The First Paladin (The New Earth Chronicles Book 1)

by J. J. Thompson

  “What happened to your kids?”

  Typical children, she thought through a sudden flash of pain. No filters. They always said whatever was on their minds.

  “Don't be stupid,” Yulia told the child who had asked the question. “They died, of course. Look at her face. Stop being so mean!”

  The other child backed away from her.

  “I'm sorry, Yulia. Honest. It just slipped out, that's all.”

  “Well, smarten up, Alexi,” Yulia told him evenly. “Forgive him, lady. He always speaks before thinking.”

  “No, it's okay,” Liliana assured her. “It was an honest question. And the answer is, I don't know. Not for sure. I think that they probably died along with most of the population. My grandchildren lived in Samara. I can only assume that it suffered the same fate as Moscow. I'm not positive, but...”

  “It did,” Yulia told her firmly. “They all did. Every city and large town was destroyed by the dragon hordes. Smaller places were attacked by the drakes. I do not say this to make you feel bad, lady, but only to share the truth with you.”

  “Ah, of course. You have, um, seen this in a vision?”

  “We all have. They are horrible scenes but we can't seem to block them out of our minds. Perhaps they are the price we have to pay for our newfound powers? I don't know.”

  “If so, that is a hard price to pay,” Liliana told her.

  “It is what it is, lady,” Yulia said matter-of-factly. “Now, what are you doing here? Surely you know that Moscow is deserted, do you not?”

  Liliana nodded reluctantly.

  “The downtown core seems to be. I just spent days crossing from one end to the other and I saw no one. Except for those zombies, of course. How do you manage to avoid their attention?”

  “Zombies?”

  Yulia seemed puzzled.

  “I do not know that word. What is a 'zombie'?”

  “The walking corpses. Surely you have seen them? The undead?”

  One of the children let out a subdued moan and another gasped.

  “Ah, you do know of them,” Liliana said.

  “Yes, we know them,” Yulia replied angrily. “They are horrible creatures. We don't know why, but unlike the dragons and drakes, we cannot hide ourselves from them for long. They hunt us in the darkness, but do not seem to wander from the inner part of the city very often. That is why we skulk along the outskirts; to avoid them. But one day we will strike back and retake our home.”

  She paused and seemed to shake her head inside of her rags.

  “But not yet. We are all still Changing and growing. Our powers increase, but very slowly. We are patient though. Time is on our side, not on the side of the rotting corpses who stalk the streets of Moscow. You would be wise, lady, to avoid the city from now on. You were fortunate to get through it with your skin.”

  Liliana laughed lightly.

  “Barely,” she admitted. “They wander the tunnels of the subway during the day and I was almost caught down there by them.”

  The boy, Alexi, cursed loudly.

  “You survived that? Lady, you are a marvel! You must be a very fierce fighter.”

  Liliana smiled at him, but just shrugged.

  “Lucky is more like it. I do agree with you, Yulia. The inner city is too dangerous now for anyone. I won't go back there any time soon. But are there no other people living along the borders? No ordinary citizens who have returned to their home town?”

  “We have not seen anyone, lady,” the girl replied. “But that does not mean that there are none, I suppose. It is a big place and we do not travel too far, as long as the 'zombies', as you call them, do not intrude on our territory. There is plenty of food in the houses around here and we will not leave until that runs out.”

  “I understand. In that case, I suppose that I will move on. I intend to circle the entire city, although that could take weeks, just in case there are survivors that need my help. If there are not, then I will move on before the summer is over and the weather changes for the worse.”

  “That is a noble quest, lady,” Yulia told her. “I will admit that I admire your determination. I doubt that you will have any success, but I do wish you luck. And I think I can speak for my friends when I say that they do as well.”

  “We do, lady,” Alexi told her.

  The other two murmured their agreement.

  “Thank you all. I wish you luck as well. My name is Liliana. If you ever need my help, all you need to do is ask for it.”

  “Our thanks, lady,” Yulia told her. “But we will be fine. There are other groups of Changlings around the city. We will spread the word that you are to pass through their territories unharmed.”

  Liliana was startled. She hadn't considered the children to be all that dangerous, but then again she had no way to measure their power either. Obviously they had some abilities, but what they were was unclear. However, the girl sounded confident in them and in herself and that, in and of itself, said a great deal. So she replied carefully.

  “I appreciate that, Yulia. Thanks again. Before I go, may I ask a question?”

  “If you wish.”

  “Um, if it isn't impolite to ask, why do you all wear such confining clothing? Don't you find it too warm at this time of year to wrap yourselves up like that, even at night?”

  All four of the children became quite still and the air seemed to chill around them. Liliana felt a sense of menace descend upon her and she almost reached for her sword. But she forced herself to remain still and watch Yulia calmly.

  “You do not know?” the girl asked harshly.

  “No, I'm afraid that I don't. Is it a uniform of some sort or...?”

  Yulia tittered, an unpleasant sound.

  “You might say that. Before the world ended, many of us Changlings started being altered. Our bodies changed in odd and strange ways. It made us a target for others who called us names and laughed at us.”

