The Exodus Sagas: Book IV - Of Moons and Myth

by Jason R Jones

  “She got six legs?!” Zen yelled over the stomping thunderous steps of the beast that was just a statue moments earlier.

  “She does!” Saberrak lowered his horns and roared loud. The creature roared in return, and deafened out any other noise.

  “Rooooaaarrrgghhhaaeeeessshhh!” The four heads roared and ear piercing screech of hatred and fire into the cavernous air.

  “By Vundren and all me dead kin, demon o’ ruin, ye’ will answer to the last Thalanaxe! It be time for justice!” Zen charged in straight ahead, warhammer in hand, shield high.

  He saw Saberrak beside him on a low horned charge, James flanking to the left, Shinayne sneaking to the right, and something crackling from Gwenneth’s hand behind. He roared a fearless challenge to match that of the monstrous hydra that defiled his mines before the very door to Vundren’s sacred forge.

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  Her eyes fluttered open, just a bit, enough to see it was night outside and there were candles lit in the room. The bed was comfortable, she felt drunk, yet Queen Katrina of Willborne was alive.

  “Hello?” She said to the darkness.

  “Your majesty, yes, I am here. You are awake, that is good. Here.” The woman gave her more of the wine that Lord Waylen had instructed would ease her pain.

  Katrina drank, the wine was good, refreshing in fact. Her eyes adjusted to the night, she was in a lavish room, the drapes were open. Lilac and lavender were both outside and in the castle, a castle she knew well.

  “I am in Willborne Keep, how long?” Katrina sat up. She looked at her arms, then her legs, the injuries were gone and she felt no pain.

  “Careful my queen, mind your balance, you have been sleeping many days and nights now. They found you south of Clawmoore, three days past now.” The old woman nodded to the guards that peeked in the doors, letting them know all was well.

  “And the dragon? Did they find Rynnth?” She stood, nearly fell over, but caught herself on the bed and held still a moment. She was indeed a bit drunk.

  “Not sure, I know nothing of dragons, your majesty. Save old stories and such. I heard one awakened, but they say it is but a rumor.”

  “No rumor, maid, I hunted it from the western Misathi to our borders. It should be dead, I need to know.”

  “But, your majesty, they say you are the dragon of Willborne. You are a bit into the wine, for the pain, lay back down now.”

  The door creaked open, letting a harvest breeze flourish for a moment as the drapes and Katrina’s nightgown fluttered. Katrina tried to listen, as a noble dressed man entered and whispered to the nursemaid. She could hear nothing, her eyes were heavy, and all her energy was on her balance .

  “Your majesty, may we talk?” The man spoke soft, warm, and had a scroll in his hand.

  “Is that the order for my execution?” She asked him, his figure was shadowy, she was seeing double.

  “No, my queen. That was destroyed two days ago, during the revolt. Many have died since you arrived here, as many wished you dead.”

  “A revolt? Who would dare wish to see me live for what I have done, especially here in the capital?” Katrina swooned, the maid helped her remain upright.

  “The nobles fought, a bloody battle here indeed, all over you. But, Lord Valistor Waylen and the nobles that allied to him, prevailed. This letter, is an offer of marriage, from Lord Waylen.”

  “Ha! So he can be king? I have nothing to offer, besides a crown and the loyalty of my armies.” Katrina laughed.

  “Lord Valistor has your armies, your majesty. They have sworn to him. He has saved your life, he wishes a new Willborne, with you and he on the thrones. Please, think of all you have fought for, all these years, has it not been for this?”

  “He is handsome, my queen. Rich to boot, and the people suffer without a king and queen to see our kingdom to prosperity once more.” The maid’s words were soothing, almost like a song accompanied them, yet there was none.

  Katrina smiled, she felt something, her mind was a pool of wine with visions of Valistor and the banners of Willborne. Things faded, she was sitting now, time had passed. She opened her eyes, and there was another glass of wine, in a different room. She was dressed in a gown now, still numb and drunk, yet sh did not recall drinking anything.

  “Where is the maid?”

  “Nareene? She had to leave she said, not to worry, you are in my care.” Another young man, noble attire, sigils of house Waylen across his shoulders and chest. She saw the golden dragon chevron with the crossed blades through it, he was of house Waylen.

  “What is this dress for, am I attending something formal so late in the night?” Katrina drank some of the wine, her head was beginning to throb a bit.

  “Not tonight, tomorrow my queen.” The handsome young man, brought another candle over to the vanity. His blonde hair was curled and streaked with long strawberry accents that nearly caught fire.

  She smiled up to him, then looked to the mirror. “How dreadful, look at my hair!” She saw that patches were missing, she remembered the fire from the dragon, her eyebrows had but blonde stubble to match. She started to remember, and took more wine.

  “We have ladies coming to help you with that, your majesty. It will regrow, do not worry. You will be beautiful for the wedding.”

  “Who is getting married, sir?” She smiled at herself in the mirror, her green eyes still sparkled when they would open.

  “You, my queen. The people think you a heroine of the kingdom, the dragon of Willborne reborn, they say. You do not remember?”

