by Brian Beam
“Bhaliel, why did you save us? I threatened the egg. I kept it from you.” I swallowed audibly as I finished. I couldn’t believe I had brought myself to do such things or that I would remind the giant dragon of them.
Bhaliel tilted her head slightly as she shifted her attention to me. “It was not about saving you,” she began with her gurgling, rumbling voice. “Creatures from Rizear’s domain have no place in Loranis’ creation,” she explained. “The same reason I fought that wizard who tried to kill you. Menar told me he was involved with eldrhims. I could feel the trace of their evil on him.”
I slowly nodded even though I thought the idea of eldrhims truly being creatures of a god of death that I didn’t believe in was ridiculous. I wondered if Prexwin, and not Raijom, truly had summoned the eldrhims after me. That point was not important at that moment, though.
“And why are you putting trust in any of us to take your child to the Snowy Waste?” I continued, hoping I could get answers before Bhaliel’s life ended.
“You brought me my egg. I can see good in each of you. You each are surrounded with an aura that tells me you are all destined for great things,” she rumbled. “Xalis will be safe with you. Dragons can see more in humans than they can even see in themselves.”
I almost scoffed, but bit it back. I was responsible for her death and she was telling me that she could see good in me. It seemed a bit contradictory.
Sal’ stepped up beside me, her wavy hair a mess from the action of the night and her face as beautiful as ever in the glow of her magic light. “Will the dragons come back from their banishment now?” she asked uneasily in her soft voice.
Bhaliel let out a misty breath through her nostrils, visible in the cold night. “I am the only one who knows about the hole in the barrier. Before I succeeded in making it through, no dragon had tried to cross the barrier for hundreds of years. Most of the dragons are in hibernation as I was, though some roam free to patrol for wizard raids. It is unlikely that those who do choose to patrol will find the hole any time soon unless they not only decide to test the barrier, but find that exact spot where I broke through. However, it is possible.
“The hole needs to be repaired, or a truce called between wizards and dragons. Our banishment was unjust, but I would rather it continue than have Amirand brought to war by dragons crossing back across the mountains without the wizards ending the banishment first,” she finished, her eyes dimming further.
Sal’ let out a breath of relief. I let out one of my own. There would likely be time to address the problem before more dragons crossed over the barrier.
“And how will the others react to the disappearance of their queen?” Max questioned from atop Sal’s shoulder.
“I told you before that I was the Dragon Queen. After our banishment, any semblance of hierarchy amongst dragons disintegrated. In the Snowy Waste, I was just another dragon. Xalis’, my mate’s, death was mourned, but was seen as no more of an outrage than the death of any other dragon,” Bhaliel explained, her words becoming raspier and more strained.
She then whipped her head away and let out a fit of ground-trembling coughing, spraying bright red blood away from us. She brought her head back around and laid it against the ground next to Til’. “Hold Xalis before me so that I may gaze upon him one last time,” she requested as her eyes continued to dim.
With a sniffle, Til’ held up the blue orb above his head at the level of Bhaliel’s eyes.
“Long may you live, Xalis,” she rumbled. “May you live to see dragons free once again in peace with the other races of Amirand. My heart and soul will be with you always.”
With those final words, Bhaliel, the once mighty Dragon Queen, laid her head to the ground and joined her Dragon King in the afterlife.
Chapter 24
Sacrifices And Revelations
My throat burned from the guttural scream that ripped from my throat. Everyone looked at me with shocked expressions as I continued to scream with my hands balled tightly into fists at my sides. Bhaliel was dead. I partially blamed myself, but mostly blamed Raijom. At that moment, all I felt was pure, unbridled anger.
After the initial wave of anger ripped from my lungs in the form of primal screaming, I brought my arms up and started spinning slowly. “Raijom, if you know I’m here, come out yourself and fight me, you Hindren-blooded, Utrien-worshipping bastard!”
