by Vic Broquard
“Who — who — who are you? Dragons? Oh my god! She’s alive? They didn’t kill her?”
“I am Baron Zoran Vladislov of Adapazan. Yes, black dragons. She is alive and fine. Now then, why haven’t you told her who her father was?”
“Baron? Well, I can’t. Really, I can’t. He gave me this inn free but he told me that if I ever told anyone, even her, who he is, then he’d take the inn back and throw us out in the gutter. I just can’t tell you or her. Don’t you see? This inn is all that we have. Without it, we’re penniless. I just can’t.” She fidgeted and toyed with her skirt.
“Yes, you can tell me. In fact, I have a pretty good idea who he was. If I am right, you are no longer bound by that oath. He’s dead.”
“Dead? I had no idea. He’s never been back here, not since he learned I was pregnant with Adrianna. That’s when he swore me to secrecy and gave me this inn to support her.”
“It was the late Baron Tom Witherspoon, wasn’t it?”
She crimsoned. “He’s dead? Really?” He nodded. She visibly relaxed, “Well, then I guess there’s no harm in it. Yes, he came into town and back then I was the prettiest young girl in town. I was so taken with his charm and demeanor and apparent wealth — well, you must know how it goes.”
Zoran smiled, “I understand. Also know this, Baron Tom has denied his and your daughter her birthright.”
“Birthright?” she asked confused. “What birthright? Money? Dowry?”
“No, nothing so mundane as that. He was a baron and a Duska. Your daughter has inherited this from him. She should have been given her Ceremony of Ascension and been trained as a Duska, to say nothing of learning to cast magic spells. All this, he denied her, just to keep his dark little secret from the world.”
“A Duska? A mage? My Adrianna?”
“Precisely. I have had my High Priestess perform her Ceremony of Ascension. Your daughter is now officially Duska Adrianna Whitehall. She is at this moment learning her to use her special Duska skills and is learning to cast magical spells at my Fortress in Brn, Adapazan.”
“You are kidding me? A real Duska? My little Adrianna? One of those super powerful people? Casting magic spells? My Adrianna?” Clearly, she didn’t believe it or was totally overwhelmed by this news. He couldn’t tell which yet.
“Yes, all those. True, she has perhaps a couple of years of training ahead of her to master all that she ought to already know at her age. I am covering all of her expenses until she is fully trained and able to make her own way. She will be a most powerful young woman when she finishes her training.”
“If this is so, I cannot possibly thank you enough! Can I see her? I miss her terribly. We’ve never been parted since she was born. I’ve been heartsick ever since she just vanished a few days ago. I’ve been sick with worry. Please, can I see her?”
“I have a better idea. What would you say if we sold this inn and I help you purchase a much better, far more profitable inn in Brn? Then, you could see your daughter every day, though it would have to be in the evenings when she’s done with her studies. I know that she misses you very much and would really love having you close to her.”
“If I can see her and verify what you are saying is true, then I would give anything to do what you say. You must understand me. I’ve been on my own supporting and raising Adrianna all these years. I have learned not to trust men, if you take my meaning.”
“Absolutely. I certainly do know what you mean. That is agreeable with me as well. Shall we go now?”
“Well, I can get Amos to run things tonight. Sure. Need a few minutes. Does she want me to bring her some of her things? Dresses? Hair brush?”
“No, we have already provided her with the things that she needs.” Beth quickly summoned Amos, who was working in the basement, lugging ale barrels. She issued her orders and then returned to Zoran, straightening her dress and undoing her bun, allowing her hair to fall naturally.
“I guess I am ready now.”
“Okay, please sit down for a minute. There is a bit more I must tell you before I take you to her.” She did and stared at him. “The dragons have been abducting quite a few young women from many of the Federation planets.”
“Why would they do this? We’ve heard all sorts of wild rumors, but we don’t know what to believe.”
“They are doing interspecies breeding, impregnating the women so that they then give birth to baby dragons. It seems the dragons only breed every ten years or so.”
