Dragon's Keep: The Complete Dracengard Series

by Christopher Vale

  “I killed all of the brigands, rescued the young women, and brought them back here for protection. This morning, one of them—Esther—who was being raped and tortured when I arrived to save her, walked out onto the stone cliffs near the fortress and leapt to her death.”

  All eyes widened and Alaric heard a few gasps. The Watchers understood better than any seraph the fragile state of the human body. A fall from that height would leave nothing recognizable as human. They also understood better than any other seraph the fragile mental state of most humans and recognized that Esther was so tormented by the horror she had been subjected to by her fellow humans that she would prefer to leap to her death rather than suffer the memories of it. Most seraph would not be able to comprehend that.

  “The humans need order. They need their own laws and their own leaders. They need to learn to think and act as civilized beings, not the same way drakmere and se’irim act, but as good-hearted beings. We need to shape them in our image.” Many in the room nodded their agreement. “We must teach them, instruct them in ways to advance their society. How to extract metals to build tools. How to build cities of stone that will last for thousands of years. We must teach them right from wrong and the consequences of evil acts.”

  Alaric remembered that meeting of Watchers as the starting point for not only human civilization, but also the Watchers’ fall from grace. He made his way through the Great Forest until he came to an enormous old oak tree. At the base of the tree was a small, clear pool of water on a bed of white pebbles. Alaric knelt on both knees in front of the pool and waited. As the sun grew higher in the sky, the reflection of the light off of the pool grew brighter until the pool filled with light. Alaric stared into the pool allowing the light to fill him. He looked up from the pool, but the tree was no longer there. The forest was gone. Alaric knelt in a room of light. In front of him stood a beautiful female seraph. She wore a brilliant white dress which was low cut around her neck. Her arms were uncovered and her skin glowed beautifully. Her golden hair fell loosely onto her shoulders. Her beautiful, white-feathered wings nestled against her back un-spread.

  “Greetings, brother,” she said as she looked down at Alaric.

  “Greetings, Aura,” he replied.

  “To what do I owe the honor of this visit?” she asked in a soft melodic voice that was as beautiful as she was.

  “I need your help,” he said.

  “I had assumed that,” Aura replied.

  “We have just discovered that there is a shedom in the Middle Realm,” Alaric said.

  “How can that be?” Aura asked. “The gate is sealed. Uriel himself guards the entrance.”

  “I am not sure.”

  “How do you know this?” Aura asked. “Have you seen it yourself?”

  “No,” Alaric admitted. “It was described to me by another. It can be nothing else.”

  “A human,” Aura said. It was not a question. “Who is this human?”

  “A nephilim,” Alaric replied.

  “Ah,” Aura said as if that explained everything. “Has it occurred to you, brother, that this human might be lying?”

  “No, she is not lying,” Alaric said.

  “How do you know? Humans are a notoriously dishonest species.”

  “I know, because she has no reason to lie,” Alaric said. “We rescued her and her friends from drakmere. They described the shedom to me.” Aura stared at him unconvinced. “She is my grandchild,” Alaric said.

  “I see,” Aura said.

  “Her brother has been captured by the shedom. I need you to rescue him.”

  Aura laughed out loud. “Rescue him?”

  “Yes.”

  “I am on the council now, Alaric. I hold the rank of General. I am the Father’s favorite. Why should I risk all of that for the nephilim grandson of a fallen exile?”

  “Of course you are the Father’s favorite, Aura. There is nothing in the three realms as beautiful as you. Why would he not adore you?” She stared at him stoically. “But you do not understand love as I know it. Seraph do not have children as humans do. You cannot understand what it is like to have a child. To see him grow. To have children of his own. You love them all as if they are a part of you. The closest a seraph can come to comprehending that feeling is the love you feel for your twin. That is why I am here Aura. You are my twin. You are the only one left that loves me. And you are the only one that can help me.” Alaric was crying now. “That is why I am here, Aura. To beg you to help my grandson.”

  Aura knelt down to come face to face with Alaric. She wiped the tears from his cheeks as she stared into his eyes. “Living amongst the humans for so long has made you too weak and emotional, brother.”

