Serpent in the Mist

by Cleave Bourbon

  “I bet you would at that.” He moved to Lady Shey. “My apprentice, as lovely as ever.”

  “I am thankful you are safe,” she replied.

  “Enowene, we have a few issues to discuss. I ran into Kimala.”

  “We will talk later. For now, I am pleased we found you.”

  Morgoran looked at Ianthill. “Aye, how was that possible?”

  Ianthill pointed to Rennon, who was busy hugging and being hugged by his own friends. “That boy has cured the afflicted, and he may have brought about the return of the mindwielders.”

  “The storm was brought on by him?”

  “He and about one hundred former afflicted camped out near the old gated entrance. We caught up to him just before the hoard of dragons appeared. We knew they had to be after something or someone. Deylia, Rennon’s female companion over there, could not sense the cursed ones anywhere in the city, but she could sense you. How did you defeat Sythril?”

  “Did you see the body of Melias here? He was taken down by three dragons.”

  “No, just the burning bodies of the cursed.”

  “Devyn was here. I put the general in the Aroanian Crystal right before Devyn took it and flew off with one of the dragons.”

  “The Aroanian Crystal? So he is looking for the keys.”

  Gondrial and Theosus joined them.

  “It is true, old friend, you are back and looking much better than the last time I saw you.”

  “Theosus Fiderea, I see you managed to carry out our plan.”

  “Aye, the boy was difficult to convince, but your vision was true to the letter.”

  “I think we are missing something,” Gondrial said.

  Morgoran gave him a reassuring gaze. “I will fill you all in.”

  “Oh, I sent the Ganas boy to Draegodor as you wished,” Theosus said.

  “Good, we need to get that army back here as soon as we can, but I fear we have a more pressing problem, and it’s going to take you coming out of exile and going back to Draegodor. Devyn needs the golden serpent key from King Amarantus’ treasure hoard in Draegodor. I wasn’t worried about it before because I thought it would be impossible for him to get, but from what I just witnessed, Devyn is cleverer than I thought. In order to defeat a stronghold of dragons, you—”

  Theosus winced. “Attack it with a stronger force of dragons.”

  “We need to get word to Draegodor.”

  “I think we have a pretty quick way to get there,” Ianthill said.

  Gondrial chuckled. “We managed to enchant a decently-sized ship. Sanmir is securing it by the front gates now.”

  “That’s extraordinary. We needn’t waste any more time; we must get going then.”

  “Morgoran, I can’t go with you to Draegodor. I am needed in Ardenia. There are people there still being executed.” Theosus was clearly struggling with his emotions. “I am also needed to help Rennon; he will need my guidance now more than ever.”

  “All right, my friend. We can manage. Go rescue your afflicted.”

  “Thank you, Morgoran. I will join the fight as soon as I return.”

  Morgoran nodded. “Now, let’s go see this ship.”

  As Ianthill led Morgoran away, Rennon stopped him. “Morgoran, I have some information that may be of some importance.”

  Morgoran stopped. “What is it, Rennon?”

  Rennon motioned to Deylia. “This is my friend Deylia. She is the one that sensed you were in the city.”

  “I am indebted to you, Deylia, and nice to make your acquaintance.”

  Deylia genuflected. “Likewise.”

  “What is the matter?”

  “When the dragons were overhead and I was trying to find the cursed of the city, I sensed something else, something vile and evil.”

  “Was it coming from Devyn?”

  “I don’t know Devyn, sir, but I don’t think it was him. What I felt was something I have felt before, in Trigothia. It was like a dragon, but smaller and twisted.”

  “Are you certain it wasn’t one of the dragons?”

  “Aye, it was looking for something, and as soon as it found it, the thing was gone.”

  “Thank you, dear. I will think about what it could be.” He assured her by patting her on the back. He walked away more briskly than before. Ianthill had to make strides to catch up to him. “I know that look, what is it?”

  Morgoran didn’t stop but still answered. “Melias fell to the dragons. I think a Drasmyd Duil must have taken the opportunity to steal his body.”

  “Why would Toborne want Melias?”

  “I am not certain, but I am sure he could twist something out of him.”

  “Does he know anything?”

