Dragon Scepter

by Angelique Anderson

  “And I’m evil? You had Palladin curse this magic! I tried to use it to destroy the chains, and bring down Caelestis, and instead all I felt was pain.” Xolderan collapsed on the ground, his eyes squinting shut.

  “I did nothing of the sort. If you tried to use the purest of magic for evil, and it backfired on you, then that is your fault. That magic is not to be wasted, I’m sure your pain is a result of your use of it. Every dragon in the realm contributed to that. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

  “Shut up, girl. Just let me be. I’ll break out of here, pure magic or no, and rest assured, when I do, all of you will regret it.”

  Cayden and Astrid took off in a full run out of the caves.

  “We need to get to Caelestis, I must seek out my sisters. We need help,” Astrid said.

  Cayden nodded, and as they emerged from the caves, Astrid was grateful to see the Sky Ethereal still remained. His oversized beak, pecking at the ground for food.

  “Take us to Caelestis,” she told him.

  The bird beast nodded, and she and Cayden mounted his back

  She would have to request an audience with Hekla, who she could only hope was still in Aequoris. Astrid hoped that her sister would have a solution to save Caelestis, because Astrid was all out of ideas.

  39

  Svana

  In the heat of battle, true unity can be seen in the hearts and minds of those who fight for the freedom of the ones who are not able to fight for themselves.

  King Ansel the Humble, First King of Aequori, 258 A.V.

  Jakobe and Svana hurried back toward the boat, and as they neared that water again, Svana realized why all the watercrafts had been missing. They were all there, tied to the rock posts along the Aequoran island.

  “It’s appears that they came here, and never left.” Svana motioned to the docked boats.

  “I noticed that when we arrived here but didn’t want to mention it. It’s not a good sign,” Jakobe whispered.

  Svana shook her head. “No, it’s not, considering that the island seems empty, compared to the day when I first brought you here to get help.”

  Unwelcome images flooded Svana’s mind, but she shook them away. Jakobe had almost died. She gave him a once over, seeing that his strength had fully returned, and still thankful to be seeing him well and whole.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  “I suppose. Just wondering when this is all going to be over,” she replied.

  Svana realized her biggest fear was losing not just her sisters, but him as well. When she had set out to help Telluris, she hadn’t planned on falling in love. She hadn’t even planned on meeting a man, well, not really. Svana would be lying to herself if she said she hadn’t dreamed of it. And Jakobe was well beyond any of her dreams. Yet, she still had so much to accomplish. It felt like the end was near, but there was still the consistent worry that he wouldn’t make it. She’d already almost lost him once, and she couldn’t stand it if it happened again, or worse. Taking a deep breath, she followed his lead, climbing into the boat, and used the oar to push them out into the water.

  “I know,” he said, sighing deeply. “The battles between the kingdoms have gone on for too long, and as far as the Aequoran king is concerned, and what Hekla told us…”

  Their oars dipped one after the other, each taking turns on their respective sides to propel them forward as they talked. Svana could already feel the burn in her arms and hoped they wouldn’t have to paddle for much longer.

  “I know! It’s… I can’t even wrap my mind around it! The Undead? How did he even manage that? I thought the Tellurian King had been up to some dark magic, but this is…” Svana’s voice trailed off.

  What had he done? Svana couldn’t even comprehend it.

  “We can’t worry about that, Svana. We need to worry about getting home and helping Eloise. Let Hekla worry about Aequoris.”

  Svana knew she had to return to Telluris. She knew that she had her own problems. It was important that they return to see how Eloise was doing and see if she needed any help. But Telluris had been taken well care of. The wizard was dead. What more did she have to do there? Surely it couldn’t be more important than facing an evil dragon and an undead army, could it? “I know, but I worry for her safety.”

  “As you should, and I’m sure she worries for yours,” Jakobe said.

  “What if she needs my help?”

  “If she does, she will ask for it. You have to trust that she will ask.”

