The Beginning Chapter 3

Chapter Three.

 

The Birth of the Dragons.

 

Alphaz could not spend all her days sitting beside the hole. The people of the Forest soon learned to treat her fairly and to pay properly for the potions she made. To her surprise, Alphaz found she rather enjoyed being welcomed. Her fame spread, and people travelled from far and wide to buy her potions.

She still had a cruel streak, though, and she took revenge on anyone who offended her. When the King of a nearby country failed to invite her to his daughter’s christening, she cast a spell that put the entire court to sleep for a hundred years and a day.

When a village on the edge of the Forest cut down more trees than Alphaz thought they needed, she turned all the men into statues, leaving the women to manage alone.

People became very careful about how they approached her for spells and potions.

One day a girl came begging for a potion to make her prettier. As Alphaz brewed it, she remembered she had never returned to her own home village to take revenge for the cruelty she had suffered there.

The memories soured her mood. She added a spell to the potion, one that made the girl cold and heartless. Pretty she might be, but she would never feel love.

The tale of the Wicked Witch of the Dark Forest began to take shape. Alphaz was not sorry. She rather enjoyed the reputation, and it kept people away unless they were truly desperate.

“It certainly does help keep the crowds away,” said Calizone with a grin.

Eldest shifted in the sand, settling himself more comfortably, and continued.

“The next day Alphaz set out for her old village. You can imagine her astonishment when she found it empty. All the huts were still there, but there was no life at all. Even the birds and insects were gone.

She was furious. Someone else had done to the village what she had intended to do herself. A track led away from the huts, a track with no living thing upon it.”

Alphaz followed the trail. Even with magic, it took her a long time to reach its end at the very edge of the frozen lands of the North.

Wrapped in a spell against the cold, she continued until she reached the Palace of the Ice Queen. Black‑clad witch and snow‑dressed spirit became surprisingly friendly. But the Ice Queen did not know what had made the track, only that something unwelcome had reached her borders.

Alphaz returned south to her village and found another track, this one leading toward the burning lands of the Fire Demon. Again,  the trail stopped at the edge of the flames.

Alphaz wrapped herself in a cold spell and ventured into the heat until she met the Fire Demon himself. He too had no idea what had left the trail.

When Alphaz returned to her village, it was no longer empty. Two terrifying spirits waited for her. She could feel them trying to destroy her, but for some reason they could not.

“I’ll bet that was because they started out as part of her,” said Emdan.

“Very likely,” agreed Calizone.

“This is where it becomes interesting for us dragons,” said Eldest. “Alphaz was deeply troubled by these spirits. She did not want them to destroy all life. She tried casting spells on them, but nothing worked. She quickly realised that because these creatures were magic, magic could not harm them.”

“That is the difference between things which are magic and things which do magic,” said Calizone.

Eldest nodded. “Alphaz returned to her cottage. The spirits followed, keeping out of sight but leaving a trail of death behind them. That trail eventually became the Great Road through the Dark Forest. Nothing ever grew on it again.”

He paused, letting the weight of that settle.

“Alphaz sat and thought deeply about how she might fight these appalling creatures. She went to look through the hole. For the first time ever, she found someone looking back.

“He was the ugliest man she had ever seen, bent and twisted like her, leaning on a stout cane.”

Alphaz stepped back. The man on the other side did the same.

She studied him. He studied her. She stepped closer. So did he. She waved. He waved back.

Alphaz smiled. The man’s ugly face made what she thought might be a smile in return.

For several minutes neither moved.

At last, Alphaz spoke. “Hello,” she said.

The man put a hand to his ear. His lips moved, but no sound came through the hole. Alphaz could not make out his words.

He made a curious gesture with his fingers. Alphaz stepped back quickly. She did not know if he was casting a spell, but she was not about to find out the hard way.

The man spoke again, and this time Alphaz heard him.

“Hello. Let me introduce myself. I am called Zaleph. I mean you no harm.”

Alphaz stepped closer. “My name is Alphaz,” she said.

The man tapped his ear and shook his head.

Alphaz thought for a moment, then cast a spell. The man stepped back, looking worried.

“My name is Alphaz,” she repeated. “And I too mean no harm.”

Zaleph nodded. “I have waited a long time for someone to appear on your side of the hole.”

“Me too,” said Alphaz.

Eldest paused. “I won’t bore you with every word they exchanged, except to say that their stories were almost identical. Both were deeply worried about how to destroy the creatures that were killing all life wherever they went.”

“That hole is still in the Forest near my cottage,” said Calizone. “I found it after Alphaz went back into the Box. It’s covered by a door now.”

“I will tell you about the door in due course,” said Eldest. “In the meantime, the two magic‑users continued their discussions.

‘I wonder what would happen if we swapped sides,’ said Alphaz.

‘I have wanted to try that myself,’ said Zaleph. ‘On three, then?’

Alphaz nodded. ‘One, two, three.’

On three she stepped into the hole. She passed through. The air was breathable; the forest sounded and smelled the same. But she felt as though every drop of magic had been drained from her. She tried a spell. Nothing happened. Her witch’s power was gone.

She stared back through the hole. Zaleph looked horrified.

‘Swap back, quickly!’ she shouted.

He nodded.

The moment she returned to her own Forest, the power rushed back into her. She sighed with relief.

‘Interesting,’ said Zaleph. ‘I lost all my power on your side. I assume you lost yours on mine?’

