Magnificent Mage of Life

BUYING A DRAGON

"HAVE YOU READ the story of the Zherof the grand mage?" Almin asked.

Anakin shook his head. "I have never heard of him."

"Yes, that is because his name is forbidden. He has been erased from every history scrolls. Nobody should know about him." Almin said, stroking his long white beard.

"Who was he?" Anakin asked.

"He was just a peasant, born on the outskirts of the capital, almost in the Fey kingdom," Almin said. His voice took a dreamy tone as he recounted the story. "But one thing was peculiar about this peasant boy, though."

Anakin looked on, intrigued.

"The boy was born with almost no life," Almin continued. "Not so different from you, my prince."

Anakin nodded at him to continue, so he did.

"It was later discovered that Zherof, could yield life, but in a dark and forbidden way. He was taking life from the air and other things around him and controlling it."

"It was forbidden?" Anakin asked. "Why?"

"Because that is not how things should be done," almin replied.

"So what happened to him?" Anakin asked.

"He was called to justice with the senate for using life like that. But he refused. He knew what they were going to do, so he started a rebellion."

"The great rebellion," Anakin muttered under his breath. He had read about the Great Rebellion, but none of the books explained why it started. They only spoke about the drought and famine, and countless death that befell the whole continent. It was perhaps tge darkest times in Ansalon's history.

Almin nodded sadly. "He started the great rebellion 500 years ago."

"But he was killed," Anakin said.

"Yes," almin replied. "It took a special force of several 8th-class warriors, war druids, and blood of centaurs and Shadhavars to be able to match his magic powers." Almin paused for a moment and then continued, "Learning how to wield life from the surroundings is the most powerful thing one can do because then, you don't have to concentrate on just your physical abilities."

Anakin nodded to show that he was following.

"Using life from the surroundings maximizes the surface area of the magic. A grand mage like that can go on fighting for days without exhaustion."

Anakin's eyes widened.

"Yes, Zherof never stopped fighting. He kept on raining dozens of powerful attack spells against our mages and warriors. Their counter powers did not have any effect on him as he would simply absorb it and use it against them."

"Wow," Anakin muttered.

"It was nothing to wow about, young prince," Almin said. "Eventually he got so much power that he got mad and reckless. That was how he was brought down. His downfall was almost due to himself."

"Why do you sound like you were there?" Anakin asked.

Almin gave a toothless chuckle and said, "I was not there. I was born during the ending of the rebellion."

"But but, the end of the rebellion was about 400 years ago. Does that mean –" he did not answer the question.

Almin nodded and laughed. "End of lesson today, even though you did not learn anything."

"I did learn something," Anakin said.

"You have the rest of the day to enjoy. Go on, enjoy yourself." Almin said.

Anakin stood up and stretched before walking away. He still wanted to read his books from the library, and even though he had just learned that wielding life from external sources was an abomination, he still wanted to master it but he knew that Almin would be suspicious if he had remained in the library. So he walked out into the hall, and he came across Commander Arlen who bowed in respect.

Anakin noticed that on the commander's waist, beside his thick sword, there was a large leather purse attached to his waistband. The commander followed his gaze and explained, "I heard Pan Sama is in town, and he had the best breed of dogs in the whole continent. Your father needs some new dogs for his hunting pack."

"Can I come with you to town?" Anakin asked.

"It would be dangerous," Commander Arlen said. "Find something else to do."

"There is nothing," Anakin said.

"Then sleep, my prince."

Anakin cleared his throat and said in a strong voice, "As your prince, I command that you take me with you."

Commander Arlen sighed. Disobeying now could be a punishable offense. "On the condition that you remain beside me at all times." Anakin nodded.

"And you do what I say without questioning or arguing," Commander Arlen said. "When I tell you to run and hide or get behind me, you do it immediately." Anakin nodded again. Commander Arlen sighed, he knew this was a bad idea, but he could not refuse a direct order from the royal-blooded prince.

They went to the stable to mount their already saddled horses. Anakin's horse looked like a young donkey beside the commander's huge black charger. They rode out of the palace alongside 3 guards to protect the prince.

When they got to the entrance of the market, they climbed down and handed the reins to one of the guards to keep watch, while the other two followed Anakin and the commander into the market. Nobody recognized the prince because his father always kept him hidden inside, but all the citizens recognized the golden Armour of the royal guard, so they made way for the part to pass.

Anakin's eyes roved all over the market. This was the first time he was entering here, and it all amazed him.

He saw elven traders with their pointed ears, selling magical items like goblin livers or orc's teeth. Those were important ingredients for potions.

