Dragon-Eyes walked up to the former King of Donegal and said, “Is that Ali-Ster Wamhoff I see? Looks like you’ve seen some better days, my king.”
The tall man looked down on the dwarf and responded, “Yes, well, I plan to make these my best days, regardless of appearance.”
Dioneer went by and out the door as Sunny fought through the outgoing mass to stay inside. A nervous feeling started to form as he wondered how his little sister would handle the situation. She had always acted tough but Sunny already felt the magnitude of the moment. His stomach started to churn until he saw Muriel. She had a wide grin on her face. She didn’t look the least bit scared, causing Sunny to relax and focus on the battle at hand.
He turned and followed her outside to be greeted by the sun, high in the sky. The Noble Army of Undead Kings had assembled the instructors and students from the other parts of the School of the Learned Warrior and everyone began to march up to the beach. Sunny noticed a force of Gama Trakans that weren’t members of the School and knew Ali-Ster must’ve convinced the Triumvirate to spare some soldiers. The native citizens led the group with the students of the School just behind, and the former kings brought up the rear. All the units trudged through the sand and Sunny and Muriel tried to catch up with their classmates. As he went to pass his older brother, a cold, blue forearm stopped his progress.
The dead king warned him, “Don’t go all the way to the front. Stay near the back until we see what kind of force the demons will bring. You wouldn’t listen to the little dwarf but you better listen to your older brother. Don’t run out like a foolish hero destined to be feed for the blackbirds.”
Sunny moved up a bit despite the warning as they started to get close to the northern beaches. Ali-Ster moved up closer and walked alongside Sunny.
He looked up at Ali-Ster, who said, “Remember what I just said. Stay near the back.”
Sunny said, “I know. I understand.” When he looked to his left, Muriel had disappeared. He looked at her racing ahead with reckless abandon. Sunny chased after his sister and screamed, “Muriel. Get back here. Stop right now.”
He kept following her as she reached the students. He shouted, “Muriel. I know you can hear me, so just stop right now.”
She continued weaving in and out of the bigger warriors and moved up to the Gama Trakans. By the time he looked ahead to see the ominous shining steel boats beached along the coast, he was walking on the front line.
If we can get to them as they land, we could cut them down before they even have a chance to set foot on this sand.
He peered at the boats as the bright sunny sky became dark. Sunny’s eardrums were almost broken by the most awful series of shrieking sounds he had ever heard. A forceful, uneven wind-blast almost knocked Muriel down as Sunny grabbed the tiny girl and held her up. A sky full of red, purple and black dragons burst through some streaming clouds and descended toward the coastline.
They’re going to burn our entire army before they even land. Then the demons can jump down from their boats with ease. We’re all going to die.
Sunny looked frantically out at the water and reflected on his short life as he wondered if he would reunite with Ollor. A huge blue dragon’s head poked through the water and ran ashore. A long tongue rolled out and stopped right in front of Sunny. He pulled Muriel onto the tongue and held her tight until they were inside the mouth of Dolpho. Several minutes later, the dragon’s mouth opened and the tongue came out with the kids. They walked out into the secret lair of the water dragons.
The dragons were weeping and wailing, which sounded just as terrifying as the earlier shrieking. The dragons were consoling each other.
Dolpho informed them, “We lost more than half of our family today. We’ve been preparing for hundreds of years for this sacrifice, but the events of today are a wound that will take some time to heal.”
Muriel sympathized, “I’m sorry.”
Dolpho returned, “Yes, well it seems you both still need to learn to listen much better to survive this mess. I am going to take you back and place you slightly down shore from the fighting. Don’t try to fight the demons or you will lose your lives. Retreat to fight another day. Your side isn’t properly prepared right now.”
As the kids were getting back into Dolpho’s mouth, one of the other dragons said, “Be careful, lady. We are nothing without you.”
The blue dragon nodded her head and pulled the children into her mouth. They soon reached the surface and walked out onto the moist sand and heard another awful screech from above. Sunny and Muriel started to run inland as a black dragon tracked after them from above. They tried to run in a zigzag pattern but the dragon wasn’t fooled as it closed in.