  “I do,” she whispered.

  His head turned away from her, and in the falling evening, she watched his strong arms, movements as liquid as melted metal, as he dipped the oar in the water over and over. His dark, careless hair, unkempt. He’d become so important, in such a short time.

  “You’ve grown silent,” he said.

  “Mmmm…”

  Lips gently pinched, she looked out over the water, surprised by how at peace she felt in spite of the chaos that awaited from all sides. Even as her mind somersaulted with all of the worries she carried, Hekla fighting against the undead—what if she was unable to save the Aequorans? —Telluris in ruins, everything destroyed; Caelestis, its own kingdom, caring less about the people below it.

  How was Astrid? She longed to see her sister, to know what progress had been made with the sky kingdom.

  “I know that look,” he said. They were almost close to shore, and then it would be a short journey to the Tellurian town. “You’ve got a lot on your mind,” he stated.

  “I do,” she answered honestly. “Mainly just worried about anything and everything. My sisters and I left our homes so long ago, and it feels that some progress should have been made. Instead, Hekla now deals with the Undead. Telluris is destroyed, and who knows what else has happened since we were gone. I’ve heard no word of Caelestis, or Astrid. It’s like things are worse than if we had just stayed in the Volcano of Shadows.”

  “No, you can’t think that way.” He hopped into the water, pulling the small boat onto land. When it steadied, she stepped out onto the sand.

  “Let’s hide this, in case we have to go back,” she urged him.

  Jakobe nodded, and they stood on each side of the small watercraft, dragging it into the trees, where they turned it over, and covered it with branches and brush. Brushing her hands off, she dove quickly into the trees, ducking under branches as she continued forward.

  “Hey, wait up. Listen, things are better. It just takes time. The king has been restored,”

  “Yes, but Telluris lays in ruins,” she said angrily, frustration growing at all they had lost. Percival, her first friend. Killed by rogues. And how many others? It wasn’t fair.

  “And we will restore it,” he said kindly.

  Svana didn’t answer, she just swiped away the brush and branches, kicking her way through the overgrowth, as quickly as possible until they finally reached the clearing. Telluris awaited them on the other side. What was left of it? Many of the homes and businesses stood in ruins, crumbled to the ground. It was worse than Svana remembered it.

  “Eloise!” she shouted, worried that the woman had been killed in their absence. She took off in a full run, terrified of what awaited her.

  “I don’t think so, Lassie!” A tree of a man, appearing from nowhere jumped out, sword swinging.

  Svana immediately retrieved her blade from her side, blocking his attack. His partner, or perhaps someone just interested in starting a fight, joined in, and soon, she and Jakobe were fighting for their lives against a handful of brutes.

  Foul-smelling, torn clothes, unkempt men. The one who attacked Svana was missing a couple front teeth, and when he smiled it sent chill bumps crawling across her skin.

  “What a morsel,” he said appreciatively.

  He side-stepped her attack, and swung his blade around front, as if meaning to slice her in half at her torso. Svana jumped away from his blade, its tip only inches from her armor as it passed, then she ran directly for him, jumping in t
he air and spinning to offer a high kick right to his chest.

  “Oof,” he let out with a look of surprise, as he fell backwards, landing on his bottom.

  The second man who had joined in the fight charged toward her. Without a moment to pause, she shifted her sword, swinging it around to administer a slice to his gut that brought him to the ground.

  Clanging and yelling pounded the air behind her, and she turned around, horrified to see Jakobe fighting three brutes of his own. Rushing to his side, she stabbed at one of his attackers, who deflected with his own blade. Swirling around, he rebounded from defending himself, and swung at her. She deflected his blade in the nick of time, feeling the magic of Lingaria, pulsing through her.

  Oh, how she had missed him. She vowed to herself to make him proud.

