“Now you listen to me, Elder of the Council,” he growled. “You will surrender to me right now. If not, I will order these dragons to kill every Eldenbergian present, starting with you. Then I will have the dragon-king here summon the rest of his army, and we will fly to Eldenberg and reduce it to ash!”
“Calibot,” Devon wailed, “what are you doing?”
“I’m doing what my father wanted,” he yelled, turning savagely on Devon. “I am fulfilling his destiny for me! He set all this in motion. He had Liliana bring me the sword and instructed me to get his body, so I would learn what to do. Then he showed me how to get the Eye of the Dragon. When I merged it with Wyrmblade, it gave me unimaginable power and a clear vision of my father’s plan. I will be King of the Known World.”
“What!” Zod said. “That was my destiny!”
“I’m sorry, Uncle,” Calibot said, “but you’re wrong. That was never your destiny. Father planned that for me. You will serve me as one of my chief lords, but you will not be king.”
“I’ll never serve you, you little brat,” Zod swore.
“Then you will die, and I’ll enslave your soldiers as I have King Sear, here,” Calibot replied.
“Calibot, stop it,” Devon said. “This isn’t you.”
“Yes, it is! This is who I was always supposed to be; I’d just been denying it.”
“Calibot,” Devon said, “you owe your fealty to Duke Boordin. You’re a member of his court, and so am I. This isn’t right.”
Calibot wanted to scream at him. He looked ridiculous, bound by Elmanax’s earth magic. What he was saying was even more stupid. Couldn’t he see what the situation was here?
“The world has changed, Devon,” he said. “I will be king, and Duke Boordin will swear fealty to me. You can rule at my side.”
“I don’t want to rule,” Devon said. “I only wish to serve the duke and to love you. And what if Duke Boordin refuses to swear allegiance to you?”
“He will,” Calibot said. “He knows what’s good for him.”
“And if he doesn’t?” Devon said.
“Then he will die like the rest!” Calibot screamed.
“You’ll never be king,” Elmanax said. “You’re nothing more than a petty tyrant, just like your father.”
“You’d do well to shut your mouth, gnome,” Calibot said. “I have the power to kill you. You’re not as immortal as you think.
“And I will be king. I have the might of the Wild Lands at my command. If the human city-states won’t kneel before me of their own volition, I will bring forth an army of their nightmares from the Wild Lands and conquer them.
“This is Gothemus Draco’s will, and you will all heed it! I am king! Any who resist will suffer at the power of Wyrmblade and the Eye of the Dragon!”
He glared imperiously at everyone, turning in a slow circle. Wyrmblade blazed menacingly. Let someone defy him. Just let one person try.
“Calibot,” Devon said in a small, pleading voice.
“What!” Calibot shouted, whirling towards him.
“Listen to yourself,” Devon continued. “This is your father’s plan; it isn’t yours.”
“I never had a plan, Devon! That was the problem.”
“Yes, you did,” Devon argued. “You planned to write poetry, and you became good at it. You earned a position in the court of the Duke of Dalasport.
“This isn’t you, Calibot. This is your father. You never wanted to be a king. You never wanted anything to do with him. Let it go.”
Calibot stared at him incredulously. Didn’t he understand? Couldn’t he comprehend there was no choice?
“Calibot,” Liliana said.
“What!”
She was supposed to be his ally. That’s what Father intended. Had she now turned on him?
“You are correct that this is what your father intended,” she said. “And I will serve you however you choose. But don’t mistake your father’s desires for immutable destiny. If you want to be a king, be the king you want to be, not the one you think he wanted. And if you choose not to be a king . . .”
She didn’t finish the sentence. She just left the thought hanging there. He gaped at her. What she said made no sense at all.
“Calibot,” Devon said, “listen to Liliana. You have a choice. Your destiny belongs to you, not to anyone else. Be the man you want to be.”
That turned his thoughts black. He glared at Devon.
“You mean the man, you want me to be.”
