Ivan reached out and rapped on the wooden door with his fist. Anders heard the shuffling of footsteps and the mumbling of an old man as he scuttled over to open the door. The knob turned and the door opened with a squeaky swing inward. Standing there was a short, bearded man, almost dwarf-like in stature. His long white hair was nappy and dreaded from years of not being groomed. The different length clumps of hair poked out in all directions from under his pointy hat. Tattered wool cloths and his felt vest tied the humble hermit together. Anders smiled widely seeing the strange-looking man.

“Not at all what I was expecting,” he whispered to Max.

Solomon squinted at them through half-moon spectacles. Upon realizing who was standing on his doorstep, his white eyebrows rose high on his brow and he cracked a large smile.

“Ahhh,” he laughed. “Max, my boy, alas you have returned, and with friends as well I see. And let me get a good look at you. Oh, I remember you as well,” he said looking at Ivan. “But I don’t believe we have met before,” he said looking at Anders.

Anders introduced himself and stuck his hand out to greet the man.

Solomon put his arms up and motioned for him to come in for a hug, saying, “Shaking hands is for making deals; friends hug.”

Anders embraced the short man with a hug.

“Come in, come in! Excuse the mess, I haven’t had company in a long time,” he said ushering them inside.

The three of them crammed into the cluttered home. Many piles of books were stacked almost to the ceiling and scrolls of parchment lay unorganized in heaps on the floor. Anders saw a table thick with maps layering its top, places he’d never heard of or seen before. The maps had strange markings drawn on them, coating the original pictures with the dark ink drawings.

“Oh, excuse me and my clutter. Please make yourselves at home,” he said brushing books off some chairs. “Don’t mind the mess,” he said to Anders and pointed to the freshly exposed upholstery and nodded. “Go on, sit, sit.”

Anders sat down where Solomon directed him, “Ouch!” Anders exclaimed and jumped up. He nearly whacked his head on the cabin’s center beam as he leapt out of the chair. Rubbing the sore spot on his rump, Anders looked down to see two small creatures covered with sharp, needle-like spikes skitter off the seat. Their little legs carried their horned bodies across the floor and behind a pile of parchment stacked near a desk.

“Oh, there you little ones are,” the old hermit said. “I have been looking for you two for three days. I thought they were out on a walkabout,” he said to his guests.

“What are they?” Anders asked, rubbing his tender bottom.

“Those are Lumbapi Razor-Backed lizards,” the old man said. “They are quite rare. I found them in the woods. I suspect a rotten-hearted tradesman had them. Probably dumped them out here when he realized how hard they are to care for. You see, the thing is, once you gain their trust, they basically take care of themselves. Come on out my dears,” he said bending down and placing his hand flat on the floor, letting them crawl up his arm and onto his shoulders.

Anders’ jaw dropped in astonishment upon seeing the creatures more closely. “They are quite cute, aren’t they,” he said, forgiving them at once.

“Yes they are, and magical creatures as well. This purple one is Ulgna, and that green one is Rufus,” Solomon said pointing to them one at a time. He placed them back down by the desk and they scurried off. “Well now, what is it that brought you out here to my quiet home?” he asked. “I can tell from the looks on your faces that you’re on some kind of mission, unless I’m mistaken, and you’ve traveled all this way just to have a chat with me?”

The silence that followed made the room feel a tad uncomfortable as Solomon looked around at the expressions on their faces. Anders felt uncomfortable explaining what had happened during the last week. He was still mourning the death of his dear uncle and thought it wasn’t his place to tell such details of his life, no matter how decent Solomon seemed.

“Okay, Sol,” Max started talking. “There was this competition that I went to in Grandwood… You know the one, right?”

Solomon nodded his head, but Ivan interrupted Max before he could continue, “Thargon attacked Grandwood last week with a fleet of ships at his command. He was looking for something of great value to him and his master. It led him to Anders’ uncle’s place. He killed Theodor, Anders’ uncle, over it, right in front of Theodor’s own children.”

Solomon gasped at the wickedness of Thargon’s wrath.

“Despite my efforts to save Theodor from this fate, I was unable to stop it. By the time I arrived, Thargon had already attacked. I engaged him and was able to save these two,” he pointed at Anders and Max. “Thargon and his men retreated, thinking they had captured what they had come for. They took many people who were in Grandwood at the time of the attack as prisoners. We pursued his ships with the help of the Rollo Island warriors, but a storm and some powerful magic left us ship-wrecked.”

So that’s what he was doing back on the ship, Anders thought to himself. He must have been attempting to counter the massive gust of wind that sent us all overboard.

