Bahati flew out into the air for the very first time and it felt wondrous, the air felt so fresh and cool over her scales but then she became distracted by the skinny trail of her brother’s scent and so followed it straight down with Ryxa following close behind. On the ground she pointed to a slight indentation. “See mother this is where the egg hit and then it bounced into the water.”
Ryxa gasped at the thought that he had drowned, watching as Bahati flew low over the brook and stuck her head into the water. “Mother his cracked egg is down there but he escaped it.” She landed on the path that nature had carved over millions of years and sniffed. “He walked this way. Why would a dragon walk when he can fly?”
Ryxa cleared her throat. “The only reason for a dragon to walk any distance is because of injury. Can you still follow your brother’s scent?”
Bahati nodded. “Not only can I follow his scent I can see it.”
That was puzzling to Ryxa. “You can see his scent?”
“Come on he went this way.” Bahati flew low to the ground.
Ryxa now had hope that she would find Daganth alive but she also knew that desire would not defeat reality and so she remained worried and she really didn’t want her baby to see her dead brother if it came to that but at this point there might be no way around it. She tried hard to contain her enthusiasm but it wasn’t easy.
Bahati flew faster and in time Ryxa realized that she was heading in the direction of Leeander. Could it be that Daganth had gone in search of Marcus? She smiled as she remembered the silly dragon calling Marcus his father. Ryxa followed her baby girl as she went higher and now she could see Darius’s castle in the distance, and so it really did appear that’s where the scent led. No matter how hard Ryxa tried she could not pick up Daganth’s scent. Bahati flew over the kingdom’s walls and immediately spotted Daganth in between two trees and it looked like he was dead, in fact they were digging a hole to bury him.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
CYRUS WAS PRONE ON THE FLOOR and his heart had stopped beating; he wasn’t dead but his life energy had been temporarily suspended as his body was going through supernatural changes. The stones had encircled his heart, some having completely passed through it. The ruby was now in his left ventricle and the purple sapphire in his right. The red gem was producing a liquid that was making its way through his veins as tiny circular droplets, like horses on a winding path. The purple sapphire was slowly spinning in place, with tiny gains of purple dust being released and adhering to the wall of his heart.
Cyrus’s body jerked violently as his heart commenced to beat, taking in a long deep breath; his chest now moving up and down sluggishly. He coughed several times but remained unconscious as his eyes were moving around erratically behind his eyelids, protruding somewhat as if they were going to escape from their cavities. An oval grey rock shell formed around him, pieces of it materializing out of nothing, much like a baby dragon being trapped inside an egg it enclosed him. A final jagged piece completed the shell and it commenced to spin so fast that it was a blur, changing colors from grey to black and then pink and lastly a dull orange.
Cyrus opened his eyes and felt different, almost as if he was in someone else’s body. It was dark inside the oval and he couldn’t see anything, trying to sit up he slid; there was water or some other liquid in with him. Panicking he screamed as he scratched at part of the wall, couldn’t remember what had happened, thought he might be in some monster’s stomach and being slowly digested. A piece of the elongated container fell off revealing light, he kicked at the cavity making it big enough for him to crawl out, now noticing that he was covered in blood.
“What just happened?”
Cyrus managed to stand and staggered around as he if had had too much mead, felt like the chamber was spinning and then he vomited up blood several times, forceful heaves that splattered the floor as well as the wall. He felt like he might give up his ghost, wondering if he had been poisoned somehow. Cyrus’s right hand was shaking and the tremor went through his entire body. He was so weak that he was forced to sit, when he closed his eyes he could see words forming, and every time he blinked it was something different. Sentences were forming in an unknown language, some with green triangles beside them, others with black squares, one with a spinning sphere. He again stood up and staggered sideways falling in the corner, rolled on his back and remained there, hoping to get enough strength to be able to walk. He recalled how the gem had entered his skin through his hand, and as he stared at it he could see the fresh wound still bleeding a little.
He closed his eyes to rest slipping into a deep sleep and into a strange dream.
Cyrus walked down a forest path that led to an immaculate white castle that sparked in the morning sun. Two white dragons sat atop the castle walls, watching him as he rode in on his black stallion across the league-long moat. Servants came out to greet him; one took his horse to the stables as another bowed.
“Has the boy been destroyed?” Cyrus gave the servant a stern look forcing him to look away.”
“I’ll let you hear it from the dragon’s mouth sire.”
Cyrus looked up at the dragons and gestured for them to come down. “Approach.”
Both white dragons with fiery red eyes flew down, one circling before it landed. “The wizard has not been vanquished your majesty. We barely escaped with our lives. Look at my wing!” The underside of the dragon’s wing was black from having been burnt, but beneath the blackness was red raw meat, having lost some of its scales in that area.
Cyrus opened his eyes again and as he did so the oval that had confined him collapsed and turned to black smouldering dust.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
ASHER GRABBED A STRAW BROOM from the corner and swept Marcus’s wand against the far wall. Kapano was bleeding from the back of his head and curiously even a healing spell did nothing to heal or alleviate the pain. Marcus was fastened to a table with magic and remained in a deep sleep.
