The Dragon's Flame (The Chronicles of Terah # 2) Read online

  A couple of seconds later, he emerged from the energy flow in the middle of a road between two plowed fields, feeling dizzy, nauseous, and disoriented, almost as if he’d just gotten off of a giant roller coaster. After he recovered from the effects of traveling through a field of raw energy, he looked around. If the key had done what it was supposed to do, the road he was standing on would take him to Walnut Springs, but he had no idea which way he should go.

  He spotted a farmer working in one of the fields about the same time that the man noticed him. When Kevin started walking towards him, the man stopped what he was doing and started walking towards Kevin.

  “Hi there,” the farmer called out when they were within hearing distance. “Can I help you?”

  “I hope so,” Kevin answered. “Could you tell me where I can find Warren, the sorcerer of Ragenon?”

  “Just follow the road that way, into town,” the farmer answered, pointing down the road. “Once you get there, just ask anyone in town. They’ll tell you how to get to his house.”

  Kevin nodded his thanks, threw up his hand, and began walking towards town. About fifteen minutes later, he reached Walnut Springs. The first person he saw was the village blacksmith, so he stopped, waited a moment for the blacksmith to finish what he was doing, and then asked directions. The blacksmith pointed to a neat little house with a big front porch. A few minutes later, Kevin knocked on the door.

  The man who answered the door could have passed for Santa Claus if he’d been wearing a red suit. He had a full head of white hair, a long white beard, rosy cheeks, dark eyes, and a round belly. He greeted Kevin with a warm smile and a handshake, just like Kevin was a long lost friend, and welcomed him to his home.

  As soon as Kevin stepped inside, Warren’s wife emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. Her gray hair was pinned back out of her way, but some of it had slipped out of the pins and was hanging in curls around her face. There was a smudge of flour on her forehead and her eyes were laughing as she smiled her greeting.

  “I’m Warren and this is my wife, Torrey,” Warren said as he nodded towards his wife. “What can we do for you?”

  Kevin nodded towards Torrey and said, “I’m pleased to meet you, ma’am.” Then he turned towards Warren and said, “I’d like to speak with you for a few minutes if you have the time.”

  “Before you two get down to business, why don’t I bring you some coffee?” Torrey asked as she directed Kevin into the living room. “And maybe a little cake? I just took one out of the oven. Nothing’s better than a nice piece of warm apple cake.”

  Kevin thanked her, sat down on the couch, and looked at Warren. “I’m pleased to meet you, Warren. I’ve heard a lot of good things about you and your work here. I’m Myron, Badec’s son.”

  Warren nodded. “I sort of thought you might be. You favor your mother more than you do your father, but I can see both of them in your face. I’m really sorry about your father, Myron. He was a good man.”

  “Thank you.”

  Torrey brought in a tray with two cups of coffee and two slices of apple cake and set it down on the coffee table. Then she smiled at Kevin and returned to the kitchen.

  “I understand you would like to retire,” Kevin said as he picked up one of the cups.

  Warren nodded, but didn’t say anything.

  “It may take a little time to find someone who can take over here.” Kevin sipped his coffee and paused for a moment. “I was wondering if you might consider staying on for a while if we could find an assistant to take care of some of the routine work. I’m not talking about an apprentice. I mean a trained sorcerer, one who’s starting out on his own. Your district minister suggested it. He even said that he’d be willing to make it a paid position if you’d reconsider and stay.”

  “Ryan hasn’t talked to me about that. Guess he was waiting to see what your reaction was,” Warren said thoughtfully. After a minute, he nodded and said, “I might consider that. We like it here. We like the people, the climate, everything about Ragenon. It’s just that I’m getting a little too old to be a full-time sorcerer. You know how it is. When it’s busy, it’s really busy, for days on end. That’s where age gets you. You just can’t keep up the pace any more. But maybe if I had some help …”

  “Good,” Kevin said, smiling at the older man. “I’d like for you to think about the type of work you’ll want your assistant to handle, what skills he’ll need, things like that, and send me a list. I’m sure we’ll be able to find someone suitable.”