  “I don’t think he knows anything that might hurt us. Most of what he heard is common knowledge. I didn’t discuss any real plans with him.”

  “Good, then what’s to worry about?”

  “Ianthill, we must get Devyn back in control. We are fighting too many battles. While we chase after him, Toborne entrenches Naneden deeper into Lux Enor and makes his plans to conquer and control unopposed. We still have to get the army of the West back into the fight. I don’t want to do it, but if I am forced, I will have to kill Devyn. His role in my vision is unclear now anyway.”

  “I thought your vision was clear. Devyn is supposed to bring the dragons of Draegodor back to help our cause, not to mention he is the only one that can find and take us to the Silver Drake. Don’t forget she chose him.”

  “Well, now he has allied himself with Kragodor, and his dragon knight girlfriend has gone off and accidentally married Bren, the other dragon knight, whose life Devyn is supposed to save and become best friends with.”

  “How do you get accidentally married? Isn’t that like getting almost pregnant?”

  “Never mind that. If Devyn brings a battle to Draegodor, they will never follow him to fight against Toborne. The only plan that has worked out so far is Rennon.”

  “So what is the next step?”

  “We have to get to Draegodor. My hope is that if we warn them and prepare them, they will feel some kind of loyalty to us and we can still bring them into the coming war on our behalf. I need you to help me convince King Amarantus; you know how he feels about me. Then you and I will go after Devyn together. He is growing far too powerful, and I need your help to defeat him, Shey and Gondrial’s help too. Enowene will have to get back to controlling her spy network and send Kimala back to Naneden before he gets suspicious.”

  “What about Sanmir?”

  Morgoran stopped from his brisk pace. “Sanmir is sentimental. I would love to have his abilities with us, but I think he may be too attached to Devyn. If it comes to a fight, he might not be able to do what is necessary. I think we will send him with Devyn’s friends, back to Symbor. I will send him after the king’s staff before Naneden takes over the capital.”

  Morgoran picked up the pace again. “Once we get to your enchanted ship, we will round everyone up and get moving. Devyn destroyed the portal, so the ship is our only means at the moment.”

  “It is good to have you back, brother.”

  Morgoran cracked a sly grin. “See if you still feel that way tomorrow.”

  TOBORNE WORKED FOR two days and three nights to perfect his creation. He used all of the stolen power of the gods he had at his disposal, along with the power of the gods given to him. This creation could not be as commonplace as mere Dramyd or Drasmyd Duil. No, it had to be deadlier, stealthier, and more ruthless in order to exact his revenge on Devyn. It might have taken him months to create the Drasmyd Duil, but now that he possessed the knowledge needed, this new creation would take only a few days of intense work. An abomination of dragonkind so cunning that it would not only dispatch Devyn but it would be at Toborne’s side to do all of his dirty work after he secured the Blight and the known world for himself.

  Other than a few harmless tricks, Toborne had feared to allow his creations to use too much of the dragon magic in the pa
st. In fact, it was dangerous to allow any of his creatures to wield magic of any kind other than what he could expressly control. Besides, training a creature to use magic took time and effort that he usually did not have, but this time he had found a way around that. He would use, in his creation, a being already capable of using and wielding magic, the Brae Daun. He carefully removed all the memories of the one called Melias and erased all vestiges of his old life. To ensure that his old ways were truly eradicated, he magically infused the racial memories of the Duil brood, which he was using to stabilize his creation. This beast’s mind was a clean slate. He made sure the creature would remember how to take the form of the one called Melias, however, because the form might come in useful to give the element of surprise.

  Chapter 23: Friends and Enemies

  By the time Mount Urieus came into view, Morgoran could see the smoke rising up from Draegodor, and he realized that one of his most dreaded fears had already come true. Devyn did not wait to attack Draegodor but instead had gone there directly from By’temog. Morgoran briefly wondered if Devyn had been smart enough to plan for his involvement in getting the amulet or if it was just a coincidence. It was of no matter; the boy already had two of the four keys and was closing in on his third.

  The ship lurched to a stop before it passed over Mount Urieus. Sanmir joined Morgoran on the deck from the bridge. “Kyrie has disappeared again.”