  The man attacked again, and she put all her might into swinging the blade around to hit him. Her sword glowed with a red intensity, an energy transferring from her sword to his. He fell to the ground, backward, somersaulting away from the blow and dropping his sword. His hands were red where they had been burned by the hilt of his sword from Lingaria’s magic transferring between the weapons. He took one last horrified look at Svana before he ran off as fast as he could.

  “Coward!” Svana yelled after her him, angry that she hadn’t been able to stop him.

  The clash of metal had stopped from Jakobe’s side, and she noted the two new bodies on the ground.

  “See, we’re cleaning up Telluris as we go, you’ve nothing to worry about.” Jakobe winked at her.

  “That’s not funny! I do not wish to take any more lives,” she said looking to the ground, where the men had fallen.

  “I know, but in times of war, it’s necessary.”

  “It doesn’t mean I have to like it,” she said with a scowl, stepping over the men, and heading toward Eloise’s tavern.

  “No one likes death, Svana.” His large dark eyes clouded with sadness.

  “No, of course not. I didn’t mean that…” Her voice trailed away.

  Sometimes she forgot that he suffered losses too. His own village had been destroyed. How many friends had he known there? How many were now dead? She shook her head of such thoughts.

  “I miss being a blacksmith. I never had to kill anyone then. I only had to make weapons. It wasn’t that long ago, you know. Now… it’s almost as if I’ve grown accustomed to killing, and I don’t like it.”

  Svana stepped close to him and wrapped her arms around him. “I know. I want things to go back to normal as well. Perhaps, one day, they’ll get there.”

  “For that to happen, we’ll have to see this through.”

  “Yes, we will,” Svana said.

  “Are you ready?”

  She nodded.

  Jakobe walked in stride with her, both speechless as they surveyed the surrounding lands. This was just one part of Telluris, and it seemed the majority of it lay in ash. Every now and then, a home stood intact, but there was no rhyme or reason to it. Svana felt the loss as if it were her own, and her heart went out to those who had everything taken from them.

  She knew she didn’t feel it as hard as Jakobe though. She could see it in his eyes. It was as if his very life force had been taken from him.

  “I’m so sorry. It’s so much worse than I remembered,” she said quietly.

  Up ahead, the tavern, only partially destroyed, stood like a beacon. The hand carved sign out front, lay broken in pieces on the ground. Svana let out the breath she’d been holding. Outside, men and woman stood in front of the Tavern.

  “Is everything all right?” Svana asked as she approached.

  Faces in the crowd paled as Svana got closer, and several of them ran inside the tavern.

  “What is going on?” Jakobe asked as they reached the entrance.

  The scent of stew and spices lingered from the entrance of the pub. Svana tilted her head as she looked at the few people who lingered outside of the pub. They didn’t look at her. Instead, their expressions seemed lost, and they looked out into nothing, as if haunted by the memories of what had happened to the lonely village. Realizing she wasn’t going to get any answer from them and smelling stew in the air that seemed to be coming from inside the pub, she gently opened the door.

  The tavern was half-demolished, but fresh wood had been nailed in several places, standing out from the rest of the tavern’s rustic appearance. Cots and rolled out blankets littered the floor. Men, women, and children either stood around, or sat on the floor by blankets or cots. Everyone was dirty, like they hadn’t showered in weeks—or longer. Little girls with dirt-stained faces and matted hair sat clutching potato sack dolls.

  “Jakobe! Svana!” Eloise came from behind the bar, running to them. Wrapping the red-haired woman in a tight hug. “You’re alive!”

  “I am,” she returned the woman’s hug, releasing her, so that Eloise could hug Jakobe.

  “Eloise, what is going on here?”

  “These are just some of our people displaced by the rogue attacks.”

  “And so, they are staying here?” Svana wondered aloud.

  “Yes, I couldn’t turn them away. My building is one of the very few left. Those men are helping me repair it.” She pointed to a few men who were hammering away at one section of wall, while others hauled away debris and garbage, Eloise shrugged her shoulders. “I figured letting their families stay here was the least I could do.”

