Wielders of Magic, Book 1: A Spell Binding Tale
The Colony

"She touched her location crystal, which alerted me that something was wrong in the first place." Rentham told his comrade, both transformed into their familiar. The fallen king was obviously a silver fox, and Jackson a stag. They were galloping through the leaves with their minds both connected, following the luminous trail that only their eyes could see.

"What if she accidentally brushed it?" Jackson asked.

"That can not be true. You have to have your hand wrapped all the way around it for at least three seconds." He suddenly stopped, seeing the trail lead down a dark, deep burrow, big enough for at least an average sized human to crawl down. He turned his pointed nose up to Jack, who was already staring at him as well.

"Do we go down there?" The warlock asked, transforming into his normal self.

"I will if you will."

"Well . . . trail leads down there so . . . lets go." Jackson waited for him to take the first step down the wary thing, wondering weather or not something would reach out and grab them.

"For Edowain." Rentham whispered and took the form of a ferret, slowly crawling down the thing. Jackson did like wise and followed closely behind.

"I can't see anything." The king said, stopping. "Nothing but the trail that is. It's just dark down there."

"We have to keep going if you want your wife back." Jackson stated, slinking around him and running down the thing. "Sooner we get this done the better right?"

The two bounded down the tunnel, shoving their own fear down each others throats with a firm tone. They wouldn't let the undesirable emotion fester inside of them, not while there was so much at stake.

"Oh my dear sweet Edowain, I swear that if anything has harmed you-"

"Shut up Rentham! We are going to find her alright?" Jackson snapped behind him. "Look, I see some light up there."

The king than shoved past and ran for it, stopping abruptly as the hole was dropping down deeper into the earth. "Jackson don't come any further there is a-"

"What!?" He cried, slamming his small, furry body into the fallen kings. They both squeaked as they tumbled down into a large, bright cavern.

"You idiot!" Rentham screamed as he resumed his normal form, unable to keep his concentration. Jackson did the same, both flying straight down into a city like place.

"Sorry! But look-" He pointed down, both seeing the trail of Edowain falling through the sky as well. "She must of fallen a-"

The cave water below crashed into them, both sputtering and coughing as they swam back to the surface. It was fairly deep, and both had to struggle to keep afloat.

"We got two more!" A gruff voice said, two hairy arms wrapping around Jackson and pulling him from the water. "Warlocks by my guess!"

Someone else snatched Rentham from the water and scratched his left cheek very precisely, a greenish blood dripping from his face.

"Get off me-" Jackson kicked and flailed his arms, the same kind of scratch appearing upon his face. They both soon felt a little nauseous and tired, an uncontrollable urge to fall asleep washing over them in a wave.

"That's it boys, fall asleep." A smooth, sort of dark voice said, a tall man standing in front of them before their vision went. "Sweet dreams."

Jackson awoke with a splitting head ache, his whole body aching like he had slept for a century. He saw Rentham in the other corner of the cell, with one door leading out that was only small enough to get one person out at a time. The room was stone mostly, with a bed and a few blankets in the corner, with water dripping here and there creating mildew in the cracks.

"Do you think they are awake yet?"

"I don't know, just put the food it and lets get out of here. No telling weather the stuff worked or not."

A plate slid in under the slot in the wall, rather nice looking bread and cheese with a slab of ham hanging off the side. Someone had to of specially ordered that, it would be expensive to feed that to all the prisoners.

As he crawled over to reach it, he felt something strange. It was like everything he knew about himself and every other person was slowly slipping out of his grasp. He stopped, horror sparking inside as the memory of Drusilla smiling slowly faded and disappeared form his memory.

Who was that? Who is he? . . . Who am I? He dropped from his crawling position and stared at the ceiling, no memories, no feelings, not even his own name.

It was terrifying. He knew who he was! He did! But . . . had he forgotten?

"Ah!" The man in the corner awoke, looking around frantically. "Oh Jackson! You are here as well! Thank the gods!"

"You know my name?" He sat up, tilting his head.

"Well of course I know your name-" The grey skinned man blinked a little bit. "I mean I did . . . wait . . . whats going on?"

"Tell me everything you can remember now! ALL OF IT BEFORE ITS GONE!" He jumped at him and grabbed his shoulders, fear driving him.

"Drusilla the Red Witch is your friend . . . we are here to look for my . . . something, Edowain . . . camp in the woods . . . falling into here . . . cut on our . . . my name is Ren-" He bared his teeth. "What is happening to me!?"

