The Light Bringer: An Epic Fantasy Adventure Novel (The Dragon Gate Series Book 2)

by Randy Ellefson

  Eric observed, “You refer to him as a sorcerer, not a wizard.”

  “Yes, but there is no difference, though sorcerer has a connotation of using dark arts.”

  Anna wondered what he was willing to do. She recalled that Matt had two of Soliander’s spell books in the bag he always arrived with. The techie had said one had seemingly more innocent or benevolent spells, while the other tended toward dangerous and possibly immoral. She thought of it every time her friend was looking in that one, wondering what he was learning. She had wanted to look through it herself, but Matt tended to find excuses for secrecy, which only made her more curious, but not quite concerned. Still, when he performed a spell, she sometimes wondered which book he got it from.

  “Speaking of dark arts,” she began, “who is the necromancer?”

  Denir began, “Lord Areon the Soul Stealer was a priest who married into royalty, but lost his title when his wife was murdered. He was too late to heal her and began practicing necromancy to not only resurrect his wife, but to get revenge on her killers, as they were executed too mercifully for his tastes.”

  Grimacing, Anna asked, “Did he succeed?”

  Denir looked unsure how to answer. “Stories conflict as to whether he was successful, but I believe he did not reanimate his love in satisfactory condition, and they remain apart.”

  Novir added, “They banished him for this. There is a bounty on his head. His god forsook him so that he cannot heal anymore.”

  “Did that push him further into necromancy, so he still had power?”

  Denir looked at her approvingly. “Yes. He has since shown little regard for life, or death, and has become powerful in his quest to restore his love.”

  “That’s tragic and very creepy,” Anna remarked, shuddering. No one should love so deeply as to become corrupted throughout their being. Sometimes letting go was better, however painful. But then she had never known such love for another or herself. Could it really be so wonderful, then so awful? Part of her didn’t want to know, but she was sort of curious. She supposed she couldn’t really judge this lord, but if he was doing unholy things to others, that would be enough to condemn him in her eyes.

  Breaking her thoughts, Matt asked, “What’s sorts of things is he capable of? Raising the dead? Defying it himself? Controlling them?”

  Denir replied, “All of that and more. Communication with the departed has given him vast knowledge found in no library. That may have been how they knew of the orb. That said, this communication is difficult to achieve, as not all deceased are accessed as easily as some. We will never know.”

  “Novir,” began Ryan, “Do you have a mace or flail I can borrow? My sword may be of limited use against the undead, assuming he has a bunch with him.”

  “Of course.” He gestured to one warrior, who had a spiked, black mace on one hip. They gave this to him.

  “Thank you,” said Ryan. “This may also be useful with the undead knight, as well. I don’t suppose he became that way because of the necromancer?”

  Denir fixed him with an appraising look before turning to Matt. “Indeed. And this story may be of special interest to Soliander.”

  Matt cocked an eyebrow. “Why is that?”

  “The undead knight is technically King of Aranor now. That is your home kingdom, is it not?”

  Matt nodded slowly. “Tell me.”

  “Lord Voth was an ambitious knight, second-in-command of the knights, in service to the king. Some in the knighthood believed the king had grown weak, spoiled, and uninterested in the greatness some wanted of their monarch. And so they staged a successful coup, killing the king and much of the royal family.”

  “That is a betrayal of their oath as knights,” Ryan observed, frowning.

  Novir smirked. “There was worse to come. Voth’s commander assumed the throne, but not for long. Voth killed him and took his place.”

  Denir added, “Yes, but he miscalculated. The population had supported the coup due to the popularity of the commander he had just killed, and they were irate at his murder at the hands of Lord Voth.

  “Good for them,” Ryan said. “What happened?”

  “They swarmed the castle, and when Lord Voth, now King of Aranor, ordered his knights to slay the mob, they refused, seeing him as a worse ruler than those they had executed. And so they opened the gates and let the mob have Lord Voth.”

