Consequences (Majaos Book 2)

by Gary Stringer

  When Rochelle stepped through the doorway with the old man, however, the whole incident seemed to vanish completely from her mind, along with all her questions.

  “I'm sure I had something to ask you,” she lamented, “but I can't for the life of me think what it was.”

  “Never mind,” Artisho reassured her. “I'm sure it will come to back you later...if it's important.”

  Chapter 10

  Callie groaned as she regained consciousness. Her vision was blurry and while she didn't exactly hurt, she did feel very strange. Almost numb, really. Maybe this was what it felt like in Paradise, she pondered. Funny how she didn't seem able to move, but then she probably just needed to figure out how to do it. Maybe it was like learning to fly all wyrms were born with the instinct of flight, but if a dragon attempted flight before they were ready, the dragon would most likely only fly straight down, with potentially serious consequences.

  That’s probably it, she decided. It must just take a little time to get used to Paradise. Her Father's Light and Love probably prevented her from moving until it was time to teach her to fly here. That was no problem. After all, time meant little to a dragon on Majaos and surely even less in Paradise.

  As she lay there, she began to wonder what had happened to Loric. Had he made it to the Elder Dragon of Fire? In fact, if time was meaningless here, did that mean his quest had already been completed? Or perhaps it had not yet begun. Those thoughts made her head spin so she decided to focus on what, to her at least, was the present. As if by force of her will, her vision began to clear. The fog did not lift, exactly, but it had thinned somewhat, and she did not like what she was seeing.

  Look out! Callie screamed in her mind, as an undead creature's sword strike whistled past Loric's right ear. Loric reacted, knocking the skeletal warrior on his left a few paces backwards while he chopped a fleshy creature in two with his Soul Crusher blade. But that gave his enemies the time they needed to close in on him. If he could have changed to his dragon form, he could have bathed them all in his corrosive acid breath, but he was bound to his human shape. Callie wondered vaguely how she knew that. Maybe knowledge like that simply came to one in Paradise. She wished she could give him some assistance with her Cleric's powers, but unfortunately there was nothing she could do; she was dead.

  Loric killed one chaos creature and fatally wounded another; a skeletal warrior shattered - the fragments quivered on the ground and then lay still. Loric was grunting and sweating with the immense effort as he searched within himself. He didn't know exactly what it was he was searching for, but he knew had hadn't found it yet and he was rapidly running out of time. Callie could hardly bear to watch.

  He was completely encircled now and he knew he had no chance. His sword felled two more but he had no answer for the dozen or so that remained. Their weapons pierced his armour and he dropped to the ground in pain. Mercifully, the pain didn't last long. Then he was dead.

  Callie did not even have time for grief before the most peculiar dragon she had ever seen appeared within her limited field of vision. Quite apart from being quite the largest dragon she had ever seen - even bigger than the muscular Loric - his scales were a peculiar blend of crimson red, metallic gold and jewelled ruby. Red was more prominent on head and tail, his wings were predominantly golden and his back was mainly jewelled, but it wasn't a patchwork; rather it was a smooth transition of colour and texture throughout his body, each shade blending into the next. Quite handsome, but very odd...and definitely not Father Patrelaux.

  “Ah, Silver One,” rumbled the dragon in a voice like distant thunder. “Back in the land of the living, then. Which is more than can be said for my student over there.” With a sigh, he invoked his magic and all the enemy creatures - living and dead - disappeared. Then Loric stood up with a groan, his injuries mostly healed, though he was clearly still sore and stiff.

  Callie tried hard to make her voice work. “L-Loring? I mean, Livrik? I mean,” she paused, forcing herself to stop trying to ask two questions at once. “Land of the living? I'm not dead?”

  The strange dragon laughed a deep belly laugh. Callie couldn't help but notice that it seemed an uncomfortable, forced laugh. “Not quite, my dear,” he said. “Almost.”

