Curse of the Dragon Kings

  "Ah, I knew there was conviction in you, boy," Myrddin nodded admiringly, as if at last confirming long held suspicions. "But I have no other choice in this. There comes a time when those of us who can must make a stand for our beliefs. I don't much care for violence, but if a conflict must come to protect the innocent, I will not run from it."

  "But Master—" Ronan protested.

  "No more objections." Myrddin declared. "Galadon has held the East for far too long already, and I have sat idle long enough. At first, I thought his power would fade as the elven races diminished and retreated into their own kingdoms. Then I did nothing because he left the West relatively alone, and I had other matters to attend to. Other realms on other worlds to worry about, and problems to sort out in Vilna. But, my lad, I can't struggle with my conscience any longer. A right-minded person can not enjoy freedom bought by the slavery of his fellow creatures."

  "Well put, Myrddin!" A voice came faintly from just outside the window.

  A moment later, the door to the tavern swung back.

  "But must you always rush into things?" The owner of the voice continued, this time a little short of breath.

  Gil followed Myrddin's gaze to the doorway where a man in dark blue wizard's robe appeared; silver moons, bright yellow suns, and oddly colored runes sparkled in the fabric. Like Myrddin, he was beardless, and had a rugged face. Gil stared in open-mouthed wonder as the stranger headed toward them and sat down next to Dylan.

  A wizard! Gil felt himself trembling down to his toes. Why had he come? First Myrddin, now a wizard! Gil stole another glance toward the tavern door, half expecting the Dark Wizard himself to appear at any moment.

  "Ah, Aiovel you're looking lovelier than ever." The wizard said briskly, his cornflower blue eyes twinkling. "Nothing, thank you," he added, dismissing the serving girl who hovered nearby.

  "Flattery will get you nowhere, my friend." Aiovel flashed him an amused grin.

  "Well, it's been a long time, hasn't it, Calatin?" Myrddin said, a bright gleam in his eye. "I haven't seen you since you closed off the magic gate and trapped me here," he added affably, with only a trace of resentment.

  The magic gate? Gil almost fell off his chair. Could this really be the wizard who controlled the magic gate of Gyfen? Maybe the stories he'd heard from Niel were true, after all! Yet who was this Calatin? Gil found the name strangely familiar, though he couldn't seem to remember why.

  "Still sore about that, eh, Myrddin?" Calatin chuckled. "But you see, I didn't close the gate off— exactly. The gate closed itself." He shrugged.

  "Excuses, excuses." Myrddin sighed dismissively.

  "Hold on a moment. Just who are you?" Mygdewyn said, peering into the wizard's face.

  "Calatin is my brother." Myrddin explained.

  "Your brother?" Ronan gasped. "But that's— impossible!"

  "I assure you it is possible, lad," Myrddin said kindly. "Though as you can probably tell, Calatin is much older than I am."

  "A bit," Calatin admitted. "Ah, yes, I remember young Mygdewyn." Calatin said, turning to the dwarf. "The one who always used to eat all of my strawberry tarts. It's all right. I'd long since forgiven you for it." He added, when Mygdewyn would have apologized. Then Calatin's gaze found Lilia, and his eyes narrowed.

  "So we meet again, my dear!" He exclaimed. "I wondered why I couldn't find you in my crystal ball. Are you a wizard of some kind?"

  "Lilia? You can't be serious," Dylan laughed, incredulous.

  "Well, that is curious." Calatin pondered, shaking his head. "I even sent out a guard to get my wand back, but they returned without it. After that, the thief vanished. Of course, it was only a minor nuisance losing my wand, but I did wonder how she got away."

  "I thought that was Iolo's wand." Dylan objected.

  "Yes, I was using that name." Calatin admitted.

  "So it was you who made the wand of lightning?" Ronan rasped, struggling to follow.

  "Yes." Calatin shrugged slightly.

  "And the shadow cloak?" Ronan wondered.

  "Ah yes, I had forgotten about that." Calatin nodded. "I had just laid it out that morning. My apprentice was supposed to take it to be mended."

  "Of course!" Gil blurted, interrupting. "Calatin. That was the name etched in gold on the Wizard's Guild in Argolen!"

