Time of Change (Emerilia Book 7)

by Michael Chatfield

  Fire summoned up power within her body, pulling from her personal Mana pool. Flames grew over Fire’s body, her aura enough to make the Dragons take pause. Her eyes were like twin blazing orbs.

  Fire lowered her hand and touched Denur’s head. Flames grew to envelop both of them before receding into Denur’s body. The air became thick with Mana as Fire transferred power into Denur, awakening her abilities and removing the limits upon her body.

  Fire was familiar with Denur’s body, having made Denur herself. Fire altered and changed Denur, opening up new pathways for her Mana to flow, reinforcing her body.

  Denur grunted, shifting under the flames that now covered her. They turned from red to yellow to blue, flowing from Fire to her.

  The power left Fire; the flames around her and Denur faded away.

  You have created a Champion of Fire

  You have blessed Denur Dracul, turning her into a Champion of Fire. As your vessel, she will carry out your orders across Emerilia.

  Denur Dracul has undergone powerful changes.

  Unknown stat increase

  Unknown abilities unlocked

  Class awarded: Champion of Fire

  Fire dismissed the screen, watching as Denur dismissed her own screens.

  “Ugh, sometimes I hate this system. It can’t even give me a correct reading on what you did,” Denur complained.

  “More powerful, blah blah, Champion, blah.” Fire waved her hand and smiled at Denur, who rose from her kneeling position with an amused look on her face.

  “Now go and deal with Akatol. Protect this family and Emerilia.” Fire looked into Denur’s eyes. There was a sadness there. Akatol and Denur had raised many children together, but his past kindness did not free him from the slaughter he visited upon the People of Emerilia.

  He had killed tens of thousands of Emerilians in horrific sacrifices to increase his power. Even as he became stronger from the bloody rituals, his fanaticism grew. Through this, he was able to dominate any and all creatures under the power of a god or goddess. The Dragons had been but playthings in his eyes as he continued his slaughter. This was why Bob needed to step in to remove the threat of Akatol, who was highly overpowered and unbalanced compared to the others within Emerilia.

  Fire felt fear creep up her spine. Denur and her children were powerful; she just didn’t know that over the time that Akatol had been sealed away that they had been able to attain the same power as he had.

  “I will see to it.” Denur nodded, her eyes filled with stony resolve. She walked toward the balcony, expanding into her Dragon form. It had grown with the newfound power that ran through her body. With a powerful flap of her wings, she rose, moving off the balcony, and headed for one of the exits.

  Dragons lifted off from their perches within the volcano, following their matriarch, joining those who were already outside, their numbers unable to fit within the volcano.

  All of them had heard the stories and the warnings of Akatol as children. He was the monster that they could become. To protect Emerilia, to protect their family, they had to kill the father of Dragons.

  “Good luck,” Fire whispered, scared for them as she unconsciously moved her hands over her belly.

  ***

  Dave entered the emergency meeting with the Council of Anvil and Fire. There were concerned faces around the table. The normally rambunctious and jovial mood was replaced with a serious one.

  Now was not the time to talk about their trade. Now, their job was to protect the Dwarven people and face the hardships that had come to light.

  Ankol sat at the head of the table. Everyone took their seats, waiting for him to talk.

  “I believe it is time that we elected someone to a governor position on the council,” Ankol started.

  A Dwarven governor was only elected in times of chaos to lead the council and make the decisions that needed to be made.

  “Many of us have fighting experience, but none more than Endur. I believe that a Dwarf who not only knows the people, but the shield bearers who defend our homes would be best for the position,” Ankol said.

  There were nods and noises of agreement.

  Dave looked to Endur; the Dwarf’s face seemed to harden.

  “I thank you for the nomination,” Endur said.

  “Are there any other nominees?” Ankol looked around.

  The Dwarves might have big egos, but here in the council, they had learned to work together. They were the leaders of the Dwarven race. If they were to fall into squabbles, then their race would fall apart.

  “Okay, Endur will take over as governor after this meeting.” Ankol smacked his hammer on the table. “Three creatures have been released from their imprisonment. We know that one is a Water Dragon hiding in the Dragon mountain in Opheir. The other descended in a golden light over Markolm before disappearing. We do not know what or where the third creature is.”

  Dave raised his hand.

  “Dave?” Ankol gestured for him to speak.

  “It is the Angel Khanundra, Dragon Akatol, and Water serpent Melhoun,” Dave said.

  The expressions around the room were grim with the news.

  “It is time to spread the Weapons of Power,” Sola said. There were grumblings of agreement and disagreement.

  Ankol looked to Endur.

  “I guess I will be stepping into my role a bit earlier?” Endur looked around the table. This was why he was elected. There was little time for in-fighting and debate.

  “We will continue with the tournament. At the same time, we will open our mountains to the people around us. They will have to buy a residence and we will not deal with shanty towns outside our cities. Disease will kill us as sure as any blade. We will contact our allies to talk about our plans for the event. When the tournament is completed or when our military judges pick someone from the fights, if the Grey God agrees, we will guide them to our Weapons of Power vaults. We will not show preference to Dwarves or other races or groups. At this time, we need to get those weapons into the hands of the most capable. We will bring the war council into the Anvil and Fire’s meetings. It is imperative that there is no confusion between us.” Endur looked around the table, his eyes hard.

