When Dragons Die- The Complete Trilogy Box Set

by K. Scott Lewis

  “Even the Black.”

  The crew continued to search around the spiny rock splinters and uncovered precious stones as well as scales. Whatever had flattened the mountain had condensed its minerals into gems, and Rajamin insisted it was worth the time to gather as much as the ship could carry. Aradma agreed to a day’s sojourn but no more. The thrumming beat still called, and its pull grew more demanding.

  Aradma went off on her own with Tiberan, exploring the crags and gullies of the mountainside. They found a short tunnel that led to the outside slope, and they stood together looking over the other mountain peaks. It must have been a very tall mountain, for even with as little of its side that remained, they still sat at eye-level over the peaked skyline. At this elevation they should have been cold, but the ambient heat in the air made their exposing jungle garb comfortable.

  Aradma took his hand in hers and led them down the slope. “There’s something down here,” she said.

  “I feel it too,” Tiberan affirmed.

  They descended into a winding ravine where the rugged pathway opened into a canyon that had not been visible from the sky. The path descended and the canyon widened, its walls curving and narrowing to a channel overhead until it became a wide tunnel with a jagged stripe of open sky above them. The walls here were untouched by whatever flame had scorched the mountains above. Veins of blue stone stretched through orange rock.

  They followed the descending path as the canyon continued to expand, its walls sweeping high overhead towards each other. The cavern ceiling did not close, remaining open to the light from the sky. As beautiful as the orange and blue rock veins that glittered in the overhead shafts of light were, they were not what caused their breath to catch.

  In the middle, directly under the open canyon ceiling, lay the preserved body of the Green Dragon. Her body and scales remained intact, unburnt. She had just… died.

  Aradma’s breath left her for a moment. “Oh, Tiberan…” she said.

  He walked ahead, approaching the corpse. She followed.

  She stopped to stand before the Green Dragon’s face. The emerald scales seemed to glint with light, and it almost appeared that she still lived. Aradma knew better. No life remained in the great Dragon.

  “This is our mother,” Tiberan whispered. “Graelyn.”

  Aradma nodded. She touched the cheek of the dead Dragon. The scales were cold, eerily so given the warmth of the air around them and the radiant heat from the ground. Aradma lived because the Green Lady had given her life, and yet she felt sorrow for the world knowing that Graelyn would no longer watch over it.

  Tiberan turned and suddenly embraced her. Her arms were folded in front of her body, and he crushed her to him. She looked up at him, and he showered kisses on her face. Tears moistened her cheeks.

  “She is not dead,” he comforted her. “She lives on in us. In all our people. We will find them.”

  “Kiss me,” she said.

  He did, deeply on her lips. His touch was strong and gentle, and she just wanted to melt into him. She could feel that he wanted to take her. For a moment, she surrendered to him. His passion increased as her body and being relaxed into his embrace, but in that instant he pulled back.

  “Ah!” he exclaimed.

  “What is it?” she murmured, breathing heavily.

  “There is life growing within you,” he said. “I can feel it.”

  Her heart thudded. “Yes,” she finally said. “That is why I would not lie with you in Kallanista.” The moment of surrender passed. She pushed away from him, “And that is why I cannot lie with you now.”

  His lips pressed together tightly. “Odoune is the father.”

  “He is the only man I have been with.”

  “Couraime told me that offspring between our kind is not possible. Does he know?”

  She shook her head. “He had his duty. He needed to guide his people after what I did to them. Had I told him, he would have abandoned them.”

  Tiberan trembled. His face had lost all cheer. “Aradma, I do not hate you for this,” he told her, “but on one thing, I must make myself clear. I will not, I cannot, share you with him. Not as the Vemnai would have.”

  “Ever since we saw each other, I knew I loved you. Had we met earlier, this child would have been yours. But I do not regret my choices.”

  “Do you have feelings for Odoune?”

  “I care for him very deeply,” she told him. “He taught me to touch the Life that flows in the world. I opened his heart to the Life within himself, and he gave me a child. He will always have a place in my heart. You will always have to share a part of me with him, as a friend.”

