The Lazy Dragon and Bumblespells Wizard (22 page)

“Lasair needs the powers and blood of a great wizard and two dr'gons to restore his poisonous power. Hedge-Witch intended to provide Lasair with you and me. That just leaves one more dr'gon,” Cl'rnce finished.

“So does that mean you and I are powerful enough together to stop them?” Moire Ain asked, feeling the queasy stomach thing that meant she already knew the answer. No matter what Hedge-Witch Themora had said, deep down Moire Ain was only a beginner with bumblespelled magick, no real match for Themora and her dr'gon. Moire Ain was a little shocked that Cl'rnce would even say he had magick when he'd spent so much time denying he had any.

Cl'rnce shook his head. “No. We might not be able to stop them. Well, maybe if we had that other dr'gon. The problem is, I never practiced the lessons on defeating Lasair and, well, employing dr'gon magicks. Instead of preparing for
Dr'gon Magicks
practicum, I had an important practice for the nap-off between the dr'gon students and
the first-year knights. I won.” Cl'rnce grinned. “I'm pretty famous for thundering snores. I kept all the other contestants awake, which assured me the silken pillow trophy.”

“Nevermore!” Raspberries landed on Cl'rnce's shoulder and pecked him on the back of the neck.

Cl'rnce sighed but didn't even swat at Raspberries. “You aren't a fan of sports, bird?”

Moire Ain groaned. “How are we going to find this other dr'gon you don't know about? Do we really need to? I mean, if we just get your Whisper Stone back to the Council, won't that be enough?”

“Maybe,” Cl'rnce said, fishing the locket out of his pouch. “But what if the Whisper Stone showed us the dr'gon and where he is? It showed me you, Hedge-Witch, and Lasair, for a short while.”

“So we think this whole errand of yours and Hedge-Witch and Lasair's plans are connected?” Moire Ain wondered how long Hedge-Witch had planned this. Moire Ain had always thought it was weird that the witch had allowed Moire Ain to go anywhere on her own, much less not come looking for her when she was so late the day she had found the book.

Cl'rnce pried at the locket, but it wouldn't open. He held it out to Moire Ain. “You try. It's not working for me.”

She took the locket. It felt warm, but that was from being stored next to Cl'rnce's skin. Other than temperature, nothing. It wouldn't open like it had before.
She was about to hand it back to Cl'rnce when the little dr'gon sighed, hovered over her hand, and drifted down onto the locket like a hen sitting on an egg.

Moire Ain stood very still, holding her hand out as steady as she could. Purple and gold light leaked from beneath the little dr'gon. He got heavier and heavier and the light beneath him got brighter. She struggled to keep her hand up. Moire Ain wedged the crystal staff under her hand to keep from dropping the little dr'gon and the locket. As the faceted end of the rod bit into her skin, she chewed her lips and concentrated on not complaining or moving.

Cl'rnce edged close to her, sniffing at the little dr'gon. “What's he doing to the Whisper Stone?” he asked, bending down and peering under the little dr'gon. Cl'rnce sounded curious rather than upset that the precious stone was being sat on.

“I don't know, and I can't hold him. He weighs a ton!” Moire Ain finally gasped. “Catch him.” Her arm gave out, and her hand fell to her side.

For a second, Cl'rnce didn't move. Then his paw shot out, but there was no need. The locket and dr'gon floated in the air. Still sitting on it, the little dr'gon grinned. Purple and gold light shone out of his mouth.

“What's happening?” Moire Ain whispered.

Before Cl'rnce said a thing, the little dr'gon spit purple and gold beams. Moire Ain turned to watch the arc
of light streak through the air and splash against the mountain, turning its face into an amythyst. Then the little dr'gon hiccuped, and the light show was over.

“Hmmm.” Cl'rnce held out an arm, and the little dr'gon landed on him the same way Raspberries perched on Moire Ain. Cl'rnce sniffed and kept his nose pressed close to the little guy. “You look like a miniature River D'rgon. I mean, I know you are one, but that wasn't normal.” He looked under the little dr'gon's butt. “What was that spitting light all about? Where's the locket?”

The little dr'gon paced up and down Cl'rnce's arm like an oversized pet bird. Moire Ain, Cl'rnce, and Raspberries watched him. Finally, the little guy stopped and stared at each of them like he expected them to know what he wanted them to do next. But all three, even Raspberries, shrugged their shoulders. The little dr'gon snorted, then focused on each, staring into their eyes one by one, but none of them did anything more than stare back.

