Alni Read online

  “One, two. Got it, Alni? Don’t make me tell you again…wait and he’ll get you.”

  He didn’t think over the words, didn’t hesitate. One hand pointed towards Bethinium’s foot where the ghostly projection of Dora had directed. An amethyst bolt of magic erupted from his fingertips and hit him. Yelling out, Bethinium jumped onto his other foot, reaching for the injury but wasn’t fast enough. Another bolt came from Alni’s other hand, hitting the warlock’s opposite hip.

  Bethinium lost his balance, staggering backwards. When he readjusted and turned back to Alni, it was with his own magic at the ready. Lightning bolts danced across his fingertips and discharged in Alni’s direction.

  “Oh, he’s quick,” the ghost Dora’s voice laughed, her body disappearing entirely as the bright flash of lightning dominated Alni’s vision.

  His hands jumped up to his face, attempting to cover it while the magic was sent directly at him, but it didn’t hit him, it merely stopped around him and crackled in the air before returning back to Bethinium’s hands. He wiped them on the side of his tunic and one clenched fist hit the air repeatedly, excitement clear as day on his old face.

  “That was exceptional! Whatever you were imagining, this is a great start. I wish we had many more days to train and, if you’d like, I see us having them after this is all over. A great team we’ll make, my boy. Just as Daeso and I once were!”

  He rubbed his side, stretching out his foot where Alni had attacked him, “Just a few more hours of this and maybe we can take a break.”

  “Hours?” Alni murmured in despair.

  “Yes, hours. We are in the eyesight of evil, boy. There’s too much to teach and we must act fast. What was it you imagined that brought you such serenity?” Bethinium probed.

  “Dora, apparently. Berating me. Funny, really - think I might have some issues.”

  Bethinium paused, a shadow of a smile on his face as he stroked his white beard. The movement exposed a small red bead braided in the hair beneath, “Fancy the Princess, do you? What a thought, what a thought indeed.”

  “Let’s just continue this, I have to make it a point to talk to her soon and something tells me you aren’t going to let me go, yet,” Alni responded, the words coming a bit quicker and far more icy than he had anticipated.

  “Talk to her about the decision you have to make, you mean?” Bethinium asked, voice softening as he winked in his direction.

  “How do you know about that?” Alni sputtered, looking around the barn half expecting to have Dora waltz in at any moment and declare it had all been some sort of trap to test his loyalty.

  “I am old Alni, very old. Perhaps the oldest warlock in Desin. During that time you learn to let the magic speak to you and guide you. It witnessed the interaction between you and the King and understands your turmoil. The Princess knows and, like her, we are aware you will make the right decision.”

  “She kno-”

  “Yes, the Princess is aware of your plight and Mallor’s threat,” Bethinium nodded.

  “I am aware of what you two believe the right decision is, but what if this is an impossible quest we find ourselves in? What if there’s no possible way to defeat Mallor and this is all for naught?” Alni exclaimed, his hands flying in the air, emotions getting the better of him.

  “As I said before, Alni. I see a great many adventures in your future. Do what you think is right but know that evil will always present the easiest route. It wants to tempt you and direct you towards what it wants, to appeal to you. The correct decision will always come with hard work and pain. It’s the world’s way of keeping balance between the corrupt and the good, and the reward for doing what is correct will be worth it in the end.”

  “Can’t just give me a straight answer, can you?” Alni grumbled.

  But the words were still in his mind, securing the decision he somehow believed Dora and Bethinium had already known he would come to. Alni stretched his hands over his head, groaning as his joints and muscles responded to the slow movement.

  “Tell me, Bethinium. If I’m to be visited by evil once more tonight and expected to make a decision, what would you do in my shoes?” Alni asked then, allowing his hands to fall to his side.

  Bethinium turned away from him and made his way over to the large sack he had brought with him to the barn. It was old, the leather fading from sun and water damage along the sides. Reaching inside, he pulled out a small jar of small, grey mushrooms. He lifted them into the air and shook the jar around, making the mushrooms dance and beat against the sides. With a smile that bordered on the edge of insanity, Bethinium shook the jar once more in Alni’s direction.

  “I would invade his mind first, of course. Shall we?”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “Invade his mind?” Mad. Surely the warlock was crazy.

  “How else do you think he was able to get in your head in such a way. Very standard spell, I taught my son the incantation a few times. Enough times for him to find a way to keep me from doing it to him, naturally.”

  Bethinium’s expression closed down, sitting on the dusty floor as he opened the jar and dumped a few mushrooms into his hand, extending it towards Alni. It was clear there was quite a bit more to the story, but the old warlock was not offering up much more information.

  “Why did you use it on your son?” Alni approached him and took a seat on the floor of the barn across from him, grabbing and inspecting the mushrooms that were given to him.

  “My son left this area, I was trying to find him. You cannot always find what wants to stay hidden.”

  The words were haunting and low, said with a cracking voice as Bethinium looked away. Clearing his throat, he placed the jar on the ground.

