“Thank you, Rhekja.” Shazza tossed the Demon a pouch of coin. She deftly caught it and quirked an eyebrow as she jingled the bag. “Do with it what you will, but it is a thank you for your hospitality and assistance in our venture.”
“It wasn’t necessary, but it is much appreciated.” Rhekja bowed her head. “And, as promised, I have sent word to my guild about the threat that we’re faced with.” She smiled at me. “The Schaakold-Vond’l will stand with you when the time comes, Dragon Keeper Xyleena.”
◆◆◆
It was late in the morning when the five of us collected our belongings and headed for the outskirts of Monrai. I released all seven of my dragons from the amulet at once, drawing attention of several villagers. They offered their help loading the packs of supplies on the dragons.
Once the preparations were complete, we thanked the villagers for their assistance and mounted the dragons. With a command from me, the flock took off in tight formation amidst cheers and applause. We circled the dreary town once before turning eastward towards Vronan and the awaiting Thedrún.
I saw firsthand just how hard it was for Artimista and Kadj. Almost every town we stopped in, the pair were ridiculed and attacked without provocation. I offered my help, but they had refused it. I can only hope that the feats they have accomplished during this quest are rewarded and remembered through the ages. Two brave Dákun Daju helped to save the Humes.
– FROM “THE DIARY OF AMOREZ” BY AMOREZ RENOAN
Dimitri suppressed a shiver. A growing chill had been creeping along his spine since they first stepped foot in this strange cave, but he took it as a good sign that they were finally in the right location.
It had been almost a week ago when he had Pox warp the team to Vronan. They had quickly begun the search for the lair of the Thunderous Dragon of Light, only to come up with nothing again and again, day after day. The young Feykin had finally resorted to a special searching incantation, which had finally led them to the outskirts of Vronan but no further.
Dimitri took over from there, ordering his team to split up and find anything that looked suspicious. Almost an entire day had been wasted before Vincent stumbled upon a most intriguing opening in the side of a mountain. Had the fat, old Judge not tripped and fell through the rock mirage hiding the entrance, Dimitri doubted they would have ever found the cave.
Dimitri hadn’t hesitated a moment and quickly ducked into the cavern. His team was obliged to follow, even though they had asked for a break. Looking back now, he should have granted their request. The inner workings of the cave were a jumbled mess resembling a labyrinth. Submerged off shoots and crystalline blockades had greeted them at every turn. Dimitri was sure they had been in the depths of the mountain for the entire night.
Finally exhausted, Dimitri stopped. Without a word, the Dákun Daju hybrid sat down with his back against a stalagmite. He closed his eyes and listened as his team happily settled in for their break. He really didn’t want to waste their time on an interlude for he was sure Xy and her team were quickly on their way. But for his plan to succeed, he knew his team had to be ready and alert.
Mere minutes passed before Vincent’s heavy snoring echoed off the rock walls. Dimitri scoffed and crossed his arms. He allowed his senses to extend further away from their make-shift camp. The salty-sweet scent of recently-formed stalagmites burned his nose. Water dripped somewhere to his left. A soft crackling erupted not too far beyond that.
“You hear that?” Dimitri opened his eyes to look at Godilai. She quirked an eyebrow at him before cocking her head to the side to listen. A moment later, she met his crimson gaze and frowned.
“Electricity?”
He smirked. “That’s what I’m thinking.” He got to his feet and started walking away. “Let’s find the source.”
Godilai was silent as she quickly followed him further into the labyrinth. Dimitri thanked the Gods for the time alone with her; how he had longed for it! Yet he could do nothing but enjoy her company. If Nír’l was correct - and Dimitri was sure the more experienced Dákun Daju was - any attempts to woo her now would only push her further away.
Dimitri paused mid-stride. The pathway he had followed emptied into a round expanse so large he couldn’t see the ceiling. The far end crackled and popped as emerald green lightning jumped the void between walls. Seated just before the electric wall were two statues. One sculpture was the black marble dragon he sought; the other was an ugly beast that dwarfed everything in the room.
