Wavebreaker (Book II of the Stone War Chronicles): Part 1 - Trickle

by A. J. Norfield

  “Who’s Galirras?”

  Lord Algirio still hung forward, trying to catch his breath. Raylan gently shook his shoulder.

  “Please, Lord Algirio,” said Raylan. “I don’t know where to go. Which way?”

  The lord of the castle drew himself up and composed himself before he darted off again.

  “This way, gentlemen.”

  “Wait, hold on. Who’s Galirras?” yelled Brenton as he ran after them.

  “I have to admit, Galirras, I’m pleasantly surprised to get acquainted with such a wonderful creature as yourself. My fears were completely ungrounded, and I would like to extend my gratitude to both you and Xi’Lao for taking the time to show me the error of my feelings toward you.”

  “I am pleased to meet you as well, Lady Leandra, and really, it was no trouble on my part. You have a lovely home here, and I appreciate the chance to have had a closer look at such an immense structure built by human hands,” answered Galirras.

  Galirras looked at the main castle complex. He wondered if Raylan would be much longer. The idea that Raylan was somewhere deep inside this stone-built construction worried him. If anything went wrong, there was no easy way to get to him, and the stone walls made it difficult to keep their minds connected.

  During their first flights together in the area, Galirras had marveled at Azurna, the very first large city he ever encountered. It was completely different from the tree village they had seen on the Dark Continent, and much larger than the harbor they escaped from. It was hard to imagine human hands had dug up, cut and moved the many stones, trees and other material that were needed for such a place; to build each house, bridge and gate. The castle was large enough to hold dozens of dragons, if only the doors had been bigger.

  Galirras was confused about why two people needed such a big house. Raylan’s explanation that they had many servants and soldiers to protect the house from being taken from them did not make things any clearer. If everyone had the same house, none would see the need to try and take the larger house for themselves. In the end, Galirras had just attributed it to one of the peculiar things that humans did—perhaps even needed.

  Next to Galirras, Xi’Lao suppressed a chuckle at the dragon's apparent imitation of Lady Leandra’s way of speaking. The day before, when Raylan had gone into the city and she remained with Galirras in their camp, the dragon had expressed his concerns about how to approach the emperor. It was obvious this unexpected opportunity had him excited. He eagerly showed his flying skills above the castle’s rooftops and had circled around the main complex a few times before gracefully returning to the two women.

  Galirras had no idea how much Xi’Lao enjoyed watching him fly. As the last of the Dragon Archive Keepers, she admired how the dragon had refined his flight with the addition of his wind power. Galirras did not notice it himself, given the natural flow of the learning process, but he could land on a spot the size of a small wagon without much turmoil, or launch into the air with the force of a storm wind. He truly had become an expert flier.

  “I do hope your tiny human is born healthy when the time comes,” Galirras was saying to Lady Leandra. “As I also hope that the discomfort you are feeling will lighten before l—”

  A rumble ran through the ground, cutting Galirras’ sentence short. A loud bang manifested from inside the castle complex. Muffled shouts drifted out from deep within the building. Immediately, a few of the castle guards disappeared inside to check out the commotion. Galirras’ tail twitched nervously. He shuddered his wings and tugged them anew against his flank.

  “What was that noise?” Lady Leandra asked an approaching guard.

  “We’re not sure, milady. Please remain here while others check the center compound.”

  Five guards positioned themselves around the lady of the castle and her company. Those closest to Galirras nervously looked up at him. Even though they had just witnessed the friendly conversation between him and their lady, all they saw were claws and teeth that could easily rip a man apart. But Galirras did not notice, nor did he care. His attention was directed at the castle.

  “Raylan is still in there,” Galirras said to Xi’Lao. “He was almost done, but then he went back in again.”

  “I am sure he is fine.”

  A chilling scream rose from somewhere deep within the building.

  “I have to go and look for him,” said Galirras, crouching ready to launch himself upward.

  But in that moment, the dragon felt his connection with Raylan slip inside his mind.

  “Galirras, are you there? We’ve got trouble,” shouted Raylan’s voice in his head.

