Legends of the Lurker Box Set

by Richard H. Stephens

  Reecah searched for find Lurker and her dragon friends amongst the swirling flyers above the valley, but there were too many. Having witnessed Lightburn felled so easily, she feared for their safety, but understood that they couldn’t sit back and watch their kin get slaughtered.

  Surrounded by cavalry that fell upon the dragons the ballistae dropped from the sky, it wouldn’t be long before the king’s troops were inside the realm’s last dragon colony.

  Tamra painfully latched onto Reecah’s upper arm and pointed. “There. The prince.”

  Reecah followed the elf’s finger and gaped. Prince J’kwaad and his elite kill squad were galloping up the winding slope along the north rim. Her feet almost left the ground as Tamra pulled her across the wide span and into the dusty confines of the solitary tower.

  The air was noticeably cooler inside. Like the main complex across the valley, the tower had been carved into the side of the valley wall. The exception was that the passageways in this tower appeared to have been made for humankind—they were much too small to allow for adult dragons.

  “What is this place?” Reecah’s voice echoed in the empty passageway.

  “A dragon rider tower,” Aramyss said as if that should answer her question.

  “A what?”

  “Back in the old days when riding the beasties was commonplace, people lived in separate places than their dragons, for obvious reasons. This be one of those places.”

  “Keep moving,” Tamra ordered. “I need you to take the high ground.”

  “Me? What about you?” Reecah stopped and stared.

  “You’re the Windwalker. It’s my responsibility to keep you from harm.”

  “I’m not going anywhere without you. Who’s going to keep you safe?”

  Tamra scowled, not used to having her instructions questioned. She started to offer Reecah a heated rebuke, but Aramyss interrupted.

  “I am. Now do as the elf asks and get up those steps.”

  “And then what? You can’t hold off the prince’s men forever. After you’re dead, what are we supposed to do?”

  “Look, Reecah,” Tamra said, clearly exasperated—her face and clothing splattered with blood. “I don’t know what to tell you. As much as I hate to admit defeat, Draakvuur is about to fall. I advise you to gather your dragons and have them spirit you away from here.”

  Reecah bristled. That didn’t sound like the Tamra she knew. “So, just give up?”

  Tamra shrugged. “Or die like a martyr. I can’t make that decision for you. But I can prolong your life to give you time to decide.”

  “That’s ridiculous. If you truly think we should leave, then come with us.”

  Aramyss folded his arms across his chest. “An’ leave the dragons to die on their own? Ain’t gonna happen.”

  “Listen to the dwarf. He speaks sense for a change. Get yourself to the platform near the top of the tower and call your dragons before it’s too late. Go!”

  Reecah swallowed, fighting to keep the blurriness from her eyes. Aramyss waddled to a dark doorway and looked inside. “Here be the steps to take you to the top. Hurry.”

  Reecah crossed her arms. “Not without you two.”

  “Don’t be daft, lass. We’re giving ya time to escape on the backs of yer dragons. Go, before it’s too late.”

  Reecah looked through an opening in the wall. Prince J’kwaad and his men were dismounting at the entrance to the temple ruins. They would be coming across the bridge at any moment.

  “It’s already too late. Either come with me, or we all die here. Your choice.”

  The look she received from Tamra made her shiver.

  Casting Reecah a dark glare, Tamra bounded over to the stairs. “Fine. But don’t expect me to fly away with you. I aim to kill the prince.”

  “After you.” Reecah held out a hand for Tamra to go first.

  Tamra glared daggers at her, but vaulted the steps lining the walls of the square tower two at a time.

  Reecah followed with Junior and Aramyss bringing up the rear.

  They passed an open-air window overlooking the bridge and spotted the prince and his men running across. The dark knights looked up at the sound of their hurried climb.

  As they passed the next window, four levels higher, a fireball whistled between Junior and Aramyss—exploding against the far wall. The resulting concussion thundered inside the stairwell, shaking the steps.

  Before they reached the platform level, metal boots pounded down the stone passage far below.