  “Who are you?” asked the silver. “And what have you done to Loric?” “Hmm? You don't remember?” the other wondered. “Ah, well,” he mumbled to himself, and Callie struggled to make out all the words. “Of course...in and out of consciousness...shouldn't have moved...no choice...” Snapping himself out of it, he answered the question. “Many names I could give you, but none of them are really mine. If you must have something to call me, then Fire will suffice, but I am nothing more or less than the Elder Dragon your friend has sought. Not many find me, hmm? Fewer still pass the test.”

  The dragon explained that Callie had found a way to cheat the shield magic. The way she had clung to Loric as he passed through, fooled the magic in to admitting them both as if they were, in fact, a single dragon.

  “You are the first to figure that one out, actually,” he said with a chuckle.

  “Actually, I didn't figure it out at all. I only expected Loric to come here, while I passed straight through to be...devoured...by that monstrosity out there.” “Yes, I know of what you speak. It t roubles me greatly, yes? But I can do nothing to interfere. Your dark-scaled companion has already asked. One of the first things he said, actually, second only to your welfare. If he can achieve his ambitions, perhaps he will find a way himself. Hmm, yes, he just might. Surely a master of the Penta Drauka is sorely needed in these troubled times.

  “As for Loric, why, I'm giving him what he came here for - the first step of the Penta Drauka, yes? It's not something I just hand out like a bag of sweetmeats you know! It requires dedication and training to prove his worthiness. Don't worry, though, none of what you see is real. At least, it's real enough to hurt, real enough to feel like a real battle - it wouldn't be much of a test otherwise, hmm? But all of my tests are nonlethal and all physical damage reversible.”

  Callie thought he might have added `usually` under his breath, but she was reasonably sure she'd imagined it.

  “What about me?”

  “What about you?”

  “Well, I mean, I realise I'm not exactly supposed to be here to see your secrets, but I promise to behave.” “Oh, please don't worry about that, hmm? It's not strictly protocol, you understand, but the outward manifestations of what I teach are magnificently irrelevant. Oh yes, nothing you see here will give away ancient dragon secrets.”

  “Good, I'm glad,” she replied. She was frankly getting a little peeved now, but was trying hard to keep a civil tongue. “So then,” she prompted, “if you wouldn't mind...?”

  “I'm sorry, my dear, I'm afraid I'm not with you.”

  This was ridiculous. “The magic or whatever it is you're using to keep me from moving. I'd really like it if you could release me now!”

  The Elder dragon turned his head away quickly - too quickly for Callie's liking. Something here was wrong...something was very, very wrong.

  “What is it?” she demanded. “Why won't you release me?”

  “Ah, but it's not a question of releasing you, I’m afraid. Believe me, if it were as simple as that...”

  Panic rising, she emitted a furious female dragon screech. “What's wrong?”

  “Well, you see—ah-”

  “Tell me!”

  “Look, just calm down, hmm? Maybe, you should give it a little more time? Until you’re a bit stronger, yes? I’m not sure, in your condition-”

  “Tell me NOW!” Callie screamed. “ALRIGHT!” he roared. “Alright,” he repeated more softly. “There is no magic of my making or any other keeping you motionless, yes? I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but you have to realise you—well, you must have accelerated at an incredible rate, and then to grab another dragon half again your size and try to slip through a magical shield. Hmmm…There was no way even a silver could possibl
y control her flight. Frankly, I doubt even my colleague the Elder of Air would attempt such a thing. You hit the ground at somewhere close to full speed, Loric's weight adding to your momentum. It was most unfortunate after such an act of bravery...”

  “What are you saying? I hit the ground! So what?” “If you'd snapped your backbone just two vertebrae further down, yes? You would have been killed instantly. As it is, you live. Just. I really am terribly sorry, my dear, but nothing I am doing is preventing you from moving...you just...can't move.”

  Paralysed. For a long moment, Callie's mind couldn't grasp the concept. Her confusion gave way to disbelief. She could not, would not accept it. The Elder was wrong. He had to be wrong. She just needed to rest a while and --and the feeling would come back. She --she just needed time, that's all. Yes, time, that would sort it out. A paralysed dragon? Ha! Who had ever heard of such a thing?

