Wizard in the Woods Read online

  Selendran was waiting. As soon as the smoke cleared and he could properly target the sigil, the brown dragon threw his head back, took three massive gulps of air, and belched forth an immense jet of fire at the elemental’s leg. The blast of fire was more than enough to melt the sigil from the stone’s surface.

  The problem was, Selendran missed.

  The elemental, whether intentionally or accidentally, sidestepped to the left in order to take a swing at the second pydagos tree. In doing so it narrowly escaped being hit by Selendran’s shot. The first pydagos tree, having had most of its branches snapped off by the elemental, was directly in the line of fire of the incoming blast. In less than five seconds there was nothing but ash where the tree had once stood.

  Selendran turned to look at Pravara and then over at Rhamalli. Both dragons kept their faces devoid of emotion as they slowly eyed the torched tree and then each other.

  “I feel as though I should point out the tree’s destruction wasn’t my fault. It moved.”

  Malth was next. At the encouragement of his rider he slunk through the grass as low as he could to the ground, hoping he could shorten the distance to the elemental, thus assuring himself of landing a shot. When he thought he was close enough the sinewy dragon blasted the sigil with everything it had. However, due to the dragon’s much smaller lungs, Malth’s blast only lasted about six or seven seconds. It wasn’t long enough to melt Gareth’s sigil.

  A blast of fire shot past Selendran and Rhamalli and slammed into the metal symbol. Less than a second later another blast hit it. Then another. And another. All eyes turned to see who had fired the shots. Pravara had jumped into the air and was slowly circling above the valley. She was watching the elemental and firing off shot after shot. Not one of her blasts missed the target. As the elemental began to turn around Pravara repositioned herself up in the air to line up another shot.

  Three more of Pravara’s pinpoint blasts finally melted the mark. Tiny rivulets of molten metal dripped down the large boulder’s smooth surface and fell onto the grass below, producing a tiny hiss every time a drop made contact with the ground. The elemental took a final step and then simply collapsed. Several thousand pounds of solid stone dropped noisily to the ground, as though a large hammer had smashed the enormous golem over the head.

  Rhamalli’s head jerked up. His neck swung around until he was facing south and staring straight into the heart of the forest. He gave a loud growl.

  “Target acquired. I see the human boy.”

  Mikal pulled Lissa to her feet and looked up at Pravara just as she was touching back down on the ground.

  “You see Gareth?” Mikal hopefully asked. “Where?”

  “He’s using some type of jhorun to conceal himself,” Rhamalli told him. “He is less than a hundred feet inside the forest staring straight at us. He appears to be angry.”

  “Well, we did just destroy his monster,” Lissa stated matter-of-factly.

  Selendran and Malth bared their fangs the moment they spotted the young teenager crouching behind the trunk of an evergreen.

  Pravara growled with frustration and turned beseechingly to Rhamalli. “I do not see him. Why is it I cannot see what you and the others clearly can?”

  “Experienced wyverian eyes can penetrate practically any type of deception,” Rhamalli answered. “I am much older than you, young Pravara. I have learned how to attune my eyes to see that which typically cannot be seen.”

  “He’s moving,” Malth announced. “I do believe he knows he has been seen.”

  “Where’s he heading?” Mikal asked. “Can anyone tell?”

  “He’s moving southwest. Aye, he knows he has been seen. His gate has changed from a fast walk to a frenzied sprint.”

  Lissa stretched her back. “It sounds like he… Mikal, what are you doing?”

  Mikal had slid the pack off his back and was now holding it out to Lissa. Peanut’s ears perked up. Thinking she was about to be released from her confining prison, the corgi looked back at Mikal and uttered a short, low howl. Mikal was now sprinting towards the woods.

  “Pravara! Stay with me. We cannot let him get away. Not again!”

  Lissa hurriedly held the pack out to Pravara and sprinted after Mikal.

  Which way? Mikal thought to Pravara as he hurdled a small log that was directly in front of him.

  Has Lissa caught up to you yet?

  Aye. She’s just behind me. Which way?

