Goodworth

Inspector Gwen Goodworth sighs when his watch beeps, a clever invention by Sorcerer Janus Verdan to keep up with time. The time to check out of the inn has arrived, so he puts Uram’s diaries into his bag and then leaves the room. After paying the clerk, he hails a coach for the dragon port. There he buys a ticket to Capital and sits down with other waiting passengers on a grassy hill that borders the wide landing strip.

“Demon’s teat!” someone curses. “Is that you, Gwen?”

Gwen looks to his right and almost flinches. Standing a few feet away is Sir Marvin, assistant editor of the Daily Herald from the Capital. What in the hell is he doing here? Please don’t follow me. “Is that you, Marvin? Holly halls of seven Gods…!” Gwen shouts as he stands up. “What are you doing here? Came to watch baby dragons’ first flight?”

Marvin blinks. “How did you know? I have been looking forward to that for two years.” He chuckles. “Do you know all dragons are female and lay eggs when certain conditions are met?”

Gwen scratches his head. “Hope you will write them down in your next article.”

Marvin chuckles. “I hope so too, as soon as I find out what those conditions are.” He glances at the sky. “You know, with more dragons, we can cover the continent in a single day.”

“That will be convenient,” Gwen mutters.

“So, how are you doing?” Marvin asks him.

“I took some time off,” Gwen sighs. “Some idiot put me on the front page with Uram. I can’t even go out without people stopping to see whether I’ll sprout wings and fly.”

Marvin’s cheeks redden, and he looks at the sky again. “Where’s that lazy dragon?”

They hear a bellow from the west. “Hope he didn’t hear that,” Gwen mutters.

Marvin chuckles, and they watch the dragon open his massive wings and fly in circles over the landing before descending slowly. The dragon’s red and black scales glint in the sun as he stands on his four legs and spreads his massive wings that cover the entire landing in shadow. Gwen and Marvin hurry into the carriage and strap themselves into seats. They ascend after tumbling around like balls in a bucket, and flight becomes smooth as a maiden’s cheeks when they reach clouds.

Gwen glances at Marvin’s green face and chuckles. “No fan of dragon flight, I see.”

Marvin takes a deep breath. “I love dragons but hate flying them,” he says. “Some things look pretty only from a distance.” He turns to Gwen. “Have you found any clue of Uram?”

Gwen keeps his face calm. “We both know he must have left this country long ago.”

Marvin brushes his mustache. “Do you know I interviewed Uram when he brought the gildon calf from Myst Islands?”

Gwen perks up. “How did he sound?”

Marvin shakes his head. “He sounded like a brilliant Sorcerer who loved Princess Marian and wanted to bring her the stars if he could.” He sighs. “I still can’t believe he killed Prince Jona. I thought they were friends.”

Gwen looks out the window at the vast forest below and considers Uram’s request. How will I tell Princess Marian about him? If anyone finds out, I met Uram and didn’t try to catch him. I will be hanged, seeing the mood King is in.

“If you find out anything interesting about Uram,” Marvin says. “Think of me first.”

Gwen glances at Marvin and shrugs. “You know more about him.”

Marvin shakes his head. “I knew a different Uram. He is a criminal on the run now. You know more about that kind than I do.”

Gwen frowns. “Even if I find Uram, can I catch him? Uram is so strong that even Kings respect him.”

“Until he murders their children,” Marvin says.

Gwen scratches his chin. “No one will forgive their child’s murderer.”

Marvin huffs and takes a book from his bag. Gwen leans into the seat and closes his eyes. Soon he falls asleep.

Gwen wakes up when the flight turns bumpy. He looks about groggily and sees that they have reached Captial. After a nerve-racking landing, he hurries away from the dragon ship to his Pegasus in the port’s stables. He flies back home and finds a white Pegasus chewing grass in the guest stall of this stable. He recognizes the Pegasus and grins. He enters his house and finds Fiona and Shom talking in the kitchen.

“I don’t like his new case,” Shom says. “No one in his right mind will take responsibility to catch Urom Brightstone.”

