Drakonika (Book 1) Read Free

moment.” Magnus raked through all of his pockets. “Here,” he said as he finally pulled out a small scroll wrapped in a red satin ribbon. He wouldn't have expected to have something like that on him but he was sure it wasn't anything the guards could want. “Do you want to have a look?” he asked and handed the scroll to Eagle, hoping none of the guards would open it.
    Just when Eagle and Jackal started to fear that their city wouldn't have such a promising Magiker player, Magnus was able to dispel Eagle's suspicious thoughts. Neither of the guards bothered taking the scroll. He could hear a friendly “Oh, that's fine. Welcome to Ragna,” and both guards stepped aside.
    That's when Magnus had finally learned what the name of this city was: Ragna. It seemed strangely familiar to him. He had taken a few steps forward when he heard Jackal's coughing.
    “Erm, listen, Eagle, shouldn't we take Magnus' permit to the Magi Police? Ya know how they require it,” he commented.
    Magnus didn't have a choice but to stop again and turn around. More problems!
    “Hmm, Jackal is right,” Eagle said, nodding. “Sorry, it's silly but the police require that every foreigner who comes here hands over his permit to them for verification,” he said but when he saw that Magnus wasn't very pleased, he scratched his nose and added, “Just stop by tomorrow and we'll give it back to you, it's no big deal, really.”
    This went further than Magnus expected. He had already crossed the gate and he had no intention of going back! He decided to give them the scroll, whatever they wanted to do with it. He would allow nothing and nobody to stop him from entering Ragna. Magnus handed the scroll over to Eagle and smiled cunningly, “Of course, here you are. I certainly don't want you to have problems because of me, ” he said, going further and further into town, trying not to stumble over his own shoes.
    Luckily for Magnus, the guards took the bait again and they even waved at him. “We'll come watch your Magiker battle, boy! Have a nice stay!”
    Magnus smiled at them for the last time, took the first turn and disappeared.
    After a short pause, Eagle turned to Jackal, “By the way, you're not over thirty, you're over forty,” he said calmly.
    “Really?” Jackal said with a sign of disappointment in his voice, as though he was making sure that Eagle meant what he had said. “I thought it was less!”
    “ Hmm, I'd still like to know how he survived in the wilderness,” said Eagle thoughtfully, staring at the place where he saw Magnus for the last time.
          Jackal was obviously interested in things other than his guard duties. “Doesn't matter! He'll play Magiker, finally sumthin' will happen! Quick! Show me how the permit of such a famous Magiker player looks!” he screamed, jumping around merrily. Then he suddenly stopped, “I shoulda asked for a signature!”
    “ Would you stop?” muttered Eagle and rolled his eyes. But he was interested in that himself, so he slowly pulled down the satin ribbon and opened the scroll.
    His face changed colours at least five times in one second.
    “What's inside? Show me! Show me!” Jackal was jumping around him.
    Eagle took a deep breath, “Surely he has a lot of papers on him, but BLANK! GET HIM!” Bellowed Eagle and his face turned so red that even Jackal was scared of him. He scooted after Magnus like a hawk after a pigeon and it took a while for Jackal to catch up with him. But he couldn't turn the whole of Ragna upside down to find a little boy who was several minutes ahead, and so he needed a trained dog, Jackal's ranger abilities to be precise. They didn't meet him again that day, but Magnus hoped he wouldn't meet them again in his life. They must have been really angry — he completely ruined their lunch break!

 
    II. The House Of Wonders
     
     
    The narrow streets which were paved with cobblestones seemed like a maze to Magnus. He was afraid he would get lost at any time