  Dylan and the others turned to stare at Gil in mute surprise. Aiovel nodded admiringly.

  "And who are you, lad?" Calatin asked, his gaze falling on Gil. For a moment, confusion clouded the wizard's features; Dylan thought he seemed strangely moved by the sight of the boy. But why?

  "I'm Gil." Gil replied obligingly, cocking his head nervously under the intense glare of the wizard's eyes.

  Suddenly, Calatin's eyes widened in surprise, and he peered at Gil closely. "It's you! You survived!" He cried. In an instant, Calatin had dragged the boy over and into a tight embrace. Gil began to choke.

  Things were getting stranger and stranger! Dylan thought, rubbing his eyes.

  "Survived what?" Gil managed, as Calatin squeezed the breath out of him.

  "Dear boy, I thought you died with your mother!" Calatin went on; only Myrddin seemed to have a clue about what he was saying.

  "Would somebody please make some sense around here?" Lilia whined, stamping her foot.

  * * * * *

  "Tell me, young Gil, was your mother's name Renay?" Calatin asked several mintues later, releasing Gil's neck. Gil coughed a moment, then sat down, watching the wizard warily.

  "Yes," Gil said slowly, searching his memory. In his recollection, he heard a distant voice calling her name. Of course! Renay! How could he have forgotten his mother's name?

  "Renay's son? Well, I'll be!" Myrddin exclaimed, his eyes bright.

  Aiovel looked at Gil, an odd, quizzical expression on her face.

  "Did you know my mother?" Gil asked, scrutinizing the wizard.

  Calatin nodded slightly.

  "But h-how?" Gil stuttered. "If you lived in Argolen—" he broke off in confusion.

  "Yes, I lived in Argolen long ago." Calatin admitted. "I was the head of the Wizard's Guild there."

  "But you left when the city fell." Lilia observed.

  "No." Calatin shook his head.

  "But—" Lilia began.

  "I left several years before." Calatin corrected her. "You see, Aiovel's mother charged me with the great responsibility of controlling Daegoras' magic dimensional gate and its traffic. At first, I did not wish to leave the city of Argolen, for Gyfen was but a small settlement on the plains back then, and a dangerous entry point for creatures from other worlds who passed through the dimensional gate."

  "If you didn't create the gate, how could you hope to control it where the elves had failed?" Dylan wondered, perplexed.

  "I'm not certain they had ever tried to control it before." Calatin pursed his lips. "But it did take me quite some time to work out how the gate operated. After many years of observation and attempts to monitor its activity both into and out of Daegoras, I did gain some measure of control over it. Though the gate often seems to have a mind of its own. Guarding it has never been an easy task; I cannot say I actually control it."

  "Then why did Grainnewyn want you to try?" Gil inquired, intrigued.

  "Well, Gil, at the time, many of the cursed dragons had escaped through the gate and fled to pillage and conquer other worlds." Calatin spread his palms wide. "After their betrayal of Dragoras and attack on Argolen when Aiovel was born, Grainnewyn began to fear that the cursed dragons would all escape Dragorian justice if the gate remained open to them; or worse, that the ones who had escaped might return some time after they had fled at an unexpected moment and in greater numbers. So to prevent this and to keep the cursed dragons from destroying other, innocent worlds, I had to contain the gateway. Unfortunatel
y, a great many of them had already gotten through and traveled to different worlds, where they were trapped forever."

  "And the trapped dragons couldn't return to our world once Calatin took control of the gate." Myrddin added. "Nor could I visit realms on other worlds, when Calatin closed it off."

  "I didn't close it off, Myrddin." Calatin protested again. "The gateway closed itself off, when Guilian came through."

  "Guilian? Who's Guilian?" Lilia asked, scratching her cheek absently with her forefinger.

  "Who indeed," Calatin chuckled, holding up a palm. "For many years after Grainnewyn's death, there were no wizards or warriors great enough to challenge Galadon's power in the East." He explained. "Myrddin had gone to other realms to help guide men against the dragons and the dark creatures of Arcaendria who had escaped through the gate. I was left alone to safeguard the West. In due course, I began to consider that if no one on Arcaendria could defeat Galadon, perhaps one from another world might be able to. So I began my search for a warrior."

