The Dragon grinned. It had been a long time since he shared an adventure with a good friend. Khalid was that.
It would be the Dragon’s last adventure, and possibly the greatest.
Chapter Two
Farouk and Aeli returned to the tower later that evening. They were surprised to find Jodocus still awake, and the entire company of Rangers gathered around the cottage. Jodocus ran straight up to Farouk, excited to meet the Druid that his mother had spoken of on many occasions. Farouk knelt down to greet him.
“Hello, Jodocus,” Farouk said, placing his hand on top of the boy’s head. Jodocus giggled. “Your mother has told me a lot about you.”
“Uncle Adder caught me,” Jodocus said.
“He did, did he?” Farouk replied, looking up to see the Ranger shrugging.
“He is a quick runner,” Adder said. “Fast as a deer.”
Farouk stood, reaching out to greet Adder with a handshake. He nodded to Jhayla, taking her hand, as well.
“I heard of your actions during the battle,” Farouk said. “King Eamon is fortunate to have such dedicated servants.”
“Thank you, friend,” Adder replied. “But we are glad you are here; both of you.”
“Why?” Aeli asked, lifting Jodocus to her bosom. “What has happened?”
“We sensed something moving through the forest earlier,” Adder said. “Though none of us could hear it or see it, it was there.”
“Jodocus sensed it as well,” Jhayla added.
“Watcher,” the boy muttered.
“Watcher?” Farouk said. He turned to Jodocus, who lifted his head from Aeli’s bosom to grin at him.
“Watcher,” he repeated.
“Explain it to me in more detail,” Farouk suggested.
“Perhaps it would be best if we went back to the path,” Adder said.
“Very well,” Farouk replied. Aeli nodded in agreement, handing Jodocus to Jhayla. She snuggled him close, tickling his ribs as she carried him inside.
The Druids followed the Ranger as he returned to the path. The rest of the company remained behind to guard the cottage in the event of any intruders. They spread out around the area, blending into the underbrush.
“We had just caught up to Jodocus when all of us sensed the presence of something unusual,” Adder explained. “He sensed it first, and more strongly.”
“Was it a physical presence?” Farouk inquired.
“No, just a feeling I suppose. But it was there.”
Aeli was intrigued. “Did you get any sense of what it was, or if it meant any harm.”
“I didn’t,” Adder replied. “But Jodocus said he felt sadness.”
“Curious,” Aeli said, looking to Farouk, who returned her expression.
The group arrived at the clearing where the encounter took place. There was nothing unusual about the surrounding area; no strange plants, no features that would attract attention, and nothing out of the ordinary. Farouk, however, felt something strange.
“What is it?” Adder asked. “Do you sense something?”
Farouk was silent, but slowly turned his head as if aiming his awareness around the clearing.
“I feel nothing unusual,” Aeli said.
“I do not feel a presence,” Farouk added. “But I do feel something strange.”
Adder crouched, remaining still as he tried to focus on the area. Try as he might, however, he felt nothing. Aeli gave no indication that she felt anything, either.
“I feel nothing,” she said. “No life here other than the forest and the creatures that belong here.”
Farouk held his staff out before him, using it to gather more energy from the clearing.
“There is nothing unusual here in the sense of something being present,” he said. “At least not anymore. It’s something different. A strange energy I have felt before, but cannot place.”
“I would hate to try and guess the strange things you have felt,” Adder said, humorously.
Aeli smiled. “He is attuned to higher planes,” she said. “Is that what you feel, Farouk?”
“Perhaps.”
The Grand Druid stepped forward, farther into the clearing. Aeli and Adder watched him as he stood alone in the center, training his awareness on the area around him. Aeli, feeling a rustling in her pack, opened to release Belo, her homunculus. The little creature buzzed excitedly, shooting straight for Farouk to join him.
“The energy here is similar to that which I felt around Kronos’ temple,” Farouk said, waving his hand to keep Belo away from his face.