"Ren? That is your name?"

"I don't know anymore . . ."

"Well, we know why we are here. My name is Jackson. Thank the gods I know that." He looked around the room. "So we are here to look for something of yours? Together?"

"I don't know anymore, I already told you that." He put his hands over his eyes, hating himself for not remembering anything. It was if his mind was a clean slate, only his intelligence left in its wake.

"You also said something about a cut didn't you?"

"Name of the Abyss I don't know damn it!" He shouted, kicking Jackson away from him. "Don't touch me!"

"Ouch." The unknowing warlock put a hand up to his face, feeling something sting and warm liquid flow down his face. He brought his hand away and looked at it, seeing blood. "Well there it is. You have one too Ren."

The gray skinned man reached up and touched his own face.

"That could have something to do with our memory loss do you think?"

"I don't know."

"You know what? Why don't you try to help instead of wallowing in your despair!?"

"I can't remember anything, we can't remember anything! There is no hope for us!"

Jackson walked over to him and slapped him across the face. "There is always hope, no matter how small! Now get a grip, and lets get out of here."

He looked up at him with anger in his violet eyes, but it soon started to fade. "Fine, if you have a plan."

"Don't worry, I do. I have a feeling I always do." He looked at the small door and smiled slightly.

Ocean blue eyes stared down into the Colony of Werewolves, contemplating, planning on how he would find his way into the living quarters of Shannaneria, the Black Dragoness.

Suddenly a stabbing pain wracked his brain, making him clutch his scull.

"Jaden, you have to be brave now. I want you to go down to the basement, and I want you to hide. Don't come out until everything is quiet, and don't make a sound." His mother said softly, laying her gentle fingers on his face. He could feel the fear in her hand, feel it spread down into his stomach and fester until every thought left his mind. All except the one at hand.

"Yes . . . mother." He replied, barely able to make a sound. His mouth was dry and he could hardly feel it, every fiber of his small being launched into survival mode.

"Now go."

He didn't move.

"I said go!" She pushed him down the stares, running out of sight. He got up and called to her, but the sound of rushing flames drowned his voice out of the air. He rushed to the cellar and hid in a pile of flour, breathing as quietly as possible as screams and crashing things sounded above. He cried softly as well, not wanting to, since his mother had told him to be strong . . .

But an ten year old boy can hardly help it.

"Ah!" He shouted, his thoughts coming back to the present. "Focus Jaden." He said, shaking his head a little. "She will not go down with you distracted."

Jumping from the high rock, he glided down into the colony, landing on one of the roofs softly. His magical boots and clothing made sure to keep him light on his feet, and as powerful as an ogre. He could be as soft as a kitten, and as lethal as a Litch all in one move.

You could probably guess that was why he lived a solitary life. None could trust something so gentle, not when it had the ability to rip their throat out with a thought.

She has an egg, you know that, that is why she surrounded herself with the Werewolves. Came the familiar that rested in his head. It was a cat, most of the time when it took shape, but when it was within him, it was nothing but a voice.

"Yeah, I saw that already." He answered.

Good. I will try to keep the flashbacks to a minimum while you fight as usual alright?

"Thanks Acenath." He smiled a little, the memory of his pet Siamese cat flashing before his mind. He had taken that animal and enclosed its soul inside of him, and now they conversed together. He probably did have another familiar, but hoped it would never show itself for fear of losing the will of his beloved pet.

He dropped to the ground after jumping a few roofs and walked silently through the ally ways, his face covered in a deep blue scarf. It had been a gift from his mother, all those years ago, and he made sure to keep it repaired and clean all of his life. It was the one thing he truly had kept from that day, the one thing from his mother that had survived. Besides the memories of course, but those only showed in his sleep mostly.

His dreams could either be torturous, or the good kind of torturous. Memories of the fire, the terrible beast that had killed his mother, or memories of her baking pies, and patching up cuts and scrapes for him, which left him sobbing in his sleep. He wouldn't know he was actually doing it until he woke up from his own cries in the night, wondering if it was a beast coming to destroy him as well.

He was always on edge, always dreaming of that one terrible night that all of his world crashed into another, leaving him alone, helpless, and distressed. He wandered around for a bit, filling odd jobs and serving bad masters, but that was until one man found him, and took him into his home.

The Master of the Steel Blade.

He was a sword master, trained since birth. He had told Jaden that he could learn to be a sword master as well, only he had to prove himself of two things.

He had to have the right magic, and he had to be alone, truly alone.

