The Warlock's Shadow

Secrets of the Elder Dragons

We spent the next couple months going over my Dad’s journal together. There wasn’t much else to figure out for the time being that was relevant to the amulet. Sure there were a lot of magical formulae and different circles to learn, but it was all way too advanced for us to even begin to fully understand how they worked. If you tried magic circles or the like without fully understanding them you could really mess stuff up or even hurt yourself. However, over the weekend we did manage to figure out one small spell that was referenced as “something for fun”.

“Okay, this seems safe,” Lisa said as she read. She drew a small circle in the air and placed her hand behind it and it shot out fireworks. “Oh wow,” Her face lit up with excitement. She did it again pointing up towards the sky but drew a larger circle. More fireworks launched into the sky. Beautiful pops of color and flowers in the sky exploded spectacularly.

“Hey, let me try,” Sasha said. They did the same thing Lisa did, they drew the circle in front of themselves and it let out a stream of a few brilliantly colored balls of light that streaked and whistled past Lisa’s head. Sasha let out a boisterous laugh in excitement.

“Watch it, Sasha,” Lisa said as Sasha laughed more.

“Oh, you’re fine,” They said and launched more small balls of whistling light. Lisa returned the favor in kind. Nocturne leaped onto my shoulder allowing me to partake in the fun. I tried my hands and drew two circles at once and launched lights at each of my friends. They each clapped their hands and separated them to form a small shield of energy that absorbed the balls of light.

They shot back at me and I did the same, forming a small shield to absorb their shots. We had lots of fun shooting fireworks at each other. After we were exhausted our dragons played and playfully tormented each other. With the stress that school brings it was a much needed reprieve.

As the winter months approached, the weather started to get colder. The dragons hid under our thick coats to keep warm. Being cold blooded has its disadvantages. It was said a long time ago that dragons could breathe fire and therefore could regulate their body heat. I wonder if Kur could breathe fire. I will have to remember to ask him some day. I had a lot of things I needed to ask him.

When we all arrived at school at the start of the week, the Principal called an assembly first thing in the morning. As soon as all the dragons sought the warmth of the roost the entirety of the student body congregated in the massive courtyard. Bleachers and stands were already set up for everyone to sit and see the lectern down at the center. A spell was cast around the whole courtyard to keep it as warm as a greenhouse. After a while of waiting the Principal came out in one of his signature expensive, meticulously tailored suits. This one was gray with dark pinstripes and a deep red tie.

“Good morning, everyone,” He said cheerfully. He always seemed like such a morning person, it was sort of disgusting. “This is the official announcement that in a couple weeks our city of Elysia is to host a special event for the Draconis Winter Festival.” Everyone whispered and muttered to one another in confusion and excitement not knowing what the event could be.

“The event we’re privileged to host is one of great reverence and one we may not likely see again for many a year,” he said, keeping us in anticipation. “We are to host the Elder Dragons during the festival,” Confusion turned to excitement as the crowd turned almost rowdy. Principal Ashrith raised his hands to quiet everybody down. “Yes, we’re to host the Elder Dragons. The very same who are directly descended from the original dragons who were present at the initial convergence over one thousand years ago, which turned the world into what it is now.”

Not many people had met the Elder Dragons. They didn’t like humans very much and they didn’t show up for just any reason. They were hundreds of years old and larger than normal dragons. Granted not the same size or magnitude as Kur but they were supposed to be the same size as our dragons when they are riding sized. There were three of them. Their names were Zephyrion, Nivaria and Sylverix. The only other thing that made them different was that they were all jet black and all had a pair of long sharp horns that curved back and away from their head as well as a long horn from their nose. Some said they knew of ancient prophecies and other magic long forgotten.

“I know this is a big deal so everyone will need to be on their best behavior and not pull any hijinks,” Principal Ashrith looked just off to the side and eyeballed Sylas who was already attempting to antagonize the person in front of him in his usual manner by flicking the ears of the victim. In this case the victim was an elf and he was flicking the long ears and quietly cackling at the wobbling they did at every flick. The Principal waved a hand and Sylas’ hands snapped together and his mouth clamped shut.

“As I was saying, we all need to be extremely respectful of these dragons. Their magic works a bit different than our dragon’s abilities and even more different than our own. Any disrespect can result in…well I’ll leave that to your imagination.” You could almost hear the collective hard swallow among the crowd. “I’ll leave you with this, come not between an Elder Dragon, and their anger.”