  Dave felt a chill run down his spine. With these words, the Dwarven war machine would turn. With but a word, Warclans would assemble as the time of peace was broken. This was a war council.

  Endur’s eyes locked on Dave. “Dave, we will take up the offer from the Stone Raiders and open an embassy in Terra as soon as possible. We will have two Warclans from each of the mountains ready at all times to move: to either defend our homes, or move to Terra on assaults that will be organized there.”

  Dave nodded in agreement. He knew that Josh would agree with Endur.

  Endur looked to the rest of those gathered there. “Raise the Warclans, all of them. Check our stockpiles of grand workings and make sure the mountains are secure. We will talk to the Aleph about assisting in arming and armoring our people. It’s time these myths and legends remember why the Dwarves and their allies are to be feared.”

  Chapter 5: Above Opheir

  Lucy was looking through various Player feeds.

  Players in Opheir showed video of Akatol descending out of the sky. He seemed to be as large as the mountain he landed on. He let out a bellow that shook the very land.

  Across the forums, Players were grouping together. Guilds were offering gold and items for information on the creatures that had arrived in Emerilia.

  Of the three, the only one that seemed to be within their reach was Akatol, who was now occupying Quindar’s old lair.

  People were rushing through Cliff-Hill and Nadorf to face off against the Dragon. With the surprise event, people were rushing online.

  As the Dragons from Densaou Ring of Fire were using the air currents to bring them up and over the sea between Ashal and Opheir, they were taking hours.

  The Players were using teleport pads within Nadorf or Cliff-Hill and then using their powerful
beasts or the like to travel toward Opheir. The luckier Players were already in Opheir, some actually seeing Akatol land at the mountain.

  Many of these people moved to the mountain at their best speed.

  While Players raced to Opheir, the POEs were running away from the mountain, getting as much space between them and the Dragon as possible.

  His aura was strong enough to be felt in Kono. The city was quickly evacuating; most of the people staying there were vendors excited to make money off the incoming Players.

  A video popped up at the top of the forum.

  Lucy clicked on it; it was from a group of Players in Egas Nation. Above them, dozens of Dragons were headed toward Opheir. They didn’t seem as large as Akatol, but there were a lot of them.

  Just thinking about the destructive power of the Dragons was a scary thought. She’d been looking over Dragon videos of Players who had gone Dragon hunting.

  They seemed like impossible creatures. Few items even affected them. Their strength and magical power were incredible—the definition of Creatures of Power.

  Players raced in from every direction, but they charged toward Akatol’s new home without a clear plan, excited to see what Akatol was made of. Many of them had broken through the hundred ranks. Thinking that they were all-powerful, they reached the entrance of the mountain lair.

  Lucy found an ongoing stream. The comments were going wild, up and down the side of the screen. She ignored them, watching what was going to happen.

  They slowed their advance and actually moved into something resembling a formation. Players at their level instinctually started classifying one another, their strengths and weaknesses, based on appearance and gear.

  They moved into the dark cave which spiraled down into the ground. The Players bunched together, taking a bit more caution.

  Some charged ahead.

  Lucy watched on the Players’ mini-maps as they continued downward. Small groups charged forward, eager to gain the glory.

  Some of the more veteran Players stayed back, continuing down slow and steady.

  The first dots seemed to stop down the mountain, moving around in a large area before fading out. Lucy hissed; none of them had their streams going.

  Lights bloomed around the main group that was descending into the mountain, pushing back the darkness that started to make it harder to see.

  More Players joined or moved forward; one such group charged downward on their beasts.

  Lucy found one of them with a stream; the group raced down the spiraling corridor, eager to be the first to the bottom. The group reached a large open area, a dim light in the ceiling and coming from a pit off to the side. On the other side of the room, there was a large pool of water.

  They looked around, trying to find where the Dragon was. Several cried out as icicles seemed to appear above them. The icicles stabbed through the riders and mounts, impaling them to the floor. Icicles and rain drops moving so fast that they blew people apart upon impact moved around the room.

  “Feels like they’re being herded,” Lucy said, trying to get as much information as possible from the stream. They were all going to die but they’d be back in a few hours, even if it was with less stat points and a reduced rank.

  It was a large setback for those who had higher ranks, and even more so if they had equipment that wasn’t soul bound to them.

  “Well, there’s a reason that few people try to fight Dragons.” Lucy shook her head.

  “How goes the information gathering?” Josh looked up from the map, he, Cassie, Esa, Kim, and Dwayne were standing around.

  “Looks like a bunch of people rushed to Quindar’s lair, which I guess we should call Akatol’s lair now. Getting turned to mincemeat down there, but still no idea where Akatol is. Seems he went in there, but no signs of him,” Lucy said.

  “I wish we could be there,” Dwayne growled.

  “Soon enough; we know our own strength and fighting Dragons is outside of it. We just need some time and we can fight Akatol and whatever comes out with the event,” Josh said.

