Filial stepped forward. “I say that you, Keira, daughter of Lotheri, should lead us.”
His proposal was acknowledged with a resounding chorus of agreement.
Keira’s eyes remained fixed on her father’s heart for a short time. She then nodded and looked directly at Ethan. “And what say you, Ethan Dragonvein? You are now a part of us and have the right to speak.”
“I think you will make a fine leader,” he told her. “I only met your father briefly, but what he gave to me allows me to know that this is what he would have wanted.”
Keira removed the heart from the bowl and held it aloft. “Then I accept this burden…in Lotheri’s name.”
No sooner had she spoken then the heart suddenly burst into flames. Tiny bits of blazing tissue dripped onto the ground as the organ slowly melted away. Amazingly, even after it was completely consumed, there was not the slightest sign of injury to Keira’s hand.
The elves burst into a cacophony of hoots and cheers. Ethan glanced over his shoulder. There was a deep scowl of disapproval on Halvar's face, but Kat simply smiled at him. After bowing to Keira, he backed away until he was able to reach out and take hold of Kat's hand.
“What happens now?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he replied. “Elves don’t get hung up on ceremony. Lotheri is dead and Keira takes his place. That’s pretty much it.”
“But will she honor our alliance, I wonder?” muttered Halvar.
“She will,” Ethan assured him. “She would not dishonor her father by breaking it. Whatever promises he made, she’ll keep them.”
“I certainly hope so,” the dwarf king said, his doubts still showing. “And tell me, just what was it that Lotheri gave to you that now makes you a part of his people?”
Ethan smiled. “Understanding, Your Highness. Nothing more.”
Chapter Fourteen
King Ganix stared in awe at the six magnificent dragons circling the platform. “Such primal beauty,” he mused. “To think that they once dotted the skies.”
“And hopefully they will again,” remarked Renald. He tossed the rug from which Lylinora would open the portal up onto the platform.
Ganix and his party had made it back to the cabin just as Renald and the others were about to leave. By then, the injured dwarf was running a high fever from the infection in his wounds, prompting Lylinora to rapidly set about tending to him. As much as the dwarves were wary of human magic, they could not help but be impressed by her skill. In no time at all, Broyhul's injuries were healed completely.
Now, in the final moments before being parted, Lylinora and Markus were talking quietly a few yards away from the platform edge. She was doing her best to look brave, but her apprehensions were all too clear. Nearby, Jonas was checking the small pouch on his belt containing the money Markus and Ethan had brought back from their last visit to Earth. In addition, it also contained several gold coins and a few gemstones.
It had been decided they would waste no time once they located the last mage. Markus had a hunk of rock stuffed in his pouch. At the very first opportunity, he would smash the rajni stone and transport them all back – a lesson hard learned from their previous trip.
Renald climbed up and called over to Lylinora. With everything in place, he closed his eyes and concentrated. At once, he could hear the thoughts of Maytra in his mind. “It’s time,” he whispered.
Lylinora gave Markus a final passionate kiss before ascending the platform and tying the Rope of Making around her waist. Renald gasped as the power of the dragons cascaded over them both. He marveled at the sheer intensity of their magic. He had always possessed a certain level of connection to them. But now, since tasting their blood, it was defined and raw.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Markus asked Jonas.
He took a deep breath. “I'm nervous…but ready.”
Markus nodded to Lylinora who knelt on the rug and began to chant the incantation. Within moments, the familiar disk of blue and black swirling light appeared a few feet away. As it grew in size, Markus felt Jonas take hold of his hand. The old servant's palm was sticky with sweat.
“We’ll be fine,” Markus assured him.
Jonas sniffed, trying hard to mask his fears. “Of course we will.”
Only seconds later, the portal was already of sufficient size. Still hand in hand, they eased their way up to it. Markus counted down. “Three...two...one...go!”
With Jonas tightly holding his breath, they leapt through.
* * * * *
Markus staggered blindly forward until his hand touched something hard. All he could hear was the pounding of his heart. Not as bad as last time, he thought.
He called out Jonas' name. A weak moan came in the way of an answer.
The air was bitterly cold, and though still unable to see clearly, he could tell that it was night time. There was a crunching sound as he shifted his feet. Snow. How he hated the damn stuff!
With his sight gradually clearing, he could see that he was facing the side of a two-story cinder block building. All around him were evenly spaced oak trees split in two by a cobblestone path. Jonas was flat on his back a few feet away, his clouded breath billowing out of trembling lips. Neither of them were dressed for the cold. Markus cursed himself for being ill-prepared. Still a bit dazed, he stumbled over to Jonas and lifted him into a seated position.
“Can you stand?” he asked.
It took a few moments, but eventually Jonas threw an arm around Markus’ shoulder and struggled to his feet. “Can you tell where we are?” he asked.
“No. But wherever it is, it’s cold as hell. We need to get out of this before we freeze.”
Markus spotted a street lamp near the corner of the building and started toward it. The headlights of a car about fifty yards away caught his attention – though he could not make out the road from their position. Around the corner was a walkway that spanned the entire front of the cinder block building, with another, shorter path leading straight up to the entrance. Twenty yards further along was a small parking lot. A man in a thick jacket was pacing around in front of the main door, smoking a cigarette. After a moment, he tossed the butt into the snow.