The assembly was dismissed but the Principal flagged me down before I could leave with everyone, “Alex, I need to speak to you in private about something important.” He said.

“What’s it about?” I asked. He wouldn’t answer but just asked that I follow him to his office. So I did. It was an awkwardly silent walk to his office. As I walked behind him I couldn’t help but be distracted by his earrings chiming together as the tips of his ears bounced with his steps. Once we made it to his office he made it a point to lock the door behind him before sitting behind his desk while I stood next to a chair like a troll, dazed and confused.

“Please, sit,” he said.

“Oh right. So what’s going on?” I asked as I sat. “Am I in trouble or something?”

“Oh, no. Quite the opposite,” Principal Ashrith said, holding up his hands in defense. “This is actually an invitation for you to meet with the Elder Dragons.”

I shook my head not believing what I was hearing. “I’m sorry, what?”

“You heard me,” he said. “I want to give you a formal invitation to speak with the Elder Dragons.”

“But, why?” I honestly couldn’t think of any good reasons why I would be allowed to be anywhere near the Elder Dragons.

“Well I think that’s fairly obvious don’t you think?” he said and folded his hands on his large ornate desk. “You’re the only one who resonated with the darkness element, and we haven’t had anyone like you in, well a very long time honestly. There is also the matter of your wild dragon that imprinted on you. It might do you good to at least hear what they have to say. They could offer some personal insight that might be relevant.”

“Well, I suppose,” I said. “I mean what’s the harm, right?”

“I’ll even sweeten the deal for you,” he took out a few cards from a desk drawer and grabbed a very interesting looking pen. It was just like the one that Mr. Roland used when he wrote the key to get me into the archives. Once he was done scratching his inkless pen across all three cards he tapped each with his hand. Three perfectly identical magic circles appeared as well as several runes that I couldn’t quite identify. He grabbed them and fanned them out in front of me, runes and circles towards me.

“What are those?” I tilted my head trying to make sense of the writing on the cards.

“These are your official invites,” he said as he handed me the cards. “One for you and both your friends.”

“All of us?” I asked. “I still don’t understand why all of us.”

“I’ve seen how you three have interacted over the last few months, Alex. I know a support system when I see it. The more your support system knows, the better it is for you.”

“Wow, I really don’t know what to say,” I was ecstatic. Not only would I be seeing the Elder Dragons but so will Lisa and Sasha. “Thank you,” I shook his hand, placed the tickets carefully in my bag and left to go to my next class that was well underway. It was hard to keep my excitement in for as long as I did. Most I could muster during our dragon riding class was telling both of them that I had a surprise for them after school.

The rest of the day dragged on, I couldn’t wait until school let out for our free period. Once we were free I made sure to go to our usual spot where we weren’t usually bothered by anyone.

“So what’s this surprise you’ve been dying to show us all day?” Lisa said.

“Yeah, Principal Ashrith snagged you away before we could say anything,” Sasha exclaimed. “What did he want anyway? Were you in trouble or something?” Why did everyone, myself included, always assume that?

“No I wasn’t in trouble,” I said. “Principal Ashrith gave me these.” I showed them the invitation cards.

“So, what are they?” Lisa said.

“These are invites to see and meet with the Elder Dragons,” I exclaimed.

“What?” They both exclaimed. Both seemed to be more than surprised and more than thrilled to have the privilege to see the Elder Dragons.

“How and why did this happen?” Sasha said, vibrating and bouncing in place. Eyes wide with a wide fanged grin. I told them both the whole short story of what happened when I went into the Principal’s office.

“He’s got a good point though,” Lisa said. “If they know so much, maybe they could figure out how Nocturne affects you as well as how the darkness element affects you too.”

“Though I’d have to admit I’m kinda nervous,” I said. “Like, what if they say something we don’t want to hear?”

“Like what?” Sasha asked.

I couldn’t really think of anything that they would say so I just shrugged my shoulders, “I don’t know. I guess I’m just paranoid.”

“It will be fine,” Lisa said. “Don’t worry. We’ll be there with you.” They both put their hands on my shoulders and shared in the comfort of each other’s presence.

#

Two weeks later winter hit Elysia like a brick. A foot of snow blanketed the city turning into an icy wonderland. Snow coated the trees and plants in wonderful ways. Some of the fae plants even adapted to the snow turning their petals and leaves from warmer colors to cooler colors like blues and purples. Pixies flying around with their glittery wakes gave the snowscape an added touch of wonder. Sorcerers with their practical magic, as opposed to the wizards who mostly did research and calculations, activated runes that would heat the streets and sidewalks to melt the snow to make it safer to walk and drive around.

