Ascension of the Warlock (Book 4 of the Death Incarnate Saga)

by Jr H. Lee Morgan

  By the time Daku shrunk and landed on his shoulder did Rex Gralla walk up and glare at the forest. “White King, if we had known a hatchery survived we would have rescued them.”

  “No time for apologies. You all just follow me and be careful.” Cage said and felt a moment of nostalgia as he created the thin pressure beneath his feet, being the forest they moved at was the first time he learned it. The frigid air remained the same as he looked to be skating on boots downhill. The only difference was a full host of dragons hot on his heels and were also skating on all fours.

  The cut area became denser with trees heavily loaded with snow. Cage began to wonder what the dragons were going to do because they headed straight to where nobody called Frozen Forest home for it was too dangerous. And the sky was completely covered in thick clouds, enough to show the outline of the sun was missing. He didn’t have to wonder long as he slipped through the trees, flowing around them like water. Behind him timber was leveled in the might of Rex Gralla and her warriors. Her head was held high while her chest toppled some of the mightiest pines and oak as if they were saplings. But Cage’s sharp memory led straight to an area where less trees hindered him.

  Over the crashing sounds of acres of trees falling in the dragons’ charge Cage said “Gralla, you all showed up in two minutes. I never expected you to rally forces so quickly.”

  She didn’t slow as more trees fell beneath her, some snow clinging to her scaly breast. “My mate arrived at a most opportune time, Cage. I was deciding on the next general to order the colony’s defenders since I already knew what my daughter Yamii decided four rotations ago, binding with the new leader of your people, Moril if I pronounce it correctly.”

  “Yep.”

  “Those you see with me are all potential generals who have honorably fought countless battles.” She paused to flick her house sized hand to knock away another tree. “We were making the final decisions between ten candidates when Mox arrived saying you saw a still active griffin hatchery. All here followed me to free the hatchlings. I still do not know how one has survived the ages and gone unnoticed for so long. Mox is the keeper of the spell you saw which disguised and protected griffin eggs from pillagers and he alone knows the spell. We know not how this one was missed. All six hundred and thirteen hatcheries we established have been accounted.”

  “Well how long has Frozen Forest been around?” He asked while slipping around a pit he could now see. The perfect circle was fifty feet wide, snow disguising it and would be too dangerous, but the circling mana waited hungrily for prey.

  “Eleven thousand cycles, caused by a misguided soldier dragon and a warlock. It will require another three thousand cycles to dissipate their battle and heal the land. Many thousands of spells remain from their battle, but we have successfully severed the connection to the planets abundant mana sixty nine cycles ago. Much of the power still saturates the soil.” Then her wings spread as she said “Caution must be taken here.” All the dragons slid to a stop, as did Cage as he saw a translucent, netlike wall crossing between two huge hills with a valley mostly clear of trees, but dotted with hundreds of pits.

  “What is it?” Cage asked.

  Rex Gralla looked back and forth before saying “A velocity activated spell that will slice through one’s body and if it touches wards at great speeds it will wrap around you and sling you into space too fast for any living being to survive. We must walk through here without magic’s aid.”

  Taking her advice Cage’s feet hit the cold snow and they went from smooth to porous almost instantly. He led the way, the ground shaking like an earthquake as over a hundred giants followed and avoided the treacherous holes. To occupy the time to pass beyond the net that stood over a mile away Cage hissed in their language still “Mox, this spell you used, could a warlock have copied it?”

  “Unlikely, but what are you pondering?” The black one asked from behind his mate.

  “Well, why did I alone see it? Why couldn’t Daku as he followed me through here with Brooke? Why didn’t you know about a hatchery that has your spell? Why has it been missing for so long without anyone’s notice, even before you said the battle between the soldier and warlock created this frozen nightmare? Someone was bound to have seen it and I doubt you of all people would forget a hatchery. So I asked myself just now, why did I see it when you didn’t have a clue it existed and why even Daku was surprised when I showed both of you the illusion from my memory.” He drew Ghosts Bane and Rex Gralla barely tensed her muscles, but she saw the pale blade wasn’t going to be used as it didn’t turn black. “What if your spell was modified with blood magic?”

