The Legend Of The Wizard's Apprentice (Book 1) (33 page)

chapter fifteen

THE DRAGON FAFNIR

Over the next hour everyone was busy gathering up all of the party’s belongings to get ready for the trip to see the dragon Fafnir’s Lair. The Cyclopes made sure that all of their bedrolls were put away and that all the food that would be needed over the next three days was packed safely.

Durin the dwarf made sure that he had his hammer and personal belonging ready to be used at a moment’s notice. Kerwyn checked to make sure that the acorn form the Tree of Life was hidden away safely in his belt pack along with the magical knife, Ghost Hunter, an egg-shaped old rock that pulsed with blue light and the broach of communication that Erlina had given him. The only other thing that was in his belt pack was the gold he had got from the Tree of life, his water bottle and the letters from Erlina. Kerwyn felt that he had enough stuff packed, along with the equipment that the Cyclopes had, to last all the way to the dragon’s lair and back.

Heading back downstairs and walking towards the Main Hall, he met up with Durin coming out of his room looking again like a dwarven warrior straight out of the legends. His armour shined brilliantly in the sunlight and his giant silver hammer glinted in the light, almost like it was winking at Kerwyn because it was heading back out on the open road where adventure awaited. Maybe Kerwyn imagined this but; then again, it was an Elvin magic hammer. Who knew what type of magic was infused with it.

Walking side by side they both walked towards the bottom of the stairs where the rest of the party was already waiting. Kerwyn looked over at Korowai and she was also fitted with new Elvin chain mail armour. He had to admit to himself that she did look amazing. With her exotic looks, she looked to be a force to be reckoned with. Master Sernett was there in his new blue wizard robe that matched Kerwyn’s and was holding onto the staff of power like he was ready for a wizard’s duel. The Cyclopes looked like they were ready to get this adventure over and done with and looked like one of the druid pictures that he had seen in one of the books of legends.

Here, once again, was the party that had slain vampires and the undead and had come out victorious. Here was the party that was brave enough to enter a dragon’s keep and face the mighty Golden Dragon head on. Kerwyn smiling at his thoughts turned again to face Master Sernett who was looking at him with a perplexed expression on his face.

Kerwyn just smiled at his master while letting the thoughts of heroism and legends fade away into the recesses of his mind. He nodded to his Master and let his daydream slip away.

“Well everyone, are we all ready to get going? I have checked all of our provisions and we should have enough to get there and back with extra to spare,” Master Sernett said.

“I have checked all of our supplies and sleeping rolls as well, Master Sernett, and we are ready to go,” Byamee the leader of the Cyclopes said.

“Have a safe journey and I hope that you will find all the answers that you are looking for. Fare thee well and return to us once thy task has been completed,” Elysia the forest elf queen said.

As the party got underway, all the elves came out to bid them safe passage and a safe return. Even Erlina was there waving her goodbyes to them. Kerwyn even thought that she had blown him a kiss and gave him a special smile that said to be careful and that she loved him. Glancing over he noticed that Korowai was watching him very intently and he wondered if maybe she was thinking the same thing about how they were going to make this love triangle work.

Kerwyn was confused as to how these two women planned on sharing him. It was a bit of a mystery to him. After all, he was only one man. But again Kerwyn still had a lot to learn, especially when it came to women and their feelings towards men. Privately he made a mental note to one day find out how a woman’s mind works. But that was going to be a long time way from now so he put it out of his mind.

Looking ahead, Kerwyn saw the barrier come into view and he almost regretted having to leave so soon. He knew that this was one of the safest spots left in the forest and now they were heading into great danger by seeking out a grumpy old dragon. Kerwyn didn’t think that they would have any problems with the dragon, as he didn’t think anyone in their party would be silly enough to try and steal anything from its stash.

Looking around at the rest of the party, the only one that he thought could be tempted was Durin as it was he who had been working as a thief the first time they met when he had been running from the Cyclopes. He would keep a close eye on him just to make sure that he didn’t do anything silly, like steal from a dragon.

“Ok everyone, we have a three day hike from here so make sure you have everything that you will require because once we pass through the barrier, we are on our way,” Master Sernett advised.

