by Ben Hale
“Is Water in there?” Lira asked.
“He is part of me,” Draeken said.
“You look . . . different,” she said.
Elenyr gestured to him. “Draeken does not look like the fragments. The features are similar, but he is the combined version of all of them.”
Lira seemed distant, and Draeken felt the need to reassure her. Recognizing that it came from Water’s sense of honor, he smiled and reached out to touch her arm, a subtle gesture that bespoke Water’s thoughts. Lira gave a tentative smile.
“Are you okay?”
“Ready for a fight,” Draeken said. “I can remain together until the battle. Then we’ll see how much control I possess.”
Elenyr eyed him with cautious eyes. “Then let us be going,” she finally said.
Instead of taking the tunnel north, Elenyr led him to the south exit, a rarely used corridor that led into the barbarian region. The secret tunnel culminated in a shallow cave several miles away from the refuge, where they took their journey into the high meadows of the southern mountains.
Trees and forests dotted the slopes, rising up the peaks until the height prevented such growth. Flowers and brush were abundant, as was the wildlife. Butterflies and bees flitted about, their insatiable desire to explore taking them across the field. Streams swollen with melting snow cascaded through trees and over cliffs, plunging down escarpments in sprays of white. In the distance, a plume of smoke rose from a barbarian village.
“Tell me about the Eternals,” Draeken said.
“You have the memories of the fragments,” Elenyr replied, brushing her fingers across the high flowers. “And you know they protect Lumineia.”
“I know what they do,” he said, irritated by her evasive answer. “But I do not understand who they are.”
He sifted through his memories and found Water’s visit to Renara. He threw Lira a sharp look, surprised to realize that one of the fragments had departed Lumineia, even if it was for a short time.
“You took Water to Renara?” he asked.
She winced, and Elenyr raised a questioning eyebrow. Lira briefly related how she’d taken Water to Renara, and the tale of the events on that world. When she was finished, Elenyr shook her head.
“I cannot imagine bearing witness to such an event,” she said. “You have my sympathy.”
“Time eases all wounds,” Lira said quietly.
Draeken suppressed the burst of irritation over Lira taking Water to another world. He disliked her influence on Water, and sensed his growing attachment for the woman. She was a dangerous intrusion to the fragments, especially after what she’d said about Water becoming an Eternal.
He recognized that without the tempering effects of Light and Shadow, his anger was quicker to surface, but he did not suppress the emotion. It brought a sense of clarity that he wished to preserve. Still, he needed answers.
“Did you really invite Water to be an Eternal?” he asked. He kept his voice light, his anger in his chest.
“The Eternals protect Lumineia from the Krey Empire,” Lira said, her gaze guarded. “The Empire is larger than you can imagine, and poses a more dangerous threat than any bandit or war.”
“How many worlds?”
“Millions,” she said with a shrug. “All owned by one of the krey families.”
“And mankind?” he asked.
“Slaves,” she said.
“None are free?” Elenyr asked.
“Rebellions are crushed,” Lira said. “Quickly.”
Draeken considered all the relics they’d seen of the krey, the race the people of Lumineia called the ancients. Buildings, structures, strange artifacts, all were present, all vestiges of a civilization that had lived during the Dawn of Magic. Draeken had seen strange ships, ones that legend spoke of flying through the air. Other buildings were fashioned of materials even the dwarves could not identify.
Draeken looked to the sky, at the sun rising in the east. He’d studied the stars with Elenyr and knew Lumineia rotated around the sun. Around other suns must be other worlds, all filled with krey. He frowned at the image, disliking the idea of so many enslaved to the Empire.
“It is a hard thing to understand,” Draeken said.
“It is,” Lira said. “But it is a dangerous truth, one the people of Lumineia are not ready to receive.”
“Many still think the sun is their god,” Draeken said, recalling one of Mind’s memories.
Elenyr smiled faintly. “And all of this is what the Eternals protect,” she said, sweeping her hand at the mountain meadow.
