Iron Will

by James Maxwell

  Dion’s stare was unflinching. We have to try!

  Eiric nodded. He turned to say something to one of his people, and a moment later he lifted the Horn of Marrix and pressed it to his lips.

  The horn blast set Dion’s teeth on edge. A ripple of light with Eiric at its center sped out in a circle that grew larger and larger. It rolled over the army, over the sea, and over the waiting dragons.

  Dion didn’t know what effect it had on them, but barely a moment after Eiric sounded the horn, the dragons attacked.

  They swooped down from the heavens, shrieking and screeching. A multitude of red-scaled monsters plummeted toward the shore. Officers shouted. Ballistae jolted as they released a hail of iron spears. Archers loosed volleys of arrows. Balls of flame made sounds like tearing paper as they sped through the sky.

  Dragon after dragon died and fell, screaming before they struck the sea. With a great crash the hoplites linked shields. Archers hid behind the shield wall, firing at will. The ballistae crews didn’t bother to reload; there would be no second salvo.

  For a brief moment Dion thought about all the people who had answered his call and come here to fight. Eiric and the eldren had given all they could. Zachary had shared his wisdom with Kargan, and the king of Ilea brought his men to Sindara’s shore. Even Palemon had joined him in this final confrontation.

  He thought about Chloe. Was she still alive? It saddened him that he would never see her again.

  He saw Palemon raise his immense sword, which was glowing as bright as hot coals. Palemon ran forward, his face twisted in a snarl. He was the first man to come face to face with a swooping dragon. He swung at the dragon’s neck, but the creature swerved, and he missed. Palemon’s next blow struck home, but not before the dragon tore long gouges in his chain mail.

  Eiric’s body misted as he changed his form. The eldren became tall giants and ogres. But this time a number of bloodren concentrated on the eldren, and in moments the beach became a confusion of red wings and flailing limbs.

  A group of six dragons smashed into the shield wall, scattering soldiers in all directions. Another dozen or so arrived a moment later, jaws snapping as they tore at the men around them.

  Fire enveloped a dragon as it charged at a gray-robed sorcerer, but still the creature kept coming, and its jaws closed down on the man with the staff. A sorcerer tried to come to his companion’s aid, but then another dragon landed directly on top of him to rip his body into shreds.

  Dion saw Kargan in trouble as he and his men tried to hold off two snapping creatures. The warrior, Javid, threw himself at the second dragon and jumped onto its back, wrapping an arm around its neck before plunging a dagger into its eye. With extraordinary agility Javid leaped off while the dragon entered its death throes.

  In all directions men fought to stand together against their stronger opponents. The defensive line broke and then reformed, again and again, as the dragons burst through and then were dispatched.

  Dion realized that the dragons were developing a pattern. They would swoop down and charge through the defenses, killing as many as they could, before flying up into the sky once more.

  And it was working.

  He joined the struggle as hundreds of soldiers fought ten creatures rampaging in their midst. More and more men kept throwing themselves into the fray to replace those killed. Dion changed his shape while he ran, feeling his torso grow and his legs lengthen. In the form of a giant, he charged into the middle of the carnage, swinging his massive fists into one triangular head after another.

  The ten dragons immediately flew up into the sky, leaving behind a wide circle of sand littered with the dead.

  The soldiers didn’t cheer; their faces were white.

  Dion stared up at the sky as the dragons gathered to make yet another attack.

  54

  Chloe entered the Oracle’s cave.

  She couldn’t see, but she never took a wrong step. Her vision was the future: she knew every breath she was going to take, every stir of the air, and every fold and crevice in the tunnel she was following.

  The floor sloped down. The passage twisted and turned while the ceiling lowered and then rose again, sometimes brushing against the top of her head, other times soaring high above. The tunnel was cool and moist. The sound of dripping water came from somewhere. Loudest of all was the hammer of her own heartbeat.

  She arrived at a cavern.