“Oh my god no! My poor Adrianna! Did they. . .”
“Yes, I am afraid so. However, it is far worse than mere rape. They blinded the women and somehow paralyzed their arms in a permanent manner, such that nothing any of us Archmages have been able to undo. We’ve managed to remove their blindness, except for six women whose eyes were physically removed. The women’s arms are atrophying and quickly become mere skin and bone. Yes, Adrianna is among those many women who have lost the use their arms. She is still hoping that we can find a cure for her and ninety-five others like her. If we cannot, it’s pretty grim. Their arms eventually atrophy, becoming skin on bone, extremely dangerous to the women’s lives. At that point, the physicians have little choice but to remove what’s left of them.”
Beth looked absolutely crushed. She began crying as it fully registered. Zoran continued softly, “Take heart. As a byproduct of their ordeal, all of these women now have an uncanny ability to learn magic and at an unbelievable rate. Last November, we rescued seventeen women who lost their arms. My wife has been training them for almost a year and every one of them can now cast spells that give them their arms back. So it is not going to be utterly devastating for her in the long run. We will do everything possible to help her learn to cast the spells which she can use to have arms again. Right now, she is fully healed and quite healthy and is extremely eager to start learning her magic spells, but she desperately wants to see you. I know that it would be a huge help to her if you were nearby for support. That is one reason why I would like you to move to Brn to be close to her.”
“But how can she survive without arms or the use of them? Others are like her? How many are you talking about? Ninety-five more?”
“In the last few days, we have rescued all of the still living women that the dragons have been abducting over the last several months. In her group alone, there are ninety-six women.”
“ Ninety-six! Oh dear god! So many will need help with everything! I absolutely must move to Brn today! I can help many of them with everything.”
“I understand. Your help will be most welcome. I would also like to let you know that Adrianna is responsible for our even locating her and these women. We had no idea where they were at until Adrianna tried so hard to contact any other Duska to help her. She reached me across the Shadows and, because of her reaching me, I was able to find her and all the others. The ninety-five women owe Adrianna their lives. If she’d not tried to use her untrained Duska senses to reach someone, we’d have never found them before they died giving birth to the baby dragons. You can be immensely proud of your daughter. She saved not only herself, but ninety-five other women.”
“She did that? My little Adrianna? Well, she always did want to help others.” Beth did look extremely pleased. Zoran then took her hand and stepped into the Shadows. He moved swiftly, minimizing her extreme disorientation, but hovering briefly over Brn, giving her a birds-eye view of the thriving city, some ten times larger than her town. His castle with the Archmage towers was also quite impressive. He took her into his private study, where Zdenka brought Adrianna. He had sent her a Message in advance.
“Mom! You came! I am so glad to see you!” Adrianna rushed to greet her mother, who gaped at her daughter’s lifeless, dangling arms, then threw her arms around her, hugging her daughter tightly. Both began to cry. “Mom! So much has happened to me. I am a Duska now, a real Duska, just like the baronesses! I’m learning magic too.”
Zoran allowed the two some private time together. A while later
, Adrianna asked if she could show her mother around and have her meet some of her new friends and other women. Since it was dinner time, they headed to the Great Hall where everyone congregated. Beth was visibly shaken seeing so many women in such dire need, but she also met Danika and several other women and began to see what Zoran meant. Later that evening, Beth asked if she could stay here permanently and help the many women with their personal needs. Her help was accepted and he arranged for her inn to be sold.
The next Sunday, he took Beth and Adrianna on a tour of Brn and suggested a couple of inns that might be purchased. To his surprise, Beth made an entirely different offer. “I mean no offense, baron, but I would be far more useful in your kitchen. With so many mouths to feed and so many women to help, I would dearly love to help cook for them, help them dress, wash and brush their hair, things like that. I am a good cook.”
