9. THE WIZARD'S TALE

CHAPTER 9 THE WIZARD'S TALE Drake, Jean, Worm, and Argent saw a man with a gray beard and gray eyes. In fact, his whole body was gray and sort of see-through.

Jean drew her sword and marched toward him. "Who are you, and what is this place?" she asked The man shook his head, as if waking from a dream. "The Shadow Realm is a world created by Chaya the Shadow Dragon," he replied. "It is a prison from which no one can..." His voice trailed off, and he started to walk away.

Drake jogged after him. "Did Chaya send you here, too?" he asked. The man blinked. "Oh yes, sorry. I am Vanad, Aruna's wizard. What has happened to Aruna and Chaya is my fault." "Tell us what happened," Jean said, lowering her sword. "I will show you," Vanad said. He held up a finger. "I have a little magic left." He drew a circle in the air, and a faint light shimmered inside it. An image appeared—a golden flower with a red jewel in its center.

"I come from a long line of wizards," Vanad began. As he spoke, his body flickered briefly, like a candle flame. "One thousand years ago, one of my ancestors discovered the sprout of a Balam flower. Every thousand years, this special flower produces one seed." In the image, the red jewel opened up to reveal a red seed. "The seed gives great power to the one who eats it," Vanad continued. "Every time a wizard uses magic, the Balam seed absorbs their power. The seed will keep absorbing power until all wizards lose their magic."

Drake gasped. "So whoever eats the seed would have all the magic in the world, and nobody else would have any!" Vanad stared at the flower. "I knew that the red jewel would open up during my lifetime. I counted down the days until I could be all-powerful. I told myself that I would do good things for the world. And while I waited for the seed, a Dragon Master came to train with me." An image of Aruna appeared. Her hair was black, not gray, and her eyes were brown, as Drake had briefly seen.

"Aruna was a good student. We had happy times working together," Vanad said. "But soon I became distracted by the flower. I was eager for the seed to appear. I sat by the flower for hours, then days. I did not eat." "Aruna must have been worried about you," Drake remarked. Vanad nodded. "She was. And she knew something that I did not: No one should eat the Balam seed. Too much power is dangerous and tempting. Aruna believed that such a seed had to be a tool of evil magic. That the power would curse whoever ate the seed."