Lisa met Sasha and I at the park grounds near the center of town. The festival was all set up with all kinds of games, vendors and all kinds of different food booths. There was also a huge central tent that was all closed up, which I supposed probably housed the Elder Dragons. Lisa and Sasha wanted to go have some fun before we got serious and cashed in our invitations. We walked around the entrance where all the games were. We say archery targets to hit to win all sorts of prizes, ring tosses, and a very popular attraction, a mechanical dragon where the operator would make it buck trying to throw you off. We came up just as an elf girl had just gotten bucked off and laughed.

“Next victim,” the operator shouted. He was a huge human that looked like a wall of muscle.

“Me,” Sasha ran up. Sasha had picked a good attire for the Festival. Presenting mostly masculine today with boots, jeans, and a thick wool-lined coat that Topaz snuggled inside. The operator opened the gate and let them in. As Sasha got saddled up and got ready Lisa and I leaned against the railing that was setup around the perimeter.

“Ready or not here you go,” the operator turned the machine on. It went slow at first then began to speed up. Turning and undulating and bucking. Sasha hung on tight, a clock ticked down in the back from twenty seconds, Sasha had made it to ten, nine.

The operator got more aggressive with his controls, getting visibly frustrated.

Seven, six, five. “Whoo-hoo,” Sasha shouted and whooped as they hung on for dear life to not get thrown off. Three, two, one, buzz. The timer went off and the machine slowly came to a halt. “Yeah,” They cheered getting down. “What’d I win?”

The operator wearing the most unexcited expression I ever saw grabbed a large plush animal off the rack behind him and silently and begrudgingly handed it to Sasha.

“What is it?” I asked as I looked at the weird plush animal. It had a weird bill, a large flat tail and was a brown furry color.

“No idea but I love it,” Sasha gave it a squeeze and it let out a noise like a deflating balloon.

“Did that thing just fart?” Lisa asked, holding back laughter. I grabbed the tag hanging from its foot

“Lawrence the Flatulating Platypus,” I read outloud.

“Oh my goodness I love it even more,” Sasha said and gave it another flatulating squeeze. We couldn’t help but laugh.

We walked around more checking out the vendors seeing what they were selling. There wasn’t much that I could afford. Mom only gave me about ten Favors to spend. I broke off from the other two to check out a vendor who had some jewelry. Biting my lip I approached.

“Hello young man, how can I help?” The elven woman asked.

“Well, I don’t have much but I’m looking for something special,” I said.

“Something special, huh?”

“Yeah,” I looked back and focused my gaze on Lisa. “Something really special.” The vendor looked where my eyes were set seeing Lisa in her winter goth clothes, thick black coat, wide legged black pants with chains hanging off.

“Oh, I see,” she said. “Here, how about this?” She grabbed an ear ornament that fitted on the tip of an elf ear. It was made to look like a spider’s web and even had a small spider dangling from near the base.

“Oh, wow it’s perfect,” I pulled out my money. “I don’t know if I can afford it. I only have ten Favors.” The elven woman grabbed the price tag and a pen and wrote on it before showing it to me. She’s crossed out the twenty on the tag and had written five. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve been a teenager before, I know what it’s like. So final offer, take it or leave it.” I handed her five Favors without question, and she handed me the ear ornament in return, which I pocketed and caught up with Sasha and Lisa.

“Hey, Alex,” Sasha said. “Where’ve you been?”

“Oh, just went to check out something shiny,” I said. “Nothing worth talking about.” They shrugged at the answer.

“We were about to go find some food before the opening ceremony,” Lisa said. I went with them both as we followed the smell of amazingly cooked food.dis

The food booths had everything. There were delicacies from the Faewild, from elves, even ancient human food. Sasha tried some old human dish called tahkos, I got a couple honey cakes with what money I had left from a Fae person and Lisa got a whole mutton leg and shared it with Zero, who ate most of it.

“Wow, she really loves that doesn’t she?” I said as I watched Zero reach around Lisa’s shoulder and dig into the leg voraciously. As if she hadn’t eaten in days. Both Topaz and Nocturne looked at each other concerned.

