“Adapting to my new life style,” came his cold reply, Andrax as I had begun to call him. He didn’t particularly like Vicis, especially after recent events. She also managed to make most Nobles nervous, even Ilean and Axcel.
“That’s good, I hope I am not interrupting anything but it’s time Alex,” she said somberly.
Andrax gave me a concerned look while Axcel gave me an encouraging one. The time to form a deal with Vicis had finally come. I was also going back to isolation to fully focus on my training. It would be four days of nothing but practicing the time magic Vicis was going to be teaching me. At the end of those four days the trap for Thanos would be set and all that would be required for it to work would be my presence to execute it.
No
“I guess this is the best we will be able to manage with only four days,” said Vicis.
“Will it be enough?” I asked her.
“I honestly hope so. You managed to learn the two spells needed for this to work but I can’t promise we will be victorious.”
“It should be enough to catch him off guard,” said Andrax.
“Do you have your armor Alex?” asked Master, coming into the room.
“Yes Master.”
It was the first time I had seen him in four days. Not even a hello or a how are you. Everyone must have been extremely tense as the day to move out to BlackStorm Keep had approached and now that it was here there was no time for anything else but finishing preparations and leaving the academy.
“Good, the third and second years have left already.”
“Already?” I asked.
“The elves were attacked before their entire force could arrive. As such we have sent reinforcements down south to help,” said Master as he turned to leave.
“How bad is it?” I asked before he left.
“We had to divert a quarter of the Imperial forces that were ready, plus several dragons. The reports say the fighting is heavy and there have been sporadic sightings of Death Knights. The Elves have stepped up their deployment of troops but it will still take time,” he said.
“So it really has begun,” I said, shaking myself of any fear I might have left.
“It started five hundred years ago Alex,” said Master leaving.
“Once you are dressed you too will be heading out towards BlackStorm Keep. There have been several reports of an Irkanian movement in the general region of the Keep,” said Vicis.
“Why didn’t you tell me before things were moving so fast? I asked.
“You didn’t need the distraction,” she said, leaving our training room.
“Don’t think too much into it Alexander, it is best we leave as soon as possible,” said Andrax, pushing me towards the chest that contained my armor.
“It’s my first time wearing something like this. I don’t suppose I could go with just my regular uniform?” I asked foolishly.
“You do remember what happened last time fought in your uniform? It’s not a very good deterrent for blades and magic.”
I opened the chest and examined the contents. The blade Vaurion had given me laid there, next to it was the chest piece of my personalized armor. I lifted it and examined it for a moment. Right where my heart would be was the Time Noble emblem engraved into the bronze colored armor. I pulled out the rest of it and began putting it on. When I was finished I took the last piece of it, the helmet and put it under my arm.
“Well well. If I didn’t know any better I would say you looked like a fierce warrior ready for battle,” teased Andrax.
“I will admit I do feel a bit more confident inside this armor,” I replied with an odd sense of pride. It was truly magnificent. It fit it me perfectly, was light, offered no weak spots, and was easy to move in. Its shining bronze color which made it look like gold, was just as impressive. Armor worthy of a Time Noble, I caught myself thinking.
“What do you say we create an impression on our soon to be troops,” I said to Andrax as I walked outside the room.
“I have been itching to fly for a bit,” was his reply as he began to grow to his regular Vorm size and followed me towards the edge of the Sky Dome from where he could jump off and fly.
I mounted him when he had reached his full size. He could now grow to a bit larger than Master and Lord Lux without drawing from my magic. If anything, those four days of ruthless training with Vicis had allowed me to use larger amounts of magic from the Dragon Heart as well as increase my personal reserves.
He spread his wings and gave his head and tail a funny shake before jumping.
“It feels good to be back in the air,” he said as he leveled off from his initial dive from the cliffs of the Sky Dome.
“It really is something to fly,” I said to him.
“You got that right, now if you don’t mind I am going to do a bit stretching before taking you to the gathering spot.”
“Be my guest, but please do remember I am back here.”
“Of course,” he said as he took a sharp turn followed by a steep dive.
I held on for dear life for a good 10 minutes before he stabilized his flying and I could release my deadlock grip on his neck.
“And if I had fallen?” I asked.
“I would have caught you. I will always be here to catch you; after all we are one and the same.”
“Well let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Now lets head to the gathering spot,” I said to him as he turned towards the regular training grounds.
It took Andrax literally two seconds to arrive. From up here I could admire much better the crater I had created during my first fight with Irkanians. The damage to the central tower of the training grounds had been repaired and also the adjacent buildings.
The entire training ground was busy with people running around and getting their required equipment. Fortunately each academy had their own forges so they could produce enough weapons for their student’s respectively if the need ever arose and through the years the Central Academy had amassed a vast cache of weapons.