  “Freaks, they called us,” Alexi spoke up coldly. “Monsters, horrors. We began wearing heavy clothing to hide our changes from prying eyes.”

  “And by the time the dragons came,” Yulia continued, “we had become used to dressing like this. And while we continue to Change, we will wear them. One day, like butterflies escaping their cocoons, we will achieve our final physical states and toss away our rags. Until that time comes, we will remain as you see us now.”

  “Ah, I understand. Forgive me for prying.”

  “I suppose that it was understandable for you to be curious,” Yulia admitted. “And now, our fire is dying and we must go in search of food. Goodbye, lady Liliana.”

  “Goodbye to all of you. Take care of yourselves.”

  At that moment the fire went out and Liliana found herself standing alone in the dark. The children had disappeared as if they had used magic.

  And maybe they had, she thought. Who knew?

  But whatever the case, it was good to know that Moscow wasn't entirely empty of people, no matter how strange the Changlings might be.

  Chapter 16

  When she woke up suddenly, Liliana stared up at the rough wooden ceiling over her bed and, for just a moment, could not remember where she was. She stretched and yawned as she sat up and looked around.

  The bedroom in her cottage looked homey and familiar and she smiled to herself.

  Such a vivid dream, she thought, memories of Moscow still lingering in her mind. I had completely forgotten about Yulia and Alexi and the other Changlings. They had seemed so strange and alien at the time. Now? Now the memory of them is almost quaint.

  She got up and drew back the curtains on her window. Sunlight was just beginning to slant through the trees and wisps of fog curled through her garden. The bedroom window looked out over her patch of vegetables and she stared at them critically.

  I'll better go through and check for weeds again, she told herself. I can see a few from here.

  Liliana drew on a pair of pants and slipped a linen shirt over her head. Then she pattere
d into the main room in her bare feet and grabbed the bucket from beside the sink.

  Tea would be nice, but she needed water.

  She opened the front door and stopped abruptly with a grin. There was a dead rabbit lying in front of the entrance. Grom had left her a gift.

  Well, I know what I'm having for breakfast, she thought as she picked up the carcass and carried it inside.

  She left it on the counter next to the sink and then headed back out to the well.

  As she drew up the well bucket, Liliana looked around for Valiant. He was nowhere to be seen, again, and she shook her head.

  That horse is going to come and go as he pleases, apparently, she mused. And there is nothing that I can do about it. I just wish I knew how he did it.

  Or perhaps she didn't. The gods moved in mysterious ways. Who knew that better than she?

  A quick glance assured her that the saddle was still resting on the table near the door of the cottage. It was a reminder that she would have to work up the courage to try to ride Valiant, and soon. She hadn't been gifted with a horse like that just to keep it as a pet. There was a long journey ahead of her, and the gods only knew where it would lead.

  Please don't let it be north, she thought fervently. If I have to travel a long distance, I'd rather it not be so far that the seasons change and I get stuck wandering through the snow. Having spent a lifetime dealing with Russian winters, she had had her fill of cold and ice. English winters were almost enjoyable in comparison, even though they had been getting progressively harsher over the last several years.

  Liliana poured water from one bucket to the other and hauled it back inside. She added some wood to the cast-iron stove and got a fire going. If she was cooking rabbit, it would be more efficient and easier to use the stove rather than the fireplace.

  Skinning and cleaning the coney was easy enough, but she smiled as she remembered the first time she had tried to do it. What a mess. She had felt so bad for the rabbit, even though she had found the animal caught in a wire fence and already dead. Had she thrown up at one point? Probably.

  Now she performed the task quickly and efficiently and carried the offal outside. She dumped it down the hole in the outhouse, poured some sand on top of it and went back inside to wash her hands and start cooking.

  I'll have to fill in that pit soon and dig up a new hole to relocate the latrine, she reminded herself. Some time in the next month or so.

  An hour later, after she had eaten and gotten cleaned up, Liliana put on her boots, strapped on her sword belt and headed out the back gate. She wasn't all that surprised to find Valiant grazing along the river.

  “Good morning,” she called to him.

  He raised his head, neighed at her and went back to foraging along the shore.

  The paladin grinned and took a moment just to admire the stallion. In the morning sunlight, his coat blazed like liquid copper and the bony spikes on his neck rattled and shook as he bobbed his head up and down.

  A thing out of legend, she thought. And more than I deserve. Let's just hope he allows me to saddle and mount him. It would almost be funny if, after all this, it turned out that I was unable to ride him.

  She continued down to the river and stared out across the water. The flocks of ducks were busy again that morning, swimming and dipping below the surface to feed off of water plants. Liliana watched them almost fondly, reminded again that the world might have changed for her and all of her kind, but nature carried on regardless.

  You are an even-handed mistress, Mother Nature, she told the world silently. All of us could disappear tomorrow and life would go on without even noticing our absence. Cruel but true.

  A pitter-patter of footsteps to her left made Liliana turn and look in that direction. It was Grom. He trotted out of the brush toward her, a wide canine smile on his face.

  “Hello there, my friend,” she greeted him. “Thank you for the gift. The rabbit was delicious.”