I continued my anger-fueled tirade until my throat was too raw to scream anymore and I dropped to my knees in resignation. Sal’, Til’, and Max were silent as I vented my rage. Bhaliel’s death was exactly the reason that I had to find Raijom and bring him to justice. It was either that or let him kill me with his eldrhims. Frankly, I didn’t like the idea of dying, or allowing the possibility of him not paying for the wrongs he had done.
My head dropped as my chest heaved and my eyes stung with tears. “Why?” I whispered into the silent night.
I lifted my head as I felt a hand on each of my shoulders. Sal’ was standing to my right, her eyes shining with empathy. Max was on her shoulder looking down at me sadly. I turned my head to see Til’ standing on my left, tears dripping down his cheeks. He held the bluish orb containing Xalis in his other hand.
Seeing the baby dragon again filled me with resolve. Bhaliel may have lost her life, but we were successful in getting the egg to her in time to bring her child into the world. We had work to do. Til’ had to get Xalis to the Snowy Waste. I had to get to Gualain and find Raijom. Bhaliel’s death would not be in vain. We were alive because of her and there were more important things to do than despair.
“Sorry guys,” I said, wiping my eyes. “Just had to get that out.” I pushed myself to my feet.
“Well, if you are done being crazy, we need to figure out how Raijom found us,” Max quipped.
I almost found myself laughing despite the circumstances. Maybe I was crazy. “Empathetic as always, Max. Good point, though. How did he find me? We don’t have any items connected to Raijom on us anymore.” I looked around at both Til’ and Sal’ for ideas since I didn’t have a trace of a clue.
Sal’s icy blue eyes were pensive for a moment and then shot open in realization. “Korin, hold still,” she commanded, placing her hands on either side of my face. The light hovering above her head wrapped her beautiful face in a soft glow as her eyes focused on me.
As I looked into her eyes and felt her delicate touch, I yearned to embrace her. I wanted to shut out the world around us and be as one. I held still, though, as I felt a cool sensation flow through me. My body shivered between her magic and the cold night air. Part of me felt like I should have been worried. Her magic had caused some disastrous results in the past, but figuring out how I was being traced was crucial in surviving our quest.
After a minute or so, she gasped and dropped her hands away. “No wonder I couldn’t see the spell,” she whispered. After seeing my confused look in response, she explained. “Well, Prexwin placed something like a beacon into your blood. It’s a small spell, but it’s directly linked back to the caster which would be Prexwin in this case. He must have somehow placed it in you when he stabbed you. It’s so small, I can barely sense it. Using such a direct link, it’s no wonder the eldrhims could be summoned to such an exact spot.”
“Well, can you get rid of it?” I asked.
Sal’ let out a deep breath. “I should be able to, but it won’t be easy. I’ll need to basically run a magic filter throughout all the blood vessels in your body to make sure I can catch every trace of the spell. It will take several hours.”
Max huffed from her shoulder. “You do not have the strength to do that now. Not until you have rested some. It will have to wait until morning. You could kill yourself trying to do something so precise after all you have done tonight.”
“Can you help, Max?” I questioned.
Max huffed again. “You are lucky I am even still awake after all this. In this form, I do not have the energy to direct magic for the length of time it would take any
way. Do you know how complicated threading magic through every blood vessel in a body is? Lunkhead.” He followed his argument with another huff.
Sal’ kept her eyes on mine. “I can do it. I have to. We wouldn’t make it through another attack like that tonight.”
“There will not be another one like that any time soon,” Max replied in that rasp of his.
“How do you know that?” Til’ asked.
Max sighed heavily. “Because, summoning eldrhims takes time. You know that negative energy we all felt when that portal opened?”
“Yes,” Sal’ replied. “I’d never felt such a sensation from magic before that first night I met Korin. I felt it again on the McAlwains’ farm and then with the portal tonight.”
“Well, that is because the magic energy to summon eldrhims is created through human sacrifice,” Max stated bluntly. Til’ gasped in shock. I almost did as well. Realizing that we were all too shocked to comment, he continued. “Magic is almost always created from the positive energy of life. Any energy drawn from a living thing is positive energy. That is the kind of magic you are used to sensing, Salmaea.”