  There was a white fire burning in the cavern’s center. Chloe walked past the pile of black linen and ash that had once been the Oracle and remembered seeing Zara standing over the Oracle’s smoking corpse. As she skirted around the fire, the flames flared up to twice their size.

  She reached the fissure at the back of the cavern and slid through, entering the second tunnel that she knew she would find, despite never having come this way before. Down and down, it led her deeper into the earth. This passage was far narrower. At times she had to turn to the side to pass between walls of shining rock. She ducked her head under an overhang, and then after a series of winding bends the walls opened up.

  She was blind, but she knew that light now filled the passage. It grew brighter and brighter as she approached another cavern, this one far larger than the place where the Oracle once stared into the flame.

  Soon she was entering a vaulted area where stalactites hung from the ceiling, sharp spears of stone that threatened to fall at any moment. The walls shimmered with beautiful colors, but she saw the cavern with her magic, not with her eyes.

  She felt struck with awe by the jewel in the center of the cavern, a clear diamond with a white fire glowing within. Larger than a man’s head, it rested on a delicate stand made from all four metals entwined: gold, silver, copper, and iron. Curling around each other, the separate strands formed the depression that contained the prism, supporting it at the height of a table.

  Chloe approached the woman standing over it.

  The woman was in profile, with her back slightly to Chloe. She wore a dark-blue, figure-hugging dress, and her long, sleek hair was as black as deepest night. Her high cheekbones and pale skin made her face look like stone. She held a staff crowned with an iron claw in her left hand. She was peering intently into the jewel.

  ‘Zara,’ Chloe said.

  The sorceress turned in surprise. Her eyes opened wide. ‘You,’ Zara said. Her eyes narrowed. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘I would ask you the same question,’ Chloe said, ‘but I already know the answer.’

  Chloe continued to walk toward Zara and the Source. Her milky eyes couldn’t see, but here, in this place, the Oracle’s gift to her filled every part of her being. The Oracle had followed the multiple pathways to the future, traveling to each destiny before pulling back and journeying along the next. Events that clouded her abilities had caused new forks in the road, like Eiric’s sounding of the Horn of Marrix or Dion’s presence at the parting of the sea. But always the Oracle had been trying to get to a fate that contained the dragons’ threat.

  It now fell to Chloe to see it done.

  ‘You do not have the skill to unravel the spell,’ Chloe said to Zara as she steadily approached. ‘None of us do.’

  Zara scowled. ‘I just need more time with it.’

  Chloe knew that even as they spoke, soldiers at Sindara were dying. Dion was fighting, and although she could see her own future, she could not see his.

  ‘Time is what you do not have,’ Chloe said.

  Zara moved into action.

  The sorceress took her staff with both hands and leveled it at Chloe’s chest. The iron claw flared up, becoming as red as a fiery coal. A ball of solid flame shot out from the center of the claw.

  But Chloe simply stepped to the side. The fireball passed by, tearing through the air until it struck the wall of the cave.

  Zara frowned. She gritted her teeth, and the end of her staff lit up again, so brightly that it outshone the jewel. A ball of fire as big as a barrel erupted from the iron claw.
/>   Chloe dropped to the ground. The fireball passed over her. She rose to her feet again.

  She took two more steps and reached the sorceress. She grabbed hold of the staff. It was now between them, with both of them pulling, teeth gritted, face to face.

  Liana flew like the wind. She crossed the short distance between Athos and Sindara so swiftly that her muscles ached from beating her wings.

  Chloe had given her a task to fulfill, and she had no time to pass over the battle and see how her people were faring. Instead she traveled directly to the heart of Sindara, a place of rivers, glades, and a long, winding canyon. Trees passed below her in a blur. Rivers gave way to green fields, rocky escarpments, and then more rivers. Finally she saw it. At the canyon’s end she was approaching a wide basin, framed by trees along its high rim.

  She saw the pool.

  The still water filled half the basin and glowed softly, emanating an emerald light that shone on the limestone walls. Liana tucked in her wings and descended sharply, plummeting with speed toward the grassy bank nearby. She struck the ground hard, beating down her wings to brake her speed. Summoning her usual form, she changed her shape.

