“Stay safe.” He whispered in his cryptic way of warning. Before I could inquire as to his meaning, he faded into mirrored shards and silver dust. As his element whirled around me, the mirrors reflected wild dreams and hellish nightmares before disappearing into the Eye.
I suppressed a shiver and finally turned my attention to the wonders of Vronan. White and grey standards atop several buildings fluttered to life on the sea-borne breeze. The Rising of Khatahn-Rhii had passed some time ago and autumn now had a firm grip on the world. Winter would soon be here. I wasn’t looking forward to the season during my quest for the dragons.
The murmur of the crowd pulled me from my thoughts of changing seasons. Kitfox had done wonders for calming them and was in the midst of explaining the reason for our presence. As he spoke about the search for Thedrún, I scanned the faces of the crowd. Most of them seemed eager and shocked, while a scant few looked as though they didn’t believe a word that was said regardless of the evidence that had just been swimming in their harbor.
Shazza quietly scoffed. “Can’t win them all.”
Just as I was glancing over my shoulder to say something to her, an apparition in white on the far left stole my attention. The white-cloaked figure seemed to feel my gaze upon it and froze. Keeping its face completely hidden, it slowly turned around to face me. The figure clapped thrice before turning and briskly continuing on its way again. I forced myself not to follow or call out.
What is Amorez doing here?
Amorez? Here in Vronan? Are you sure? Wildfire’s excited voice echoed in my mind.
It was the same white cloak from that night in Monrai. It has to be her!
It is not. Came Kúskú’s reply.
I frowned. How can you be sure it wasn’t Amorez?
He provided no answer.
“You okay, Xy?” The concern in Kitfox’s voice brought me back. I cleared my throat and looked at him with a smile and nod. I could tell he didn’t buy it for second, but went along with my act anyway. “We’ve been invited by Raythur Gondin, the Magistrate of Vronan, to stay in the Anchorage Castle Hotel.” As he spoke, the Fox Demon gestured to a lavishly-dressed, middle-aged man with a crooked grin. He instantly gave me the chills.
“That is very generous of you, Mr. Gondin,” I nodded my head in respects to the Magistrate, “but I fear we are too pressed for time to stray from our mission at the moment. Perhaps we will stop in once we have acquired the dragon we seek.”
The Magistrate’s face seemed to fall for a moment, before he hid his disappointment with a rather large and unnerving grin. “That’s quite all right, dear. I understand your haste.” Without so much as another word, he turned and strode away.
Thera quirked an eyebrow at the Magistrate’s retreating form. “Strange Hume. Just a moment ago he was bound and determined to all but drag us there himself.”
“He wouldn’t get very far.” Muttered Shazza. “Besides, Xyleena-Sortim is right; our first concern should be finding the dragon.”
“You sure you want to decline his offer, Xy?” Asked Kkorian. I looked at him, noticing the weary look in his azure eyes.
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t think it was a good idea to go with him. He really gave me the creeps.”
“I agree.” Kitfox nodded and draped an arm around my shoulders before whispering in my ear. “You sure you’re okay, Xy? You looked like you saw a ghost there for a bit.”
“I promise, I’ll tell you what I saw later.” His brow furrowed at my words, but he nodded in understanding and let his arm drop.
“So, which way do we go to find Thedrún of Thunderous Crown?” Thera grinned as she looked at me. I clicked my tongue and closed my eyes to concentrate on the pulls of the five remaining dragons. Picking up on the closest one, I turned in the direction it lead and opened my eyes.
I was facing the same direction I had seen the white-cloaked figure disappear in. Maybe, with any luck, we would once again cross paths and I would finally be able to solve the mystery of who was really under the white cloak. I smiled and pointed. “We go that way.”
◆◆◆
I glanced back at Kkorian to check how well he was doing with the vigorous climb up the mountain. He was still weak from his fight against whatever had ailed him and I didn’t want to push him too hard lest he never recover. Seeing how pale and sweaty the pirate was and how heavily he limped on his once-broken ankle, I decided to call a break to let him recover some.