“I want you to be who you want to be,” Devon countered. “If this is what you choose, I will respect it. But it has to be your choice, Calibot, not your father’s.”
“My father loved me! That’s why he did this!”
“No, Calibot,” Devon said, shaking his head sadly. “He didn’t love you. If he had loved you, he would have accepted you as a poet. If he loved you, he would have bequeathed you something meaningful to you, not to him.”
Zod muttered a curse and spit on the ground. He scowled at Calibot. The look of disappointment was the same one Gothemus had always given him. Devon was undeterred.
“This elaborate scheme of his to get you power, to give you the sword and the Eye so you could become king of everything is what he wanted for you,” Devon said. “It’s not what you wanted.
“I do not think your father was capable of love. If he was, he would have done all this for Zod. He’s the one who wanted it. But Gothemus Draco didn’t love his brother either. He took the things his brother craved and gave them instead to his son who didn’t want them. Your father wanted to control the world, even after he died.”
Calibot stood gaping at him. It couldn’t be true. This had to mean his father loved him. It had to! He’d finally given Calibot his approval. He’d finally found him worthy.
Except that he’d only found Calibot worthy of doing what Gothemus wanted. He wasn’t worthy of respect for his own accomplishments or interests.
Tears streamed down his face. Why did Devon have to ruin everything? Why couldn’t he have just accepted Calibot’s fate?
“It doesn’t matter,” Calibot said.
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t have a choice, Devon!” Calibot shouted. “This is my father’s magic. I’m doing what I am because he willed it. I can’t do otherwise. The spell is too strong.”
“You’re wrong,” Devon said. “You can resist. Your father was the most accomplished wizard anyone has ever known, but his sorcery is based in greed and power. There is a stronger kind of magic, Calibot – love. Love is the mightiest magic there is.
“And I love you. I’ve loved you since I met you. I love you for who you are and who you want to be. I don’t care if you never write another verse, Calibot. I love the person inside you.
“And that love, that magic, is more powerful than your father’s. If you love me, if you can feel that inside you, then you can choose whatever you like. Even if you decide to follow your father’s plan to the letter, you can elect to do it instead of letting his sorcery control you.”
Calibot stared at him. With his arms held out by Elmanax’s earth bonds, Devon looked sad and weak. His eyes were wet. Tears cut rivers through the dirt on his cheeks. He was grimy and beaten and exhausted.
But his love shone through him. It blazed behind his brown eyes like a star searching for a way to burst out.
Love. Was this what it was? Was it really that simple and warm? Calibot didn’t know for certain. He’d never felt it before he met Devon. Regardless, it felt better than anything he’d ever known.
He looked at Wyrmblade burning maliciously in his hand and grew disgusted. He ordered the flames to go out. They obeyed immediately.
“Rise, Sear,” he said. “I release you.”
“What?” Zod said.
A murmur went through the crowd. Everyone looked around, trying to determine if Calibot was serious and if the dragons would now kill them.
Sear lifted his head off the ground cautiously. He eyed Ca
libot suspiciously. Calibot held out Wyrmblade.
“Here,” Calibot said. “The sword and the stone are yours.”
“Calibot, no!” Zod said. “That’s not what your father wanted. If you won’t fulfill your destiny, at least give the sword to me, so Gothemus’s wishes will be partially obeyed.”
“No, Uncle Zod,” Calibot said. “King Sear is right. The Eye of the Dragon is a means to enslave his people. Wyrmblade is a tool to harm them. It’s time they charted their own path again.”
“But my castle, my business, the economy,” Zod protested. “You’re making fundamental changes to the shape of the world. You don’t have the right!”
“No, Uncle Zod, my father made those changes. He decreed I should be king. He took away your power and made me his heir. If you want to blame anyone for the fall of your regime, blame him. After all, it was you and he who put the world at your mercy in the first place. This is simply an end to that unnatural order.
“As for your business, negotiate with King Sear for safe passage through the Wild Lands. He may give it for the right price.”
Calibot returned his attention to Sear. He proffered the sword again.
