Dragon Scepter

by Angelique Anderson

  She huffed aloud, quickening her steps as they headed toward the castle. It was time to talk to the king, and to see what could be done about these renegades.

  40

  Hekla

  Knowledge fades over time. History is important to everyone. To be able to see what we’ve done… where we’ve came from… and what mistakes we’ve made. We can learn from the past, and with that knowledge, we can make a better future. However, there are some things we can accomplish by not knowing the past—and more specifically, where someone had failed. Because without that knowledge, we try to accomplish the same feat… And sometimes, we’re successful where they were not.

  King Arnott the Wise, Second King of Telluris, 322 A.V.

  Hekla stretched as she awoke in the morning. She still wasn’t used to mornings under the sea. Normally, she’d wake up to a sunrise, but there was no such thing underwater. Instead, a slight glimmer spread across the water as sunlight hit the top of the sea. It was beautiful in its own way, but a lot different than an actual sunrise.

  She stood and walked over to where Jetevius and Ecthelion were already in conversation. Their scales shone brightly in the glimmering water. Aequorans really were beautiful. Even though Hekla was most like a Tellurian in appearance, except for her bright blue hair, she found more beauty in the Aequorans than any other race.

  “Morning,” Jetevius said.

  Hekla nodded at him but didn’t speak for a moment as she glanced around to see all the soldiers. She still couldn’t believe so many had followed her. Now they outnumbered Aequoran forces two to one. But it still wouldn’t be enough. If the dragon decided to attack, no one would be able to stop them. Then she realized Isabella was nowhere in sight. Hekla frowned.

  “Where is Isabella?” she asked.

  Jetevius wrinkled his nose. “She wasn’t feeling well. I believe she’s south of the camp.”

  “Alone?” Hekla asked.

  Hekla knew seeing her father had been hard on Isabella. At first, she hadn’t wanted to go, but Hekla had convinced her, and she reluctantly agreed. But then her father had rejected her, and it hurt her. Hekla had seen that clearly. Isabella’s love for her father hadn’t been enough to break the spell.

  “I don’t believe anyone else went with her.”

  Hekla frowned. She needed to go find Isabella and comfort her. It wasn’t her fault. The dragon was just too powerful. She’d tried to let her know that, and Hekla believed Isabella had understood, but perhaps she needed a little more convincing.

  “Hekla!” someone called out from ahead.

  Hekla shook her head of her thoughts as she looked to a young Aequoran swimming toward them. He stopped short, then bowed before her.

  “Please,” she said, “there’s no need to bow.”

  “Yes, your majesty,” he said.

  “I am not your majesty. I am not a queen.”

  The man’s head tilted with quizzical eyebrows.

  Hekla rolled her eyes. Word was spreading way too fast that she was to be the new queen. It was a position Hekla wasn’t even sure she wanted. The responsibility was daunting.

  “What news do you have?” she asked.

  “The sky kingdom is in trouble. They wish to speak with you.”

  “Speak with me?” Hekla asked, an eyebrow raising.

  “Yes. A woman named Astrid wishes your counsel.”

  Hekla’s eyes widened. Her sister had asked for her. No, she hadn’t just asked for her… she asked for her counsel. Hekla’s bottom lip pushed outward. What could be so important that Astrid needed her help? Astrid was the eldest. Usually she had everything under control.

  “Will you see her?” the man asked.

  Hekla pinched her lips to the side, her nose wrinkling as she pondered the outcome. She had worries of her own that she had to deal with, though, she needed help with them as well. Even if she could get all the Aequorans to unite under one banner, she didn’t believe it would be enough to defeat the dragon. Perhaps this would be a good time to talk to Astrid about this, though, if Astrid was searching for her, would Astrid be in a place to help?

  “Your majesty?” the man asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.

  “I told you not to—oh, never mind,” Hekla growled. “Yes, I will see Astrid.”

  “Good,” the man said. “She will meet you at the top of the lift.”

  Hekla raised her eyebrows. “Lift?”

  Jetevius interrupted. “Do you remember when we first met, where I took you, with the baskets… and the fruit exchange. Where the kingdoms first showed interest in restoring peace?”

