Serpent in the Mist

by Cleave Bourbon

  Shey tried to go to him, but he held his arm out, stopping her.

  Veric’s expression was completely blank as he produced a stone that looked very much like a Lora Daine and tossed it to Devyn. It was pale blue in color until Devyn caught it, and then it began to swirl in multi-colors and pulse. “Aye, he is the one. Gondrial is still a fool. All is right with the world.” He took the stone from Devyn and stepped to talk to Morgoran. “You know what this means as well as I, Morgoran. It isn’t safe here. If the general was truly guarding me and you defeated him, our enemy will take steps to move on with his plans.”

  “Aye, Toborne will retaliate by trying to eliminate you and everyone around you,” Morgoran agreed.

  “Why would Toborne care to do anything of the sort? I would assume he would be running for fear of me in pursuit of what he has taken from me,” Veric said. “I was referring to his ultimate goal of creating his dragon army.” He clutched his head. Lady Shey moved to steady him. “I remember now! My mind has cleared.”

  “Surely Toborne used one of his exiled dragon allies to imprison you here,” Ianthill stated. “Perhaps you are mistaken about the gold-scale.”

  Morgoran studied Veric’s face. “No, not Toborne. He couldn’t have come here before or during the War of the Oracle. What are you remembering, Veric?”

  “I am remembering that Toborne was involved, but only as a lieutenant.”

  “I still don’t follow,” Ianthill said.

  “I see you, Ianthill, and you, Morgoran, have either forgotten or were kept from the truth. Do you not remember what you were fighting for in the War of the Oracle?”

  Morgoran shrugged. “You forget, Veric, I didn’t fight in the war. I was already cursed at the time.”

  Ianthill tapped his mouth with his index finger. “The Oracle had convinced the general population that magic was evil and would destroy everyone and everything, and then proceeded and conspired in secret to make it happen. He planned to eliminate as many magic wielders as he could so he could ultimately take over the kingdoms with ease.”

  “Perhaps you never knew,” Veric said. “The Oracle went by many names to deceive. Sylvalora found his true name to be Golvashala in dragon tongue. It means gold scales in common, which means the Oracle was the gold dragon. He imprisoned me here, not Toborne.”

  Morgoran shook his head. “But that doesn’t make sense. Remember, the gold dragons were created by Fawlsbane Vex himself, and guard the godly realm of Venifyre. They are celestial beings.”

  “Aye, which means your war did not destroy him.” He looked to Devyn. “This Blight you spoke of. What is it? Explain it to me.”

  “The battlefield of the War of the Oracle. The overuse of essence drained it and made it into a barren wasteland.”

  “What happened to the Oracle?”

  “No one knows,” Devyn said. “I have asked some of these same questions, but the people who were there will not answer them.” He looked at Ianthill.

  “I did answer you to the best of my knowledge. Maybe my answer isn’t satisfying to you because we do not know exactly what happened. Toborne was with the Oracle and then the war ended with the Oracle dying in the midst of a blinding light. It looked to me as if Sylvalora had used a form of dragon’s fire, as I recall. It’s been a thousand years!” He looked at Lady Shey. “Shey was there.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” she said. “And it was Dragonspell she used.”

  Veric went to her. “You know what happened? You know where the Oracle is?”

  “I do know what happened, but I don’t know what happened to the Oracle.”

  Veric looked around at each of the party’s faces and noticed Gondrial looked as sad as Shey. A realization dawned on him. “Marella? Your best friend?”

  “I said I don’t want to talk about it, Father. Go find Theosus. He was there, too.” Gondrial sympathized with Shey.

  “Of course, my dear,” Veric said. “Wait, Sheyna, did you say Theosus Fiderea, the mindwielder?

  Ianthill nodded. “Aye, she did. He still lives and is nearby.”

  “Take me to him. I have a plan,” Veric said. “I must find Sylvalora. With her by my side, I can thwart the plans of even a gold dragon! If no one else knows of my return, maybe I can convince them I am still imprisoned.”

