Choice

by Gary Stringer

Phaer shook his head, emphatically. “It's magically reflective. It generates a powerful anti -magic field, so a Corridor wouldn't open for it." Phaer swiftly moved the conversation along before his guard could think to ask where that magical knowledge came from. "You really think this rescue is worth risking your entire Knighthood?” He asked.

  “Of course!" the Knight insisted. "This kind of operation is exactly why our Knighthood exists. If we fail and die, then we fail and die - but honour demands we try. We only have to win once - maybe it will be our lucky day.”

  Phaer's pain level chose that moment to flare up, and so they fell silent for a while as they headed back to the ranger's caravan. “Forgive me if I'm prying too much,” the guard put in, tentatively, “but while you were unconscious before, you were talking, well, muttering something. I couldn't catch most of it, but there was a name you kept repeating Eilidh. A friend of yours, is she?”

  Phaer was still uncomfortable discussing his personal life, but decided it would do no harm to say a little. “Yes, she is. At least, I like to think so. I haven't known her for long, and I behaved quite badly when I left her, but I don't think it was irredeemable. So yeah, hopefully I'll meet up with her again and, well...yeah.” He broke off and winced at the growing pain in his head.

  The Knight nodded, knowingly, picking up the pace a bit.

  “You miss her, don't you?” he asked. “Yes, I miss her,” Phaer admitted.

  Chapter 9

  Quite honestly, Loric was amazed to find himself still alive. He was inside a large chamber contained within a dome that was keeping the sea out, lying on warm sand, which was very comfortable to his dragon hide. The sound of the water was remarkably soothing and it was tempting to just lay back and go to sleep, but he was anxious to be up and about his business. That this was somewhere in the aquatic kingdom was a no-brainer, so he was where he needed to be. Hopefully, the Elder Dragon of Water wouldn't be too hard to find. His fight with those sea monsters returned to haunt him, and he remembered the scratches and welts he had sustained before he drowned. But now he was healed and breathing just fine. That meant he was a patient, probably still under observation. He stood up carefully, testing his body, but there were no ill-effects, so he tried shape-shifting to his human form in order to better examine his surroundings.

  The chamber in which Loric found himself was inside the royal palace of the sea elves, called the Grotto. It was a towering edifice, not built but grown, made as it was from pink and white filigree coral. The white sparkled with a brilliant opalescence, contrasting perfectly with the warm glow of the pink coral. The coral was still very much alive and still growing. The sea elves would no more kill the coral than they would kill themselves, and so the shape of the Grotto changed on a regular basis. Humans would no doubt find this irritating if not intolerable, and the dwarves - lovers of solid constancy that they were - quite possibly would kill themselves out of panic and distress. The elves, however, considered it to be highly entertaining and diverting. Finding one's way around the palace was an interesting experience. Passageways that led to one place one day would take a person somewhere else the next. Since every room of the Grotto was certain to be one of surpassing beauty, it didn't much matter to the elves where they ended up. If one room in the Grotto even the king's bedchamber - was becoming closed off because of the rapidly growing coral, the elves simply packed up their belongings and moved to another room that was certain to have been created in the meantime.

  Loric was just about to set off into the main building when a tall, blue-green skinned sea elf entered the chamber. The Black Dragon of Avidon had never seen a sea elf before, and appraised this individual. Gill slits were present on his neck, allowing him to breathe underwater as easily as his lungs processed dry air. His fingers and toes were elongated and webbed for maximum efficiency of propulsion in the water. He carried himself with an air of friendly confidence, a smile on his lips and compassion glowing in his violet eyes. But this particular sea elf was not quite what he appeared to be. Loric's awareness was heightened by an aspect of the Fire Rage, and the Penta Drauka pull was very strong here, both of which combined to tell him he was in the presence of the Elder Dragon of Water.

  With a slight bow, the Elder offered a greeting. “Peace, brother.”

  Loric nodded in acknowledgement. “I take it you're Water,” he said.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Your name,” Loric said. “The Elder of Fire was called Fire and the Elder of Air is called Air, so I presumeyou're Water.”

