The Great Hero is a Schoolteacher

As Uturi pulled me back, my eyes locked with Princess Nigella’s. She was white with shock, but she still stood straight, not turning away from the disaster I got involved in. She silently asked me how I was. I could only slightly move my head to show that I had no clue.

No clue about anything.

I could hardly stand on my feet, but at least, I wasn’t the one who splattered blood on the cobblestones. I didn’t know what organ I’d pierced when I stabbed Uturi. I could only suppose the blade went through his back muscles, causing him considerable pain. Did he hurt more than I did? I tried to look at his face, but the way he held me, I couldn’t really discern his expression.

“You cannot escape, Uturi!” said King Esthar.

“I don’t intend to. I want to be there, tomorrow, when you give up your throne. You will, won’t you? You’d rather waive your power than let your subjects die!”

He’d talked loud enough for at least some bystanders to hear. Murmurs instantly rose from the crowd, and a few cadets were shoved.

“Don’t try to follow me!” said Uturi.

He chanted very quickly, and by the time I understood what he was about to do, it was too late.

“Don’t…”

The world shifted, the square turned into a stone barn, and all hell broke loose in my stomach.

I doubled over, so violently that Uturi had to let me go. Vilo’s dagger fell out of my limp hand. My head was spinning. My broken rib wanted me dead. The burn on my arm couldn’t stand the slightest breeze. What little breakfast I had in my stomach spurted out of my mouth and onto the dusty floor.

Twice in two days, really?

As I fought to catch my breath, Uturi squat near me.

“I knew you’d be useless, as heroes go, but I didn’t think you’d get warp step sickness.”

I gagged again. “You knew?” And then, a memory came back. “Princess Nigella said you chose to summon me. Is it true? Did you pick a useless person on purpose?”

His sneer ended in a gasp of pain.

“Ow! You did manage to hurt me, Al. But if you want the truth about your summoning, I deliberately picked a man I knew wouldn’t die heroically. I didn’t really expect anyone to show up. How did you even go through the portal?”

“I’m the person he chose not to save.”

“He had some common sense, then.”

Even coming from him, it hurts. Saegorg and him really are brothers. The two of them can’t stop telling me how worthless I am.

He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me close.

“We must go. I can’t let them find us here. Come!”

“Don’t do this to me again…”

But he did.

This time, we were in a narrow alley between two high houses. I couldn’t see much more before I fell to the ground. I couldn’t take even one more warp step. The whole world spun around me, and there seemed to be a tornado inside my brain. I wanted it to stop at any cost. Even dying seemed a better fate than going through this.

“Come on, Al! We have a bridge to cross.”

Uturi’s voice sounded muffled and I could hardly make out the words. He pulled at my shoulders, but he lacked the strength to get me off the ground.

“Just leave me here to die…” I begged.

He came closer to my ear.

“Oh, you’ll die all right, when I kill you for stabbing me in the back and nearly ruining my brother’s ambition. But you’re my shield right now, so I’m going nowhere without you. Get up!”

There was magic in his voice. I felt an urge to obey, but it wasn’t the same kind of mind control as the one he’d inflicted on Kossi. That spell felt much simpler. It was just one order, made more imperious by the use of magic. Had I not been weakened by several wounds and warp step sickness, I’d be able to resist its authority. But I wasn’t quite the Great Hero Al I’d wanted to be. Right then, my will was gone, and my only coherent thought was “if you must kill me, kill me now”. So I tried to get up, as Uturi told me.

My legs didn’t comply. I stumbled, I fell back on my hands and knees, and I panted helplessly for a while. Could I even raise my head? Yes, I could, but just looking at the sky between the houses made me sick. I breathed slowly.

“Up, now!” shouted Uturi.

Someone stopped at the end of the alley.

“Is everything all right, sir?”

The sorcerer waved the question away. “My wife is sick. I can handle it, thank you.”

As soon as the person was gone, he pulled me by the hair. I hardly felt better at all, but I stood up. Uturi held my arm tight, and his other hand was pointed at my head, ready to fire. People around us stared, but didn’t comment.

There’s a man with blood down his back, pushing a woman with a burnt arm and a face like she’s been through a mop wringer, and nobody reacts beyond the occasional frown? Well, they do move away from us. We must look like hell.