Adder and Aeli glanced at each other curiously.
“Could there be a Firstborn here?” Adder asked.
“No,” Aeli replied. “Only the Dragon.”
“At least in this realm,” Farouk said, prompting the other two to look at him in question.
“What do you mean?” Adder asked.
“I think what I feel is an area between dimensions,” Farouk replied. “I felt the same thing near Kronos’ temple. What I have learned is that the temples of the Firstborn are portals into parallel dimensions. It is in the temples that the barriers between realms are… thinner. That is, the fabrics of different realities are closer together.”
Though Aeli nodded in understanding, Adder scratched his head, chuckling. “You lost me,” he said.
Farouk grinned. “Fortunately, your place is here in the forest,” he said. “And you fill the shoes of your predecessors well, from what I hear.”
“They were big shoes to fill.”
“Tell me,” Farouk began. “When you felt the presence, was it a physical sensation or simply an intuition?”
Adder stood, shaking his head. “I’m not sure; perhaps a little of both.”
“And Jodocus?” Aeli asked.
“He was more attuned to the physical,” Adder said. “It seemed that way, anyway. The rest of us just felt an intuition. It was the same feeling you get when you know you are being watched. Whatever was here passed through without a sound. It was as if it weren’t really here, and could only be felt.”
“It returns,” Farouk said.
Adder and Aeli both sensed the presence again, training their awareness on the movements it made. Again, there was no sound, only the increasing sense of its presence. Belo stopped, hovering in the air near Farouk.
“It’s coming closer,” Adder said.
Aeli stepped forward, holding her staff before her. Sadness began to appear on her face, as if she were feeling the same emotions that Jodocus had described. Farouk felt it as well, and he looked to Adder to see if the Ranger could feel.
“Great sadness,” Farouk said.
Adder shook his head. “Nothing,” he said. “Only its presence.”
“I wonder if it is aware that we are here,” Aeli thought out loud.
“It may not be attuned to these things,” Farouk explained. “But then, Adder should not be, either. It is only his skills and training that makes him sensitive. Whatever is here may not even be aware of us. However, it seems to be looking for something.”
“You have abilities that none of us have, Farouk,” Aeli said. “Perhaps you should investigate. I should be returning to Jodocus. There is nothing I can do here.”
Farouk nodded in agreement. “There is no threat to the balance,” he said. “None that I can feel. But, like you, I am curious.”
“What will you do?” Adder asked.
“I think it is time to test my new abilities,” Farouk said. “I will try to enter its realm.”
Adder looked to Aeli in question as Farouk stood facing away from them.
“The Universal Powers have given me abilities unlike those of my peers or my predecessors,” Farouk explained, turning to Adder. “And the life forms within my staff’s gem have accentuated these powers.”
“I still don’t understand.”
“Multiple dimensions exist within the same space, Adder. They are separated only by variations in the frequency in which they vibrate, so to s
peak. These dimensions lie side by side, like sheets of fabric. Sometimes, as they oscillate, areas of two or more dimensions may drift closer together; even collide. When that happens, travel between them is possible.”
“So if I understand correctly, this being is in another reality, and its own reality is closer to ours in this area of the forest?”
Farouk grinned. “That is essentially correct,” he said. “Perhaps you should have been a philosopher rather than a thief.”
“Correction, sir,” Adder interjected with a sly smile. “I am a Ranger now.”
The Druid chuckled, turning back in the opposite direction. The two watched as he held out his staff, apparently getting a sense for the strongest area of the disturbance. Aeli watched in awe, hoping that someday she, too, would be able to cross dimensions.
“I am envious,” she said. “It would be an extraordinary thing to travel to different worlds.”
“I have enough trouble keeping track of all the things in this one,” Adder replied.
Farouk, having reached the opposite end of the clearing, turned to them once more. “I have found the strongest point,” he said. “The two realities are almost a blur here.”
