"What does this mean?" Seth asked her.
"I don't know,” Sareth answered.
"We need to ask Paron,” Seth said, moving towards the door.
"No, we must leave the king to his grief,” She said. "This can wait.”
"His grief," Seth asked, and then realization set in. "Oh!... Oh no. Not that.”
Seth was all too familiar with grief. It had been twelve years since his wife and son had been murdered, and his five-year-old daughter had been kidnapped.
"Yes, you are right. This can wait,” Sareth turned and picked up two of the girls, one in each arm, and rocked them gently
Shantar paused his narration briefly, and the picture faded. Before Nathan could say anything, he started speaking again, causing a new picture to form.
Paron Elloy sat in his throne room watching his three daughters and their friend Shaunna play. It had been one year, to the day, since his beloved wife had died. The castle was busy today, just as it had been that day, in preparation for the celebration of the prince and princesses' first birth anniversary. The children had grown so much in the past year that it was almost frightening. Taren and Tarea seemed to be developing a natural skill with hand fighting, and they often used these skills on each other. Morganna had already shown some proficiency in the magical arts - accidentally catching one of her dolls on fire. Saria was the most interesting of all. She had already shown that she possessed the mystical healing light that Sareth and her son Ularen both commanded. All of his children seemed very advanced for their one year of life experience, even for Elves.
Of course, there was nothing common about the children anyway. Multiple births were uncommon among the Elven kind, and never in history had more than two been born at the same time. Yet, here were three of his four children, playing with their friend while the palace and surrounding city were preparing to celebrate all four of them on this special day.
The fact that they were all born on the same day was not the most unique thing about them, however. Each of the girls had very intricate birthmarks on their chests. Taren, the prince, had wings. None of these facts were widely publicized, for the Elves were an extremely prejudiced race and were intolerant of anything that would seem like a physical imperfection.
He shook his head sadly. He had been trying to get the Elves to get over their prejudice for hundreds of years, ever since Shalarandra had been murdered while trying to protect Knoro.
His thoughts were brought up short as one of the castle guards rushed into the room.
"Your majesty," He said breathlessly. "The dragons attack.”
He quickly jumped to his feet. "Is Silax with them?"
"Aye, she is bringing up the rear, but she is there,” The guard answered.
The prophecy that the strange gypsy had given him on the night his wife had died came back to him. "Find my personal guard; ask them to attend to me,” He gestured towards the strange blue sword that was hung on the wall. "Cyan, come to me.”
The sword detached itself from the wall and flew into the king’s hand.
Moments later his personal guard ran into the throne room.
"We are here, majesty,” Seth called as he transformed from the large white tiger into his smaller Dwarf form. "We are ready to follow you into battle.”
"Not this time, my friend,” Paron said. "I have another task for the four of you.”
Seth Silvermoon, Sareth Hope, Grathius Wolftracker, and Taranna Bowsmith all looked him in confusion. For thousands of years, they had fought alongside Paron, and now he was telling them that he didn't want them at his side. That he had some other task for them.
"Sareth," Paron called "I want you to take Morganna someplace safe. Use the War Bird. When you find safety, destroy it.” He grabbed a gleaming crystal staff. "I created this for her. Do not give it to her until you think she is ready,” He scooped Morganna up and handed her to Sareth.
"Griffith, I want you to take Tarea. Do as I instructed Sareth. Find safety, and destroy your War Bird,” He grabbed a set of matching crystal swords. "These are for her. Teach her to fight, and give them to her when you think she is ready,” He handed Tarea to Griffith.
"Seth, I want you to take Saria. Protect her. Teach her what you can. As with the others, find safety and then destroy your War Bird,” He grabbed another staff. "Give this to her when you think she is ready.”
"Taranna, take Taren. I do not have anything to give him, as I have not been able to finish what I started. He is in his room,” He hugged each of his girls. "Go now, all of you. Remember that the survival of my children may be paramount to the survival of the world.”
Sareth began to object, but Paron stopped her.
"I know you do not agree with me in this, but I need you to trust me,” He pointed towards the door. "Now go!"
He watched his daughters disappear out the door before turning and heading to the outer wall.
He gained the top of the wall in a matter of moments and was appalled by the sight that met his eyes. Most of the buildings in the city were burning. There were bodies strewn through the streets. Over the city, there was a red dragon, a blue dragon, and a green dragon each dishing out their own form of death on the populace of the Elven capital city. In the distance, watching her children, was the large black form of Silax, the Mother Dragon.
Paron raised his hands high in the air as he shouted at the large black dragon. "Silax, you are too late. The dagger will survive this day.”
At the sound of the king’s voice, Silax began to advance on the castle.
The guards on the wall were staring at the large beast nervously. They had all grown up hearing the stories of the atrocities that had been committed by the Mother Dragon. Now that they were faced with the prospect of facing her personally, they were all very frightened.
Silax was advancing slowly, knowing that her quarry was not going anywhere.
Paron turned to the Elves that were on the wall with him. "You have all served me well for many years. Any of you that do not wish to stay may leave, and I will not think any less of you for it.”
