The Phoenix Ring (The Thunderheart Chronicles Book 1) (30 page)

              “He’s here!” The mage yelled.  Bartemus finally opened his eyes, though Aidan could tell he was feeling weak too. 

              “I challenge you to a dual in the ways of old,” the rider yelled, his body concealed by the dragon’s giant wings and neck.

              “Show yourself, Rickentoh,” Bartemus yelled back, “and I will accept your challenge.”

              The beast snorted and slowly lowered its wings.  Aidan had been expecting to see a young, strong man, tattoos lining his face, a sword at his side.  Instead, he saw an all too familiar, extremely fat figure.

              “Edwin,” Aidan said, anger beginning to fuel his power.
              “Yes lad, it is me.  Really Barty, did you think that Malcommer would be stupid enough to send his only rider ally into what was almost certainly a trap?  Of course, he needn’t have been worried, as the only resistance appears to be two hopeless fools trying to be the heroes.  If Malachi were here, it would be just like old times, eh?”

              Aidan could feel his master’s rage starting to burn stronger than his own.

              “But I am not here to challenge you, Bartemus.  No, your time will come.  It is him that I am interested in,” the warlock said, pointing at Aidan.

              The mage felt a cold stone drop into his stomach, but it was almost immediately melted in the blaze of his rage.

              “Why?” Bartemus asked, “He is just a boy.” 

              “Aye, and he’s the boy who humiliated me.  I will end him here, where there are no rules.  And if you try to stop this, then my friends will kill both of you,” Edwin said, gesturing towards the sky.  “And I assure you, neither of you will survive.”

              The dragons had turned back and were circling the island.  The two sorcerers had barely put a dent in their numbers. 

              “Step aside, Bartemus,” Edwin said.  “Do you accept my challenge, boy?”

              Aidan felt the power rise inside him.  “I accept.”

              Bartemus stepped aside, his face somber.

              Edwin laughed, and his dragon’s tail flicked towards Aidan.  The boy had no time to react, but felt his staff ripped from his hands. 

              “Come now, you’re making this too easy,” Edwin said, flicking his wrist.  Aidan was thrown onto his back, his magic useless to him without his staff.  The dragon sniffed the scepter, and then opened his mouth.  Aidan’s eyes widened as the beast chomped down, swallowing the half that held the blade.  Somehow though, his heart didn’t speed its beat.  In fact, it now appeared to be almost calm, a stark contrast from the wild rampage it had been on a few moments ago.

              The dragon dropped the broken staff to the ground, then swiped its massive paw at Aidan.  The boy screamed as three claws raked across his chest.

              Edwin laughed again.  “Enough, enough.  It is time.  Finish him.”

              Aidan turned his head to the side and prepared himself for the final blow.  His last view would be of the ocean, its waves shining in the sun as Bartemus’s storm cleared, a giant merchant vessel sailing towards the isle.

             
That’s not possible
. Aidan thought.  But it was.  The boat was huge, and at the helm was a row of sorcerers donning battle robes, brandishing wands and staffs.

              Malachi was at their lead, and it was at his command that all of them released a variety of spells into the sky.  They hit the dragons with devastating effect.

              Aidan looked back up and saw the four lowest flying dragons dive towards the island, only they weren’t dragons, but griffins, and on the back of each were at least two amogh warriors.

              A blast of magic from Bartemus shoved Aidan out of the way of the Black Thunder’s fiery breath, which the boy hadn’t even noticed. 

              A moment later, one of the warriors catapulted from atop her Griffin and landed on the Black Thunder’s back.

              “What-“ Edwin said, a moment before he was knocked off the beast.  Aidan saw a flash of brown hair and the wink of a hazel eye before the girl disappeared behind the dragon’s wing.

             
That’s why my heart is so calm
, Aidan thought. 
Because hers is.

              “Borin, Malachi, glad you could join us!” Bartemus said, walking towards the fallen Edwin.  The fat warlock’s dragon was being harried by the four griffins, and had no time to defend its master.

              “I’ve been wanting to do this for a long, long time Edwin,” Bartemus said, “you have-“

              The seemingly unconscious warlock suddenly raised his hands, and a miniature safety sphere rose around him and Aidan, whose joy was immediately replaced by fear and rage.

              “Just you and me now, boy,” the warlock said.  Aidan lunged for his broken staff head, but knew before he touched it that there was no power left in it.

              “This shield won’t last forever, but it should give us five minutes,” Edwin said, pulling something out of his cloak as he walked towards Aidan.  It was a wand, beautifully crafted, the symbols on its side surely devoted to offensive magic.

              “This was the weapon that I swore to kill Marcus with.  I never got my chance to do that, so instead I have you.  Tell me mage, how does it feel to know that there is nothing that you can do, just like Jonathan Gerang felt on the day I slew him?  You know, he was still alive in the vault, he just hadn’t picked a Soulrock.  I saw the opportunity and ended his life with this very wand.”

              Aidan’s rage began to build, but there was no magic to support it.  “You’re wrong,” the boy said, so close to Edwin that he could feel the magic radiating from the warlock.  “There’s always something I can do.”  The mage swung the remainder of his staff with all of his physical strength, and felt a satisfying thud as it smashed into the warlock’s forehead.

              Edwin half fell, half rolled onto his back, his wand forgotten on the ground and his sphere sparkling to nonexistence.  Aidan lunged for the wand, though he didn’t know what he was expecting. 

              As soon as he touched it, he felt the familiar rush of power that once came from holding his staff.  He didn’t know what had happened, but he knew that the wand was his.