The Grand Druid closed his eyes, focusing his mind on his destination. He could feel the vibrations of the other world, and the presence of its nearby inhabitant. However, as he attempted to extend his thoughts in order to communicate with it, it was gone.
Disappointed, Farouk decided his only choice was to enter its realm and seek it out. It would be a dangerous task, but he felt it was necessary. As the Keeper had told him, the pursuit of knowledge would take him to places unknown, and great dangers he never would have considered otherwise.
Once again, he closed his eyes. In his mind he pictured a curtain; black with white stars. He placed the universe upon it as if were a tapestry, spreading out all the stars he knew along its surface. Then, he imagined another curtain, identical to the first; placed a short ways apart. He reached out with his mind, touching his own curtain and pushing it toward the one behind it. As they touched, he felt himself shift.
Aeli and Adder saw the Grand Druid blur and blink out of existence. Belo disappeared with him. They gasped almost simultaneously.
“Safe travels, Farouk,” Aeli said.
“It looks like your little friend went with him.”
“Good,” Aeli replied. “He could use a little time with Farouk.
“But it looks like Farouk is a bit annoyed with him.”
Aeli nodded, laughing. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, he is.”
“Not nice,” Adder joked. “Not nice, at all.”
The Dragon King stared up at the full moon as he stood out on his balcony. He had taken up the former Queen’s bedchamber in Faerbane, and often enjoyed watching the sky at night while listening to the falls that were in full view. At night, the moonlight cast a beautiful glow on the waterfall’s mist, and he found it relaxing.
On this night, one year ago, Eamon had taken the throne of Faerbane and united the Kingdom of Eirenoch. The north and south were now one under his rule. Not since his grandfather, Magnus, had Eirenoch stood under a single banner. He only wished his mother was alive to witness the joining.
“I miss you, Mother,” he said into the night. “Your absence is a bane to me and our people.”
He swallowed hard, choking back the tears that threatened to burst from his weary eyes. Siobhan’s presence was strong here, he felt, as this very room was where she had died. He had chosen this room for that reason, and the fact that his mentor, Garret, had died at this very railing. Being here made him feel close to both of them; the two people he had loved most in the world.
It gave him a small amount of comfort.
As he resigned himself to returning to his chambers, the familiar form of a dragon appeared in the sky. He knew it was Erenoth, but was unsure as to why the High Priest of Dol Drakkar would appear at this hour, and by these means.
He stepped aside as Erenoth approached. The Priest took human form as he landed, standing to greet Eamon with a smile.
“Hello, Erenoth,” Eamon said. “What brings you?”
“Lord Maedoc has requested that I bring you this,” Erenoth said, showing Eamon a sealed scroll.
Eamon took it, looking it over curiously. “What is this?” he asked.
“It is a list of kings who have liberated their respective kingdoms and now stand ready to do battle.”
Eamon unrolled the scroll, going down the short list of kings and nodding in recognition at most of the names.
“King Tregar of Thyre?” Eamon asked, perplexed. “When did he ascend?”
“According to Maedoc’s peers on the mainland, it occurred shortly before you took the throne. His father, Adolus, was assassinated in his dining hall with a knife to the base of the skull.”
Eamon looked up, feeling a strange sense of recognition come over him.
“Erenoth,” he said. “You were an assassin once, correct?”
Erenoth nodded.
“Is that a common method of assassination?”
Erenoth shook his head. “No,” he replied. “Assassination of kings is typically done with poison. Only very skilled assassins can infiltrate a castle and execute a king personally. I, myself, have done it, but very few others have. Why do you ask?”
“I’m not sure,” Eamon said. “But how many others do you know of who could do this?”
“I know Adolus, and his predecessors. His security would have prevented any attempts at entering the castle by normal means. His assassin would have had to be someone he knew and trusted, or someone skilled enough to actually climb the walls. Thyre’s towers are tall, and very far apart. Any assassin of Adolus would have had to have wings, or be in possession of magical tools.”