  “Thank you.”

  For the next few minutes, both men concentrated on the cake. When Kevin had finished eating, he said, “I’ve got a problem I’d like to talk to you about. You might have some ideas on how to handle it. One of the district sorcerers really isn’t working out. From what I understand, his main problem is his attitude. He’s arrogant and treats the people in his district as if they’re beneath him. He seems to think that being a district sorcerer is an open invitation to take whatever he wants.”

  Warren sighed and said, “His teacher did a lousy job.”

  “That was my thought, too. He doesn’t seem to understand that the job’s more about service than anything else. I don’t know. Maybe he’s just not cut out to be a district sorcerer. I should probably just tell him to pack his bags, get out of Camden, and never return. But I can’t help wondering if I’m being too hasty, if there’s some way to turn him around. What do you think?”

  “It’s hard to say since I don’t know him, but if he’s been abusive towards the people in his district you really should remove him from office. Even if he changes, the people won’t ever trust him.”

  “I agree.”

  “When are you planning to do something?” Warren asked.

  “I don’t think I should put it off too long but I’ll have to find someone to replace him before I do anything. Why?”

  “Could you let me think about it for a couple of weeks? Maybe I can come up with some suggestions.”

  “That would be fine. I’d appreciate any ideas you might have,” Kevin said. “In the meantime, we’ll see what we can do about finding an assistant for you.”

  “That’s all right. Why don’t you hold off on that for now? Let’s concentrate on your other problem first. We’ll deal with an assistant for me later.”

  “All right. I’ll see you in two weeks then,” Kevin said as he stood up. “I hate to eat and run, but I really do have to be on my way. I’d like to thank your wife for the cake and coffee before I leave though.”

  When Kevin went into the kitchen to thank Torrey, she was busy wrapping several large pieces of apple cake in cheesecloth.

  “I’ve got to head back to Milhaven, but I wanted to thank you for the coffee and cake,” Kevin said. “It really hit the spot.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it. I thought you might like a snack when you get back to your office, so I cut you another slice,” she said with a smile as she handed him the cheesecloth. “And I added a couple of slices for Laryn and your assistant, too.”

  Kevin took the cheesecloth and grinned. “You just made a friend for life. My assistant has the world’s worst sweet tooth. He’ll love it, and I’m sure Laryn will, too. Thanks again.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Chris was in Kevin’s office when he got back. “So, how did it go? What’s he like?”

  “He looks like Santa Claus, and has the disposition to go with it. And his wife makes a terrific apple cake. If I didn’t already have a job, I’d go work for him myself,” Kevin said as he handed Chris the cake. “One of those slices is for Laryn, so be sure you save her some.”

  Chris unwrapped the cake and offered one of the slices to Kevin.

  Kevin shook his head. “I’ve already had a piece.”

  “Did he volunteer to take Gaynor?” Chris asked.

  “No, not yet,” Kevin answered. Then he told Chris about his conversation with Warren.

  “He’ll offer to take him on. He’s already thinking a
bout it,” Chris said between mouthfuls of cake. “This cake is really good. And it’s still warm.”

  “I know. We’ll see what he says when I go back in two weeks. Now, what’s been going on around here?”

  “Nothing much. Elin’s working on the letters to the applicants and the other pages are still dealing with thank-you notes,” Chris said. “Karl came in to see you, but I told him you were out for a while. He wants you to drop by sometime today. And one of the guards came in to tell you that Freddy’s back.”

  “Think I’ll go up and see Freddy first. That shouldn’t take but a minute. Then I’ll find Karl.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  That evening, while Kevin and Chris were relaxing in Kevin’s room after dinner, Chris asked, “When are we going to see Glendymere?”

  “He said any time this week would be okay, so I was thinking that we could go tomorrow morning.”

  Chris nodded. “I was going over the transfer requests from the sorcerers today and pulling contracts for the districts involved. You know we talked about asking Calbert to take over Gaynor’s district?”