  Tiberan considered. “The past cannot be changed. I do not blame you for your choices. But I want you to be with me, as my mate, you and none other.”

  “I feel the same. I want you, you and none other.” She placed her arms over her belly. “But what about my child? His child?”

  “The child is innocent. I will be there for you as you raise her. If you will have me as your mate, I will raise her as my own.”

  “Her?”

  He nodded. “The Dragon connects you to the flora of this world. For me, it is different. I sense and know living blood, be they mortal or beast. The life within you is a girl.”

  She swelled with pride and love. “I would have you with me, Tiberan. And after she is born, we will have our own as well.”

  He kissed her forehead. “I would like that very much.”

  Knowing he would accept the child that grew inside her belly released the barrier of fear that had blocked her heart. She felt free again. She kissed him, and then, relaxing her body into his, she whispered into his ear, “Make love to me.”

  He did not question her further. He untied the knots on her clothes and let the two pieces of dinosaur skin fall freely to the ground. He removed his own clothing, and then embraced her, kissing her softly. He pulled her to the ground, and she followed him willingly. Propped up by his hands behind him, he sat upright with her on top of him, her legs wrapping around his waist. His arms came forward and held the small of her back close, and he kissed her belly and breasts. She ran her fingers through his blonde hair, pulling his bangs away from his copper forehead.

  They sat upright together under the shadow of the Green Dragon as she took him into her, joining their bodies as one. She cradled his face in the palms of her hands, gazing down into his golden-blue eyes as they rose and fell together in loving undulation. The only sounds in the silence under the Green Dragon were their deep breaths and little gasps that played off of and responded to each other. His eyes shone with tender affection and rapture, and he kissed her face and the shafts of her long ears. Overwhelmed, tears of happiness moistened her cheeks, sharing in the tremblings of his pleasure inside her.

  They held each other without speaking for a while after, just listening to their breathing.

  Aradma broke the silence. “Tiberan, that last month in Vemnai… I was so scared.”

  “Scared?”

  “I knew I was pregnant. I felt the life take root in me, and I knew if the Matriarch were to learn of it… but I had to try to help her see. I did love her, in a way—not as she loved me, but nonetheless I wanted to save her.”

  “There was no saving the Matriarch.”

  “I see that now. But I had to try, and I knew I had little time. And then there was you. I couldn’t just slip away freely anymore. I was worried I was going to lose everything. I knew it would be a matter of time until my belly grew—I even considered trying to convince her that the child was hers, that her delusions were true, if only to buy more time to get you out. And then she sent search parties to bring in more seelie… what about them?”

  He tightened his hug for a moment. “It’s done. Besides, with the call from Artalon, I don’t think the seelie will be coming to the Island of Vemnai now.”

  She nodded. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.”

  Aradma finally rose, pulling away from Tiberan.
She stood naked before the Green Dragon.

  “There is something I would do for her,” she said. She opened her hands to the air and felt the earth through her feet. With the life growing inside her she could not shapeshift, but she could still reach out and touch the life force of the world. She brought in the green light from far below, channeling the power of Ahmbren. Grasses and flowers sprang up first around her feet and then spread. The foliage bloomed around the Dragon, and then grew up to envelop the large body. Vines and thorns knotted together and formed a protective wall from outsiders.

  “No one will disturb her rest,” she said. “Let us return to the ship.”

  They retrieved their clothing and covered themselves once more. Hand in hand they retraced their steps and rejoined their companions.

  32 - The Gods of Light

  A few days later, Aradma’s ship arrived over Artalon. She leaned over the rails, marveling at the curvature of the hemispherical skyline. The morning sun spilled over the copper and glass structures in a dazzling display of brilliance. The towers were so tall!

  The thrumming of the beacon seemed to dissipate as they reached the city. Whatever wave of energy was being sent out to summon the light elves didn’t seem to gather strength until it reached the city’s edge. At least it wouldn’t keep ringing in her ears after they arrived.