  Morgoran nodded. “He gets bored hanging around. He’ll turn up again somewhere down the road, when it suits him.”

  “What do you wish to do now? If we get much closer to Draegodor, the dragons will burn this wooden ship out of the sky with all of us on it.”

  “Just hold here for a moment, Sanmir.”

  “Aye.” He watched Morgoran as he scanned the skies above Draegodor. Beads of sweat pooled and ran down his forehead. “What are you up to? For whom are we waiting?” Morgoran curled his upper lip and gave Sanmir a wink.

  “You sly dog, that’s why you sent Kimala,” Sanmir said.

  “There!” Morgoran pointed to a snow-white figure weaving around two green dragons. “Turn the ship around, Sanmir, and put as much wind in those sails as she can take.”

  “Aye, Morgoran,” he replied. As soon as he got to the wheel, he realized it did absolutely nothing to turn the ship. He concentrated on the sails as Ianthill and Lady Shey concentrated on getting the ship maneuvered into position. The ship creaked and groaned as Sanmir commanded the wind to fill the sails. It lumbered off through the skies.

  In the distance, Shadesilver flew as fast as her young drake wings would carry her. Morgoran could see that she strained a bit carrying three passengers, but he knew she could manage. She came crashing down on the deck just as The Shooting Star was picking up speed. She stopped to let down Kimala, Kelle, and Bren, and then she whirled around and fired a stream of searing-hot flame on the last pursuing green dragon, who dived in flames.

  “Do you have it?” Morgoran asked.

  Kimala took off her pack and rummaged around in it for a moment before producing a golden serpent. It was about the length of her elbow to wrist with emerald eyes, its body in a zig-zag pattern. Morgoran took the key and tucked it away in a pouch on his side.

  Kimala’s dazed expression triggered him to look up. A fireball streaked through the sky and took out the mainsail in a fiery blaze; pieces of burning sail fabric blew down onto the deck and overboard amidships. The Shooting Star slowed. Morgoran summoned essence and pushed the ship onward so violently that he stumbled, and Kimala fell to the deck. As soon as he regained his footing, he hurried aft. Two black dragons trailed the ship.

  Sanmir left the bridge to Gondrial and joined Morgoran at the aft railings. “It appears your plan did not go off without a hitch.”

  “If you came over here just to tell me that, you can march yourself right back to the bridge.”

  “I only meant that Shadesilver must have been seen leaving Draegodor.”

  “A number of things could have happened, but I am only interested in the here and now.” He squinted. “Do they look like they are gaining on us, or is it just me?”

  “They are closing in; of course, they are not hampered by weight as we are.”

  Morgoran stammered. “Sometimes when you say foolish things like that, I forget your magic works differently than mine. This ship is being held aloft and pushed along by essence; weight has nothing to do with it. We could be on an enormous flying boulder just as well.” He inspected the rest of the sails. “Still, your wind isn’t doing much for us anymore without that mainsail. You can stop sending it now.” He mumbled a fire spell and set it in motion with essence. The remaining sails burned away. “This is a ludicrous way to travel anyway,” he grumbled. “I can think of a dozen better ways to get from here to there. Flying a damned ship was always a silly novelty, even in the old days.”

  “Here comes another fireball. I’ll handle it.” Sanmir pulled in his right fist and pushed out the palm of his left hand at the same moment. The resulting blast of wind sent the fireball back toward the dragons in a hail of sparks.

  “That’s enough of that. It’s time to teach those dragons not to follow behind a ship full of master wielders,” Morgoran said. “Do me a favor and go fetch Shey, Ianthill, and Gondrial.”

  Sanmir took off, and a few moments later, Lady Shey and Gondrial appeared. A few moments more and Ianthill appeared with Enowene. Shadesilver also showed up in the form of an elf maiden. Angry, she started to transform.

  “No! Stay onboard,” Ianthill told her. “Those drakes out there will tear you apart in your true form. They have both size and ruthlessness over you. If you want to help, use your dragon magic from here.”

  “I can’t be sure, but from the looks of the mountains, we are nearing Tyr Raganough. We still have quite a ways to go,” Morgoran said. “None of the old portals still function in Symboria east of the Vale. If we need to, we can travel to my tower in the Vale instead of flying directly to Symbor. I have a Portal there, and we can use it to bridge the rest of the distance since I found the portal in Symbor will connect.”

