The Wizard and the Green Dragon (Part 1)

“The Wizard and the Green Dragon”, is a short story meant to be placed at the end of the second book the Wizard plays a “secondary” role in. Yeah, sort of. Anyway, the important thing is, you should know that Galen and Dagwood are the Wizard’s familiar spirits and they usually are invisible, unless the Wizard wants otherwise.

I intended to introduce this character, but I thought meeting him in a short story first would make things easier. So, have fun!

---

There is a small forest on a hill, not far from Larchwood, at the east of the city, and there is only one path that leads in and out of that forest. A small unit of about a hundred soldiers and three knights was stationed there, just outside that forest, in wait. A lone man, or so it looked to the rest, walked out of the forest.

“Don’t move! In the name of His Majesty the King, you are under arrest!” shouted the head knight.

“What?!?!” The man scanned the unit. He was furious, but seeing the head knight, decided to play along… for now. “May I ask you, mister knight dear, what is this supposed to mean?”

“Silence! Tie him up!”

“Don’t you dare!” The man didn’t even raise his voice. He lowered it, most probably. But everyone froze to their spots. Even the three horses panicked enough to throw their riders down. “Come here, horses. I won’t hurt you.” Then, staring at the humans, “I can’t promise the same for the rest of you. So, be wise.”

The horses went to the Wizard. He mounted one, and kept the other two, one on either side of him.

“Now, mister knight dear, I decided to comply with your wish. I am allowing the petty you to arrest the great me. Please, be so kind as to lead the way.”

It took more than a few moments for the bunch of them to reorganise themselves. But they didn’t dare ask for their horses.

“Encircle him.” The command came from the head knight, but much more timidly than the previous ones. Reluctantly, the soldiers did what the knight ordered, but kept their distance from the arrestee. And somehow like that, the Wizard found himself in a prison cell.

“Why didn’t you just kill them?”

“Trust me, Galen, there was nothing I wanted to do more. But, I couldn’t.”

“Couldn’t???”

“Well… I could, but I thought I’d better not. For one, I need that moronic head knight alive and well, until tomorrow morning. And even more importantly, what happened, shouldn’t have happened. So, how did it happen?”

“A slight miscalculation, maybe?”

“Galen, you are being heartless! I admit I’ve made a miscalculation before, but this case is obviously different. We didn’t accidentally run across those people. They were waiting there for us. Why? How? Other than me, the two of you, and the one who sent us here, there shouldn’t be anyone who’d know when and where we were to appear.”

“You don’t think he informed them?”

“No… he shouldn’t be the one who’s done that. But I will find out who should die a horrible death.”

“I can bet on that!”

The Wizard smiled.

“For now, keep yourselves invisible, and let’s pretend I am an obedient prisoner. We don’t want to change the time and place the Green Dragon will appear. The flow of history has changed enough already.”

“If you wanted to play the obedient prisoner, maybe you shouldn’t have scared to death that head knight and the rest.”

The Wizard smirked. “The better that worm knows how powerless he is, the more certain it is he won’t let anything to stop him from getting the Green Dragon. I’m pretty sure, right now, he is feverishly making all the necessary preparations.”

Galen smiled, amused.

A guard unlocked the cell’s door. “You, dog, come out.”

“Oh, dear! The toothless cat was lucky enough – once – to have scared a baby mouse, and now he thinks he can scare this lion!” The Wizard stood up, and the guard fell on his knees, incapable of moving. The Wizard went to him and grabbed him from the throat, nearly strangling him. “Now… maybe I misheard, so, would you mind repeating what you’ve just said?”

“I… I said… Could you please, my Lord, come with me?”

“Oh!” The Wizard smiled, and the guard could move again. “If that’s the case, then, why not?”

“A truly obedient prisoner!” None but the Wizard could hear Galen.

The Wizard turned to him and smiled innocently.

The guard led the Wizard to a room but didn’t enter it with him. Inside, three people were waiting for him. A timid young boy, pale, and probably ready to faint, just by imagining what was going to happen. The other two men, foolishly, were quite excited. The Wizard, though, was even more excited.

“Oh, my gods! What a primitive torture room and equipment. I must say, the first and last person who ever tortured me had a much better collection of tools. Are you really professionals?”

“Playing brave?” asked the one in charge, and lashed his whip towards the Wizard, but it only “hit” the air, in front of the Wizard’s face. “Shackle him!”

The Wizard looked at the other guy, and the man dropped dead.

“What did you do?”

“Other than fool, are you also blind? I simply stared at him. How could I have known he was such a coward he’d die from a stare?” He took a spiked club. “Now, let’s start the interrogation, shall we?” The actual interrogator couldn’t move. “So, tell me, why am I here?”

“What is happening?”

The Wizard smashed the man’s arm. The timid boy puked. “I am asking the questions. Why am I here?” The man spat at the Wizard, and the Wizard smashed his head. “You dare spit on me?” Soon, the dead man was a formless mass of meat and blood. “Bloody hell! I dirtied my clothes! …Now, boy!”

“Please don’t kill me, Sir!”

The Wizard smiled, but he seemed even more terrifying in the boy’s eyes.

“I don’t care to kill someone who hadn’t even intended to be here. Of course, it depends on you, whether I change my mind, or not. So, tell me, why am I here?”

“Sir… a diviner came to the King and-”

“A diviner?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Go on.”

“And he said that a charlatan pretending to be a wizard―”

“Charlatan?!?!?!”

“It’s not my words, Sir. I wouldn’t dare!”

“Of course. Right. Speak freely. So, a charlatan pretending to be a wizard… what?”

“That you, Sir, would come out from the woods, tonight, in order to destroy this country.”

“That’s news to me, but after what this country did to me, I will surely return the favour. Go on.”

“The diviner advised His Majesty to arrest you, Sir, to find out which country you work for and learn the exact plans and means by which you’ll destroy our country.”

“I see. I say, boy, that this charlatan of a diviner of yours is the one who harmed this country, by angering me.”

“Yes, Sir. Of course, Sir.”

“Do you want to live, or die? Don’t worry, I’ll give you a quick and painless death, if you chose the latter. You’ve been quite cooperative, after all.”

“Is it possible, my Lord, to spare me?”

“But, of course! Go to your king and inform him that, despite the interrogator’s efforts, I didn’t speak, and that the interrogator suggests the king should execute me as soon as possible. Make sure this so-called diviner hears that. Are you going to do that?”

“Yes, Sir! Of course, Sir!”

“Good. If you say what has really happened here, I’ll know and I’ll kill you.”

“I wouldn’t dare, Sir.”

“Good. After you give your report to the king, come to my cell and bring me enough water to wash myself, some clean clothes and the best food and wine you can get. If you do that, I promise, you won’t have any trouble for this mess here, and, moreover, I’ll give you a very important piece of advice.”

“I’m not a rich man, Sir, so what I can bring you might not be to your liking.”

“I know, boy. Relax. I don’t punish kindness. Do what you can do, and you won’t regret it. Betray me, and… I don’t need to explain. Now, hand me over to the guard, because, I think, if I walk out by myself, it will look a tiny bit suspicious.”

---

To read the second part, click here.