“You are hereby hired, Beth Whitehall!” He put her on his payroll that evening. To her surprise, she found herself making four times what she had been earning from her inn. More importantly, she was contributing something that she saw was needed and valuable.
Zoran was now convinced that arrangements had to be made for all the other ninety-five abducted women and their loved ones. Just what this would entail, he didn’t know at the moment, but he knew this was vitally important for the human aspect of the women and their families.
Chapter 25 Repercussions
Zoran knew that he had to notify Aldrick of what the reds and blacks had been doing. However, he mulled this over for several days, while assisting Adrianna and the others. He knew that Aldrick would be furious that they had broken their word to him. He’d tried hard to put a stop on the abductions, knowing full well that if it continued, the humans would do far more than declare war on dragon-kind. Yet, they had continued. Still, Zoran was pleased that he had left the dragons in complete mystery over the disappearance of the women and had put a temporary halt on their abductions for the time being. He had little doubts that the dragons would eventually hatch up another plan to continue their interspecies breeding. For now, the abductions had ceased.
If, however, Aldrick went to the reds and blacks and confronted them about the abductions and told them that Zoran had rescued the women, then they could easily go right back to it again, probably using another location on Voss that was wholly unknown to them. This time, they had been phenomenally lucky that Adrianna was able to send out her message through the Shadows. Had she not, these ninety-six would be dead and many more abducted, sixteen every couple of weeks. If they resumed their abductions, Zoran knew that the barons would have no choice but to take far more drastic actions against the dragons. Just what that might be, he didn’t want to speculate at the moment.
Hence, notifying Aldrick was fraught with peril. He debated the issue for several days, considering other aspects. The loved ones of these women needed to know that they were alive and well, that they were really on their way to learning powerful magic, but also the terrible price that they had paid. Some, he now knew, had their own children at home and some were married. The only thing that kept these new women from a total emotional collapse was their driven desire to learn enough magic to be able to overcome what had happened to them, at least at this point in time. He suspected that in due course, they would also develop a love of magic. Some already knew that mages on their planet were extremely important people, wielding power and wealth. One could not overlook the fact that this also was playing a role with these women.
They were confronting a personal physical disaster, shared in common by nearly a hundred of them and that also helped them keep their own previous lives on hold while they frantically learned magic. Yes, they were doing everything possible to learn everything in one day, valiantly trying to go as fast as possible. Well, the original seventeen had behaved much the same way. That would soon wear off as they actually began casting spells. Nevertheless, their families ought to be notified.
That notification in and of itself would further complicate matters. Upon hearing the full story of her daughter, Beth had insisted on seeing her daughter. Once she saw Adrianna, nothing else mattered but her desire to be there and help Adrianna anyway that she could. Would not other women’s families and relatives feel much the same way? How could he deny them the chance to visit? What could he do when many subsequently begged to stay and help their loved one? What about the women’s babies and young children?
Then, there was the inevitable political fallout. His and Zdenka’s original plans were to train the women fully and then return them to their home planets. As either Mages or Archmages, the ruling barons would certainly hire them on the spot! He knew that the barons were desperate for more of these powerful magic users and would recompense the women more than likely beyond the women’s wildest imaginations. Yes, the barons would help them develop rewarding careers. Certainly Jing was in dire need of mages.
His mind drifted to Danika and these original seventeen from Adapazan. As their baron, he really appreciated having seventeen more powerful mages on his world and he could not help but wonder if some might achieve even higher abilities, Archmage perhaps. Already the other barons drooled over the sheer number of Archmages on Adapazan and this was allowing him to deal far more effectively with the dragons than any other world. Yes, any baron would dearly love to have these women returned to his world as fully trained mages or better.
Prior to the recent arrivals, the tallies were very lopsided, in that Terra had thirty-three women in training, Jing had eight, and Cosma had twelve. This didn’t count the lesser possibilities, that is, those who had been impregnated by the greens and were learning at a normal student rate — the ten on Cosma and the thirty on Jing. That didn’t include the twenty-one total from Adapazan or the two Rehor women who begged him to never send them back to Rehor, not ever. He had agreed to their wishes. That left the other rulers out in the cold and left Terra anticipating an unbelievable influx of new mages, thirty-three!