“I asked my father to take Gwen off the case, but even a duke can’t change the King’s mind,” Fiona says and sighs. “I worry about him.”

Shom grunts. “He thinks he is a hero. You should deflate his big head a little.”

Fiona chuckles. “I think you are right.”

Gwen enters the kitchen and says, “My heart bleeds with your concern.”

Fiona turns around with a squeak while Shom grunts and keeps cutting the tomatoes. She hugs Gwen, and he enjoys her soft curves in his arms. They kiss and step out of the kitchen as Shom tuts. Gwen takes Fiona to his room, and they fall into bed. Gwen sighs as Fiona caresses his hair. Her long brown hairs tickle his face, and her light brown eyes shine with love as she gazes at him. She wears an orange dress that hugs her curves and makes her more beautiful.

“Let’s get married,” Gwen tells her.

Fiona sighs and sits up. “My father hasn’t agreed yet,” she says. “He wants you to leave the police.”

Gwen rubs his eyes and stands up. He removes his coat and loosens his shirt. “I tried, but the king rejected my application. According to the contract, I can’t leave unsolved cases behind.”

Fiona frowns. “It’s a ridiculous contract. What if the case can’t be solved?”

Gwen pulls his shirt off and takes a light t-shirt from his closet. “A case can be marked as unsolvable only after five years.”

Fiona bites her lips as she watches him dress up. “Can’t we run away?”

Gwen scoffs. “There is no place to hide for me. I will have to solve this case either sooner or….” He says and hangs his head.

Fiona stood up and caressed his cheek. “Let’s hope you find Urom sooner then.”

Gwen winces and steps out of his room. He smells delicious stew and hears Shom’s rough singing from the kitchen. He looks out the window and sees loiters standing before his house. “How long have they been watching the house?” he asks Sham.

“They never left,” Shom answered. “Miss Linda has a new tenant who keeps looking at our house from his window.”

Gwen frowns and covers the windows with curtains. Fiona leaves his room holding a leather-bound diary, and Gwen gasps. “Don’t read them.” He yells at her. She looks at him wide-eyed, and Gwen knows that his secret is out. She clenches her jaw and goes back into his room. Gwen hurries after her. Shom looks suspiciously at him from the kitchen door. Gwen locks his door and turns to Fiona, who sits on his bed, surrounded by Unom’s diaries.

“Gwen, you know how dangerous these books are, don’t you?” She whispers. “The King will think that you are colluding with Unom.”

Gwen shakes his head and picks Unom’s autobiography. “I am not colluding with him.” He says and sighs. “I met him, Fiona, and felt like a puppy barking at a lion. He is too strong for me. I can’t catch him alone and don’t know who else I will rely on. The entire police force of Capital or even a kingdom can’t catch him.”

“You can ask for help from the School,” Fiona suggests.

He nods. “Let’s see what Principal Mavin says about these,” he says.

Shom’s tasty stew feels like ash in Gwen’s mouth. Even Fiona sits quietly. Shom frowns at them but doesn’t ask. After Fiona leaves, Gwen hides the diaries in his safe and goes to bed. He barely sleeps as nightmares haunt him. He dreams that a dragon ship crashes in the city, Uram unleashes his anger, the King beheads him, and the princess stabs him. He wakes up shivering, sweating, and mildly feverish. Gwen feels ashamed. He is brave. He knows that. Everyone knows that Gwen is like a rock against the storm. Why am I afraid? Why do I fear a tyrant like Uram? Why do I fear the King? Why do I fear a cowardly princess?

Gwen stands before a hot shower and lets everything go. I don’t fear anything. I am Gwen Goodworth, a first-class sorcerer. He dresses in a dark suit and wears a raincoat when he hears mild rain pattering on his roof. He enters the hall and finds Shom sitting on the dining table, sipping tea.

“Where are you going so early in the morning?” Shom asks. “I bet not even cockerels have wakened up yet.”

