Alright this started out as an english short story about three years ago and it caught my attention everynow and again and is still yet to be complete. so heres teh first instalment of it. 'Something About Dragons"
Something About Dragons
By Shinigami_002
The day is dark and gloomy in the city of Rankul. There are the usual thieves coming and going, the wizards are at their magic again, you can tell because of the odd coloured smoke rising from the Hall of Magic. The city watch is pacing up and down the streets doing nothing about the thefts of items from the carts and so forth, in the markets; you can hear the cart owners shouting, âHey, put that back!â
Enter Jerald Oslar, tall, dark, and handsome, carrying a beautifully hand-crafted sword. Walking beside him is his friend and partner Karen Rifkin; she is relatively tall and extremely beautiful for her line of work. As they walk by Losers Bar they see someone fly through a window and hit the ground running. They look at each other, shrug, and enter. As soon as Karen stepped through the door a bottle flew past her head, but before the bottle hit the ground she kneed the offending thrower in the gut and then neatly hit him over the head with an elbow.
Karen looked at the would-be attacker and saw that it was the bartender and owner Mikal MacLine, and said âSorry Mikal, I thought it was a bar fight and âŠâ
Mikal groaned and said, âNo it was just a bum who wouldnât pay for a few drinks. And anyway that doesnât give you the reason to hit an old man, now does it?â
âTake it easy on her Mikal,â said a low, yet firm, voice by the doorway. Jerald stood at leaning on the door with his arms crossed, âItâs been slow, there havenât been any wars for years and nothing big has happened. So even though we can find work doing nothing and get paid, its boring,â he said. Pointing to the back of the bar questionably, Mikal, still on the floor, gave him a nod and Jerald helped himself to a drink.
âWell thatâs your job isnât it? To find jobs and get them done?â said Mikal
âAnd besides,â Jerald continued not taking notice of the question, âI remember when you could block both of those blows. Youâre getting slow.â
In an instant there was a short scrambling noise behind Jerald, it was Mikal, suddenly, knife in hand. âYou want fast, eh,â he yelled as he lunged at Jared, âWell, have at this.â Three things happened in a flash, two men acting like children fighting, second, during this, a move from Mikal where the knife went for Jaredâs gut, and finally, stillness.
Time slipped slowly back into this frozen scene Jared moved his hand down to his where he thought there would be a knife protruding⊠and found none. Both men straitened, Jared had a confused look on his face as he saw the knife that was supposed to be in his gut was still in Mikalâs gnarled hand. âItâs rubber, see,â Mikal said as he bent the blade.
âOh,â Jared said comprehensively, âI see.â
âI was gunna put it on the market in a week, but seeing how it so easily fooled you, I might have to put it on earlier.â
Suddenly Mikal, with the grace of an old warrior, hit Jared square in the jaw. âSo whoâs slow now,â he said with a grin.
âYou should be careful that in this town the person youâre selling it to donât get himself killed,â Karen intervened with a word of caution.
âIf their stupid enough to get stabbed then they shouldnât buy it in the first place or at least that how the watch will see it when I explain,â Mikal said as he chimed a retort.
There was a rushing behind the door of the bar and the sound of screaming. Mikal waved one of the customers to take a look. The customer got up and went to the door, opened it and stuck his head out.
âUh⊠I think itâs for you two,â he said calmly, pointing to Jared and Karen. They looked at each other and shrugged, got up and went to the door. Jared stuck his head out cautiously and saw nothing, he looked side to side then down, because in the city of Rankul there might just be a dwarf or two there.
He turned around and yelled, âThereâs no one there you idiot,â looking at the customer angrily.
The customer pointed his finger upwards calmly, and every one went silent.
Jared stuck his head out the door slowly and whispered, âAre you sure?â
âQuite,â said the customer.
There was a roar. Jared looked out quickly and saw a huge dragon, and waved for Karen to follow as he ran towards the weapon store.
The customer shrugged, âThatâs not something you see every day, a great bloody winged dragon.â There was a mummer of agreement and everyone went back to what they were doing.