He couldn’t even begin to name the creature it depicted. Great, cloven feet stood a distance apart and kept the colossal figure from tipping. Long tendrils of hair covered its legs but kept its sturdy torso bare. Two muscular arms grew from the right side of its body and one clutched a gigantic axe. A third, which formed into a strange sort of spiny shield, sprouted from the left. A flaring mane covered the beast’s wide shoulders and neck, framing a bull-shaped head and long, twisted horns.
Godilai came to a stop right beside him and scoffed. “Don’t tell me you are impressed by this.”
Dimitri studied her for a long moment. He smirked. “Why not? You obviously are.”
“Right.” Godilai strode passed him and right up to the black dragon. Dimitri watched as she ran her hand over the dais beneath its claws to reveal the runes that served as the eighth key. He quickly removed his father’s diary from the sack on his hip and scribed the runes on a page. He would get Pox to translate them later.
“Alright,” he tucked the diary away, “I got what I needed. We can return to the others and begin preparations for—”
“Silence!”
Dimitri didn’t need to be told twice. He had picked up the sound in the same instant Godilai had; a barely audible scraping of rock against rock. He met her gaze for a moment, before they both traced the sound upwards, to the head of the giant beast.
Dimitri gasped as the beast’s head slowly shifted downwards. Its eyes flashed green with power and its weaponless right hand clenched into a fist. It released a deafening roar and slammed its fist on the spot where Godilai had stood a split second before. As the Dákun Daju rolled away and drew both of her swords, the giant monster snorted and growled as it lifted itself to its full height.
In a burst of unrivaled speed, Godilai launched herself towards the brute. It snorted as her blades bounced off its rock-hard body, leaving nary a scratch. She swore and back-flipped away just in time to avoid getting crushed as the beast slammed a hoof into the ground. Before the beast could move again, Godilai sprinted up its body to land a blow to its eye. Her sword shattered at the impact and the beast swatted her away with its shield-like arm.
“Levítum!” Dimitri’s spell caught Godilai before she slammed into the wall. He granted her a moment to recover before cutting off the magic. She dropped to the ground silently, tossed her broken sword away with a frown, and drew a dagger from her boot. “Unless that can break rock, it won’t do any good.”
Godilai glared at Dimitri’s back. “Then what do you suggest?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
“You are useless!” She hissed and once again launched herself at the beast. Dimitri could only watch as she tried in vain to bring the monster down. She stabbed at its legs and torso, and only succeeded in shattering her other sword. Dimitri barely ducked in time to avoid the blade as it flew passed him.
Aggravated by her lack of success, Godilai hurled the remnants of her sword at the beast’s head and resorted to pounding it with her fists. With each hit, sparks of electricity erupted from the point of impact.
The beast roared in agitation and swung its giant axe in a great sweep. Seeing the brute’s intentions, Dimitri quickly cast a spell to block the blow and winced in pain as the magic drained him upon impact. Godilai looked back at him in shock before sprinting away from the monstrosity.
“Are you crazy?!”
“I couldn’t bear the thought of you being killed by that thing.” Dimitri muttered, ignoring her angry rant.
/>
The ground shook violently as the beast took a step towards them, then another. Dimitri whispered a curse and wondered just how to damage a monster made of rock.
“You had better do something, Dimitri!”
Those sparks... That beast must be alive by the Thunder Dragon’s power. The opposite element of electricity is... He snapped his fingers. “Godilai, distract that thing long enough for me to gather the energy for a spell.”
Godilai frowned, but nodded in understanding. “Make it quick.”
Dimitri retreated a little ways away as Godilai sprinted up to the colossus. Instead of landing pointless blows against the beast, she taunted it and dodged between its legs. Sending a prayer to the Gods to keep her safe, Dimitri closed his eyes and began charging the spell he hoped would work against the monster.
Unable to keep up with Godilai’s rapid movements, the beast quickly grew irritated. Its eyes flashed and lightning crackled to life in its giant maw. Godilai swore venomously and dove out of the way as the beast unleashed a huge blast of electricity at her. The blast exploded just inches away from her and she screamed as the burning pain racked her body. She collapsed to the ground and remained very still.