“And magic?” Draeken asked. “The krey do not possess it?”
“They cannot,” she said simply. “And none in the Empire have it. The few krey that know about us want to destroy us because we are a threat. Small as we are, we could destroy the very fabric of their Empire.”
“How?” he asked.
“Their slaves are human,” Elenyr said. “They have the very same potential as we do, and if they gained magic . . .?”
Draeken felt a chill. “There would be war.”
Chapter 39: A Dragon King
Draeken pondered the revelations about the Eternals as they journeyed south, through the barbarian mountains and into the Dragon’s Teeth. Set apart from the kingdoms of elf, dwarf, human, and barbarian, the great range extended for hundreds of miles of wild forests and mountains rich with gold and silver. Or so the tales said. No government ventured past the Evermist swamp to claim the region.
Every type of dragon and reaver called the region home, the sentient beasts constantly at war. The few explorers that survived a journey into the mountains witnessed devastating battles between rival dragons, and great bones heaped up where ancient dragons had fought.
“Be on your guard,” Elenyr said as they entered the pass at the southern end of the charted world.
The pass lacked a road or sign, the passage rough, the ground free of horse tracks. The absence of civilization would have felt exciting, but another object stood in the center of the pass. As tall as Draeken and bleached white from the sun, the object was easy to identify. A giant tooth. The dragon fang extended from the ground, a chilling warning of what lay beyond.
They reached the end of the pass and descended into the valley. Lush trees filled the base of the valley, while large meadows contained herds of animals. The mountains on the opposite side contained large caves that looked down on the valley, and had a view of the pass. A flicker of motion within the caves drove them into the trees, and a moment later a white dragon burst from an opening.
The ice dragon flapped for altitude and soared around the valley, its great wings shimmering in the sunlight. Draeken had seen a handful of dragons in his life, but never one so large. It banked towards the pass and soared above them, and Draeken and his companions hid in the brush, awed by the majesty of the creature.
Scars littered its body, claw marks from battles with other dragons, teeth marks from where it had been bitten on the neck. The white scales were cracked and broken, tinged grey along the nape of the neck. Draeken frowned as he saw the signs of age.
“He’s old,” he murmured.
Elenyr nodded. “A sentry to guard the pass,” she said. “Those are his flocks.”
Draeken followed her gaze and spotted a group of cattle in a clearing next to a bend in the river. The dragon released a low growl before soaring down to its flocks, plucking a pair of cows like they were mice and carrying them back to its lair.
“How many dragons are there?” Lira asked.
“More than we wish to meet,” Elenyr said. “But we need to keep moving. The longer we remain in the Dragon’s Teeth, the longer we risk being discovered.”
They returned to the game trail and followed it down, but veered off the path and ascended into a pass on the opposite side of the valley. As always, Elenyr’s footsteps were silent, and he sought to do the same.
They exited the valley and entered a stretch of mountains. There they camped for
the night in a tiny cave, foregoing the fire in case any beasts would come searching for them. He suggested they travel at night, and use magic to hasten their travel.
“Do you wish to encounter a black dragon?” she asked. “They hunt at night, their breath an acid that melts through solid steel armor.”
Draeken looked down at his leather tunic and imagined acid eating through to his flesh. “I think the cave is rather comfortable,” he said.
She smiled. “That’s what I thought.”
“What if we are too late?” Lira asked.
“We won’t be,” Elenyr said.
Draeken and Lira exchanged a look, and in her gaze he saw a reserve that had been absent in Water’s memories. It wasn’t fear exactly, but suspicion, and as Draeken reclined to sleep, he wondered what she saw in him.
They rose the next morning and pushed through the mountains, frequently diving from sight when a winged figure passed above. Draeken heard the sounds of a battle, the snarls and roars like distant thunder. Many times they found tracks of silver reavers, suggesting they were in their territory.
