Dragon Scepter

by Angelique Anderson

  That’s why we can wield the weapons. My sisters and I were soul-merged to you three.

  Yes—and no. You three could wield the weapons without us. We are your guides, and for that, we have to be connected. We have to fully understand you—so we can help you. But, no, you don’t need me to wield the scepter. You don’t need me to use magic. You have it inside of you. I am merely guiding you on how to use it—how to unlock it.

  Hekla frowned. But that’s impossible. I don’t have magic inside of me. Only dragons have magic.

  Yes, Speltus said.

  Hekla’s eyes widened. But I’m not a dragon.

  You aren’t a full-blooded dragon, no. Nonetheless, dragon blood runs through your veins.

  I—

  It is why you were chosen, Hekla. It is why all three of you were chosen.

  Do the others know?

  No.

  Why are you telling me this?

  Because it is time, Hekla. It is time you realize your full potential. You are strong. You are powerful. You can defeat Duliogial. All hope is not lost.

  Hekla gulped. She blinked a few times and looked back over to Svana. Svana fought against a dragon. The flames of the dragon could not penetrate the Dragon Sword. Now the two were fighting blade against paw. Svana was courageous. She was headstrong. And like always, she was thoughtless. She had no tactfulness in her approach. Svana had always been courageous and confrontational. She didn’t use strategy as much as she used brute force.

  Even with as skilled as Svana was, she would not defeat the dragon. Hekla knew that now. Speltus had not confessed all he had to Hekla for no reason. Svana and Astrid didn’t even know who they were… who they truly were. But Hekla knew. She understood.

  Hekla ran toward the dragon. Magic seeped out of her scepter in a wind that knocked everyone in front of her onto the ground, creating a path for her to run.

  Svana slipped. She fell to the ground, her sword dropping next to her. A paw landed on her sword and she rolled away from it. She was no longer in reach of her weapon. Lingaria appeared out of the sword and tried to use fire against the massive dragon. Everyone around them gasped at the appearance of the small dragon. Duliogial swiped his large paw into the side of Lingaria, tossing the small dragon over a dozen feet away, and into a crowd of undead. Duliogial turned to Svana on the ground and smiled. His massive teeth more terrifying than a starving alligator. Drool dripped out of the creature’s mouth as it stomped on Svana’s legs and opened its mouth wide.

  Hekla screamed as she pointed her scepter at the ground. “Aquum Purum Iciclum.”

  Ice formed on the ground in front of Hekla. She stopped running and dug her heels in to the ice in front of her. Suddenly, she began sliding at a faster rate than she had been running. The spell continued making ice in front of her feet until she changed positions of her scepter as she skidded next to Svana.

  Hekla aimed her scepter at the dragon’s paw. “Aquum Purum Iciclum.”

  Ice formed on the dragon’s paw, and Duliogial retracted his paw, but not before Svana grabbed her sword and slammed it into the retreating paw. A massive finger shattered to the ground as it was struck with Svana’s weapon.

  The dragon screamed and brought its other paw down toward Hekla and Svana.

  “Aquum Purum Seperatum,” Hekla snarled.

  A massive wall of water formed in front of her and Svana. The dragon’s paw could not penetrate the wall.

  Hekla turned to her sister. “I will distract the dragon. Can you handle the battle down here?”

  “As easy as slicing an apple.” Svana winked.

  Hekla smiled at her before turning back to the dragon and the massive water wall in front of her.

  “Levitatum Personae,” Hekla said.

  She levitated into the air above the wall of water. The dragon opened its mouth and attempted to spit fire at her. Hekla directed her scepter to make the levitation spell to move her out of the way.

  “Aquum Purum Iciclum,” Hekla said.

  A burst of ice flashed toward the dragon, striking its left ear.

  “Pyrem Orbium,” Hekla said.

  A fireball shot toward the dragon, striking the same ear, and shattering it into a dozen icicles.

  “You can’t catch me.” Hekla laughed.

  The dragon roared, and leapt into the sky, flapping his wings.

