NIRANJAN

  First published by Geetha Krishnan 2023

  Copyright © 2023 by Niranjan

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  Niranjan (Geetha Krishnan) asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book and on its cover are trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publishers and the book are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. None of the companies referenced within the book have endorsed the book.

  Editing by Fair Editions

  Cover Design by Blackstone Cover Design (Kuro Ishi Arts)

  Formatted by Fair Editions

  Table of Contents

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  THIS BOOK CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING CONTENT AND TRIGGER WARNINGS

  DEATH, MURDER

  POISON, BLOOD, VIOLENCE, GORE

  GRIEF, LOSS, PAIN

  DEATH OF LOVED ONES

  DRUGS

  TRAUMA

  PTSD

  ABUSIVE LANGUAGE

  The first time Evan heard of the Gelid Islands was a week before his parents’ death. It was a conversation overheard when he couldn’t sleep and went out of his room to find his parents who were still up and talking to Liam. It was Liam who spoke the words Gelid Islands, and it was something like, “Might as well survive the Gelid Islands.”

  Evan didn’t know what it meant then, but the words stayed with him. As they bundled him into his new clothes that were specially made for the fair, Evan thought of the place. The fair was in the next town, so they had to go through a good bit of forest to get there.

  Once they reached the fair, Evan had forgotten all about the Gelid Islands and Liam’s words. He had a grand time of it, his parents letting him play as much as he wanted to and buying him lots of toys and other things. Evan wondered if it was because he was going to be a wizard. He already had a tutor in magic but soon, he would have to go to one of the academies and stay there unless a wizard chose him as an apprentice and taught him personally. That was rare, and even at five, Evan knew not to expect it.

  It was during the return home that Evan’s world changed irrevocably.

  Evan was sleeping when the cart jolted, and his mother screamed. He woke, groggy, but before he could open his mouth to ask what was going on, his father slapped a hand over his mouth.

  “Quiet!” he said. “Stay here. Don’t move.”

  Evan could not understand what was going on. He peeked and saw his mother lying on the ground, with the most magnificent creature he had ever seen standing over her. The unicorn was beautiful, and Evan stared at it, rapt, till it opened its mouth and Evan saw the cruel fangs still dripping with blood.

  “Step away from her!” Evan’s father yelled before stabbing with a spear, but the unicorn moved quicker than Evan’s eyes could follow. Evan hunched down and bit into his own knee to stop his whimpering from escaping. He shut his eyes and stuffed his fingers into his ears. Everything his teacher had said about unicorns escaped him. He only remembered that they were powerful in magic and were carnivores.

  Another voice joined his father’s but Evan dared not look. Soon, the sounds ceased, and he could hear his father’s harsh sobs.

  “I’m sorry,” Liam’s voice spoke. “Let’s get her into the wagon. I’ll get Evan.”

  Before Evan could process what was happening, Liam was there, and had lifted him from where he was crouching. “You’ll ride with me, Evan,” he said gently.

  Evan didn’t object, and Liam held him so he couldn’t turn his head to look at the wagon. He saw the unicorn, though. It lay on its side, unmoving, though Evan couldn’t see what had killed it.

  As they neared their town, Evan asked, “Can no one kill a unicorn?”

  “Your father and I just did,” Liam said calmly.

  “But you have magic,” Evan said.

  “No one without magic can,” Liam said quietly. “Even for those with magic, it is not an easy task. Unicorns are one of the strongest magical creatures in all Edaloa. Only Dragons can meet them on equal terms.”

  “Dragons,” Evan said. “How do you get Dragons on your side?”

  Liam laughed. “You have to go to their abode and meet a Dragon King or Queen. If they deem you worthy, you will be allowed to go to the Gelid Islands to take the test of the ice dragons. If you pass the test, you can choose a dragon to be your master.”

  “Master, as in teacher?”

  “Master as in owner,” Liam said. “Dragons don’t teach humans unless they own them. So you have to sign yourself as a Dragon’s slave till they release you.”

  Evan couldn’t understand most of it, but it didn’t seem very bad. “And what is the test?” he asked.

  Liam shook his head. “I’ve never taken it, so I wouldn’t know. It’s extremely rare for a human wizard to go there and take the test. Even those who do never talk of it. It’s forbidden. But the last wizard who went to study with dragons was at least two centuries ago.”

  Evan thought for a moment. “Will I pass the test if I go there?”

  Liam said nothing for a moment. “Why do you want to?” he asked.

  “Because I like Dragons,” Evan said. “Master said they fought with us during the war, so they’re on our side, right?”

  “I don’t know, Evan,” Liam said. “Like I said, the last wizard to study with them was two centuries ago. Since then, no one had heard of dragons, so I wouldn’t know. Maybe they don’t even exist anymore.”

  “They must,” Evan said. “I will find them when I am grown up, and they will teach me everything.”

  “Everything?” Liam laughed. “I doubt anyone would be able to do that. But it’s a worthy ambition to have.”

