by Hart, Blaine
“You are blessed,” he called down.
It took me two tries in earnest to land beside my master and I was astonished. After more experimenting we found that while my strength and agility did not come near Kell’s, it was certain that I was achieving some spectacular feats.
“Gavial’s grace is according to your ability,” Kell said. “But such ability may do much in the end.”
“What’s your plan?” I asked. “Are we to leap and jump until the dragon falls from exhaustion?”
“Wish it were that simple,” he said with a chuckle. “But it’s certain that we cannot conquer by strength alone, so we will have to use the things that the Angel of Glory sought in us; we must use our brains. For the moment then we will be like mice. We will furrow through the broken city and discover the monster’s lair. There we may find a way to best him.”
And so we began. Our way was clear to find, we had seen the dragon in the city’s heart and all roads led that way. We did our best to stay out of sight. We snuck through crumbled buildings, sometimes crawling. There were places where we might have climbed up and crossed the arches and causeways that remained intact, but that would have exposed us, so we stayed close to the ground like mice. As we paused in a building to rest my teacher asked, “Have you noticed something odd about this place?”
“Other than rampant destruction,” I began, “a sun that will not set and that casts no shadows, and a pretty nasty dragon, no. Have you?”
“Yes. This was the heart of the Dragon Wars. So . . .?”
“So,” I mulled, and then it hit me. “Where are the dragon bones?”
“Indeed. Where are they?”
We zig zagged the ruined city until we found a small, nearly unblemished building whose wooden door had long crumbled off its hinges. Inside we climbed a winding staircase to the top of the tower. From that circular battlement we peered through arrow-slits and the sight I saw was unreal.
I looked down at what was once a proud city square. It was nearly two acres across and almost as wide. There were broken off statue pedestals and what looked like roads paths that I imagined filled with the city people who once lived in this place. But all that was gone, and strewn about the entire grounds were thousands upon thousands of bones, some huge and some small, some bleached and some near rotten brown.
In the center of it all stood the immense stone statue of the ancient warrior, his broken sword raised to the sky and his hand clutched to his heart. At the foot of the figure the ground was clear and there we looked down at an amazing sight; the bones of a nearly whole dragon lay prostrate before the statue. From head to tail and from wingtip to wingtip the skeleton sprawled as if in homage.
Then I heard a clatter off to one side, and there was Visalth. The monster was rooting like a rat through a giant pile of bones.
“What the hell?” I breathed.
“I think,” Kell said. That our friend is trying to build himself a playmate.”
“B-but he can’t,” I said. “He is undead. He has no magic. He can’t animate that pile of bones.”
“And yet he is very intent on doing just that.”
“What do we do?”
“We stop him.”
“How?”
“You see the ribcage on his playmate?” Kell asked.
I did and nodded. Visalth had found a near entire spine with the protruding bones.
“That,” Kell said “Will be the safest place for you. And if all else fails, go for the wishbone.”
“What?” I stammered.
But he didn’t answer. With a blood-curdling cry he leapt from the top of the tower and sailed through the air. Instantly Visalth rose and launched at him. The bone-dragon roared a silent roar as my master plunged and landed on the lifeless skeleton’s skull at the base of the statue. Visalth reared in midflight. Kell raised Ashrune and the creature flapped and flailed as if it were in pain. Kell sank the broken peen of the war hammer onto the ancient bone. Visalth flapped and thrashed in the air. It sent its whip-like tail at my master, but Kell quickly disappeared into the skull’s eye socket. Visalth went mad in the air, flapping and flying as his tail whistled through the wind and did nothing.
Then I understood. The skull of its brother was precious, and though he could have laid waste to Kell then and there, my master’s death would have been too costly. I silently cheered as Visalth hovered then circled.
It was a standoff. My master’s wounded weapon could not harm the ancient skull. But the ancient dragon would not harm the head of its creation. But watching its slow and studied flight around and around I realized that the dragon could out last my master. The Angel’s blessing was waning and so I didn’t think. I leapt.