  She nodded. “Ah yes! When we sent up—” She wrinkled her nose. “Fish, and they sent apples.”

  “Yes, the very same place.”

  “It’s in operation?” she asked, curiosity piqued.

  “Indeed, proof there is hope for our kingdoms.” He grinned.

  “I suppose there is.” She dared to hope. “The lift, it is capable of carrying a person?”

  He nodded again. “With the right carrier, of course.”

  “Hmmm,” she said, eyes looking toward the distance, excitement growing as she thought about the prospect of seeing Astrid after all this time.

  “Would you like some company?” Jetevius asked.

  Hekla smiled at him. “Sure.”

  They swam together to the lift. She wondered how often it had been used since Astrid and she had operated it. Now that she’d thought about it, she had noticed several imported foods in the camp—fruit she’d recognized and ate, rather than all fish. Her nose turned as she thought about fish. That was one thing she had in common with Astrid. Neither of them liked eating fish. It was a trait that Svana didn’t share with them. Svana ate everything.

  When they arrived, Hekla saw a basket of pears and apples, and a note. She assumed this was the note the young Aequoran soldier had read to let Hekla know that Caelestis needed help. Hekla grabbed the letter and read it. It was her sister’s handwriting, and the need did seem dire, though no information was presented in the text.

  What is going on in Caelestis that Astrid is desperate for my help? Hekla asked Speltus.

  Ask her yourself, Speltus said. The two of you need each other and need to catch up.

  Hekla’s lips pressed together tight as she stepped onto the lift with Jetevius. The Aequorans manning the lift began to tug at the rope and they shakily began rising out of the sea.

  It didn’t take as long as Hekla had expected, and after only a few minutes, they reached the top of the sea. They were at the bottom of the mountain, and Hekla and Jetevius stepped off the lift. A small wooden table with built in seats sat a few feet away. Sitting at the table was Astrid and a young man.

  “Hekla,” Astrid said, smiling. “I’m glad you came. Have you met Cayden?”

  “Briefly,” Hekla said, “at the battle of the wizard.”

  “He is a close friend—”

  “He looks to be more than that,” Hekla interrupted.

  “Hekla!” Astrid warned, her eyes growing wide, and her cheeks reddening.

  Hekla grinned at her eldest sister. “You requested my… counsel?”

  “Yes… things have grown complicated up in Caelestis.”

  Hekla sat across from her sister. “Is that right? Well, I don’t imagine they’re more complicated than what we just ran into in the canyon under the sea.”

  Astrid’s eyes lit up at her comment. “It seems we have much to discuss.”

  “It seems we do,” Hekla said.

  “Who shall begin?” Astrid asked.

  “You called me here.”

  “Very well,” Astrid said. “Caelestis is falling. A dragon is chained underneath the city, and it is his magic that is fueling the city. It is because of him that Caelestis floats. And he is weakening.”

  Hekla’s jaw dropped. “A dragon?”

  Astrid began telling Hekla everything she knew about the dragon under Caelestis, and how the Unseen Ones had imprisoned him there. Hekla t
ook all the information in, intrigued by it all, and baffled about what they should do about it.

  “If he was imprisoned by the Unseen Ones, then it was for good reason. I don’t think it’s a good idea to let him free. It sounds like he was a dark dragon indeed a long time ago. I don’t know if the imprisonment has changed him. If it had, why wouldn’t the Unseen Ones have let him go?” Hekla asked.

  “I don’t know,” Astrid said. “But even if he isn’t a good dragon. If he’s dying, he cannot remain the source of Caelestis’s magic. Is there any kind of spell you can do that would take its place?”

  Hekla made a face at her sister, her eyes crossed, her head sunk into her neck, and a double chin showing. “It doesn’t work like that, Astrid. There are two types of magic. One that completes a task, which making an entire kingdom float… wouldn’t be a simple spell and would most likely kill me, or a continuous spell, which it sounds like what was done to this dragon. Somehow, a spell was linked from this dragon to Caelestis, where it used his magic continuously over the years to keep the kingdom afloat.”