  Eric laughed and held up one apologetic hand for his reaction. “No honor among thieves, we say on… we’ve heard said on another planet. Seems like he caused his own downfall.”

  “Yes,” agreed Denir. “He does not elicit much sympathy, only terror. The royalty had access to an ice dragon, and so his punishment was to have it breathe on him, encasing him in ice and killing him. This resulted in one of his nicknames, the Ice King.

  Matt asked, “And he somehow escaped from this?”

  Novir nodded. “With help. He was on display in the throne room of Aranor by the new king. An unknown wizard and the necromancer Areon reincarnated him as undead. Lord Voth had his vengeance and reclaimed the throne, the room now perpetually covered in ice, the kingdom ruled by a prime minister because Lord Voth seems to have interests elsewhere.”

  Denir added, “All that he touches dies, for the power of the grave is the only thing flowing in his veins. Aranor is now called the Kingdom without a King, though it technically has one.”

  “Is he bound to the necromancer?”

  “That is unknown. He appears to have his freedom and voluntarily works with the other Lords of Fear. Together for several years now, we saw them meddling in many kingdoms on quite a few worlds. Sometimes they work alone, in which case it can be harder to determine whether they cause something, but they are unmistakable when together.”

  Anna asked, “Who was the wizard who freed Lord Voth along with the necromancer?”

  “There are many rumors about this, but no one is certain.”

  “Is it safe to believe that this person is the one who has the master Orb of Dominion?”

  Denir replied, “No, though it may well be. We could find out if we let them succeed in their journey, but we cannot allow that.”

  Anna agreed but said nothing. These Lords of Fear sounded like the evil version of themselves, but without quests binding them. Did they always work for the same person, doing missions? Were they genuinely bound or only by a promise? The difference mattered because the latter can always be broken. Maybe these Lords of Fear weren’t as well understood as the Ellorian Champions. Perhaps there was more to them. Now she was curious but doubted they would sit down and chat about it all. How could they get information directly from the lords?

  “What is happening now?” she asked.

  Denir answered, “Our second attempt at recovering the orb failed because our men recognized the Lords of Fear and knew they could not possibly beat them. When the dwarves and other enthralled arrived, they gave the orb to Lord Voth, then went with them. They and the rest of our captured forces are heading toward Ortham, a large city in the Kingdom of Gisla to the north. It has a portal to other worlds. We cannot be certain this is their goal, but we suspect it is.”

  Novir interjected, “Our contacts in the city have confirmed that the lords arrived on this planet via this gate some days prior to all of this. There was strong suspicion about it, but it only seemed known after we learned their identity at Bolin Hill.”

  “Wait,” started Ryan, “how could an undead knight just walk through? Isn’t either side guarded? Wouldn’t someone see him and stop him? Or did people try to get killed?”

  Denir answered, “We can easily identify most undead because of their appearance. However, Lord Voth does not look undead. Being frozen in ice killed and preserved him. Once raised from the dead, he does not decay, which is common of undead, as you know. Their bodies remain as they were at the moment of reanimation, likely by the design of the forces used to raise them. Otherwise, they would continue to fall apart and the problem of their existence woul
d soon resolve itself as they become a pile of bones.”

  “Good point,” admitted Ryan, then added apologetically, “Eriana and Soliander likely knew that, but I forget that sort of thing.”

  Cocking an eyebrow about that, Novir said, “They arrived and walked away, as the others give no casual observer reason to be concerned. But people noticed the cold from Lord Voth, and his startling blue eyes, rumored to be made of ice. Guards followed, and eventually he walked on grass that died under his feet. Between that and his healthy appearance, and the known description of the others, the Lords of Fear were identified even before we contacted Ortham to ask.”

  “Is it known in Ortham that they are returning to the city and have the orb?”

  “Yes,” Novir answered. “We consulted with them on this and agreed that the path from the city gates to the portal must be evacuated, but it is unknown how successful they will be. The population likely doesn’t understand the danger. We must assume the lords intend to hold the orb aloft and ensnare anyone who sees it.”