  You’re heading too far to the south. You need to angle more to your right. Do you see break in the trees? Or the mound of rocks that is taller than you?

  Mikal spotted the rocks farther to the right than he expected.

  Those? Yeah, I see them. So what happened? How is it you can see him now? Five seconds ago you couldn’t.

  Five seconds ago he was using to jhorun to camouflage his location. He has since let the jhorun drop. That’s how I can see him.

  Oh.

  Run to those rocks. Hurry! The boy passed by those same rocks less than ten seconds ago. You are outrunning him. If you maintain that pace then you should be able to catch up to him.

  Got it.

  Back in the valley Pravara waited at the forest’s edge, motionless, with the cinch sack in her large open claw. She was now alone, having given her thanks to her three brethren and their riders for their help. Pravara pushed aside her irritation. Why did it always feel like she was the last dragon to report to a gathering? Were her visual skills that inferior to everyone else’s? Rhamalli had instantly spotted the missing human whereas she had looked right at the tree and had seen nothing.

  Pravara felt the bag in her claw move and glanced down at it. Peanut was struggling to extricate herself from the bag and was slowly succeeding in wiggling her way out. As soon as she was free she barked once, rushed to the edge of Pravara’s open palm, and then peered anxiously up at her.

  “Do you need to be set down?” Pravara asked the tiny creature. “If I let you down you must remain by my side. I do not know when Mikal will be back.”

  Pravara lowered her claw until it was resting on the grass covered floor. Peanut jumped down from the dragon’s claw and turned to look back at the dragon with a questioning look.

  “We are waiting here,” Pravara told the dog. She held up a single talon and peered intently at the small canine. “Stay.”

  Peanut barked once and took off like a shot, disappearing into the woods in hot pursuit of her human.

  Pravara looked at the claw she was holding up and growled. She had witnessed Mikal using the same exact gesture to Peanut when he had wanted the playful creature to remain in one spot. She had mimicked what she had seen. She had given the dog the command Peanut clearly knew. Why hadn’t the dog obeyed? Had she missed a step?

  Your canine is now following you.

  What? Pravara, you were supposed to hold on to her.

  She wanted down.

  Of course she wanted down. She wanted to follow us. It’s not safe for her in here!

  I told her to stay. I did everything I have seen you do. It didn’t work.

  Clearly. Which way now?

  What are you looking at?

  There’s a single tree rising higher than all the others. Directly to the left, er, my left, there’s a small stream running north and south. I think it might be the same stream we were at before.

  He appears to be headed back to his dwelling. He is constantly glancing over his shoulder to see if he is being followed. At the moment I would say he believes he has evaded capture.

  Where are the other dragons?

  They have departed. They have been instructed to give my father progress reports on how well the riders are assimilating and thus far the news isn’t that good.

  What is the…

  Go left.

  What?

  You’re about to be given a choice in which direction to run. Go left.

  The trail Mikal and Lissa had been following terminated abruptly at a dense wall of thick green shrubs th
at were taller than he was. A quick check in either direction revealed that there was now a choice in which direction to go. He instantly turned left.

  “Are you sure?” Lissa wheezed out. The poor girl was completely out of breath. The hair tie that she had been using had become lost and now her neatly braided brown tresses were swiftly unraveling. Every few seconds Lissa tucked strands of her hair back behind her ears in a futile attempt to keep her thick hair out of her face.

  Mikal tapped the side of his head.

  “Pravara said ‘left’, so left it is.”

  What did you mean? Mikal asked the dragon. Are they having problems with the riders already?

  Other than them constantly falling off in midflight, no.

  Ah. It’s just going to take some practice.

  I agree.

  If Gareth is heading home then is there any way for you to head him off?

  There isn’t enough room outside the dwelling for a confrontation, but based on the route he is taking to return home, there might be a chance of confronting him by the ravine. I believe there might be enough room.

  If you think you can stop him from reaching his home then please do it.

  I sense that you’re tiring.

  Aye. I hate running.

  Has the little canine caught up yet?

  No, but I can hear her.

  That may pose a problem.