  “Ah, I see,” Ianthill said. “Theosus might be able to conjure up the permanent illusion that you are still imprisoned here.”

  “Aye, mindwielders are a crafty bunch,” Veric said.

  “We’re lucky we have a few of them nearby, then,” Devyn said.

  “A few?” Veric asked. “What happened to the rest of them?”

  “The mindwielders were thought to all be gone,” Ianthill told him. “A few appeared here and there, but no one knew how to train them anymore and they were killed or exiled. I tried to save a few myself, but without training, mindwielders proved to be extremely dangerous.”

  “Unfortunate. Mindwielders are a useful lot.” He paused. “Why didn’t Theosus train the young mindwielders?”

  “He did,” Morgoran said. “There are a few dozen very well-trained mindwielders in the world because of him. Over the years, he has made it his personal crusade to find and train mindwielders. I believe that is why he is here now.”

  “Excellent! King Amarantus must be proud.”

  “That, my friend, is a different story,” Morgoran said. “Come, I will take you to the camp of Theosus.”

  Chapter 27: Dragon’s Orb

  Vesperin awoke to bright light all around him. When his eyes adjusted, he could see a small white structure with a golden door a few paces away. He picked himself up and made his way to the construction. It appeared to be no more than a well-crafted and intricately-carved golden door in the middle of a white marble box that would take no more than eight paces to walk completely around, which he did. After a few moments’ hesitation, he opened the golden door and entered. Vesperin was surprised to see the room inside was enormous. It was much bigger on the inside than the outside. Gold and white furniture, placed meticulously throughout the room, complemented vast paintings and tapestries of bloody scenes of war in a strange kind of opposites attract sort of way. The vibrant colors of the tapestries and paintings, especially the red, broke the monotony of the white and gold.

  Vesperin tried to look at all the scenes in the room, but before long, he noticed that someone was sitting on one of the divans. Her golden hair and white and golden robes, coupled with the brightly lit room, hid her from his view at first.

  “Hello?” he called out.

  “Aye, I know you are there, Vesperin. I was letting you enjoy my artwork. Are they not beautiful?”

  “They are very beautiful, if not a bit morbid. Scenes of war and death, I mean.”

  The woman turned on her divan to face him. “Do you not recognize me? This is my work all around you.”

  “Loracia?” Vesperin fell to his knees and bowed to the floor.

  “Rise, my cleric, there is no need to be so formal here.”

  Vesperin rose. “Forgive me, but what is the proper title to call you? Goddess, maybe Your Grace, or Your Majesty?”

  “You may address me as Loracia. I may be a goddess to you, but I consider myself a mother and a healer before a goddess.”

  Vesperin still felt very nervous and awkward.

  “Relax, my cleric, sit.”

  As if she could sense his apprehension, her words soothed him, and all the tension drained from him. He sat down on the divan opposite Loracia.

  “Impressive room,” he said.

  She looked around as if trying to figure out what he was referring to. “It’s my inner sanctum, hidden from the rest of the realm of Venifyre, hidden from the other gods.”

  “Oh?”

  Loracia smiled, and Vesperin thought he would turn to ash at how sweet and sincere it was. Loracia’s features were almost too stunning to look at for long. A beauty so intoxicating, it was nearly painful to take it all in at once. “You s
ee, I am going against my husband’s wishes by bringing you here. He would be furious if he found out. He has instructed us to all stay out of the affairs of the world, but we have found that directive to be impossible to uphold. We all love our creations so.” Her voice had an ethereal quality to it. “Besides, I happen to know Vex breaks his own decree and interferes almost daily. There is a lot happening at the moment.”

  Vesperin giggled in spite of himself.

  Loracia was also amused. “I understand. You are drunk on the light of this place.”

  “Is that what it is?”