I took a seat on a boulder next to Kitfox and watched as Kkorian slumped at the base of a tree. Shazza was at his side a moment later, providing water and that strange medicinal drink she had concocted. He took it gratefully and allowed himself to be gathered in her embrace.
“It’s amazing to see how much Shazza has grown to care for Kkorian.” Whispered Kitfox. I nodded in agreement. Those two had become so close after the fiasco within Kúskú’s Illusion Castle that I couldn’t help wondering if they would have a happy future together as husband and wife. Kitfox cleared his throat and looked at me. “So... are you going to tell me what you saw that made you go pale earlier, or are you going to keep it your secret a bit longer?”
I chuckled. “I knew you wouldn’t forget about it.” He made a face. “Remember that white-cloaked figure I told you about in Monrai?”
Kitfox said he did.
“The same one was here in Vronan.”
“You’re kidding!” I shook my head. “How did Amorez get here so fast? It’s not like she has a dragon to ride.”
“Kúskú said it wasn’t her.” I sighed. “And no, he didn’t say who it really was.”
“Damn.” Kitfox’s ears drooped in disappointment and I moved to rub his back affectionately. “I was so looking forward to actually meeting her.”
“I was just going to yell at her for not telling me who she was sooner.” Kitfox snickered at my remark.
“Kkorian has fallen asleep.” Shazza announced softly. “I will carry him up the mountain so we are not caught out in the open upon nightfall.”
“If you’re comfortable with it, I don’t see a problem with pushing on. He was the main reason why I decided on a break.” I said as I watched the Dákun Daju Queen stand and gently scoop the sleeping Kkorian into her arms.
“Let’s go.”
◆◆◆
The suns hung low in the sky at our backs when Kkorian roused from his slumber. He chuckled sheepishly when he realized he was being carried and by whom. Shazza flashed him a smile so quick he was sure he had imagined it.
“Feeling any better, Kkorian?”
He blushed at her question. “Aye.”
“Good to hear.”
“You’ve been asleep for several hours.” Kitfox explained, slowing his stride enough to walk beside Shazza. “Instead of letting night creep up on us while you rested, we decided it was best to push on and find shelter at least.”
“Well, thanks for not leaving me.” Kitfox returned the pirate’s grin and clapped him on the shoulder before rushing ahead to walk with me again. Kkorian returned his attention to Shazza. “Is there any way I could be put down?”
“I’m sure there is.” Shazza replied softly. “The question is, why? With me carrying you, your strength is focused on getting better instead of being wasted on walking.”
“Too right, but I really have to... uh,” Kkorian’s face flushed beet red, “hit the dunny.”
I couldn’t suppress the snicker that escaped me upon overhearing his embarrassing confession. As I pulled everyone to a stop, I caught Shazza giving Kkorian a quizzical look before letting him down. He thanked her and quickly vanished into the trees to relieve himself.
“What a strange man.” Shazza muttered and crossed her arms.
“Yup.” I laughed. “He’s great fun to be around though, isn’t he?”
Shazza didn’t answer; not that I ever expected her to.
“Oi! Take a squizz at this, mates!”
Thera sighed and shook her head. “What in the name of the Fi
ve Souls is he talking about now?”
“Doesn’t he ever say anything that makes sense?” Kitfox laughed and led the way through the trees after Kkorian. A scant few moments of brisk walking and we found him dancing in front of the side of a cliff. “What are you shouting about now, you nut job?”
“Watch this!” Kkorian made sure we were all watching before stepping up to the cliff face. With a huge grin plastered across his features, he reached out to touch the wall. His arm went straight through!
“No way!” Kitfox guffawed.
“How did you find that?” Asked Thera. A moment later, she cast a spell to cancel the mirage hiding the cave entrance.
The pirate scratched the back of his head and laughed. “I actually fell into it.”
“You have issues.” Thera deadpanned.
“Well if he hadn’t fallen into it, we would have passed right by it and never even know.” I replied, clapping the pirate on the shoulder. “Good work, klutz.”