  When he reached her, Liliana scratched behind his ears and Grom growled in pleasure. Then he turned to look back the way he had come and she followed his gaze. And froze in place.

  In the shadow of the trees stood a figure. Tall and pale, it looked like a man. But it wasn't.

  Grom yipped once and sat down next to Liliana, apparently unconcerned at the appearance of the stranger. He actually began wagging his tail, a very unusual occurrence.

  The person began to walk toward her and, as he stepped into the sunlight, Liliana watched in awe as he began to glow with a silvery light.

  He towered above her and was wearing shining armor that was intricately engraved with mystical symbols and characters. A sword almost as long as the paladin herself hung from his hip and his platinum, shoulder-length hair stirred in the wind. A heavy cloak of blue and white flowed down from his shoulders and it also rippled in the breeze off of the river.

  Liliana bowed respectfully, still in shock. Why was he here?

  “My lord Argentium,” she said in greeting. “I am honored by your visit.”

  “Lady Liliana,” the argent dragon replied.

  He looked at her with his pale blue eyes and the power that exuded from him was almost palpable.

  “It is good to see you well,” he continued in a warm tone. “And thriving, it seems. I am pleased.”

  “Thank you, my lord.”

  Liliana stood up straight and looked at his face. The argent dragon was almost two feet taller than she was and powerfully muscled. He was an ancient being and the last of the old-world dragons. She knew that he could obliterate her with a word, but she wasn't worried. If there was one sure thing about Argentium, it was that he was honorable. Only evil beings needed to fear him.

  “I must admit, I am surprised to see you,” Liliana told him frankly. “I thought that you and your charges were off living somewhere in the Void.”

  Argentium frowned for an instant and then nodded.

  “We were, yes. But there has been a development, one that has split our ranks. And it will have an impact on you and your kind, I am afraid, both positively and negatively.”

  “A development?”

  “Yes. A parting of the ways. As you may have noticed, over the past several years the potency of the magic that permeates this world had waned somewhat.”

  Liliana almost snorted at his statement.

  “Waned somewhat? My lord, it has all but disappeared. The mages can no longer use even basic spells. I have been reduced to treating wounds and injuries with bandages and wishful thinking. It's as if the magical energy had dissipated entirely.”

  The argent dragon nodded again.

  “Yes, I suppose that is true. Certainly it has thinned considerably. Allow me to explain. When the lords of Chaos began to batter at the fabric of your universe, they opened holes just large enough to send some of their power through. I believe you may know this?”

  “I do, yes.”

  “Good. What you may or may not know is that the power woke Aurumallia, the dragon queen, from her long slumber beneath the earth, as well as the five primal dragons. She began to lay her eggs and, well, you saw the results.”

  “The destruction of my species,” Liliana said bitterly.

  “Indeed. A horrific act by monstrous entities who care nothing for anything but themselves. At any rate, what I wanted to explain was the connection between the newly hatched dragons and the magic that began to be released into the very fabric of the Earth. They are connected. We dragons exude magic. It is in our nature. We do not control this process, we are merely a part of it. And so, as more and more dragons were born, more magical energy built up in the world. And the longer the dragons existed, the stronger the magic became. Do you understand?”

  “Yes. I think that I've heard that theory before,” Liliana replied. “From one of the mages at Nottinghill Castle, I believe.”

  And from a little girl in Moscow, she add silently.

  “Ah, they are more astute than I had thought. Very good. Now, you can probably
see the reason why magic began to fade from the world after Simon O'Toole and others, including yourself, destroyed the evil dragons. Without their presence, every time magic was used, it became more and more depleted, until eventually it reached a level so low that spells became essentially useless.”

  Argentium smiled at her.

  “And although your powers are granted directly from the lords of Light, the conduit between you and them is also magical. So without it, you could not draw on their powers to heal and perform other actions that required it.”

  “So that's what happened,” Liliana exclaimed. “I wondered why a lessening of magical energy would affect me and the clerics. Now I understand.”

  “Exactly.”

  “But, my powers are returning. What has changed?”

  “That is part of why I am here,” Argentium replied. “It is all interrelated. You see, from the realm that I had created in the Void for myself and the five young dragons in my care, we observed what was occurring on Earth. Naturally we understood the cause of the loss of magic and that started up a rather acrimonious debate between my charges.”

  “What kind of debate?”

  “A discussion about responsibility. Several of the young ones felt that if they had remained on Earth instead of retreating to the Void, then the levels of magic would not have drained away so completely. I corrected this fallacy, of course, and explained that the presence of even five dragons, or six if they included me, would make little difference in a world as vast as this one.”

  He hesitated and looked off into the distance. Liliana watched him closely. It was hard to tell by his passive expression, but she thought that he looked sad.

  “Unfortunately,” Argentium finally continued, “my words set off a chain of events that I did not foresee.”

  The paladin did not reply, she simply waited silently, a sudden feeling of dread falling over her.

  “Three of my young charges took what they saw as the next logical step after I had told them how so few of us would affect the world's magic. They decided that the answer would be to increase the number of dragons living on Earth again, thereby increasing the level of magical energy.”