  Astrid frowned. “Can it be replicated?”

  “Replicated?” Hekla asked. “And who would take the dragon’s place? You?”

  Astrid bit her lip. “There are no other dragons in Verdil except Palladin and our guides,” she said softly, and with disappointment.

  “That’s—” Hekla raised a finger high, shaking it slightly. “Not entirely true.”

  Astrid tilted her head, her green hair falling over her shoulder. “What do you mean not entirely true?”

  “Remember how I said we have a lot going on under the sea?”

  Astrid raised an eyebrow.

  Hekla proceeded to tell her eldest sister all that had been going on for them. The dragon and his treasure city in the deepest canyon under the sea. Then she explained how the dragon had an army of undead creatures, which brought horror to Astrid’s face.

  “An army of undead?” Astrid asked.

  Hekla nodded. “Yes. And they’re of all races, which means they may have the abilities of each.”

  Astrid’s face took on an expression of disgust. “How do you kill the dead?”

  Hekla frowned. “The normal way I suppose. We fought against them on our way out of the castle, but I never really turned around to see if they stayed dead.”

  If you defeat the host of the spell, the spell itself will dissolve, Speltus said.

  Hekla’s bottom lip curled outward. “I suppose that would be the best way.”

  “What’s that?” Cayden asked.

  He, apparently, wasn’t a part of Speltus’s mental conversation.

  “If we defeat the dragon, the spell holding the undead should vanish.”

  “And what are you proposing? Trapping this sea dragon—”

  “Duliogial,” Hekla interrupted.

  “Duliogial,” Astrid said, “in the caverns below Caelestis?”

  Hekla shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

  “Can you?” Astrid asked.

  Hekla raised her brows. Can I? she asked Speltus.

  We could… yes, though, I’ll have to confer with the Unseen Ones to see exactly how it is done.

  “Yes. We should be able to.”

  “Would it be permanent?” Cayden asked.

  Hekla tilted her head. “Permanent?”

  “Whatever is done to Xolderan is failing. He is growing old… he is dying,” Cayden said, running a hand through his hair.

  “Is he?” Hekla asked.

  Astrid furrowed her brows. “Yes. I told you that earlier.”

  “You did,” Hekla said. “You told me that he said he was dying. Earthquakes, correct?”

  Astrid nodded.

  “I suppose if he were growing ill, that could explain tremors throughout the sky kingdom, but it doesn’t seem the most logical.”

  Astrid’s eyebrows furrowed. “How so?”

  “Well… dragons get old, but they don’t get sick. They don’t even die from old age to my knowledge. At some point, they decide to go from the world into the Ancestral Plane where they can live forever, but they never truly die.”

  “But he’s imprisoned… perhaps it’s different,” Astrid said.

  “Perhaps it is,” Hekla admitted. “But I offer you an alternative.”

  “What alternative?” Astrid asked.

  “The spell holding him where he is… is weakening. He’s been fighting against it for hundreds of years, and he’s finally weakened the foundation of the spell linking him to Caelestis. That would also account for the tremors.”

  Very well thought out, Hekla, and entirely possible, Speltus said.

  Hekla grinned inwardly. Thank you.

  “I hadn’t thought of that,” Astrid said.

  “It doesn’t really matter which—well, it will matter. If I have to create a new spell, for this dragon who’s trying to enslave all of Verdil, I will need to know how the old spell worked, and why it failed, so I can craft a better spell… one that will last forever.”

  Astrid scratched her chin.

  “But… no matter what, one thing is for certain. We must free the dragon under Caelestis. We must free Xolderan and we will not be able to imprison two dragons under Caelestis.”

  “How are we going to free him?” Astrid asked.

  Hekla laced her fingers and rubbed her thumbs together. “That’s the wrong question.”

  “Wrong question?” Astrid asked.

  Hekla nodded. “Undoing magic is easy. It’s like lacing your boots. When you’re the boots, it’s almost impossible, but when you’re outside of the spell, you can see exactly how it is laced up. The real question… is how are we going to convince Duliogial to leave the canyon, and come to Caelestis?”