The second wasn't a hard one, he was alone. His father had left before the dragon attack, which than took his mother from him. He had no siblings he knew of, and no friends at all. He was a strange child to begin with, and his mother had decided to home school him so he would not have to face any enemies at the terrible place. School was more vicious than parents could ever imagine, and most were just too lazy to teach their child themselves, so they stuck them all in one place to have them be taught by a stranger.

It wasn't very effective, not to all the children Jaden had run into over the past two years alone. They didn't even know how to count to eight. Where as he knew how to count to . . . where do numbers end anyway?

Passing right behind a flock of Werewolves who were shouting at a street fight, he grabbed a rather small man and dragged him down into a pool of water, stuffing his face into it and holding him there for at least twenty seconds. Jaden pulled him out right at the last second and put his raging eyes about an inch away from the monsters golden ones.

"Where is your master!?" He whispered harshly, his tongue hissing like a snake as his ocean blue eyes boiled in their sockets.

"What do you mean-" He returned, being dunked in the fowl water again. He was held for a good solid fourty seconds than, being pulled out and held just as close as before.

"I will ask again. Where is Shannaneria, the Black Dragoness!?" He growled this time, looking quickly over his shoulder to make sure no one had heard him.

"She is in the center . . . center of Wolvenhine." He gasped, sputtering at the water that was in his lungs.

Jaden stared at him for one more second, wondering weather or not he should kill him. He could go running out into the the street fight and tell all of them about his presents, which could mean all of the Black Dragoness' army would come after him before he could even get to Wolvenhine, or he could kill him and let him float in the cave water, making it seem he had drown.

Well, the world always needs one less Werewolf.

He drew his dagger and breathed a magical word onto its steel blade. The small man before him started to breath heavily, his lip quivering and his eyes widening with fear. Jaden brought his blade down slowly, letting it hover above the throat of the Werewolf. Right now, he looked like a man, a simple, harmless man, but in the night he was a monster parents told their children about at night.

Yes, the world ALWAYS needed one less Werewolf.

With the speed of light he slit the mans throat, watching his magic cover the wound up as if the skin had sewn itself back together. That is what it looked like to others, yes, but to the man, he was bleeding out.

Jaden threw the body into the cave water and climbed up the side of one of the houses, jumping over roofs once again. Where in the Abyss what Wolvenhine?

She is in the center . . . Came the mans voice in his head. His eyes turned to the cave roof and than slowly worked their way down to the center of town, seeing a rather dark looking tower sitting in the middle of everything. It was quite obvious.

But a smart dragon is hardly obvious.

He had been hunting dragons ever since he had graduated from his masters training courses, and had over thirty dead at his feet, and numerous eggs he had never thought to count. He wrote everything down in a book, every dragon he fraught, sketched pictures, gave ages, weather or not they had a nest . . .

He had filled one hand book, now he was starting another.

Miss Shannaneria would take the least obvious place for her nest, she did not surround herself with Werewolves and think that was enough, it is never enough for a dragon when hiding their eggs.

His eyes searched the place once again. Did he really have to crash into every house here? Did he really have to search everything, or was he just missing something?

"Dragon dragon in the night, where does your fire burn so bright?" He whispered to himself, it was something he had known for a while, made up long ago for himself.

Jaden jumped to another roof and than slipped, the stone carved roof smoothed down like ice. He tried to find a hand hold, but none were present and he fell into the open air, landing on his back in the street and stopping a cart.

"Get off the road!" The driver exclaimed. "Your blocking traffic! . . . Who are you? I have never seen you before in these parts-"

"Intruder!" Another man shouted with a snarl. "Get that assassin!"

Jaden got up and ran through the street. His cover was blown, he would have to find that Black Dragoness and be quick about it.

Diving over carts and stands from shops, the assassin made his way to Wolvenhine, looking around at things and wondering where Shannaneria would put her precious offspring. He could not die now, not while he was in the layer of a dragon! He was so close, he could not back down now!

Turning around, he let loose a bunch of papers with red marks on them, watching in amusement as they glued themselves to his pursuers. They stopped running and tried to wipe them off, to no avail of course.

Suddenly they burst, sending blasts of flame into the streets and destroying the flood of Werewolves behind him. He laughed, but it was drowned out by the sound of houses falling behind him.

He stuck his sword into the cobblestone road and flung himself up onto a roof, jumping down into another street with the sign that read "Wolvenhain".

"Alright, where are you miss dragoness?" He whispered to himself.