  “I’m sure we would all be fine with a stopover at the Vale of Morgoran, but first we might need to survive.” Gondrial pointed aft. “I think two more dragons just joined the chase.”

  Morgoran grabbed ahold of the wooden railing. “What! How? No dragon can fly that fast.” His fingers were stiff from the bitter cold. He let go of the railing and rubbed them together. “Something unnatural is spurring them along.”

  Several fireballs and a crackling ball of lightning closed in on the ship. Lady Shey and Enowene countered with essence and managed to dissipate two of the balls of fire. Sanmir used lightning against the closest drakes, and they dipped out of formation but soon recovered. Morgoran made sure the ball of lightning didn’t hit the ship, but two of the errant fireballs met their marks. The ship jilted forward, and shards of ice that had been forming on the outer hull came loose and sailed like daggers back to the drakes, who rolled left and right to avoid them.

  “That’s it,” Morgoran yelled, “clear the ice!”

  The ship jolted and then began to descend. Morgoran almost fell overboard. Something was forcing them out of the sky and negating their magic.

  Lady Shey went to Morgoran’s aid. “We need a plan.”

  Morgoran strengthened his resolve and regained his footing. “We cannot fend off the attack and keep the ship from crashing to the ground. Someone over there is trying to countermand the enchantment. I need two of us working to keep us from crashing to the ground and the rest counterattacking the pursuers.”

  “Enowene and I can keep the ship’s enchantment,” Lady Shey volunteered.

  “Good, Shey, you know the way to the Vale; get us there!” He stumbled over to Gondrial, Ianthill, and Sanmir. “Sending small amounts of magic at four dragons is getting us nowhere. We need something big. I think that ice breaking loose has given me an idea. Sanmir, if you can draw a bunch of ice from the air and give them
some sharp edges, the rest of us can shoot them so fast at the dragons, they wouldn’t be able to avoid them all! Make as many as you can, as big as you can, Sanmir.”

  Sanmir used his abilities. As if they were merely hidden, hundreds of ice spears the size of tree trunks appeared around the aft of the ship. The wielders released them in a deadly barrage. The ice hit its targets, and the dragons scattered, but it merely slowed them down. Their rugged scales were still too hard for the ice to penetrate, even at the great speeds. The ship dipped again, and Morgoran whirled around to check on Shey and Enowene. They were both struggling to keep the ship enchanted. The magic would negate and they would re-enchant, but the magic was negating almost faster than they could re-enchant. Morgoran dared not talk to them for fear of breaking their concentration. He knew they were losing the battle; he just hoped they could make it to the Vale. “Those dragons have help.”

  Gondrial snickered. “Aye, they all have riders, probably all wielders.” Morgoran’s expression reminded Gondrial that he was unable to see as far. “Sorry, Morgoran, I forget sometimes that my half-elven eyes can see farther than yours.”

  “It’s quite all right, although a quick word to let me know important information would be nice, if you could remember my sight limitations, that is.”

  “Aye, I will remember.”

  “Are you able to see a face? Is it Devyn?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t quite see that far.”

  The ship finally cleared the Jagged Mountains and flew over grassland. Morgoran noted the warmer air. “We just cleared the last of the mountains; we aren’t even to Shadehollow yet. We will not make it to the Vale. Sanmir, when you get the chance, go below and tell the others to prepare for a possible ground assault.”

  KELLE LET OUT A SLIGHT yelp as the ship bucked and dropped again. Each time it lurched felt like it was going to free fall and crash into the ground. Trendan still could not get used to the idea of Kelle being married to Bren. He knew that they planned to get the marriage annulled, but they sure were cozy now, with Bren holding her and comforting her after every waver and groan of the ship. He tried to keep his eyes away from Fayne, who had managed to get Vesperin—shy, ridged, disciplined Vesperin—to hold her and keep her safe. Trendan knew that she could keep him safe just as easily; it was just a ploy. Kimala sat alone, beside Fayne, with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, and it wasn’t too long before he realized that she was staring at him. After a moment, she moved to sit next to him.