  “Mallor will sense my familiar magic and knows my mental torment, well. Besides, he’s convinced I’m dead so let’s keep it that way before the fight begins. Eat those and we shall say the spell, within a few minutes you will be induced into the dream state. If he’s not sleeping, you’ll see through his eyes for a brief moment. Perhaps we can finally get a glimpse as to what he is planning. I’ve not been able to access Mallor in quite some time.”

  Alni cautiously held the mushrooms in his hands. He waited for his better judgment to tell him to throw the magical caps across the barn and be rid of such insane thoughts. Instead, he shoved them in his mouth before he had a chance to talk himself out of it. Even as he bit down and chewed the earthy shrooms, Alni tried his hardest not to spit them up and get as far away as he could from Bethinium and his magic.

  “Good lad. Clear your mind and repeat after me…”

  Alni closed his eyes, focusing on Dora and the moment in the cell. Her smiling face despite the foul taste of the mushrooms in his mouth as his teeth bit down repeatedly.

  “Magic of earth, darkness and light.

  See my quest, aid my plight.

  Lead me to mind’s eye…Mallor.”

  Alni swallowed the mushroom in his mouth and repeated the words, gagging halfway through and having to start over. At first, nothing happened. Suddenly, the barn started to shake and spin around him, a gust of wind hitting his face. Keeping his eyes closed, Alni focused on Dora. In his vision, she turned away from him in the cell, eyes looking around as their world started shaking with the barn.

  “Well now you’ve gone and done it,” she murmured, throwing her hands up in the air as the scene changed.

  He ignored her, opening his eyes only when the shaking ceased. Alni gasped but no sound came from his mouth, unable to control the body that was moving for him. He was no longer in the barn, instead walking down a long hallway. It was carpeted in a rich red, paintings hanging on the wall on either side of his body. The paintings were fuzzy and muted, and he was unable to see what art lay on them. Ignoring his fight to see where he was, and what surrounded him, Alni focused on what lay at the end of the hallway.

  There was an entrance to a courtyard, two dragons hunched down low to the ground. They were groveling, sniveling in the su
n. Elven guards stood around them, black armor heavily draped over their strong bodies. Their breath came out in cold gusts of mist before their helmets, long ears protruding from either side as they remained motionless.

  Slowly, his body walked into the clearing, looking to the two familiar dragons. But Alni wasn’t able to place them until the first spoke.

  “Please, my King. Have mercccy,” the first hissed, chin pressed against the ground.

  The two dragons that had been in the forest searching for Dora when Silthia first saved them groveled and moaned, pathetic as they begged for forgiveness. It was sad, useless for such magnificent creatures, and Desin would be better without their failure and cowardice. It was only natural that they were destroyed and other, stronger dragons be put in their place for the job.

  The thoughts entered Alni’s mind, foreign and sinister, thoughts he would have never believed himself capable of, but in the body and psyche of Mallor, he wanted to dispose of the two dragons…needed to. Took some sort of pleasure in purging his dragon army of the two who had failed to bring him what he needed.

  “They are close my King, we all know it. They will be here soon, pleasssse…”

  The begging continued, noises following the plea. They were almost like purring, a cooing that came from the depths of the dragon’s chest. His partner joined him, both moaning in unison as they writhed before Mallor.

  “You failed me for the final time, both of you. End them.”

  The words came from Alni’s own mouth. He tried to stop them but there was no control over what happened next.

  The elven guards descended on the two smaller dragons. They were backing away, smoke erupting from their nostrils as they threatened the elves from coming any closer. One hand rose in front of Alni’s face, fingers snapping once in the air. Another hand rose and Alni instantly recognized what was held in Mallor’s hand.

  The Stone of Dragons. It was jagged just as Alni’s was, but far larger, glowing in his fist. Mallor gripped it tightly and the two dragons froze. They abandoned their quest to escape, eyes glazing over and staring ahead at Mallor as if waiting for his next instruction. The guards continued to advance and Alni struggled to warn the dragons that they came closer, struggled to stop the scene from unfolding before him.

  But it was too late.

  “Kill each other,” Mallor shrugged, the words came out nonchalant and uncaring.

  Instantly the two dragons turned against each other, snarling and tearing at skin and scales. Close by, the guards watched in anticipation as the two mighty creatures destroyed each other, not stopping until one was dead, and the other lay dying upon the ground.

  Mallor’s body was weak in comparison to the power held in his hand. The stone vibrated through his body before dimming, taking some of the King’s energy with it. Alni could feel the toll it took on him, a heavy drain that he had never experienced during his own uses with the stone.

  “Clean this up, prepare the dragons. No matter the boy’s answer, we will see where they are tonight. If the boy and the Princess reside in Glade, we will attack immediately.”

  At his side, ghost Dora taunted him softly.

  “Better hurry, Alni.”

  ~

  Alni came to with a gasp, scrambling away from Bethinium as he struggled to his feet. The warlock was staring at him expectantly, dark brown eyes sparkling in the low light of the barn.

  “What is it Alni? What did you see?”

  “He’s going to know Bethinium, he’s going to know where we are the moment he comes to me tonight. The King is weak, though. That’s probably why he hasn’t been doing this each day to find us. But once he does? They are going to attack…right away,” Alni gasped.