  What? Why?

  If you can hear her then perhaps the wizard can hear her, too?

  And if he can? Are you saying he might try to do something to her?

  He better not. I am fond of that little creature.

  Yeah, me, too. She sure does grow on you, doesn’t she?

  Grows on me? I am unfamiliar with that phrase.

  It means it’s easy to become fond of her.

  I see. Then I would agree with your statement. She… Mikal. Seek shelter. Now!

  What is it? Mikal’s alarmed thought asked. What’s the matter?

  The trees. The trees are moving! They’re swaying! It’s as if… the wind. The wind has increased tenfold! It’s still increasing!

  Mikal ducked down near several scraggly bushes as the wind began picking up. He grasped the base of a bush with his left hand and stretched his right out behind him. As soon as he was holding Lissa’s hand tightly in his own he pulled her up to him and together they crouched low to the ground.

  Several barks pierced the air. A few seconds later Peanut wiggled her way in between Mikal and Lissa’s embrace. She gave each of them a welcoming lick across their cheeks and, comfortably sandwiched between her two humans, closed her eyes for a nap.

  “Dogs,” Mikal muttered. He looked into Lissa’s frightened eyes. “Hold on! Pravara says the wind is going to get nastier than this!”

  “Where’s this coming from?” Lissa asked, raising her voice to a shout in order to be heard. “Is this from Gareth?”

  Mikal nodded. “That’s the only explanation I can think of.” He looked at the shrub he was holding and raised an eyebrow. He sent his jhorun down into the shrub to see about enhancing its very nature. Within moments the shrub’s scrawny core had tripled in size. It rapidly thickened and spread out. As soon as the shrub had grown to shield size he pulled his jhorun back. The shrub, now having quadrupled in size, easily blocked the vast majority of the howling wind.

  Excellent thinking. Gareth is becoming increasingly frustrated. He is nearby, watching you. He can see you haven’t been driven off and is highly agitated. The wind is decreasing. The boy appears exhausted. Could he be out of jhorun?

  I don’t think we’d be that lucky. What’s he doing now?

  He’s fleeing again. He’s near the ravine I mentioned earlier. I am going to intercept.

  Be careful. He might be exhausted but he can clearly defend himself.

  Understood.

  Mikal rose to his feet, prompting Lissa to do the same.

  “Gareth has fled,” he told her. “He’s definitely headed home. Pravara is going to try and slow him down.”

  “You tell her to be careful,” Lissa exclaimed, rounding on him. “I don’t want her to get hurt.”

  “I already did.”

  Noticing that the ratty black nylon leash was still trailing off behind Peanut, Mikal slid his hand through the loop end of the leash and resumed their pursuit. The three of them only made it a dozen steps before they heard an ear-splitting roar. The two teenagers nervously eyed each other.

  Pravara? Tell me that was you.

  That was me.

  Are you okay?

  I am.

  And Gareth?

  He is trying to invoke some type of enchantment but I do not think he has enough jhorun to properly invoke it. I decided to break his concentration.

  We’re almost there.

  I would advise you to hurry.

  Peanut took off, heading in the general direction he had been running. Deciding the corgi’s nose must be guiding her to Pravara, Mikal let the dog lead. Checking to see that Lissa was following, he broke through a line of trees and would have fallen straight down into a thirty foot deep ravine that stretched at least that many feet across. Lissa appeared almost instantly behind him and threw her arms around him to prevent him from tumbling down.

  Mikal glanced irritably at Peanut, who had wisely veered to the left to walk along the ravine’s edge. She had reached the end of her leash and was looking back at him as if wondering why he wasn’t following.

  “You could have barked, yipped, come to a stop, anything. Some watchdog you are.”

  They detected movement on their left. As one, both humans and the one dog turned to look at Pravara. She was crouched, wings partially extended, fangs bared, as she stared at a spot on the ground before her. Mikal slowly approached and held up an arm to indicate Lissa and Peanut needed to stay back.