“But I have killed animals when drawing energy from them and have never felt anything like what I felt tonight,” Sal’ argued.
Max shook his head. “That’s because you drew the life out of them until there was no more. All you drew was positive energy until they died. Negative energy comes from drawing power from purposely caused death. It is something that is done at the precise moment life ends. The energy is very specific and can only be drawn from beings of intellect such as humans. Some say that this negative energy must come from beings of intellect because they are typically believed to be the only ones with souls and that the release of the soul is what the energy is drawn from. I think the squirrel that used to occupy this body would have to disagree with that, but still, no one knows for sure.
“What is known is that this negative energy is a different form of magic energy that can only be described as evil since it can only be created from the act of purposely taking a life. Only the one who actually takes the life can draw the energy from the death. Prexwin must use such energy often. He carries an aura of negative energy as you felt at the farm. That is what had such an alarming effect on the animals there. Animals are very sensitive to such things.” Max’s nose twitched with disgust.
“That’s horrible,” Til’ whispered. “Magic created from the death of others.” He shook his head in abhorrence.
“Why would I not know of this type of magic?” Sal’ asked.
Max paused, tilting his head as if to contemplate his answer. “Your Wizard Council and Academy do not know of its existence,” Max answered vaguely. Sal’ gazed at him, waiting for an explanation, but Max was silent. As well as I knew Max, I knew that he wouldn’t explain further even if prodded.
Though my heart already felt like a lead weight from knowing the answer, I asked, “So, to get at me with the eldrhims, human lives were sacrificed to obtain the energy to summon them?”
Max nodded slowly, his eyes looking pained. I shut my eyes and tried to quell the disgust and anger at myself for being the reason for those sacrifices with a deep breath. “What does this have to do with us having time before the next eldrhim summoning?” I asked as calmly as I possibly could.
Max’s eyes took on a look of sadness, his tone becoming subdued. “A lot of negative energy is required to summon eldrhims. The time for the summoner to sacrifice enough beings for the necessary amount of energy is extensive.” I heard Til’ sniffle. The idea of such a waste of life was really getting to him. I put a hand reassuringly on his shoulder while trying not to show the pain I felt inside.
“Also,” Max continued, “the act of summoning them requires a great amount of energy from the summoner. It takes even more to summon them to a location separate from where the spell is cast. It takes time to recover after such a summoning.
“That is why the eldrhim attacks have had so much time between them. Raijom would never expend so much of his own time and energy, incapacitating himself in such a way. With so much negative energy lingering on Prexwin, I would say that Prexwin is Raijom’s source of eldrhim summoning. The active spell in your blood is proof he is still alive, but as you can see, it has taken him days to recover and summon eldrhims again.” The look on Max’s face as he finished conveyed his disgust. What he explained had answered my concern on whether Raijom or Prexwin was the source of the eldrhims.
“How do you know all this?” Sal’ questioned suspiciously.
“That, I will not discuss now,” he replied guardedly. Neither I, nor Sal’ pressed him on the subject. I really wanted to know how he was so knowledgeable about something the Wizard Council wasn’t even aware of, though.
“We need to remove the spell now,” Sal’ persisted. “Prexwin may need time to recover before sending more eldrhims, but what if Raijom or Prexwin make use of the spell to send something simpler after us? We can be killed by an assassin’s knife as surely as by an eldrhim.”
Max let out another sigh. “You are right, but it will be risky for you in your current state.”
“You’re not putting your life at risk for me,” I told her. “I’m getting a little tired of people’s lives being on the line because of me.”
Sal’ stepped forward and put a slender hand to my cheek. “Korin, I have no intentions of dying yet.” She leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss. I heard Max grunt in disgust from her shoulder. My lips felt cold after the warmth of hers parted from them. “Besides, if we don’t get rid of his spell, we’re all at risk anyway.”