Everyone did a quick mental count of everything they were carrying and all said that they were good to go.

Master Sernett walked up to the barrier asked in a quiet voice if the barrier would allow them to pass. They could hear the barrier respond that it would and it wished them a safe trip as well. Kerwyn still found it strange that his magic had the effect of bringing things to sentient life. Who would have ever thought that the Elvin domain would be protected by one of his magical mistakes?

Walking through the barrier was like walking through a light waterfall but you didn’t get wet. It had an electrifying feeling to it and the hair on the back of their necks stood up and tingled as they passed through it. As each member passed through, they waited on the other side for the rest. Once everyone had reached the other side, they thanked the barrier for letting them pass. The barrier flashed a shade of red at the thanks.

“Ok, so let’s get going,” Master Sernett took up his usual spot in the front and led the party on. Korowai came and took her spot beside Kerwyn; she hadn’t said much to him today since the kiss, but she was there beside him. Kerwyn was glad for that as hated the feeling of having upset her. Byamee took his spot beside Master Sernett and Celie was up there with them as well. Durin and Elden took up the rear spots.

Following Master Sernett, the party began to notice that even for the few days that they had spent in the Elvin domain, the evil had spread further and faster then they could have ever guessed.

“Master Sernett, look at the trees in this part of the forest. They are all twisted and the brambles and thorn bushes are taking over. The poor tree sprites have to stay hidden in the uppermost reaches of their trees to stay safe. Oh, my heart goes out to them. Trees sprites are the most peaceful of creatures and the evil attacks them with hatred!” Korowai exclaimed with tears in her eyes.

“There, there, Korowai,” said Master Sernett slowing down enough to pat her on the arm. “Once we see the dragon and figure out what must be done we will stop this evil from violating the land any further.”

“I know, Master Sernett, but it is hard for me to look upon my tree sisters and turn a blind eye to them when they need me the most. The trees are my family and there is nothing that I can do to stop this evil from hurting them. Unless you or Kerwyn has the power to protect them?” Korowai said with a hopeful smile.

“Korowai, the forest is a big place. Neither Kerwyn nor I have the power required to protect all the trees in the forest. No, our best way for us to help is to rid the world of the Dark Master and let the world return to normal,” Master Sernett, said.

About an hour and half into their journy, the ground began to tremble around them. Opening up in front of them was a huge sinkhole about fourteen feet across and now blocked their way. Trees and huge amounts of dirt fell down the hole. A roar rose from the hole that didn’t come from any normal creature.

Lava spewed out, setting the forest on fire. Master Sernett yelled at the party to take a defensive position and to get their weapons ready for battle.

Up from the hole, a giant lava worm lifted its body about twenty five feet out above ground. Turning its head towards Kerwyn, it set its sights on him. The worm’s eye glowed with a bright red glow, telling the party that this creature was sent by the Dark Master to kill everyone that it could in this little party.

Opening its mouth, it revealed the hundreds or rows of teeth all mashing together, showing the party a most painful way to die.

Master Sernett yelled, “Do not let it eat you! If those teeth do not tear you to shreds first, the stomach juices will slowly digest you and don’t think that it will be a quick death either. Its juices have a healing property that keeps its victims alive until such time that it is hungry and ready to digest you the rest of the way. Oh, and watch out for it’s-.” Just then last the worm inhaled and blew out a stream of lava aimed at Kerwyn. It caught Kerwyn unaware and knocked him to the ground coated in the super hot liquid.

The rest of the party just stood there dumbstruck. Kerwyn and the Tree of Life acorn had just gone down under the super hot molten rock. All that remained of Kerwyn was a big pile of Lava rock as it solidified into one massive clump where Kerwyn had been standing just a moment before.

The creature let out a triumphant roar and turned its attention back to the rest of the party. Knowing that it had done the Dark Master’s bidding by killing the boy first, the creature now knew it could eat the rest of these small creatures that its master hated so much at its leisure.