  “I am afraid I do have that effect on your kind when in my presence.”

  “You are the goddess of life! I can feel it everywhere.”

  “Oh, yes, you would. I am sure more than others. I must remember that. Forgive me, Vesperin, but when I brought you back that day at Signal Hill, I had to alter your life force permanently.”

  “I have thanked you in my prayers, but now I have the opportunity to thank you in person.” He stood and bowed deeply. “Thank you, my goddess.”

  “You are most welcome. Now, sit back down, and I will get to the point. It may be a bit difficult for you.”

  Vesperin complied and made himself comfortable.

  “I am afraid that I brought you back for a selfish reason. My husband, Vex, sometimes needs a little help, a push, if you will. I do love him dearly, but he does not work well when it comes to matters of life and death. The secret is that Vex, or Fawlsbane Vex as you may know him, has always had trouble creating life. He needs me to keep life and death running smoothly.”

  Vesperin nodded.

  “Look at me droning on,” Loracia said. “I can see I need to be more direct.”

  “This all comes down to me somehow?” Vesperin asked.

  “Yes, but not only you. The task I ask of you I do not ask of you alone. It takes both sides of the coin to make it whole. One half will never make a whole; you need the other.”

  Vesperin felt sedated and lethargic. “What is happening?” At first, Vesperin did not recognize the woman dressed in white robes walking up to them from behind Loracia, but as she neared, he could see her face clearly. “Fayne!”

  “Aye,” Fayne said. “Loracia has brought me here too.” She giggled and held her hand over her mouth to stop herself. She sat down next to Vesperin.

  Vesperin was not used to seeing Fayne . . . well, happy! She was always serious and a little grim. “Fayne is the other side of the coin?”

  Loracia nodded. “This task will take both of you.” The goddess moved to a space directly in front of Vesperin. “Focus!” She slapped him across the face. “Nothing is as it seems. It is up to you and Fayne to see through the veils.” Vesperin was rubbing his cheek, fully alert now. “I am giving you both what you need to succeed.” His cheek tingled with life when it should have been stinging from the slap. “No one around you, other than Fayne, is who they seem. Do not trust anyone but Fayne.” Loracia handed Vesperin a walking staff topped with a metal dragon curled around a blue-tinged clear orb containing a dragon depicted in flight. “This staff is not to be taken into battle, nor is it to be used in anger. It is a staff of life, not of death. It serves no magical purpose to anyone but the two of you. It is uniquely suited to remain hidden until it is needed. There is another staff in the process of being forged, but it will take time. You must share until the companion staff is ready. Now, you are both still asleep. Wake up!”

  Vesperin sat straight up in his bed so fast he flung the bed covers onto the floor. He bounded out of bed and sprinted down the old castle’s partially crumbling hallway until he met Fayne, who had just topped the stairs. They stood face-to-face in nothing but their bedclothes.

  “Did you just see—” Fayne began.

  “Aye, Loracia in your dreams?” Vesperin answered.

  “What does it mean?”

  “It means we do Loracia’s work. Will the girls miss you down there?”

  “I don’t think so. Why?”

  “Come to my chamber; we have some things to discuss.” He grabbed ahold of her hand, and they both jogged to Vesperin’s chamber. He looked down the corridor both ways until he was satisfied that they didn’t wake anyone before he closed the door.

  “Where is it?” Fayne asked.

  Vesperin opened his hand. The staff was no bigger than a sewing needle.

  “Why is it so small?”

  “Loracia said it could remain hidden.” Vesperin held out his hand and channeled his healing warmth through it, and the staff became full-sized.

  “Let me see it,” Fayne whispered.

  Vesperin handed the staff to her, and it shrank down as soon as it left Vesperin’s touch. Fayne tried to catch it as it fell, but it only bounded off the tips of her fingers. It hit the cold stone floor with a ting-tang sound and promptly disappeared down a crack.