He snorted a golden flame. The snort-fire was solid and plopped to the ground. Cl'rnce and Moire Ain jumped back from the glob. Moire Ain wasn't sure what this little dr'gon was and what might be in his bodily fluids. The snot simply lay on the ground. Not glowing. Not burning.

Cl'rnce sniffed. “Nothing unusual. This little guy isn't normal, but his boogers are.”

Moire Ain groaned. “Boogers. We're standing around looking at tiny dr'gon boogers? Did he destroy the locket and stone? Or swallow it backward? What does that mean to finishing your errand? And ugh, going back in Ghost Mountain to deliver your stone. Hedge-Witch and Lasair are still in there somewhere, looking to kill you, and I don't know what they want to do to me, and we're worried about dr'gon boogers?”

Cl'rnce shrugged. “I think he's somehow hiding the locket. I'll keep an eye on him. My theory is he's a dwarfed River Dr'gon. I've heard of them. Very special. Even have more magick than the ordinary dr'gon. Very shy. Which would account for why he doesn't talk.”

“Wait! Magick and dr'gons! You said dr'gons don't have magick! You lied,” Moire Ain tried to say it with humor, like a joke, but she felt hurt that Cl'rnce, whom she thought had become a friend, had lied.

Cl'rnce shrugged. “I don't know that much, sort of, so I didn't want to … admit I didn't.”

Moire Ain decided not to talk about the lie anymore. She went on, “So you said this little guy might be the second dr'gon Hedge-Witch and Lasair need for taking over the Primacy?”

Cl'rnce pursed his muzzle, rubbed behind his left horn, dug something that glowed out of his right ear. Then finally said, “Maybe.”

“I'm going with yes,” Moire Ain said. “Don't you see?
This is good news. It means we have all we need to defeat Hedge-Witch and Lasair.” She took a deep breath. “The only problem is we don't know how.”

“We could check your book,” Cl'rnce said, swapping stares with the little dr'gon.

Moire Ain pulled her book out of her pouch. “I don't remember any pictures or any other clues in here about special small dr'gons and the Primus.” She flipped through the pages, most of which were still too damaged. “No. Hedge-Witch said stuff about worrying I'd never be any better at magick than this book could teach. That was definitely an insult.” Moire Ain wrinkled her nose. “You know, there's one thing I know for sure about Hedge-Witch: she's a liar. Since I now suspect she arranged for me to find this book, she had a reason. She must have wanted me to learn from it. So I'd be a powerful wizard she could use.” Moire Ain blushed at sounding like she was sort of bragging. “Or something.” She turned pages and looked harder, thinking about how to make sure Hedge-Witch did not use her to kill a king, like Cl'rnce.

“Got anything?” Cl'rnce didn't seem to notice her search.

“Well, there's a spell for remembering. That might help you recall what you were supposed to learn in class.”

Cl'rnce didn't break his staring contest with the little
dr'gon. “Sure, if I had practiced all the elements.”

“Oh, right.” Moire Ain flipped a few more pages. “This. I'll try this.”

Cl'rnce said, “What?”

But Moire Ain was already humming as she squinted at a mostly readable page. For the first time, the whole spell's words were in Common Language. “Small printing, but I can do this.” She put the book down and said very slowly, “Show us the little dr'gon's kind.”

She was on her third repeat when the rumble of thunder rolled in from the west. Moire Ain scanned the horizon, thinking they'd need to run and hide from a whopper of a storm. A huge bank of clouds tumbled across the sky, but they weren't rain clouds. Out of the roiling dark emerged a herd of dr'gons, most looking a lot like Cl'rnce, flying straight at them.

“Oh,
NO
!” Cl'rnce yelled. “We're in trouble now!”

The little dr'gon, his scales a shining sable instead of jade, aimed his muzzle at the flying thunder above them.

First looking ahead through the trees, then back toward home, then up at the mountain, Cl'rnce tried to decide which was more appalling. He had to choose from three bad ideas. Was the worst choice facing a herd of dr'gons, possibly killers, or just Lasair in Ghost Mountain, or Hazel when he failed at everything? He decided all of them were the worst.

Before Cl'rnce could shake the little dr'gon off and run for the woods, Hazel soared out of the herd's cloud, zooming so close Cl'rnce choked on her gardenia scent as she exhaled for her landing.