  “I am here. What is happening?”

  “Ghol’m. Right behind us!”

  Galirras now heard Raylan’s actual voice shout something on the other side of the castle doors. It must have been directed at the guards in the hallway, as both doors swung outward and several guards scrambled outside.

  Further down the corridor, Galirras spotted Raylan. The dragon momentarily let out a relieved rumble, until he noticed that his friend, Lord Algirio, and another man were running as fast as their feet could carry them. Behind them, screams sounded, but the ghol’m was nowhere to be seen yet.

  The trio was halfway down the hall when a door shattered at the furthest end of the corridor. Pieces of wood were flung into the passage. What was left of the door was ripped off its hinges as the ghol’m skidded around the corner in full pursuit of Raylan and the others.

  “Get the women to safety,” Raylan called out privately as he spotted both Xi’Lao and Lady Leandra next to the dragon. “Then hit it with everything you’ve got.”

  Galirras jumped into action. Time was short; the ghol’m was running at high speed toward the plaza doors.

  “You had both better stand back,” said Galirras to Xi’Lao.

  The dragon remembered this feeling. The slight panic at seeing Raylan in danger. The excitement of a fight made his blood rush through his body. His eyes shifted back and forth as he judged the situation and used a heartbeat’s time to decide his course of action.

  He braced himself, inhaled deeply, and bent his neck. In front of his muzzle he created the focus point. First, the spinning shell of wind; then he drew in the air around him and pushed it inside the stormball.

  It had been Sebastian who had suggested the name. Galirras had practiced the offensive move ever since he used it in the harbor when they stole the airship, but it was no easy feat. It had taken him at least two dozen times to discover he did not actually have to roar to create it. It was all about his control over the wind; intent was key. That first storm ball had been born of pure desperation; natural instinct, an attempt to protect Gavin. It had been a sloppy attack. This one would be more calculated, deliberate.

  But despite his focus, Galirras almost lost control of the fast-spinning outer shell as he remembered his failure to protect Raylan’s brother in his moment of need. He quickly refocused on the ghol’m—on the blue, smoking light in its eyes and that dead, screaming mouth—as it neared the garden.

  Raylan’s small group burst from the castle and immediately turned the corner, avoiding the ghol’m’s line of sight and giving Galirras the opportunity to attack.

  “By the swords of Garkos. What’s that?” called Raylan's new friend, seeing the dragon for the first time. He stumbled to stay on his feet, looking amazed and horrified at the sight of Galirras.

  Unseen by Raylan, four guards stood pressed along the wall on the other side, ready to ambush the intruder. Each held the heaviest weapon they could find. Two large axes, a war hammer and a morning star twisted back and forth in their nervous hands.

  Galirras had noticed them, but could not issue a warning without losing control of his attack. He just hoped they were smart enough to stay out of the way. He strengthened the encapsulating layer of spinning air a final time and quickly pushed a final stream of air inside.

  He was more than confident that he could fit additional air into the ball and
increase the destructive power of his attack, but time ran out as the ghol’m exited the building at full speed. Without any hesitation, the stone warrior turned the corner in pursuit of the three men. Galirras quickly adjusted the angle of his neck, amplified the air from his lungs into a concentrated burst with his wind power and took his shot. But just as he launched his attack, he saw to his horror that the four guards were running forward in an attempt to show their courage and ambush the intruder.

  Galirras might not have needed to roar to launch the storm ball, but it was the only way to issue a warning that might reach the guards in time. The sound thundered across the plaza; everyone except for Raylan and Xi’Lao looked his way in shock. Raylan immediately noticed the reason for the warning and screamed at the guards.

  “Get away, you fools!”

  Two of the lord’s protectors threw themselves flat on the ground, but the other two froze like deer surprised by an unseen predator. The dragon’s projectile hurtled their way. With great effort, Galirras reached out and used his wind power to push the storm ball upward. It barely missed the closest of the two guards, who looked wide-eyed at the dragon, unsure if he was still alive. Dust and dead leaves from the ground got sucked into the traveling gust and spiraled after the orb.