  Hekla directed her scepter again, using it like a tiller on a sailboat to steer her where she wanted. She had Duliogial right where she wanted him. Angry, and seeking revenge against her for harming him. A feat, she imagined, that he hadn’t expected.

  Flames erupted in the sky all around her, but she was swift to change directions with her levitation spell. She faced him, watching his every move as he flew in the sky after her. Hekla moved her scepter from left to right, up and down, to avoid incoming flame strikes. She smiled at him, taunting, as she continued to blast him with fireballs, wind, and ice. All the while, continuously moving in a single direction. Caelestis.

  47

  Astrid

  Often times, one can do more harm than good when not focused on the bigger picture of the task at hand. It is in these moments when it is easiest to get off track and lose sight of what we’re doing this all for. Remain on the course, keep eyes on the prize and you will never go wrong.

  Airlyoth, The Warrior, Second Dragon Elder, Third Age of Verdil

  Astrid could not help but be awed by the strength of her youngest sister. Hekla had improved and grown in all ways imaginable and a gleaming sense of pride burned bright inside of the eldest sister. Astrid only hoped that she could live to tell her youngest sister such things.

  She watched as Hekla tried to lure away from the sea and toward Caelestis. Astrid turned to see Svana back at the shoreline fighting off the rest of the undead. Her lips turned upward. She knew this was a battle they would win. All of her sisters had grown tremendously, even so, in that moment she doubted herself. She and Hekla had drawn Duliogial away from the people, which meant that his magic was no longer focused on bringing more undead to life. That was their key to winning the battle on the shores.

  Astrid knew it would be nothing for Duliogial to take them all out, but as long as she was still fighting, she would do so with all of her might. She quietly stepped backward toward the trees, eyes surveying the line of forest that embraced the shores. She needed a taller vantage point, somewhere she could loose her arrows from and hit the demon beast square between the eyes. As she moved quietly and undetected toward the outskirts of the people who had been rendered paralyzed by the dragon’s attacks, the Aequorans let out a battle cry.

  She continued to move along the forest line, loosing magical arrows all the while. With each new nock, her arrows struck more accurate than the last. However, each new undead seemed stronger than the last.

  “Focus on their heads,” Astrid yelled out, trying to let everyone know of the weak point of the undead she’d seen so far in the battle, but the air was a flurry of yells and metal against tearing flesh and her voice went unheard.

  “What are you saying, girl?” someone yelled to her.

  The familiar face caught her attention. She turned to face the speaker and saw Aldrir, the Caelestan who’d lost his wife and daughter but was vocally supportive of her being queen. A smile fell upon her face as she looked to him.

  Astrid raised her voice. “Aldrir, tell them to aim for the head. It seems like only that and fire have the power to kill them completely.”

  He nodded, and then he was off and spreading the word, even as his blade hit against flesh.

  More metal slashed against tearing flesh. Tellurian, Aequoran, and Caelestans all fought against the creatures that had been summoned from the dragon beast’s own dark soul. Astrid moved around the battlefield with fluid grace, loosing her arrows as quickly as her arm could bend and nock the next arrow. Magical arrows sliced through flesh much easier than wooden ones, and she was grateful for that.

  Astrid still fought with the notion of
the beast, any beast for that matter, using the bodies of the undead to do their evil. It seemed like an unforgivable act, reprehensible in all aspects. The dead were to be respected and honored. Their lives a homage to what they had created with their families and those whom they loved.

  This evil creature had desecrated them in a way Astrid would never be able to understand, even as they fought against him, the power he wielded was too much. How had one dragon been allowed to cause so much destruction? On all sides, soldiers from every kingdom were beginning to fall and what just moments ago had seemed like a winning battle, now appeared as they would lose everything.

  Not only would they lose, but the dragon and the undead would be the triumphant winners and Astrid had no doubt that the beast, who’s soul appeared blacker than a starless night sky, would go throughout the kingdoms obliterating any and all who remained in the land, sky, and water kingdoms.