  ‘There.” Tamra pointed and left the stairwell through a wide doorway.

  Reecah looked up. The steps continued on but she followed Tamra onto a wide platform that extended at a dizzying height over the valley floor.

  Junior joined them, but Aramyss remained at the doorway to listen.

  The platform was cut from the same rock as the rest of the tower. Without railings, Reecah couldn’t understand its use. Why endanger the rider or the dragon when they could just as easily land on the bridge or beside the temple? Bending to touch the surface, she was filled with an eerie sensation. She couldn’t put a name to it, but it was as if the stone possessed a mind of its own.

  “What’s this for?”

  “Huh?” Tamra had started back to join Aramyss but stopped. “The platform? To load and offload riders I would imagine.”

  “But why up here?”

  Tamra frowned, clearly unhappy about wasting her breath on something as insignificant as a platform’s use. She shrugged and joined Aramyss, muttering to herself. “What else would a summoning stone be used for?”

  “They’re on the steps.” Aramyss growled.

  Reecah barely registered his words. Tamra had called the platform a summoning stone. The name echoed through her head as she considered the relevance.

  She recalled the large plateau north of Fishmonger Bay. It too had been called the Summoning Stone. A strange coincidence.

  Junior wrapped an arm around her waist and stared out over the carnage unfolding on the valley floor. “I know this may sound funny, but when I visited Draakval, they had a platform similar to this. It reminded me of the one back home.”

  Reecah’s brows scrunched together, trying to catch the elusive thought flittering along the periphery of her mind, begging to be named. As the relevance of Junior’s words took root, the dragon lore the queen had imparted in her staff began to tingle along her fingers and seep through her palm.

  Every dragon home had a Summoning Stone. They were used to transport between the colonies long before the Wizard Wars. Her eyes opened wide. “No. It can’t be.”

  “What can’t be?” Junior asked.

  Ignoring him, she searched the valley for confirmation, but it never came. Lowering her eyes to the platform, the stone answered for her.

  Aramyss called out, panic in his voice. “They’re halfway up. Ye better be callin’ yer beasties now.”

  “Yes. You’re right,” Reecah said dreamily.

  Before she spoke another word, Lurker landed harder than normal. Reecah could tell by the look on his face that he was in pain but she hadn’t time to inquire about it. “Lurker. Gather the queen and all the remaining dragons. Bring them here. Fast.”

  Lurker searched the platform. Though big, there was no way more than three or four dragons would fit on the ledge at one time. “Here? What for? There are too many.”

  “Just do it. Start with Askara and then round up the rest. Can you do that for me?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Trust me. If not as a Windwalker, then as your friend.”

  “Okay.” Lurker sprang into the air and winged toward Draak Home.

  Digging into the inside pocket of her cloak, she withdrew her dragon journal and opened it to the last few pages.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Junior said, his tone not convinced.

  “Ya. Me too. Hold it open for me.”

  Junior took the journal from her and briefly examined the runes on the pag
e. Shaking his head, he held it out to her.

  As soon as she intoned the first runic word, the runes on her staff burst into life, adding a crimson glare to the dying rays of sunshine filtering off the top of the western ridge of Folly Canyon.

  Lost in a trance, she was vaguely aware of a scuffle taking place at the entrance to the platform.

  The words came easier to her this time, but she wasn’t sure she was enacting the proper spell. She had no intention of summoning a dragon to Draak Home.

  Pulling abnormal strength from Grimelda’s staff, she willed the page to turn in Junior’s hand. As she chanted the words on the last page, an unnatural wind whirled about the platform, snapping her cloak around her.

  A shadow fell over the valley. Sinister clouds coalesced overhead, turning blacker by the moment. Fearing she wasn’t strong enough to do what needed to be done, the first raindrop hit her cheek and a sense of calm washed through her. She was doing it. Evoking a storm that swept through Draakvuur Valley, hammering everything with a torrential downpour, it was time.

  Channeling her power to coexist with her awareness, she dared to gaze on Junior. “Where is she?”