“Okay,” I ceded simply. “But if you die, I’m going to be pretty mad at you.” Sal’ gave a small laugh that cut off as her eyes drifted to Bhaliel’s body beside us. We all fell silent for a moment.
“If you guys don’t mind, I’d like to perform the Kolarin funeral passage for her,” Til’ stated meekly.
I clapped my hand against his shoulder. “We’d like nothing more, Til’. We’ll take care of Prexwin’s spell afterwards.” Sal’ and Max nodded their agreement.
Max ran down Sal’s arm to stand by Til’ as I put my arm around Sal’, pulling her close. Til’ kneeled before Bhaliel, placing the sphere containing Xalis gently on the ground beside him. He then pressed the first two fingers of his right hand to his forehead and the first two of his left hand against Bhaliel’s face.
“As the body dies, the soul is reborn. As this life ends, the next begins. As you leave this world, you are remembered. As you enter the next, you begin anew. May Loranis bless your soul and take you into his loving arms,” Til’ chanted solemnly. Til’ then brought his extended fingers together at their tips before his eyes as he bowed his head. “Thank you, Bhaliel,” he whispered. We all echoed the sentiment.
Til’ turned to the rest of us. “Thank you. If it’s okay with you, I will stay with you until we reach the next town so I can get some supplies for my journey north.”
“Of course, Til,” I responded with a smile. I was really going to miss the little guy. Til’ smiled back with sadness in his eyes. He then started emptying out one of his belt pouches, presumably to dedicate one solely for transporting Xalis.
We all agreed to move our camp away from Bhaliel’s body. It would have just been too depressing to see her lying there beside us all night. We traveled an hour to the north towards Geeron since we planned to stop there to restock our supplies before splitting with Til’. Byweather was out of the question even though it was closer. After setting up camp, Sal’ approached me.
“Well, are you ready?” Sal’ asked.
“What do I need to do?”
Sal’ had me lie down on my back and place my head in her lap while she sat cross-legged on the ground. Max curled up beside me and Til’ sat a couple of paces away with his lantern lit, carving on a branch he had found. Sal’ let her light extinguish so that she could fully concentrate on taking care of Prexwin’s spell. She placed the fingers of one hand agai
nst my forehead. The other hand went to her wicker case.
Before she started, Sal’ looked into my eyes. “You’ll be glad to know that the barrier Max put on you is strengthening now that the egg’s gone.”
“So once the egg hatches, its magic disappears?” I asked.
“The magic of a dragon egg is the magic that goes into the life of the dragon child it contains,” Max answered wearily from beside me. “The magic still exists, but within Xalis now. The magic is now Xalis’ life force.”
“Hey, speaking of the egg,” Til’ cut in. “Why did we not become prosperous like Galius?”
With that question, I thought about Til’ who had a new life and friends outside of his banishment from Isaeron. Max had been able to cheat death at the hands of Menar. Sal’ had finally found a place that she was not judged for her abilities or lack thereof. I looked up at Sal’, the girl I was falling for, with a smile. She smiled back warmly. “We did, Til’. Just in different ways.”
“I guess you’re right,” Til’ said, going back to work on the branch while whistling a somber tune. He would inform me later that what he whistled was a Kolarin funeral dirge typically played on a recorder.
“Okay, everyone be silent,” Sal’ ordered. Suddenly, I felt the chill of Sal’s magic enter me as she set to work.
I completely lost track of time. I may have even drifted off to sleep at some point. Eventually, I felt Sal’s hands pull away. “It is done,” Sal’ announced with a weary smile. At least half of the mice she had gotten from the McAlwains’ barn lay in a pile beside her. A small fire crackled warmly beside us. “Still alive, thank you very much.”
I chuckled and sat up, grabbing her hands. “Thank you. Get some rest.” I squeezed her hands and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. As I pulled away, our eyes stayed locked on one another. Just looking into those light blue eyes made my heart speed. I wasn’t falling in love with her. I did love her. “Sal,” I began, wanting to let her know.