◆◆◆
We wandered the labyrinth-like cavern for what felt like the entire night before I finally gave in to exhaustion. We divided the rest period into guarded shifts and quickly set up a rudimentary camp. The minute my head hit the pillow, I was lost to sleep.
I was awakened from my slumber what felt like only minutes later. Shazza apologized quietly and helped me set up for my shift on guard duty. I watched as she checked on Kkorian’s condition before slipping into her own bedroll and letting sleep claim her.
Minutes passed in silence like hours. Bored, I decided to invent a game involving many pebbles and a few circles drawn into the stone floor with magic. Strangely, I kept losing. I snickered to myself as I collected the pebbles I had tossed.
“What’s so funny?” I nearly jumped out of my skin at Kkorian’s whisper. He flashed an apologetic smile and gathered his blankets to join me. “Boring night?”
“You have no idea.” I muttered and tossed a pebble. It rolled passed the target and I tossed another.
“I’m sorry for slowing everything down.”
I quirked an eyebrow at the pirate. “There’s no reason to apologize, Kkorian. You have been sick.”
“Yeah.” He sighed and rested his chin in his palm. “I’m still sorry... for everything.”
“Oh, quit acting so depressed.” Came Kitfox’s muttered reply. Kkorian looked the Fox Demon in the eye as he crept out of the darkness. “It’s not like you.”
The pirate slowly nodded.
“Did we wake you, Kitfox?”
“Huh? Oh. No.” He yawned and stretched. “That annoying crackling and zapping sound did.”
“‘Crackling and zapping?’”
“You probably can’t hear it.” He pointed to his ears and swiveled them in the direction I assumed was where the sound originated. “It’s a ways away, but it’s loud enough to annoy me to death. I’m surprised it isn’t irritating Shazza.”
“Same here.” Kkorian said, sending an affectionate look in the napping Dákun Daju’s direction.
“Think you can track the sound to the source?”
“That would be easy. Why?”
I grinned. “I bet you that is where we will find Thedrún.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” He chuckled. “Should we wake Thera and Shazza and be on our way, or let them sleep a bit longer?”
“It’s hard to sleep through all of your yapping.” Thera grumbled.
“Sorry, Thera.” The Feykin chuckled at my apology and spread her charcoal wings wide as she sat up. A moment later, she wrapped them around herself in a sort of cloak.
“I overheard something about a clue to the dragon?”
Kitfox gave her the run down on what had transpired while she had been dozing. He paused when Shazza suddenly sat up and looked around. The Dákun Daju frowned in annoyance and rubbed her ears before looking to Kitfox for an explanation.
After the entirety of the plan was explained and agreed upon, we packed up our belongings and fell in line behind the Fox Demon as he led the way through one twisted tunnel after another. He paused occasionally and sniffed the air; making a disgusted face at whatever his sensitive nose detected.
“I hope you’re not picking up Dimitri’s stench.” Shazza muttered crossly.
“I can’t smell a thing except salt water and the sickeningly sweet aroma of cave workings.” Kitfox punched a stalagmite for emphasis as he walked passed it. “It’s almost as bad as the stink of the warding incense used in Monrai.”
“Are we getting close to the source of the sound you heard?”
His ears swiveled and he nodded. “It’s only a few meters away now.”
“You know what I don’t get?” Thera interjected. “‘Dear Thedrún of Thunderous crown; Sleeps beneath Lescan harbor town’ is what the riddle said, yet we climbed half way up a mountain to get here! How is this beneath Vronan?”
“This labyrinth has been steadily descending in altitude.” Replied Shazza. “From the distance we have traveled, I would guess that we are almost directly below the middle of the harbor now.”
“I didn’t even notice we were on a decline.” I said, glancing upwards to observe the jagged and dripping ceiling of the cave. A flash of chartreuse light reflected off the surface of the stalactites and I gasped. “We must be very close to Thedrún now.”
A rolling crackle of electricity charged the air around us. Kitfox pointed ahead with a laugh. “There’s the source of all the noise.”