Sunny heard a horrible hissing sound from behind and realized it was coming from Dolpho. He looked back at the sky and the black dragon had changed course and was going for the blue water dragon.
“NO! NO!” screamed Muriel.
Sunny yelled as loud as he could, “Go back under. Go back under.”
Dolpho remained still with her head above water. The female dragon couldn’t smile but Sunny saw the most gentle and friendliest look a fearsome dragon could possibly carry.
“Run,” Dolpho said calmly as a huge shadow formed around her head and the flying dragon made a final stoop to pick up tremendous speed before sinking its talons into Sunny and Muriel’s friend. Sunny grabbed his sister so she couldn’t watch. They turned and ran, but even the sounds were almost too much to handle as they desperately sprinted back toward the School.
B-RUSSELL
Russell peered into another crack in the mountainside and found nothing but darkness again. He and Lizeria moved on to the next one. They had checked all the openings on this side of the mountain with no luck whatsoever. Russell decided he wasn’t going to return to the School of the Learned Warrior without the Pearl. He tried to prepare mentally for the fact that he might die of hunger, far from his original birthplace. He felt sorry for Lizeria and chastised himself constantly for dragging her out here.
If things don’t work out, I basically killed her. She would have been fine back at the School. What made me think that she could come on an adventure like this? Riceros is probably gone. He’s probably back on Venom Island right now, waiting to have his blood sucked out by a coldomore. I can’t return to Dragon-Eyes as a failure again. I just can’t do it. I won’t do it.
Lizeria tugged at his dirty, brown shirt. Russell looked down at the little girl. She was pointing to a faint light coming from one of the crevasses in the mountain. The dying day helped to expose the tiny fire inside, and Russell and Lizeria instinctively moved toward it. He carefully worked up the side of the hill while simultaneously looking around for any activity. They got about fifteen feet from the crack and stopped. He noticed the opening was too small for him and wondered if Lizeria could fit through the small crack. He wasn’t going to try to stuff the little girl in the cave, and sat down behind a cactus to figure out a plan. She plopped down beside Russell and he tried to remain alert in case anything sprang from the hole. An idea struck Russell and he closed his eyes to concentrate.
Mother may I see what I cannot,
A hidden vision now needs to be sought,
Eyes I need to see wrong from right,
And rectify the smallest slight,
Mother grant me the power to see,
If you can pour your pity on me,
His eyes remained closed as his mental vision moved closer to the cave. He could now see inside the hole. A bound Riceros Colbert sat against the back wall of a dusty cave. To the boy’s left stood a hideous misshapen man with legs too long, three ears and purple skin. The demon’s lips were moving but Russell couldn’t hear anything. He had summoned multiple spirits by name before but never from two different chants, so he just blurted out the name, Jahondo.
He could now hear the deep, gnarly voice of the whispering demon. “I can sense it. The demons are close. Without your dragons, we shall secure a quick v
ictory and move inland. I can almost envision those lovely dragons swooping in to take you straight to Damian Doome.”
Russell had heard enough and opened his eyes, shook his head around and tried to return to normal. He needed to devise a plan but the only thing that ran through his head was pain from using the magic. He thought about how the spirits could help in a grand battle. The two weary travelers fell asleep behind the cactus on the clay-like ground.
Russell woke up to bright sunlight and panicked because he hadn’t planned to fall asleep and worried if they had been spotted. His stomach growled like a starving bear as he tried to focus on a plan. Russell had a thought and whispered to Lizeria about what her role in the plot was. He closed his eyes and concentrated.
Dear mother, can you take away this pain?
Dear mother, can you break this awful chain?
Sweet angel, help make me invisible and plain.
Lend your spirit and the air I’ll surely gain.
Russell walked around the cactus and took a few steps toward the hole. He stopped and looked back at Lizeria, who shook her head back and forth to indicate she couldn’t see him. He still saw himself but took another few steps and looked back again. Lizeria was still shaking her head. Russell moved slowly up to the opening and pushed his head into the crack. He tried to go inside but his shoulders hit both sides of the crevasse. He hadn’t realized that he had an invisible frame over his entire body. He walked back over to the cactus and collapsed in frustration and physical pain. His body ran cold from using the spirits two days in a row and his head started to ache.