It was then that Aewyn had an idea. “What if we bring the staff to the boy and simply touch him with it? Might his force not open the staff’s ability?”
Kapano shrugged from a nearby chair, feeling miserable. “I guess it’s worth a try.”
“Let’s see what happens,” said Asher. He went and grabbed the staff and headed toward Marcus, but once he was within an arm’s length he was unable to move it any closer. “It won’t let me touch him.”
Aewyn shook his head. “That’s poppycock, here I’ll do it.” But no matter how great the effort he was unable to get the staff to Marcus, some sort of opposite force pushed against him; the harder he tried the harder it pushed back. And then both of them tried together but it was no use. One couldn’t counter what one didn’t understand.
Marcus’s eyes opened wide as his feet began to move, sleepwalking once more although he was unable to get up. He opened his right hand and the wand flew into it and the three wizards ran out of the chamber, no one wanted to be killed. They ran down the hall and waited, wondering if he could manage to free himself. After some time had passed Asher made his way back to the doorway and peeked in; a bolt of lightning was fired by the wand itself, exploding part of the doorway, sending dust and pebbles into his face, burning the hair off the side of his head and taking a large chunk of stone out of the far wall behind him, making him run back to the others.
“Is he free?” asked the wounded Kapano.
Asher felt the side of his head. “He took my earlobe off. How can he be sleepwalking if he’s using his wand?”
The wand vibrated in an attempt to wake Marcus but it didn’t work; he was in a deep supernatural sleep. The boy dropped his wand and because of it the sorcerer in the wand lost his ability to launch an attack. Aewyn took a quick peek inside the chamber, rushed in and swept the wand out into the hallway as the others re-entered. Kapano slowly returned to his chair as they all considered their next move.
“What would happen if we kill the boy?” said Asher. “Would not his essence fill
this chamber? At least temporarily. Kapano what do you think?”
Kapano scratched his face as he thought. “Perchance it might work but how would we do it?”
Aewyn nodded as he considered. “I have a charmed dagger. I could plunge it into the boy’s heart. Magic against magic.”
Kapano was nodding slowly but repeatedly. “Let me go out into the hall before you attempt it.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
BAHATI AND RYXA LANDED ALMOST SIMULTANEOUSLY near Daganth as his mother ran to him screaming. “He’s not dead!” She listened to the heart in his tail which continued to beat even though the large one in his chest had indeed stopped.
“Does this dragon belong to you?”
“He’s my baby!” Ryxa exclaimed. “And the heart in his tail is still beating. Were you going to bury him alive?”
“I apologize,” said Stone. “Ryxa I didn’t realize that some dragons have two hearts.”
“All dragons,” she corrected.
“Is he going to be alright mother?” asked Bahati.
“I don’t know.”
Stone stared at Daganth. “He looks dead.”
Ryxa gasped as she looked at the trees that Marcus had conjured. “Has anyone picked the fruit from these trees?”
Stone shook his head. “No one dares, Marcus made the trees in his sleep.”
Ryxa tore off some of the bark of the peach tree and was pleasantly surprised to see that beneath the bark was brilliant lavender purple wood, a healing tree. She removed a pear and watched as all the other pears immediately spoiled and fell; she knew the tree would only heal once and couldn’t believe her luck; finally something was going her way. The pear was tiny between two dragon claws and when she dropped it down Daganth’s throat it just disappeared but nothing happened. What had she done? What if it wasn’t a healing tree?
Bahati watched Daganth’s eyes waiting for them to open but so far nothing, he didn’t even twitch. There was no indication that it was working. Ryxa listened to his tail and gasped when his heart stopped.
“What is it mother?”
Ryxa couldn’t bring herself to say it, her large steamy tears hit the ground splashing Stone and he couldn’t believe how hot they were, like scalding water, forcing him to move back. He didn’t know what to say or do and wished that Marcus was here to comfort her. Everyone stood motionless for a time; the diggers didn’t dare move, having no idea how a dragon was going to react with such grief. As king Darius approached Stone waved him off, just in case, because she could wipe out everyone with a single burst of flame.
Daganth suddenly stood up as if rising from the dead. “Mother when did you get here?”
Ryxa laughed and licked her baby dragon as his sister hugged him. People cheered at the sight of the dragon rising.
“What happened to you when your egg hit the ground?” his mother asked.
Daganth stretched his wings and was astonished to discover that he was completely healed, and then took to the air as his mother and sister followed.
“Daganth wait!” Ryxa shouted, but he was so excited to be able to fly.
“Fill in the hole!” Stone commanded.
“I’m going to find my father,” said Daganth. “I can smell him good now.”
Ryxa flew in front of him, turned and hovered, forcing Daganth to hold in place. “Daganth, you need to come back with me to the den.”
“Mother I have to see my father. Oh it feels so wonderful to fly doesn’t it mother! I didn’t think anything could feel this good.”
Bahati giggled and was very interested to hear what her brother was going to say next.
Ryxa shook her head as she beat her wings hard to hold herself in place. “Marcus is a human and cannot be your father.”
“I know.”