  “If the shedom are in the Middle Realm there is no telling what they are going to do. If you will not do it to help me, do it to stop them.”

  Aura nodded as she stood. “Your point is well pleaded. I will bring it up with the Father. If he consents, I shall rescue your grandson and kill this shedom.”

  “You cannot ask the Father. He will surely refuse. Besides, you are not even supposed to be speaking to me,” Alaric reminded her.

  “Why do you not rescue him yourself?”

  “You know the Father has bound us to the forest. If I leave I become mortal and, if mortal, the shedom will slaughter me as well. None of us can stand against a shedom outside of the forest. Please save my grandson. Please, Aura. You are my sister. We were created together and we are intertwined. I know that you still love me because I can feel it. Please. The shedom will torment and torture him for eternity.”

  Aura closed her eyes and nodded. “I will rescue him, Alaric. But that will be the last time you may ask for my help.”

  “Very well,” agreed Alaric.

  Chapter 9

  Vidar led Dillan, Willem, and Terrwyn through the Great Forest while Xylon brought up the rear. They walked for several miles when they decided to rest. Willem and Terrwyn sat in the shade of an elm tree. Dillan took a cask of water over and offered it to Terrwyn. “No thank you,” she replied curtly.

  “We’ve been walking for hours—you should drink something,” Dillan said as he sat down beside her.

  Terrwyn turned to Willem. “Willem, may I have some water, please? I am so very thirsty.”

  Willem glanced over at Dillan who sat glaring at him. “Certainly,” he said to Terrwyn and handed her his cask. Terrwyn opened it and drank deeply, then closed it and handed it back to Willem.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  Xylon smiled at Vidar. “I believe the love birds are having a spat,” he laughed.

  “Love birds?” asked Terrwyn. “Never!”

  “She is angry at me, as you can see,” Dillan said. “But while we are not love birds—yet—we are betrothed to be married, so it is presumptuous for her to say ‘never.’”

  “Were betrothed. Our fathers arranged our marriage and since both of them are now dead, as far as I am concerned, so is the arrangement,” Terrwyn said coldly and then stood and stomped away. “Let us get moving,” she demanded.

  Dillan looked at Willem who only shrugged. Willem stood and ran after Terrwyn. Vidar offered Dillan a hand. Dillan accepted and Vidar pulled him up. “She’s as fiery as Ehren,” he said smiling. “I never knew how Alaric managed. You may have dodged the fire, Dillan.”

  “You could be right,” Dillan replied with a smile.

  The small band continued through the forest. As they walked, Dillan questioned Vidar. “Do seraph grow tired?”

  “Yes,” Vidar replied. “However, if we are in the light we are quickly re-energized. In darkness, that is a different story. We cannot re-energize without light, so at night we can become exhausted. The darkness is also very cold to us, so we often spend much of the night huddled around the fire.”

  “What about shedom?” Dillan asked.

  “They are similar, but reversed. The light actually burns their skin—if you want to call it skin. It does not kill them—at least not r
ight away—but it is very painful to them. I imagine if a shedom was imprisoned in the Realm of Light it would eventually fade away. However, wearing armor or thick clothing will prevent their skin from being burned. But shedom are terrified of light and will hide from it, while seraph are not terrified of darkness. While in this realm, a shedom will hide in the shadows during the day. That is why they have other creatures, such as the drakmere or the se’irim to fight for them. Otherwise, they would be completely vulnerable during the day.”

  “That explains how we survived our encounter with the Black Knight,” Dillan said.

  “How do you mean?” Vidar asked.

  “He had just killed Captain Verdid, my mentor,” Dillan said. “The man was like a father to me. Verd charged the Black Knight to protect Terrwyn and her sister.” Terrwyn glanced up at Dillan. “Anyway,” Dillan continued. “Dawn broke and the shedom made the most terrifying shriek I have ever heard and then vanished.”

  “It chilled me to the bone,” Terrwyn added. Dillan glanced back at her and she smiled at him briefly before looking away.