Try the tower, sometimes being obvious is the best way not to be obvious.

"Yeah, I think your right." Jaden ran to the giant thing and pounced up onto its stone brick wall, climbing up it hurriedly as more Werewolves crowded down below. He only hoped he would find a way out through the tower, and not have to return to that.

"And . . . now!" Jackson exclamed, the cell door opening. "That sand, I knew I could use it some how, for something explosive, and guess what? It worked!"

"Yeah, so we are out of the cell. How are we going to get out of the whole place?" Ren asked, sitting up.

"If you would follow me, you would see. I am sure I have more tricks up my sleeve." Jackson ran out of the place, pressing himself against the wall.

"Slathio, Cander, I see you both found your way out." Said a deep, dark voice. A woman stepped out of the shadows, wearing dark clothing and her eyes were a fiery yellow that burned like molted gold.

"Who?" Jackson asked, tilting his head to the side.

"You, Slathio, that is your name." She reached out and touched his forehead. "You are very sleepy Slathio, why don't you rest a bit?"

"I am not tired . . ." His voice trailed off as he fell to the ground, his eyes rolling back into his head.

Ren stopped in the middle of the hallway and stared at her with wide eyes. "Stay away witch." He said warning.

"Oh, you are more of a witch than I am." She tilted her head back, a long, serpent like tongue snaking out of it as she laughed. "You just don't know it. You are tired as well, Cander, you should get some rest.

"I am not tired!" He shouted, his head seeming to be filled with cob webs. "Get your magic . . . out of my head!"

"Give in, you know you want to." She neared him, her long nailed finger aiming for his forehead.

"No!" He started to feel it, the magic in his veins. He couldn't let her do this, not while Jackson was laying on the floor, helpless. They were in there for a reason. Losing their memory's was for a purpose, and the only thing they could remember roughly was their names, and they were not Slathio and Cander!

"I said I am not tired!" Ren growled, a different magic spawning in his heart and trailing down into his veins, pushing the other out until there was nothing left but his own, aura of magic. "Get back wench!" His hands burned with dark, plague infested magic, his eyes the shinning color of violet.

Everything poured back into his mind. His wife, his mission, his people! His . . . his dead people, and Jackson, his right hand man! This witch was trying to change their identity, and he couldn't let her!

Suddenly she twitched, her eyes going wide and dragon like. "My baby!" She screamed, blinking away.

Rentham sat in the middle of the prison and stared down at Jackson's unconscious self. "How am I going to get your memories back?"

Jaden jumped into the top room of the tower, looking around warily for a dragon. He saw none and advanced, both of his magical steel blades pointed out offensively. An egg had to be here somewhere, and no undoubtedly it was guarded, but he would find it, and end its soon to be rein of terror.

Dragons should of been wiped out of existence long ago.

It was deathly silent, the walls insulated with bricks upon bricks of stone that were dark black, seeming to be scorched with fire. Maybe Shannaneria came up here to let our her anger, or to warm her egg, with her fire breath? Maybe that was why everything was made of stone or jewels, so nothing could ketch fire?

Something caught his eye in the middle of the tower, gleaming like obsidian on a pedestal. It was the egg, the dragoness' egg, and now he could destroy it before she could return.

It was no doubt protected by magic, so he picked up a piece of the dilapidated wall and threw it at it. It caught fire, magical fire, and fell to the floor, eventually burning away.

"Oh, I like that one." He stared at his steel blades, wondering if he could cast something like that on his swords. The thought soon left his mind when he neared the egg, wondering if he could chop through the shell before the fire consumed his sword.

"Meh, I can wield a sword just as well as two." He shrugged and brought it up over his head, saying a few words to break any magical spell it touched for as long as two seconds. Jaden than slammed it down on top of the egg and than wrenched it out of it, watching with satisfaction as the gooey insides dripped out of the shell, and blood streamed to the floor. One of the sides slowly fell off the other, splatting on the floor as he started to make his exit.

There was a screech as loud as the sound of all the suffering voices of the Abyss. He turned and saw a woman with dark hair and eyes, crouching in horror over the egg he had just destroyed. He had been surprised because the spell had not caught his sword before pulling it away, and now he could use it against the mother.

Thank the gods for that.

"Murderer! YOU MURDERER!" She looked at him, her eyes a raging gold that he paid no mind to. He had killed such beasts for years, and their magical fear was like a brother to him . . . or a sister, which ever works for you, dear reader.