  “Okay, so we’ve got the basics for a raid into Alturaran lands. They’re pretty powerful, but we can deal with them. Then we’ve got another raid possibly for that portal in Gudalo that leads to the Xelur’s realm. We have dungeons within Devil’s Crater and scouting quests around Devil’s Crater,” Kim said, bringing their attention back to what they could do.

  They were setting up different locations and areas for the guild members to join parties and work on improving their skills.

  “Okay, good, because I’ve been looking at quests from the mage’s, adventurer’s, and trader’s guilds. They’ve got a ton of quests that the guild members can double up on. Getting better rewards for what they find as well as getting more experience to increase their levels,” Cassie said.

  “We shouldn’t forget the Mirror of Communication school. While we might have really impressive stats, knowing how to use them is important.” Esa looked to Josh.

  “Okay, if we can get some Mirrors of Communication for cheap, or we can build them, then we’ll make a hub for people to join into the school and learn in there.” Josh looked to Kim. “I sure as hell don’t want some of their experiments blowing up in our faces.”

  Kim muttered under her breath, but it was too quiet to be heard.

  “Something’s happening!” Lucy shared the stream she was following of the semi-organized Players moving down to the bottom of the mountain.

  All of them watched on their interfaces.

  Lights were sent out across the room, illuminating it. Some people threw up or gagged from the sight. There must’ve been around fifty bodies impaled into the floor with icicles.

  Blood was drawn across the floor of the lair.

  “What is this?” one of the Players in the stream asked.

  “I don’t know, but it doesn’t feel good,” another said.

  “Stick together and get more lights up. We need to know where this bastard’s at,” the leader of the group said.

  Lights moved out, illuminating the room.

  “Is that blood in a formation?” a Player asked.

  “Looks like some kind of magical circle written in blood,” a mage Player said.

  “What the hell. I thought it was a Water Dragon—this is some necromancer shit!”

  “Hey, just ’cause we use corpses doesn’t mean we’re bad people,” a necromancer complained.

  “Yeah, just creepy as fuck,” another muttered.

  “Sounds like Jake.” Dwayne snorted.

  Lucy looked at him and shook her head.

  “Pay attention, will you?” Josh sighed. It was hard for them to ever be serious.

  It was cool, but it was just a game. Even if these people all died, they could come back again in six hours and play again.

  Their attention returned to the party that was moving into the Dragon’s lair.

  The ground was bare rock with a heated area of sand to the right side and a rather large pond of water to the left that went back into the mountain.

  They were halfway into the room when the large pond seemed to erupt into motion. A massive head peered out of it.

  “You will suffice,” the Dragon said.

  The Players broke out of their shock. The ranged attacks let loose while the mages fired off their prepared spells. Melee types rushed forward in a yell. Buffs and curses were cast. The Dragon glowed slightly as the Players seemed to light up the room they were in.

  The Dragon chuckled. It was dark blue, almost black, with bright-blue lines that almost looked electric running over his body and filling his eyes.

  It stretched out of the pond, its body filling the room. The attacks seemed like nothing to it as it inhaled, pulling the air and the Players in the room toward it.

  Its breath came out in what looked like icy flames. The very air froze as it cut through the Players. There wasn’t anything that they could do against its monstrous power.

  Akatol waved his hands from
the ground pillars of ice formed driving through those that had arrived in his lair.

  There was no room for mercy or time to react.

  Blood-red energy drained from these sacrifices. Their power seeped into Akatol, who shuddered in excitement, his eyes having a crazed look to them.

  The stream went blank. The room seemed to be silent as everyone took in what they had seen.

  “What level were they?” Josh asked.

  “Level 100, roughly. Some might be stronger as they were passing through Opheir,” Lucy said.

  Esa took a sharp intake of breath and shook her head as she gripped the back of a chair.

  The others in the room were also lost in their own thoughts. Level 100 Players and they hadn’t been more than a minor obstacle to Akatol. “It looks like the other Dragons are just a half hour away from the lair.” Lucy watched another video that had showed up only a few minutes ago. It showed Dragons all aiming for Akatol as they flew over the sea separating Ashal and Opheir. They would cross over the Iska in less than an hour.

  It was nearly dawn as their massive bodies sailed through the air, their every motion speaking of the power they wielded. Each and every one of them looked determined.

  After seeing what one of them could do, Lucy felt a thrill at seeing them.

  “I hope that Dave is right in saying that they’re going to fight Akatol,” Josh said.

  No one needed to say anything; they all agreed.

  ***

  Denur flapped her wings. It had been a long time since she had the freedom to fly around unobstructed. In the realm that Bob had put them in, they had freedom to do as they wished. In Emerilia, they liked to keep to themselves, flying within the ring of fire so that they didn’t come into conflict with anyone else.

  In any other situation, she might have felt joy. Now, she felt a coldness in her actions. There was no need to speak with the rest of her family.

  They flew in a V formation, riding off one another’s air streams. People looked to the skies, remembering the tales of Dragons, their indomitable strength of magic and will.