“Take it, Your Majesty,” Calibot said. “Take it and go in peace.”
“Are you certain?” Sear said. “What’s to stop me from burning the human cities to the ground in revenge, once I have it?”
“Honor,” Calibot said. “I trust you to have more of it than the people who enslaved you.”
The look on Sear’s face told Calibot he’d made the right move. Sear gaped at him in wonder and appreciation.
“Very well, Calibot Draco,” Sear said. “I accept your peace accord.”
He reached for Wyrmblade.
“No!” Elmanax screamed and came rushing forward. “You can’t have it! It’s mine! I’m taking it back!”
He leaped at Calibot with an insane look on his face. His hands glowed with magical energy, and dark red rays of death exploded from them in Calibot’s direction. Liliana waved her hand, and the beams turned to steam.
Calibot pulled Wyrmblade back and swung it at the gnome, reigniting the flames as he did so. Elmanax had a moment to look surprised before Calibot cut him in half. The two pieces of him turned to stone and shattered when they hit the ground. Everyone stared in fear and amazement.
“Good riddance,” Zod commented.
“Agreed,” Lord Vicia said.
When Elmanax died, the bonds holding Devon shattered. He nearly fell over as he was released. Then he stumbled over to Calibot, took him in his arms, and kissed him passionately.
Calibot submitted happily. A joy and warmth he’d never understood before overtook him. This was how he always felt in Devon’s arms, and it was how he wanted to feel forever.
After a moment, they withdrew and stood smiling at each other. Calibot felt as if he’d lost Devon in a dark forest and had found him again after weeks of searching. He supposed, though, that it was likely the other way around.
“Excuse me for just a moment,” he said as he disengaged himself. “I have something to finish.”
He approached Sear and held out Wyrmblade. The dragon extended his claws and took it carefully. Then he nodded.
“Thank you, Calibot Draco,” he said.
“My name is not Draco,” Calibot said. “Not anymore. From now on, it’s Vensor. No, wait a moment. No, it’s Middleton. From henceforth, I will be Calibot Middleton.”
Tears flowed freely down Devon’s face. He glowed with a light Calibot had never seen. He hoped it never stopped.
“Very well, Calibot Middleton,” Sear said. “You and all you name shall enjoy the protection and friendship of my kingdom for as long as you live.”
“Then I ask that dragons and humans live in peace unless you are attacked,” Calibot said. “And while I understand why you wouldn’t want to, you might consider striking some sort of a bargain with my uncle.”
Sear turned his attention to Zod for a moment and fixed him with what Calibot thought was a wicked smile. Zod looked irritated.
“I shall negotiate fairly with him,” Sear said. He looked at Zod again. “Send your envoy whenever you are ready.
“Farewell, Calibot.”
He beat his wings and shot up into the sky. The other dragons followed. They formed a ring over the battlefield, circled twice, and then flew off towards the Wild Lands.
Chapter 34: A Different Destiny
“You pathetic sap,” Zod said when the dragons were out of sight. His face was pregnant with disgust and anger. “Your father gave you everything. He made you King of the Known World. He pulled you from your sad, little life in Dalasport and made you someone to be respected and feared. And you shit on it. You threw it all away on nothing. Love. I’ve never heard anything more ridiculous.”
Calibot turned towards him slowly. Shock at the insult and anger at the implied hero-worship of his father boiled over inside him. He’d had enough.
“Listen to me and listen well, Uncle,” Calibot growled. “Shut. Your. Mouth. I am sick of everyone talking about how great my father was. My father was nothing. You are nothing. You’re an empty, sad, little man, who spent his entire life preying upon everyone else. You got rich and fat with your ironmongering, but you didn’t earn any of it. You helped father steal an artifact and then you sponged off his ability to control the Wild Lands. You did none of it on your own, and now you’re angry that I’ve taken it all away from you.