“The krey outpost lies at the peaks,” Elenyr said, pointing to a trio of towering mountains.
“That looks like a dragon’s home,” Draeken said, spotting the caves near the summit.
“That’s the outpost that became their throne room.”
Lira pointed to the caves. “You think that’s where Wylyn entered Lumineia?”
“It doesn’t matter where she arrived,” Draeken said. “It only matters where she hides.”
Despite her earlier refusal to travel at night, the sheer cliffs and plunging ravines made passage difficult, so they traveled at night, allowing Lira to cast air stones across ravines and dense forests.
A journey that would have taken normal men a month to traverse, they crossed in two days, reaching the trio of peaks that marked the pinnacle of the Dragon’s Teeth. At every step they saw more signs of dragons or reavers, a river torn apart, a forest scorched black, a clearing containing the decaying body of a great golden beast.
When they reached the base of the largest peak, Draeken gazed upward, shocked by the size of the behemoth mountains. Caves dotted the exterior, and he noticed certain types of dragons favored one mountain over another.
The fire dragons of red, gold, and grey lived in the largest mountain of the trio, while the elemental dragons lived in the second. The third was home to the black dragons, their dark bodies avoided by the others.
“Where’s the outpost?” he asked.
“Up there,” Elenyr said.
“How are we supposed to climb past the dragons?” Draeken asked, eyeing the dozens of beasts draped on overlooks.
“Through this,” Elenyr said.
She stepped through a pair of trees and pointed to an archway built into the stone. Strange runes adorned the keystone, with other symbols down the sides. Instead of housing a door, the space inside the archway was solid stone.
Elenyr stepped forward and touched the most prominent rune set on the right side—and the archway glowed to life. Draeken nodded as a silver liquid seeped from the stone and formed into a mirror.
A dragon bugled in the distance, and Elenyr nodded. “They know we’re here.”
“But is Wylyn waiting on the other side?” Lira asked.
“Only one way to find out,” Elenyr said, and stepped through the mirror, disappearing from sight.
Draeken shook his head. For a serene old woman, Elenyr had more courage than anyone he’d ever met. He glanced up at the dragons, the small group folding their wings and diving toward the Gate. Lira cast him a look and leapt through the portal.
He cast his favorite weapon, a spear of fire. Then he readied his magic and stepped through the Gate—into darkness. The moment he appeared Elenyr stepped to the side and pressed a rune, extinguishing the Gate.
“Hurry,” she said. “They will not like the intrusion.”
The fire of Dreaken’s staff illuminated the room, a small chamber with stairs at the back. Instead of stone, the walls and stairs were white tinged with swirls of blue, giving the room a regal feel. Elenyr was already darting to the stairs, her ease of familiarity reminding him of what she’d said about the king of dragons.
“Why did you never tell me of the king?” he asked.
“Oracles have secrets for a reason,” Elenyr whispered back.
“Even from me?” he asked.
She paused and cast him a long look. “Even from you,” she said quietly.
“We’re wasting time,” Lira said.
They worked their way through a short series of rooms and corridors before reaching another set of stairs, allowing them to ascend to another level. The light was dim but got brighter the further they climbed, and shortly after, they came to a stop at a towering archway that opened onto an enormous space.
The cavern sat in the hollow between the three peaks. A massive roof connected the three peaks, the material white and blue, the arches curved and graceful. Wind blew through a trio of giant openings set across from each other. Large enough for several dragons to pass with ease, the openings permitted sunlight to spill into the interior, but the light failed to pierce the abundance of shadows beneath the roof.
“I don’t see any sign of the krey,” Lira whispered.
“They have to be here,” Elenyr said, stepping to the edge of the darkened stairwell.
Is that Elenyr I hear? a voice rumbled.
Draeken scowled against the sudden surge of fear. The voice was like the very voice of the mountain, vast and deep and gravelly, the voice of an ancient being that knew its place, and did not know fear.