I landed in the sand beyond the dragon’s reach but within his sight. Immediately the boney tail plowed the earth before me. My mission was accomplished. Visalth had me in his deadly stare. I ran and dove under a stone overhang and the tail slashed. Ancient stone exploded above me and I hit the dirt with a thud, rock shards shattering about me.
I braced for another blow, but none came.
I looked. I lay under the toes of the grand statue. Visalth had taken a chunk out of the ankle and it was flying away. It reared and flew as one pained, and I marveled.
But just then Kell burst from the jaws of the inert skull. He leapt and caught Visalth by a rib. The dragon twisted and writhed in the sky as Kell beat on him from within. Visalth rolled and its scorpion tail tried to stick Kell from inside itself.
I watched the weird battle. Kell climbed the ribs to the creature’s spine, but the dragon wormed and flexed and wiggled to expel the invader, swooping and climbing and diving until Kell crouched just under the thing’s neck vertebrae. I thought that surely from there my master might be able to deal a crushing blow, but that was not Kell’s goal. He climbed up as if to straddle the spine and I cringed, for surely that would simply be asking for that snaking tail to slice him in two. I watched from below as the dragon flew by. Then, as it turned its ghastly head, Kell leapt off his quarry and onto the statue looming above. Visalth raced by, its gaping jaws open in a silent roar.
From where I crouched I could not see my master, so as the bone-dragon sailed on I quickly scurried from cover and made a mad dash through the sand to dive between the inert skeleton’s ribs. Visalth saw, turned, and hovered above me. The pointed spear of his tail darted here and there about above me, but it seemed that the monster had no clear shot at me and so held back.
Looking up I saw my master nestled in the hand of the statue. Kell was kneeling, his back to the beast, and it looked to me as if he were chanting. A moment later I saw a thin whisp of smoke rise.
Visalth flew up and over, rolling and somersaulting madly in the sky. It was confused. It would swipe at the statue, but it was clear that he was as loathe to injure the marble warrior as he was to harm his fellow bones. Then it dove toward me, but I stood stock still and it saw only the futility of its assault. It would then rise in the air to strike at Kell, only to roll his head, his maw gaping in silent frustration.
Kell and I were safe for the moment. But how long could those moments go on? The dragon tried to land on the statue, but its hind claws found no purchase, and the massive creature fell away. Once it landed beside me, its hideous face not yards away. It craned its neck and opened its jaws, and whether that was to frighten me or to try to roast me with fire it did not have I would never know. It succeeded in terrifying me, but it had not even a warm breath. It launched away again in blind aggravation.
And then the wind stirred.
Warm air rose up behind me. It ran through the massive bone cage of the almost assembled dragon and swirled the dust at the base of the statue, picking up flakes that sparkled. The glittering wind climbed up the statue and for a moment enveloped my master and then it crept up and up the statue until it encircled the top of the stone warrior’s head. The sparkling mass whirled there for a moment like a halo, and then I watched in astonishment as the marble eyes of the
statue opened.
Those terrible eyes gazed down at the layout of bones beneath it, a golden streaming light that enveloped the whole skeleton. And then the bones began to stir. I was frozen in horror as bit by bit, chink by chink, the joints of the skeletal dragon began to magically come together. They were fusing with some unholy magic and I heard the rippling of the spine above me stir with a new animation. The wings flexed. The neck rolled and the head began to lift.
My dread overwhelmed me. Visalth was swooping and soaring in victory as its brother began to rise from the desert dust. And despite my terror, my mind went straight to my master’s words even as my hand gripped my sword.
“If all else fails, go for the wishbone.”
With the cry of a berserker I did not know I had in me, I leapt toward the delicate V-shaped Wishbone and clove it in two as if I were slicing through water. The creature’s wings collapsed and its neck and head plowed into the dirt. The body began to thrash, but even as I looked for my escape I saw a wonder.