  They saw the town up ahead, and Evan asked the question he had not dared ask till then. “Is my mom okay?”

  Liam’s breathing was loud. “I’m sorry, Evan.”

  Evan’s eyes filled. “And my dad?”

  “He looked fine,” Liam said. “He will go to the physician when he’s home. He should be fine.”

  “But you don’t know,” Evan whispered.

  “What do any of us know?” Liam said quietly. “I’m sorry, child. We have to be hopeful that he is all right. The unicorn didn’t seem to have injured him badly.”

  Evan didn’t even know that his father was injured. He tried not to, but tears kept falling. Liam’s one hand came to rest on his head briefly before it went back to the reins.

  “It’s okay to cry, Evan,” Liam said softly. “Sometimes we need to let it out. It’s okay.”

  Nothing seemed okay, not anymore, but Evan could at least cry. Liam’s one arm came to surround him while the other stayed firmly on the reins. Evan sobbed and sobbed, and Liam held him till they reached his house. Liam got down, lifted Evan from the horse, but didn’t put him down, carrying him inside. Evan clung to the man and cried some more.

  They were in Liam’s house, Evan saw, and the woman who was looking after Ferrel for the day rose from her chair as she saw them.

  “Ferrel’s sleeping,” she said softly. “The fever broke around midday. What’s happened to Evan?”

  “Go to his house, Maisie, and wait there. I’ll bring him over. Clean the house, and hang a sprig of sage in front.”

  “Oh,” Maisie whispered, and she briefly touched Evan’s head. “The poor child.”

  She left, however, and Liam carried Evan to the kitchen. “Would you like something to drink, Evan? Water? Tea? Milk?”

  “No,” Evan managed between hiccups and sobs.

  “You should drink something,” Liam said, setting Evan down on top of the kitchen table. “Didn’t your master teach you about dehydration yet? You’ve been sweating, and crying, and that makes you lose the water inside you, so you must drink something to get it back.”

  “I’ll only lose it again when I cry,” Evan muttered.

  “But if you are to cry more, you need to drink water first,” Liam said. “If you don’t, your head will hurt and your skin will dry up and your eyes will be redder than they already are, and will itch and burn.” Liam brought a glass of water to him. “Now drink that, will you?”

  Evan drank, and even after he finished the glass, he still felt thirsty. “I am still thirsty,” he said.

  Lian filled the glass again, and Evan drank that as well. His sobs had become sniffles now. “Was Ferrel sick?” he asked. “Why didn’t you stay with him?”

  “I did, till I realised something was wrong with your father. I had given him a protection charm and I could feel it failing, so I told Maisie to stay with Ferrel and came there.”

  “But Ferrel was sick.”

  “He had a fever, yes, but he will be all right. Besides, I knew he was going to be all right. Your father, I wasn’t too sure of.”

  Evan couldn’t understand most of it. “How did you know Ferrel was going to be all right? Is it magic? Can I do that too?”

  Liam smiled and shook his head. “Not everything needs magic, Evan,” he said. “And no, I don’t think you’re a Seer, so you can’t do it with magic, and neither can I. I knew because he had taken his medicines, and his fever was low already.”

  “Seer,” Evan said. “They know what’s going to happen?”

  “Sometimes,” Liam said. “Some of them are more gifted, and can control the flow of magic and see further, but mostly, magic chooses what to show them and when, and many times magic has chosen to show nothing to Seers. They’re rare, Evan, and interpreting their visions is also a task that may take years.”

  “Sounds useless,” Evan said, and Liam laughed.

  “Quite so, little one,” he said. “Quite so.”

  The next few weeks passed by in a blur for Evan. His mother’s funeral was barely over when his father collapsed. Turned out that the unicorn bite was poisonous. Liam did his best, and so did the healer in the town, but even their combined efforts could not save Evan’s father.

  In the space of two weeks, Evan had lost both his parents, and there were no relatives to take him in.

  So, Liam did. Evan didn’t make any protests when Liam carried him to his house, and had all his things moved there. He sat in the front room and watched as Liam rearranged his nephew’s room to make space for Evan.

  “Why is he here?” Ferrel asked in a loud whisper. “Has he nowhere else to go?”

  “I can hear you,” Evan said, looking over at the other boy. They were much the same age, he and Ferrel, and had played together occasionally.

  “Well?” Ferrel challenged.

  “That’s enough, Ferrel,” Liam said. “I’m apprenticing him, if you must know. I’ve already written to the council and King.”

  Evan stared at Liam. “But I’m not old enough,” he said. It was all he could think of. A wizard didn’t take an apprentice younger than twelve, and Evan was only five.

  “There are no rules about the age at which one can be apprenticed,” Liam said mildly. “It’s true that most wizards pick older apprentices, but I’ve seen the progress you’ve made, and I know you, so you’ll suit me. If it’s all right with you, of course.”

  “Yes,” Evan croaked, because his voice didn’t work properly.

  “So, he’ll be living with us?” Ferrel asked.

