by Brad Clark
“It must be from your ears,” Myllia replied. “I have killed many of your kind, and my words will not be heard. Yours, however, will be heard.”
Myllia knew that the Human body could not handle a dive straight to the ground. She circled as she descended, doing it as quickly as she dared.
There were not only Elves in the courtyard. There were many armed Humans as well. They had gathered into bunches, and many of them carried long spears. It was a tactic that was burned into her mind and suddenly made her angry and doubt her new allegiance. Thousands of years ago when the Humans had eviscerated her species, they had done so with similar tactics. For one circuit, she did not descend any lower as she contemplated her decision. It was only when Elissa fidgeted in her grasp did she push aside the past. Yes, the Humans had killed off her species, but it was not Humanity that did it. It was specific Humans who were long since dead.
She dropped again, spreading her feet to catch herself as she landed. With Elissa held by one of her forelegs, she could not land cleanly. She took several steps before she came to a stop in front of the Elven King and the Human knight who had declared himself as commander.
Elissa felt herself be freed and stepped from the dragon’s grasp. There were no smiles from the men and Elves who stood around her. Their faces were stern, and their body language told her that they were ready to fight.
“This is Myllia,” Queen Elissa called out as loudly as she could. “She is a dragon, and she is our ally. She has committed to fight alongside us against the Deceiver.”
King Illichian took two steps forward. “This beast had kidnapped you and threatened your life. Now, it fights for us? What magic has it cast on you to deceive you?”
“There is no magic. I am not deceived. Myllia is a creature of the One God. Like you and me, she has a soul and is one of His treasured creations. It is the fault of our ancestors that she has fought against us. Our kind killed off hers, and she fought us because of that anger. Now, she knows that we fight against the same evil. This evil threatens not just us, but our world. Together, we will fight the Deceiver.”
“I have held on to anger for too long, and it almost destroyed my soul,” Myllia said. “Your queen has convinced me that we must fight together so that we can exist together.” Myllia stood up on her back to feet, exposing her underside. “If you do not accept my offer of peace and my offer to be your ally, then take your sharpest spear and drive it into between my scales right here.” With one of her foreclaws, she pointed to a spot on her chest. “My heart beats right here, and a direct strike will kill me.”
“No!” Queen Elissa shouted. “Myllia is an ally of the Kingdom of Karmon and will fight at the side of the Karmon Knights and the soldiers of my army. As queen, that is my order. There is no choice to make as it has already been made.”
“We, too, have been wronged by Humanity,” King Illichian said. “We, too, have put aside our past and joined with Queen Elissa and her kingdom to fight. It would be an honor for Elvenkind to fight alongside someone such as yourself.”
Myllia gently dropped herself on all fours.
“There is a war to prepare for,” the king continued. “We must discuss our next move.”
Queen Elissa walked forward until she was standing right in front of the king. “I know Sir Gossmire has my army ready.”
Sir Gossmire said, “Of course, your Majesty. However, the Elven army has been on the march for many days and traveled far across the ocean. They must be worn down and could use some time to rest and take in some good, hot food.”
“My Elven warriors are fresh and ready.”
Sir Gossmire stepped forward and lowered his voice. “I command the greatest warriors this planet has ever seen. Their strength and courage are unmatched. They are pushed to the limit and beyond and do so without complaint or excuse. I also know the body can only be pushed so far before it falters. Falter too early, and wars will be lost. The time for war will come. The time for rest is now.”
King Illichian started to glare at the Human Knight as he was suggesting that his Elven warrior might show weakness. Sir Gossmire might think his Karmon Knights were the greatest warriors, but he had never seen Elves fight. Elves were just superior to Humans in many ways.
And then the king caught himself. It was that same attitude that had driven a wedge between Humans and Elves so many years ago. He and his ancestors had confused different for superior. As much as the Humans had caused their conflict, the Elves did nothing to help diffuse it. An odd feeling came over him. It was a feeling of sadness. Not for him, but for all the thousands of years that had been wasted with hatred between species that should never have happened. He had committed to stopping that hatred, and as always, it needed to start with him.