Gwen sits on the chair and makes tea for himself, and they sip quietly, hearing the gentle sound of rain and appreciating the silence. “I am going away for a few weeks. I won’t tell you where.”

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Shom shrugs. “Less work for me,” he mutters.

Gwen grins and goes back into his room. He packs his bag and Uram’s books then he rides his Pegasus to Dragon Port. He books a flight to Darnia and sits silently in the back row of the waiting lounge. The dragon ship arrives half an hour later; a sleek silver dragon carries it. The ship is small, as few passengers travel to Darnia. Gwen watches the land changing from forests to steppes as the dragon flies north. Gwen wants to read more from Uram’s diary to pass the time, but he doesn’t dare show it out in the open. He reads a spy novel instead, and soon he falls asleep.

Winter has arrived in Darnia, and the dragon lands on a frozen lake outside the city. A bus pulled by great dogs waits for passengers on the ice. Gwen looks surprised at the horse-sized dogs despite seeing them daily when he studied here. After boarding the bus, he pulls on a fur coat over his dark suit and wears woolen gloves. The dogs pull the bus at a jogging pace, and the five passengers gawk at snow-covered trees, dark clouds overhead, and distant snowy peaks in awe. Liondale sees almost no snow. It snows there only in exceptionally cold winters for a week or two.

The dog bus goes through the small city, dropping passengers, but only Gwen remains when the bus approaches the great steel doors of the immense School of Magic. The driver salutes Gwen nervously as he leaves the bus and hurries away when Gwen takes his luggage off. He walks toward the gate and touches it. A smaller side gate opens for him. He steps inside and looks back. He sees only a mountain face. You can come on your terms, but you will leave on our terms. Gwen thinks of famous lines of his professor when he came into the school as a child.

Gwen gestures and his bags levitate to chest height. When he starts walking, his bags follow him like a loyal crow. Gwen smiles at the students enjoying the snow and playing with magic. He feels free. Outside Darnia, even Sorcerers have to follow the rules of a kingdom to do magic. Liondale has tightened its rules after Prince Jona’s death, so Gwen has felt somewhat constricted.

Gwen flies straight to Grand Professor’s office on the roof of the School. It has no stairs or lifts. Only skilled students and Professors can meet a Grand Professor who seldom leaves his office. To Gwen’s surprise, he finds the Grand Professor standing in the middle of a dragon landing and petting his pet silver dragon. The sleek dragon lies lazily on the ground and flicks its tongue toward Gwen. It moves its tail toward Gwen and blocks his approach.

“Let him come,” the professor says. The dragon puffs out an icy wind and moves its tail away. Gwen walks toward the Grand Professor, who turns around and smiles at Gwen. The Grand Professor hasn’t aged much. He still looks like a middle-aged man with long silver hair and a smooth face. He wears a light blue suit that matches his eye color. “I expected you a lot sooner.” The Grand Professor says.

Gwen bows his head. “I didn’t know you wanted to see me, Grand Professor.”

“Call me Ivan,” The Grand Professor says. “You are not my student anymore.”

Gwen nods. “As you say, Professor Ivan.”

The professor chuckles and heads toward the door to his big tower. “I am glad you did not confront Uram Brightstone,” Ivan says as they walk on the slick marble. Gwen stares at the professor in shock. Does he know everything? “Uram is the greatest sorcerer of our time. Killing you would have hurt his mental state. He has not gotten over Jona’s death even after months. I expected him to be stronger mentally, but he has his mother’s heart.”

Gwen licks his lips as they enter the warmth of Professor’s tower. “What did she do?”

Ivan grunts as he climbs the stairs toward his office. “She didn’t like some decision we must take to keep peace in this world.”

She didn’t like you assassinating people to further your goals. Gwen thinks. She was an excellent Potion maker. I can guess what you wanted her to make. “I understand,” Gwen says. He had come to appreciate preventive actions more when he became a police investigator.