  “You are very lucky to be alive,” said Xylon. “Shedom are extremely powerful compared to a human.”

  “More powerful than seraph?” Willem asked.

  “No,” said Xylon. “We are very similar.”

  “So, how do we kill it?” Dillan asked?

  “I would not try to if I were you,” Vidar advised.

  “We don’t really have a choice,” Dillan said. “The elophim cannot leave the forest. I have not seen any other seraph coming to our aid, which means we have to kill it.”

  “Can it be killed?” Terrwyn asked.

  “Yes. A sword forged from light can kill a shedom.”

  Dillan drew his short sword and examined it. “Oh dung!” he exclaimed. “Mine is forged from steel.”

  “Dracenfire,” Xylon said.

  “Dragons?” Dillan asked with a laugh. “Good, now all we have to do is find one and then train it to hunt shedom. Too bad none have been seen in a thousand years.”

  Vidar halted in his tracks and turned to look at his distant grandson. He tilted his head to the side. “What do you think is at Dracengard?”

  “Wait, you mean there are dragons at Dracengard?” Dillan asked. Vidar looked at Xylon expressionless and without speaking.

  “Well, Dillan, as you so cleverly reminded me when we first met, Dracengard means Dragon’s Keep in the common tongue. What else would be there?”

  “Honestly, Terrwyn, I did not believe dragons existed,” Dillan said. “Of course, I did not believe seraph existed until last night, so…”

  Vidar and Xylon laughed. “Dracen exist, Dillan,” Vidar assured him. “I have ridden them myself.” He then turned away and began walking through the forest again.

  “Ridden?” Willem asked. “Why did you ride a dragon?”

  “They are much too big to ride us,” Xylon joked and Willem turned to see the elophim laughing much too hard at his own joke.

  “Alright, since my sword is not forged of light and we will not have Dracenfire until we reach Dracengard, how else can we kill this shedom?”

  “I am not sure,” Vidar said.

  “What?”

  “Well, whenever I have gone to battle against shedom it is normally on the back of a dracen and I have always carried a sword forged in light. So, I have never been concerned about what else can kill them.”

  “That’s a fair point,” Dillan conceded.

  After walking for a couple more hours, the band stopped near a small stream to eat lunch and rest. The stream was spring fed and the water running down the hill was cool and clear. Dillan and Willem refilled their water casks in the stream and then sat down on some nearby rocks where they hungrily ate the bread and berries which they had brought along. Terrwyn took a piece of bread from Willem’s sack and then laid down on a patch of cool green grass beside the stream.

  “How far are we from the ferry?” Terrwyn asked as she munched on a piece of bread, while staring up at the blue sky.

  “At our current pace, probably two more hours or so,” Vidar replied.

  Dillan stared at Vidar’s sword which hung in a golden sheath from the elophim’s belt. Vidar noticed the stare and smiled at Dillan.

  “It’s forged in light isn’t it?” Dillan asked.

  “Yes,” Vidar replied and drew his sword from its sheath. The blade appeared to be made of metal just like any other sword Dillan had ever seen, but it shone more brilliantly than the most highly polished steel. “Would you like to hold it?”

  “Absolutely,” Dillan said as he rose to his feet stuffing the last morsel of bread into his mouth and swallowing only barely having chewed. Vidar turned the sword to hand it to Dillan hilt first. Dillan took the sword carefully from Vidar. He slashed it through the air a couple of times to get the feel of it. “The hilt has weight, but the blade itself is almost weightless.”

  “Yes,” Vidar said smiling. “Even so, it is practically unbreakable.”

  Dillan returned the sword to Vidar who slid it back into its sheath. “Alright, so how do I get one?”

  Vidar laughed aloud until he saw that Dillan was serious. He shrugged his shoulders. “They are forged in Auraehalis.”

  “So, how do I travel to Auraehalis?”

  “You do not,” he said.

  “Is there anything you’d be willing to trade for yours?” Vidar shook his head. “Come on, there must be something. How about a nice, handsome young prince,” Dillan said with a smile as he pointed to Willem. “He’s house broken.” Vidar and Xylon laughed.