  Mikal stepped around a large stump and caught his first glimpse of the wizard that had been making his father’s life a living hell for several years now. The boy was shorter than he was, skinnier, had dark hair, almost to the point of it being black. His sides were heaving, as though he had just run several miles. Blood steadily dripped from the boy’s right arm. Mikal squinted at Gareth’s arm. He had a cut of some sort up past his elbow, directly on the bicep.

  Mikal took a step forward. Gareth’s head whipped around until he was staring, wild-eyed, directly at him. Mikal raised both palms up into the air and tried to adopt a non-threatening stance.

  “You must be Gareth. I’ve been looking for you.”

  The teen’s wild eyes jumped to the dragon and then back to him.

  “I’m not going to hurt you. No one here is.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Gareth sneered. “Tell your dragon to stand down or else!”

  “Or else what?” Mikal asked, trying valiantly not to lose his temper with the ill-tempered brat.

  “You know who I am. You’ve seen what I can do. I’m warning you. Make him go away or I’ll make you sorry.”

  “First of all, that’s a girl dragon. Her name is Pravara. Pravara, say hello to Gareth.”

  When Mikal didn’t hear anything he glanced over his shoulder at the dragon. Pravara hadn’t budged an inch nor had she stopped baring her fangs at the boy.

  Gareth’s lips began moving again as he resumed his chanting. Mikal snapped his fingers a few times.

  “Look, enough is enough. No one here is going to hurt you. In fact, why don’t you let Lissa here look at your arm? That looks like a nasty cut.”

  “I can fix it myself,” Gareth haughtily snapped, although his bright blue eyes did briefly flicker over to Lissa’s before shyly turning away.

  Mikal turned back to Lissa and nodded in Gareth’s direction.

  “That is a nasty laceration,” Lissa began as she stepped out from behind Mikal. She made a point of staring at Gareth’s bloody arm. “I know all about herbs and healing. If you don’t let me treat that cut then it could become infected. It won’t take long. Would you let me help you?”

 
; Gareth wouldn’t meet her eyes. He didn’t back away from her, which was a good sign, although he didn’t approach her, either.

  What’s wrong with him?

  Mikal glanced over at Pravara.

  I’d say he’s shy. Painfully shy. Especially around girls.

  Like you are?

  Excuse me? I am not.

  “We’re not here to hurt you, Gareth.”

  “You’re lying,” Gareth spat back. “You just want my treasure, like everyone else.”

  “No I don’t,” Lissa argued, shaking her head. “I didn’t even know you had a treasure.”

  Gareth’s gaze dropped to the ground.

  “Oh.”

  “You have a treasure?” Mikal asked, a bit too eagerly.

  Lissa stomped on his foot as she passed by him, handing him Peanut’s leash in the process.

  “Which he doesn’t care about,” Lissa quipped, giving Mikal a look that any male in a committed relationship was familiar with.

  What treasure?

  Mikal looked over at Pravara as she slowly folded her wings. She relaxed her posture and allowed her fangs to disappear from sight.

  If I can’t ask about the treasure then neither can you.

  Spoilsport.

  That’s something Steve would say.

  Where do you think I originally heard it?

  “Here, let’s be civil about this. My name is Lissa.” She turned to point at Mikal. “I’m sure you know who he is, but if you don’t, let me introduce Kre’Mikal, son of the king and queen. Over there is Pravara, daughter of Kahvel, the Dragon Lord. And sitting at Mikal’s feet is Peanut.”

  For the first time they saw a fleeting smile appear on Gareth’s face, and that was only when he looked at Peanut. The corgi had noticed the addition of a new member to her pack and was anxious for a proper introduction. She gave an exasperated bark and looked up at Mikal, as if she expected her owner to immediately release her.

  “Peanut is looking forward to meeting you in the proper corgi fashion,” Mikal explained as he dropped to one knee to drape an arm around the dog. “I’d let her, too, but we need to take care of you first. That arm looks pretty bad. Will you let Lissa look at it? She’s an excellent healer. In fact, you may be interested to know Shardwyn had to consult her yesterday when he couldn’t solve some fever outbreak in Donlari, I think.”