As Andrax approached the grounds people made way for his landing as no one wanted to be crushed by the giant Vorm. While the fact I had a Dragon Heart wasn’t a secret we usually kept it to ourselves as there wasn’t really any need to advertise it. The few people that had heard Andrax talk just assumed it was another dragon talking through him which was fine by me and him.
Andrax landed gently on the ground after which I jumped off his back and headed to where six dragon heads emerged from the crowd of people, three of which were Master, Vicis, and to my delight Zetzu. People made room as we walked by. I greeted a few of my former classmates along the way and also amused myself listening to what people were whispering about Andrax and myself.
“So the savior of the day comes to join us finally,” said Zetzu, lowering his head so he could look at me straight with a giant grey eye.
“Nice to see you too Zetzu,” I said.
“Tromuelan sends his regards and thanks for what you did in Zulia. He is currently in the southern front engaging the Irkanians.
“How is he doing?” I asked.
“He’s filled with a thirst for vengeance which is uncommon for him, but Blight had been his friend since Blight was but a small boy.”
I merely nodded, trying to avoid the images and feeling which flooded my mind every time the elven marshal’s name came up.
“So what is going on here?” I said.
“Things are far worse than what we were led to believe,” said Vicis somberly.
“Even with the reinforcements we sent they are having a hard time holding the line. Also, reports have started to come in of an attack on the northern section of the boarder. They are in desperate need of help but that would mean either leaving the elves to fend for themselves or send the bulk of us dragons, who are willing to fight, up north along with some of the students from all of the academies. But as you know, this would run the risk of leaving our planned trap at BlackStorm Keep grossly undermanned and a pose a greater
threat to the fighters there, as the size of the Irkanian force heading there seems to be ever growing,” said Zetzu.
“Lux has already left with a group of dragons and all the Sentinels and elves we had here. Even Kinl was called upon. They will be reinforcing the south; I will be taking the remaining dragons and about half the Dragon Knights to reinforce the north,” said Vicis.
‘What will happen with us then? This plan was meant for all three of the High Dragon Lords to be present as support for Alex. Now only Lord Shadow will be present,” said Axcel, who was dressed in crimson red battle armor. It wasn’t nearly as shinny as mine and the color of his resembled blood all too much for my taste.
I figured I should step in and say something but before I could, the white dragon next to Master spoke up.
“The plan accounted for a darkness dragon, a time dragon, and a light dragon. I am more than enough to fill the task my brother held in this plan. As for the time dragon, after the deal Vicis has made with Alex she has lost all her power over time and the rest of the time dragons are otherwise occupied or uncounted for.”
It took me two seconds to recover from the shock of learning this respectful, well-spoken, and kind dragon was Lord Lux’s sibling in some way. “The plan stands with or without Lord Lux or Vicis. On the last encounter with an Ancient, I had a Dragon Lord and two High Dragon Lords with me. And the only thing we managed to do was survive.”
“What of the students and soldiers who left with Lord Lux? While he was generous enough to leave most of the third year students behind he did still take about half the soldiers who were meant to go with us,” said Adria. She avoided looking at me when she said it.
“It won’t be a problem. The Irkanians should focus for the most part on me. If I can make myself stand out from the crowd their main focus should be me,” I said, confident enough that was true.
“Well you certainly do stand out quite a bit with that Vorm of yours,” said General Narks as he came into our little group.
“General, always a pleasure to have you here with us,” said Vicis, lowering her head slightly as she greeted the general. The rest of us followed suit, “Do you have it ready?”
“I do, your dragoness,” he said with a hint of pride as he spread a large piece of paper over the table which in front of us, “The revised version of your very crude plan.”
We all leaned our heads in to see it. He then proceeded to explain what all the lines and scribbles of words meant. All in all it was a very solid plan with extremely good utilization of the resources at our disposal.
“And if all goes well, you and the ancient dragon should be able to battle it out without significant interference from either the Irkanians or us,” said General Narks.
“A most impressive plan General,” I said, although to me it still looked like a bunch of lines and words with no coherence.
“Thank you Alexander, but ideally I wish we could focus the bulk of our forces in the general area of BlackStorm Keep.”
“You should realize General, rarely in war do we get our way,” said Vicis.
“True enough.”
“Enough has been discussed. We all know where we need to be so how about we start getting there,” said Zetzu.
Our little meeting having ended, I thought I would go speak to Zetzu, but then I saw Adria walking away and figured it was probably for the best to go make up with her, as I doubted I would have the chance to do so later. After all this was an all or nothing plan.
Adria
“Hey, wait up.” I called out to Adria.
She just kept walking so I ran after her. A funny scene to say the least as Andrax followed close behind and people had to scramble to get out of his way to avoid getting run over by the giant Vorm, sometimes literally leaping out of the way.
When I finally caught up to her I grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop.
“Would you wait for a moment?” I asked, collecting my breath.
“What do you want?” she asked, impatiently shaking her arm loose.
“I just wanted to apologize.” I said.