              He pointed it at Edwin and yelled “
Nergaldok!
” 

              Immediately, a large ball of light appeared in his hand.  As he stared into it, he barely noticed the Black Thunder scream for the last time, or the rest of the beasts start to retreat to the Dragonback Range.

              “Do it, Aidan,” Bartemus said, his voice weary.  “Finish him.”

              Aidan started to close his fist, but suddenly Edwin picked up his head.  “No, please,” he said.  There was no threat or anger in the warlock’s voice, just fear.

              “Aidan, don’t!” a voice yelled.  The mage looked up and saw Aaliyah emerge from under the dragon’s wing, her sword sticking out of its neck.  The boy desperately turned towards the ship, his mind spinning.  There he saw Timothy, who seemed to be completely healed, and next to him, Eleanor.  As he watched, she nodded, ever so slightly.  It was enough.

              Aidan closed his fist.

              Immediately his felt himself growing up, the youngest of three, his parents both powerful sorcerers.  He saw his siblings and parents die in the Great Wars, and felt himself go mad with grief, pushing away his only friends in the world.  He watched himself become seduced by Malcommer, going so far as to murder his first victim.  He watched his anger and hate consume him until he was the most wretched, desperate scrap of a soul that he could possibly be.  And then he watched himself, at the height of his glory, loose his life to a young boy that only reminded him of himself.

              Then he saw nothing.

              Aidan woke suddenly, sitting up in his cot.  He was in a dormitory that was similar to the one at Fort Phoenix, but not quite the same.  There were several people in the room, but the one that stood out the most was a young man with a lopsided, oversized crown on his head, who rushed to the wizard’s side the moment he awoke.

              “Aidan, my name is King Lief, and on behalf of all of Gurvinite, I cannot express my gratitude enough,” he said, grasping the boy’s hand.

              “Did I kill him?” Aidan asked.

              The king chuckled.  “Edwin?  Yes, you killed him, and you saved-“ he stopped, for the boy had jumped from his bed and ran out of the room.

              Aidan sat on the edge of the beach, staring out at the new safety sphere the sorcerers had been constructing.  Here, it was almost invisible, revealing the sunset to Aidan.  The other sorcerers were setting up camp on the island, as were the amoghs.  It would hopefully soon serve as an outpost with a far larger army backing it up. It wasn’t long before Timothy joined him on the sand.

              “The dragons were easily defeated, and they’ve even agreed to form a peace treaty.  Next time, they might be on our side.”

“How did you do it? I mean, how did you get to the island unseen?”  Aidan asked his friend.

              “Amateur cloaking spell, something you probably know nothing about, master wizard,” his friend said, punching him playfully in the shoulder. 

For a few minutes they sat in silence, enjoying each other’s company. 

Then Timothy spoke.  “Aidan, I can’t begin to apologize for what I did to you and the am-, Aaliyah.  If there is any way I can-“

              “It’s forgiven,” Aidan said, “Besides, it wasn’t you who did it.  Where is Grogg, anyways?”

              “Dead.”

              Again, they sat in silence.  There had been far too much death recently. 

              Eventually they heard Eleanor call Timothy’s name. 

              “Go,” Aidan said. “She needs you and you need her.”

              Timothy gratefully stood and ran to her, leaving the new wizard alone on the beach. 

              The sun had almost touched the ocean when Aaliyah sat down beside Aidan.

              “So you’re a dragon slayer too, aren’t you?” Aidan asked.

              Aaliyah smiled.  “Yes, but my Black Thunder was way better than your stupid spineback.  And the merfolk get the credit for the others.” 

              Aidan laughed and looked at his friend.  It was amazing that only a few weeks ago, he would have given anything to leave her behind.  Now, their hearts and souls beat in the same time.

              Aaliyah sighed.  “Aidan, you once told me that I didn’t have to be strong for you.  You were right, it wasn’t until I opened myself to you that I felt peace.  Now I’m going to say it to you.  You don’t have to be strong for me.  If I can help, let me.”

              Aidan bit his lip.  “It’s just… I knew at least ten spells that would have hurt or crippled him, or even removed his power, but I didn’t use them.  I used the one that killed him.  Why would I do that?”

              For a moment, Aaliyah was quiet.  “Aidan, you know how many he killed, don’t you?  And how many he was yet to kill?  Before, when you killed the others, why do you feel no regret for them?”

              “I had no choice,” Aidan said. 
              “You had no choice then, either.  There was nothing you could do.”

              Aidan felt a tear slide down his cheek.  “Does it ever get easier?”

              “It could,” Aaliyah said, “if you let it.  But if you let yourself become hard to murder, then it will change you into something you don’t want to be.”

              Aidan turned and looked into her hazel eyes.

              “Aidan, you’re not a bad person.  You saved my life twice, and you’ve shown me that there is far more to you than just a sorcerer.  Thank you for that.”

              Aidan didn’t know what was happening inside him, but he felt his, no, their heart race as his face drifted closer and closer to hers.

              Their lips barely touched, hers pushing the magic out of his, when she playfully pushed him away.  “If you want a kiss,” she said, a smile on her face, “You’re going to have to do better than that.”

              Then she jumped up and ran across the beach, sand flying in her wake.  Aidan grinned and took off after her.

              Aaliyah knocked on Bartemus’s new office door and walked inside. 

              “You know, the point of knocking is to get a response before you come barging in,” the warlock said.

              “I don’t like it,” Aaliyah said.  “Aidan’s not a murderer, and forcing him to ignore his conscience will destroy him.”

              Bartemus slowly nodded.  “I know, and this pains me more than anything.  One day, when this is over it will be your job to bring him back.  Until then, he must be prepared to slay Malcommer, no matter what the cost.”