Alphaz nodded. ‘Useful to know. I wonder if it has the same effect on things that are magic, rather than magic‑users.’

‘We need a magic creature to test,’ said Zaleph. ‘But I’ve never seen any on this side, except the Evil Spirits.’

‘Nor have I,’ said Alphaz. ‘We may have to create one. The magic near this hole is strong. If we both try at the same time, perhaps whatever happens here will happen on your side too.’

‘Agreed,’ said Alphaz. ‘But what creature should we make?’

‘Something small and manageable,’ said Zaleph. ‘I have some sea‑lizard eggs I was trying to hatch. They’re tiny. Perhaps you have something similar?’

‘Odd,’ said Alphaz. ‘I brought some small lizard eggs from the edge of the Fire Lands to see if they were useful in potions.’

‘Then we should swap a few and see if we can make them into magic creatures,’ said Zaleph. ‘I’ll fetch mine.’

It did not take long for either of them to return. They exchanged a dozen eggs and set about finding a spell that would hatch them into magical beings.

Hours passed. Nothing happened.

‘I think we need to rest and try again tomorrow,’ said Alphaz.

Zaleph agreed. They left the eggs by the hole and returned to their homes.

That night, the Evil Spirits on Alphaz’s side found the bramble patch. The brambles died instantly, as did everything else they touched.

They poked at the hole, but could not pass through. They drifted over the nest of eggs. Nothing happened. The eggs did not turn to dust.

The Spirits could not lift or smash them, they had no solid form, so they waited.

At first light, the first egg cracked. A tiny red, winged creature struggled out. Within ten minutes nearly all the eggs had hatched. Half the hatchlings were red, the others a dull green. All had wings.

The Spirits tried to destroy them, but the creatures lived. As each one hatched, the Spirits thought of a name for it.

On the other side of the hole, Zaleph’s eggs hatched too, but there they were only ordinary lizards.

The Spirits stayed to watch. The hatchlings grew and grew. Within hours they were as tall as a man.

Alphaz finished her breakfast and walked to the hole. She was horrified to see the brambles dead, leaving the hole exposed to anyone passing by.

She hurried forward to check the hole was unharmed. The Spirits drifted back, watching.

Alphaz froze when she saw the newly hatched lizards. They turned and looked at her. She tried a spell. Nothing happened. Slowly, she crept closer and touched the side of a red one.

She snatched her hand back. Its skin was red‑hot, and felt like a thousand needles.

On the far side of the hole, Zaleph arrived. ‘What’s happening?’ he shouted.

‘My lizard eggs have hatched,’ said Alphaz. ‘But they’re not like any lizards I’ve ever seen. What about yours?’

‘Mine have hatched, but they’re just ordinary lizards,’ said Zaleph. ‘I don’t understand it. We used the same spells, didn’t we?’

Alphaz nodded. ‘I tried a spell on these, but it didn’t work, and I can’t touch them.’

‘Then they may be magic,’ said Zaleph. ‘If they are, magic won’t affect them. Can you control them?’

‘I’ll try,’ said Alphaz.

The creatures were even larger now, filling the space where the brambles had been. Feeling foolish, she said, ‘Sit,’ as if they were dogs. They ignored her completely.

‘There is an old belief,’ Zaleph called, ‘that if you know the true name of something, it must obey you. Try naming one.’

Alphaz leaned close to the nearest creature and whispered, so Zaleph could not hear, ‘I name you Hotboy.’

The creature towered over her. It did not move.

‘Sit!’ she ordered.

Nothing.

In the remains of the brambles, the Spirits listened intently.

‘Nothing happened,’ said Alphaz.

‘Shame,’ said Zaleph. ‘I think I remember reading about mythical creatures like these, fire‑breathing monsters that could fly. Dragons, that was it. They were called dragons. But why did yours become dragons and mine did not?’

“So that is where you dragons began,” said Princess Jasmine.

Eldest nodded.

“Was it the Spirit things that created you?” asked Aldan.

“No,” said Eldest. “They could only destroy, not create. We have never understood why we came into existence on this side of the Door and not the other.”

“It could be the magic of the Door,” mused Calizone, “and the fact that the spell on those eggs was cast by a woman. There is a slight difference between the way a Magician and a Witch cast spells.”

“It is possible,” said Eldest. “Alphaz looked down as the dragons took off. Four tiny ones remained, more blue than green.

Before they grew too large, she pushed them toward the Door. Zaleph pushed four of his lizards through. Alphaz’s dragons turned into ordinary lizards and scuttled away before Zaleph could catch them.

Strangely, Zaleph’s ordinary lizards sprouted wings. Before Alphaz could act, they spread their wings and flew away.”

Alphaz swore. ‘I didn’t have time to test magic on them or give them names.’

‘A pity,’ said Zaleph. ‘But at least we know that passing through the Door changes magical beings. I wish I could have tried magic on those lizards before they left. We must get our Evil Ones to the hole as soon as possible and hope the exchange alters them.’

‘I will speak to the Ice Queen and the Fire Demon,’ said Alphaz. ‘Perhaps they will help.’

‘I must find a way to draw mine here alone,’ said Zaleph. ‘Since they began as part of me, they may follow.’

‘I think they feed on fear and hate,’ said Alphaz. ‘You may be able to use that as a lure.’

Zaleph nodded.

‘I just wonder what those dragons are doing, and where they went,’ said Alphaz.