  Yinkle whistled. “Now there’s a feat of gnomish engineering if I ever saw one,” she said. “Sometimes I forget how smart they are, even if we were just one of their accidents.”

  “You’re not just an accident,” Aradma patted her head.

  They sailed over the city streets, descending to float just over the tower tops. Aradma could see people moving on the ground, but no one graced the platforms and balconies that spanned the towers themselves. No one living. There was wreckage, and on the higher platforms she saw rotting corpses festering on the floors.

  The beacon’s call came from the highest balcony on the central tower. The ship glided and came to a stop at the platform’s ledge. A sidhe man and seelie woman stood on the balcony, waiting for them to descend.

  The ratling crew extended a gangplank to the ledge. Aradma and Tiberan, followed by the others, walked the wooden plank to greet the two that awaited them.

  * * *

  Eszhira watched as the zeppelin airship floated over the city towards them. She ran and informed Valkrage, who sat brooding in his office, poring over old books. He immediately joined her, and the two of them waited on the platform for the craft to arrive. It had been a little over two weeks since Valkrage had created the beacon. She knew this craft held the first responders. She was both excited and nervous to meet another of her own kind.

  The Fae within her buzzed with incoherent gibberish. They too felt apprehensive.

  She had lived up here with Valkrage since he had brought her up. After his return to lucidity, he released the temporal seals from the towers. By now, nearly everyone inside was dead. No one wanted to enter the towers, and Eszhira had stayed here with him, knowing that neither Skole nor Pavlin would venture inside.

  The craft came up beside the platform, and she could see many people of different races on the deck. No humans could be seen, for which she felt grateful. Ratlings scurried to extend a wooden walkway, and the first to cross were two seelie, a copper-skinned man with blonde hair and a beard, and a silver-skinned, red-striped woman with equally silver hair cut short.

  They stepped off the gangplank onto the platform. A large tiger immediately followed, and then ratlings and a troll woman.

  “I am Valkrage,” the sidhe introduced himself to the strangers. “Welcome. Beside me is Eszhira, the first of your kind to grace the city of Artalon.”

  “I am Aradma,” the woman said. “This is my companion, Tiberan. Beside him, Rajamin, Yinkle, and Suleima.”

  Aradma looked at her and Valkrage in turn, and it seemed as if her gaze penetrated Eszhira’s soul.

  “I presume you sent out the beacon?” Aradma asked Valkrage.

  “I did,” he said. “I discovered Eszhira and knew there would be more like her. We have need of your kind.”

  “You are Eldrikura,” Aradma said. “Or what remains of her.”

  Valkrage nodded.

  “You,” she turned to Eszhira. “You are in pain.”

  The enormity of what Eszhira had endured hit her, reminding her of the persistent craving for Malahkma’s Milk that still gnawed beneath her consciousness. She wept.

  Aradma came and embraced the woman. “Do not weep. You are strong. You have the Green Dragon within you.”

  Aradma took her hands and placed them on the sides of Eszhira’s head. “Let me heal you,” she said. “I can make you whole.”

  Eszhira nodded, and she felt warmth pour from Aradma’s palms and flow through her entire body. Wherever the warmth touched, the poisonous desire for the milk receded. Even in the uttermost depths and hidden recesses of her mind, the cravings vanished. She no longer felt the insidious twists and turns of rationalizations that a little more wouldn’t hurt, that a little more could be safely controlled, that this time would be different.

  The warmth of Aradma’s green light reached deeper, and the broken Fae memories relaxed with a collective sigh, settling into harmony. The thick midnight-blue whorls covering Eszhira’s body retreated until they decorated her back, arms, and legs with accent colors rather than dominating her gray skin. Like Aradma’s, the markings completely receded from her face, only touching her neck.

  Aradma held Eszhira as she wept tears of release. For the first time in her brief life, she knew what it was like to stand without pain.

  “There is much of Graelyn within you,” Valkrage remarked, “more than the others. Graelyn was a master healer. I was hoping you could heal me as well.”

  Aradma turned to the sidhe. She stared into his eyes and sadly shook her head. “I cannot heal the Violet Dragon within you,” she said. “I can give you time but nothing more.”