  Mist clouded her vision. It poured from all directions, cloaking her entire body. She felt the sensation of shifting.

  Liana walked forward, once again a slender eldran with long silver hair. She knew that she had to hurry, but she was afraid. She reached the pool’s edge and stared down into the water.

  The Wellspring lent its energy to all of Sindara. It was what gave eldren the ability to change their shapes. When there were too many wildren, it had been drained, causing Sindara to become a land of swamp and ash.

  The self-proclaimed king, Triton, had said there was a jewel at the bottom of the pool. The green glow came from the jewel, rather than the pool itself. When the red dragons were created, the jewel’s light shifted to the color of blood.

  Liana hated that this was what she had to do. But she had made Chloe a promise.

  She emptied her lungs and sucked in a deep breath. She looked one last time at the water before she raised her arms and dived, headfirst into the pool.

  The sensation was like swimming inside a green gemstone. The water was crystal clear, but the green light was so strong she could barely see. She swam down, deeper and deeper, and saw something resting at the bottom of the pool: the source of the shining light.

  Liana brought herself closer to the Wellspring. The jewel was perfectly formed, shaped like a multifaceted diamond. She felt nothing but awe as she looked at it. Peering into its depths, she saw that it looked like something was moving inside. She swam still closer. Within the prism she could make out winged creatures, dragons the color of blood, flying in and out of swirling mist.

  Liana reached out with both hands to take it.

  55

  Chloe grimaced as she faced Zara while both of them pulled at the staff. Just a short distance away, the white jewel that was the font of all human magic glowed steadily.

  ‘You have training in magic,’ Chloe panted. ‘Far more than I do.’ She lifted her chin. ‘But magic isn’t everything.’

  Chloe relaxed. Surprised, Zara hauled the staff toward herself.

  Then Chloe pushed.

  She didn’t hesitate; she picked her moment, and then put every effort into what she was doing. When she pushed, she shoved hard, using the staff to propel the sorceress backward. They both skittered across the floor, until Zara smashed against the cavern wall.

  Chloe then brought the staff up until it was across Zara’s throat. Stunned, Zara tried feebly to hold her off, but Chloe was determined. Zara choked while Chloe used both hands to press the staff against her neck. The sorceress’s face went red, and then her eyes rolled back into her head. Chloe held her until she slumped. When Chloe released her, Zara slid down the wall, unconscious.

  Chloe threw the staff aside. She hurried back to the Source. She had to end this.

  She put her hands on both sides of the white jewel.

  The sensation of it touching her skin was warm and pleasant. Visions of wheeling dragons and shrieking sounds assaulted her. Somewhere sorcerers were shooting fire from their staffs and a metal arch stood ready at the base of a tower.

  She lifted the jewel from its stand. By now, Liana should be destroying its twin in Sindara. The spell over the dragons required both forms of magic to function, human and eldran. If there was no more magic in the world, the spell would end. She held the Source up above her head.

  Chloe heard Zara cry out. ‘No! Please . . . Don’t! There will be no more magic!’

  A moment later the sorceress barreled into her. Chloe turned to face the attack, her arms above her head. The jewel got between them. Chloe dropped it.

  The jewel smashed onto Zara’s skull.

  The shining gem shattered immediately, splintering into millions of tiny pieces. A powerful detonation thundered throughout the cavern. The sound shook the walls and rattled the stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Suddenly Chloe was truly blind; her sense of the future was gone. She heard screaming and realized it was her own voice. Everything was shaking.

  Something heavy struck her shoulders, knocking her to the ground.

  Sensing victory, the dragons now threw everything they had into the fight. Dion saw the first soldiers break and run. Their fear was contagious and immediately the men nearby fled in the same direction, away from the fierce fighting. The army’s numbers, already thinned, became sparser still.

  A dragon flew directly at Dion with claws outstretched. He tried to change his shape, but he was simply too exhausted. He watched his fate unfold.

