Book 1 | Agent 34 and the Desert of Beasts

Chapter 8 | The Dragon's Property

"Flame!"

The wand that Agent 34 held erupted into flames, and Arenia instantly told him to put it out. The elf groaned, and dropped the wand, ending the flame spell.

"You can't tell it to make flames without giving it an object to make the flames go to. If you just say flames, it will burn the wand. This is why I prefer to use staffs instead of wands, they are not wooden and you can fight with them. But, wands are good too, they are portable." Arenia said.

Agent 34 cast the spell again, and told the flames to just go to the sand ahead of them. It did, and the sand erupted into fire. It quickly went out, because sand cannot conduct heat.

"Try to light a fire, and then tell it to go out after five seconds." Arenia commanded Agent 34.

Agent 34 did as told, and casted another flame towards the sand ahead of their trail, but commanded it to disappear after five seconds. The sand caught fire again after Agent 34 muttered the words, and Arenia and him waited five seconds, then the flame went out. 

"Make a flame, and then put it out with water." Arenia commanded.

Agent 34's brow thickened as his face turned into determination. Uttering a few words, the sand caught fire yet again, and the elf quickly uttered another spell and water flew out of the end of the wand and to the fire, and the fire was out.

"You are pretty strong in spellweaving—probably because of the gem—but, if you try to heal someone or harm someone, it will cost you way more energy than simple tasks does. Look, make a cut in my skin, and then heal it." 

Agent 34 turned the wand so it pointed to Arenia, and muttered a few words under his breath. Suddenly and violently, the skin on her forearm broke open and blood started to come out of the fresh cut. Arenia winced in pain, then commanded Agent 34 to heal it.

Once Arenia's forearm was healed, he felt a lot more  weaker than the other spells made him feel. 

"See what I mean? This makes it impossible to kill one with spells, but you might have a chance to do so if you have all the gems and some other powerful spellweavers give you extra energy so you don't die in the process. If you lose too much energy, which is highly likely when trying to kill another, you could easily die."

"I see. Will someone give me proper training in spellweaving and swordsmanship once we reach the Zena?" Agent 34 asked Arenia. "And will someone there possibly know my name? And my past?"

"We have a few teachers there that are devoted in spellweaving and swordsmanship. I am sure you can get proper training for swordsmanship, but maybe not spellweaving. Few are powerful in spellweaving, and you are still more powerful than them because of your gem. Some may not be able to spellweave, but they might know how to do it, but sadly cannot. Some people learn as much about it as they can so they can find a way to spellweaver. Most have gone mad trying to do it."

"You never answered my last two questions."

Arenia sighed. "You ask too many. But here's your answer," Arenia shifted uncomfortably then continued. "Possibly, it just depends on who you knew before you had your memory stolen, and only you or someone that has been with you since birth knows your full past."

The conversation ended there, and Agent 34 didn't want to talk after that. A large cloud of sadness fell above him, and that just made him want to recover his memories even more than he already did. Agent 34 longed for revenge on Braunick, as did everyone else in Renya, but only one elf was equal to the human, but Braunick could still beat him, because he had a full army. Agent 34 had none.

The walk was silent after that, the sand crunching under the elves' feet with every footstep they took. 

Suddenly, a thunderous crash erupted behind them, vibrating the ground with intense shock. Agent 34 and Arenia turned around quickly, only to see the same black dragon that had flown over Agent 34's head a few days ago sitting right in front of them.

The elves stumbled backwards, away from the dragon. Smoke rose from the dragons nostrils, making it ever more intimidating.

"Speak!" The dragon roared in fury. "Why are you on my land?"

"We didn't know!" Arenia pleaded. "We are just trying to make it to the Zena!"

"Give me one good reason to not kill you!" The black dragon roared at us both. Arenia was at a loss of words.

"Because I'm the last hope for this damned country!" Agent 34 blurted out.

"How so?" The dragon laughed. "You? I saw you hiding from me earlier, and I thought you were not worthy enough to be my meal. But now, you brought some new prey..."

"I am the last hope because I found a gem!"

Arenia slapped him on the shoulder quickly. "34! You don't want all of Renya trying to kill you for that gem, do you? Do not tell people!"

The dragon snorted. "You cannot beat Braunick. He has an army, and you have a stolen sword, the ones his men carry. I do not fully trust you, because of that sword, and I do not believe you have a gem. Prove to me you do and I will not kill you."

"How do I prove it?" Agent 34 asked the giant black beast towering above him.

"That is for you to decide." The black dragon said, a few balls of fire coming from its nose.

"Arenia, give me the shards." Agent 34 told the female elf. Arenia reached behind her and pulled her backpack off, and handed it to Agent 34. He unzipped it, and saw the purple shards lying at the bottom of the backpack, and pulled them out and showed them to the giant dragon.

"That could be any gem! I care not for the gem, I care for the energy it harnesses. If you have its power, show me. Harm me with spells, and then heal it." The dragon roared.

Agent 34 returned the shards to the backpack, and gave the backpack back to Arenia, who was staring in wonder and fear.

Raising his wand, the elf pointed it towards the dragon. "Cut a little on his belly." Agent 34 muttered those words, and his strength faded quickly as a hand-sized cut appeared on the dragon's stomach.

"Now heal it. I do not want a wound."

"Heal the wound on its stomach." Agent 34 commanded the wand, and the cut started to piece itself back together, stopping the blood that started to trickle out of it. The cut was gone, and looked like nothing had even appeared there. Agent 34 felt a pang of tiredness but tried to shrug it off quickly.

"I slightly believe you, but this is my land. I purchased it before the crown was ever mentioned, and I'd like to have no one trespassing. I will give you a free ride off my property, and kill you if you ever step foot on the land again. Have a good day." The black dragon lowered its left wing down to the ground towards the elves so they could walk up it and onto its scaly back.

Arenia and Agent 34 walked up the wing and onto the dragon's large back. Agent 34 sat in between two spikes on the dragon's back, and Arenia sat in between two of them as well, only one space in front of him.

The dragon took off from the ground, and started to fly east, the direction they were heading.

After about three minutes of flight, the dragon landed, and the elves climbed off it.

"Set foot here again, and I'll be the next hope for Renya. Have a great day." And with that, the black dragon pushed off from the ground and flew back west, leaving the two to finish their never-ending walk to the Zena.