Ivan looks down at Gwen with a smile. “I am glad you do,” he says. “Look what Uram did. He should have told me if he found Jona practicing dark magic. However, he took the matter into his own hands, and now he is in hiding. We lost a brilliant Sorcerer and docile King due to his mistake.”

“I hope the conflict will resolve itself,” Gwen says.

Ivan nods and enters his office, which looks like a combination of a library and an engineer’s lab. Ivan walks to his study and fills two glasses of wine. He hands one to Gwen and sits back on the sofa with a sigh. “We are entering Infernal Epoch,” Ivan says as he glances at the Cycle of Epoch covering the entire northern wall of Professor’s study. It shows seven Epochs in the cycle, and the hand touches the beginning of the Infernal Epoch. “We need both Uram and Atima to survive this Epoch. The greatest sorcerer and general of our time must unite to block the tide of chaos.”

Gwen sips the wine and feels that it is warming him from the inside. “And you want me to accomplish it?”

Ivan nods as he stares at Gwen. “For the sake of the world.”

Gwen shakes his head. “If the Grand Professor hasn’t convinced the King, how can I do it.”

Ivan scoffs. “Atima has not come to me, and I can not ask him to come. I can not leave the School, and he will not leave his kingdom.”

Gwen clutches the wine glass and gazes at the amber liquid. “You have set a difficult task before me. King wants Uram’s head and has ordered me to do it. I can’t kill Uram, and I can’t convince him to forgive Uram.”

“You only need to convince Marian.”

Gwen snorts. “She says she hates Uram.”

“As I suggested, Uram has given you his diary,” Ivan says. “I hope you will find something in Uram’s past to convince the princess.”

Gwen’s eyes go wide. So you are pulling strings even from here. He sighs. “I will try.”

Ivan’s eyes become flinty. “I give you six months, Gwen. Otherwise, I will choose drastic means that sensible people will not like. I cannot afford to lose Uram, Gwen. He is our hope for salvation. The kings, I have plenty.”

Gwen shudders and gulps the wine in one go. “I will do my best.” He stands up. “Did you also tell him to give his research papers to King Atima?”

Ivan frowns. “That will be like giving monkeys math books to read.” He glances at Gwen’s bag. “Did you bring the papers with you?”

Gwen nods, lifts the bag, and puts it on the table. Ivan takes out one book, skims through it, frowns, and after some time, he sighs. “There are great ideas in these books. Why does Uram want to hand this treasure to King Atima? Has he gone mad, or is something else afoot?”

Gwen shrugs. “He seemed fine. I think it’s a peace offering.”

“What did he say when he gave these books to you?”

Gwen shows Ivan the note, who reads it and shakes his head. “He didn’t say he wants to give these books to the King. I think he wants you to use his research to improve Liondale’s standing in the world.”

Gwen scratches his head. “I am not much of a researcher and inventor.”

Ivan smiles. “The ideas in these books don’t harm the school. They are clever inventions to make people’s lives easy, and some ideas can strengthen Liondale military.”

“Uram was working as Liondale’s Chief Sorcerer,” Gwen says. “The job is mostly researching, inventing, and advising the king.”

Ivan nods. “Marian also likes inventing stuff.” He points to a small golden disk. “It can store any audio. I fill my favorite songs in it and listen to them while working. It was Uram and Marian’s first project.”

“He went to Liondale for her.” Gwen sighs.

Ivan nods. “I wonder what she is feeling now. They were inseparable in school. I don’t believe Marian hates him. She is hurting as she lost both of her loved ones.” He scratches his chin. “Give these books to Marian. Tell her you found them while searching for Uram. This will give you a chance to befriend her.”

Gwen chuckles as he puts the books back into the bag. “I am no diplomat Grand Professor. I am an investigator.”

The professor smiles at him. “Your job is to stop crime, and the biggest crime is Infernal Epoch, and you need to stop it by all means.”

Gwen bows his head to the Grand Professor. “By your leave, professor,” he says.

“Spend a few days with us.” The professor tells him, and Gwen nods.

After a small dinner, he finds a guest room and picks up Uram’s diary to read.