  “Yes,” Liam said.

  “Good,” Ferrel smiled at Liam before turning to Evan. “I’ve always wanted a brother.”

  It didn’t occur to Evan to correct Ferrel, and since Liam kept quiet, both Evan and Ferrel took it as confirmation that the wizard approved of them being brothers. Evan had never thought of having siblings, it being impressed on him from his earliest days that wizards and anyone who chose to use magic had to keep themselves aloof from others.

  “Magic is not a plaything,” his tutor had told him. “But most people think of it as a convenience. It’s not and is not to be used frivolously. Attachments can sometimes make it difficult to see what is and is not an appropriate use.”

  After that, it was rather difficult to want siblings or friends, and yet, here was Ferrel, and there sat Liam, a true wizard, and he said nothing. So, Evan had to conclude that perhaps his tutor didn’t know what he was talking about, that forming attachments wasn’t a bad thing.

  Evan knew enough magic and enough about magic to know that it was not a mere tool. Magic had a mind of its own, especially in human hands, which was why using it was something which was to be done carefully and sparingly.

  But in the meantime, he had a friend, a brother, and a wizard master. For the moment, Evan forgot that he had lost his parents.

  It returned in the night, the feeling of loss, the emptiness where his mother’s voice had been, singing lullabies, or his father’s deep rumble as he told him some story. It was there in the hollow feeling in his chest where his parents’ smiles and screams were so intertwined that Evan could barely distinguish one from the other.

  Evan sobbed that first night, but Ferrel climbed into the bed next to him, and held him, and Evan clung to him and cried. At some point, Liam carried them both to his own bed, and Evan slept at some point, between Liam’s hand rubbing soothing circles on his back, and the warmth of Ferrel hugging him. When he woke up, Liam wasn’t there, but Ferrel was still holding him.

  In the nights, Evan saw the unicorns, and not even Liam could soothe him. In the end, Liam stayed up with him, telling him about magical creatures and about herbal teas. It didn’t take away the nightmares, but it calmed Evan down. Liam gave him books and Evan read himself to sleep.

  “I will be a hunter,” Ferrel told him one day. “I will kill all the unicorns.”

  “They have magic,” Evan said. “Only dragons can kill them. Or powerful wizards.”

  “Are you going to be one?” Ferrel asked.

  Evan frowned. “I want to study under the dragons,” he said. “I want to know how they are so powerful and why. I want to know how their magic can kill unicorns.”

  Ferrel nodded sombrely. “And then you can tell me, and I will help you kill unicorns,” he said.

  Evan saw nothing wrong with that plan, so he agreed.

  His magic lessons started a month after he had been living with Liam. It was again his old tutor who taught him. Liam told Evan that the man was good with basics and teaching, and that once the year was up, Liam would take over and would teach him how to cast spells.

  Ferrel had to go to school while Evan had his magic lessons, so they saw each other only during the mornings and afternoons. In the one month, Ferrel’s ambitions changed from wanting to be a hunter to wanting to be a soldier, a knight and a scientist. But his desire to help Evan remained unchanged. Evan’s wishes remained the same, though he never told his tutor about the dragons. He did ask the man about the Gelid Islands, though.

  “It is the seat of dragon magic,” the man intoned. “Where all dragons have to go to pass a test before they become what they are.”

  “What does that mean?” Evan asked.

  “No one knows,” his master said without even blinking. “If dragons still exist, it might be important. Or not. No one knows with dragons.”

  Which wasn’t helpful. The books that Liam had contained only scraps of information about dragons and even less about unicorns. But Evan was determined that he would learn everything possible before going to the dragons. Information on the Gelid Islands was even sparse. All sources agreed that it was a place that no human could survive, and that it was important to dragons.

  But humans had survived there, and lived with dragons, and if they could do it, so could Evan. It didn’t matter how long it took or what effort. He would succeed.

  Ferrel fully supported all his plans, just like Evan had supported Ferrel’s varying life ambitions. Liam didn’t say anything because, after that first time, Evan never broached the subject with him. It wasn’t on purpose. As far as Evan was concerned, Liam had been told once, and that was enough. Since his ambitions never changed, there was no need to speak of it again.

  Even during the years since when he studied and worked hard and practised more than ever, Evan was content to keep his ambition to himself. Only once he passed the tests that marked him as a full wizard would he get to choose what he should further study and specialise in. It was pointless to speak of dragons before then.

  The silence in the room was absolute. Evan was aware of the shock that radiated through the people there. Liam was the only one who didn’t look surprised, which made Evan suspect that his mentor and guardian had known more than he had let on. Or that he remembered that old conversation they had so long ago.

  “Evan Hendred,” one of the wizards spoke, his voice quiet and heavy. “No wizard had gone to the dragons to study under them in more than two centuries. Are you sure if this is what you want to do?”

  “Yes,” Evan said, no hesitation in him. “I wish to study dragons as my first and herblore as my secondary specialisation. I request the council’s permission for the same.”

 

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