Return of the Dragonborn: The Complete Trilogy

by N. M. Howell

  “You’re all cowards,” Andie shouted, though even that proved difficult through her newfound weakness. “You wouldn’t fight us when we were strong. You sneak in at the end of war, when we’re tired and beginning to fade.”

  “I’ll admit, it’s not my proudest moment, but I don’t care. I just want you dead, Andie. I think I always wanted you dead. I hated having to pretend I cared for you, to work with you, to be with you. Kissing you used to turn my stomach.”

  “Well, in hindsight, I’m not too thrilled about your face on mine either.”

  Ashur held his hand over her and it began to glow. Pain spread throughout Andie’s body as frostbite overcame her in seconds, turning most of her body black. Ashur lowered the hand and the pain went.

  “I’ve been practicing that one,” he said. “You like? Cold seems to be sore point for your kind.”

  “Were you always this evil?” Andie asked, shivering.

  “No. I used to be weak. Now I’m strong. Don’t try to reason with me, Andie. I’m beyond your reach and your words. As a matter of fact, I’m about to take your head from your shoulders.”

  “Do you have any idea why you can’t beat us?” she asked.

  “It looks like I already have.”

  “No. It looks like sun.”

  As she said the words, the sun rose over the String Fields, high enough that its light broke into the city. As the rays hit her, Andie found her strength. She knew she couldn’t lose. Not here. Not today. Ashur came in again and she drew her sword so quickly that he didn’t even see it until after she’d cut him.

  He cast at her and she dodged. He cast again and she countered. He drew a dagger and threw it at her, but she stopped it in midair. She still felt strangely weak, but she had figured out why. She and Ashur traded spells, but his anger was no match for her power. Her body became a humanoid flame, right down to her very core, and she became so bright he could hardly stand to look at her. She weaved around him with her blade, cutting him so fast and deep he could not keep up with her. She grabbed his arm with her flaming hand and he screamed form the pain as his flesh melted away.

  “You can’t beat us because you’re nothing. We are the past and the future. You were never a match for me, Ashur. Or should I say Tarven. When we fought before I wasn’t trying to kill you. I was trying to spare you. I won’t make that mistake today.”

  “I am the commander of the—”

  “You are the leader of murderers and you waited until I was weakest to face me again because somewhere, deep inside, you know you can’t beat me. You were never going to win. You are a coward and a weak man. There exists no victory for people like you. You have terrified us, hunted us, and murdered us. I tried caring for you. I tried saving you. But no more. No mercy, Tarven.”

  She brought her other hand forward slowly, making sure it burned as hot as possible. She began to slowly push it into his chest, letting him feel every second of the pain and heat. It had been a long time coming and he has had a hand in so many atrocities, but now she was bringing him to justice, even though he could never suffer as much as he deserved. She took pleasure in the fact that he was suffering now. The shock of her white-hot hand penetrating his chest was written across his disfigured face and the last expression he wore before she turned him to a pile of smoldering Ash was one of utter confusion.

  Several blocks away, Beladorion had completely overcome Saeryn. He had beaten her, cut her, and thrown her like a toy. Only some of her wounds healed. All around her, her people were being overwhelmed. The Dead had come upon them when they were at their absolute weakest.

  “Do you know what’s happening to you?” he said. “I do.”

  “The sun,” Saeryn whispered. She gazed up at the red glow in the horizon as the sun rose and brought with it a new strength. Only, she didn’t feel strengthened. Not fully. She felt confused, betrayed by her own blood. Why wasn’t the sun strengthening her?

  Beladorion laughed. “You’re fading away, stupid Queen. You see, coming through the portal erased you from history, thus you never existed. And if you didn’t exist then, you can’t exist now. When I heard you and your people had returned, I began my calculations and I’m so happy to see that they were accurate to the very hour. First, you’ll grow weak, then you’ll simply fade away. Look to your people. It’s happening now.”