The beast snorted in satisfaction and raised its giant axe. It brought it down in a huge arc and buried it deep in the floor of the cave, sending rubble flying in all directions. Realizing its prey was no longer there, it roared in fury and searched the cavern. It found what it sought moments later, slung over the back of Dimitri as he retreated into a smaller portion of the cave.
The beast’s angry roar made Dimitri wince. Realizing he would never get away in time, he cast a spell to warp Godilai a ways away before turning to face the colossus alone.
“Come on!” Dimitri roared and the monster’s eyes flashed green. An electric blast once again sparked to life in its giant maw. Dimitri sneered and brought his hands up in front of him. A blue aura engulfed his body as he summoned all of the energy he managed to gather. As he formed the aura into the largest water orb he could manage, he prayed it was enough to end the beast’s terror.
The colossus launched the gathered electricity and Dimitri wasted no time in releasing his own spell. The giant orb of water shot out towards the beast, absorbing the blast of lighting and turning it upon the creature. The energy collided with the colossus, tearing a roar from its lips before forcing it to shatter.
I did it! Dimitri fell to his knees as huge chunks of rock rained down. He felt his body go limp and closed his eyes as he collapsed to the ground.
◆◆◆
A warm sensation washed over him, relieving limbs weary from over exertion. He forced his eyes to open and stared into the depths of a concerned aquamarine gaze. He smiled; Godilai was unharmed.
“You are a fool, you know that?” Her tone wasn’t reprimanding as he had expected. Instead, it sounded relieved and... happy?
“Yes you are.” He finally tore his gaze away from Godilai to see Pox kneeling over him. Her brow was furrowed in concentration as she used her magic to restore his strength. Vincent peered over her, looking down on him in worry.
“About time you two showed up.” Dimitri chuckled at their expressions. Pox immediately cut off her magic with a huff.
“If you two hadn’t snuck away while Vincent and I were resting, you wouldn’t be in this condition!”
“Silence, girl.” Godilai muttered crossly. Pox glared daggers at her before getting up and storming away. “Vincent, go after her. We will follow in a moment.”
The old Judge gawked at Godilai. He glanced at Dimitri to make sure everything was alright before doing as he was told. Finally alone again, Dimitri sat up and met Godilai’s gaze. Her cyan eyes betrayed a curious emotion, but he knew better than to ask her what was on her mind; she wouldn’t answer him anyway.
“You risked your life for me.” Her voice was gentle and held a note of confusion. Dimitri blinked in surprise. He didn’t even realize that he had saved her from the colossus; he had just been acting on impulse.
“Yes. Yes, I did.” He forced himself to look away from her.
“Why?”
It was a simple question, but his heart skipped a beat at the very word. Still avoiding her gaze, he replied carefully, “Because I... I wanted to protect you.”
A lengthy silence lapsed between them. Fearing his answer had ruined his chance to win her heart, he steeled himself and looked at her again. To his surprise, she was still staring at him; her expression betraying her emotions for the first time since he had known her. She was confused and angry, yet he could see happiness sparkling in her eyes.
“Am I really worth that much to you?”
He dared to grasp her hands in his own. “Godilai, you are worth so much more.”
A tear escaped her. Without a second’s hesitation, he moved to kiss it away. She smiled and he bravely and gently brushed his lips against hers. He pulled back slightly to gauge her reaction and was rewarded with a heated kiss from her.
Short of breath, they finally parted and gazed into each other’s eyes. Dimitri knew then that Godilai would be his mate; his queen, forever. He smiled and caressed her cheek. Together they rose to their feet and walked in silence through the labyrinth to rejoin Pox and Vincent. They had much to do to prepare for Xyleena’s arrival.
‘Why twelve dragons?’ That is the most common question I am asked. I usually shrug and answer with ‘Why not?’. In truth, it was twelve because that is how many elements there are in the world. Earth, air, fire, water; everyone knows of those four. Chaos is another, as are: poison, life, death, time, light, dark, and void.
