The Elder's Curse Andrew Walbrown (red scrolls of magic .TXT) 📖

“No, you’ve been gone a week,” Nilawen replied firmly. “I know because I have been out here for at least five days waiting for you to return. Ushokku and Chulzi asked if I could watch and wait so they could tend to their whelps, and I accepted. Because, you know, if my options are living in nature or being eyeballed by hungry dragon babies I am definitely not choosing hungry dragon babies.”

Amantius chuckled. “I can’t blame you, but I can’t accept we were gone for so long either. How is that possible?”

“Come on, Amantius, have you already forgotten the things we saw in there?” Kona said. “If it was able to penetrate our minds and read our fears, then why wouldn’t it be able to distort our sense of time as well?”

“The possibilities are endless,” Mazargo interjected, bowing to Nilawen. Amantius saw Ulam’s eyes dart to Kuruk’s staff, as though the amber powerstone pulled in his focus like a whirlpool. Strange. Why is he staring at that thing so much?

“It is quite a fascinating, and terrifying proposition, no?” Mazargo continued, his eyes now turning to the gleaming powerstone as well. “One could do so much good in this world with these stones, yet one could also cause much devastation.”

“That’s Mazargo, by the way,” Amantius said to Nilawen, realizing she did not know him. He leaned in, putting his lips near one of her pointed ears. “He’s a little odd. And he is a Mwai, which is a race of cat-people apparently, and…”

“And let me guess, you’ve already called him a ‘cat-man’ and made yourself look dumb?” Nilawen said with a smirk.

“Well, I mean, what else was I supposed to call him?”

Nilawen sighed. Right as she was about to reply Kona stepped forward, her eyes fixed on the sky, and said, “I don’t see any dragons. So how do we get back?”

“Why would we want to?” Amantius answered before anyone else could speak. He was surprised that after surviving Kuruk’s Tower that anyone would willingly return to a dragon lair. “Wen is standing here; we have our things, as well as the powerstone. I see no reason why we should return to the dragons.”

“Well, I can think of a few reasons,” Nilawen began, a wry smile on her lips. “We don’t know where we are or how to get back to Yawan. But most importantly, and I am sure everyone will agree with me, because you would have to be a legendary kind of idiot to intentionally make yourself the enemy of dragons! I swear, Amantius, sometimes I wonder how you’ve made it this far in life.”

“Because he has me,” Ulam muttered, followed by a few snickers.

Amantius sneered; he wholeheartedly believed they could find their way back to Yawan, even without the dragons. She does have a point, though. It probably would be a bad idea to upset them. “Alright, fine. So how do we get back?”

“I fashioned a pyre from nearby branches and twigs,” Nilawen explained as she pointed behind them. “All we have to do is light it and it’ll work as a beacon.”

Amantius nodded. “Let’s get to it then.”

By striking a piece of flint on Kona’s dagger, they were able to ignite the pyre, watching quietly as a pillar of smoke rose high above the treetops. Nilawen and Kona took turns feeding the inferno, while Mazargo and Ulam stood nearby, the Mwai’s eyes turned upwards as he scanned the skies for the great, winged beasts. But Ulam was not looking for the dragons, his eyes were once again fixed on the amber powerstone atop Kuruk’s staff. It was clear to Amantius that there was some connection there, because even though Ulam was petrified of fire, in that particular moment he could not care less about the hungry flames snapping near his flesh.

I need to know what happened. Why he is so engrossed with that thing? Suddenly there was a screech in the sky, a terrifying noise, yet not one unfamiliar to Amantius. A colossal mass blocked out the sun, covering the glade in shadow. The wind slowly strengthened, blowing in a series of gusts like a pulsating heart, killing the fire and filling the area with swirls of smoke. Amantius did not need to look into the sky to see what was happening; he knew one of the dragons had arrived.

With a great boom, Ushokku landed in the clearing, the weight of her serpentine body causing the ground beneath her to tremble. Seconds later Chulzi arrived, the flapping of her powerful wings dislodging leaves from nearby trees and kicking up loose blades of grass. Though it was not the first time Amantius had seen Ushokku and Chulzi, their appearances alone were enough to turn his legs to jelly. Alongside the dragonesses he felt as small as a beetle, and like the beetle, he could be easily crushed if they so desired.

“Still want to go back to Yawan without them?” Nilawen whispered while elbowing Amantius in the ribs. It was a habit of Ulam’s that she had picked up during their travels, much to Amantius’ chagrin.

“There is one more,” Ushokku said as she stretched her long, yellow-scaled neck across the glade towards Mazargo, inhaling with such force the Mwai’s fur became disheveled. “Greetings Master Mazargo, we have not seen you quite some time.”

“Wait, you know him?” Amantius shouted. “How?”

“Mazargo does not like Yawan,” the mage replied, “it is too crowded and too ignorant for him. He prefers to explore caves and ruins, searching for knowledge and adventure. Mazargo has known Ushokku for many years. It is she who asked Mazargo to learn the secrets of disenchantment so the Elder could someday be saved.”

Amantius laughed. “You could have told me that; you didn’t need to be mysterious when I asked you why you were in Kuruk’s Tower.”

“That is not Mazargo’s reason for being here, just a coincidence.”

The dragoness Chulzi stepped forward, one of her deep green eyes fixed on the amber powerstone in Mazargo’s possession.