Ryxa looked into his eyes. “Well then why to do keep saying that?”
“I know he’s not my father but he is.” He flew around his mother and continued on. “He’s magically related to me.”
Ryxa reflected on his words. Was it somehow the result of associating with a human or associating with a human sorcerer? She decided to follow her baby boy to see where he was going and find out what he was up to. All mother dragons wanted their children to be independent as fast as possible but this was rushing it.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
LEEANDER’S SENTRIES SPOTTED THE NIIWU amassing from high up on the castle wall, they summoned king Darius who had given orders for his knights to get into formation for the upcoming battle. Stone considered that he had recovered sufficiently and was to lead; he was not going to allow his knights to face those beasts without him and the king could see that determination in his face.
Stone was summoned up on the castle wall to overlook the gathering of the niiwu. “I’ve never seen anything like it, they are in formation. They’ve always been such random beasts.”
King Darius nodded. “It’s the supernatural that surrounds us. Adorok warned me before he was not himself that the amount of energy was increasing much too rapidly but wasn’t sure what or if anything could be done.”
“At least they remain stupid,” said Stone. “They don’t have the numbers to defeat us unless they have more magic at their disposal.”
King Darius longed for a world where there wasn’t so much bloodshed. “Yes that worries me.”
“They are likely to kill dozens of us.” Just the thought of it saddened Stone, that so many lives were about to be irrevocably altered, the dead moved on but their families would remain behind to suffer. Perhaps when Marcus returned he could conjure a spell that would destroy all of them.
The king put his hands on Stone’s shoulder. “As I’ve told you I desire that you be king one day and Alexa queen. You can’t accomplish that if you are dead. What if I order you not to enter this battle?”
Stone was shaking his head even before Darius was finished. “I am a knight and I will fall with my men if necessary, otherwise I may as well be a jester. Besides if I fall Alexa will still be queen.”
“If you fall the grief will alter her and she will be forever changed; if you fall she may not be fit to reign and then what? Besides I prefer to have the balance of both of you.”
Talmai came up from the stairs and bowed to the king. “Stone we should be moving now before they get any closer. I have two battalions as you’ve requested.”
“I’ll be down shortly.” Stone raised his eyebrows at the king, seeking permission to bring the battle to the niiwu.
Darius knew that Stone would be miserable if he didn’t go and so he nodded and gestured with his right hand for him to go and lead his knights off into battle, knowing that it might be the last time he saw him alive. At times the king thought it might have been best had he lived a solitary life with no one to worry about except for himself but he knew he was fooling himself. And as he turned from seeing his raven fly onto his shoulder he saw yet another dragon flying toward Leeander. Soon he could see that the dragon was a mixture of black and red, one of the most fetching dragons that he had ever seen and by its size it was another youngster.
Ash flew down landing on the parapet near the king. “I’m Ash the dragon wizard. I’m looking for the wizard boy.”
“Well hello,” said Darius. He thought it cute that the dragon was pretending to be a wizard, children had such wild imaginations. “Ash is off battling sorcerers that were attacking us. Hopefully he’ll be back soon. I hope nothing has happened to him.”
Ash nodded. “Can you tell me where? It is very very very important that I talk to him, everything depends on it. Life itself I think.”
He was certainly excited about something. “I can tell you where he is, not too far from here.”
“I’d rather you show me. Jump on my back and I’ll take you there and then take you back.”
Darius thought it was tempting; rarely did one get to fly on the back of a dragon. “I am sorry dragon but we are going to enter battle with those niiwu down there. I’d go with you if you could bu
rn them.”
“Climb on my back. I’ll take care of them and then we’ll be off.”
Several crossbow men rushed to the king to try and stop him but the thought of saving his knights by simply getting on the back of a dragon was too much to resist. It took several attempts but with the help of one of his men he made it onto Ash’s back and off they flew. Both the knights and the niiwu were in the process of charging one another when the dragon flew down in front of Stone and launched a ball of white fire. Suddenly all the niiwu were transformed into chickens but they continued their attempt to attack the knights. The weapons of the niiwu fell, killing some of them as they were crushed by their own swords and axes.
Stone kicked a chicken sending it flying.
“Never thought I’d see that,” said Reinhardt. “Stone fighting a chicken.”
Stone turned and gave Reinhardt a look, then watched as Darius flew off on Ash’s back. He looked up at the castle wall. “What idiot allowed the king to fly off on the back of a dragon! Someone’s going to get their arse kicked when I get up there!” Of course he knew they weren’t able to refuse the king but he would reprimand them nonetheless.
A chicken was pecking at one of the horses and was promptly stomped.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
CYRUS FELT ODD while searching the floor for the gems. He couldn’t find a single one; they had all gone inside him but he was unaware of what had happened when he was unconscious. The search continued for some time on his hands and knees with no gems to be discovered, finally he stood up frustrated. His vision was going in and out of focus and he thought his heart was beating a little too slow. He made his way to a chair and sat down, staring at the painting which was now on the floor, continuing to scan for those precious gems. Why could he not find a single one? It was exasperating.
Knight of the Sword (of Knights and Wizards Book 3) Page 17