  “Oh, I see. Yes, that would be logical, but I actually prefer Aqua, if you don't mind.”

  Loric shrugged. “Makes no difference to me. So, Aqua, what do I have to do?”

  “Well, right now, I really ought to give you a final check-up before I discharge you.” “No need. I'm perfectly fine.”

  “Yes, well, why don't you let me be the judge of that? After all, I am the healer here.”

  “But it's just a waste of time,” Loric insisted. “Look, I'm not trying to be rude, but I need to get through this as quickly as possible.” “Indeed, brother? Well I'm rather afraid you will learn precisely nothing with an attitude like that. The people of the aquatic kingdom do not live with the same sense of time as land dwellers. The sea elves have no words in their language for `hurry` or `urgency`...or at least they didn't before this dreadful war,” he added with infinite sadness.

  “You're not a sea elf and neither am I!” If there was one thing Loric couldn't abide, it was wasting time when there was a job to be done. An unusual trait for a dragon, but then Loric was an unusual dragon.

  “True,” Aqua accepted, “but when one lives with them as I do, one must fit in with their ways. It's really quite therapeutic, actually. All that rushing around never does one's health any good.”

  “Unless someone is dying and needs a fast response from a healer,” Loric countered.

  “Yes, yes,” Aqua agreed, placating the agitated obsidian, “Air has filled me in and I know all about your silver friend.” “Air's here?” Loric growled. He could feel his Fire Rage burning beneath the surface, ready to burst through like a volcano. “Where is she? She abandoned me to those...creatures! I swear, when I get my hands on her, I'll-”

  “Shake her hand and thank her for saving your life, I should hope,” Aqua interrupted. He never once raised his voice, but his tone projected a quiet authority. Here was an individual who was accustomed to having his advice listened to and heeded, his instructions carried out with utmost efficiency, without the need to crack the metaphorical whip.

  “What the hell are you talking about? She left me to die!” Loric roared.

  Aqua did not flinch, nor did he alter his tone. He simply corrected him as a professor corrects his student. “That is not so, brother. She left you so she might seek help, which the aquatic dragons were only too happy to provide. They have been fighting these creatures of chaos for months now and have formed a rescue service. It was they who repelled the monsters and delivered you here for healing by the Elder Dragon of Water. Me.”

  “Wait-the dragons here know who you are?”

  “Everybody here knows who I am!” Loric shook his head, trying to make sense of it. “That's just so different! I mean, Fire was secreted away behind a magical shield. Even Air maintained a certain level of secrecy. The Knights may have known she was a dragon, but she didn't tell anyone about the Penta Drauka, except maybe the leader. Well,” he considered, “her husband, I guess.”

  “Ah, but I'm a healer, brother,” Aqua pointed out. “I can' t heal people unless they know about me and my credentials. Besides, being a Penta Drauka master isn't exactly a full time job. From time to time, Fire might get a visit from a potential. Nearly all fail that first test. Then perhaps one or two in a millennium make it to Air's tutelage and almost invariably think they know everything there is to know about flying before they start. So they fall at that fence. You see, Loric, you are such a rare event, the whole Penta Drauka thing is
almost completely irrelevant to my life, most of the time.”

  “Has a dragon got this far before?” Loric asked. He had never considered the possibility of other Penta Drauka students before, though now he realised that was arrogant presumption. “Question is,” said Aqua, neatly sidestepping the query, “are you going to stand there chatting all day, or are you going to let me give you your final check-up so we can get on with this pressing business of yours?”

  He was right, Loric admitted to himself, and so he grudgingly submitted himself to Aqua's ministrations. The sea-elf-thatwasn’t stepped forward, projecting calm and confidence. He was tall. Seven feet at least. Easily the tallest humanoid Loric had ever seen. He wasn't particularly fond of Aqua looming over him so close, as the healer stretched out his hand to magically probe his mind. Loric wasn't keen on that, either, until he realised Aqua wasn't probing the conscious areas or his memory, but just his subconscious mind those parts that regulated his body's natural balance. Waves of peace flowed over the obsidian dragon's human form, dimming the flame of his Fire Rage to the tiniest of sparks. There was no need for any defences around this Elder Dragon, who stepped back, apparently satisfied.