Drawing his two Katanas from his back, Jaden put his blue scarf over his mouth and watched as she slowly turned into her true form, a Black Dragoness. They spit acid mostly, and he hadn't remembered until that last second. Whoops.

"Well, I would love to stay and chat madam, but I was simply not prepared for you." He backed up and jumped out of the window, dropping into the sky.

"ASSASSIN!" The dragon broke through the tower, bricks flying everywhere he looked, and bounded down the neck of it towards him, her teeth snapping as acid dripped from her deathly lips.

"Ah!" He shouted and threw his sword into one of the side houses, watching its magical blade dig into the roof and pull him to it. It was a way not to lose his swords, and it came in handy every once and a while on times like today.

He landed with a thump on the roof, breaking through and onto the dinner table of a family of the Werewolves. Not that he cared, they were savages, probably ate human.

When he flipped over to get up, he looked straight into the dead eyes of a head, a woman's head, put on a spike in the middle of the table.

Well, they defiantly do eat human. His head tilted to the side, noting how the spike was the center piece. How did I miss that?

The children screamed as he got up and jumped off the table, stabbing their father through the scull before running out the back door, their mother in fast pursuit. Great, now I have two mothers on my tail.

Jaden was running through the street when he turned behind him to see where the mothers were at that moment, smashing into someone before he could turn back around.

"What in the Abyss are you doing!?" The man said, dropping another to the ground and holding his knife to his throat. "Make one move to kill me Werewolf and I will slit your throat."

"I am not a Werewolf!"

"Prove it!" His voice came out like the hiss of a snake.

"First, my eyes are not golden, second, I have two swords, would a Werewolf need them? Third, I am clearly an assassin by what I am wearing!" Jaden stared at him with his aqua eyes, digging deep into his soul without mercy. He had always stared people in the eye, weather it was a terrible, overbearing man, to the kindest, smallest child.

"Why are you running? Were you captured as well? Have you seen a woman with golden hair?" The tall, gray skinned person said earnestly.

"Who are you to ask such questions? Leave me be!" He pushed him out of the way and ran as the roar of the Black Dragoness hit his ears, coming from behind. He had to get out of the city, leave before it caught up to him. Something about this one dragon made him uneasy, something old, and yet new. It was strange, and he couldn't put his finger on it . . .

Jaden, you have to get out of there, you can't fight her, you can't defeat her. Came the voice of the cat, smooth and feminine.

"Why? Why can't I?" He turned than, seeing the beast rip through the Colony.

Because, she is the one who destroyed me, and though I had all my magical abilities, I still could not.

"But . . . your . . . your a cat." He said softly, his eyes slowly growing in realization.

No, no I am not, my son.

"Mother?" He asked, his eyes filling with tears.

Flee!

The dragon broke through and lunged at him, making him put his swords up in defense. The beast tried to snap at him but its teeth only landed on the razor sharp blade of his Katanas, making it roar in frustration and back away.

"Back!" A powerful voice said, a shadow falling over him. He slowly looked above his defense move and saw the man he had earlier, a purplish magic glowing around his hands.

Shannaneria froze, her golden eyes widening with fear. "You again!"

"You have no power against me beast!" He shouted, his voice echoing through out the cave. "Now fall . . . where you stand!" It seemed hard for him to say that last phase, as if he had an emotional connection.

Jaden didn't have time to think about it though, he looked to the ceiling and saw it cracking, breaking over them, the mans power no doubt causing it.

"Come, hurry!" He shouted to his rescuer, the gray skinned being slinging his friend over his shoulder as they ran quickly up the path the assassin had come from.

"You killed my mother, but you will never lay a claw on me, foul creature!" Jaden said as the black dragon roared in rage. She lunged for him again, her long, terrible talon speedily scratching across his chest and knocking him to the ground before the cavern could collapse.

"None of you will escape me!" She screamed, right before her head was crushed under a large boulder.

"Lets go assassin!" The magic user said and dragged Jaden away from the opening and into the tunnel. "I can't carry both of you!"

"That's alright, I got it." Jaden quickly got to his feel, clutching his chest as a burning sensation like fire spread across it. It was her acid, covering her teeth and claws. If he didn't get it healed within the next hour he would die a very painful death. The stuff wouldn't stop until all of his flesh had been devoured. "I thank you for your help master mage."

"Lets just go alright?" The man replied and headed deeper and deeper into the tunnel. Jaden could tell he was stifling a large surge of emotion, but he didn't want to ask about it.

For he was as well.

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