Lizeria seemed to be getting restless sitting in one place and started running around the cactus. Russell whispered, “No, Lizeria, we must be quiet and stay back here.”
He sat up and Lizeria looked into his eyes and said, “I do.”
The little girl took two steps back and turned and ran for the opening. Russell scrambled to his feet and rushed over. The brave girl stuck her tiny head in the cave and said something Russell couldn’t identify. She pulled her head out and moved to the left of the crack. He drew his sword and continued running at full speed. He saw something coming from the hole that wasn’t Riceros Colbert. He dove and stroked down with his sword as he glided through the air. He couldn’t stop as he recognized Kazu too late and the unforgiving blade went right through the old man’s head. A black liquid puddled on the ground and a golden whistle fell at Russell’s feet. The ebony blood seeped into the clay and he picked up the flute. Lizeria snatched it away from his hand and gazed intently at the beautiful object.
She broke her stare and a strange look came over the girl’s face as she pointed behind him. Russell turned to be greeted by a group of spirits levitating off the slanted ground.
Judithe spoke, “We will take care of Lizeria and move that stone to free the one they call Riceros. You need go now, before it’s too late.”
Suddenly Russell was lifted off the ground. He pointed to the cactus and told Lizeria, “Riceros’ bow and quiver are in my shoulder sack. Make sure he gets it.”
An invisible force wouldn’t let him finish and whisked him through the air and started pushing him north at an amazing speed. He saw a force of men running toward him as he slowed down and came to a complete stop. Leading the evacuation was Dioneer with Dragon-Eyes in his arms.
The Cyclops was screaming, “Go back, we have to go back.”
C-RICEROS
Kazu suddenly disappeared from the front of the cave. Riceros rolled over and over and clumsily worked his way to the tiny crack and saw Lizeria’s face outside. The golden flute was in her mouth and she was blowing audibly into it, but no beautiful sounds came from the object. Just behind Lizeria, he saw what appeared to be floating ghosts. They looked like glowing white shadows forming the body shape of a man or woman. They were hollow and see-through. As Riceros gazed at them, the tight cords around his wrists and ankles started to magically loosen themselves. He heard a cracking sound as the huge rock started to break up and create a large opening for him to get out. He shook away the silk ties and dove out the hole and into bright sunlight and a cloudy sky.
He fought off the pain, got to his feet and grabbed the flute from Lizeria. He blew lightly into the musical instrument and created an eruption of sounds. The tiny whistle sent rippling waves of energy into the sky. Riceros got nervous when a few moments went by and he didn’t see any of the dragons. A sudden gust of wind knocked Riceros and Lizeria down and caused the spirits to evacuate. An enormous collective shadow hung overhead as a bevy of descending noble dragons covered the sky. Riceros extracted the Pearl from his back and saw Lizeria’s eyes look like they were going to pop out of her head again when he spread the golden wings out fully.
He wanted to fly up to meet the dragons but didn’t want to leave Lizeria by herself.
He heard a voice announce, “We will take care of the girl. Perform your duty to mankind.”
Riceros looked around and still didn’t see anyone but started flapping his wings anyway and rose off the ground. He quickly flew up and saw Ikeros.
The dragon screamed, “The demons haveth landed. We needeth engage them so the humans can get away. We can’t win but we will be slaughtered if we don’t help.”
They flew up to the northern shore and saw most of the human soldiers running inland. A huge force of coldomores was chasing after them, but their rigid movements allowed the humans to escape. He looked closer at the Sea of Green and saw a charred wasteland of dragon bodies, blacker than the dark of night. Red, black and purple dragons emerged from the sky above the Sea of Green and closed in quickly. The immense heat rippled off Riceros’ body and he realized he was about to witness a dragon fight up close. Mind-shattering shrieks of agony pounded his ears as he drew an arrow. He steadied the nock on the bowstring and the tip burst into flames. He noticed Bobular and an enemy dragon circling each other and spitting orange flames back and forth. He studied the movement of the black dragon, drew back on the bowstring and waited. In a flash, the arrow sped through the air and found the hole in the dragon’s ear. The injured beast wailed in pain and shook wildly, expelling the demon rider in the process. The dragon twisted around until its head exploded in fire and the wounded animal fell into the water, creating a tidal splash.