“Don’t. It’s not like you are truly sorry,” she said, clearly still upset.
“I wasn’t apologizing for that. You are right, it’s part of me. I can’t help but help people. You know better than anyone I didn’t want to be a Dragon Knight or some grand Noble. I didn’t want any of it. I was happy being Alexander Kerm, the orphan. Not Alexander Laiks- I was cut off by the yelp of Adria as Andrax began to lift his body from both our shadows. When he finished forming himself I was sitting with my legs dangling on his neck and Adria was sitting on his mid-section with her feet tightly secured on what resembled a saddle.
“Sorry kids, but I was getting impatient on the ground. Besides, flying is a much quicker way to travel to BlackStorm Keep than on horseback and definitely faster than marching there,” he said as he pushed off the ground.
“I didn’t know you could make a saddle,” I said, still amazed at the ever expanding boundaries of magic for an Ancient Dragon.
“I don’t like using one but she is not use to this as much as you are. So I figured for her first time it was fair enough to create one. Now, don’t mine me and keep going with your lovers quarrel,” he said as he made a minor course correction.
“Sorry about that, as you can tell he has a mind of his own,” I said, turning back to face her.
“No no, it’s quite alright…. This is amazing,” she said looking all around.
Even if the battle armor she wore didn’t suit her very well the way the air played with her hair made her look so pretty, aside from the fact I loved to see her awe struck face.
“As I was saying, I didn’t pick this. It was chosen for me, those who fight their fate are bound to cause pain and suffering,” I said, petting Andrax’s neck, which he answered with a snort.
I could tell she wasn’t paying much attention to what I had just said as she was still surveying the scenery from up here, but I continued anyway.
“What I wanted to apologize for was for upsetting you. I know I haven’t been good at keeping our promise but it doesn’t mean I don’t care. It’s just goi-” I stopped as she looked at me with those beautiful eyes of hers and opened her mouth to speak but then froze before any words came out. I choose to patiently wait.
“You do understand why I got upset at you?” She said.
“I think so.”
“I don’t think you do.”
“Then why don’t you tell me.”
She thought about it and took a deep breath. “We have known each other for a very long time. So long in fact, I have often thought of what the future would be like without you or any of the people of the orphanage. No matter how hard I tried I could never see myself being happy without you there. It used to annoy me so much when I realized how dependent on you my happiness was but then I read something which said all creatures are made in pairs and then I finally understood why I couldn’t see myself happy without you,” she paused, still burying her eyes into me, “However, after we joined the Central Academy because of the magical talent we had shown while living in the orphanage everything changed, you were announced to be a Dragon Knight and then taken away and stored in a tower off limits to everyone. I was so confused and mad at the time I blamed you for it. And when you managed to convince me of making up, you were attacked, hurt, and told your parents belonged to the most powerful of the Noble families, putting you outside of my reach yet again. However, even after all that you again managed to reassure me of the fact that even though the world was becoming crazy for you, you still remained the same, which gave me so much hope for that happy future.”
She stopped again and wiped a tear with her hand. I wanted to hug her but I knew if I did she wouldn’t be able to continue. I sensed Andrax slowing down, as if to reach a calmer and comfortable speed for her. I again pet him gently, thanking him.
“And when you came back from Zulia, I was again so afraid that you had changed. So much happe
ned to you while you were there and there was nothing I could do to help you yet again. And when I finally saw you, I could tell you had changed. Your eyes seemed so sad, your smile had shrunk and your worry free face had been replaced with an eternal look of guilt and remorse. It feels like I have lost you. You were supposed to be my happy future,” she said, finishing.
I looked at her long and hard trying to find the correct words to use, which took a considerable amount of effort.
“I have changed.” I said, and those words seemed to shatter something inside of her because her eyes became filled with tears again, “But, that doesn’t mean I can’t be in your happy future.”
Andrax shook his head again and turned his head towards me. “You really are an idiot.”
Adria laughed between tears.
“You see what I have to deal with? Even a dragon gets it.”
I looked from Adria to Andrax and back slightly confused.
“What I am trying to say is I am head over heels for you,” She said plainly.
I heard the words but it was like my brain had been switched off. I instantly reached out and pulled her close for a tight hug. I squeezed her as she laughed between tears but I guess they had converted into tears of happiness.
I whispered gently into her ear, “And me for you,” to which she kept laughing.
We must have remained locked in each other’s arms for over an hour. We began to slowly separate and then I looked at her eyes which had become blue. I looked at them long and hard and when I looked away I found myself standing in a completely white room. I looked at Adria and she was just as confused as me.
“Something is not right,” I said, trying not to sound nervous.
“You don’t say,” came the reply from Andrax who had appeared out of thin air a few feet from us.
“Where are we? Weren’t we just on…” she trailed of as something caught her attention.
I turned to see what it was. And what I saw was truly awe inspiring.
Time Of The Knights (The Dragon Knight Order Series Book 2) Page 15