“Wow!” I could only gawk at the spectacle beyond. The mouth of an immeasurably large cave loomed in the darkness before us. Emerald lighting sparked and danced over the space between its walls, creating a beautiful and deadly barrier. A black dragon statue stood just before the blockade; ever watchful. Large chunks of rock littered the ground all around. I could make out part of a face of an unknown beast carved into a portion of one boulder.
“Looks like there was another statue here.” Remarked Thera. “It must have fallen over and broken.”
“Too bad.” Shazza smirked. “I would have loved to have seen a creature like this whole.”
Kkorian shook his head. “No thanks. That thing is givin’ me the creeps as it is.”
I silently agreed with Kkorian as I stepped around him and the others. I stopped beside the black dragon statue and examined the electric barrier that blocked the way. The pull I felt from the Dragon of Thunder ended a short jaunt beyond. But how was I going to get passed the barrier?
“Something doesn’t feel right about this place.” Kitfox muttered quietly as he approached me from behind. I nodded in agreement, which seemed to surprise him.
“I remember seeing that second statue whole.” I explained, watching as his expression contorted into a look of mixed worry and bewilderment. “It was modeled after a beast from ancient Earthic mythology; the Minotaur. It had been imbued with magic and Thedrún’s own power. There was no way it could have simply fallen over.”
“Then how...?”
“Any luck figuring out how to get through the barrier without getting cooked?” Thera asked as she bounded up to us. I slowly shook my head. The Feykin frowned and launched a spell at the barrier only to have the magic ricochet. “Figures that wouldn’t work.”
“What is this?” The three of us turned around at Shazza’s voice. I discovered her standing a few paces away pointing to something on the floor. I moved towards her and grinned at the sight of the small and intricately carved depression in the stone. “You know what this is, don’t you?”
“Yup.” I chuckled. As I knelt beside the indentation, I removed the Dragon’s Eye Amulet from its position around my neck. I inserted the Amulet in the carving with a long forgotten expertise and heard a soft click. A heartbeat later, the electric barrier vanished with a sizzle and I removed the Amulet.
“You’re as cunning as a dunny rat to think that one up!” Kkorian laughed.
“Indeed she is.”
I smiled as the new presence in the room stole the breath of my tea
mmates. Thedrún was seated on his haunches as if he were the monarch of dragon kin. His ivory horns swept back and almost blended into his spiny mane. He kept his wings partially folded and nearly locked the wing claws together just above his head.
His tail twitched slightly in amusement and lightning arced between the prongs of the trident-shaped blade at the tip. Occasionally, the perpetual lightning gathered there would crackle and shoot across the entirety of his hunter green and emerald scales.
The Dragon of Thunder seemed to smile as he rose to all fours. He strode forward, pausing ever so briefly to glance at the faces of my teammates before stopping at my side. His glowing, amber eyes studied me for a moment before he lowered his head to my level. “It is nice to see you again, Xyleena. You have changed since last we met.”
“I’m not surprised to hear you say that, Thedrún.” I returned the dragon’s smile as I reached out to stroke his muzzle. “How have you been?”
“Locked in a perpetual prison of monotony.” He answered as he sat. I felt a twinge of guilt at his words and nodded sadly. He snorted and bumped his muzzle against my hand. “Don’t feel badly about it, Xyleena. I used the time to develop several new strategies.”
“Still, I feel terrible about how long you’ve been locked away in here.”
Thedrún chuckled and sat straight. “I guess you haven’t changed as much as I first thought.”
“You really think so?” The dragon nodded and cast a glance at each of my teammates. I smiled as I introduced him to each of them.
“Quite a team you have gathered.” Thedrún looked back at me. “They almost match the team Amorez once led.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Thera smiled.
“Same here.” Added Kitfox.
“As well you should. Amorez’s team was nigh on impossible to match in battle once they actually worked together as a single unit instead of many.” Said Thedrún. “I trust Kúskú has already tested your trust in each other?”
“You could definitely say that.” Muttered Shazza. Thera mumbled something I couldn’t hear.
The Dragon of Thunder nodded. “Then you are almost a match for Amorez’s team. With a little more training, you will be able to fend off anything the Shadow Keeper will throw at you.”
Culmination Page 11