  At last the truth hit her, painfully hard, although she technically couldn't feel pain or anything else for that matter. What kind of life could a paralysed dragon ever have? At that moment, despair washed over her like a tidal wave and she wished nothing more than to die.

  * * * * * Loric was genuinely baffled. He had done everything that had been asked of him, fought many simulated battles, in both human and dragon form, yet he was no closer to achieving the first part of the Penta Drauka.

  “Just tell me what I'm supposed to do!” he demanded of the Elder Dragon, currently in human form. “Hmmm, yes, I know it's frustrating,” the Elder sympathised, “but as I keep telling yo u, the first part of the Penta Drauka is not something one can simply choose to do, or even be trained to do, come to that.”

  “Then what are all these battles if not training?” “They are stimuli, yes? Intended to provide the spark, if you will. But you mu st light the fire for yourself. Sorry, dear boy. I'm doing everything I can think of. It will happen when it happens, or it won't happen at all. That’s all there is to it.”

  Failure was not a concept that had ever occurred to the obsidian dragon before. “H ow long do I stay before it's clear that I won't succeed?” he asked. “There are other important things I should be doing.”

  “That, too, is entirely up to you, my boy. But mark me well: if you should leave, you can never return. The Penta Drauka is achieved at the first attempt or it is achieved not at all. Those are the rules, hmmm?”

  Loric understood, but he also knew he couldn't stay much longer. Changing the subject, he asked after Callie. The silver dragon had grown very quiet and introverted, sinking further and further into a deep, dark depression. If he were to fail in his ambitions, Loric realised, then her sacrifice would be in vain, but he could just about accept that if only could help her.

  “You're certain there is nothing we can do?”

  “There is nothing I can do, yes?” the Elder said, emphasising the pronoun. “My skills are not in the area of healing.”

  Loric's ears pricked up at that. “Meaning that there's something more I could do myself or there's someone else who could help her?”

  “Yes,” answered the Elder, cryptically.

  “Which? Me or someone else?”

  “Yes,” the Elder repeated. Word games. Loric hated word games. He hated them even more when someone's life was at stake, someone he cared about. Anger bubbled up inside him.

  “Now then, my boy,” the Elder continued, “are you going to try again or are you going to quit now, hmmm?”

  “Tell me how to help Callie,” Loric growled, smouldering.

  “Come on, boy, forget about her, we have more important things to do. Well I do at any rate, your end is up toyou.”

  “Tell me now, Elder, or I'm going to bury you in this sand right up to your neck until you do,” Loric warned in a dangerous tone. “Hey now, don't do anything stupid, hmmm? You wouldn't want to start trying my patience. Let us not forget that I am the master and you the lowly apprentice, yes? An apprentice who can't even get the first part of the Penta Drauka right. It's quite laughable, really, truth be told. Oh I've tried to be nice up until now, but quite frankly your attitude leaves much to be desired. Why-”

  The Elder never completed his sentence before Loric was at him, attacking with a ferocity the Elder had rarely known before. The blade called `Soul Crusher` was a very fine weapon, perfectly balanced in Loric's hand. Loric roared as his blade flashed in the sunlight, the Elder keeping him at bay but not easily. The lad's technique was impressive, to be sure, considered the Elder, but he was not really interested in technique. That would be irrelevant to Loric in his natural dragon form and he could get swordsmanship training anywhere, but this was the only place he could have his inner fire awakened.

  Loric felt a strange warmth spreading throughout his body from the core of his being, his very soul. The intensity grew until the air around him seemed to glow white hot. Yet there was no pain. No, he corrected himself, there was pain in there somewhere, but it was masked by an incredible euphoria. Again he corrected himself: the pain was not masked, it was an integral part of what he was feeling. Pain and pleasure co-existed so that it was impossible to tell were one ended and the other began. His was a righteous rage; he was that rage and the rage was him. Soul Crusher ceased to be a weapon at all, and became instead an extension of his arm, his will.