  A peal of thunder shattered the sky.

  It was louder even than the Horn of Marrix. The ground shook. It sounded as if mountains were breaking in the heavens.

  The dragon’s eyes became alarmed.

  Suddenly Dion was forced to his knees by the combination of the thunderous roar and the panic washing over the dragons, coming from all directions. The panic became pain, a terrible agony felt even through the weak connection he had with the creatures. Fear followed a moment later.

  He saw the dragon that had been flying at him crash into the ground.

  Mist welled around it a moment later.

  The mist enveloped the creature in its entirety, but rather than a gray cloud, it was red, as if the dragon’s life force were turning to vapor. The mist shimmered, like a mirage in the desert.

  The mist detonated.

  The force of it blew Dion onto his back. The blast scattered the soldiers around him. There was more than one simultaneous detonation. Every soldier found himself lying on the sand.

  Suddenly there was silence.

  Dion stared up at the sky. He couldn’t believe how empty the air sounded. There were no clashes of swords or shrieks of dragons. Everything was strangely calm.

  He picked himself up.

  The soldiers were doing the same thing, looking dazed as they climbed to their feet and exchanged glances. A nearby Ilean’s eyes widened, and everyone followed his gaze.

  The dragon that had been flying at Dion was gone. A skinny, middle-aged man lay on the sand in its place. He was bare-chested and wore only a cloth wrapped around his loins. The man struggled to sit up and roll over to lean on his hands. His face was filled with horror.

  Dion’s eyes swept over the beach. Soldiers were lowering their weapons. Some stared up at the sky, but there was nothing up there. Thunder still reverberated in the air.

  A gray-robed sorcerer’s face was perplexed, and he was staring at the iron claw on the top of his staff.

  Dion shook his head. It was some time before he spoke. ‘Chloe,’ he whispered. ‘I don’t know how you did it, but I know it was you.’

  Chloe was in a place of whiteness, with no floor, walls, or ceiling. She heard a voice say her name and whirled.

  The Oracle, a beautiful young woman with piercing green eyes and pale-blonde hair, stood in her black robe. There was nothing els
e to draw Chloe’s eye.

  ‘Where am I?’ Chloe asked.

  ‘It would take too long to explain to you,’ the Oracle said. ‘We are outside time. That will have to suffice.’

  ‘Why am I here?’

  ‘I have used you, Chloe. You at least deserve an explanation. You now know that the only way to break the spell was to destroy magic itself. But what I have not told you is why events had to take this course.’

  Chloe wondered why it was so strange to see the Oracle standing, even in this place of nothingness. She realized something. ‘I have never seen you away from the white fire.’

  ‘That is because I could never leave its side. Its magic kept me alive, despite my many, many years. I stared into the flame and puzzled through the twisting paths of fate.’ The Oracle smiled. ‘I am pleased we are here. It means that for once my plans came to fruition.’

  The Oracle met Chloe’s eyes as she continued.

  ‘When the changelings emerged as a threat, the futures showed that I had a choice. I could destroy magic myself, at which point I would die, or I could pass the torch to another and rely on you, Chloe, to do what must be done.’

  ‘Why wait?’ Chloe asked.

  ‘Because my gift always required me to find the path that resulted in the least death and destruction. The future isn’t always what we expect it to be. If I had destroyed the Source before the sorceress killed me, the loss of magic still would not have curbed Palemon’s ambitions. The legend of Aleuthea is strong, and many would have flocked to his cause. Meanwhile Kargan, the king of Ilea, would have gathered his own armies. The Galean nations and their eldran allies would have been swept up in a war like no other. King Dion of Xanthos would have been killed in battle, and his son – your son, Chloe – would have sought revenge on the rest of the world. This war was going to result in the deaths of millions. It would have lasted for a hundred years.’

  Chloe swallowed. It made a horrible sense. Palemon and Kargan were both ruthless and ambitious men.

  ‘So there will be peace now?’ she asked.