by Jordan Baker
Some of the people began to cheer, while others sat silent in awe. A moment later, pandemonium broke out among the crowds as people began to argue about the fight, yelling about the bets they had lost, while others laughed at having unexpectedly won and wishing they had bet more. The fighters in the other circles stopped their matches in a moment's unspoken truce, staring as Aaron leaned down and picked up the naked, blue skinned lizard girl and carried her from the circle.
"I do not know who you are," Lento said, his eyes smoldering with what looked like anger. "But I know Antal of Ashford is not your true name. Who are you?"
At least the man was finally being genuine, Aaron thought, even though he could tell that Lento was clearly angry about what he had done. Aaron did not care.
"Get the healers," Aaron told him as he carried Lexi toward the entrance to the fighters' quarters, where the traders stood. Lento followed him and signaled for the healers, who brought a pallet, which Aaron laid her on then he walked over to the traders.
"The contract," he said to the register, who stood with them.
"You would cheat us?" the lead trader asked and he turned to the register. "Do not give him the contract. This man has cheated in the fights."
"What's this?" Aaron could not believe what he was hearing.
"You have cheated us," the man said then he turned to Lento. "There was nothing in the register about this. We will not honor this arrangement. We will not be cheated."
"And what about that girl?" Aaron asked. "When you made your contract with her, was it before you gave her those potions or after?"
"What is this?" Lento asked.
"She said she does not work for these men, that she is their prisoner," Aaron told him, hoping that there might be some rules against such a thing.
"That is a serious accusation," Lento said. "Contracts are not to be entered lightly."
"These men accuse me of cheating. Is that not also a serious accusation?"
"It is nonsense," Lento said. "There is no cheating in the circles because anything is permitted. We do not have false fights in the circles. In battle, there are no rules."
"Give me the contract and the potions you have been feeding the girl," Aaron said. "Or we can have a real battle, if that's what you would prefer."
"It is better to admit your loss," Lento told the traders. "If the contract was not entered freely, then is it a contract you wish to keep?"
The traders stared at him in silence then the man who was their leader reached into his robes and pulled out the bottle of blue liquid and handed it to Aaron.
"Is that all you have?" he asked.
"That is what you wagered, the bottle of potion, nothing more, nothing less." The trader turned to the register. "Give him the contract."
The register pulled a piece of parchment from his robe and handed it to Aaron. Aaron glanced at the writing on the document and without even thinking about it, flames burst from his fingertips, turning the contract to ash that drifted to the dirt floor of the arena.
"This is what you have done with your prize?" the trader scoffed. "What a waste that is."
"What do you care?" Aaron asked. "You wanted her killed anyway."
The traders shook their heads and muttered in disgust then they turned and walked away into the passage to the fighters' quarters. A few of them glanced back at Aaron as they left and Lento turned to look at the young fighter from the north, who had just used a power that had not been seen in the circles for some time.
"You have made enemies of the traders," Lento told him. "It is good that you use a false name. If you are lucky, they will decide you are not worth the trouble, but I doubt they will forget you, Antal of Ashford. Here is your gold, returned to you as agreed."
Lento handed Aaron the purse of coins then turned and started to walk away.
"Lento, wait. Do you know what this potion is?" Aaron asked, holding up the vial of blue liquid. Lento stopped and turned, looking at the vial.
"It is one of many potions. Only the traders know what magic is contained in these vials and they do not easily share their secrets."
"Will the healers know how to fix things?"
"You must talk to the healers," Lento told him, shortly. "I must continue the fights."
"Thank you for your help, Lento," Aaron said and the man smiled at him.
"Of course. I am always here for the champions of the circles."
Lento walked back out to the circles and Aaron heard the fights resume a few moments later as he followed the healers into the passageway underneath the stands. He handed the vial of blue liquid to one of the healers.
"The traders were making her drink this," Aaron said. The healer, a woman, looked at the blue bottle then removed the stopper and sniffed at it through the cloth wrappings that covered her face.
"This is very powerful medicine," she said. "It will be difficult for her."
"Will she recover?" Aaron asked.
"I do not know. I have never seen a creature such as this. I do not know how this potion affects her or what will be the consequences but we will try to wean her off. Do you have more of this potion?"
"That is all I have," Aaron told her.
She looked at the vial. "It will have to be enough." She tucked the vial into her robes and Aaron followed her and the other healers as they conducted the lizard girl down through the passage and away from the din of the arena.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Cerric lay naked atop the silken sheets and ran his finger down the hard scales on the arm of his queen, who rested her head on his chest. His hand slid from her arm and over one of her breasts, feeling the scaled skin shift to soft, smooth skin the closer he moved to the plump, engorged nipple at its tip. Calexis enjoyed his powerful touch and she felt the warm flush of arousal deep in side her as he caressed her skin, making the warm place between her thighs drip wetter than they already were from their last bout of lovemaking. Her eyes still closed, she was just about to slide her hand down from his chest to see if he was ready to take her again, when she felt his body twitch and he suddenly sat up, almost tossing her aside.