“What?” Lisa looked at us. “She eats like this at home too, you know.” We laughed it off and after we finished eating we made our way to a central clearing in the park where the opening ceremony of the Draconis Festival.

As we approached we heard an orchestra begin to play and a few magic performers in front of them. They slowly danced in time with the haunting wintery sounding music and began to swirl their hands together. Wonderful colors that complimented the sounds of the orchestra formed and mixed together. The colors began to float and slowly got higher overhead. The sky was a tie dye of color and sound. As the music crescendoed the colors became more intense. As the music reached its peak three massive black horned dragons flew into the mix of color and sound. They flew in formation matching the music and the performers. They looped and spiraled around before finishing in an aerial pose with the music. The three dragons gave a cry and flew above the crowd and glided gracefully into the large central tent.

We all applauded the aerial show as well as the dancers and the orchestra who bowed in thanks. Sasha, Lisa and I all looked at each other and gave a collective nervous sight. We decided we shouldn’t put off the inevitable, and walked towards the central tent.

We were greeted by a very large muscled man in front of the entrance. “Um, we have invites to get inside?”I pulled out our invitations. The guard grabbed them all and tested each one with a tap of his finger. With each tap they all glowed in turn and burned up in his hand. He nodded and opened the tent to us.

The inside was dark, no lights or lanterns or even a light spell. “Alex, do you see anything?” Sasha asked. “Topaz says they feel uneasy.”

“Zero too.”

“Yeah, I can see a little bit,” I said. Our dragons retreated into our coats as Nocturne gave a worried sounding chirp and dipped his head into my coat.

“Be not afraid,” a voice said. We all jumped in surprise as a voice entered our heads.

“We said to not be afraid,” a different voice said, slightly annoyed. A ball of light manifested above three shadowed shapes. As our eyes adjusted we saw the three Elder Dragons. We all stood in awe of the magnificent creatures. All three side by side. I saw each had a name plate below the stage they each sat on.

“Hi,” Sasha said. Lisa reached over and smacked the back of her hand into their chest.

“Sasha,” She scolded. “Be more polite,”

“It’s quite alright,” a third voice said, coming from Sylverix. “We’re glad you’re here. We’ve eagerly been awaiting you.”

“Sorry for being late,” I said. “So, why were we invited?”

“There is much to discuss,” Nivaria said. “This is mostly regarding dark magic recently unlocked within you, Alex Umbra.”

“Is it something bad?” Sasha asked. “Because he hasn’t done anything wrong with his magic.”

“Not at all,” Zephyrion said. “This is more of a history lesson tied into a warning.”

“Aw, man more school?” Sasha complained. Lisa hit him again. The three Elders laughed slightly.

“Just a little and it is not what you would have learned anywhere else otherwise,” Zephyerion said. We couldn’t tell but it seemed like he gave a gentle smile. Wait, can dragons smile? “Back over a thousand years ago, our predecessors took part in the first convergence. After a human Warlock calling himself Omega successfully opened the first convergence, a powerful mage fought against him with his friends and allies. Eventually they succeeded in defeating him, but the damage of having the convergence open was done and it transformed the world to what you see today. Our predecessors were successful in closing the portal to assist the mage. The first Elders since then maintained a vigilant watch whenever the convergence portal opened to renew the mana, the force of magic that allows magic to exist in this world, and allows all fae beings to live as well. The Elders also taught the mage how the world was now to be and how to help usher in a new age of magic. This included two new forms of magic that were not tamed at the time. Light and Dark.”

“Light was, and still is, a source of healing and obviously light itself, and is quite common to see as I’m sure you’ve experienced yourself,” Sylverix said. Which was true, Samuel and a few others seemed to have an affinity for light. “While darkness absorbs light, it has a greater influence over the light. Left unchecked both of these elements can have the potential to cause great harm and imbalance.

“Darkness is so influential over the light, it only naturally resonates in one person every couple hundred years, just to maintain balance.”

“Since these two new magical elements were completely foreign outside of the FaeWild,” said Nivera. “They ran rampant causing chaos and destruction everywhere. The first Elder Dragons were able to channel Light into the world successfully and make a new natural element. However, Darkness proved to be difficult. It took a few hundred years but they were able to incorporate it into the new reality as well with one caveat.”

“What was it?” I asked on the edge of my seat.

“The catch,” Sylverix began. “Was that whoever was in possession of this rare and powerful element would either be the harbinger of doom and destruction, or will keep and maintain the delicate balance within the whole of the world.”