  “What, you aren’t going to offer them Terrwyn?” Willem asked.

  “I want them to make the trade, Will,” Dillan said. Then he turned back to Vidar. “Seriously, is there anything I can trade you for that sword?”

  Vidar’s smile faded from his face. He looked at Xylon and then back at Dillan and nodded. “Alright, young Prince,” he said. “I’ll trade my sword for your Dracenstone.”

  Dillan did not even hesitate. “Done,” he said. “Unfortunately it is on my ship.”

  “That is good. It is probably much safer there than in your hands,” Vidar said with a frown. “The Dracenstone is a thousand times more powerful than a sword of light.”

  “What do they do?” Terrwyn asked.

  “You will learn the answer to that once you have reached Dracengard.” Vidar said. He noticed that the three had finished eating. “We should get moving again,” he said and turned and began walking away.

  ***

  The party made its way through the forest for another couple of hours, climbing hills and forging streams. Eventually, they reached the edge of the forest near the river. Vidar stopped inside the brush without stepping out into the clearing. He saw the ferryboat tied to a dock a few hundred feet away. It was a flat boat made of logs tied together with hemp rope and large enough to carry a few people and their horses. Thus, it was plenty big enough to ferry Dillan, Terrwyn, and Willem across the river.

  Vidar squatted down in the bushes to avoid being seen. Dillan came up behind him and dropped to one knee. “See anything?” Dillan asked as Terrwyn, Willem, and Xylon joined them.

  “No,” said Vidar. “It looks clear.”

  “I will investigate,” Xylon said. Vidar nodded and Xylon darted into the clearing in a blur.

  “Wow, you guys are fast,” Willem commented.

  Suddenly Dillan heard footsteps running up behind them and he turned quickly to see Xylon.

  “It’s all clear,” Xylon said. “Just the ferry master and a crew.”

  “What?” asked Dillan. “Where did you go?”

  “I circled the grounds, checked the boat, and then reentered the woods down the river, to come up behind you.”

  “Incredible,” Dillan said.

  “Well, let us go. Dillan and I shall secure passage. The rest of you remain here. I will signal you when ready.” He stood and walked out of the clearing. Dillan followed. They walked across t
he clearing and down to the ferry master’s house. There they found a grizzled old man leaning in a chair against the side of the house. A wide-brimmed hat was pulled over his eyes and he appeared to be asleep.

  “Excuse me,” Dillan said.

  “Yes?” the man said without looking up.

  “Are you the ferry master?”

  “Yes,” the man said again without looking up.

  “We’d like passage for three.”

  The man looked up and let his chair fall to all fours on the ground. He stood and pushed the brim of his hat up with his pointer finger. “That’ll be three gold pince,” he said.

  “What? That is ridiculous.”

  “Maybe, but if you want to get to the other side of the river, you’ll pay it.”

  “How can passengers in these parts afford that?”

  “Don’t normally charge that,” the man said. “But when a silk britches comes up without a horse this far from Elwood wanting to cross the river, I figure he is in dire straits. Think I might make a little extra off of it.”

  “Look,” Dillan started, but Vidar interrupted him.

  “Just pay it,” he said.

  “Fine,” Dillan said and reached into his pocket. He pulled out three gold pince and handed them to the ferry master. “We need to leave immediately.”

  “Certainly, m’Lord,” the ferry master said as he grinned at Dillan exposing black and rotting teeth.

  “I’m not a lord, I am a ship’s captain,” Dillan informed him. The ferry master chuckled.

  “If you were a ship’s captain, you’d have no need of paying me,” he laughed.

  “I’ll get the others,” Vidar said to Dillan. He stepped around the ferry master’s house and waved at Xylon.

  Xylon saw the signal from the tree line. “Let us go,” he said and he, Willem, and Terrwyn stood and stepped into the clearing walking over to Vidar and Dillan. Dillan was still fuming about the price when they reached him. The ferry master had wandered off to gather the crew and get the ferry prepped for the trip across the river.