When Jerald and Karen got to the weapons store, there was a nice selection of crossbows, a few bolts and three good horses left. They bought a large siege bow and a horse and rode towards the closest screaming mob. It was unfortunate that the closest mob was two religious groups out on the same day for two different religious holidays, seeing that it was a bad idea to do that they decided to go to the nearest treasury.
Why, might you ask, were they riding for a treasury and not straight for the dragon? Because every hero knows that dragons like to have a snack, then look for some soft gold somewhere to take a little snooze.
When they arrived, they found that the dragon was just flying over the city, doing nothing but flying. There was an ominous feeling about the dragon, it was just gliding, like it was more than just looking for food or gold, it was like it was enjoying the view from up there. And everyone knew dragons donât enjoy views, they just kill and sleep, and that was all that was to it really. But this dragon was just gliding.
âDoes that dragon look weird to you?â Jared said without taking his eyes of the animal.
âNope, looks like a regular dragon to me.â
âNo, not the way it looks, I mean the way it acts.â
There was a silence and she replied, âNo.â
âUsually, they are killing and burning, and looking for gold, ya know,â he said confusedly.
âWell it probably canât find a snack. Everyoneâs gone in or something. That means itâll be coming our way soon.â
âYeah, youâre probably right,â Jared trailed off, still not convinced.
From way up here he could see everything. The wizard thought, âHey, thereâs the bakery I went too yesterday and oh, thatâs the Hall of Magic, and wait, that guy owes me moneyâ. âHey this being a dragon thing isnât half as bad as it seemsâ, he thought as he landed and changed back into the, tall and gangly, second class wizard that he was.
There are ten classes of wizardry (one is the lowest and ten is the highest level), and he was just a beginner and was pretty good, but not great. He always had a knack for really complex spells and incantations. âI hope no one saw that,â he said as he ducked into the Hall of Magic.
Jared and Karen were on the hill that was part of the treasury. They saw the dragon land and sped off to find it. At the same time not being stupid enough to leave all that valuable equipment lying around where just anyone could snatch it, they took it with them and sold it back to the weapons shop for annoyingly less than they had bought it for and went on their way.
There was a big commotion in the Hall of Magic. The Head Wizard was furious and she had no idea that any one could actually change themselves into a dragon. It was amazing. It was crazy. It wasnât taught in any wizarding school that she knew of. âI mean of course, students have been known to make up spells and stuff, but this is nutsâ she thought. âIt was extremely dangerous to just turn into a dog or a cat, but it would be considered suicide to even think of turning into a DRAGON! The mental exertion alone would probably be so intense that your head would explode.â
She sat quietly till the only sound was the sound of breathing. Then she stood up and said, âThere has been a breaking of the rules. As you know, the rule prohibiting dragons within the vicinity of Rankul has been at this school since the Dragon Act of 0124 A.C.,â (the hall had been there since 39 After Creation, it was currently the 1363 A.C., yet one of their years equals three of our years so it was considerably old by now), âAnd there has been someone who has decided there needs to be a change and has done something in order to bring here the dragon you might have seen a few hours agoâŠâAs the speech continued, the students listened but with half an ear.
At this time Jared and Karen were standing outside talking to a few of the people who lived nearby. They were saying that the dragon had landed and just disappeared. Karen, who was doing the most talking, looked back at Jared to find him stooped over an extremely large footprint, and a lot of little ones, leading to the Hall of Magic. There eyes met and they nodded to each other, Jared stood up and walked up to the door of the Hall of Magic and opened it.
âThere she is,â he thought, as he looked into the grand hall, âsheâs gunna kill me.â They were almost done as a matter of fact, but too late, she had noticed him, and abruptly ended the school-wide meeting. He was in for it.
After the meeting Jared waved for her attention, this was going to get weird. Jared and the Master Wizard had a long history together. The fact that they were mother and son was just a coincidence. âHi Mom,â he said, trying not to be too nervous.
âHello Jared, why are you here?â she said trying not to lose her temper.
âYa know, I was just about to ask that same question.â
At this moment Karen walked in, saw the odd look on her partners face and then saw Jaredâs mother, Janet Oslar. âGood afternoon Mrs. Oslar. How are you doing today?â she said as polite as she could and still look her in the face.
