The First Paladin (The New Earth Chronicles Book 1)

by J. J. Thompson

  Malcolm was standing next to Tamara and Sebastian and the three of them were looking to the south. What they were looking at was a mystery, because their vision was limited to a few dozen yards.

  The big man was wearing his gray armor and carried a massive two-handed sword across his back. The siblings were both wearing robes, Tamara in blue and Sebastian in brown, and they appeared to be soaked to the skin. The paladin was pleased that she had decided to put on her helmet just before heading outside.

  “Damn it,” Tamara said angrily as Liliana joined them. “I can't see a bloody thing.”

  She pushed her soaked hair out of her face impatiently and looked at the paladin.

  “A sentry claimed to see winged shapes coming over the horizon to the south just before this blasted rain started falling. But now we can't tell if what he saw were dragons or birds or if it was just his imagination playing tricks on him.”

  Liliana took off her gauntlets and wiped the water out of her eyes.

  “Was it cloudy all night?” she asked the three of them.

  “Now that's an odd question,” Malcolm said, sounding puzzled. “Actually, it wasn't. I was up before sunrise and remember thinking that it was going to be a nice day. The sky was clear and I could see the stars easily.”

  He squinted up at the rain and snorted with disgust.

  “So much for my weather sense,” he added.

  “Your guardsman was right,” Liliana assured them. “The dragons are near.”

  They looked at her in surprise.

  “How can you know that?” Sebastian asked her with a wave at the mist around them. “We can't see anything.”

  “It's the black dragon's influence. His kind can summon storms and control the weather to a certain degree. If the weather changed that quickly, it wasn't a natural occurrence.”

  Malcolm smiled grimly.

  “Good. I'd prefer not to have to face them at all, but if we must then we might as well get on with it. Excuse me, but I want to alert the ballistae crews.”

  He strode off and Liliana watched him go.

  “So where are the others?” she asked as she saw Malcolm reach a ballista and begin speaking to the guardsmen there.

  “Sylvie and Veronique are on their way,” Tamara told her. “And my runner told me that Chao is busy doing...something. According to her, when she knocked and called through his door, he told her to tell me that he's summoning aid. What that is going to be is anyone's guess. I hope it's useful, whatever it is.”

  “I'm sure it will be,” Sebastian told his sister. “Chao isn't a boastful person, so if he said he's going to help, then that is exactly what he is going to do.”

  “I agree,” Liliana said. “By the way, be ready for the rain to end soon.”

  “What?” both siblings said in unison.

  She smiled at them.

  “The black dragon may be able to see well enough to attack in a storm, but the brown and red dragons can't. He'll have to clear the skies if he wants their help, which I assume he does.”

  She frowned at a sudden thought.

  “Hmm, regular dragons are neither male nor female. Should I be calling the black dragon he?”

  Tamara smiled at the question.

  “You can call the monster anything you'd like, as far as I'm concerned. Still, no offense to men,” she said with a teasing look at her brother, “but considering how aggressive these damned dragons are, thinking of them as males makes sense.”

  Sebastian pretended to be shocked.

  “Speaking for men everywhere, as I am apparently authorized to do, I am offended,” he said dramatically.

  Then he laughed and shrugged indifferently.

  “Actually, I don't really care. Call them whatever you want to. Personally, I just want to call them defeated and move on with my life.”

  “Well, let's hope that we can do that,” Liliana said as she turned her eyes to the south. “If we beat them, the other dragons should be impressed and, I believe, a lot more reluctant to challenge us in the future.”

  “Good. So let's kick their asses, shall we?” Tamara said firmly.

  The three of them waited impatiently for something to happen. A few minutes passed and Veronique and Sylvie finally joined them.

  “Sorry we're late,” Sylvie said contritely. “Have we missed anything?”

  “No, nothing's happened yet,” Tamara told her. “Except that this bloody rain keeps falling and blocking our vision.”

  “It looks like it's letting up,” Veronique told them as she held out a hand and looked at the drops hitting her palm. “Yes, the rain is absolutely slowing down.”

  She was right. As if someone had turned off a tap, the rainfall petered out and stopped less than a minute later. The canopy of thick gray clouds began to thin out and it got steadily brighter.

  “Uh-oh, that's a bad sign,” Sebastian said nervously.

  Sylvie gave a him a curious look.

  “Bad sign? Why is it a bad sign?”

  “Because, it means that the dragons are preparing to attack.”

  “Really? How could you possibly know that?”

  “There!” one of the guards shouted. “Wings! To the southwest!”

  Everyone on the wall turned in unison to look in that direction. There was a chorus of cries and yells as three enormous silhouettes appeared in the sky, their great wings sweeping lazily up and down.

  Both Malcolm and Aiden joined them, Aiden running up the steps from the courtyard.

  “How far away are they, do you think?” Tamara asked the group around her. “I can't judge their actual size from that distance.”

  “Several miles, I think,” Liliana told her as she watched the dragons coldly. “I don't know how big they are either, except that they are smaller than a primal is. About half the size, if memory serves me correctly.”

  She looked around at the four mages.

  Please remember, my friends; the black dragon can hit us from the greatest range. If you have spells that can reach him before he attacks, I suggest you use them.”