  “Eloise, always caring for others,” Jakobe said affectionately.

  “Are you hungry?” She ignored his comment, even though a small smile played on her lips.

  “Starving!” Svana answered enthusiastically.

  “Naiah, would you please get my friends a bowl of soup.”

  A young faced, dark-skinned girl looked up from the counter, smiling softly. “Of course,” she said quietly. She left to the kitchen.

  “Is she all right?” Svana asked.

  “Naiah?” Eloise shook her head. “Her mother and father were killed, and her sister died a few years back. She has no one left.”

  “Where is she staying?” Svana asked, looking for an empty bed roll on the ground.

  “I gave her one of the upstairs rooms so she could shut the door and be alone. The rest of the rooms filled up quickly, the floor is all I have left.” Eloise looked toward the kitchen, watching for the girl to reappear. “She’s been a godsend to me, though,” she continued. “She loves to help out, and the children all love her. She sings to them when they cry. Honestly… I don’t know how any of us would be getting on without her.”

  “I don’t know how our village would be getting on without you,” Jakobe said.

  It was true, Eloise was caring for the people, and Jakobe looked like he wanted to protect them. Telluris had been nearly destroyed, even though the king had been restored.

  “Thank you, Eloise, for your work here. It’s good to know, that although so much has been taken, Telluris still has people willing to do anything to help.” Svana went quiet for a moment. “I have to do what I must to help, also. I’m going back to the castle…”

  “No!” Eloise yelled emphatically. “You can’t! It’s not safe, the men who did this… they’re still out there. They’re still ravaging around the kingdom, killing at random. Destroying what little remains. If you go out there, something could happen to you.”

  “I can take care of myself,” she argued, hand on the hilt of her sword.

  “That may be so, but there are still people who want you dead. Please don’t go.”

  Eloise’s eyes begged for her to stay, and there was something more in her eyes. It wasn’t all worry for Svana, but worry for the others in the room. The men, women, and children. She wanted to stay, she wanted to help protect all the people, but she couldn’t. There was still too much to do, and now more than ever, they were so close to restoring peace in Telluris. Svana shook her head.

  “Jakobe can stay here and help protect you and these people. With the men working to restore the tavern, we c
an work to restore the other homes and shops with time. With everyone working together, it will go quickly. Only, we’re going to have to keep rebuilding if we don’t deal with the problem.”

  “Svana, I know your heart is in a good place, but you can’t go out there alone,” Jakobe said sternly, arms crossed over his chest, eyes narrowed in her direction.

  “I have to. Eloise needs you here. I’ll be all right; I have help, remember?” She patted her sword for emphasis, but he shook his head again.

  Eloise stepping forward by his side. “He’s right, dear. You’re too important to us. Regardless of what the renegades think, we need you. Telluris needs you. We can’t risk your life.” Like a concerned mother, Eloise said the words as if there was no point arguing.

  “Fine, Jakobe can come with me, but if something happens to you, Eloise, I’ll never forgive myself,” She flicked her ruby red hair out of her face.

  Svana was frustrated to have to make a choice she didn’t want to make, and Jakobe could seriously mess up her plans if he got in the way.

  “I’ll be fine, what’s left of this village is here with me. Any one of them would be willing to fight to keep what we have.”

  Svana nodded her head. “Very well, then. Jakobe and I will go together, but please… Eloise, take care. I will speak to the king, and I will send help your way. There must be some soldiers who can be spared.”

  “Thank you,” Eloise said.

  “And when we’re done with our mission, we’ll be back. Then we will restore the villages to their former glory.”

  Eloise nodded. “I’ll hold you to that, dear.”

  Svana bowed slightly, turning on her heel and striding out of the front door. She could feel the stares of the villagers and patrons’ eyes on her as she walked away. Jakobe’s boots treaded heavily behind her.

  This is going to complicate things, Lingaria said with a huff.

  It’s not like I had a choice, she retorted.

  Yes, you did, he replied.