âHow is it a good afternoon? And Iâm not doing so well at the moment. Iâve found that one of my students has either figured how to summon a dragon or have figured how to transfigure into a dragon. And you showing up here with that confused look on your face led me to believe that itâs probably that than any other explanation my board of trustees could think of.â
âWell, the weird thing is that we found some footprints outside the Hall that went from the dragon prints to the hall itself,â Jared whispered as not to arouse the suspicions of the students.
âYes, I told you that I thought it was one of my students,â said Mrs. Oslar, âbut please, follow me.â They followed.
The room was huge. It, from what Jared remembered from a shattered child-hood, had an actual module of the city, even down to the ghostly pale rats and people (and carts and horses etc, etcâŠ) that moved around the module. âThis room, or at least what it does, has not been seen by many people, even in the magic world.â
âWhat does it do?â Karen asked.
âIt shows and records everything that happens in the city, right?â Jared said quickly, looking to his mother.
âCorrect Jared, for someone who gave up on magic at the first few bumps, Iâm surprised that you remember, but you forgot that it only records about an hours worth of time at a time. So if you want to take a look at somthing in the past you need to get here quickly. Now Iâm going to go back to when you said the dragon landed.â
There was a blur in the module city, or to be more accurate many blurs of people walking backwards, then a lack of all that motion. The picture before them was of a dragon on the ground. âSee and if we can go a bit further,â Mrs Oslar said and there was another blur, âand⊠there. Now we can take a closer look at our expulsion.â The picture zoomed in on his face. âAh, I see. Mr. Lucas Flook,â she said, âa good student, and some major potential, shame to have to kill him.â
âIs that all that youâll do to him?â Karen asked.
âYes thatâs about it really,â Mrs. Oslar said.
âBut thatâs stupid wonât you want to ask him how he did it or something,â Karen said, a bit annoyed.
âMy dear, that would be a powerful thing indeed, but what if an offending country got hold of it without our knowing?â Mrs. Oslar said, knowing that Karen had made a very good point, but refused to admit it.
âOkay, so⊠I think weâll be leaving then right,â Karen said nudging Jared, who was starring into space. âUh⊠What? Oh⊠oh yeah, OK,leaving then.â They turned to leave.
âBut I just had a thought,â Janet said, slipping out of Master-Wizard-mode, âI was thinking since Lucas really does have a lot of potential, would you two mind looking after him? Itâd be better for all of us. I wouldnât have to kill him, and he could still come to school, under your watchful eyes. And besides if word gets out that there is someone who could transfigure into a dragon there might be a... need for awkward disappearances, if you catch my meaning.â
Jared froze in his tracks. âThis canât be happeningâ he thought, âjust not happeningâ. âOK mother, whatâs the catch. Will we be cursed or something if we donât?â
âOh. Why darling, nothing that serious. Just have to put him up in your place and maybe a trip to the hospital, thatâs all,â she said smiling to herself.
âOk, weâll do it, but youâll have to pay us,â said Karen butting in. She could see where this was going.
âFine,â Mrs Oslar said, switching back into Master-mode, âOne hundred fifty dollars a month. Is that fair? Wait at the back. Jared you know where. Oh, and Karen, Iâd like to talk to you.â Karen stayed, Jared would have too but he caught the look that his mother was giving him and left in a hurry. Mrs Oslar opened a trunk and pulled something out of it, âThis was my fathers and he said to give it to someone who could make better use of it.â It was a sword in a plain leather sheath. âItâll come in handy if you get in a mess. And by the way Iâd like it if youâd bring Jared by every once in a whileâ
âRiiiiight,â said Karen with a wow-this-is-an-odd-thing-to-give-me-and-an-even-odder-topic-to-be-talking-about-at-a-time-like-this look on her face, and turned to leave the way Jared just left.
âYa know,â Mrs Oslar thought to herself, âI sometimes wonder about those twoâ.
Okay read and reveiw people! I'll have some of the rest later when i finish it.
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