Fires blossomed into view, the flames bursting from an enormous golden dragon. Draeken flinched, but they were not directed at him. Instead they ignited the stone across the rim of the ceiling, filling the room with light to reveal a pair of red dragons also present, the trio perched on ledges surrounding the enormous space.
“It is Elenyr,” the dragon said, its voice mocking. “Do come out. It’s rude to hide from your host.”
Draeken glanced back down the stairs but realized the dragons had probably already blocked the exit. If they stayed put, a dragon could breathe fire into the opening and turn the staircase into an oven hot enough to melt flesh from bone.
Elenyr glanced his way and then straightened. Then she strode into the vast cavern. Draeken and Lira fell into step beside her. In his entire life, he’d never felt such fear as when he gazed upon the King of Dragons. The well of power rose within him, crushing the fear with a burst of defiance.
The cavern was enormous, easily twice the size of Talinor’s entire castle, large enough to house a dozen dragons on the wide perches set around the chamber. Sunlight spilled through the dragon doors, and Draeken spotted the ground far below.
The gold dragon dropped from the largest perch, the stone of which was covered in gold and silver, all melted with dragon fire into swirls of beauty and violence. Its landing on the stone seemed to make the mountain shudder, and Draeken looked up a hundred feet into the whirling eyes of the king of dragons.
“Thistikor,” Elenyr said. “Where is your father?”
Dead, the dragon said, humor threaded into the mental voice. I’m sure you saw the body on your journey. Who is your companion? He reeks of power.
Elenyr ignored the question. “I hunt a group of dakorians,” she said. “And the krey that leads them.”
Draeken noticed her rigid posture, her sword in her hand. He got the impression she’d expected to find Thistikor’s father, a more amiable dragon, if that was possible. But the current king set her on edge.
Wylyn said one would come, the gold dragon said. But I did not think it was you. You should be dead.
“My life was extended,” she said.
Indeed. The dragon snorted. I am pleased to see you.
The trace of anticipation in his voice caused Draeken to bristle, his staff brightening in response. But Elenyr kept her cool, only
her knuckles going white. Before she could speak, the dragon bent its neck, bringing its enormous head down to Elenyr’s level.
“Do not break the treaty,” Elenyr warned.
The dragon’s chuckle sounded like a roar, and the two reds dropped from their perches, their claws tearing furrows in the stone as they closed off the other two exits. Draeken sensed the trap snapping shut and shifted away from Elenyr, giving them space to fight. Lira did the same on the opposite side.
They offered me a new treaty, the dragon rumbled. And the terms are much better.
The great dragon shifted, allowing Draeken a view of an opening on the opposite side of the chamber. A solitary figure stood in the opening. Although they had never met, Draeken recognized her immediately from Water’s memories.
Wylyn.
Chapter 40: Adversaries
Tardoq, Serak, and Relgor appeared in the opening behind her, but Wylyn advanced across the space alone, her pace methodical, her gaze never leaving Elenyr. Tardoq scowled and spun his hammer, as if he hated being left behind. Serak watched with dispassionate eyes, while Relgor watched with interest.
A little shorter than a human, Wylyn had greyish skin, her eyes a mixture of purple and black. Her ears were slimmer than human but her features were more angular than those of the race of man, more pointed. Dressed in a blue tunic with strange buttons and whirls, she also wore what resembled a dress, the curve of the hem raised up the side, revealing a stretch of leg.
She passed the dragons as if they didn’t matter, the great beasts parting for her like she was the god the Order believed her to be. The sight brought a curl to Draeken’s lips. Wylyn spotted the expression but her eyes flicked back to Elenyr. Then she came to a halt, well short of where Elenyr could strike.
“Elenyr,” Wylyn said. “Or do you prefer being called the Hauntress?”
“I have many names,” Elenyr said. “And I don’t want to hear any of them from your lips.”
Wylyn released a low chuckle. “You are not an Eternal, yet you protect Lumineia just the same. Why?”
