Wizards (15 page)

"I offer myself to you unreservedly. Take me as your bride or as your whore and become heir to this kingdom, but don’t desert us in our hour of need, I beseech you."

I stared at Esmeralda. She looked as though her legs had sunk deep into the grass. It was the first thing that gave me a genuine idea how to get us out of this mess.

Before I could consider the option, I had to check whether I could actually do it. The problem with my powers as a wizard is I’ve hardly tried doing anything with them.

"Get up," I ordered Esmeralda more coldly than I intended. I stepped away from her and Esmeralda struggled wearily to her feet. Tears ran down her face. She seemed to have an endless supply that morning.

"Take a step backwards," I commanded. Esmeralda did as I asked but the grass behind her was now a treacherous mud soup and her step turned into a sinking fall. However, what I’d created still looked like grass. Esmeralda fell deep into the mire, her arms spinning wildly as she tried to regain her balance. Then she disappeared with a muddy splash beneath the deceptively grassy surface.

"You'll drown her," Jenny squealed and tried to go to Esmeralda's aid. I blocked Jenny with my arm until Esmeralda returned spluttering to the surface. I had only made the stuff five feet deep so there was little chance she would drown. Her red hair was streaked dirty brown and she dripped with mud. Strange though it may seem, I thought she looked the cutest I had ever seen her.

I offered my hand and pulled her out of the disgusting muddy gloop. She staggered back as I deliberately let go of her hand early. Esmeralda landed hard on her bottom on what was once again solid ground. I cancelled the spell as soon as she was out of it. Her beautiful dress was now a sodden ruin and streaks of filthy water covered her face.

"Now I have a plan. You two stay here while I hop in front of the army and give it a go."

Jenny grabbed hold of my arm firmly and Esmeralda showed remarkable speed in getting up and grabbing my other arm. I gave my arms a shake, but the girls held tight to me.

"Okay, come with me then," I said, giving in as I realized the girls were serious about it. I hopped us to the edge of the city a little way in front of the advancing army.

Lord Per Napshot marched at the front of his army. He must have raced through the night to meet them. His wife was nowhere to be seen. Napshot's army stopped moving when they reached the outskirts of the city. He was close enough to shout at the ragbag of a citizen’s militia who faced him with pitchforks. I was not sure whether to admire the citizens of Salice's courage or to pity them for their stupidity.

"Put down your weapons and surrender, people of Salice. I have no wish to own a kingdom of the dead and those of you with useful skills will serve me exactly as you do King Petre. My men will take their fill of loot and young women but you’ll live if you choose not to fight."

"Charming," Jenny muttered. I had to agree with her. What he was offering wasn’t exactly generous.

No one on either side paid much attention to the three of us. I doubt anybody on the Salice side recognized Esmeralda in her current disheveled state while Jenny and I were hardly noteworthy. I was wondering how I was going to change that state of affairs when Fluffy appeared from nowhere and attacked Napshot's army.

I’d never seen my dragon angry and flying with the intention of attacking something. It was an awesome sight. He must have been listening in glim and what Napshot said had surely pissed him off. Fluffy screeched in a way that set the hairs on the back of my neck stiff as he dived towards the army.

At the last moment, Fluffy shot a massive burst of flame over the soldiers' heads causing the pike men to drop to the ground in fear and most of the soldiers on horses to be thrown off their mounts. It was as magnificent as it was stupid. As Fluffy flew down the line of the army trying to gain height, an arrow shot up from somewhere hitting him in the wing. Fluffy screeched again, this time in agony and slipped back into glim, vanishing from our sight.

"Is he all right?" Jenny asked urgently squeezing my arm so hard I thought she might wrench it off. "Jake, is Retnor okay?"

"I don't know, but it's time I took a hand." I pried Jenny's hand off my arm, Esmeralda having already let me go of me, and walked forward. The citizen militia in front of me parted around me. I suspected they must have recognized me, though it could have been my anger radiating.

"Hi there. It's me, Wizard Morrissey," I told Napshot and his men conversationally. "The next one of you to shoot at my dragon gets fried to a crisp. Is that clearly understood?"

Fifty crossbow bolts shot towards me from the army. They shuddered into the invisible barrier I nicked from Wizard Plath and hung in the air like cursors on a computer screen. Nobody attempted a second shot as I’d made my point.

"Tut, tut. Are you trying to make me angry? That wouldn’t be wise."

I waved my hand and the ground in front of the army rippled like water.

"Try taking a step forward."

Napshot grabbed a soldier standing near him and pushed him to the front. The soldier staggered into the marsh. This new marsh was much deeper than five feet. He disappeared under the surface for a few seconds and then reappeared coughing and spluttering calling out desperately. One of the pike men offered him the end of his pike and three of the soldiers pulled him back to safety.

"That marsh is going to start moving towards you in a few minutes. I suggest you all turn around and run, as the alternative will be a rather muddy grave."

Nobody moved so I pushed the marsh forward until Lord Napshot and his advisors disappeared in a fountain of mud and water. I allowed Napshot's soldiers to recover him and his cronies before I spoke again.

"I'm going to start walking towards you and as I do, the marsh will move forward at your end and turn back to solid earth at mine. I suspect some of you will still be under it when it changes back, unless you’re wise enough to run."

That did it. The whole army turned as a man and started a retreat, though the horses and carts stayed where they were, as the soldiers driving them abandoned their posts.

I began to walk forward and the marsh moved forward with me. It flowed around the horses and carts leaving them sitting on little islands of solid ground. I like horses. I had shaped the marsh into a U, encompassing the army so there was no possibility of the mercenaries escaping to the side.