– FROM “CONVERSATIONS WITH AMOREZ” BY DJURDAK ZA’CAR
I gazed down through the gap between Helios’ alabaster wing and neck, watching in awe as the jagged mountains gave way to the turquoise ocean. An enormous, wooden pier stretched the distance of the crescent-shaped coast, providing havens for the numerous ships at dock. Countless stone buildings, bleached white by sunlight, stood amidst the gold, orange, and red foliage of the foothills and cliffs. They climbed the height of the mountain in a tight spiral that ended just below the peak. And a great castle was nestled amongst heavenly fountains and exquisite gardens at the apex.
So this is Vronan. I smiled to myself as Helios dipped to lead the others in a lazy loop over the massive harbor town. I knew he was looking for a place to land, but the city was far too crowded to even consider an attempt. I thumped him on the neck and told him to land in the harbor instead. He obliged by diving for the open water.
Helios swooped low enough to graze his front claws across the surface of the water, using the friction to slow himself down significantly. Finally he plunged into the harbor with a great splash that sent a mist airborne. It turned into countless rainbows that seemed to hang there even as the mist sank back to the water. Mere moments later, the other six dragons splashed down in synch beside him.
After checking that my teammates were alright, I gave Helios the order to swim to shore. When we drew closer to the edge of the water, I noticed an ever-growing crowd swarming to the docks. Even the crewmen of the surrounding ships were glued to the railing, staring at us as if they didn’t believe their eyes. I couldn’t suppress the smile that etched its way across my face as they all started cheering at once.
“Yeesh!” Kitfox exclaimed and lay his ears flat against his head. “You’d think we were heroes or something!”
“Last I checked, we were heroes, Kitfox.” Muttered Shazza. “After all, we are well on our way to preventing the Shadow Keeper from opening the Dragons’ Gate and taking over the world.”
The Fox Demon rolled his eyes. “You Dákun Daju really can’t take a joke.”
“I guess not.”
“Speaking of the Shadow Keeper,” Thera began, “I can’t help wondering if Dimitri gave up.” I glanced back at the Feykin in puzzlement. “We haven’t seen hide nor hair of him and his ilk since we released Riptide and Wildfire almost three months ago.”
; “I am certain Dimitri is still out there; probably biding his time until an opportunity to steal Dragon Diary presents itself again.” As I spoke I held the gaze of each of my teammates, lingering longest on Kkorian. With every word, the pirate seemed to grow more and more distressed and it worried me greatly.
He had been gravely ill during the two-week-long flight from Monrai; so much so that none of us thought he would survive. He only managed to pull through after Shazza forced him to drink some strange Dákun Daju concoction. Though Kkorian had been feeling better, I was concerned that whatever challenges we were about to face during our search for Thedrún would be the end of him.
That train of thought ceased when Helios announced our arrival at the dock. I sighed in an attempt to expel my fears and began to untie the leather straps that held me in the saddle. I was assisted up to the wharf by a pair of strapping, young men who couldn’t seem to stop smiling. As I thanked them, Helios faded into sparkling orbs and wisps of white. His essence danced around me before entering the Dragon Eye Amulet.
Kitfox leapt from Kkaia’s back while she was still a good distance out. He landed gracefully next to me with a cocky smirk and turned to help Kkorian out of the saddle astride Wildfire. Finally free of her burden, the Dragon of Fire huffed and took flight. Midair over the docks, she promptly burst into flames to dry the water off before vanishing into her own inferno. Searing hot fire swirled around me before disappearing into the Amulet. Riptide’s cooling torrent and Kkaia’s rocks and dust were soon to follow.
Villagers began firing questions at us in rapid succession. Kitfox did his best to accommodate them while Kkorian and I helped Thera and Shazza onto the wharf. The dragons they rode faded into their elements and vanished into the depths of the Amulet leaving Kúskú alone in the chilled water of the bay. The silver Dragon of Illusion seemed to study every person present before looking me in the eye.
Culmination Page 10