Kell was shrieking down toward the newly animated and flailing dragon. Riding on the golden light from the statue’s eyes, he dove down, holding Ashrune with two hands over his head – and the mighty war-hammer was healed and bathed in a powerful glowing light. In a flash Kell came down and smashed his newly blessed Warhammer into the dragon’s skull. It exploded into thousands of pieces, a few digging deep in my side.
Ignoring the pain, I raced from the crumbling disaster and looked up. Visalth was startled. He hung in mid air as he watched his triumph disintegrate before him. But then its dead eyes seemed to turn to cold murder. It gathered himself and plunged straight for Kell. But my master was well ahead, for even as Visalth dove Ashrune was launched into the air to meet him, and with a snap and a mighty crack, one wing was severed from the body and the bone-dragon’s wrathful assault became frantic as it crashed hard to the ground, shattering many bones near the ruin of its brother.
But Visalth’s rage was not quelled. Even wounded and near paralyzed, his tail and head were still viciously flailing at my master and me. We leapt out of its deadly reach and watched its impotent frenzy.
“There will be no more bone dragons from this place,” my master said.
And so saying he strode to the base of the mystical statue and Ashrune shattered away a large chunk of the leg. Another blow and the marble statue teetered. And with a third mighty blow the footings burst asunder and the grand form began to fall. Kell easily stepped aside as the statue smashed to the ground, crushing what was left of the cursed undead bone dragon.
But before we could taste success the warm wind whirled around us and we both heard the echo of the Angel’s voice;
“. . .and oft will leave the blessed a lack thereof . . .”
We turned from the devastation. Kell gripped the newly healed and magnificent Ashrune and hefted it aloft, giving thanks for the victory this day. We then launched into warm wind of the angel and high into the sky. And so, carried by the warm Angel’s wind and the power of the healed and mighty hammer, we sailed away from the ruins. We crossed the searing desert, past huddled remains of Galth’s outlands and out and over the sea.
Swiftly we left the accursed lands and swiftly we were back in the mortal world. The sun was low in the west and Kell found a star to guide us. My master pointed Ashrune and its power flung us faster. The waters below whizzed by at a dizzying speed, the wind rushing in our ears louder than any dragon’s roar.
We indeed needed that speed, for even as we flew like birds through the air, I began to feel a weariness creep over me. My limbs ached and I clutched at Kell. I saw his arm sag with the weight of his weapon. Then the wind behind us began to cool and our flight faltered. I heard Kell groan and felt his body tense as he strained and fought for every ounce of the blessed magic. But time and tides tarry for no man, no matter how desperate his plight nor how worthy his cause. And so we fell toward the wine-dark rolling sea.
“I have failed you,” my master sighed.
“No master,” I cried. “You need to…“
We hit the ocean hard.
Chapter 7: Of Angels and Demons
The waters were rough and I floundered, the waves filling my mouth with salt water. The sun was all but set and the rollicking waves cast deep shadows. I called for my master but a slap of salty water made me choke and sputter. My boots filled and were dragging me down. The weight of my weapons made swimming impossible and I strained just to keep my head above water. My strength was fading, but the sea was unconcerned. I sank below the water, my heavy boots leading the way.
Then I found myself filled with a strange calm.
I had had a good life. I had learned love. I had seen wonders and magical marvels. I had gazed upon the face of an Angel, and I had helped a great warrior destroy a great evil. I was in a sort of peace as the waters drew me down. I might die, but because of me and my master, many in the Nine Realms would live, though they would never know the tale. Still, the Angel of Glory would know and that thought comforted me. I ceased my struggles and sank into the bosom of the sea.
It was quiet there. It was warm and dark. I was floating. I was not sinking, but rather I hung adrift in the silence. After a time my lungs wanted air and I knew that in a moment, maybe two, my body’s instincts would overcome me and I would gulp in the water and that would be the end.