We crossed a bridge, narrower than the one I’d walked across with Chess, on the day we went to the University of Magic Arts and met Catalin for the first time. The Green Inn was easy to spot from the river. All its shutters were painted green, and there were planters fixed to every window, with colorful buds that would certainly bloom soon.

I almost forgot it’s spring.

Whenever the wind touched my burn, I wanted to scream from the pain. How could Uturi even walk with a wound in his back?

We turned on a street that ran parallel to the river. I pretended not to know where we were going. Uturi must think he’ll be safe at the Green Inn. It’s a good thing I advised General Lassentia to send people there.

“Get in there,” the sorcerer said, pushing me towards the green door.

Since he was holding my good arm, I had to use the burnt one to open. It felt like my skin had been replaced with ill-fitting cardboard, and there was a fire still burning in there.

Give me cold water, coconut oil, anything!

Walking had soothed the consequences of the two warp steps. I could think straight again, but no matter how I looked at my situation, I could see no way out. I’d failed to disable Uturi and he had no intention to surrender, let alone break the last seal. He’d escape, or he’d die fighting, and in both cases, Kossi would attack Carastra on the next day.

No words were exchanged when we walked in. The room was empty, save for a couple of people in what I supposed were foreign outfits. Travelers. Where are General Lassentia’s soldiers?

The man at the bar simply nodded at Uturi, then he pointed at a corner with his chin. Unsurprisingly, Uturi pushed me to that corner. We walked up a flight of stairs, barely visible from the entrance, that led to a smaller place with some tables and chairs. Windows provided a view over the river on one side, over the street on the other. It was the perfect place to watch if anyone was coming after us.

Uturi made me sit in a chair, then he sat down next to me. As soon as his back touched the backrest, he groaned and straightened.

“I must find someone to care for this,” he said between his teeth.

I frowned. “Don’t you have healing spells? You wave, and the wound is gone?”

“If only it was so easy. Magic doesn’t work this way. I know a spell to mitigate the bleeding, but I’d need to put my hands on the wound, and you were so wonderfully inspired that you injured me in the back!”

Uturi’s hateful gaze reminded me that we were enemies in the way Faur and I never were. He only kept me alive because he could use me. No one would try to kill him, but should anyone attempt anything non-lethal, he’d fire a spell at me and fry my head.

The man from the bar walked up the stairs with a clay bottle.

“What happened, my Lord?”

“This dumb woman decided it was a good idea to stab me. I burned her in return, but I need a nurse.”

“Does anyone know you’re here?”

Uturi shook his head.

“I used magic to avoid being followed. By the time they figure out I came here, I’ll be gone. Just get this wound fixed and I’m out of your inn. No one will know you work for us, until we conquer this kingdom, of course.”

Both men exchanged a smile.

“I take it the woman doesn’t need a bottle?” said the barman.

“It’d be a waste. She’ll be dead before she has time to be thirsty.”

Uturi was wrong. After emptying my stomach, I did feel thirsty. But I didn’t have the strength to argue, so I just watched the barman put the bottle on the table and remove the cork. Uturi had a sip.

“Not bad…”

The main door banged downstairs and we all jumped to our feet. We heard voices, but not the words. The barman rushed down.

“My Lord, I thought no one was following you!”

Various noises came from downstairs, angry voices, furniture hitting the floor. Uturi twisted my wrist.

“What did you do, Al?”

“Nothing!” I cowered, anticipating an attack. “How could I tell anyone where we are? I was with you all along, and I was sick most of the time!”

He looked out of the window and winced.

“Yet, here they are. All of Esthar’s lapdogs are here for me, and I’m in no state to stand up to them, thanks to you! We must hide.”

He dragged me to a hidden door that led to a corridor. It looked like a secret apartment of sorts. Dim light came from an open door, but the place smelled dusty and mostly unused. Uturi closed the latch behind us. Just a second later, boots ran up the stairs to the room where we’d been sitting.

Uturi grabbed my throat and pushed me against the wall.