  “We'll try,” Veronique said thinly, her face suddenly very pale. “Come, Sylvie. We need to spread out and not present such an easy target to those monsters.”

  The sisters hurried off, moving to the western side of the wall.

  “Good thinking,” Sebastian said as he watched them go. “I'll position myself near the ballista at the southwest corner. Good luck, everyone.”

  He gave his sister a quick hug, winked at Liliana and hurried away.

  Neither Malcolm or Aiden said a word, but they exchanged a look that spoke volumes and then headed off in different directions. Aiden stood near the ballista crew next to Sebastian, while Malcolm joined the guardsmen to the southeast.

  “Ballista crews, get ready!” he bellowed, his deep voice easily reaching all of the defenders. “Remember to lead your targets and don't waste your shots. Let's send these bastards straight to hell!”

  Liliana smiled as the guardsmen all cheered enthusiastically. She was pleased that they were in good spirits going into the fight. Things could get very bad, very quickly.

  “They're splitting up,” Tamara said tersely. “They're trying to divide our efforts to defend against them.”

  She was right. In the sunlight, it was easy to make out the colors of the three great wyrms. The black dragon back-winged and hovered in one place as the red dragon began to circle the castle to the east and the brown flew to the west. The watchers were forced to try to keep track of all three of the monsters at the same time.

  “They may be bold,” Liliana stated. “But they are not stupid. Divide and conquer, that's their strategy.”

  “It won't work,” someone said from behind her.

  The paladin and Tamara turned around to see Chao approaching them. He was dressed in an ornate green robe covered with gold stitching. The small man was carrying a shining fan made of bronze than flashed in the sunshine.

  “Chao,” Liliana greeted him warmly
. “Good to see you. What do you mean, it won't work?”

  The conjurer's face was pinched with exhaustion and his eyes looked bloodshot. He managed to smile at them through his fatigue and then stared grimly at the distant dragons.

  “I have been trying to convince one of my allies to aid us in this battle. It has taken days. He is arrogant and powerful and not at all eager to lend his assistance, but I finally managed to appeal to his pride. He will enter the battle soon.”

  He sighed and slumped a little, rubbing his head with his free hand. Liliana noticed that he kept the fan in his right hand in constant motion and she wondered why.

  “Unfortunately, summoning him has drained my newly-recovered powers and I will not be able to aid you further. But I wanted to be with you all nevertheless. This fight affects all of us and I will not huddle alone in my quarters while the rest of you risk your lives.”

  Tamara looked at him gratefully.

  “Thank you, Chao. Who is this friend of yours? What can he do?”

  “You will see momentarily, lady mage. He particularly hates the black dragons; most of his race were destroyed ages ago by the black primal and its horde of followers. His kind is especially vulnerable to electricity, you see, and they suffered for it.”

  “But then, won't he face the same fate if he goes up against the black?” Liliana asked as she nodded at the distant dragon.

  Chao shook his head.

  “No, lady paladin. The reason that his people were not wiped out completely is that they developed a defense against the black dragons' attack. No, that wyrm out there is in for a rather big surprise. But my ally will only deal with the one dragon, my friends. The other two will still be a threat when he is done. If he succeeds, that is.”

  “Two dragons attacking gives us better odds than three,” Tamara assured him. “If your ally succeeds, our odds of winning are greatly increased.”

  “I agree,” Liliana said. “But that beast out there is very powerful, so let us wait and see what happens.”

  The dragons were all motionless in the sky now, bobbing up and down on their sail-like wings.

  “What are they waiting for?” Chao whispered.

  Liliana growled under her breath and her companions looked at her curiously.

  “They are playing head games with us,” she said as she watched the black dragon. “Trying to unnerve their opponents before attacking. A clever tactic, to be sure, but it also gives us a chance to size them up and get ready for them.”

  There was a sudden flash in the sky several dozen yards above the hovering black dragon.

  “And it has given my friend the time he needed to reach this realm,” Chao said with satisfaction.

  His fan rippled and danced in his hand and Liliana realized that somehow the small man was acting as a conduit for whatever magical being he had summoned. No wonder he looked so tired; his power was being drained continuously the whole time.

  Remarkable man, she thought in admiration.

  “Behold,” Chao said proudly as a figure appeared in the sky. “The djinn emporer, Shihuangdi.”

  “A djinn? Oh my,” Tamara exclaimed. “I thought that they were just creatures out of fairy tales.”

  Liliana remained silent. She had never heard of these djinn, but even from a mile or more away, she could see that the thing was huge and man-shaped.

  It floated in midair with its hands on its hips, staring down at the black dragon. The paladin squinted at it, trying to make out details.

  It, he, looked like a man. He was wearing flowing robes of lemon yellow and carried a curved sword in one hand. All she could make out of his face was that he sported a pointed beard and curled mustache. His hair was dark and hung down to his waist. All in all, the djinn cut an impressive figure as he hung in the sky.

  It took the black dragon a moment to notice the threat over his head. He reared back with a bellow of surprise and then flapped his wings furiously, trying to gain some altitude. As he rose, he opened his maw, fangs gleaming like daggers and thrust his head upward at the djinn.