  Saeryn rolled over and turned her head and gasped. It was true. Her people were falling. Some were even fading out of existence right before her eyes. She could hardly believe it. Beladorion took his Wrothsaield blade and plunged it into Saeryn’s stomach, not a wound that would kill her instantly, but one she would not survive. She was surprised by how little it hurt. She just felt cold. But this is what it had come to. And now she knew, now she realized that there was only one way this would end. Just like Andie said.

  “So, this is how we end,” she said. “Fading away in the devastated streets of Arvall. I suppose that’s fine with me. What’s not fine is you.”

  She raised her broken arm toward Beladorion and froze him. Even he wasn’t expecting this. Before his eyes, she snapped the bone back in place and it healed. All her wounds that weren’t caused by Beladorion’s blades healed. She rose, holding her bleeding stomach. She turned her wrist slowly and rose the temperature of his blood. She spread her fingers and weakened his bones.

  “I have never understood one thing about your kind,” she said, spitting up blood, but standing straight. “What makes you think you are a match for us? Yes, you’re physically magnificent, but unless you’re sneaking up on us in the forest, surprising us in a dark grotto, or descending on us when we are the weakest and most exhausted we’ve ever been, what makes you think any of your gifts can compare with magic?”

  “You filthy traitor. I am Beladorion, leader of the—”

  “The Dead? A rather appropriate name, I think. You see, all my life I’ve feared you, and it wasn’t until today, when you and your kind snuck up on us like cowards, that I realized something. You pose no threat. You bring no danger. You are a disgrace to the dragons that gave birth to you. You are the true blood traitors.”

  “I will... drink... of your blood.”

  “You will do nothing but be what your name implies. Dead. Eitilt mall comhlacht.”

  As she cast the time curse, the entire city froze except for the dragonborn. Saeryn limped over to Beladorion. She stared into his face.

  “What is it you’re so fond of saying? Oh, yes. Fhealltóir Fola.”

  With that she drew her sword and plunged it through his chest. She had used most of her strength and went down to her knees. She turned to address her people.

  “Put them to the sword!”

  The dragonborn heeded the command of their Queen and within moments the Dead were no more. Andie came rushing up to Saeryn and kneeled beside her.

  “I see you took a leaf out of my book,” Andie said.

  “Well, they cheated. I figured we should as well.” As she spoke, her people cheered. A sound so glorious yet so haunted that echoes between the crumbling structures around them. The enemy was retreating, what was left of them, and those who remained slowly perished by the hands of the fading dragonborn.

  “We have to get you and our people back through the portal, Saeryn. You’re fading because you’ve removed yourselves from the timeline. And if you all never existed, neither can I. Oh, no. What did he do to you? Oh, no, no, no...”

  “We can heal me later, Andie. Let us lead our people back together.”

  “Some victory,” Andie said.

  Saeryn nodded grimly, a small smile spread across her shivering lips. “Yes. Some victory, indeed.”

  Saeryn called for her dragon, as did the other dragonborn. Soon they were all up and soaring through the city toward the mountain, the echoes of the songs of victory rising up in the air from the city below as the rest of the dragonborn made their way back to the University. The songs were mixed with laments of mourning, the sound eerie and haunting as they flew away from tho
se who celebrated and wept, the rest of the city still frozen in place, unaware of the departure of their people and the dragons.

  As they flew, some of the dragonborn were disappearing right from the air, their dragons, too. As they neared the foot of the mountain and began their ascent, Saeryn nearly slid from the dragon, but Andie caught her and held her tightly, trying to will her to live. They were running out of time.

  They reached the University and rather than try to fit through the front doors, Andie focused her magic in one massive blast: it exploded into the mountainside, sending debris and dirt hundreds of feet in every direction. The dragonborn disappeared into the cloud.

  They flew down through the clouds of dust, the exploded dirt, and entered the archives above the portal, just as the dragons and the dragonborn had first came into her time. Andie steered Ronen aside, and she kneeled down to allow her riders safely off.