Eamon nodded in agreement, still unsure as to what he was feeling. He looked back to the list, and the dates that were inscribed beside them.
“What do these dates signify?” Eamon asked.
“They are the dates of each country’s liberation.”
“They are all very close together,” Eamon said. “The first three dates are within a week of each other. The rest are fairly random, within the last year. Why are the first three so close together?”
“I do not know, my Lord,” Erenoth said. “But they all seem to involve assassinations by an unknown person or group.”
“None of the known guilds have claimed credit?”
“Not to anyone’s knowledge,” Erenoth said.
Eamon rolled up the scroll, putting it under his arm. “Thank you, my friend,” he said to Erenoth. “This is valuable information, and very encouraging. The world is nearly prepared for the final battle. Tell me, has there been any word of Jadhav and his crew?”
“None yet,” Erenoth said, sadly. “His fleet is concerned as well. They believe he may have lost his life when the Devourer appeared. The opening of the gate coincided with his interception of a Jindala vessel along the Southern Shore. They still seek him.”
“Assist them in any way you can,” Eamon said.
Erenoth bowed, returning to his dragon form. Without a word, he leaped upward and disappeared into the night.
The King stared out over the falls in wonder. From what he had just learned, some unknown assassin was eliminating key figures on the mainland that stood in the way of liberation. If the various brotherhoods of assassins around the world were unaware, or uninvolved, in the deaths, than it was likely that it was a single assassin working on his own. On the other hand, perhaps a new brotherhood had arisen; one that stood in defiance of The Lifegiver.
Either way, the prospect of a new ally was uplifting and would give the people of the world encouragement and hope.
“Whoever you are,” Eamon said quietly. “May the Great Mother guide your hand.”
Chapter Three
The dimensional shift was barely noticeable to Farouk. He was on Earth one second, and somewhere else the next. The only indications that anythi
ng had changed was the brief flash of light, and the new landscape that was spread out before him.
He was in a forest, as before, but a very different forest. A very dead forest. Even in the dim light of the moon, the Druid could see that he was in a lifeless land. The trees that surrounded him were bare, ghostly skeletons; white beacons of death that jutted upward from the dry, dusty soil. Not even the remains of dead underbrush were present.
He breathed deeply, noticing that the air seemed thin, lacking oxygen and moisture. There was no wind, no sound; no life at all. Even the sky was barren and cloudless.
Farouk stepped forward, expecting the feel of harsh, crumbling ground under his feet. Instead, the soil was soft, and sifted away from his boots as he walked. The lack of even dead roots prevented the soil from clumping together and staying solid. It was now no more than dust. It would be dangerous, to be sure, and Farouk would have to be careful as he moved.
Fortunately, Farouk had grown up in the desert, and was used to walking in such conditions. However, even the desert back home showed signs of life. Here, there was nothing.
The Druid extended his awareness as far as he could; searching for any signs of life. He felt nothing, only the empty sensation of nothingness that extended outward as far as he could reach.
He remembered that, on Earth, there was a nearby river. If this dimension was perfectly parallel, then there should be, at the very least, some signs of a riverbed. If so, then he would be able to get his bearings and be able to search for corresponding landmarks.
Whatever good that would do.
He started westward; in the same direction he was walking when he crossed over. It was only about a half a mile to the river, but considering the state of the current world, it was likely that he would not even recognize it. The river would be dried up, obviously, but even the riverbed itself could very well be worn away by wind erosion. In any case, the shore was not far from there, and the remnants of the ocean, if any, should be visible.
He continued on through the skeletal forest, remarking at how tall the trees were; or would have been. Clearly, the species here were different, although similar. He knocked on the dead trees on occasion, seeing that they were wooden. As different as they were in appearance, they were still trees. Above, their canopy still remained entwined together, though sparsely. Moonlight came through as it would through a winter canopy, and the branches themselves were mere sticks; twisted and dead, and black against the starlit sky.
Into Oblivion (Book 4) Page 3