  The Elder gave ground, grudgingly at first, then at an increasing rate, which inspired Loric to further feral ferocity. His blade was a blur until the Elder could withstand the onslaught no longer. His sword arm was knocked aside, and then Loric reversed the thrust, sinking the sharp length of enchanted metal into soft Elder Dragon flesh. An instant later, it was buried right up to the hilt as Loric let out a roar of triumph.

  The flame within died down as he caught his breath, but did not extinguish completely. He instinctively knew it never would. The Fire Rage was a part of him now and would aid him in future battles. That was what he had come here to learn. At last he understood.

  “Ah yes, very well done, my boy,” came the voice of the Elder Drag on, materialising a short way behind him in dragon form. With a negligent flick of a great head, the illusion shattered and the apparently dead body shimmered out of existence. “Congratulations, you have passed the first test of the Penta Drauka. I knew you could do it, hmmm? You just needed some incentive. Concern for your friend was the catalyst, with the added spark of my apparent obstruction.”

  Loric relaxed, but not completely - his sword stayed out and his fire rage simmered beneath the surface. “Does that mean you'll tell me how to help Callie now?” He asked.

  “As I said before, healing is not one of my skills. That is the domain of another Elder.”

  “So the Penta Drauka is itself the key?”

  “You may interpret my words that way, if you wish,” was the Elder's only reply. “I cannot interfere with the natural course of events. Sorry, my boy, but that’s way it is.”

  Loric was beginning to read between the lines better now, and that understanding caused him to stay his hand and sheath his sword. “If I go, what about Callie? I can't just leave her here.”

  “You must, if you wish to help her. She will be safe enough here. Go. Pursue what you set out to do, and perhaps you will find the healing you seek.” “What about that great lizard out there? Am I going to have to fight my way past the thing?” He would never admit it, even to himself, but deep down he knew he wasn't ready for that even with his Fire Rage burning.

  “Hmmm, that's a good point; I had forgotten that small detail.” The Elder Dragon considered the problem for a moment then offered to use his magic to create the illusion of invisibility for Loric. “Remember it is only an illusion, you are not invisible in any real sense, hmmm?”

  “What difference does that make?” “Ah, quite a bit!” He insisted. “Simply put, yes? The magic is not really cast upon you, but on the space that surrounds you. It creates the possibility that anyone who is not specifically looking for you will not see you. One must be very careful when using magic around that crea
ture. If it should see through the illusion, hmmm, I dread to consider the consequences. This is as far as I will go, yes?”

  Loric accepted that and wasted no time in shifting to his dragon form, springing into the air with powerful legs, unfurling his wings and climbing high into the sky. If the creature did see through the magic, he wanted to have plenty of speed and altitude to work with. That was his only advantage.

  He slipped through the barrier like it wasn't there, the landscape change being his only clue. There was no sign of the great lizard, so he headed on a course that should take him to the Elder Dragon of Air. According to the information he had, this Elder was not rooted in a single place, but actively moved around Mythallen. Still he was confident that he would be able to find them. Completion of each successive Penta Drauka skill would give him the means to find the next Elder Dragon in the sequence. He didn’t know precisely how, but muscles straining, he flew on, trusting in the magic.

  Chapter 11

  Temporarily blinded, Phaer had to rely on his elven instincts to land on his feet. He opened his mouth to object to the lack of warning, only to have a hand firmly clamped over it.

  “Sssshhhhh,” came Bunny’s voice in a whisper. “I don't want to risk any noises until we move away a bit.”

  Phaer indicated his intention to co-operate with a nod. It didn't take long for the half-elf's eyes to recover and grow accustomed to his dark surroundings. There wasn't much to see, except to observe that they were underground, in some kind of tunnel network. Judging by the perfectly smooth walls and geometric circular cross section, they had obviously been constructed by magic: dark elf magic, back when they still had it - long, long ago. Something nagged at the edges of Phaer's mind, but couldn't quite break through into his conscious memory.