  Astrid could feel her heart breaking. It had been her and her sister’s mission to bring peace and restoration to the kingdoms of Verdil, but as the dragon drove his talons into soldier after soldier, flinging their bodies aside like broken tree branches, Astrid saw no end in sight. All she saw was darkness and death encompassing them all.

  Had this been what Hekla had planned? Surely, she had anticipated such a horrid outcome? Astrid shook aside the thought, knowing that the blue-haired beauty had surpassed them all in magic, and fighting ability, and even strategic planning. Astrid would just have to trust her gut when it said that all would be well. She continued moving along the tree line, using the forestry to cover her as she loosed her arrows at the enemy. Her one goal was to climb to the top of the highest tree to find a good location to aim for the dragon’s head.

  A magic arrow in between his eyes should slow him down a bit and give the rest of them a little advantage over the undead that continued to advance. She finally spotted it—the perfect tree. She hurried toward it, scurrying up its trunk, her legs scraping against the rough bark. Her feet earnestly seeking sturdy branches to climb as she scrambled up. Every now and then, she stopped momentarily, glancing down at the ground to watch the battle taking place below.

  When it was necessary, she used the branches to brace herself and loosed arrows at the top of the undead army’s heads. They stumbled back, sometimes falling to the ground, other times spinning erratically, allowing the battling soldiers to gain the advantage. As they approached her, she jumped to an overhanging branch, swinging her legs high into the air, giving her the perfect opportunity to land her legs on one of the offenders. She twisted her legs to the right, maneuvering in such a way that the she ripped his head from his neck, and it went rolling across the bramble covered ground. Astrid then grabbed onto a branch, swung around it twice before locking her legs crisscrossed onto it, then loosed arrows upside down. Her emerald hair fell beneath her, blocking part of her vision as she released arrows, but her accuracy was still unmatched. Once she eliminated the remaining undead near her, she leveraged her legs to swing her body back upright. Her head spun as the blood drained from her head back into the rest of her body.

  Impressively, Hekla spun around the ground like a gifted dancer, her scepter striking dead many of the undead Aequorans and other undead races. Then, she rebounded from them gracefully, kneeling to the ground to heal those who had been hurt. Slowly but surely, they were gaining their advantage again. Astrid couldn’t help but smile, as she moved higher in the branches, then, when the moment was right, and the dragon’s head was finally below her, she positioned herself.

  Her legs straddling a thick branch, arms hoisted slightly above her shoulders, magic bow aimed at the center of the dragon’s forehead who continued to blow fire and stormed along the beach. He was moving too much in that moment for her to get a good aim, but Astrid knew if she waited long enough, she’d get a shot in.

  Aronus, can you do this? she thought.

  Of course, I can do this, you just set up the aim. Leave the rest to me, he answered smugly.

  Astrid nodded in response, eyes darting from the dragon to the fighting that occurred below her. She’d never seen such a battle in her life, and it both terrified and overjoyed her. There were many fallen soldiers, but those who remained, battled for their life. The soldiers darted across the shores with elegant grace, as if they’d been battling all their lives.

  Swords sliced through the air, slinging heads in all directions as the undead fell. Svana moved with a knowing grace as she fought against the undead on the ground. In her element, Astrid noted. It wasn’t just Hekla who had grown as a soldier, fighter, and magician. If they had the chance after all this was over, Astrid vowed to tell her younger sisters how very proud she was of them.

  When they had left the Volcano of Shadows, all that time ago, they had been very different. All three of them, young, and naïve. They didn’t understand the world, or even the real reason they had been called to fight, and to bring peace to the kingdoms of Verdil. Now Astrid could see it, she could feel it in her blood. Never had the good of all people been more noticeable than now, as each kingdom and its people fought alongside each other.

  Aequorans stopped, and reached out to Caelestans, helping the fallen to their feet. People from all the races helped assist Hekla in healing those with minor injuries. Tellurians stopped and helped the Aequorans. They were no longer separate, only three kinds who existed in one kingdom. Astrid felt a sense of relief in her soul, surely this is what Hekla had wanted from the beginning. It’s what they all wanted. No doubt, Hekla must have seen it in a sense when she asked them all here to fight. Hekla knew this battle would unite them all.