  "If you're the greatest wizard of Argolen, why couldn't you stop Galadon yourself?" Lilia asked stubbornly.

  "I wish I could have." Calatin admitted. "At one time, I might have been able to defeat Galadon alone. But in order to continue maintaining the gate, much of my magic has gone into preserving my life— what I have not spent trying to use and control the gate itself."

  "You still haven't explained who Guilian was." Gil reminded him.

  Calatin fixed his blue eyes on Gil and smiled. "Ah, you see, dear boy, I brought him through the gate from a distant realm. Magic had long been waning in his world, even before the humans there helped magic vanish by slaying their dragons and other magical creatures. Many of that world's wizards and magical creatures had begun to flee to other worlds through the weakening magic gates on their own planet—quite a few came here to Arcaendria." He winked at Myrddin.

  "What was that place called?" Lilia inquired, idly drumming her fingers against the table.

  "Over the years, it had several names." Calatin replied evasively. "For like the images in my crystal ball, the doorway on the other side moved around and was not fixed in one particular location. So, I searched many lands, until finally, I found a young knight called Guilian."

  "The warrior who strengthened the magical boundary!" Dylan blurted, at last remembering why the name seemed familiar. Of course! Aiovel had mentioned him way back in the Elwellyn Forest, during a conversation with one of her subjects!

  "Yes." Calatin said, nodding judiciously. "But before I fetched Guilian through the gate, I'm afraid several, shall we say, less than worthy warriors managed to come across to Daegoras. Many of them marauded the city of Gyfen, and their descendants became highwaymen."

  "The brigand bands!" Gil cried. So, Niel had been right about that!

  "Yes." Calatin admitted, suitably contrite. "For two thousand years I searched, but when Guilian translated to this dimension, I believe most of the last magic of his homeland of Europa came with him. So, you see, he became more than just a great warrior, but a powerful wizard as well. And with his passage now nearly twenty years ago, the gate inexplicably closed itself off. Perhaps because Guilian was the final straw, so to speak; Daegoras may have been saturated with as many different magics as it can tolerate."

  "But if this person was so powerful, why didn't Guilian stop Galadon then?" Lilia argued doggedly.

  Calatin forced a smile. "You must understand, though Guilian was a remarkable young warrior, he'd never been trained in the magical arts. He simply wasn't able to control his magical powers right away, despite his great potential." Calatin replied, steepling his palms. "So, for a time, I set about teaching him how to use his magic."

  "So what happened?" Mygdewyn pursued.

  "While he stayed with me, my daughter Renay fell in love with him." Calatin admitted, shaking his head. "Because I felt she was too young, I foolishly forbad her to marry him. But that girl turned out to be every bit as stubborn as her mother."

  "She disobeyed you?" Lilia suggested, excited.

  "Yes." Calatin nodded heavily. "Because I disapproved, the two of them eloped before Guilian was fully prepared for his quest."

  "You mean—" Gil gulped. Guilian was his father? Calatin was his grandfather? This was too much to take in so suddenly! Every pair of eyes turned to stare at Gil, but he was too stunned to notice.

  "Yes, my boy, you are the child of Guilian and Renay." Calatin continued gently. "You are Guilian, named after your father, but your mother called you Gil to distinguish you. That and—well, Guilian was rather difficult to pronounce," he added with an amused smile.

  "But if they left you, how do you know all of this?" Gil wondered in bewilderment.

  "I can replay events both past and present in my crystal ball." Calatin replied, then he withdrew a smoky crystal sphere from the inner lining of his robe. His deft fingers moved across the surface, summoning an image of a bustling city Gil didn't recognize.

  "I knew when Renay had a child, but she refused to let me visit you." Calatin went on. "She was afraid I would take Guilian away from her by encouraging him to face Galadon. Also, well, the truth is, I believe she felt alienated by me when she was growing up. It isn't easy being the child of a wizard, you know." Calatin shook his head sadly. Lilia patted the wizard's shoulder consolingly.

  "I don't remember my father at all." Gil said, now feeling sad.

