The Wizard And The Dragon Read Free Page A

before but it
was standing on the table, standing as if it had legs. It looked like a figure
of a person, no taller than a drinking glass, made out of yellow fire and
surrounded by red waving flames. It had no eyes but I could feel it looking at
me.
    My
breathing became elevated to the point that it was audible. I dug my fingertips
into my palms and forced myself not to scream out of fear that I might anger
this man who had what looked like a pet made out of fire. What looked like the
head portion tilted to the side as if it was studying me.
    He
turned his head to me when he heard my breathing and narrowed his eyes. He then
turned to the table and an alarmed expression washed over his face. He snatched
at the figure of fire and plucked something from its chest. The light was
snuffed out and the fire was gone. I saw something sparkle in the man’s hand
but he quickly dropped it in his pocket.
    “Sorry,”
he said. “A dragon just burned down your village. My friend must look
frightening to you.”
    My
breathing lessened and I felt the tension ease in my shoulders. I said nothing
and only looked at the man.
    “Well
Bryce, I have more questions but you must be exhausted. Follow me. We can talk
in the morning,” he said as he started walking toward the stairs.
    His
voice sounded warmer now and I watched him with suspicion. I wasn’t sure what
to think of the man and looked back at the hallway and the way out. The storm
seemed to be passing but the door would still be too heavy to open before the
man caught me. I had no choice but to follow him.
    I
climbed the stairs behind him and followed his lead around the inside of the
tower. There was no banister or railing to hold onto and the stairs were open
and exposed. I felt increasingly nervous and unsteady with each step. I was
thankful when we stopped at the first door we came to but my curiosity got the
better of me. I peered over the edge of the stairs and down into the dark. I
had never been up so high before, and we weren’t even half way up the tower.
    When
I turned around the man had already opened the door and stepped inside. The
room was far darker than the central chamber and I saw that it had no windows.
He held a hand out in front of him and a light began to glow on each of his
fingertips. It trailed out from them and swirled into the room like dust being
caught in the wind.
    The
lights were different colors at first: specks of green, blue, and red. In the
center of the room they drew together and joined, like droplets of water
merging together on a window in the rain. United, the lights glowed a pure
white into the room that initially hurt my eyes. It didn’t stop me from staring
at it in awe.
    “How?”
I heard myself ask before I could stop myself. I wanted to slam a hand over my
mouth.
    “Questions
are for tomorrow,” he replied. “You must be tired after running so far.”
    My
legs began to ache as if they were acknowledging what I just heard. The man
gestured to the bed across the room and I walked toward it. The bed was low to
the ground and had a few fur pelts instead of a blanket. I sat on it and looked
around at the rest of the room. The only other furniture was a chamber pot and
a table and chair in the far corner. There were no other doors. This was the
only room on this floor.
    “Sleep
now.”
    The
man turned and began to walk away. The events of the day and running through
the forest seemed ready to come crashing down on me and send me to sleep. I was
about to lay down when the sphere of light blinked out and left me in total
darkness. Despite trying to stay on guard I must have made some sort of noise
because the man turned back to me.
    A
moment passed as he considered what to do and then he walked across the room
away from me. I couldn’t see him in the dark but I could hear him moving. A
loud scraping noise rang throughout the room as he dragged the table and chair
toward the bed. When he was finished he sat down and spoke to