  Bringing her attention back to the matter at hand, Astrid narrowed her eyes. The people of Verdil had the advantage, but the dragon had the strength. Even as they gained momentum over the undead, the dragon seemed to rise more and become stronger. Astrid had to take him down. It was only magic that brought forth the dead beings. Without magic, the battle would have been over a long time ago.

  Astrid sucked in a deep breath, pushing her wild emerald hair out of her face, and leaned into her magic bow, elbow bent and ready to loose as fast as she was capable of.

  In that moment, his large scaled head, turned in her direction. She saw his massive jaws open and knew that he meant to end her. Without another second of hesitation, she lifted her Dragon Bow up just slightly and to the right, knowing the gentle ocean breeze had the potential to throw her aim off course. Then she loosed one arrow after another, faster than lightning, praying to the ancients that as many arrows as she had loosed would find their target dead center of his skull.

  It was all she was able to do, the beast had let loose a weapon of his own, and a large fireball was flying right for her. She immediately slid to the side of the branch she had been straddling, scrambling down the trunk as fast as she was capable of. Her skin ripped by the rough bark, and branches that whipped at her skin as she slid down. The fireball grew brighter, and she let go of the tree, allowing herself to fall the rest of the way to the ground.

  Her back hit hard against the bramble covered dirt, and rolling away from the spot, she darted into the trees, knowing that if any of her arrows had hit their mark, their dragon enemy was going to be angry and coming after her with one thing on his mind.

  Death to Astrid.

  She stumbled along, eyesight hindered by the pain that shot up her back side from her rough landing, and the stinging sensation that ran up her legs and arms from the tree having torn against her skin.

  Way to go, Astrid, she thought to herself, a feeling of emptiness coming over her as she ran along. She was missing something. What am I missing?

  My bow!

  Astrid had dropped it on the way down. I have to go back and get it. She stared at the blaze of fire that had begun in the tree she had just used as a vantage point to take down the dragon. The fire was spreading, and if she didn’t hurry back and get her bow, there would be no bow to retrieve.

  Crooked Arrow, she cursed as she rushe
d toward the flames, her eyes scouring the earth for her bow.

  Be cautious, Astrid, Aronus warned her.

  Of course. Do you sense it somewhere? Can you help me? she asked, eyes surveying the ground as she ran cautiously along, searching for the dragon whom she could still hear roaring nearby, but she couldn’t see him through the trees. Everything had happened so quickly, she only hoped that she’d done enough damage to help her sisters.

  The flames were advancing, and her window of opportunity was growing smaller and smaller. She knelt to the ground, crawling along the brush as she felt around for her weapon. The heat of the fire now getting too close for her comfort. Smoke seemed to sense her presence and floated toward her, making it difficult to breathe.

  More to the right, Astrid. I feel its pull there.

  She nodded. Thank you, Aronus.

  Shifting her focus more inward toward the forested area, she searched the ground for her weapon as she ran. The fire had not moved inward yet, which was to her advantage, as she slid to the ground, back into the flames, eyes scanning the area around her.

  “I found it!” she yelled with a sigh of relief.

  One emerald-tipped edge peered out at her from the twigs and leaves, and she rushed toward it, snatching it from the ground, she heard a loud cracking from overhead.

  Her eyes lifted up, just as a thick branch came barreling down toward her, its fiery glow almost mesmerizing.

  “Get out of the way, stupid woman!” Aronus yelled aloud, jerking her out of her reverie.

  Astrid darted out of the way, running as fast as her feet would dare, away from the flaming trees and back toward the shoreline where her people were fighting.

  She’d done everything she could to slow the dragon’s progress when she’d loosed on him. Most importantly, she wanted to see if her sisters were all right. The fire was spreading quick, limiting their ability to use the tree line as a place to hide. If it wasn’t extinguished quickly, surely it would spread to Telluris and cause more damage to the already destroyed towns.