“Stay here,” whispered Markus.
After making sure Jonas was steady on his feet, he rounded the corner and strolled casually down the walkway. The man spotted him when he was about halfway along and opened his coat, producing a hand held radio.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded, in what Markus thought to be a Boston accent.
It was a relief to hear English being spoken. Drawing nearer, he could see the word 'Security' written on the breast of the jacket. “I’m a bit lost,” he said.
The man scrutinized him for a moment. “Lost? How the hell did you get lost?”
He knew he needed to think fast. This guy may not be a police officer, but the radio he was holding might be able to call one quickly enough if he got too suspicious. “My car broke down up the road,” he said. “I’m looking for a phone.”
“Don’t you have a cell?”
Not knowing what he meant, his mind scrambled for a lie. “I left it at home.”
“Sure. I guess that’s where you left your coat too,” he remarked acidly.
“Yeah. I didn’t think I’d be getting out of the car.” He could tell the security guard wasn’t buying his story. “Look, if you can just tell me where I am.”
“Hang on,” the guard told him. His radio screeched as he pressed the button on the side. “Yeah, Matt? This is Larry. I'm outside of Building Four. Can you send a car down here? I gotta guy with me who says he’s lost. He might need some help.”
The reply came though quite clearly. “Is he giving you trouble?”
“There's no problem. Just send a car.” He turned to Markus. “Don’t worry. We'll see if you're on the level or not. If you are, my buddy will help you out.”
Markus cursed silently. So much for being inconspicuous. Plastering a smile on his face, h
e said: “Thanks fella. I appreciate it.” He moved closer to the guard, blowing his breath into his hands. “You don’t happen to have a cigarette, do you?”
“Did you leave your smokes at home too?” the guard sneered. Nevertheless, he shoved the radio into his left coat pocket and reached into his right.
The moment he did this, Markus took a quick hop and landed a solid right to his jaw. The man stumbled back, his free hand flailing and the other one trapped deep inside his coat pocket. Two more rapid strikes send him flat on his back. Surprisingly, there was still some fight left in him. As Markus moved in, a snow covered boot shot out, striking him in the stomach. Had he been a touch closer, it might easily have been enough to knock the breath out of him. As it was, it made him jump back far enough for the guard to clamber to his feet.
With both hands now free, he threw a looping right. Markus had to give him high marks for toughness, but as far as skill was concerned, he was out of his league. Markus ducked under the blow and landed a succession of devastating punches to his gut and ribs. A bone jarring uppercut then sent the guard down once again. Not about to make the same mistake twice, Markus moved in from the side this time. A flurry of solid strikes sent his opponent into complete unconsciousness.
The response to the radio call was quick, and he could already hear a car approaching somewhere off to his right. He had just seconds to get himself and the unconscious guard out of sight. More out of hope than expectation, he checked the front door behind him. To his surprise and relief, it was unlocked. Lifting the guard by the shoulders, he managed to drag him a few feet inside the doorway an instant before headlights appeared. A sedan with emergency lights on the roof and the word 'Security' written on the doors pulled into the small parking lot.
A tall, thin man exited the vehicle and looked around. “Larry?”
Markus remained absolutely still. There had been no time for him to close the door without the movement attracting attention. But inside, the building was pitch black, effectively obscuring him and the unconscious guard from view.
Receiving no reply to his shout, the new arrival retrieved his radio and pressed the talk button. “Larry, where the fuck are you?”
Markus cringed as Larry’s radio crackled to life. The sound was more than enough to catch the newcomer’s attention. The man moved toward the sound, but stopped abruptly on seeing the obvious drag marks in the snow leading right up to the open door. Wide-eyed, he stood rooted to the spot for an instant, then ran headlong toward his still idling vehicle.
Cursing as he went, Markus burst full speed through the doorway after him.
When nearly at his car, the panicking guard turned to heave his radio at Markus' head. But his hasty aim was well wide of the mark, and this delay was all that Markus needed to catch up. Without slowing, he shoulder charged the guard low in the chest, slamming him violently into the side of the vehicle. The man, though badly stunned, tried to retaliate by raining a few blows down on Markus’ back and neck. But it did little to save him. Shrugging off this irritation, Markus rose up and grabbed the guy with both hands by the back of the head. This was then dragged hard down to meet the full force of his sharply rising knee. Virtually out on his feet, the guard staggered around with blood pouring from his nose. A bone crunching blow to his temple then put him completely out of his misery. Like the first guard, Markus did not expect him to be waking up any time soon.
“Why the hell did you do that?” called Jonas, running up from the corner of the building.
Markus simply flashed him an annoyed look and set about dragging the guard inside. Once there, he removed both of his victim's jackets. On finding a pair of handcuffs in each of these, he used them to secure both men to the door handle. Inside their wallets he found a total of thirty-three dollars and two Massachusetts driver’s licenses. The dates on the currency ranged from 2004 through 2009. Also, each man was carrying a strange rectangular, electronic device. When Markus touched a small button on the side, the face lit up to display four rows of numbers. The first three rows counted from one to nine, with a single digit – zero – at the bottom. Not sure what to make of these, he tossed them aside along with the radios out of the guards' reach. By now, Larry was starting to groan, though he was not yet showing any signs of movement.