  “Good as new,” Aqua pronounced. “You're officially discharged. Now, let's crack on with your lessons, shall we, brother?”

  Loric nodded, keen to make progress.

  Following Aqua out into a corridor, Loric asked about the sea monsters he had been fighting.

  “Did you imagine that chaos creatures only infested the landbased kingdoms of Mythallen?” Aqua asked.

  “I never thought about it,” Loric admitted. “No reason to until now.” Aqua nodded. “An honest answer. You're right; we do tend to be somewhat isolated down here, for perfectly natural and rational reasons. To be fair, we didn't know the full extent of the invasion up there until the errant Princess of the Realm returned from a wholly unauthorised jaunt with the news.”

  “Of course!” Loric remembered. “Katakaran!”

  “Interesting, I wasn't aware you'd met.”

  “Just briefly. Appeared by chance in the nick of time and saved our lives,” Loric said, and briefly told the story.

  Aqua smiled and shook his head in wonder. “Serendipity strikes again!” he remarked. “What?” “She's a happy accident, our Taka” Aqua clarified. "I've known her since she hatched and it's the story of her life. It seems no matter how many times she breaks the rules, things seem to turn out for the best. Her every mistake has a positive outcome. As you would expect, she has many royal duties and for the most part she takes them seriously, but sometimes, well, sometimes there are other things she'd rather be doing."

  He went on to describe one such occasion, recently, when instead of joining Aqua in the healing centre, like she was supposed to, she decided to take a trip to visit some of her sea elf friends who lived in an outlying village.

  "While she was there, the village was attacked by those same chaos creatures that nearly got you, Loric," Aqua told him. "Thankfully she was able to defend the sea elves and destroy those chaos monsters. To express their gratitude for Taka's intervention, they made her a formal gift of mithril arrows, highly prized by elves everywhere. The princess had no use for them, but to refuse their gift would have been a grave insult, so she had no choice but to keep them. When she returned, well, it's difficult to discipline her for neglecting her duties when she saves so many lives as a result. And then on her next wholly unauthorised jaunt, Taka and those same mithril arrows help save yet more lives, including yours. Not to mention Princess Mystaya of Shakaran. She does it so often, I wonder if she shouldn't change her name to Serendipity and be done with it."

  Returning to his student's original question, Aqua explained about the aquatic chaos creatures. It seemed they were not simply adapted to the aquatic environment– they were actually made of water, or at least some sort of liquid. Fluid-filled bags, was perhaps the closest description. There was no evidence of intelligence, but they possessed the ability to mimic the shapes of other creatures, in a very crude way.

  “And they're damned difficult to kill, as you found out,” Aqua said.

  “Roughly how many are there down here?” “Impossible to say, brother. They merge with each other, split apart and reshape themselves too much. Our breath weapons are the most effective force against them, and the sea elves have had success with Life magic. Mostly, we're trying to contain them here in the ocean. The land bound peoples of Mythallen have got enough problems as it is.”

  After doubling back once, due to a newly blocked tunnel, they found a store room. From inside this store, the Elder produced what looked for all the world like a sea shell, but he explained it was in fact a breathing mask that would magically maintain a flow of fresh, breathable air for Loric while they were out and about under water.

  The famed Black Dragon of Avidon accompanied Aqua for several hours, visiting sick and injured citizens of the aquatic city healing centre, where he learned about body fluid imbalances, as well as some dragon anatomy and physiology lessons that fit in nicely with Air’s description of how flight was achieved. In the end, though, it came down to finding his innate ability to heal, which according to Aqua was present in any dragon of any colour, if only they took the time to learn.

  As the Fire Rage was about making a connection with the spark of violence and channelling it, so the healing arts involved searching for the calm centre within himself and projecting that outward as healing energy. At first, it felt like he was tumbling down into a dark bottomless pit, but at last, after many days of frustration, he suddenly found he wasn't falling, but floating. He felt the calm centre of peace and promptly mended an elf's broken leg. It was a truly powerful feeling, equal and opposite to the Fire Rage. It felt good it was bliss.