“Yes, Sir Gossmire. You are right. Once the fighting starts in earnest, it will not stop until either all our kind are dead, or the Deceiver is defeated. In the meantime, we must prepare our bodies and mind to fight to our potential. Rest is indeed in order.” He turned to his Elven warriors. “The people of Karmon have opened their homes to us, and we will take two days to rest.”
Sir Gossmire called over some of his men to coordinate the logistics of housing and food for the Elves. Soon, only Sir Gossmire, King Illichian, Queen Elissa, and Myllia were in the middle of the courtyard.
As they were sharing pleasantries and small talk while the knights and Elves departed, Queen Elissa noticed two ladies walking towards them. She turned as they approached.
Sir Gossmire, recognizing Ilasha, greeted her. “Ilasha, it is good to see you.”
Ilasha tried to smile, but her focus was on finding out information about Marik. Ignoring ceremonial protocol, she quickly asked, “Your Majesty. Have you any word of Sir Marik?”
Sir Gossmire said, “Ilasha is Sir Marik’s lady.”
Queen Elissa glanced at Sir Gossmire as she tried to think of a pleasant way to share news of Marik. There was no other way than simply explaining it. “It was Sir Marik that went to South Karmon to free the other dragon.”
Ilasha’s face flashed the fear that swept through her.
King Illichian added, “He is with two of our best warriors. He will be fine.”
“The quest that I forced them into is dangerous,” Myllia said bluntly. “The Deceiver’s generals are powerful, and there are still many Stone Ogres that guard the city.”
Queen Elissa let out a sigh at the dragon’s bluntness. Clearly, Myllia did not understand human fears. “Sir Marik is strong, brave, and dares to overcome any obstacle.”
“Bravery and courage will only go so far,” a voice said from behind them.
Hargon, dressed in his black robes, approached. “How many brave and courageous men have fallen since this beast first attacked our city.”
Elissa glared at Hargon, mad not only at his words but that he showed up after the threat of danger was gone. “You’re not helping.”
Hargon smiled his wide, toothy smile. “That is why I am here. To help.” He looked at Marila and continued to his smile at her. “Good afternoon, my dear. It is good to see you again.” He winked at her.
Marila did not know how to respond, so she dropped her eyes to the ground and acted shy. Her instinct was to stand up to the clear advances of the Human, but those were instincts of Marila from the realm of the Deceiver and not Marila, the Human. So instead of acting on what she thought she should do, she did just the opposite.
Ilasha saw the wink, and it made her mad. Hargon had come on to her, even though he knew that she was Sir Marik’s lady. She did not care for the man and his actions. He continued to show her reasons why she should not like him.
“How can you help?” Queen Elissa asked. Hargon certainly had changed since they had left the kingdom. No longer was he the broken former emperor. He was showing himself to be a strong and confident man. Clearly, he was a born leader who was regaining his charm and charisma.
“If Sir Marik is in need of assistance, then we must get to him quickly. This
beast…”
“Her name is Myllia,” Elissa corrected.
White teeth flashed as Hargon said, “Yes, of course. Myllia can get there quickly. He will need someone who can stand against the Deceiver’s forces, and that clearly is me.”
Elissa raised an eyebrow. “You?”
Sir Gossmire said, “Hargon has shown the ability to fight using his powers. He has been a great asset to the defense of the castle.”
“We will need all the help we can get,” Elissa said.
Hargon stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder. With surprising quickness and ease, his persona changed, and the strong, charismatic man that she did not know was replaced by the caring, broken former emperor that she did know. “It is good to see you safe. Any word on Conner and Glaerion?”
Elissa shook her head. “No. No word.”
“I am sure he is safe. Of all the talk of strong, brave, and courageous, no one is more so than Conner.”
Elissa smiled and replied, “Thanks. You be careful.”
Hargon stepped back, and a small ball of fire appeared in his palm. “Oh, careful is not me. I will be dangerous!”