“What’s the matter with you, Al? Twelve days ago, you knew nothing of our world, so why did you join forces with Esthar so quickly? Was it Princess Nigella’s wet blue eyes? I heard you have a soft spot for much younger women…”

How dare he imply I’m into an underage girl?

I could hardly breathe, but I glowered at him.

“I don’t care if Esthar or Saegorg sits on this throne!”

In the other room, voices mentioned traces of blood on a backrest. Uturi’s hand was trembling on my throat, releasing some of the pressure so I could talk more.

“Let me ask you something, Uturi. What ruler will you be, when you’re ready to unleash a dragon’s fire on a bunch of your own subjects?”

“We wouldn’t have to do it if Esthar…”

“Yes, you were robbed of a throne you think should be yours, and it justifies everything, doesn’t it? Spending twenty years on a ritual to turn a dragon into a compliant killing machine! Asking for Demon Lord Faur’s help, in exchange of a political allegiance!”

Uturi froze.

“What are you talking about?”

“You mean you didn’t know? Your brother Saegorg tried to get assistance from Elkodunar. He was ready to make Brealia a vassal state. But a little bird told me Faur isn’t interested. He may even have called Saegorg an imbecile.”

“No, you’re lying. Saegorg would never surrender to another country. And why Elkodunar?”

“Precisely. Why Elkodunar?”

We looked into each other’s eyes. Was it the dim light, or was Uturi getting paler by the second? He didn’t look as threatening as he used to, so I asked another question.

“Why did you really summon me? Elkodunar has no interest in invading Brealia, unlike Inabar. So why am I here?”

“I told you before. A failed summoning, followed by a dragon attack, was a perfect opportunity to weaken Esthar. Except someone did show up. It was you, but you and I were the only ones who knew you weren’t supposed to be there.”

Uturi sighed. I shook my head.

“But why fulfill the prophecy now, when there’s no apparent threat from Faur?”

“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask the usurper, when you’re both in Hell.”

His grasp on my throat regained some firmness.

“They’re coming back down. They failed to find this place, so I guess I don’t need you anymore. Die, Al.”

Uturi’s other hand pointed at my forehead. I don’t want to die! I ignored my pain and slammed my fist hard into his back. He screamed, the spell died at his fingertips, but he was still holding me. It was only a matter of time before he managed to kill me.

But no matter how fanatical he is, I still don’t want him dead!

With my other arm, the burnt one, I pushed him away from me, as hard as I could. His grip tightened in response. His breath was short, his forehead shiny with sweat. He lifted his hand again, but this time, he froze before casting.

“No!” he shouted at something behind him, something I couldn’t see.

His head jerked one way and the other. All of a sudden, he looked like he was fighting his own body, the same way I’d seen Kossi fight back when Saegorg made him attack the crowd in the moat.

Mind control?

“I don’t…” Uturi’s protest ended in a gasp. When he talked again, every syllable sounded awkward, formed against his will by another talking through his mouth.

“Gold Dragon Kossi! I, Uturi of Inabar, release you from the seal of magic!”

Reality shifted ever so slightly. Uturi’s face was a mask of rage and hate, but he’d let go of me, so I ran to the hidden door and unlatched it.

“Help! I’m the Great Hero Al and Sir Pernel is here with me! He broke the seal of magic! The dragon Kossi is finally free!”

I expected soldiers to appear at the top of the stairs. Instead, the four Senior Magi walked into the room. One of them, the man with the horn, looked deeply focused.

Malin smiled at me.

“We’re glad to find you alive, Great Hero Al. You finally weakened the traitor enough for Rokayu to take control of his body. Without the blood loss and the pain, it would have been impossible. Thank you.”

“Is mind control possible?”

“Of course it is! But it’s a complex spell that takes a long time to cast, and a strong-willed person, or a Gold Dragon, won’t let the sorcerer control them.”

“We’ll take care of Sir Pernel, now,” added Kseya.

Naenar stretched out his hand. “If you will follow me…”

As soon as we were back into the larger room of the inn, an armored squad ran up. I felt dizzy, and thirstier than ever. General Lassentia nodded at me.

“It seems we were wrong to doubt you. I suggest we get you basic care before King Esthar interrogates you.”

Interrogate? I was hoping for a simple debrief…

I still followed the officer out of the Green Inn.