  Immediately, Galirras tried to push his attack down again in a desperate attempt to make it connect with the ghol’m as intended, but the storm ball was quickly travelling out of reach. And to make matters worse, the guards were not the only ones who had heard his warning roar.

  The ghol’m dove to its knees and curled its arms protectively around its head. Harmlessly, the spinning ball of air overshot the stone warrior and hit the building behind it. Stone shards blasted from the wall. A few large chunks crashed down and battered the stationary ghol’m while smaller splinters shot all over the place and cut the guards’ unprotected flesh. The two guards who did not lie flat were thrown several yards across the ground by the explosion.

  But the ghol’m barely moved; it merely put an arm on the ground to steady itself.

  Raylan and his two friends had stayed out of the damage zone and now made haste to circle the plaza, heading for Galirras.

  “That…is Galirras,” the dragon heard Raylan shout back to one of the men.

  The ghol’m rose to its feet and picked up a large piece of stone, hurling it directly at Galirras.

  The dragon launched himself up in the air, only to remember Xi’Lao and Lady Leandra behind him. The chunk of stone now headed straight at them.

  “No!” trumpeted Galirras, shooting the most compact windblast he could muster down toward the ground.

  “That…is Galirras.”

  Raylan's chest and throat hurt as he called back to Brenton. The ghol’m had chased them through the entire castle. Perhaps even twice, thought Raylan grimly. Black spots showed before his eyes and his lungs felt like they were about to burst. He saw the four guards get back to their feet, or at least try to.

  Raylan's small group were nearly at Galirras’ side. Behind the dragon, Xi’Lao and Lady Leandra tried their best to stay out of the way, but the lady of the castle could not easily run with the child that grew inside her. Raylan looked at Galirras. The dragon was their best chance to take the ghol’m down.

  A high-pitched tone penetrated his head; the pain that accompanied it was like a dagger digging into the back of his skull. When he opened his eyes again, the world had burst into sparkles once more. The entire scene in front of him felt enhanced. A flow of unseen brush strokes showed the wind’s presence and brightened the colors.

  It was then that the ghol’m launched its projectile attack. The sparkle-filled air erupted in turmoil around the dragon as Galirras jumped up in an involuntary reaction of self-preservation. Raylan’s thoughts mirrored Galirras’ shocked realization when the dragon noticed his error; he had left both women behind him vulnerable.

  “No!” Galirras’ panicked call boomed across the plaza.

  Shielded by Galirras’ body until now, Xi’Lao did not notice the attack until it was too late. Even with no time to react, her trained mind and body sprang into action. She grabbed hold of Lady Leandra’s dress and pushed off as hard as she could. But the rock was already upon them.

  To the side, Raylan’s own reaction was quicker, though very much unplanned. When Galirras trumpeted his frustration into the air, Raylan threw his arm forward in reflex as if he wished to grab the image of the two women and enclose it inside his fist to form a protective shield. But as his arm shot forward, a different feeling grew inside of him. It traveled up his spine, into his arm.

  Images of Gavin popped in his head. That fatal moment when he had failed to protect his own brother. Raylan realized he was about to lose someone close again. It only added desperation to the storm that stirred inside him. It surged through his bones and muscles. Just before it reached his fingers, he realized he did not want to enclose the two women, to entrap them in a non-existing shield. On the contrary, this force wanted to be released. It needed to move, and all he had to do was let it.

  The air in front of his hand bulged and erupted forward. A river of wind shot out in a spiraling vortex, as if the scars on his arm had twisted it in the last moment. To his own amazement, Raylan saw it speed across the plaza like a sparkling snake rushing in for the kill. It hit Xi’Lao in the back as her fingers curled around the fabric of Lady Leandra’s dress. Both women launched through the air. Xi’Lao pulled the pregnant Leandra close, protecting her and the unborn child as they fell.

  Galirras shot his own windblast down toward the ground, hoping to shatter the projectile that passed below him. But if it had any impact at all, Raylan couldn't see it. Thankfully, Raylan’s unexpected move had been enough. The stone overshot Xi’Lao and Lady Leandra with barely a foot to spare.