He tossed the ball towards the mountain where it disappeared in a small flash of light.
“To Sir Marik!” He trotted towards Myllia.
Just to Hargon, Myllia gave quick instructions on how to climb onto her back and then position himself safely on her neck.
At Myllia’s beckoning, she called Elissa to come to her. Myllia bent her snout down to Elissa's face. Even though she only was talking through her mind and only to Elissa, Myllia’s voice was soft. “Take care of yourself and the baby inside. There will be so much death in the coming fight that the world will need to have some life, too.”
With emotion overtaking her, Elissa could not verbalize a response. She simply touched Myllia gently and the side of her snout.
“The Human female that was with the one that you called Ilasha. Do you know her?”
Elissa quickly glanced back at Ilasha and her friend. With a quick shake of her head, Elissa replied, “No.”
“I sense something odd about her. I am not saying to not trust her, but watch out for her.”
“What do you mean odd?”
“Dragons can feel each individual person and sense a difference. We can also talk to them through our minds. If you were trained to do so, you could open up your mind to mine, and I could read thoughts of your that you wanted me to read. It makes communicating faster than trying to use words in our minds. But with her, I cannot speak to her. It is like there is a black hole around her that I cannot see or touch.”
“What should I do?”
“It is something I have never felt before. I do not understand it myself. Just keep an eye out for her and be careful.”
“You be careful, too.”
Hargon was settled atop the dragon. “Are we ready, yet?”
Myllia leaped up into the air, pushing off with her strong legs. With wings spread wide, she pumped her wings to quickly gain altitude. With Hargon hanging on for his life, she flew just over the top of the wall and sped away, heading south.
Chapter Twenty
“You fought well,” the Deceiver said from the top of the tower. His voice easily carried down as if he were standing next to them. “It takes a lot to impress me and the courage that you show surprised me. Even the Elf, a race for which I have no use, showed me they can be worthy adversaries. You will die first, though, as your Human friend watches on. I just hope you are more of a challenge than the other one I killed. That was disappointingly easy. As for you, Human, you were given a chance to serve me as a leader of slaves. Your rejection of my offer was insulting, and for that, you will die the slowest of deaths. I must use you as an example to the rest of your race, for I cannot have even one of you thinking you can stand against me.”
Immerallis looked up and hissed. If he had the strength to send his fiery breath up, he would have.
The Deceiver laughed. “Dragon, I have enough of your blood to bring for the rest of my soldiers. I no longer need your services. You fought valiantly against two of my Stone Ogres, but against fifteen? I think that you will not fare as well.” Raising his voice so it would carry out to his assembled creatures, he said, “Bring the Human and Elf to me. Alive! The dragon, do with as you wish.”
All at once, the fifteen Stone Ogres took a step forward, causing the ground to rumble.
Marik drew his sword, and Hallendrielle drew her daggers. They seemed meaningless weapons against the might of creatures that were coming at them.
“What now?” Marik asked.
“Run,” Immerallis said. “Try and escape. I will keep as many of them busy for as long as I can.”
“You are weak and won’t last but a minute,” Marik countered. “They surround us, and even if we escaped the Stone Ogres, hundreds of goblins would chase us down. Even the two of us would be overwhelmed by such a horde of goblins.”
“We fight to the end,” Hallendrielle said. “I will not let him capture me.”
Marik took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It has been an honor to fight at your side. I only regret that we could not fight to the end of this war.”
Hallendrielle smiled and let out a laugh. “We keep finding ourselves in this situation. At death’s doorstep.”
“I cannot imagine how we will survive this one.”
“With honor and dignity, we fight to the end.” Her smile faded as her thoughts turned to Glaerion. “I would love to have seen my husband but one more time.”
The Stone Ogres had halved the distance to them.
Immerallis turned his snout to them and growled, “Are we going to fight or what?”