“So, the fate of the world…,” I said.

“Yes, young one,” Nivaria said, looking at me. “The fate of the world could very well rest on your shoulders.” Well that was not the stress I needed at fifteen years old. “Or you could get lucky and just live in a time of peace as a few others have and just learn to respect the responsibility you’ve been bestowed.” I looked at the Elder in a little disbelief hearing something so nonchalant and casual come from one of them.

“We don’t mean to cause you alarm or confusion,” Sylverix said. “But we only thought it fair to give you a warning.”

“There is a looming darkness somewhere that seeks to exploit your power,” Zephyrion said. “A power that you do not yet know you possess, but in time will come to learn and harness it just as the mage who defeated Warlock Omega did. You must use it to defeat the one who will corrupt the convergence’s power and use it to destroy the delicate balance us and our kind have fought so hard to maintain.”

“So, is this my destiny? To basically stop evil and be a hero?” I said with a little too much enthusiasm. “I mean I’m not too thrilled about having a predestined path to take because I thought heroes were supposed to just do the right thing and have that “call to action” moment that makes them legends?”

The Elder Dragons looked at one another with a bit of worry on their faces. “It is not so much your destiny but your duty,” Sylverix stated. “You will always be able to forge your own destiny. We cannot see the future, but only make predictions based on what we feel in the mana that surrounds the earth. We only implore that you not let the convergence portal fall into the wrong hands and take up your roles as protectors.”

“Now when you say protectors,” Lisa said a bit too quickly. “Do you mean Knights or do you mean to learn what we need and we want and think is right to help protect the world?”

“We only ask that you embrace magic to its fullest,” Zephyrion said. “However you feel you need to use it to fulfill your dreams and wishes.”

Lisa looked at them for a long hard while. She urged Zero out of hiding to at least peek her head out of Lisa’s coat. “What do you think?” They shared a moment with each other speaking internally with one another. “Yes but what if–,” seems she was cut off by Zero’s objection. Such an objection she gave a chortle. “You’re right, you’re right,” she said in confidence. “Thank you.” She gave Zero a soft scratch under her chin and told her she can get warm again as she huddled back into Lisa’s coat.

“So, I can still be a hero?” I asked the Elders. “Follow what my father once did?”

The Elders looked at each other again, “You must think very carefully on this matter, young Alex,” Sylverix said. “You shouldn’t be too arrogant or prideful. Make sure this decision is something you truly want to embrace and that you’re doing it for the right reasons and not as an obligation to the past.”

“Why wouldn’t I be doing it for the right reasons?” I said a bit too forcefully. “What’s wrong with wanting to be a hero?”

“There is nothing wrong with being a hero,” Nivaria said. “But, you must learn what it is to be a hero first.”

“Heroism isn’t black and white. You can’t always recognize it and it is something that comes from within. You have to think deeply if your actions are heroic in nature, or are they selfish and needlessly prideful?”

That comment kinda hurt. How would I know what is the right choice and if I was acting out of pride or not? Nocturne peeked his head out and poked me with his nose and chirped.

“As yes, we nearly forgot about this,” Zephyrion said. “Your dragon, young Alex. He is most unusual isn’t he?”

“We were told he is wild, is that correct?” Sylverix said. I confirmed that it was true and told them how I came about him and that he seemed to allow me to do magic. “Let us speak with him.” Nocturne got out of my coat and glided over to sit with the Elders. They spoke in their own language to each other for a while. We all sat in silence listening to the strange conversation in front of us. Soon he flew back and nuzzled back under my coat.

“What was that about?” I asked.

“You need not worry yourself,” Nivaria said. “Just dragon matters. However, you will want to make sure to listen to him. He may take a long time to form a telepathic bond with you, but all the while he still speaks. So make sure to listen.”

“We will leave you with this last piece of wisdom,” Zephyrion said. “Not everyone can be a great hero, but a hero can come from anywhere.”

We thanked them for their time and wisdom and left the tent. We wandered around the festival in silence for a while until we came to a bench that overlooked a small cliff with an amazing view of the city and sat down.

“Wow, so how do we take all that in?” I asked.

“Yeah, it was kind of a lot,” Sasha said. “That we need to embrace magic but at the same time, we should also follow what we feel we need to.”

We were all kind of at a loss as far as what to think or how to process all the new information. So we all huddled together and just enjoyed the comfort of each other’s presence and watched the city out before us.