Riceros navigated around the chaotic aerial scene and saw Artemise surrounded by two enemy dragons. He tried to get an arrow ready to help but both dragons spit fire in unison and the wild blaze captured the target. His friend, Artemise, tried to fight against death only to crash down into the emerald waters now streaked with ruby. He looked over to see a ship of snarling animals, foaming at the mouth to get in on the action. Out of the corner of his eye, Ikeros glided down and burned the boat of penned up animals. Riceros had heard the sounds of dying men and the Brama Bull on his journey to get to Gama Traka, but there was no comparison to the sounds of the dragons and animals and a full-fledged battle.
The shoreline became the prime battle ground for the flying dragons, good and bad. The blazing brawl between the thousand-year-old beasts made the bright sky light up even more. Riceros’ body and wings threatened to quit on him and he noticed that the coldomores had stopped chasing the humans.
Suddenly, Damian Doome’s dragons flew back out to sea. Riceros flew back inland and surveyed the mass carnage below. Dragon bodies were scattered about the giant graveyard.
Ikeros flew by and said, “The demons were better prepared this time. Much better prepared than the humans. Don’t let this happen again.”
Within moments, Riceros was the only object in the sky and he flew back to the southern entrance of the School. He saw the students flooding in the door. He landed and retracted his wings. Riceros walked into the School and down the straight hallway. He looked in the library and noticed Dioneer, Lizeria, Sunny, Muriel, Dragon-Eyes and Shireez huddled around a small bookshelf. A look of relief washed over them when they looked at Riceros but it only lasted a moment.
The Imp Wizard said, “W
e are going to need more men. Did you see how many ships landed? They only unloaded a few and still chased us away.”
Sunny said, “They did use their dragons to gain an unfair advantage. We would have put up a better fight if they hadn’t cleared the shoreline like that.”
Riceros thought he would be inundated with questions about the kidnapping, but realized everyone’s minds had already shifted to the next plan.
Riceros spoke, “At least we found out one thing.”
Dragon-Eyes looked skeptically at him and asked, “And what would that be?”
Riceros answered, “We need to develop a new plan to defeat Damian Doome and his army of dragons, wild beasts and coldomores.”
Epilogue
So two contenders perished and one was overthrown as Queen, that much we know, but a few mysteries still persist. Who killed King Ali-Stanley? Will his twin brother, Ali-Steven, survive his ghastly injury? Will any of it matter if Damian Doome claims the earth for the demons? Three seasons turned an entire kingdom on its ear. Four kings had already taken turns ruling until they were dead or run out of the King’s Castle and the year wasn’t even close to being over. What does winter have in store? I know of one thing, that’s for sure. Wings, sweet children, dragon wings.”
Telly told her stories to the riveted crowd but Mim had trouble paying attention because she kept thinking about the illuminated pages of her book. Her aunt finished and Mim headed back toward her room. She saw the workers already bringing in items for the Spring Tournament. She knew this would continue and only get more hectic as they got closer to the date. She couldn’t wait to get a chance to talk to many of the people from her books. People were coming in from all over the kingdom and Mim planned to check a few stories for factual integrity and who better than the first-hand sources. She also wanted to find out what the people from her books had been doing for the past thirty years. Mim wanted to make an addendum to her books with the information she gathered at the Tournament. She walked around for a bit to check out a few more deliveries that had piqued her interest and went back to her room. When she arrived, Telly, Paul and a handmaiden were waiting outside her door. The young woman announced, “Lady Mim, I present Queen Telly and Prince Paul.” She curtsied and left.
Six Heads One Crown (The Pearl of Wisdom Saga Book 3) Page 36