  “I see,” Valkrage said in a resigned voice. “Then there are things I must tell you about Artalon and what has happened since Klrain and Graelyn died. Please follow me.”

  * * *

  They sat together in a sitting room large enough to accommodate them all comfortably. Aradma listened intently to Valkrage about what had transpired over the past months, from how the crime guilds now ran the streets to how his own madness had doomed the tower inhabitants.

  Her heart broke upon hearing Eszhira’s story, and anger filled her in a way she had never felt before. “We will end him,” she promised. “His blood will flow on the streets.”

  “We don’t need more violence,” Rajamin cautioned. “What we need is healing. Forgiveness.”

  “Some need to die,” Eszhira stated flatly. “But Rajamin is right. Good people, innocent people remain in Artalon. Not all who work for the crime guilds are evil.”

  “They chose to do so,” Aradma said.

  “Some are forced to,” Eszhira replied, “to protect the ones they love.”

  Aradma calmed herself and stared at the other elf woman for a long moment. Eszhira’s words reminded her of Odoune and the Matriarch. She thought about what she might do in order to protect Tiberan. Even more, to protect the new life growing inside her. “You are right,” she conceded. “I know what it means to want to save those you love.”

  “If I may,” Rajamin offered.

  Aradma nodded.

  “The crime guilds need to go, but I think meeting them head-on will cost more blood and trust than it needs to.” He cocked his head to the side as he spoke. “Instead, if we offer the people an alternative, we might enlist Artalon itself to provide the solution.”

  Eszhira nodded. “The crime guilds, like Malahkma, offer safety and stability. Or, at least the appearance of it.”

  “People were afraid,” Valkrage agreed. “If you could offer an alternative, something better…”

  “I think I can help with that,” Rajamin said. He produced a rune in his hand and u
ttered a word so that it glowed. “I am a priest of the Old Archurionite way. The Old Gods still live.”

  Valkrage’s eyes narrowed. Aradma crossed her arms over her chest. No one spoke.

  Rajamin continued. “I offer a way of balance,” he said. “Restore faith in the Old Gods, those that are not evil, and we will again have peace and freedom. Let me build a new Church, one of balance, open to all who want to live in harmony together.”

  “I’m willing to support this,” Aradma finally said. “I’ve seen what the worship of one goddess does—”

  “Or one god,” interjected Yinkle, looking at Valkrage.

  “—but many gods… balance may work. Who are these gods?”

  “There are ten Gods of Light,” Rajamin stated. “There are three elder gods: Daag the Good God, Nephyr the Goddess of Fate, and Modhrin the Lord of Storms and Master Craftsman.”

  Aradma nodded. “I know a runewarden of Modhrin. He is an honorable dwarf. And the other seven?”

  Rajamin quickly recited the remaining list. “Athra, Lady of Civilization and Wisdom; Geala, Lady of the Seas, Trade, and Strength; Keruhn the Compassionate, Horned Lord of Harvest and Hunt; Serin, Lord of Art, Beauty, Inspiration, and Prophecy; Lorum, Lord of Magic and Knowledge; Soorleyn, the Lady of the Moon and Love; and finally, Rin, Lady of the Untamed Wilds.

  “Each in isolation brings ruin,” Rajamin concluded. “But together, they are the Light. The Rin of the Vemnai is not the Rin of the pantheon.”

  “You should speak with the gnome Kristafrost,” Eszhira told them. “She works to bring down the crime guilds from within, but the people haven’t had something else to turn to when the guilds fall.”

  “The two in concert will transform this city,” Valkrage said. “And from there, perhaps the world.” He breathed as if a weight had been taken from him. “The price of victory over the Black Dragon was high, but I would pass from this world in peace knowing that the damage the Empire caused will be undone.”

  Valkrage remained in the tower as the rest of them descended into the streets. People stared and whispered as the strange party emerged from the central gate of God Spire. Some hustled off to inform their masters of the group of non-humans who walked boldly beneath the glittering towers, but no one challenged the three seelie with their flashing eyes.