  And his mood improved still further when a beaming Aqua pronounced, “Congratulatio ns! You will need much practise going forward, but I see much potential in you, so I’m pleased to tell you, you have passed the third segment of the Penta Drauka with flying colours.”

  The celebration lasted only a moment, however, for Loric's business here was not yet done.

  “Now, brother,” said Aqua, “let's go find Air and talk about your friend Callie, shall we?” Air was delighted to see Aqua once more. They'd had something, once, before Marcus Braithwaite rode into her forest and changed her life forever. Except of course, it wasn’t forever. Not for her. When she'd first told Aqua about her feelings for her Knight in silver armour, the aquatic dragon rumbled with laughter. At first, she thought he was mocking her, but it wasn’t that. It was just his way.

  “Dumped for a human!” he’d said, good -naturedly. “I feel like I've been pierced through the heart! `The Knights of Balance tradition meets progress`,” he quipped, “I can see the slogan now! This must be how a progressive Knight slays a dragon in these modern times - he doesn't use a sword or a lance, he just steals his girlfriend!”

  “You’re not offended, then?” Air asked. “Not at all! I'm delighted for you! This human must be truly remarkable to take you away from me, but I can wait. A human lifetime - what is that to a dragon? Enjoy it while you can, Air! Enjoy it while you can.”

  She hadn't seen Aqua since that day, choosing to spend almost every moment with her human love, until Loric had done an emergency landing into the camp and into her life. A Penta Drauka candidate. Her duty lay with Loric from that moment on, and Marcus had understood. “Better than anyone,” he had said. But Loric wasn’t just a pupil. He was, in her view, exactly what their troubled world needed at this time. Fire always said they shouldn't interfere, but Air had vowed to herself that she would do everything in her power to see to it that Loric was successful in his quest.

  Between them, the three dragons quickly hatched a plan. As Air had rightly predicted, Aqua would not, could not, travel to the Fire Realm. In fact, during the current crisis, he wouldn't stray far from the kingdom of the sea elves. They would have to bring his patient to him there at the Grotto. However, to s
peed things up, he offered the use of the private royal court Corridor entrance, to which he had privileged access.

  Air didn't like the Corridor network. She said it made a dragon lazy and ordinarily she would insist upon flying, but she appreciated the need for alacrity in this matter and grudgingly conceded that even with a Haste spell, not even she could fly that fast.

  After a good night's rest, then, Aqua escorted Loric and Air to the area of the palace that contained the private Corridor entrance. En route, the obsidian dragon spotted something extraordinary in the middle distance: it was a swirling mass of colour and energy and light. Come to think of it, he realised it was not unlike the Great Fountain of Light up in Avidon.

  Still, he thought, probably not important. Saying their temporary farewells to Aqua, Loric and Air stepped into the Corridor to make a rendezvous with the Knights of Balance. At last, it was time to rescue silver Callie from the Fire Realm and face down the nemesis that was the dragon predator.

  * * * * *

  “OK,” Eilidh said, bringing people back to order - in a rather gentler way to her earlier method. “Let's assume Bernice comes back with a positive answer from the prince. That would prove the locations of three out of four elemental nodes. It's good enough but I'd feel happier if we could come up with a solid reason why it's missing from the Fire Realm.”

  There followed much discussion, but in the end it was once again Lady Tanya Nightingale who voiced the most reasonable suggestion.

  “I realise I don't really know much about magic, so I'm probably not qualified, but I've always had a keen eye for spotting patterns.” “Go on,” Eilidh encouraged. In the short time the Catalyst had known Miss Nightingale, she had grown to be very impressed with her sharp, insightful mind. If they got through all this, and Tanya was the typical standard of the Knights of Balance, the other two orders were going to have their hands full in the future.

  “Well, assuming it’s a yes from Bernice, the pattern fits perfectly except for one component. Therefore we have to treat it as an anomaly, and anomalies occur in all sorts of patterns.”