This week was not quite as productive as last week, but I did add 6,480 words to the second draft this week bringing the total up to: 42,212 words.
I am heavily leaning toward dropping the first section of the story and making it it’s own thing. I might drop the word count to reflect that.
While I did add a lot of words, it was basically two scenes, one of which isn’t completed yet. A lot of it is a little more rough than I wish to share, but I do have a few scenes that aren’t so choppy they hurt to share. 🙂
After getting back on his feet, Halvar led the way through the castle to the large white doors of Agur’s study.
“He’ll be waiting inside.” Halvar said and began to turn away.
“Wait, where are you going?”
“I said I was going to take it easy a few days. I’m going to go nap. You don’t need me in there.”
“You said you were fine.”
Halvar groaned, “You want me to stay?”
Zuriel hesitated. As much as he felt he would be comforted by his presence, he could see that he still needed rest. “No, it’s fine. You’re right. Go take a nap.”
“I could see you in,” Halvar said, turning back.
“No, go. I’m good. Just going to hang out with the king and see what magic I have.” Zuriel smiled at him. “This is my life now I guess.”
“Alright.” Halvar turned and went back down the hall.
Zuriel took a deep breath and pulled the heavy, though not difficult to move, door open. The room was the largest he had seen so far. The wall to his left was covered from the marble floor to the vaulted ceiling with shelves of books. There were tables throughout the room, several of which were littered with books and bottles that looked like they were part of an alchemy set. The right wall was covered in bottles of various sizes and shapes filled with a plethora of substances. There were also rocks and boxes lining the shelves. Directly ahead, the wall was nothing more than a series of ceiling to wall windows that filled the room with light and revealed the wooded landscape behind the castle.
“Ah, Zuriel. I hope you passed the night well?” Agur asked from a table just off to the right where he sat with several books laid out before him.
“I did. Thank you.” He pulled the door shut behind him as he spoke. “This is quite a study.”
“It is. My libraries would possibly impress you more, though the windows aren’t so large.” Agur seemed to recall himself and stood. “Well, let’s begin, shall we?” He motioned to a table where he had several items laid out.
Zuriel looked over the items as he approached the table. There was a flower in a pot and several bottles and what looked like a cauldron. He felt a mix of confusion and excitement.
“Now, I suspect you gained the full capabilities of wizard magic, but there is a chance you only have the beginning levels of it given that the source of the magic’s contact with you was not through a true wizard. I have picked out a series of tasks for you to attempt in an effort to gage if you have the full magic or not.”
Zuriel nodded. “What’s first?”
“First, we try to change the color of this flower.” Agur pushed the pot until it sat before Zuriel.
“Alright,” Zuriel said slowly, not seeing the significance of the task. What did it matter what color the flower was? “How do I change it?”
Agur picked up a small sheet of paper from the table and handed it to Zuriel who felt relief that he understood the characters on the paper even if what they spelled made no sense. “Now, wizard magic doesn’t work like the naim magic where you simply guide it with your thoughts. We work with the attributes of certain items as well as words.”
“Words?”
“Yes. There is a certain magic in words. Its difficult to explain. I have spent many decades studying the impact of certain sounds and words. You might have an easier time of verbal spells though, not sure how your naim magic might interact with it. I should be delighted to see.” The happiness radiating from his aged face made Zuriel smile.
“So, I just read this?”
“Yes. Direct it to the flower.”
Zuriel looked at the flower and read slowly from the paper. “Ma-en-a ma-jer-a.” He looked at the flower.
“Try to say it smoother. You got the sounds correct.”
Zuriel nodded and tried again after another glance at the paper. “Maina magera.”
The flower began to change beginning at the center and flowing out across the petals. It went from the pale blue to a bright red. Zuriel’s mouth dropped open.
Agur looked at Zuriel strangely a moment. “You are also a naim. Hmm. And you have sorcerer magic. Imagine what you could do with a dragon!” Agur hurried past him toward the door. “Follow me.”
“Wait, what? You want me to make a dragon?” He started after the excited wizard.
“Not make one, that would take months of training a preparation. I have already made some forty of them. It would be easy for you to link one,” He called over his shoulder as he started down a set of stairs.
“Link? I don’t understand. Why do I want a dragon? Aren’t they giant lizards that hide in mountains guarding piles of gold? Why would you make those?”
Agur slowed to a stop, “What in Vale are you talking about?”
“There is mythology surrounding dragons on Earth. That’s it. Giant flying lizards that breath fire and collect gold.”
Agur laughed, “That’s something.” He turned and started back down the stairs, “no, dragons are created creatures. They exist as a law of magic. Now there are variations, they can be different colors, they have varying abilities depending on what sort of items are used in the spell. They are telepathic creatures so they are independent unless they link to a naim. Dragons that forge a link to a naim remain loyal to the naim until death.”
Zuriel pushed himself to a run to catch up as Agur rushed down a hall way. “What do you mean they have different abilities?”
“They have elemental magic. Most breath fire, as you said, but many can also summon ice, water, and lightening. That is why I want you to link a dragon. As you learn your magics, you will have an understanding of theirs that goes beyond what any naim could.” Agur paused briefly before opening an exterior door and continuing on to a courtyard.
“Where do I keep it?” Zuriel asked as he caught up to the wizard near a door in the outer wall.
“Keep it? It’s a dragon, it will live where it chooses. Probably in the forest.”
“Do I have to feed it?”
This brought a laugh from Agur, “No, dragons care for themselves. They aren’t pets.”
Still confused, Zuriel followed Agur through the door.
They stood on the edge of a forest that was mostly dead. There were a few trees that were still marginally alive, but mostly the trees were dry and long dead.
“This is the Api forest. It’s been dead nearly three decades. My dragons have always been partial to this forest. It’s the best place I can think to try and summon a dragon.”
Zuriel looked out into the gloomy forest. Even in the morning light, despite the lack of leaves for a canopy, the forest was full of foreboding shadows. It felt like the place he was more likely to get a greedy mountain dwelling dragon than the creatures Agur had described. “What do I do?”
“I don’t exactly know how it works. Linking dragons has never been particularly popular. Not much of a purpose for it. My guess would be you send your mind out and call for one.”
Zuriel nodded slowly, “right, just send my mind out and call one. Okay.”
He turned toward the forest feeling rather foolish. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to imagine he mind going out. He imagined the word ‘Come’ floating out like air from his lungs. He could feel a sort of power being exerted and felt the sort of giddiness he had in the study as he realized it was working. He was actually using magic to send his mind out to summon a dragon.
Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to push out farther despite a growing weariness. He felt nothing but a sort of thinning in his mind. Then his mind was suddenly filled with a sort of screech. He pressed his hands to his ears as a reflex, knowing that wasn’t where the sound was entering.
“What is it?” Agur’s face revealed both anxiety and excitement.
“Uh, there’s a scream in my head.” It came again and his hands once again flew to his ears.
Agur strained his eyes searching through the trees. He began to hear the snapping of branches then the sound of several trees falling. It was a big one then. Agur thought back through the various dragons he had made, perhaps Lyulf had been linked. He was shocked to see a great blue dragon explode from the dead canopy of the forest and fly over them into the court yard.
Zuriel turned to Agur with a smile, “I did it.” Seeing Agur’s face pale his heart began to race, “What is it?”
“Do you feel malice in him?”
Zuriel thought a moment. Then shook his head, “No. No malice. Why?”
Without another word Agur hurried back to the door. Zuriel followed him.