  Junior blinked at her, confused.

  “Where is Queen Askara?”

  Junior searched through the darkness. “There. She’s coming with Lurker and another white dragon.”

  Reecah nodded. Lurker was there. Selfishly, she smiled. He would be the first.

  The dragons landed; the queen’s bulk almost filling the platform. Searching the roiling clouds, she asked, “Reecah Windwalker. What is this that you have brought into Draakvuur?”

  “Your salvation, my queen!” Reecah yelled over the roaring winds threatening to rip her from the platform.

  Eyes glazing over, Reecah lowered her head, invoking words she never knew she possessed. Concentrating on Lurker, she finished the chant and stared straight into his emerald eyes.

  A mist swirled around Lurker’s legs and crept up his side. “Reecah!” Lurker cried out, whipping his head around.

  And then he was gone.

  “What the…?” Junior jumped to one side.

  “Hold the book steady!”

  Junior’s hand shook but he kept the journal between them.

  Reecah chanted the same words, but concentrated on Queen Askara’s presence.

  A mist swirled around the queen’s feet; tendrils of magic seeping over her entire body, and then she was gone as well.

  The dragon known as Crystalclaw shuffled backward, and prepared to take off.

  “You must trust me. Let me spirit you away from harm.”

  The white dragon went rigid, awaiting her fate.

  Reecah intoned the words, concentrated on the dragon, and invoked the words to summon the mist. In the blink of an eye, the white dragon had vanished.

  Reeling on the empty platform, Reecah grabbed onto Junior’s shoulder to keep from falling. A wave of exhaustion washed through her, so intense she thought for sure she was about to pass out. Looking to the skies, she almost did anyway. The remaining dragons of the Draakvuur Colony circled above the tower awaiting their chance to follow their queen. There were so many.

  The platform shook under their feet.

  “Hurry Reecah, we can’t hold them much longer,” Aramyss shouted, his cheeks blackened and his beard smoking.

  “I don’t think I can.”

  Junior held her up. “You must. Whatever you did, do it on a bigger scale.”

  Reecah looked at him aghast.

  “Junior! Hold the door. Let me help her.” Tamra ran toward them with freshly blooded axes. She grabbed Reecah and held her in a tight embrace. Relieving Junior of the journal, she nodded for him to help Aramyss.

  Another blast shook the platform. The doorway around Aramyss lit up with a bright flash. The dwarf held up a fist and leaned into the stairwell. “Is that all ye got?”

  Tamra placed her free hand on Reecah’s temple. “Easy now. I got you. Let me soothe you.”

  A gentle pulse radiated from Tamra’s fingertips; seeping into Reecah’s forehead.

  Reecah imagined long fingers massaging her mind. She didn’t know how long she hung in Tamra’s embrace but when the fog cleared, she witnessed Junior stab a black knight in the neck—reaching over Aramyss to get at him. The knight fell away.

  “Okay. Now, everyone at once,” Tamra whispered.

  Reecah gaped.

  “I’ll keep your strength up.”

  Reecah nodded. She had nothing to lose. Taking a deep breath, she collected herself and waited for Tamra to hold the journal open.

  The words flowed easily. She knew the spell so well now that she didn’t need the journal anymore. Demanding more dragon magic from her staff, she let it fill her senses until she was certain she couldn’t contain any more. Taking a deep breath, she drew some more.

  She took a visual of every dragon flying overhead. Noting Swoop, Silence, and Scarletclaws amongst the throng as she came upon them.

  The pages of her journal snapped in the wind. She could barely see through the driving rain, but that didn’t matter. The journal’s presence was nothing more than a reassurance in case she faltered. Vaguely aware of the tempest her words were creating, she was sure she would have blown from the Summoning Stone if not for Tamra’s steadying hand.

  Lightning struck the top of the tower, revealing a large crack and showering the platform with debris, but she didn’t falter.

  “Reecah! We can’t hold them anymore!” Junior shouted, his voice nothing more than another sound in the wind. He caught Aramyss in his arms as a fireball exploded against the doorframe and blew the dwarf backward.