He saw some warriors from another kingdom pricing some dwarves' metal. It was said that dwarves' metal is the strongest metal ever. It is 100 times stronger than steel.

Arlen led his group straight for the animal shelter.

There was a tall, thin man that had a funny face standing in front of some dog kennels. He had three thin strips of beards on his face, two mustaches, and another line from his lower lip to his jaw. He licked his lips and his eyes widened when he saw the royal guard approach.

"Pan Sama," Arlen said gruffly to the man, who bowed.

"What brings the whole royal guard to my humble kiosk?" Pan Sama said in a cheery voice.

"Don't play games," Arlen said. "Where are they?"

"The dogs?" Pan Sama asked. "They are the finest breed, I assure you, and very obedient too."

While the commander and Pan Sama talked about the dogs, Anakin's eyes wandered around the animal shelter. There were different animal houses in there and different traders too. While some traders sold feathered friends like ravens for messaging or owls, other traders dealt in more dangerous animals, like baby basilisk. Anakin even saw a crate with eggs bigger than his head. But what caught his attention was a mound of canvas a few feet away from them.

He looked at his guards and saw that they were distracted by what Pan Sama was saying, so he sneaked away, closing in on the canvas.

He could hear light breathing coming from beneath the tarpaulin canvas. He approached it and raised the end of the canvas to see that there was a cage underneath.

And inside the cage was –

"A dragon…" Anakin breathed under his breath.

"What?" Commander Arlen snapped and turned to where the prince was.

"Get away from there!" Pan Sama shrieked. Pandemonium broke out in the shelter, and many traders jumped away, crashing into their goods after seeing the caged dragon. An animal cage fell to the floor and broke apart and a strange little animal escaped, scurrying into the ground.

Arlen started to rush forward to grab Anakin, but Pan Sama held him back. "If you startle the dragon, we are all toast. Literally."

The commander stopped. "My prince… gently step away from the monster." He said.

Anakin looked at the 'monster'

It was a young dragon. It was thin, sinewy with a long neck and spiky wings. It laid its head on the hay floor, too weak to raise it. Anakin crouched gently and looked into its eyes. He saw a deep intelligence in the dragon's eyes as it regarded him. He stood up and turned to look at Arlen. "We are buying it. I want it."

"What?" The commander and Pan Sama simultaneously said.

Pan Sama made a sign with his hand and approached the cage. Pan Sama was a low-level mage with animal control as one of his main powers. The dragon's eyelids drooped and closed. Pan Sama snatched the end of the canvas from Anakin's grip and covered it. "What are you thinking?"

"No," Arlen growled, gripping Pan Sama by his collar and lifting him. "The real question is what were you thinking? Bring a dragon into a public space?"

"Some Elves might need it," Pan Sama said, trying to defend himself. "Or even 8th class mages."

"Why can't I get it?" Anakin asked.

Arlen tossed Pan Sama aside and looked at Anakin. "The dragon is a very powerful animal with an extraordinary use of life."

"So?" Anakin asked. He still was not getting the drift.

Arlen sighed in exasperation. "It takes a very high-class mage with a matching wield of life to be able to control the dragon," He looked at Pan Sama who was slumped on the floor. "When was the last time we had a human dragon rider?"

"Uh… since the great rebellion, I think." Pan Sama said, rubbing his head.

"You see?" Arlen asked. "Now, let's go. I've gotten the dogs I need… and you," He pointed again to Pan Sama. "Get that thing out of here." Pan Sama nodded.

"I said I want it!" Anakin snarled.

Arlen sighed. He looked from Pan Sama to Anakin. He could not disobey the prince, but at what cost?

He tossed the remaining of the leather purse at Pan Sama and said, "We are taking the dragon."

Pan Sama nodded but grumbled. "This is not nearly enough."

But they weren't listening. The soldiers started to load the dragon cage onto a cart, but Anakin stopped them.

"No," He looked at Pan Sama. "Wake it up."

Pan Sama made another sign with his fingers and pointed at the dragon, its eyes opened slowly and focused on Anakin.

"Open the cage, the dragon will not be treated poorly under my watch," Anakin commanded in a strong voice.

People around shrank back as the dragon's cage was unlocked. Anakin stepped inside the cage and held out his hand, the dragon snorted. Anakin felt the heat scorch his palms. The dragon struggled to its feet, its scaly skin rippled with muscles as it crouched.

Anakin took a step backward and the dragon walked out of the cage. It looked around slowly.

One of Arlen's hands rested on his sword as they all stood alert, watching the dragon's next move.

But the dragon flapped its wings and in one powerful motion, it went out of the animal shelter and disappeared into the sky, leaving Anakin breathless.