  Surprise showed in Mox’s expression when Cage tapped the infinity symbol in the guard. “Of course! That makes sense, Cage. If a warlock used their own blood to bind the spell it could hide the hatchery from every eye except another with warlock’s blood. Your ancestors must have spied and learned my spell and modified it to their own ends. If they made a hatchery… wait, I remember!” Cage looked over his shoulder while sheathing the sword. “White King, in your memories, how many eggs were reported stolen eighteen rotations after we sealed the nexus?”

  Daku closed his eyes to search his genetic memories and said “It is clouded to me, but there was one scent of a vile warlock my mother ate before I was concieved.”

  “Yes, he was cruel, but he was convicted of stealing griffin eggs, dozens if I’m not mistaken. He said he destroyed them before your kind drew warlock blood. I remember he was caught stalking me during the last five cycles at the nexus. It was a prelude to your thousand cycle war between your peoples. What if he didn’t destroy the eggs, simply hid them as maybe a bargaining tool?”

  “Then if Cage hadn’t come, nothing would be known of this.” Daku said, filling with hope. “How far are we, Cage?”

  “If we can get to moving faster after that,” he gestured to the ever immense netting. “and travel without a break… by nightfall or just after.”

  “We shall not rest till we find the hatchery.” Rex Gralla said with conviction.

  “Fine by me.”

  As they traversed the field and passed the net, avoiding all the deceptive, seemingly bottomless pits, they reapplied the cushion spell and skated on the exact path he and Brooke first took when going to rescue Meeka, Lanna, Moril and Zatal from slavery. No break was made, but they did drink while on the move. Gralla made no attempt to move around trees as she was a monster of destruction. She and her followers didn’t care about anything except their purpose. While speeding around another hill Cage spotted all the caves he and Brooke took shelter in and shook his head as he had already moved further in a few hours rather than the previous days.

  They later came upon more odd traps that required more walking, but they passed by quickly. Each glide forward Cage could sense Daku’s anticipation. Even without the mind-link, Daku quivered on his shoulder, claws digging into the robe’s fabric.

  “Relax, Big Guy, I’m going as fast as I can.” Cage whispered.

  Daku realized what he was doing and looked down at the small holes his claws made. “Sorry, but I’m so overwhelmed. I truly hope it is a griffin hatchery, but fear if there are eggs, what consequences may result after millions of years. It is believed an egg could be healthy forever so long as the shell isn’t cracked from the outside, but never has an egg gone so long before.”

  “One step at a time, Daku. One step at a time… Just stay beside me and relax. For once, let me do something important for you.” Cage slid over a trap and didn’t fall, like last time he learned the levitating, skating spell.

  “I’m just hoping to see another of my kind living for the first time in a thousand years. Just one, that is all I really want. It would be disheartening if this warlock hid only dragon eggs and really broke my flocks’ eggs as he claimed.” Daku sighed. “I need to remember patience.”

  “Don’t. If you haven’t noticed, look behind. The most patient race in the universe didn’t hesitate to show up, just to help o
ut and offer much more protection to help you and I.”

  His statement had the hundred or so following dragons’ roaring their allegiance.

  When darkness fell the whole area around their train was lit brilliantly with light. A thousand miniature suns bathed the landscape as they continued. Cage was forced to displace the air in front of his face as it had become too frigid moving so fast against the biting wind. Still they didn’t even slow.

  By just before midnight Cage slid to a stop and raised his voice magically so even the furthest follower could hear. “Be careful! The valley up ahead is actually a ravine! It is likely weight sensitive as well as magic. Anything heavier than a human will trigger the ravine to open wide and eat you. Brooke and I almost died here when crossing through, but on the other side is our destination. Better let me go first and see if I can cut down a path along the steep hill magically. The trees are too thick and will annoy you if you have to level them anyway.”

