepkin and Erik. Erik had not the strength
to move. He watched the ball advance. In a flash, Lepkin drew his sword and it
burst into bright red flames. He took three steps forward and made a simple
slash through Tukai’s fireball. The green fire was quenched instantly. Erik
watched in wonder as his master stood with the bright sword in his hands. The
fire was more than enough to make up for the darkened moon. The entire clearing
was bathed in warm, red light that danced along with the shadows.

“Warlock, answer
my question, and I will be merciful,” Lepkin ordered.

Tukai clenched
his fists, but let his arms hang at his sides. His staff was level now,
parallel with the ground, its head aimed at Lepkin. “You can not withstand all
of my magic, Keeper of Secrets,” Tukai yelled. “Stand aside.”

“He has no need
to withstand your magic, Tukai,” a thunderous voice boomed from the sky.

Erik looked up
to see a woman floating down on a silvery cloud. The hail stopped as she
descended. Her dress was blue, with gold trim around the hem. Her hair was
black. Erik knew it was Dimwater.

“Ah, so the
sorceress has come to fetch her dog,” Tukai growled. “If you know of the
prophecy, then you know that Lokton’s son will slay him if he is allowed to
live through this night. Can you live with that Lepkin?” Tukai hissed.

“I do not fear
your prophecies, wretched snake,” Lepkin said evenly.

“But a warlock’s
prophecies always come to pass,” Tukai countered. “Are you willing to watch
Lokton die at his son’s hands?”

“Why do you want
Erik?” Lepkin asked again.

“Is it not
obvious?” Tukai yelled. His pure white eyes took on an orange hue in the light
of Lepkin’s sword. “I said that if Lokton’s son is allowed to live this night,
then Lord Lokton will die.”

“So you keep saying,”
Lepkin said. He looked up to Dimwater, who now floated ten feet from the ground
on her cloud. “What do you say?”

“I say we toast
him, he will not give us the information we wish to know,” Dimwater replied.
Her voice echoed as it left her mouth, giving it an ethereal quality that
frightened Erik. “It is true that the prophecy of a warlock will come to pass,
but I have yet to see a warlock explain all of the prophecy. They always twist
it to suit their own purposes. This one uses this prophecy to hunt Erik. We can
not allow him to succeed.”

“You
fools
!” Tukai howled. “You know as well as I that Lord and
Lady Lokton can not bare children. What other son could the prophecy speak of?”

“What other son
indeed,” Lepkin said.

“It is true,”
Erik said. “Lord Lokton told me himself that the reason I was adopted was
because they could not have children. It must be me.”

“Listen to the
boy, Lepkin,” Tukai warned.

“Your hypnosis
will not work on me,” Lepkin replied. He turned to Lady Dimwater “Toast him.”

Tukai’s eyes
went wide. “No!”

Dimwater
stretched out her hand and a tornado of fire extended forth, devouring the
warlock’s magic shield and enveloping Tukai in its fiery death. Erik watched
the scene, stunned.

When everything
was done, Dimwater stepped from her cloud and glided down beside Erik.
“Silverfang has taken quite a liking to you,” she said. “If not for him, we may
not have found you in time.”

Erik looked over
to the wolf’s body. It lay limp and lifeless on its side. “I’m sorry your wolf
is dead,” he whispered.

Dimwater laughed
and rustled his hair. “You have a lot to learn about magic, my boy,” she said
with a smile. He looked up at her with questioning eyes. She returned his gaze
with a wink that assured him all was well. “Silverfang, though he looks like a
wolf of Terramyr, is not actually from this plane. His wounds are significant,
but as long as I send him back to his plane, he will heal and be ready again
for action very soon.” She waved her hand and Silverfang disappeared from the
clearing. “He is a most loyal companion. He called to me from his plane,
alerting me to your trouble. I of course allowed him to come immediately to
help, and then I went to find Master Lepkin before we caught up.”

“The warlock
tricked me,” Erik said sheepishly. “I thought he was you.” Erik pointed to
Lepkin. He expected a harsh reprimand, but he saw only a smile on Lepkin’s
face.

“Erik, it is
very hard to break a warlock’s hypnosis spell. I am very impressed that you
were able to do it. I don’t think I have ever been prouder of you than I am
now.” The sword ceased to glow with fire and Lepkin slid it back into the
sheath hanging from his belt.

“Really?”
Erik thought about that for a moment.

“Erik, a warlock
uses fear as a way to control people. He controls what they see, hear, and
think. Most victims caught by this spell are found dead afterwards. It is a
most terrifying magic, and one that warlocks use often when their lesser tricks
fail them. How did you realize that it wasn’t me?”

Erik thought
about his conversation with Tukai. “I patted him on the shoulder, and he winced
in pain because that was where I stabbed him with a fork when he came into my
father’s dining hall earlier tonight. I knew it wasn’t you because you could
withstand anything. You wouldn’t have winced.”