An explosion punctuated his words. Two Stone Ogres were suddenly blown backward by a great ball of fire that struck the ground at their feet. The force of the explosion caused a wave of hot air to smack into Marik and Hallendrielle, causing them to stumble and fall to the ground.
Marik’s ears rang, and stars sparkled in his eyesight. He tried to stand, but the world was spinning around him, and he couldn’t find his balance. He dropped to a knee so he wouldn’t fall back to the ground. A dark object flashed across the sky, and he only caught a brief glance out of the corner of this eye. He couldn’t turn fast enough to see it, but a second later, a flash of fire streaked from the air and struck two more Stone Ogres. One was blown backward like the first two, but the other was struck in the leg, causing it to topple forward face-first into the ground.
“Into the tower!” Immerallis called out. “Take refuge in the tower!”
It took Marik a moment to comprehend the words, but then he realized what was happening. The great golden-eyed dragon, Myllia, came into view from his left. On her back was a man in a black robe that billowed out behind him. A ball of fire came out of his hands and struck another Stone Ogre. The ball of fire wasn’t like he had seen before. Back at Neffenmark Castle, he had seen Hargon thrown fireballs, but they didn’t explode when they struck the ground. These had an incredible force behind them that could be felt from dozens of feet away.
Another ball of fire streaked through the sky, but this came from the top of the tower. Myllia deftly dipped her wings, and the fireball flew harmlessly into the distance.
Immerallis found a reserve of strength and lept forward to meet the remaining Stone Ogres. Even with their numbers cut in half, they were not deterred. Their resolve came from the commands of the Deceiver, who controlled their thoughts and actions.
Out in the open, Immerallis was able to use his quickness to dodge and attack the creatures. From one Stone Ogre to the next, he bounced and jumped, slashing with his tail and knocking the creatures about. They tried to grab him, but he was able to use his superior agility to keep away from their stone grasp. In the confines of the tower, he was at a disadvantage, but out in the open, where he could move, he had the advantage.
Hallendrielle grabbed Marik by the arm and pulled him to his feet and trie
d to pull him towards the tower. At first, he resisted and tried to pull away.
“There is nothing we can do out here,” she said. “The dragons have the Stone Ogres occupied. And look, the goblins are now charging towards us. There is no place to go but into the tower.”
“I will not hide!” His mind was still fuzzy, and his instincts were telling him to fight.
Another ball of fire streaked through the sky towards Myllia. She twisted in the air to avoid getting struck. Once she righted herself and Hargon was no longer hanging on for his life, he sent a fireball right back at the tower. The explosion reverberated through the stone all the way down to the ground.
Pulling Marik towards the tower, Hallendrielle said, “If we can distract the Deceiver, Hargon can finish off those Stone Ogres. Immerallis will not last long without some help. Myllia and the Human are too busy trying to defend themselves to help.”
Marik gave one glance back at the Stone Ogres who were desperately trying to catch Immerallis. Behind them, the goblins started to sprint across the open yard towards them, screaming and shouting as they ran. Marik lowered his head and sprinted into the archway.
Once through the open archway, Hallendrielle came to a quick stop. “Wait!” She called out. Mumbled words came from her lips and Marik felt that familiar tingling sensation of a spell being cast.
“They are right there!” Marik shouted with desperation as the goblins had crossed the open yard and were only seconds from running through the archway.
Hallendrielle said nothing and continued to cast her spell. As the goblins got within steps of the archway, she dropped her hands and turned to Marik and said, “It’s done, let’s get moving!”
The first row of goblins stopped, and those behind ran into them. Screaming and cursing ensued. Blood began to fly, and angry goblins slashed their talons at one another.
Marik didn’t immediately follow after her because he was watching the confused goblins as they fought one another. Hallendrielle walked back to him and said, “I cast a spell that gives the illusion that there is a wall where the archway is. They are stupid creatures and simple illusions easily affect them, just like the disguise spell cast on your sword. Now let’s get moving as it won’t last long and if they try and touch it, the spell will be broken. But it should give us time to get up the tower without dealing with them snapping at our heals.”