  Kevin nodded.

  “Well, Gaynor’s district is on the same pay level as Calbert’s. They’re both novice positions. It would solve your problem as far as someone to replace Gaynor, but it won’t do much for Calbert. The only reason he’s requesting a transfer is that his family is growing and he needs a higher paying position.”

  “Since Zander’s a novice position, maybe we should plan to hold a competition for it.”

  “Okay, and I was thinking that maybe we could switch Calbert and Norinna, the sorcerer of Delray. She’s held her position for nearly ten years with no complaints from anyone as far as I can tell. She wrote that she knows it would mean less pay, but since she’s single with no children to support, pay’s not that big a consideration for her. I looked at her contract, and Delray’s one of the higher paying positions in Camden. If Calbert’s competent enough to handle the work, and from what his district minister says I think he is, Delray may work out better for him.”

  “Why does Norinna want a transfer?”

  “I don’t know. She didn’t say.”

  “It sounds good to me, but before we make a final decision maybe I should go see her and find out what’s behind her request,” Kevin said. “I’ll try to go before the end of the week.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  When Kevin and Chris reached the office the next morning, Kevin went on to his private office while Chris sat down with Ariel and outlined the work that the pages needed to do that morning while he and Kevin were gone.

  While he was waiting for Chris, Kevin thumbed through the messages on his desk to see if there were any that he needed to handle personally. He had just finished going through them when Chris walked in.

  “Are you ready to go?” Kevin asked.

  Chris nodded, so Kevin stood up and took out his key to Terah. Chris placed his hand on Kevin’s arm and said, “Go to the cave entrance. I don’t want to risk waking him up.”

  Kevin nodded and turned the key. A few seconds later, he and Chris materialized in Willow Canyon, right beside the entrance to Glendymere’s cave.

  “Will we ever get used to this?” Chris asked as he held his sides and leaned over. His face was pale and there was a line of sweat across his forehead.

  “I hope so,” Kevin said as he rubbed his heaving stomach. “It didn’t seem to bother Laryn much when we went to the council meeting last week. She was fine when we got there, and fine when we got back home.”

  “That was Laryn. I don’t think much of anything gets to her.” Chris took a few deep breaths and straightened back up. “Okay, I’m feeling a little better now. Shall I knock?”

  Before Kevin could answer, Glendymere said, “I’m awake. Come on in.”

  Kevin and Chris entered the massive cave that served as Glendymere’s parlor. Very few of his guests were ever invited beyond that chamber. A huge passageway led from the outer chamber through a couple of large caverns, and finally into Glendymere’s sleeping chamber.

  A football stadium, complete with bleachers, could have been set up in there with room left over. The ceiling was about a hundred feet high and a shaft about ten feet wide opened to the sky directly above the center of the room. Along the right-hand wall was a large rock basin filled with water. Fresh water fed into the basin from a spout in the wall and the overflow drained into an underground stream through a lip in the rim.

  Glendymere was curled up like a cat along the opposite wall with his head resting on his front paws and his tail wrapped around his body. But that’s where the similarity ended. Glendymere was fearsome. His triangular head was huge and his mouth was filled with a lot of very big teeth. A thin trail of smoke drifted out of his nostrils and snaked its way towards the ceiling. His eyes glittered like emeralds and showed no signs of age, although he had bushy white eyebrows and a long white goatee that curved halfway to the ground when he was standing. His wings were folded, but even folded they were massive. His neck and torso were about sixty feet long, and then his tail added another thirty feet or so. The golden scales that covered his body sparkled in the sunlight that poured into the cave through the shaft in the ceiling.

  As Kevin and Chris entered the room, Glendymere raised his head. His movements had a fluid grace and an elegance that were animalistic, but his eyes radiated an intelligence that far surpassed anything a human could hope for. He turned towards Kevin and asked, “Do you want to tell me what’s been going on, or do you want me to scan your mind and find out for myself?”