  “The guy controlling the master orb has to be watching through it, though, right?”

  “Yes. We are assuming he is keeping close watch on matters as they unfold.”

  Matt remarked, “I assume those in Ortham can close the gate.”

  Desir replied, “Yes, and they have left it open until the last moment, if needed. We are on friendly enough terms with Gisla Kingdom, at least on this front. Our plan is that all of you will arrive before then so that closing the portal is unnecessary. It takes some effort to reopen it, though perhaps less so if you will help, Soliander.”

  Matt said, “Of course. Is this the only portal they can use?”

  “No, but it seems the likely one. As you know, travel between worlds requires more power than most can afford or wield, if they are wizards. We do not know if Lord Garian has such power, but maybe not. We expect they are attempting to leave the planet this way. They must be stopped, the orb taken away, preferably destroyed.”

  Novir said. “As the king knows nothing of your quest, you can expect no real help from the kingdom, sadly, as our king has issued orders to not interfere with the lords. And no one should be told who you are. Only those in this room know the truth.”

  “We understand,” Ryan said, but Anna thought he said it unconvincingly. These men were risking their lives to free their king and kingdom, and their understanding of the gravity of the situation needed to be conveyed better. She was going to say something when the king’s guardsman spoke first.

  Novir added, “While we are doing the right thing, it would be treason until the king’s mind is his own again.”

  Anna sensed the weight on him and wanted to reassure him. “He will see that it is good then. No one will learn our identities or purpose from us. We already have other names we can use, such as Anna for myself.” Hiding the truth in plain sight seemed bold but obvious.

  “Thank you, my lady.” Denir placed four small bags on the table, each clinking. “We do not expect you will need to purchase supplies, but we know the unexpected happens. Please accept these coins and gems to satisfy any needs that may arise.”

  Ryan and Eric sat nearest him and took a pouch each for themselves, giving the others to Matt and Anna. She knew better to look inside, as did Ryan. She suspected Eric did too, but he did it anyway, and Matt dumping the contents on the table did not surprise her. She thought it was just boyish greed, but then he asked a smart question that made her feel sorry for doubting him.

  He asked, “How much is this in these kingdoms? Is it enough to attract attention? Should we be careful showing this much?”

  Denir said, “We thought of that. The coins are not platinum, which would be noticed at once except among royalty. There is only a little gold, one piece each, because they would also notice this in poor quarters. I recommend finer places if the need arises, which we do not expect. You should use the silvers and coppers.”

  “And the gems?”

  “Emergency use only, and only in a city at a reputable trader. Use them out of sight, not in a main room where others would see the transaction.”

  Eric nodded. “Got it. I’ve been meaning to ask, how big are these orbs?”

  “Half the size of a human head.”

  “How do we stop ourselves from being ensnared by them?”

  Matt regarded him. “I think I might know a spell.” He lifted the bag with Soliander’s spell books in it and pulled out one in black leather with gold writing, the one Anna knew to have “nicer” spells in it, as opposed to the one with silver markings. Everyone waited quietly as he flipped through the pages. “Found it. It protects against any attempt to read the mind. I remembered if after what happened on Honyn, when I, uh, ran into that wizard who tried to do that. If I had cast this spell on myself beforehand, he may not have been able to learn anything.”

  Anna asked, “Can it be cast on more than one person?”

  “One at a time.” Matt’s eyes scanned the page. “Wait, I can do it on a group.”

  Denir asked, “May I ask the name of this spell? I don’t believe we have such a one on Rovell.”

  “Mind Shield,” replied Matt. He let the wizard look at the spell and Anna wondered if sharing like that was a good idea or not, but then it wasn’t an offensive one. Maybe they needed to talk over something like that, and establish some grounds rules before giving a dangerous spell to a world that didn’t already have it. It might be like introducing an animal into an ecosystem that developed without it, destroying a delicate balance.