  “Then we shall rest for a short time.” Rex Gralla said and many of the soldiers collapsed flatly. She though stood regally proud, bathed in false sunlight, keeping a constant eye on Cage as he slipped away.

  In the valley Cage extended his senses, only to remember that after a few feet it just fizzles out. Exterior sensory was deprived along with the numbing feel of constant magic. He didn’t want any mistakes made so he conjured up a miniature swirling vortex and blew all the snow off the ice and forced it down the long pass.

  A roar of wind shredded the vortex as a gaping maw of ice opened up a quarter mile away. He kept pushing and creating more cyclones while unsheathing Ghosts Bane and walking up a slope. By the time it reached the end of the valley Cage discovered thirty two ravine traps.

  Daku leapt off as Cage dropped into a stance and turned his white sword black and made a sudden, singlehanded slash at a reasonable angle. A single arc wave of slicing energy slid through trees, rock, dirt and mountain as if it were butter. The angled slice coupled with gravity made a massive landslide which effectively buried the ravine’s cap. The thousands and thousands of tons of debris triggered more spells and the ice buckled.

  A monumental blast of air shot up from the weaker weights, bringing debris with it, but they watched as soon as the landslide was consumed, the icy road reconstituted itself as if nothing happened. “That was interesting. Must be miles deep if it can consume so much dirt and trees and still be deep enough to make more ice.” Daku quipped.

  Cage looked at his handiwork as his partner climbed back up and he narrowed the lids to say “The power and trajectory were nearly perfect. I cut a path all the way to the lake with one swipe and I can just make out the pyramid from here.”

  “Where?” Daku and Rex Gralla said together as she came down with her mostly recovered troops.

  “Look just past the last visible patch of brown dirt I cut through. Do you see that frozen lake? Right in the middle. Even from here it remains like a mirage… only it’s glowing this time. My ascension hasn’t made it any clearer.”

  Blue and fiery orange eyes narrowed to peer further. “I see nothing. White King?”

  “Neither do I, Rex.”

  “Your hypothesis is likely correct.” Mox next said to the warlock. “I am blind to it, but our senses are too diluted to be of any use by this place. If not for our eyes, much will threaten us.”

  “Let’s go.” Cage said as he skated around and over fresh stumps or where mounds of frozen dirt once stood and was now gone. Behind, the reptiles were more anxious and it showed in their speed. Cage had to push harder just to stay ahead and not need to worry about getting stomped on. But there was plenty of room for two behemoths to run together.

  Miles were eaten up in no time at all.

  Then Daku held on when Cage slid to a sudden stop at the lake’s edge. “Damn, there is no way we can cross those spells. The entire lake is riddled with them.”

  “Dangerous indeed.” Rex Gralla said and her eyes darted everywhere. “There are too many spells to strip and they are connected and shall implode like a bomb if any tampering occurs. It is locked by a phrase and will not open for us. Something is certainly hidden in the center of this clearing.”

  “If any tampering results in an implosion then it will destroy the pyramid. And I doubt anyone alive knows what it is and for all we know, one error could trigger a self-destruct function. At the moment I see only one option.”

  “Me.” Daku said matter-of-factly.

  “Give us some time, White King. We must be cautious and maybe your immunity to most magics will cause just what we fear. If there are hatchlings, we cannot make risks worsen.” Rex Gralla spoke. Daku balled his furry fist and realized the truth so he dipped his beak. “Surround the clearing!” She ordered. “Follow the magic and how it is woven. Do not attempt to use magic of any kind until we understand all.”

  The host surrounded almost every inch and laid down with wide, unblinking eyes. Cage also studied and spoke with the Rex. “Gralla, you see where all the tendrils emanate from?” she grunted. “Well to me it looks like some kind of metallic gemstone that is housing a fake griffin egg. Now that I can look closer, it is some kind of red stone sitting on top of the pyramid. I think that is the control crystal and power source.”

  “Show me its appearance.”