  “He's using his breath attack!” Tamara exclaimed anxiously.

  “Do not fear,” Chao said confidently as he watched the distant battle, his fan waving hypnotically. “The emporer is more than ready for it.”

  The dragon unleashed a hellish blast of lightning so bright that it blinded the onlookers on the walls. Liliana rubbed tears out of her eyes and desperately tried to see what was happening.

  The djinn still floated on the wind, seemingly untouched by the lightning strike of the black dragon. The beast had stopped ascending for a moment and roared in obvious frustration as its attack failed. It began rising again, shooting forward at the same time. It looked like it was going to engage the djinn with its fangs and claws. And as large at the mystical figure was, it was not a match for the sheer size and ferocity of the black dragon.

  “The other dragons are attacking!” someone yelled from the western side of the wall.

  He was right. Both the red and brown dragons had seen the conflict and were winging their way toward the combatants.

  “Your friend had better do something quickly,” Tamara said to Chao. “Or he'll be attacked on three sides.”

  The summoner watched the battle calmly and shook his head.

  “The black dragon is already dead,” he said evenly. “Watch.”

  The djinn began to spin like a top. Faster and faster he whirled until all that could be seen was a swirl of yellow, like a saffron-colored tornado.

  The black dragon back-winged to stop his forward momentum, but it was too late. The spinning yellow whirlwind engulfed him, growing larger as it made contact with the great wyrm.

  There was a resounding shriek of agony from the dragon and then an explosion of orange as the monster was ripped apart. Body parts and bits of bone and scale fell to the ground far below like bloody rain and even Liliana felt faintly nauseous as she watched the battle.

  At the same time she was relieved that one of their enemies had been eliminated so quickly. She doubted that the other two dragons would be defeated as easily.

  With his enemy vanquished, the djinn slowly stopped spinning and stared down at the remains of his foe. Even from the wall, they could hear his deep laughter. And then he was gone in the blink of an eye.

  “Chao, he did it!” Tamara exclaimed as guardsmen along the walls let out a cheer.

  Liliana turned to congratulate the summoner and was just in time to catch him as he collapsed. His fan fell from his limp hand and hit the ground with a metallic clang.

  “Oh God, is he...?”

  The paladin lowered Chao gently to the ground and looked up at Tamara. She smiled reassuringly at the mage.

  “He's fine. Just exhausted. I have a feeling that he was feeding the djinn some of his own power to aid in the battle.”

  Liliana picked up the fan and slipped it into Chao's sash.

  “I'll take him and have one of the cleric's have a look at him, just in case.”

  “Good. They've set up a few cots in a tent near the gate, so you won't have to go far. But hurry back please. The other dragons seem to be confused by the fall of the black, but I doubt that it will last very long.”

  Liliana nodded and easily lifted the small man in her arms. She moved over to the stairs and carefully began to descend to the courtyard, mindful of the steps still slippery from the recent rain.

  Chao was pale, but breathing steadily as she carried him across the yard to the large medical tent. Inside, Katherine was chatting with two of her junior clerics and looked over when Liliana walked in.

  “Oh no, Chao!” she exclaimed. “Quickly, put him down on that cot.”

  The paladin laid the man down and stood back while the cleric knelt down and put her hand on his forehead.

  “What happened?” Katherine asked as she checked Chao's pulse.

  “He collapsed up on the wall,”Liliana told her. “I think that it's just exhaustion. He cast a spell that sucked t
he power out of him. Kind of like draining a battery, I suppose.”

  “Huh. I didn't know that was possible.”

  Katherine placed her hands on either side of Chao's face and closed her eyes. She nodded slowly.

  “Yes, I can feel it. He is very weak, but his heart is still beating steadily. I think that he just needs to rest.”

  She opened her eyes, stood up and motioned to one of the other clerics.

  “Alex, would you sit with him please? Watch over him for a while, just to be sure.”

  “Yes ma'am,” the young man said agreeably.

  “I have to get back,” Liliana told the cleric.

  “Yes, of course. Good luck up there.”

  “Same to you.”

  Liliana took one last look at Chao and was reassured to see that his color was returning. She smiled at Katherine and left the tent.

  Chapter 22

  Back up on the wall, the paladin rejoined Tamara, who looked at her in concern.

  “How is he?” she asked.

  “Fine. Katherine thinks that he just needs rest. I agree. What's going on up here?”

  “The red and brown seem to have changed their tactics, now that the black has fallen. Look there.”

  She pointed and Liliana looked to the south and saw both dragons hovering side by side. They were so close that their wings almost overlapped and they were glaring directly at the castle.

  “I think that they are going to attack at the same time,” Tamara said. “Try to overwhelm us by using their powers in tandem.”

  “Hmm, fire and rot mixed together,” Liliana mused. “Sounds horrible to me. Can you and the other mages hit them before they get close enough to use their breath attacks?”

  “We're about to find out,” the mage replied tensely. “Here they come.”

  The dragons began beating their wings faster and gained altitude until they were several hundred feet above the castle. From where Liliana was standing, they looked like two giant bats poised to strike.