  The wizard looked over the spell. “It says you need eyes from a blind fish, two eyes for each person. Do you have any with you?”

  Matt shook his head. “I don’t think so. I will have to check my supplies.”

  Denir said, “We have similar fish. This spell looks like it would work here on this planet. You are more experienced traveling between worlds than I, but most spells from other worlds work here as long as you have the needed materials, or can substitute them.”

  “The substitutions typically work?” Eric asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Where could we get these fish eyes? I don’t suppose someone sells them?”

  “No. They are not commonly needed. There is an underwater lake to the southeast in the mountains, from where you could get them, but it is in the opposite direction from where the Lords of Fear have gone. I’m afraid that puts us under great pressure, but it might be needed.”

  Novir spoke up. “I know of another place north of Valegis, a mountain town. It is on the way, less of a detour, but it is more dangerous.”

  “How so?”

  “The Kirii Cave not only has the large, batlike Kirii in it, but there is a leviathan in the waters, which is why I have heard of the place, as have most. We would have to be careful to not disturb any of kirii, but I think it is worth the risk. Four champions of your power could easily defeat anything we awaken. It lies within another dwarven kingdom, in a valley of the Galla Mountains.”

  “How do we get the fish?” Anna asked, imagining the famous Ellorian Champions standing around with fishing poles, the idea almost making her smile despite all of her worries. “Is there something faster than a net?”

  Derin responded and turned to Matt, “A simple cantrip can round them up with little trouble. You know of it?”

  Matt appeared to think for a moment and shook his head. “Perhaps you can show me.”

  “It would honor me to teach the great Soliander the merest of spells.”

  Eric said, “Okay, so given time being an issue, how do we get to this cave and then the city quickly?”

  Novir gestured to the three leather clad companions, who had remained silent as they leaned against a wall listening to all of this. “The dragons will take us.”

  Chapter 5 – The Kirii Cave

  Ryan arched an eyebrow and turned to look at the humans that were apparently shape-shifting dragons, just like the ones on Honyn, except that none of those had been ci
vil, just murderous toward any that were not their kind. The male in blue smirked at him, the one in green looked bored, and the female in red sauntered toward him, her intense gaze locked onto his. She seemed fiery and sexy, powerful and sleek and dangerous. He had only seen two dragons before, both golden, and each had tried to kill him. She had no obvious weapons with her, but he doubted this would matter. Only the calm with which Novir revealed their nature kept him sitting still instead of rising to face a potential threat.

  She stopped before him in an aggressive yet alluring stance that made the word “vixen” pop into his mind. “Fear not, Dragon Slayer,” she said in a rich alto. “We know your reputation, but we also know you only kill the ones who deserve it. And there are none such here.” She leaned over and ran a finger along his jaw, leaving a trail of heat as the scent of roasted embers filling his nostrils. “We’re not even offended by your nickname.”

  Clearing his throat uncomfortably and amazed that a dragon was hitting on him, Ryan said, “I have others, like the Pride of Andor.”

  “And do you feel pride, Lord Korrin?”

  “To be talking to you? Absolutely.”

  She smiled then, all the way to her stunning eyes, and he felt certain that, by some miracle, he had just flattered a dragon. A freakin’ dragon.

  She added, “You will ride me, Pride of Andor.” Hearing Eric quietly laugh, Ryan shot him an amused yet stern look to keep his mouth shut. “One other can accompany you, as we each can take two.”

  “Eriana, if it pleases you.”

  The dragon looked at her and nodded. “It does.”

  Denir said, “The dragons rarely involve themselves in the affairs of others on Rovell, but they recognize the threat that the orbs pose for all, including them. Three have agreed to assist us.”

  The red dragon strode to the head of the table as the other two came to flank her. She rested one arm around the neck of the one in blue leather. “I am Jolian. My brother Brazin here will carry Novir. The others will ride with our green friend, Sebast. We should leave now. I am curious to see this leviathan up close and see how she compares to us.”