“Well, at least we have an idea what year it is,” Markus said while putting on one of the jackets and nodding for Jonas to do the same. “And we're in the good old U.S.A.”
He pulled the amulet from beneath his shirt. As before, it glowed with a pulsing blue light. After stepping outside, he swept around in a circle until the pulse quickened slightly. Satisfied, he then ran to the car and jumped into the driver’s seat. Jonas followed more slowly and remained outside the vehicle, staring at it as if it were some great metal beast.
“Are you sure it's safe?” he asked.
“A whole lot safer than waiting around here,” Markus replied. “So get in. We need to hurry. And this will be much faster, I promise you.”
Reluctantly, Jonas climbed into the front alongside him. The radio was silent for the moment, but Markus knew that could change in an instant once the two guards woke up. It would take them a while to free themselves, but when they did…
The voice of old came to him.
You know what you have to do, don’t you?
He flicked an irritated gesture. “Shut the hell up.”
“I didn’t say anything,” said Jonas.
Don’t be a fool. What’s more important?
Markus squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out Specter’s voice.
If you are caught, you will never see Lylinora again.
He turned to Jonas. “Wait here. I need to check on something before we go.”
Jonas started to object, but Markus was already out of the car and racing back to the building.
Both of the men were now shifting slightly and groaning. Markus drew the small dagger he had tucked away in his belt. It had to be done. He knew it. If they managed to free themselves too quickly, or if someone simply happened by, the chances of being caught were high. If that happened, there would be no way back.
“I’m sorry about this,” he said, pressing the blade to the throat of the first guard.
Blood trickled down even before he pulled the cold steel across. The man gasped and jerked, but only for a few seconds. The second guard was then dealt with in similar fashion. Throughout, Markus was careful not to get any blood on his hands or clothes. As he wiped the blade on the second guard’s shirt and tucked it back in his belt, an involuntary smile formed. The sight of blood spilling onto the white tile floor was making his heart beat fiercely.
The sound of Jonas' voice urgently calling to him from the car broke into his almost trance-like moment.
“What the hell are you doing?” the old man demanded. “Let’s go before we are seen.”
Seconds later, Markus was back in the car. It took a few minutes for him to figure out how the damn thing operated. There was no clutch. Just a brake and a gas pedal. This unfamiliar set-up, combined with the fact that he hadn’t driven in decades, wasn't making things easy.
After a few weaves and near collisions with roadside signs, the basics of driving soon came back to him. Jonas, on the other hand, was looking petrified. Markus was forced to keep tapping him on the arm to remind him that he was the one meant to be navigating by using his pendant.
“I sure would have liked to have one of these back on Lumnia,” Markus said, now at ease with the controls and clearly enjoying himself.
Jonas swallowed hard as they took a turn. “How do they make things like this?”
Markus simply laughed.
After only a few minutes, they found themselves in a residential area. Most of the houses were covered with twinkling lights and various other Christmas decorations. This impressed Jonas enough to almost make him forget that he was traveling at unbelievable speeds while inside the belly of a great metal beast. The radio had come to life twice, both time
s with calls asking for the location of the two guards. Markus ignored them. There was nothing to be done anyway.
“What powers all this?” Jonas asked, continuing to gaze at the lights.
“Electricity,” Markus replied. He could see the look of confusion on the old man’s face. “It's like magic, I suppose. Only people make it.”
“How?”
“I really couldn’t tell you. I was never big on science.”
Jonas decided to forgo more questions and enjoy the sights. “This is far different from the last time I was here,” he remarked.
“That's because the last time you were here, you landed in the middle of a war zone. You didn’t really think the entire Earth was like that, did you?”
Jonas shrugged. “It was my first impression. To me it looked ruined and scarred. It’s hard to imagine that what I saw back then is the same world as this.”
Markus was about to respond when he saw a pair of headlights rushing up behind them in the mirror. A frown formed. Surely no one had found the bodies already. He glanced over at the pendant Jonas was holding. It was now flashing rapidly. They were very near.
As the car behind drew closer, Markus could see the outline of emergency lights on its roof. His hands gripped the wheel tightly while the vehicle followed them for several blocks. Finally, it turned onto a side street. He let out a sigh of relief.
Jonas, oblivious to what had just happened, was concentrating on the pendant. “Turn left,” he said.
Markus did as instructed, still keeping a close eye on the rear view mirror. The houses in this area were smaller than those only a short distance back; mostly single story homes with compact yards and modest decorations. It was clear they were moving into a less affluent neighborhood. As they passed by a tiny blue house with a small porch surrounded by a chain linked fence, the pendant went wild.
“That has to be it,” Jonas announced.
Markus kept driving while looking for a good place to get rid of the car. But after one more block, the headlights from earlier returned. This time however, the vehicle came right up close behind them. What's more, a siren was blaring and its emergency lights were flashing red.
Dragonvein - Book Three Page 21