  The weight of Lady Leandra and her heavy belly knocked the wind out of Xi’Lao as they hit the ground. The thrown piece of wall scraped across the plaza tiles, tumbled and slammed into the stone railing that marked the plaza's edge. It obliterated the decoratively carved stone rail and both slab and rail disappeared from sight, plunging into the river hundreds of feet below.

  “Are you alright, my dear?” said Lord Algirio as they helped Lady Leandra and Xi’Lao to their feet.

  “Just scrapes and bruises, I think. Galirras pushed us out of the way just in time,” said Xi’Lao in answer to Raylan’s own worried look.

  “That wasn’t him,” said Raylan, too stumped by what had happened to have any tact in the matter. He did not fully believe it himself.

  “What? Then who? How?”

  But there was no time to ponder on Raylan’s unexpected new arsenal. Behind them, Galirras dove straight for the ghol’m, which in turn began to run at him head-on.

  Galirras threw all four clawed feet forward to grab one of the ghol’m’s arms and perhaps rip it off. It proved ineffective. Though Galirras had grown so much over the weeks and was now slightly bigger than the ghol’m, the high density and weight of the stone giant’s body made it a difficult foe to tackle. Galirras’ own build was slender and sleek. After all, a light body was easier to keep in the air—and that put him at a disadvantage.

  The ghol’m caught Galirras’ attack on its left side. One of his hind claws wrapped around the ghol’m’s arm, the other scraping the stone warrior’s leg. Small pieces of black rock chipped from the stone limbs, but there was no major damage.

  Both of Galirras’ front claws dug into his enemy's shoulders and the dragon’s head shot forward, jaws spread wide. But the ghol’m did not topple over as Galirras had expected. Instead it braced itself, received the attack with barely a scratch of damage and promptly launched an attack of its own. Its right arm swung low, straight at the dragon’s ribs.

  Galirras quickly realized his mistake and how vulnerable he was. He wondered how he could have so completely underestimated the ghol’m’s power. Hastily, he broke off his attack, twisting away from the ghol’m’s incoming punch and using his wind power to
push off with his wings.

  The somewhat desperate attempt to escape the impact of the solid stone arm only partly succeeded. The ghol’m’s closed fist rammed Galirras' lower back, instantly knocking the dragon off balance. His enemy used its other arm to throw Galirras across the plaza.

  Just in time, Galirras tucked in his wings to prevent them from folding the wrong way.

  “Galirras!” screamed Raylan.

  In hindsight, Galirras was thankful for the time spent without proper use of his wings when he first hatched. Any other creature might have attempted to use its wings to regain its balance, possibly destroying them for good. Now, damage was minimal. He felt the spots where the ground had grazed the tender skin on his wing bones, but nothing else was hurt except his pride as he quickly scrambled back to his feet.

  “I am fine,” Galirras assured Raylan privately.

  Straight away the ghol’m turned back toward the lord of the castle and broke out into a run. Behind it, Galirras leaped into the air with a push of his wind power and shot forward to cut the ghol’m off.

  “Here it comes again,” warned Brenton, who had been busy directing the women and Lord Algirio to the far end of the plaza.

  By now, dozens of guards had streamed into the area, attracted by the alarms and sounds of fighting. A group of archers rained arrows onto the ghol’m. Other individuals threw spears with impressive accuracy, and even though most bounced off harmlessly, some of the projectiles dug into its stone skin. A few arrows got stuck in the cracks between the arm and shoulder, or the knees, but Raylan knew they would not do much. His own squad had gone through the same motions when they faced their first ghol’m on the Dark Continent. They needed to destroy the head.

  It was a strange scene unfolding before them. A black and monstrous stone hedgehog walked on two legs. Guards swarmed in from all sides to intercept the danger to their lord only to get knocked out of the way as though they were nothing but flies. Despite the casualties, they persisted until none remained able to fight. Raylan feared some of them would never get back up again. In the end, it did not buy them much time, and Raylan felt his anger rise at the sight of so many wasted lives.