At the same time Hazel hit the ground, she reached out and slapped her brother behind the left horn. “Idjit!” she screamed. “How in the Three Rivers did you mess this up? You called the entire Dr'gon Nations to you for what? You can't possibly claim the succession to the Primacy if you can't do a simple thing like
delivering the Whisper Stone to the Council chamber without involving the entire River Dr'gon Nation. And for your information, Mother is in the back with Thomas. You know Thomas,
THE PRIMUS
! You are in so much trouble.” She smiled.

Hazel was the only person Cl'rnce knew who could smile and look even angrier. He edged away.

“Primus Thomas isn't dead?” Cl'rnce lifted himself on tiptoes and stared. He turned to Hazel. “You said he was superannuated! You lied!”

Hazel blew hot air out of her cheeks. “I should have known you didn't know. Superannuated means he retired.” She snapped her chin over at Great and Mighty. Who is this?” She jerked her head at the little dr'gon. “And tell me you know who
this
is.”

“River Rats. I thought you'd know who he is,” Cl'rnce mumbled. Often, if he could get Hazel to be the know-itall and lecture him, she'd forget to be angry, angry, angry. “He just appeared, and ….” Cl'rnce shrugged and opened his eyes wide in his most appealing little-brother look.

Hazel held up a paw, her talons sharp and sparking as she flexed them. Gaelyn, Hazel's Wizard Partner, popped into the space beside Hazel. Gaelyn ran her slender brown fingers through her curly hair to plump it up. If there was anyone half as vain as Hazel, it was Gaelyn.

Nudging Gaelyn, Hazel asked, “Gaelyn, is that what
I think it is?” Hazel's tone was somewhere between unbelieving and satisfied.

Gaelyn smiled. “I told you he'd do it.” Gaelyn had always been much nicer to Cl'rnce than his own sister.

Hazel frowned at Cl'rnce and squinted her eyes as if he had done something so bad she couldn't speak of it. She sighed. “Fine. But that doesn't explain why we've been summoned.”

Gaelyn patted Hazel's arm and pointed to Great and Mighty. “I think she explains it. We have before us the Three. You were right. Cl'rnce, with all his flaws, is meant to be the next Primus. His wizard must be very powerful to bring the entirety of the Dr'gon Nations here. And the little dr'gon, well, you know the legends.”

“No. Actually we don't,” Great and Mighty squeaked out. She looked like she was trying to appear brave, after summoning the dr'gons. Although casting a spell to find out what kind of dr'gon the little guy was and instead bringing in a nation of dr'gons… well, that felt bumblespelly to Cl'rnce. It didn't feel so much like Great and Mighty had become super powerful.

Hazel rolled her eyes. “He didn't tell you?” She closed her eyes as if she was in pain. “Let me guess. Another of those classes Cl'rnce skipped. Honestly. He doesn't deserve to be the Primus.” She opened her eyes and looked Great and Mighty up and down again. “I should have been much more scared at how clueless he
was when he agreed to deliver the Whisper Stone with only a little of his usual sniveling. I should have known he didn't understand the ramifications of the Primus superannuating, but there you are.”

“Hrumph.” Cl'rnce decided against commenting when Hazel bared her fangs in warning. He could accept that he was the next Primus. But if he thought about it, other than getting the Whisper Stone into the mountain, what was the big deal?

Hazel turned to Cl'rnce, saying each word like she was talking to a baby who had only just learned to speak. “The River Dr'gon Primus normally rules forever or as long as he lives, if he chooses against being eternal, but ours has elected the third option, to retire.” She lifted her eye ridge and jerked her head to the right.

Cl'rnce followed her motion. At the back of the pack of dr'gons, he saw his mother and the Primus, hand in hand. “Gross!” Cl'rnce said at the sight of his mother staring all lovey-dovey into the eyes of a dr'gon who was older than most mountains.

Hazel slapped Cl'rnce on the back of the head again. “Listen up, slacker. If you'd gone to your classes, you'd know this, but I can tell from your clueless face that you don't. When the Primus retires instead of dying, the traditional heir does not automatically inherit. Anyone can challenge the heir. If there is a challenge, a powerful wizard and another powerful dr'gon fight the heir for
the crown.”

“Fight?” Cl'rnce gulped. He was opposed to fighting. At least fighting anyone bigger than he was, or stronger, or …. If he could sneak up on someone and throw them in a pond, or bind them in slippery bubbles until they were too exhausted to move, or …. This was not good news. Was it true Hazel wanted the Primacy? Did he have to fight her?