  Andie leapt off and inspected the portal. The portal was empty. Her heart willed with sorrow. She had to try. Andie squeezed her eyes shut and imagined the conjured image Yara had showed her in the hotel. She began whispering an incantation, almost a song, as she fought with every ounce of her being to restore the magic that Yara had shared. When she opened her eyes, she caught a trace of a glimmer. Raising her voice, Andie shouted the incantation louder, her voice echoing across the vast room. The dragonborn watched in silence as she worked her magic. Not a moment later, the portal blasted to life again, the magic within the same as she had witnessed from Yara. She smiled.

  From what Yara had said, the portal was set to a time somewhere between Saeryn’s and her own. Sometime after the deadly spell Saeryn’s original enemy had cast to destroy all the dragonborn, and before this horrendous battle where they nearly lost to their new enemy. This was exactly what they needed.

  “Oren must have found a way to calibrate the portal to this specific time when he sent Yara back,” Andie whispered to herself in awe. “Yara…” Andie couldn’t help but laugh. That girl had proven herself time and time again. Without her, they would have nowhere to do. She truly was a remarkable ally.

  Andie grasped the smooth stone carving around the perimeter of the portal, peering into its depths. She could almost see the lush forests and waterfalls on the other side. It was a time of peace, and Oren must have somehow known it would prove useful by sending her there. Andie’s heart ached at the thought of him being gone forever. She steeled herself and turned back toward her people in the room.

  If she could just get the dragonborn and their dragons back to this in between time, to rejuvenate the dragon population and establish their race back into their timeline, then perhaps, just perhaps, it would stop them from fading in their current time. All they had to do was establish themselves in history, populate their people, ensure they survived until present time. Time was a dangerous thing, but it was their only hope.

  “Everybody in, now!” she commanded.

  There was a pause, a long moment where all the dragonborn stared at their princess. But with a slight nod from their Queen, they moved with ferocious speed. For even the dragons began to fade, and their time was running out. The dragonborn all dove directly into the portal, some only just avoiding fading into nothing. As they were all entering, Andie hurried to Saeryn.

  “Saeryn, come on, we have to get you into the portal.”

  “No, Andie. I’m to stay here.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. If you stay here, you’ll die. Our people need you to lead them back to their own time and reestablish our lineage.”

  “No, they don’t need me. They need you. You’re ready, Andie. I’ve been grooming you since you pulled us out of the portal. I know I said I doubted you, but you have proven yourself. You have even managed to teach me.”

  “Saeryn no, no, no. Please don’t do this. I can’t go, I belong here.”

  “In a way you do, and in a way you never have. You’re the Queen the dragonborn deserve, Andryne Rogers. You’re strong, intelligent, courageous, fearless, and selfless. No one will do more or go farther for our people than you. You are the perfect Queen. Let me stay here, in the world where I finally found a bit of the peace I have searched for.”

  The portal began to shake and pull Andie out across the surface. The last dragonborn entered, but the portal looked as if it was collapsing in on itself.

  “It has been used too much,” Saeryn said, weakly, barely able to hold her head. “It is unstable. You must go now.”

  “What about you?”

  “I die knowing I played my part in the salvation of my people. It is as proud an accomplishment as any Queen can hope for.”

  “I can’t lose you, Saeryn. You’re the only family I have in the world. I’m begging you to live.”

  “This wound has ended me. And it’s okay. It’s perfectly okay.”

  Andie thought of Raesh and of all the things she’d never get to say to him. She thought of the life they would never have and the memories that she had now, but that will never be enough. She loved him. She loved Carmen and Yara. She wanted to stay and to be with her friends and enjoy the world they’ve fought so hard for. But that was not her destiny and she knew that.

  With tears streaming down her face and the room shaking to pieces around her, Andie pulled Saeryn into her arms and held her, hoping her arms and this embrace could convey how truly thankful she was for all that Saeryn had done for her. The pain in Andie’s heart was unimaginable.