Now the game had shifted, the ninety-six came pretty much evenly divided among fifteen of the sixteen worlds. None of the women came from Asami, the water world. Baron Goro would be totally left out of this huge influx of potential new mages. The political ramifications were huge. Even Duska Adrianna Whitehall was going to be a problem. Zoran strongly suspected that she would not desire to return to Terra when she was fully trained. Yet, she ought to be recognized as the half-sister of the ruling barons! In fact, she ought to be in line for one of the thrones, should something happen to one of the barons. But would they accept her and give her her proper birthrights? He doubted that very much and she, in turn, would not return to work for them. Politics would definitely become a thorny issue.
On the other side of the coin, only Aldrick stood the slightest chance of reining in the treachery of the reds and blacks. Only he could potentially stop them from their continued abduction of women and their wicked interspecies breeding plans. Aldrick had to know. If the reds and blacks once more promised to cease and desist, what would prevent them from secretly doing just the opposite as they had been doing all summer? Worse, had it not been for Adrianna, they would not have known where any of the women were being held and almost another hundred would have been dead by now. If the reds and blacks merely found another secret place, the whole game could begin once more. At this moment, he had them stymied under the false belief that something had gone horribly wrong with their breeding program on Voss. That meant no more abductions, at least for a while. Zoran faced a tough decision.
On the 12th of August, he finally visited Aldrick in the dragon’s cavern high in the northern mountains north of Brn. Sofie had gone on a hunt and the two of them sat down to chat. “Aldrick, I don’t know how to say this best, so I will just tell you the full story. Perhaps, we can work something out.”
The old dragon merely said, “Hum!” Zoran explained in vivid detail what had been happening on the sixteen planets during the summer months. He told how Adrianna had somehow reached him
with her frantic cries for help. He told him about the cavern complex on Voss, which startled Aldrick noticeably! Aldrick grinned when he heard how Werner and Dario had bought into the illusion that the Archmage created and had thus terminated the program on Voss, ending the abductions for the time being.
“Let me get one thing clarified, Zoran. The reds and blacks have now given you nearly two hundred women who are going to rapidly become mages and perhaps some even Archmages?”
“Absolutely, Aldrick. The original seventeen are full mages already and are working on the advanced spells now. I am hoping that by winter they will be able to cast Disintegrate spells as well. When I add that many more mages to my arsenal, I will have a deadly strike force against the reds and blacks. That’s something they ought to consider. Within a few years, the reds and blacks will have helped create the strongest attacking force anywhere in the universe and you can count on those women seeking revenge against the reds and blacks,” Zoran play his final card, making the only move he could see which Aldrick might be able to use to persuade them to stop their interspecies breeding program.
Aldrick pulled his mighty chin. “Now that is a powerful argument that I can use with them. Yes, yes indeed.”
“Please, may I ask another thing of you? When you discuss this with them, they are going to know now that the hundred women didn’t dissolve and perish and that they are now in Brn getting trained. I’d rather that they didn’t know that I and my staff were the ones who found the women and rescued them. I’d appreciate it if you told them that you were behind the locating of their caverns on Voss and that you and your golds rescued the women and left them with me. That would seem very believable to them.”
Aldrick chuckled. “That will leave you off the hook. All right, I will do this. It may also give me more clout over the reds and blacks if they think that I have such powers. Agreed. I will meet with them and do all that I can to get them to stop. Even though you are building up a powerful attacking force, Zoran, we both know the consequences of a war between our species. We are few, but immensely powerful. Humans are many, but weak. Millions of humans will die and hundreds of we dragons as well. Who can say what the outcome will be, save an enormous and tragic loss of life. We must keep this from happening, old friend.”