Lepkin looked up
to Dimwater and the two exchanged glances for a moment. Master Lepkin looked
down with an arched eyebrow and stared at Erik for a long time. “You stabbed
the warlock?”

“Uh huh,” Erik
confirmed. “Sir Duvall had tried with a sword first, but I was able to get
him.”

Master Lepkin
nodded and looked back to Dimwater. “We should camp here until the dawn. It’s
only a few hours from now.”

“Then what?”
Lady Dimwater asked.

“We will return
to Lokton manor and explain what happened here tonight. Then Erik and I will
travel east. I have some business for the king, and then I will take Erik to
Valtuu Temple. It is time he learned some things.”

“Lord Lokton
will be worried about his son all night,” Dimwater commented. “I could send a
bird with a message saying he is safe.”

“Very well, but
don’t give our location. I don’t want to inadvertently alert others. Remember
what I told you about Orres.”

“I will be
careful to be discreet,” Dimwater replied.

Erik wondered what
the two were talking about. What had happened with Master Orres, what was
Valtuu Temple, and why had Lepkin looked so surprised when Erik talked about
stabbing the warlock? Suddenly he felt very tired. His eyelids hung low and he
let out a long yawn that seemed to take the rest of his energy away. He lay
down on a blanket that Lepkin stretched out beneath him and clasped his hands
beneath his head. He barely felt the weight of the blanket over him as Lepkin
wrapped it around, and then there was complete calm.

“He will sleep
well,” Dimwater said.

“Yes, well, your
sleeping spells seem to have that effect,” Master Lepkin replied with a grin.
Lepkin sat on the ground cross-legged next to his apprentice and laid his hands
over his knees. “Did you hear him say that he stabbed Tukai?”

“I did,”
Dimwater replied solemnly as she held her left arm out in front of her,
parallel to the ground. “I told you he was strong.” An owl came down from the
sky and rested on her arm. She looked to the owl and locked eyes with it for a
moment. Then she pushed the owl up and it flew off in the direction of Lokton
manor. “He will deliver the message for us,” she said.

“The Order of
the All Seeing Eye is not a low level band of warlocks,” Lepkin said. “We will
have to stay alert.”

Dimwater nodded
her head and sat next to Lepkin. She gently slid her left arm behind him,
grazing his side. Lepkin’s heart jumped, but he tried not to show it. She
pointed her right hand out to the ground and lit a small fire to keep them
warm. The flames danced above the ground, needing no fuel to burn other than
the spell that had created them. “You will take him to learn of the Ancients?”
Dimwater asked.

“I will,” Lepkin
replied with a nod.

“Not a moment
too soon, either,” Dimwater said. “He looks peaceful, doesn’t he?”

Lepkin looked
over to Erik and smiled. “Yes, he does.”

“We could have
started a family of our own, Lepkin,” Dimwater said wistfully.

Lepkin shook his
head slowly. “We should not talk about this.”

“Can I ask you
something?”

“Sure,” Lepkin said
as he turned back to Dimwater. Her eyes captivated his and the two gazed at
each other for a long while. He felt his heart pound in his chest. Her beauty
was so intense. He wished he could reach out and hold her, but he did not move.
Instead, he broke the gaze and looked back to the campfire.

“Did you want to
duel Orres for my hand?”

“You know I
did,” Lepkin replied softly. “But my duty prevented me from returning. There
was nothing to be done about it.”

“You could have
abandoned Gelleirt monastery,” Dimwater replied.

“Let’s not talk
about this,” Lepkin said through teary eyes.

“Alright,”
Dimwater said. She reached around and gently pulled Lepkin’s shoulder back so
that she could lay her head down on it. “Then let me ask you something else.”
She waited for a moment before continuing. Lepkin found
himself
wishing that they could stay by the campfire for the rest of their lives as she
snuggled into him and got comfortable. “If Orres is a traitor, then you can
duel him now. You would have the right to call him out.”

“I can not call
him out until I have proof,” Lepkin replied. Lepkin pushed her back from him
and looked into her sad eyes. He wanted to tell her of the journal that Janik
had given him, but he couldn’t. He knew that in order to preserve the integrity
of the journal, to be sure it was Orres’ own hand that wrote it, he could not
tell Dimwater about it. Any help she could give in unlocking the journal would
present the possibility of her tampering with the contents magically. Lepkin
had to find the answers on his own. “I will figure it out. There must be proof
of his misdeeds somewhere.”

“Yes, there must
be,” she said softly. “I wish I could help you find it.” Dimwater laid her head
back down and sighed. “Lepkin, if times were better could we win? I mean, if
Orres wasn’t a traitor, if Janik wasn’t crippled, if the lords of the major
houses all united with us, if you had several years to train Erik, and we had
both of the books, would we stand a chance against what is coming?”