The party felt the loss of Kerwyn and, not believing that he was gone, attacked the giant worm with as much tenacity as they could muster. Durin swung his hammer over and over crashing it into the lava worm sending chunks of lava rocks flying off of it. Hearing the creature scream in pain Durin knew that he was hurting it. All three Cyclopes were attacking the worm with their swords and spear. They tore into the rocks and finally into the fleshy parts of the worm. Korowai enraged to the point of berserker after witnessing Kerwyn go down, attacked the worm with her sword, tearing chunk after chunk of the worm’s hide away. She was moving so fast that she was just a blur. Master Sernett was beside himself and couldn’t believe that he had just witnessed Kerwyn, his son, fall beneath the worm’s lava spray.

Seeing Kerwyn go down angered Master Sernett more then he had ever been in his life. Turning towards the lava worm, Master Sernett pointed his staff of power towards the worm’s head and called out
“Putus Niveus Navitas Telum!”
It was the most powerful spell he knew: The Pure White Energy Bolt. He didn’t care for the safety of his own life knowing that this spell had killed more than just a few wizards and had left even more completely void of magic for the rest of their lives.

The spell blasted a bolt of pure white light straight into the lava worm’s head that was also amplified by the power of the staff. The bolt hit dead on and the lava worm’s head exploded, spilling brains and internal parts all over the party attacking it below. Drained from casting the most powerful spell, Master Sernett had ever cast, he collapsed to the ground thinking of how could he have failed his son so badly? Passing out Master Sernett knew no more.

The party standing around the dead lava worm couldn’t believe their eyes. Never before had they felt or seen that amount of power being cast. All living creatures could feel that amount of draw on the One Power. It had a way of taking the energy from any living thing around it and using it up to cast the spell. The spell was so powerful that it would have even made some of the lesser creatures collapse, exhausted from just being too close to the caster. Looking around the clearing there were birds and other animals wriggling on the ground as if they had being tossed into a whirlwind and collapsed to the ground drained of all energy. Even the party could feel that a lot of there own energy had been drawn into the spell and they were feeling weaker since its casting.

Celie looked over to where Kerwyn had been standing and saw that the lava rock was beginning to expand. They could hear a voice call out a spell from underneath but it was muffled by the lava rock. When the expansion became too much, the rock exploded and there was Kerwyn kneeling on the ground glowing with a bright red radiance about him and a ring on his finger was shining like a noon day’s sun. Standing up he saw the lava worm and his Master both on the ground. One was dead with its brains blown apart and the other’s condition was yet to be determined.

Running to his master’s side he felt for a pulse and, finding one, he knew that his master still lived but he had cast a spell that was so powerful it would take days for his master to regain his full strength. Even Kerwyn could feel the drain on his energy and the flows of the One Power.

“Kerwyn! We thought that you had died when the worm sprayed lava at you!” cried Celie.

“If it wasn’t for this magic ring of fire protection that Master Faunus had given me I would have been killed. Even with the ring it was really hot and hard to breath under all that lava rock,” said Kerwyn making a mental note to thank Master Faunus for the gift that had just saved his life.

Korowai ran over to Kerwyn wrapping her arms around him so fast that he didn’t have time to react. She buried her head into his chest and was weeping so hard that he thought she was going to collapse.

“I thought that you were dead. If you had died, how could I have ever lived with myself? I didn’t try to get you out of the way before you were splashed with lava from that worm. I didn’t even know what we were facing until it was too late. We don’t have those creatures where I come from.

Erlina would have been so mad with me that I couldn’t have ever faced her again. You need to take more precautions to keep yourself safe. I thought that I would be more than powerful enough to keep you safe from most harm. But I am wrong; I have overestimated myself. You have the capability, where I don’t, to keep yourself alive. I have failed you and have shamed myself. I should leave your side and never return as I am not worthy of you.”

Lifting her head from his chest Kerwyn said to her, “Don’t be silly. How were you to know that it spits lava? I am an apprentice wizard and I didn’t know that. I have read stories about these lava worms but nobody that I have ever read of has ever survived the experience. All of the stories were from people that had either seen the attack from afar or from people who have come upon the aftermath of a great lava worm attack. It is through no fault of yours that you didn’t know what to do against the giant lava worm.”