"What is it, my love?" Calexis asked, looking at him as he rose from the bed. She could see that he was aroused but he ignored her as he walked over to the flap of their private pavilion. "Is something wrong?"
"I wondered what had become of him," Cerric mused aloud. "Such power."
"Who?"
"There are many powers in the world, Calexis," he said, turning to look at her. "They try to hide from me, to evade my sight, to deny my rule, but they cannot hide forever. Their power betrays them and I will find them and take what is mine, and mine alone."
"You speak of the rogue mages?" Calexis said. "I understand that there are but a handful left who have not submitted to your authority."
"Mages, yes, and others whose power shall be mine," Cerric said as he walked over to the bed and began to retrieve his clothes and dress himself. Calexis saw that his arousal had passed and it was clear that he was now intent on other things.
"What other power is there if not that of the mages? And the gods, of course."
"Power comes in many forms, Calexis," Cerric said, staring down at her voluptuous, naked body, with the hints of reptilian flesh running along parts of her otherwise flawless skin. "You, of all people, should know this."
"Tell me, husband," she said, getting up and crawling toward him and sliding her fingers into the beltline of his trousers. "Tell me more of these many forms of power."
"Another time, perhaps," he said. "It is time to resume the battle. I have wasted enough time on Kandara."
Cerric pulled away and Calexis' hand slipped from his belt and she let it fall back to the cushions where, she leaned on her elbows and knees, and watched him leave. Calexis wished Cerric was behind her, giving her pleasure the way he had only a short while ago and she rolled over in the sheets, frustrated that he would leave her so abruptly and irritated that he shared so little of his plans with her, his que
en. She rolled under the sheets and smelled the scent of their passion, and she slid a hand between her wet thighs pleasuring herself, intoxicated by the lingering feeling of Cerric's power and frustrated that such power was not yet hers.
*****
The night was dark and a chill was in the air but the blankets in the bed were warm and Ariana enjoyed the feeling of heavy blankets, soft bedding and fine fabric against her skin. She had taken a short but long overdue bath, and given the opportunity to rest, her body had let her know just how tired she was. Yet, no matter how comfortable the bed was and despite how exhausted she was, Ariana could not sleep. She lay awake, staring at the lines of stone in the high, vaulted ceilings of the palace guest chamber she had been given. She listened to the sounds of the breeze blowing through the open window and the occasional sounds of soldiers patrolling the city, making sure that everything remained secure.
A loud, thundering crash shook the palace and Ariana bolted upright in bed. She scrambled out of the heavy blankes and ran across the cool, stone floor to the window and she saw blasts of mage fire streaking over the walls and crashing into the tall buildings of the city. There was a knock at her door and, a moment later, Keira entered.
"Cerric has gone against his word," she said. "The attack has resumed."
"His word means nothing," Ariana muttered.
Keira picked up Ariana's leather armor and helped her put it on, then the two of them made their way down through the palace and out into the city. As they passed the gardens, where Kandaran soldiers had been helping organize food and temporary shelter, they saw a commotion occurring between the soldiers and the people. It appeared that the people were pushing against a line of soldiers who were holding them back from exiting the thicket, which the Elves had opened on the side of the palace.
"Let us go!" someone yelled.
"Give Cerric what he wants!"
"Tell the King to surrender!"
Ariana could not believe what she was hearing. After all the people who had already died defending them, and the thousands more who were ready to risk their lives to keep them safe, the people of the city were willing to just give up and open the gates to Cerric. Outraged, Ariana stormed toward the area where the people were trying to push past the soldiers.
"What is the meaning of this?" she asked.
"He's going to kill us all," someone yelled from the back of the crowd.
"Let them have the city!" another person said. "They'll only kill us if we resist."
"They killed Duke Boric. They want the nobles. Let them have them, I say," said another.
The people at the front of the group, who were pushing against the soldiers, began to shout and agreed with the things that were being said, but Ariana noticed that she could not see any of the people who had spoken before. She reached for her power and, after a moment of reservation, she used her sight to search the minds of the people, to see if that was what they really believed. Most of their thoughts were chaotic and fearful, with images of the dead soldiers and worries of their homes and family members, but Ariana noticed several, whose minds were calm, as though they were not concerned at all. When she touched their minds, she saw only the palace and the city of Kandara, as though in a painting. It made no sense. Why would anyone simply think about the city while everyone else was worried about their lives, unless they were holding that thought on purpose, which would mean they were trying to make sure that their thoughts could not be read. Ariana walked over to the side of the thicket and touched the branches, then she called the trees and let her power flow through them, giving them speed and strength.
Inside the garden there were several screams and people began shouting. Ariana willed the branches and vines forward, toward her and three people were thrust out over the crowd below, held by the branches, with vines twisted tightly around their limbs and necks. A vine followed Ariana, keeping her connected to the tangled of trees as she walked out in front of the people and he soldiers and looked up at the three; two men and a woman, all dressed in plain clothes, looking no different than any Kandaran, except she could now see them gathering their power. She tightened the vines around their necks.