  A soft song rose in the room just then. A lament so sweet and so beautiful, it brought a tear to Andie’s eye. The sound came from the portal, and both dragonborn royalty turned their heads toward the haunting melody.

  “They’re calling to you,” Saeryn smiled.

  “Who are?”

  “The dragons.”

  Andie turned down to look at her Queen. She couldn’t hold back the tears. “You have been my mother, my sister, my friend, my inspiration.”

  “And you have been my whole world, Andie. I love you, princess.”

  “I love you, too, my Queen.” The melody grew louder, their call more desperate as the magic of the portal wavered once more.

  Andie pressed her lips to Saeryn’s forehead and laid her down gently. She rose and levitated up and over the portal. She wished beyond anything that she could say goodbye to her friends, to make sure they were okay, to say goodbye to Raesh. To give him one last kiss. But they were out there somewhere, frozen in the time curse. She would have to live the rest of her days hoping that they survived. With one last look to her Queen and then up to the sky, she allowed herself to fall into the unstable surface of the portal, called by the song of the dragons.

  The portal imploded just as she cleared it.

  Saeryn laid on the ground, her hands and feet numb and fading, her dragon already vanished. She was not in pain nor was she scared. She thought of Andie’s face, the faces of her people, the face of her mother from so long ago. She smiled, knowing she had done her duty.

  “Eitilt ar ais.”

  Epilogue

  When Saeryn lifted the time curse, there was confusion and chaos, but the defenders of Arvall won the war and it wasn’t long before reports came in from Taline that the third wave had been defeated and the portal they brought recovered. The city began the work of putting itself back together.

  The Thabians and miners were sent home with commendations and the promise of aid whenever and however they should need it. The Beautiful Dead had all been killed by the dragonborn, except for Olthrion and a few others who were captured, with effort, and executed before the week was out. The Church of Stone and Sea was formally investigated, its priests imprisoned or executed as sentenced, and the Church itself demolished. The battalion was completely over; one soldier had tried to activate the icons and kill millions in a last desperate move, but Andie had deprogrammed the system months before. The politicians Ashur had bribed were rooted out and sentenced, too.

  Stefan was finally able to begin rebuilding Taline in earnest. With the old Univ
ersity, the battalion, and the army gone, the city began to enjoy its longest peace in nearly twenty years. Yara and Bonhaus rested after the war. Some weeks later they were married and settled in Arvall. Yara and Carmen were reunited, at last. Carmen took over Marvo’s restaurant, splitting her time between there and teaching at the rebuilt university, though she could never bring herself to eat the chocolate Andie brought. Lilja was never the same after losing Sarinda and Kent; she threw herself into working for the council fighters and became one of their best and most efficient.

  Lymir was found unconscious, but alive beneath some rubble. When he came to some days later, he was the one who put together what happened to the dragonborn. With what he had predicted all along and the eyewitness reports of citizens who had seen the dragonborn disappear, he was able to figure out the tragic events. The news devastated millions across Noelle who had hoped the dragonborn would find peace. Lymir was broken to his core at their loss, but he put on a brave face and lead the University to the beacon of light and secured it as it always should have been.

  But there was no one more broken than Raesh.

  At first, Raesh couldn’t bear to be around the University, so he decided to lead the council fighters in his father’s stead. They went on long missions across Noelle, and even to the Old World across Shaeyara, outside the boundaries of Noelle, hunting down the last of Arvall’s enemies and helping to create the safe world they deserved. When that was done, he moved to Michaelson, to Andie’s old home, and commuted into Arvall every day. Lymir eventually convinced him to return to teaching and he did, becoming one of the sharpest and most beloved instructors. He never spoke of Andie, though Lymir always seemed to want to say something to him about her, as if he could somehow comfort him. Eventually, he finally submitted his books in the publishing district, only twenty blocks from his old home, and they were well received. And, after some time had passed, he finally opened his father’s briefcase and joined Carmen at the restaurant.