Several of the Elves turned and ran from the wall, leaving their comrades. Those that did not run, gripped their weapons tighter and waited for death herself to approach them.
As the dragon approached, Paron brandished his blue crystal sword, and a faint blue light appeared between her and the defenders.
When she got close enough, Silax issued forth a long stream of fire. The blue light protected the Elves from the main brunt of the blast, but the heat was so intense that many of those that had opted to stay with their king died in the first attack.
"You can't have them, Silax,” Paron shouted again.
A sickly sweet voice slithered through the heads of all that were still alive. "I will get them Elf King, after I kill you.”
She opened her maw and belched another stream of fire at the castle. Those that had survived the first attack were not so lucky the second time. When the fire subsided again, Paron stood alone.
Large shards of ice began to shoot from the blade of Paron's sword. Most of the ice bounced harmlessly off the scaled body, but those pieces that found the wings ripped holes through the thin membranes. Blood dripped from the holes, causing small fires to erupt wherever it touched the ground.
Silax screamed in pain. She dove at Paron in an attempt to knock him off the wall, but he swung the accursed ice blade towards her. The blade glanced off of her foreleg, freezing the scales where it touched, causing them to shatter.
Tired of the usual charade with Paron and his frozen sword, Silax began to climb higher in the air. When she achieved a sufficient height, she tucked her wings against her body and dived, gathering speed as she fell. Cyan Iceblade sent barrage after barrage of ice shards flying towards her, but they glanced harmlessly off of her armored scales.
There was an earth-shattering crash when she collided with the castle, completely destroying it. Boulders of stone flew hundreds of yards from the impact. The main
complex of the palace imploded on itself. Paron Elloy lay broken and dead among the wreckage.
The strange Gypsy's prediction to him on the night of his wife's death had come to pass. "When next thou meetest the Mother Dragon to combat, thou wilt join thy wife among the cosmos.
CHAPTER FOUR
Rescue
“Be shadow, be silence, be fast, or engage violence.” - Thieves’ guild creed
Nathan awoke the next morning with fragments of the story that he'd been told clinging to his memory. The events surrounding the destruction of the castle seemed very familiar, like he had seen them before, but he just couldn't remember. The story did seem to corroborate what Zorah had told him about the day that they had found him.
He shook his head to clear the cobwebs and winced slightly as he realized that his neck was stiff. He had slept in one of the chairs by the desk so that Parel could sleep on the bed.
He stood, stretched, and began to look around the room. Behind the four poster bed, a mural had been drawn on the wall. It depicted several great battles that had happened throughout history. Each battle featured the group that had called itself the Guardians of the Balance. A small group of friends that had banded together and been charged with maintaining the balance between light and darkness. At the forefront of the group stood a handsome Elf brandishing a glowing blue sword; the same sword that the Elf king had used in the fight that had cost him his life. The same sword that now hung from Nathan's own sword belt.
He looked at the small figure in the mural. He looked very familiar, but Nathan could not place where he had seen him before.
He turned and came face to face with a full-length looking glass. The image of his own reflection caused his eyes to widen. Suddenly the memory of meeting the old Elf in the graveyard came back to him. The old man had fallen to the ground in a worshipful gesture and called him "Your Majesty". He had brushed the incident off as the frailties of age, but now that he was looking at himself next to the image of the Elf-king he was not so sure.
Shantar's voice floated through his mind. "You look much like your father, it is true.”
Nathan looked around to see where the bard was. He looked across the room to where the large pile of treasure lay and almost screamed as he saw the enormous golden dragon staring at him from the divot in the treasure pile. He backed away as quickly as he could.
"Do not be frightened, Taren,” The bard's voice sounded again. "I will not harm you,” With that, the great beast stepped off of the mound of gold and began to shrink. His scales lost their golden luster, growing darker until they were shiny black. Charcoal colored hair sprouted from the reptilian head, that was quickly growing more human-like. Large forefeet were shrinking into human hands. When the transformation was finished the black skinned bard stood in front of him.
"I apologize I did not mean to startle you. Very few get to see me in my alternate state,” The bard smiled graciously.
Nathan was shocked by the event that he had just witnessed, but not so much that he missed what Shantar had said.
"You called me Taren. Who is that?" Nathan asked.
"Have you not guessed who you are?" Shantar asked, laughing slightly. "Paron Elloy had four children: Morganna - the girl with the dagger mark, Tarea - the girl with the dragon mark, Saria - the girl with the Rose mark, and Taren - The boy with wings.”
Nathan was taken aback. He had not told the bard about his wings, and yet he seemed to know.
"I have known that you were here all along. You are the reason that I built my Inn here in the first place. I have stayed in this city to both keep an eye on you and to protect you,” Shantar paused briefly, considering his words. "The Dark Lords have found you. Sending you into the mansion last night was an attempt to have you killed. Fortunately, you found Cyan before the Ogres attacked you. He was able to protect you from the Ogres.”
"Cyan," Nathan asked?
"You know so very little. Perhaps it was a mistake leaving you in the care of the Humans,” The bard mused. "Do you know the story of the Crystal Blades?"