  Cage stepped away and created what he was seeing. “It looks about eighty to ninety feet tall, four sides. When I circled around just now I found a rusted metal door here, I think. A lot of snow is hugging it, but compared to the granite looking stone, the rust was distinctive. The tip was cut level, holding up the fake egg. Does the red mean anything?”

  “It does.” The Rex admitted. “During the war between your two races, female griffins captured, and were slew, sometimes carried an egg yet to be laid. Warlocks painted the shell red, but broke the stem. It was a sign of aggression and cruelty. To paint that red likely meant he planned to instigate the war right after the nexus’ closing. But this metal gem, can you enlarge it. I know it is difficult to see it clearly with the spell, but it might help.” Cage glared at the pyramid and transposed the housing magically, enlargement it. Every moment it became more detailed as he pieced its look together.”

  “I’m afraid it is, White King.” The Rex admitted her concern.

  “I must have missed something.” Cage said as snow crunched underfoot.

  Daku explained “That is the rarest substance in the universe. It is called Verill and can only be touched by magic. Any living creature that touches that object will die from a violent reaction. It is anti-life. It can hold more power than the rarest of diamonds,” Blue eyes shifted to his partner’s hand. “can kill instantly and is said to do so in the most excruciating ways. I thought all of this from Raliea was eradiated in the sun?” he shifted the question to the Rex of Blind Mountains.

  “As did we. Apparently we were all played like fools.”

  “It is a good thing I can no longer die. If my ancestors knew of this hatchery they would have still touched it, but that was before we bound ourselves to warlocks. Most likely it will be me that must destroy the Verill or at least get it away so it can be sent away forever.”

  By the morning after a whole day’s work, it turned out that Daku was right. It was found there was no way for anyone to get in or destroy the Verill any other way. Over a hundred highly skilled dragons made it quicker to realize such and found any magic that so much as gets within three hundred feet of the pyramid will activate the worst spells.

  Everyone stayed surrounding the lake, but were up and poised to react in the worst possible scenario. Daku took on the size of a small whale and stretched his muscles in preparation. Cage again made sure the long rope was tight before coming around. “Remember, I’ve calculated the height as eighty five feet from the snow. You have only four feet of room to grab. We’ll mind-link so I can guide you. Go in fast and get out.” Daku clicked his beak and nodded.

  He then jumped into the air and flew away to gain what he needed.

&n
bsp; Cage though climbed Rex Gralla and stood on her forehead. “A little lower.” She lowered her head. “A little more, more… Stop. Your head is now aligned with the top.” He turned around and thought “She’s aimed right at it. You ready?”

  “For more than a thousand years.” The ancient king responded and shot right for them at high speeds. He passed right by Rex Gralla’s head like an arrow released from a powerful bow.

  “Daku, up ten feet!” A flap on the wings made the correction without a moment’s hesitation. “Right on target! In five, four, three, two, one… Now!”

  The streamlined flight slowed marginally as huge furry hands spread. One angled down to lift and the other to wrap. Daku felt his knuckles scrape a hard surface just before he shrieked in pain. Never had he felt such and none ever heard a griffin make such a noise. The intensity made the king buckle and tumble through the air, clutching something to his breast. Snow exploded on his landing and he writhed, but retained just enough consciousness to hold on.

  “Pull!” Cage screamed while clutching his head as the pain of Daku bled through their link and they shared the torture.

  Five dragons bit down harder on a thick rope tethered around Daku’s ankles and drug him away from everyone. The five ran as hard as possible.

  Mox waited and watched for the very moment to act. The very second the pyramid was revealed he magically jerked the Verill out of Daku’s grasp and moved it as far away as possible. The moment the housing felt magic it glowed and made a sucking noise before an explosion detonated not ten feet from Daku.

  The pain abruptly cut off and left Cage disoriented. His body hurt and his ears registered Rex Gralla’s words. “Rest, Little One. I’m holding you. The White King has lost all of his legs in the implosion, but is being tended to.”

  It was hard to control his breathing before sitting up in her large hand, her head arched to show great concern. “I’m better, just need a drink to wash my mouth out. Bit my tongue.”