  “Easy,” Cayden said.

  They all turned to the young Tellurian.

  Cayden smiled. “You said he’s greedy. Make him an offer he cannot refuse.”

  Hekla rubbed her chin. “I’m not sure if that will work… but—I think you’re on to something. Perhaps not an offer he can’t refuse… but an insult he cannot refuse.”

  “What did you have in mind?” Astrid asked.

  Hekla grinned, her teeth shining in the golden sunlight. “You let me worry about that.”

  “What do we need to do?” Astrid asked.

  “Bring an army to the boarder of Aequoris by the sea. Prepare for war but leave an easy path of escape for us.”

  “Escape?”

  “We will need to fall back into the ranks if we’re fleeing the undead.”

  Astrid’s eyes widened. “You’re planning on getting them to chase you.”

  “Definitely,” Hekla said. “And send word to Svana. I believe we’ll need her help as well.”

  “How many of these creatures are there?” Astrid asked.

  “We saw thousands… but I really have no idea.”

  “Thousands of undead, and a dragon…” Astrid whispered in disbelief.

  “Yup,” Hekla said, brushing her hair over her shoulders and smiling. “It should make for a fun day.”

  “Remind me not to ask what other things she does for fun,” Cayden murmured.

  Hekla laughed. “Trust me.”

  “I hope you know what you’re doing, Hekla,” Astrid said.

  “I do,” Hekla said seriously. “I am going to end this war… once and for all.”

  41

  Astrid

  Real war is fought not just in the battlefield, but in the mind. To determine the cause, one must know the reasons. It is not just man who longs to overcome all it possesses. Deal with the incessant need for power, and attack it at its source, and you will prevent war from spreading. It is the only way.

  King Everett the Honest, Second King of Caelestis, 328 A.V.

  “Well…” Cayden began, as they departed on the lift back to Caelestis, “that was interesting.”

  “Trust me, it gets better. You haven’t been around me long enough to know how interesting it can get,” Astrid said. />
  “I’m afraid to,” he joked.

  She playfully elbowed him, as the carrier soared the sky, the wind knocking it back and forth a bit, causing Astrid’s heart to beat irregularly.

  “Let’s wait until we reach Caelestis. This thing terrifies me,” she whispered, her voice trembled as she gripped the sides.

  Ahead, she could see the Caelestan guards who heaved and pulled, drawing her and Cayden back into the kingdom.

  “You did just fine on the Sky Ethereal,” Cayden teased.

  “Perhaps because I trust a bloody animal more than I do a centuries old rope and pulley system, that creaks and groans under pressure.”

  Astrid’s emerald hair flicked in her face, getting in her mouth and eyes, but she was terrified to let go of the edge of the basket-like carrier. Cayden reached out, trying to brush the hair from her face to no avail—the wind was too strong.

  “It’s all right, we’re almost there,” she said.

  He nodded. “Yes, when we arrive, we are to alert the Caelestans to prepare for battle?”

  “Yes, then… I will go to Telluris to find Svana. She will ready the Tellurians, and we will prepare for battle,” she said matter-of-fact.

  “All right, and what of the king?”

  Astrid heaved a deep sigh. “I can only hope that he will join us… or stay out of the way.”

  “Somehow, I don’t think that will happen.”

  “I know,” Astrid said, irritated. The king would step in somehow, and he would either mess up their plans, or get himself killed. Astrid would have to prepare for both situations. “Let’s just hope for now, he doesn’t.”

  Cayden nodded. “If you like, I can alert the Caelestans.”

  “Thank you, I appreciate that. I need to speak with Quimby and the Vizier briefly. Hopefully both will be able and willing to fight.”

  They landed rather roughly on the landing dock for the carrier of the pulley system.

  The guards helped them out, and once down from the platform, Cayden took her hand. “Take care, Astrid. If the Vizier doesn’t respond in the way you hope, just trust there will be enough of us there to fight. We will win.” He squeezed it gently, offering her a sincere smile before he released, and took off in a full run toward the Caelestan cities.