“The Rollo Islanders sent for the rest of their naval forces and are currently crossing the ocean. Red, our Rollo companion, is sending word to his people informing them of what has happened to us. When Thargon’s master discovers that he failed to retrieve what he was sent to capture, they will return to Westland and kill countless people to find it. We must find out where Thargon is going, so we can prevent him from causing further destruction. Do you have any knowledge of where he’s going?”

Anders noticed Solomon eyeing him as Ivan spoke, making him feel a little uncomfortable.

“I haven’t heard talk of Thargon for many years. I was under the impression he’d been defeated near the end of The War of the Magicians and had departed from this world,” Solomon said, stroking his fingers through his nappy beard as he looked to be searching carefully for his next words. “Yes, you were wise to come to me before you got too tangled in this web,” Solomon said in a much more serious tone.

Max gave Anders a worried look as they realized the situation they found themselves in was something much bigger than they had anticipated.

“I am aware that you, Ivan, are well versed in the past of your enemy, but from the look these two just gave each other, they are less well informed,” Solomon said to Ivan.

“I was trying to keep them on a need-to-know basis. I thought it would be easier for them if they didn’t know what they could possibly be getting into,” Ivan said as if he were trying to protect them. “I’m more than happy to inform them about Thargon’s past, since it appears they now do need to know,” Solomon said as if he were scolding Ivan. “But first, I will need to put a fresh pot of water on and pack my pipe,” Solomon said pulling a pipe from his pocket and searching for his teakettle.

A thick haze began to fill Solomon’s cabin as he puffed and pondered how to begin the history lesson. Once he’d smoked most of his pipe bowl and had a hot cup of tea in his hand, he sat down on a wooden chair ready to begin.

“To give this story proper justice I must first give you a brief history of magic; then I will tell you how Merglan came to be so powerful,” Solomon began.

“He’s the one in charge of Thargon, right?” asked Max.

Solomon nodded and then opened his mouth to begin.

Ivan interrupted, saying, “Is that really pertinent to what we’re dealing with right now?”

“Yes, it is,” Solomon said matter-of-factly.

“This is a waste of time,” Ivan muttered to himself under his breath.

“I heard that, boy,” Solomon said glaring at Ivan. “Now where were we…? Ah yes, Merglan. To understand his power you must first understand that there is universal energy that flows within and through all living things,” he began again. “It’s what binds us with the world around us. You cannot see it, but it’s there, and if you’re lucky, maybe one day you’ll feel it. This energetic force can be used to do inexplicable and unimaginable things. What I’m talking about is what we humans refer to as magic,” he said opening his hands as if he was about to cast a spell.

“No human, elf, or any other species of this world has ever been able to harness this energy on their own. Except for dragons, that is. Anyone or thing that has ever been able to use magic was given the gift by dragons alone. Many people have devoted their lives searching for a way to conjure up this ability without the help of dragons, but not once has it been done.”

“I thought it was something you were born with. Isn’t it passed on by genetics?” Anders asked.

“That is what many people believed; however, that’s simply not the way it works. Why that is has boggled the minds of those who’ve studied it throughout each of the five civilized nations of Kartania, Westland, Eastland, Southland, Mount Orena, and the Everlight Kingdom, for as long as anyone can remember. The only way to gain the ability and control the energy within all things is if a dragon gifts it to you.”

“Hold on,” Max said stopping Solomon. “Dragons are wild beasts that only bring death and destruction. Rarely do they venture far enough south to be seen. How does anyone get close enough to a dragon to let it give you something?”

“Yeah, come on, dragons aren’t exactly known for being friendly,” Anders added. “This all seems a bit suspect to me. Dragons are best known for devouring humans and anything else they see as a quick meal. Besides, there hasn’t been a dragon in Westland since they destroyed the royal castle along with everyone inside that used to sit atop Highborn Bay. That was over seven hundred years ago.”

Ivan chuckled to himself quietly as pipe smoke expelled from his mouth.

“What are you laughing about?” Max asked, looking over at him. “I thought you said this was a huge waste of time.”

“There are many things you spring chickens do not know,” Ivan said with a smirk.

“Believe it or not,” Solomon continued, “although the dragons of Nagano are wild creatures, they have an exceptionally long life span. Mind you, when they form a bond, it can only be broken by death. Dragons have keen senses that can see a creature’s deepest truths. When a dragon connects with you on that level, something unexplainable happens.”

“So you’re telling me, anyone who can wield magic has befriended a dragon, including Merglan, Thargon, and Ivan?” Anders said, turning to face Ivan.

“In a sense,” Solomon said.

“What does that mean?” Max said, confused.

“Ivan and Merglan were fortunate enough to form bonds with dragons, yes. Thargon, however, was not.”