  “Scanning would probably be quicker and more accurate.”

  Glendymere nodded his massive head. Then a few moments later, he said, “We need to work on your reflexes.”

  “My reflexes?” Kevin asked with a frown.

  “I’m not worried that you’ll get killed in a challenge. Even if you can’t bring yourself to destroy your opponent, you’ll outlast him. But with the way you’re making enemies these days, someone is going to send out assassins, and some of those assassins could be sorcerers. They won’t fight you out in the open; they’ll strike when you least expect it.”

  “That sounds just like Rolan,” Chris agreed.

  “If you could challenge him, I’d tell you to go ahead and get it over with. It would save everyone a lot of headaches, but you humans have that pesky rule that sorcerers can only challenge a sorcerer of a higher rank, and since you hold the highest rank on Terah …” Glendymere shrugged. “And he’s too smart to challenge you, so you need to get ready for a sneak attack.”

  “How?” Kevin asked.

  “By fine-tuning your reflexes. I want you to work with me for a couple of hours at least twice a week for a while, and three days a week would be better. You need to get to the point that you can sense an energy bolt almost before it’s formed, know which direction it’s coming from, fire one back, and have your shield in place before you consciously realize you’re in danger.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Kevin said hesitantly. “I could end up killing someone before I knew what I was doing.”

  “That’s the idea,” Glendymere mumbled. “It’s either that or plan to start spending a lot more time with your parents.”

  “What?”

  “Well, you won’t have to wait for them to visit you. You’ll be with them.”

  Kevin frowned, still not catching Glendymere’s point.

  Chris elbowed him in the ribs. “He means you’ll be dead.”

  Glendymere nodded.

  “Oh,” Kevin said softly. Then after a moment, he began to argue again. “But what if it wasn’t aimed at me?” Kevin turned towards Chris. “You’ve been around bolts, Chris. You can’t tell where they’re going until they hit. It might be aimed at something else, something completely legitimate.” Then he turned back to Glendymere. “I can see setting the shield as a reflex, but I don’t know about throwing a bolt before I know what’s going on. That seems irresponsible to me. What if the sorc
erer had a perfectly good reason for throwing one? I don’t want to kill someone by accident.”

  Glendymere sighed a long-suffering sigh. “If it was legitimate, you’d know about it before it was thrown.”

  “What if a snake was about to bite me? What if a sorcerer threw a bolt trying to save my life and I blasted him for it?”

  Glendymere shook his head. “Kevin, you grew up in a world without magic, without sorcerers. You don’t know how other sorcerers act. Believe me, no sorcerer is going to toss around energy bolts anywhere near you without at least shouting a warning. He’d have to have a death wish!”

  “All right, maybe you’re right, but it still seems awfully risky to me.”

  “Look, if someone tosses an energy bolt around you without warning, you or one of your friends is the target. Period. And if you don’t take out the sorcerer immediately, before he gets a second chance, someone will die.” Glendymere paused before continuing. “If you block his first bolt, he’ll know that he needs to do something to distract you, and what would be a better distraction than an attack on Chris? Or on one of the others? Are you really willing to wait until that happens before you get serious about defending yourself?”

  Kevin looked at Chris for a few moments, and then said, “How about tomorrow morning, about this time?”

  Glendymere nodded.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Kevin spent the rest of the week tying up some loose ends. After working with Glendymere for a couple of hours Thursday morning, he visited Norinna. She said that she’d requested a transfer so she’d have more time to devote to teaching her nephew how to control his magic. The young man was pleasant and kind, but he was a little slow, so he was going to need more attention than most apprentices. When Kevin suggested that she switch places with Calbert, she was pleased with the solution.

  Friday, he went to see Calbert. Since he arrived around midday, he joined Calbert and his family for a lively lunch. Afterwards, he and Calbert went for a walk to discuss Calbert’s request and the move to Delray. Calbert was as pleased with the switch as Norinna had been, so Kevin set the Sunday after the federation meeting as the date for the transfer.