“But the truth is I didn’t take it away; your beloved brother did. He gave the tools to succeed him to me instead of you. He thought so little of you, he made me his heir when he knew you wanted it, and he told me to make sure you didn’t get Wyrmblade or the Eye of the Dragon! He betrayed you, Uncle, and you deserved it. You deserved it, because, without Gothemus Draco, you’re nothing, and you never were.
“Go back to your fortress in the Blackskull Mountains. Spend your days contemplating the betrayals you’ve endured and the utter lack of accomplishments you’ve made with your sad, sycophantic life. Or don’t. Go out into the world and spend your ill-gotten profits actually doing something. Earn the moniker you gave yourself.
“But whatever you do, shut your filthy mouth and get out of my sight. I don’t want to see you again.”
“You insolent, little bastard,” Zod said, his face a mask of surprise at being spoken to that way. “You don’t have your magic sword anymore. You can’t protect yourself from me. I’ll kill you for what you’ve done.”
Devon stepped in front of Calibot. His face was serene. He didn’t look at all perturbed by anything he’d heard. But his muscles were tense. He lifted his sword and adopted a casual but defensive stance.
“There is no need for Calibot to possess Wyrmblade, Lord Zod,” Devon said, his voice smooth and light. “For I am here and armed. Before you consider crossing swords with me, I will remind you I am younger and faster than you. And I am not injured.”
Before Zod could retort, Liliana also stepped forward. Like Devon, her face was completely placid, as though threatening one of the Known World’s most powerful warriors were everyday business.
“And should you still choose to oppose us,” she said, “you will face magic in addition to steel.”
Zod looked at them all as though they were insane. He spat in Calibot’s direction.
“I suggest you gather your army and return home, Lord Zod,” Devon said. “Lord Vicia still has a sizeable advantage in numbers. It would be a shame if she were to renew hostilities.”
Zod whipped his head in the Elder’s direction. She smiled menacingly.
“All right, let’s go,” he shouted. “Pack it up and get us out of here.”
The Eldenbergians looked to Lord Vicia for instruction. She raised her hand to indicate they should do nothing. Zod’s soldiers started moving towards their encampments.
“Burn in Hell, Calibot,” Zod cursed as he limped away.
“You first,” Calibot replied. “Tell Father I said hello
when you get there.”
He stood staring after Zod until he was well out of earshot. Then his shoulders sagged. At last, finally, it was all over. He could go back to Dalasport. He could go back to the duke and to Drake and Drudger. He could go back to his life.
“Come on,” Devon said, echoing his thoughts. “Let’s go home.”
“Wait!” Lord Vicia said. She took a few cautious steps towards them. “Take me with you.”
“What?” Devon said.
“I can’t go back to Eldenberg,” she explained. “Not after I failed this way. With the Eye of the Dragon gone and the supply of iron cut off for the foreseeable future, my mission will be viewed as a failure. The death of Gothemus Draco made things so much worse for us, not better. I’ll be stripped of my title as an Elder. I might even be imprisoned.
“But I could be a valuable asset to Duke Boordin. Not only am I a powerful magician – something the duke doesn’t have at the moment – I’m a former member of the Council of Elders. I could give him information enabling him to dominate Eldenberg. Dalasport could rise as the most powerful force in the Known World.”
Calibot was stunned. A month ago, no one would have listened to him on any political subject at all. Maybe not even Devon. Now, influential people were begging him to make decisions that would change the balance of power. He didn’t know how to respond to her.
But Devon did. He smiled the same smile to her he’d given Zod before threatening him.
“Lord Vicia,” he said, sounding sympathetic. “Your offer is indeed generous, and I understand your plight very well.
“But you’re a murderer. You killed Gothemus Draco to make Eldenberg and the Council of Elders the supreme force in the Known World. You attempted to kill us just a few days ago as we fled here with Gothemus’s ashes.
“Moreover, you have shown yourself to be willing to do anything in the name of politics. You betrayed Gothemus Draco and murdered him, and now you are willing to betray the Council to become Duke Boordin’s advisor, because the political wind has shifted. You would no doubt do the same to the duke should you believe the situation warranted it.
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