"If you reach for your power, I will kill you this instant!" Ariana yelled.
"What have we done?" one of the people on the ground asked, fearfully.
"Those three," she pointed. "Who are you?"
"Who are we?" one of them asked. "We are nothing but shadows."
"You are mages," Ariana said. "You are members of the priesthood, in league with my uncle."
"We follow the one god," said one of the men.
"We follow Kroma," the woman added.
"Kroma? What's that nonsense you're talking?" a voice rasped from behind Ariana. She turned and saw the old king, Eric staring up at the three mages. "I know the power of Kroma and it is surely in the air, but his little brother Kenra's mixed up in this. I can smell the death magic upon you."
"The power of Kandara," the woman said. "Give it to us and you shall go free."
"No," Eric said. "How is that for an answer? You don't just show up at my castle and demand the power of Kandara. I don't care how powerful you think you are."
"You arrogant old fool," one of the men said, his voice now distinctively resembling Cerric's. "Do you think you can resist the power of a god?"
"Cerric, no matter how powerful you think you are, you are still a nastly little coward, like you have always been," Eric said.
"You would be wise to mind your tongue, old man," Cerric told him.
"You would be wise to leave this land, now." Eric told him. "I should have killed you all those years ago in Maramyr. Perhaps it's time I caught up on a few things."
The mages hanging in the vines all began to laugh, all of them with Cerric's voice and Ariana felt anger burning deep inside her. She tightened the vines around the throats of the three mages, but they just continued laughing.
"I have heard enough," Eric said, his voice growing deeper and louder.
Ariana and the soldiers and people were surprised when the king began to grow in size. His robes began to tear as his body expanded, and the people realized that the old king was not just becoming taller but larger. His robes fell away as he reached out with a hand that was several times the size it had been a few moments ago and wrapped it around the head of one of the mages. Like plucking a grape from a vine, Eric tore the man's head off his shoulders and the people below screamed as blood spilled from the body that was suspended above them and other two mages seemed to revert to their own voices screaming as Eric tossed their companion's head aside and reached for the other man.
Eric continued growing, even larger than his brother, Boric was when he was transformed into his monstrous shape, and he grabbed the mage from the vines and pulled him free, holding the man up like a child's doll. Free of the threat of the choking vines and in an act of desperation, the mage tried to use his power. Ariana saw flames begin to form on the man's fingertips, but Eric laughed and squeezed the mage's body in his hand, crushing the life out of him. He tossed the mangled body and it thudded against a nearby building, falling to the street below. Eric continued to grow and he now towered over the trees of the gardens and Ariana notices his features finally start to shift, beginning to look similar to the way Boric transformed. While the people and soldiers were shocked at Eric's size and the changes in his features, Ariana was less affected, for she had already seen the truth of what he was when he had touched her power. Even with that knowledge, she was still in awe of how enormous he had become and how his body was now changing its shape into something far more deadly than what the Duke had been.
"I detest killing women," Eric growled, his voice booming loudly and the teeth in his mouth now become fangs. He grabbed the woman from the vines with a hand that had grown sharp curved claws and yanked her free as scales began to appear along his arms and spread over the rest of his body. He sniffed at her for a moment then he snorted in disgust. "Woman or not, you are a w
illing servant of the shadows, and there is no mercy for you."
Ariana heard the mage's bones break as Eric crushed the woman in his clawed hand. He held her up and saw that she was dead then he threw her body over the city walls, and toward the army that had begun approaching the city once again. As the old king looked down at the people, they felt like little more than rodents at his feet and were afraid when they saw his reptilian eyes staring at them.
"You do a disservice to these soldiers and those who defended you to let these whispers spread among you so easily," Eric said, his voice deep and thunderous. "The shadows use your fear against you, making you weaker."
"King Eric," said a woman in the crowd. "Please do not hurt us. We meant no harm."
"You think I would harm the people of this land? Fools, the lot of you, but you are fools I am oathbound to defend."
Ariana saw Borrican running toward the gardens from the direction of the city walls.
"Father!" he yelled.
"Borrican," Eric smiled, his mouth now full of long fangs and his face growing longer and more pointed as the scales on his body hardened and took on an armored sheen. Sharp horns pushed from his skull and lengthened into curved spears that swept back from his giant, reptilian brow. Smoke blew in great gusts from his nostrils as Eric looked upon his son. "You and your brother must defend the people. You are the pride of Akandar and it is upon your honor to keep the oath we have sworn since the dawn of the age."
Eric's neck grew longer, his lower body and legs grew thicker, and large, leathery wings unfolded from his back and spread out, catching the night air like giant sails. As his height grew to tower high over the buildings of the city, mage fire and blasts of crackling energy smashed against him with little effect. His transformation complete, he let loose a thunderous and deafening roar. Powerful muscles bunched under thick scales and the ground shook as Eric Akandar leapt into the air, his true and fearsome form a terror in the night sky, the Dragon of Kandara.