In my haze I thought that I had gone delirious for I saw a woman approach me. She was naked and had such lovely, creamy skin. Her brown hair flowed all about her as if it were caught in a vortex. She smiled at me and her azure eyes sparkled. I thought it might be a kindly hallucination, a sort of final shard of the Angel’s blessing. I was tickled and almost laughed aloud as the vision wrapped her arms around me and kissed me full on the lips. I was neither stunned nor embarrassed, but held the dream-like woman and kissed her back with all the warmth she had given me.
And then there was a miracle.
My aching lungs were suddenly filled and the woman felt as warm and solid and real as could be. She pulled away from me, the divine kiss still warm on my lips and she smiled, and even as she pulled away my body was encased in a layer of air. It was as if a shimmering second skin of air had enveloped me, I became like a bubble of life in the ocean depths, and wrapped in that magical bubble I freely breathed in a place where I should have drowned.
My beautiful Nereid smiled again, a smile of joy and she took my hand. We swam on and to my astonished joy she brought me to my master. Kell floated in a silvery bubble of air as well, grinning and laughing a silent laugh. The woman took his hand in her other and through some power of hers the three of us began gliding easily through the ocean as quick as elegant fishes.
Our way was swift and our line was straight. I saw many wondrous marvels in that watery realm, things I would strain to recall and log later on. But my mind was on the end of our quest, and I yearned to thank the Angel of Glory and give her all due homage. I longed to be back aboard the Chaos, listening to the Annas bickering, content to sail for home.
We continued onwards for many hours before our watery savior dragged us up and we broke the surface of the sea in the calm cove before the Angel of Glory’s grotto.
Suddenly a loud cry shook me from my reverie. “Kell!” a beautiful woman cried. Then she rushed forward and into the ocean, swimming to us and flinging her arms around my master’s neck, kissing him long and deep, right there in the water. “You saved me.”
“You saved me Wendfala,” my master said as soon as she let him speak several minutes later.
“I rescued you,” she said, “but only after you destroyed Visalth. When his cursed life was destroyed so were the chains that bound me. Even as we speak, his armies are panicked and fleeing. You are a hero, Kell, and I will see that the whole of the Nine Realms know of your great deed!”
“Don’t forget my comrade,” he said nodding to me. “My apprentice—“
“An apprentice learns a trade,” she said. Her eyes scanned me thoughtfully. “Here is
a disciple, for truly I see great deeds in both of your futures.”
She kissed me on the cheek and I blushed.
“I just hope that’s a wish,” Kell said as we swam, “and not a prophecy.”
I was tired and I was weary and I so wanted my master’s hope to be true. But that was not to be, for even as we waded up onto the soft sand shore of the Angel’s grotto, we saw that things were not right – not right at all.
There was no light. The hundreds of little candles on the gravestones were all gone out. We paused on the shore. The glow from Gavial’s chamber was dark. Wendfala waved her arms and spoke a word and the cavern was lit as if by the sun, and what we saw stopped my heart.
Every tombstone that surrounded the place was on the ground, as if some burst had exploded and laid them low. The two giant statues that guarded the chamber were broken. One had been shorn in half and the other’s head and wings were gone. But beyond that destruction and to my own horror, the Chaos was surged up against the grotto wall, its mast snapped and the rigging laying about in a tangle.
“Anna!” I cried as I raced blindly toward the Angel’s shrine. “Anna!”
But there was no reply. Kell and Wendfala caught up with me and we reached the top of the stairs together. At the top I stumbled and almost fell in. Kell just managed to hold me back and we gaped down at the abyss.
Where once Gavial had tested us and greeted us and finally blessed us, there was nothing but a deep round void that seemed endless. As if some force had reached up from beneath the earth and tore it away, the Angel’s chamber was no more. In its stead was a yawning dark chasm lit only by Wendfala’s magical flame.
“Anna!” I screamed into the darkness.
