The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume I: Volume I

edges.
    “The Tambootie has caused Krej to approach everything sideways,” he announced.
    “So?” Darville cocked his head in a very wolfish way. Jaylor grinned at his friend.
    “So all I have to do is decide which direction he faced when he threw the spell. Then I face opposite to unravel it.” Jaylor nearly danced in front of his friends. Impulsively, triumphantly, he gathered them in a massive hug. His warmth and joy spilled over to include them all. “I know his secret now!”
    “Mrrew,” Mica informed him that he was a little late of coming to this knowledge. She poked her head out of the folds of Brevelan’s cape. “Mbbbrrrt!” Beware the tricky magician.
    “Of course, Mica. We should have known Krej would never do anything directly.” Brevelan scratched behind the cat’s ears. “You daren’t take any more Tambootie, Jaylor. Can you reverse his spell without it?”
    “If I let the web beneath my feet power the spell . . .” His thoughts tumbled out of order. “Lines of power run straight. Tambootie twists.”
    Jaylor sought the blue-silver lines. His eyes squinted nearly shut. Colors blended together, grass and sky, trees and road. A bright spring flower faded to nothing in the kaleidoscope he created with his vision.
    He isolated the traces of yellow and banished them from his sight. Red, too, he eliminated. Shades of purple and brown were easy. The greens were prevalent. They took more concentration. But finally they, too, fled from the swirl of colors.
    Only the blue was left. A strand of the single color danced about, twined, and braided back on itself. Elusive, lovely, powerful. It strung itself forward and back, into a delicate tracery of magical lines. Some ran up the trees into the sky. Some danced around his feet. But one line. One long, straight, and thick line ran directly beneath his feet, from south to north.
    He needed to make his spell twist though he drew power from a straight line. Six paces back, the road bent unnaturally around no natural barrier. He looked closer at the bend. Two power lines joined at an oblique angle. If he traced one line into the junction and the other line out, he almost saw a curve. The original road builders had left the junction clear. Remnants of an ancient Equinox Pylon lay crumbling there.
    He moved back and stepped directly onto the joint.
    “Just twist the magic around and get us out of here,” Darville grumbled. “We aren’t getting any drier standing around waiting for the road to straighten itself out.”
    “Easier said than done, my prince. But I’ll see what I can do.” Jaylor turned to face east. Krej’s castle lay to the west. His Great Hall filled with unnatural statues gave him inspiration.
    The road bounced within his vision again. He ignored it, seeing only the true direction of the blue lines. Slowly he drew power through his feet, up his legs to his belly and chest, then out along his outstretched arm and staff. The road aligned with his vision. “Got it!”
    Slowly, he pulled more magic up further into his heart. It resisted, humming a discordant note. He pulled harder. The magic fled from his body, leaving a sour sound in his ears.
    “Tricky bastard! He should have faced west, so he didn’t.” He shook his head to clear it of the lingering noise.
    “Give me a moment to clear my head.” He faced west. Brevelan’s small hand touched Jaylor’s shoulder. He leaned his cheek against it. Warmth and reassurance filled him.
    He clasped Brevelan’s trembling hand with his own.
    The magic vibrated in answer.
    “Hum something, Brevelan,” he suggested. Excitement filled him once more. “Something sweet and lyrical.” The exact opposite of the jarring notes that lingered in Krej’s magic.
    A soothing little tune came from her throat. The magic within him sang it back.
    “Sing with her, Darville,” he commanded with strength and new courage.
    “What!”
    “Don’t argue, just hum, the same thing she sings.” His heart beat in counterpoint. He lifted his own voice and wove a deep harmony to their higher tones. Each musical line blended and twisted around the corner. He had his curve of music around the straight line of power.
    The magic filled him, spread through all their limbs, climbed to new heights. The three of them were one being, sharing thoughts, emotions, power. One body vibrated with pulsing magic. They took off and soared together once more. He leveled his staff along the line of blue—right where the