  From the corner of her eye, Reecah watched the dark heir fill the doorway and look around—an iceball in one hand and a fireball in the other.

  She forced herself to concentrate. Focusing on the litany of words she had to get through to complete the spell, she couldn’t help thinking of Raver. She hadn’t seen him since she had fled the valley floor.

  The prince’s dark gaze met hers; his lips moving, but she was too immersed in her spell to hear his words.

  J’kwaad smiled and lifted the arm with the fireball, preparing to throw.

  “Reecah!” Junior shouted and charged at the prince.

  As Reecah emphatically chanted the last phrase, an ear-piercing shriek sounded through the tempest as the thickening veil of mist rose from the platform and wafted into the sky.

  Swoop crashed into the prince, catching him in her open mouth and smashing through the stone wall.

  The tower imploded, dropping a cascade of debris after the falling dragon and her captive. The top of the structure teetered and crumbled. Chunks of stone the size of a small cabin fell after the departed dragon and wizard.

  A white light flashed in Reecah’s head and a deathly silence followed her into the void.

  Not Alone

  Waves crashing endlessly off rocks in the distance drifted into Reecah’s mind, pushing away the lethargy gripping her. A seagull squawked several times, drifting farther away with each call. Hushed conversation sounded somewhere close by but she couldn’t make out the words.

  A gentle song played through her head, the chorus repeating itself. “Reecah Draakvriend Windwalker, come back to us. Reecah Draakvriend Windwalker, come back to us.”

  She knew that voice; the melodious drone of the queen of dragons. But where she had heard it before? She must have fallen asleep on the side of the hill overlooking the Niad Ocean.

  She smiled. The sun felt warm on her face. Poppa would be beside her, staring out over the waves; a distant concern hidden on his weathered face. She had dreamed of flying dragons with Poppa and Grimelda and Tamra and…

  Sitting bolt upright, Reecah wasn’t prepared for the scaly faces staring back at her. Ones she had saved from the…dark heir!

  Jonas Junior Waverunner rushed to kneel by her side. He tried to touch her but she recoiled, struggling to sort out her thoughts.

  A tall woma
n in furs and leather, with arms that looked capable of bending steel, stepped before her. An elf. Her arm was draped around the shoulders of a man who was wider than he was tall.

  “Aramyss?”

  “Aye lass. Ye’ve given us all a fright. We thought ya had gone to the faeries.”

  She blinked at the dwarf and took in a great breath as the events in the Draakvuur Valley slammed into her. She looked beyond the bulk of Queen Askara at the mountain rising into the clouds. She knew that mountain.

  Placing her palms on the black stone beneath her, she asked the question that she already knew the answer to, “Is this the Summoning Stone in Fishmonger Bay?”

  “Yes, my love. You’re home.”

  My love? She stared into Junior’s vibrant green eyes. Though they were full of love, she detected an inherent sadness. Wrapping her arms around him, she pulled him in close. “Oh, Junior. We made it. We escaped the king’s army.”

  “Yes, my love. If not for you, we’d all be dead and the beauty of the dragons eradicated from the world.”

  She swallowed and released him. Climbing to her feet she searched the promontory. Silence and Scarletclaws sat behind her, but of Lurker and Swoop there was no sign. That didn’t make sense. Lurker had been the first to go through. She staggered. Had she made a mistake while sending him?

  Her lower lip trembled. “W-where’s Lurker?”

  Junior forced a smile. “He’s gone to be alone.”

  She frowned. “To be alone? Why? What’s happened?” Her eyes darted around the wide ledge and to the skies where several dragons flew overhead, half expecting to see the carefree form of Swoop diving headfirst at the ocean far below.

  “Reecah,” Junior stared at her, his eyes brimming with tears.

  She could tell he was trying to be strong for her.

  “Swoop didn’t make it.”

  “Wh…but…?” She couldn’t speak. It was as if someone had grabbed her gut and twisted, refusing to let go.

  “She died saving us from the prince.”