  The End of book 3: Serpent in the Mist

  Book 4: The Tragic Orchids continues the Story of Devyn Adair and his companions.

  Author’s Note

  Thank you for reading Serpent in the Mist: Shadows of the first Trine book 3. If you would like to be informed of my new releases, go to www.cleavebourbon.com

  and subscribe your email to the mailing list. It’s spam free and the form is located right on the home page!

  As always, if you would like to ask me a question or contact me, my email is cleavebourbon@gmail.com

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2019, Cleave Bourbon (1968—)

  Editing by Courtney Umphress www.courtneyumphress.com

  Book cover design by Sanja Gombar www.fantasybookcoverdesign.com

  First Shadesilver Publishing electronic publication: April 2019

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded, or distributed via the internet or by any other means, electronic or print, without the author/publisher’s permission.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictionally and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, actual events, locale, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Published in the United States by Shadesilver Publishing 2019

  Dedication and acknowledgments:

  This book is dedicated to Aiden, Avery, and Roe! My shining stars!

  I would like to acknowledge the many people who helped me write this book along the way:

  Brandie, Eldon, Courtney, Kylie, Michael, Steve, Kenny, and the many others that have made contributions whether by making suggestions or by adding something useful to this work.

  Glossary

  (caution this glossary may contain spoilers)

  Adracoria - Southernmost Trigothian kingdom. Ruled by the Adrac family.

  Aedreagnon - (a-dray-ag-non) One of the eight gods. First son of Fawlsbane Vex and Loracia. He never did have the creative sense and the drive of purpose like his younger siblings. Instead, he was jealous of their creative genius and often used their creations to make followers of his own (Dramyds and Drasmyd Duil out of dragons, etc.) He would also teach his disciples to do the same. His jealously tended to make people misunderstand him and label him as evil.

  Ageanna - One of the eight gods. Creator of drakes and dragonkind. The youngest female child of Fawlsbane Vex and Loracia. Fawlsbane loved her creation of dragons so much he made his own (golden and silver dragons) and even created dragons to guard the realm of the gods, Venifyre.

  Amadace - Dragon in which Bren serves as First Knight.

  Amalease Stone - Stone used to gain entry into the gates of Draegodor. It is located on Mount Urieus.

  Amar - Race of high men from Lux Amarou. The first creation of Fawlsbane Vex.

&
nbsp; Anisport - Largest port city of Denosia, across the Great Sea.

  Arasyth/Sythia - Trigothian kingdom between Adracoria and Ardenia, host to the Great Sythian Forest. It is ruled by the Arasyth family.

  Ardenia - Northernmost Trigothian kingdom. It is ruled by the Arden family.

  Arillian Elves - High elves from the Isle of Arillia. They migrated to the Isle of Arillia at the end of the first age after their forests became grasslands and the area now known as Ishrak had become cursed. They are the fairest of elves and most elegant.

  Are’dune - Race of men who can trace their origins to Lux Amarou and the Amar but are not considered truly high men.

  Ascendic Root - A potent root made into a tea and drank. It relieves pain depending on the dose. Higher doses cause euphoria. Weak tea relieves the minor pain of headaches, etc., while strong tea relieves severe pain.

  Asheth’s Grimoire - An ancient tome containing spells of essence used to travel magically over distances. It is believed that Migarath used spells from the grimoire as a basis to build his famous Migarath Portals. (See Migarath Portals.)

  Bannon, Ezra - A powerful mindwielder and ally to Toborne. Also the reeve of Briarwick, Adracoria.

  Basillian - One of the great port cities in the kingdom of Symboria. Basillain is located in Northern Symboria, south of Seabrey. Due to disputes and treaties, Basillain is the port city in the north for trade with Adracoria. Seabrey is the northern port city for trade with both Ardenia and Sythia.

  Bittering Tea - A strong brew made from the grinding of the bittering bean. It has a distinct aroma and is usually consumed in the morning as a stimulant.