  "You used to follow him around, imitating everything that he did." Calatin cracked a bittersweet smile. "You even had your own little practice sword. I used to watch the two of you; Guilian was, at least, a good and loving father."

  "How did he die?" Gil asked with forced composure. "Mother and I went out to look for him, when—" Gil broke off, swallowing back tears.

  Calatin nodded. "Yes, your father was killed, boy. Soon after you were born, I heard news from Dunlaith's guard that the black dragons had begun to menace the south lands; they had just destroyed the dwarven colony in the Black Mountains, and were hunting down the dwarves who escaped." Calatin explained. "I imagine as soon as Guilian heard about them, he rushed to the fens to strengthen the magic boundary. No doubt he spent his magic in that effort, for when the young black dragon Vaelcruithir caught him unaware, Guilian lacked the strength to defend himself. And so it was that Vaelcruithir killed him."

  "But my mother—" Gil said.

  "I couldn't stop Renay from looking for Guilian any more than I could stop your father from going to strengthen the boundary. Renay never found Guilian, but she was a powerful wizard in her own right. At least, she would have been." He amended, shrugging. "She refused to believe that growing up, and never would let me teach her how to use magic. I think she resented magic because she thought it had it had robbed her of a father. But in her dire need, she was able to cast a spell that led her to the field where Guilian had died. It was there that Vaelcruithir found her."

  "Why didn't you save her?" Gil demanded.

  "The sight of my crystal ball was obstructed by powerful magic— perhaps by Renay herself. I have never been able to summon an image of what happened." Calatin said, his eyes glistening.

  "Vaelcruithir flew away." Gil supplied, remembering. He had suppressed these memories for so many years, but Calatin's presence now stirred them up.

  "You mean— Vaelcruithir didn't devour her?" Calatin suggested hopefully.

  "No— but she died!" Gil cried bitterly. What did it matter if she had been devoured or not? She had been killed, and that was enough. But Gil had matured enough recently to recognize Calatin's feelings; he imagined it was easier for the old wizard to bear his daughter's death knowing that she had not been dragon food. "She stood bravely against him." Gil tried to remember. "There were— white flames around her."

  "Hmm. Then she was casting a spell." Myrddin nodded.

&
nbsp; "I had my face buried in her dress when she fell." Gil continued, swallowing. "She wouldn't move. Her dress was stained with blood— I stayed beside her for hours after the dragon left, until a caravan came. The man who found me buried her in the field— but why didn't you come looking for me when she died?" Gil blurted suddenly.

  "I didn't know that you were still alive, Gil." Calatin shook his head sadly. "When Renay never returned, I searched for you in vain, and finally I assumed you had died with your mother. I think now, however, that the final spell she cast was on you; a ward to protect you from being found— by the dragons or anyone else. It was a powerful spell, and its magic power still holds you. I believe it is what keeps you from being found by magic."

  "So that is what kept me from locating you all." Myrddin interjected.

  "And why my thief disappeared so effectively." Calatin surmised. "Gil's power must have kept her whereabouts unknown to me." Calatin nodded, his gaze lingering on Lilia.

  "Now I understand!" Aiovel said. "Galanor and I wondered why I couldn't find Gil." Aiovel said. "I should have known that some kind of warding spell must have been protecting him, or else the Ring of Dragontongues would have led me directly to him."

  "And Gil must have rejoined you in Argolen." Myrddin said. "Because that was the last time that I detected any of you. Just before the city collapsed." Myrddin explained.

  "Wait a moment." Dylan said, struggling to follow. "If that was the spell Renay was casting, why did Vaelcruithir fly away? Surely he could still see Gil." Dylan observed.

  Calatin looked to Gil, pausing. "I can only imagine that Gil himself repelled the dragon on his own somehow. My guess is that urgency focused Gil's latent powers. He must have tried to cast a spell of protection around his mother, but succeeded too late."

  "I don't have any magic," Gil protested stubbornly. "If I did, my mother would have lived."

  "It isn't your fault that she died, Gil. You were just a child. You couldn't do anything to save her." Myrddin said consolingly.

  "Magic is inherited, Gil." Dylan reminded him gently. "If your family has a strong history in magic, chances are you'll be a wizard, too."