I walked for over four hours keeping a steady pace. The militia from the city followed behind me picking up abandoned weapons and retrieving the horses and carts. I paused to catch my breath from time to time and someone would appear alongside me to offer food and water. None of these people stayed to chat though, retreating as soon as I took their offerings.

Eventually, I pushed the army back into the pass they came through the night before. Steep cliffs on the sides of the pass were clearly impossible to climb. I stopped walking and sent the marsh along the pass.

I then turned to the people following me.

"I'll change it back to solid ground when we’re sure they’ve gone for good."

There was a ragged cheer from the people. I looked around for Jenny or Esmeralda but there was no sign of them. I hadn't seen them since I stepped up to confront Napshot and his army. I hopped back to my bedroom in the palace.

There was nobody around. The bed was made and my pajamas and Jenny's nightgown were neatly folded on top of the pillows. I pushed the pajamas aside and dropped onto the bed totally exhausted. I fell fast asleep in seconds.

"Jake, wake up!"

Someone was dragging me out of my warm comfortable darkness and I didn't want to go. I grabbed my pillow and buried my head in it.

A pain like liquid fire shot through my backside and I shot up into a sitting position. Esmeralda stood at the side of the bed with a vicious looking copper warming pan in her hands. Jenny stared open mouthed at her.

"This is urgent, Jake," Esmeralda told me without the slightest hint of apology in her voice.

"Retnor has landed in the courtyard and he has a horrible tear in his wing. You have to fix him," Jenny added.

I pushed myself off the bed running towards the courtyard and Fluffy, leaving the two girls in my wake. I was halfway down the stairs when I realized I could simply hop there.

Fluffy lay on the ground as though he didn't have the strength to stand on his legs. It was evening and the light was failing but I could see a gaping wound in his left wing. It looked as though he had lost a lot of blood.

The courtyard lit up like noon as I created the light I needed to try and heal my dragon. I didn't want to touch the tear but I knew I had no choice. I smoothed out Fluffy's torn flesh with my hand and willed the wound to heal. I had no idea whether it was working and just kept going until Fluffy put a claw on my shoulder.

[I need to eat Jake, to recover my strength.]

I looked up to see a crowd had gathered. The people stood in the cloisters keeping a respectful distance, though whether from me or from Fluffy I couldn’t tell.

"Lamb, I need a roast lamb. In fact I need several," I shouted.

"We have a few cooked joints left over from the ball," a lad offered.

"Go and bring all you can find. Don't bother warming it up or anything, just get it here."

The lad turned and began pushing through the crowd.

"Let him through," Esmeralda ordered and the crowd parted around him. The power of royalty can sometimes be more effective than that of a mere wizard.

"Is he going to be all right?" Jenny asked as she came up and knelt beside me, stroking Fluffy's head.

[Food.]

"Is coming," I told Fluffy wearily. I was amazed at how tired I was. It was difficult to keep my eyes open. I yawned expansively.

"You do everything the hard way," Esmeralda said critically.

"Thank you, Jake for saving my kingdom," I said on her behalf. "Oh I forgot, you thanked me by hitting me, didn't you."

"Magic on the scale you used today takes power and it has worn you out. You could have killed everyone in that army a hundred times over, using far less power. Do you think you can do anything?"

"I stand corrected. Next time I shall just go home."

"Will you two stop fighting for once? At least until we know Retnor is okay," Jenny shouted. I noticed for the first time that she was crying. From the state of her face, she must have been crying for some time.

The lad and two of his mates came back carrying large silver platters of cooked lamb. They put them down on the ground just in front of Fluffy and backed away hurriedly.

I held a leg out to Fluffy and he opened his mouth just enough for me to drop it in. A second later, I heard his teeth crunch through the bone as though it was toast. My friend has teeth like diamonds.

[It needs a little salt.]

I gave his shoulder a nudge and offered him another leg, which he took in much the same manner as the first.

"What was all that business with diving at the army?"

[They annoyed me. I went for a morning flight and saw them standing in the road. I went to investigate. Then you arrived and you did nothing about them.]

"So, this is all my fault?"

Fluffy bared those ridiculous teeth of his in his idea of a grin.

[Isn't it always?]

Jenny offered him a set of cooked ribs and Fluffy took them delicately from her hands. I yawned again and had to work hard at not falling over.

[Go to bed, Jake. I will sleep as soon as I have finished this food.]

"You’ll be okay?"

[Now that you have healed me.]

"What happened to all the meeps?"

[Too tired. Back tomorrow.]

"I'll stay and feed Retnor the rest of the food."

I nodded at Jenny and hopped back to my room. I did a double take because Esmeralda stood there holding out the warming pan to me.

"You have to punish me."

"Too tired," I mumbled as I stumbled passed her and collapsed on the bed. I don't know if Esmeralda tried hitting me again. If she did, it didn't work, I was dead to the world before I hit the bed.

When I woke again, sunshine streamed in through an open window and birds sang in the courtyard beyond it. Jenny sat up in bed reading a college book she had brought with her. That's true dedication, reading course work while visiting a fairy tale palace.

"Something has to be done about that girl."

Jenny looked up from her book.

"You mean Esmeralda? What’s she done now?"

I explained about finding her in our room.

"She's just feeling guilty," Jenny said sagely. "And no doubt she knows full well how it turns you on."

"It does not!"

"Never seen it bigger," came her dry as dust reply. I had no response to that so I went for silence again. I think if I joined one of those monasteries where nobody ever talks I would get into a lot less trouble. Jenny went back to reading her book and I rolled over.

A few minutes later I felt her hand on my shoulder. Cold, of course. What is it with girls with the cold hands and feet anyway?