"They were created by Paron near the beginning of the Drake Wars as weapons to fight the dragons,” Nathan answered.
"Yes, they were created by a joint effort of my father and your father to combat the dragon menace in the Drake Wars. Since then a small group of them have been among the races to help when needed. They have accompanied the Guardians, and now they have been passed to the next generation,” Shantar gestured and the strange sword he had found in the mansion the previous night flew to him. "The blade is a special compound that only your father and a select group of other knew how to make. It is completely unbreakable,” He hit the blade against the wall as hard as he could. A sound like ringing crystal echoed through the room, but the blade remained whole and unblemished. He let go of the sword, but it did not fall. "They have the ability to not only float, but they can fight independently of their wielders. They each have special abilities. Cyan has the ability to control cold.”
"They help people? You make it sound like they are alive,” Nathan said, incredulously.
"We are alive,” A strangely metallic voice answered
"Taren Elloy, meet Cyan Iceblade,” Shantar said as he handed Nathan the sword.
Nathan accepted the sword uneasily.
"Your father and I were good friends. I hope that we can also become so,” Cyan said, his blade pulsing with each word.
Nathan's head began to spin. Shantar placed his hand on the young Elf's shoulder and steered him to the nearest chair.
"I understand that this is all a bit overwhelming. Unfortunately, you do not have much time to sit and work this out,” The bard sounded truly sorry. "I have just found out that a good friend of your Human mother is in prison, and slated to be hanged at a public hanging today at midday.”
"So, you want me to go and rescue him,” Nathan surmised.
"I understand he was also a friend of yours, as well as the master of the Thieves’ Guild,” Shantar explained.
"Garz is still alive?" Nathan quickly sat forward on the edge of the chair.
"Very much so, and if you would like to keep it that way, you will need to rescue him,” Shantar produced a black cloth bundle from within his desk. "Here, this will help you.”
Nathan took the bundle from the bard and unfolded it. It was a set of thieves clothing, but like no set Nathan had ever seen before. There were two long protrusions that extended from the back that looked like they would cover his wings. There were hundreds of little flaps in the protrusions that he did not understand.
"If you notice the flaps in the wing covers, they will hide your wings, and yet allow the air to touch your feathers so that flight is still possible,” Shantar said, pointing to the flaps. He then grabbed the ends of the wing covers. "The cloth will conform to the contours of your feathers. When you stretch your primary feathers, the cloth will stretch with you. This outfit should make flight possible while in the suit.”
Nathan was ecstatic. "I have been trying to come up with something like this for two years.”
"Well then," The bard said as he waved his hand and three stone walls rose from the floor obscuring Nathan from view. "Why don't you try it out?”
With Shantar's assistance, Nathan quickly donned the outfit. It was much more comfortable than the thief's clothing that he was used to. The wing covers were comfortable and did conform to his wings perfectly. He was even able to fold his wings tightly against his back, and they blended into the outfit, making them invisible.
"These are great,” Nathan said excitedly after several minutes.
The walls that hid him while he changed slid back into the floor.
"We have a couple of things to discuss before you go,” Shantar said. "First, it is just after midnight, it would be a good idea to go get him before the sun rises. His execution is scheduled for midday,” He waved his hand and an image of the city prison appeared. There was a small blinking light in one of the cells. "This is where he is being k
ept. There are guards here, here, and here; with a patrol that passes by every thirty minutes.”
"Okay, I'll get him,” Nathan said,
"There is one more thing, before you go,” Shantar's eyes began to glow as he spoke. "You have a decision to make, and it needs to be made before you get back. You must decide if you are going to keep going by your Human name, or if you are going to reclaim the name that your father gave you and the birthright that goes with it.”
Nathan was taken aback. "That is a big decision. Shouldn't I take my time?"
"You have until you get back to decide,” Shantar said.
The bard turned to the wall of his lair. As he waved his hand a section of the wall disappeared, opening into the foggy night outside. Just as Nathan was about to step into the night, Parel appeared. She was dressed in a set of Thief's clothes.
"I am coming with you,” she said.
Nathan's eyes went wide as he saw her. He had never seen her in anything except a skirt or a dress, and here she was in a full thief's outfit. He was almost impressed, but he knew that it was going to be extremely dangerous.
"I can't let you come. It will be too dangerous,” He told her.
Parel pulled a small knife from a pocket. "I am not asking. I am going with you.”
He almost laughed at the tiny weapon in her hand, until he looked at it closer. The clear blade glowed a deep purple color.
"Is that a Crystal Blade?" he asked.
Parel nodded. "This is Oran. I found him the first time we met at the park. He saved my life that night. I don't go anywhere without him.”
Shantar walked up to Nathan and handed him his sword belt. "You are probably going to need this,” He watched as the young Elf strapped the belt on.
Nathan looked at Parel, trying to put as much dislike of the idea into his expression. "I really don't think you should come.”
Parel glared back at him. "I really think that this conversation is over. Let's go"
Master's Mind: The Dagger of Dragon Rose: Book 1 Page 4