  He didn’t wait for Bethinium to answer, racing towards the barn door. He drug it open and sprinted into the evening light towards the training groups outside, eyes searching for Dora in the throngs of people.

  Too late…he had waited until it was too late.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Alni was sprinting as fast as his legs could carry him, searching for anyone who could lead him to Dora, ignoring the calling of Bethinium behind him, words that slowly drifted into the surrounding sounds.

  He passed an elderly woman speaking to a group of small children near the main farmhouse. Her words reached his ears and did not let go, even as his feet continued on. The children had been listening to her intently, and although her wording may have been different, it was the same tale he had always known, one that had been said to all the children of his village when he was very young. One that had been retold by the Man in the Tree just a few night’s prior.

  “In the beginning, Desin was made of magic.”

  Alni was tripping over his own feet, hand reaching out to steady himself as he raced by a table with prepared food and training weaponry. It was an area covered so any soaring eyes above wouldn’t catch wind of the training group, but he still felt like they were all under close watch and unable to escape. His eyes searched for her, ears trying to hear Dora’s voice. Warned…she had to be warned right away.

  “From the magic, dragons were birthed. Unable to care for the smallest, growing parts of Desin, the dragons allowed elves to be created. Long lives, and the ability to make Desin grow. They held the magic and created life.”

  Alni was stopping those who passed him, then. Asking if they knew where Dora was or where she could be found. One young woman heavily draped in armor pointed behind him at the cottage they had all met in. With the enormous buildings and many farmhomes in Glade, he had been turned around completely and thankfully back on the right track. Alni was running again, almost to her…he could feel it.

  “The elves were not divine and pure, they did not want to answer to the dragons and magic beneath their feet. The great leaders combined their powers to create a weapon, a weapon that would control the dragons. Their magic was stripped from them as punishment, but still they had bested the Creator and the power of our world.”

  He was running towards the cottage, but it never seemed to get closer to him, the world around Alni becoming misted and dark as though he were about to lose consciousness. Mist…the mist from his dream the night before crept across the ground and swallowed up the farmlands and marketplace. It continued on and covered the wall surrounding Glade until only the cottage remained. Alni didn’t stop running, even as he knew what was happening around him. Even as he knew Mallor’s presence was there keeping him from getting any further.

  Alni growled in anger, pushing his body against the air before him and sprinting until his breath was a strangled gasp in his throat, chest burning with each powerful step towards the cottage, towards Dora. Still, he never reached the door.

  “Some elves tried to fight for their magic and did not accept their punishment. Leaving the Elven lands, Desin stripped them of their ability to live so long. Cursed so all their children and onward would live short lives, unable to touch the magic of our world. They evolved over time and became a different species entirely…”

  The mist consumed the cottage before Alni and he stopped running, heart racing as he slowly turned to face the man he could feel behind him. Eyes that had been watching and following from the moment he left Bethinium’s care. The King who had surely, somehow, felt Alni there in his mind during the spell.

  Mallor was there behind Alni, a grimace twisting across his face.

  He stood tall amongst the darkness, hands at his side and clenched into tight fists. The King wore a long, elegant red robe that drug along the ground as he slowly approached Alni. Underneath the robe, mist rolled away from his feet and escaped into the darkness.

  “I think it has been long enough, Alni. I suppose I did not realize just how much power the stone has allowed you to…borrow. Tell me, what did you promise the stone in exchange for this magic?”

  “It hasn’t been a full day, tisk tisk,” Alni’s words were strong but his body felt like jelly, cold sweats of fear breaking out along his skin.

>   “But the warlocks and witches…they were born with the ability to channel this magic. They may not die as soon as a human, but they will be the speakers for Desin when it has no words and has been betrayed. Speaker for the dragons while they are tested by elven magics and trickery. If they ever are to turn to evil, only destruction and imbalance will follow. They are chosen by our world to do what is right when others have done wrong.”

  Mallor stopped right in front of Alni, hand lashing out to grab his chin and wrench it up to look him in the eye. Alni met him head on, unblinking as Mallor seemed to study him for several moments. His hand moved away from his chin, lifting to Alni’s maroon cap. He flicked a finger upward and knocked it from his head, allowing it to become swallowed by the darkness.

  “I didn’t realize you were just outside my doorstep.”

  The fear in Alni only intensified, but he knew his only hope was to continue speaking with Mallor, praying Bethinium had a way to get the message to Dora. To save him before any further damage was done and he sent the dragons to Glade.

  “I’ve been very nice to you and your friends,” The King spat, turning his back to Alni to peer behind into the mist.

  His long dark hair moved slowly around him as though they were deep underwater. Alni could not wrap his mind around what was happening or being done to him. It was magic Bethinium had not spoken to Alni about, magic he did not understand, and yet he prayed the warlock had a way to see what was happening and would come to his rescue.

  “Not sure if threatening our lives has been…nice,” Alni retorted.

  From the mist, dark creatures slithered along the ground, coming to fruition before his very eyes. The dark, evil beings that had been in the forest with him the night the Mystic Dragon saved him. They grew and stared at Alni, eyes rolling forward to focus on both the stranger and their master. Twitching and shuddering, the creatures seemed more dead than alive.