  “Dragons must die, sir. All of them, if there are any left. Who is getting married again?” She reached for a brush, her hand passed through the candle flames. She felt nothing. Again, this time on purpose, she put her hand into the flame. It felt cool, and her mind swam with flashes of Rynnth in the mountains, and her eyes closed.

  “You marry Valistor Waylen, my queen. You signed the offer, half a day past. Our people are celebrating, in every city, already.”

  “King Valistor of house Waylen, and Queen Katrina of house Rendell, the king aned queen of Willborne. It sounds nice, but I do not recall him courting me.” She giggled, her hand still in the fire. Not a mark as she looked, her flesh was fine in the fire as if it were not there.

  “He has been busy, my queen. He has allied with King Johnas Valhera of Chazzrynn, and King Phillip of Harlaheim. Caberra has threatened war upon us all, they say."

  She looked to the mirror again, nothing surprising her out of her stupor. Her eyes went from green to a glowing red. Katrina of Willborne smiled to herself. “War you say? I specialize in war, sir. Did you know I have been the deadliest mercenary this side of the Garalan River for nearly two decades, since my father was killed?”

  “I do, your majesty. And now, you will rule Willborne, with King Valistor at your side. Rest now, tomorrow will be a long day for you.”

  “Did you find the dragon, sir. The one I killed, did you find her?” Katrina brushed her hair to no avail, her arms were slow moving and the wine that tasted so refreshing was taking more and more effect. Her eyes closed, everything went dark again, yet she heard.

  “Yes, your majesty, we found a dragon.”

  “Good, she rots in hell then.”

  “No, my queen. The dragon we found…….”

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  Their shields were beginning to glow from the fires they blocked, the roaring flames from two hydra heads forced Zen and Sir James back toward the locked doors. Just as they would stop to breathe, the other two would unleash more lines of fire from their mouths, keeping the knight and the dwarven priest immobilized and blocking massive sprays of flame.

  Saberrak ducked a bolt of lightning as it crackled through the air over his horns. It passed, and burned a scorching black hole into the green scales. He saw the tail come again, and jumped in the air with a quick flex of his muscled legs. The tail swept underneath, tearing rock shards up from the floor, and the gray minotaur landed a
nd turned. He rolled under a biting reptilian head, came up next to the fat scaled body, and chopped both greataxes into its side.

  Shinayne, having climbed up the creature’s back, stepped to the left as another head snapped for her. Carice sliced it open from eye to nostril with one slash, then she dove Elicras up under its chin and pulled down its throat. She pulled free and somersaulted across the hydra’s back before the head reared back in pain, pulling her blades low in her tumbling roll. It snapped again, too late for the quick highborne elf, and bit into its own thick scales. Now on its other side, Shinayne dove her longblade into the other purple gleaming orb with a thrust of steel, and continued her laceration with her shortblade down and across the neck again. Black blood poured like a waterfall as the blinded head thrashed through the air.

  “Jureste hiathuan desei ex moora durax!”

  Gwenneth held the staff of Imoch tight, pointed it with both hands at the hydra, and felt the fourth rune near the top glow orange. She felt the powers of the draconic words she had learned, the fourth rune of mighty incantation, and suddenly the earth shook from her instead of the beasts’ steps. One, then two, then three massive spikes of stone, sharp as any spear, thirty feet in length, erupted from the floor and pierced through the hydra’s body. Blood pooled beneath it, the body stuck in place, held by summoned earth and stone as the tip of one nearly pierced Shinayne when it protruded through the back.

  “RRROOOOaaaarrrrchhhheeeiiiisssssssssssss!!!” The heads, three with eyes and one now without, screamed in horrid monstrous anguish. The beast reared up on two of its six legs, twisted its body free from the stone spears, tearing itself wide open. It charged Gwenneth, ignoring anything else.

  Saberrak dove out of its path just in time before being trampled. Shinayne leapt off of the back, onto the tail, then off the tail to safe ground behind it. Gwenneth unleashed another blast of lightining from her hand, then another, only angering the bleeding hydra more as it scrambled on six legs toward her, and the edge of the endless dark chasm.

  Just as she went to unleash another blast, two heads screamed fire down toward her, another snapped with black fangs to devour, and the fourth head swayed in blind confusion. She screamed, covering her face, with nowhere to go as her feet backed up to the edge of the plateau.

  Whoosh!

  She was gone, right before the flames scorched her spot and the massive teeth ate the charred remains that would have been, something hit her and she fell from the edge into the darkness.

  “James, no!” Zen looked up from his shield, sweat from blocked hydra fire pouring down his face, and saw his friend dive into Gwenneth and continue off the edge, at the last moment.

  “Gwenneth!” Shinayne had seen but a blur, a blur of white tabard grab her, then a blur of James and Gwenne falling off the plateau together.

  The gray gladiator wasted not a word, running and leaping onto the back of the dark green scaled reptile that looked for where its meal had gone. His enchanted greataxe with the sapphire stones cleaved into a neck from behind, then he followed with the other axe, into the same spot. One after another, he slashed deep gouges into the hide and flesh, until he saw neckbone. Saberrak kicked above his axe cuts, exposing the weakened spine. With one brutal downward chop, he severed the vertebrae and the massive neck tore loose and fell hard, squirming along the edge.

  Crash!

  Zen charged it, seeing two of his friends fall, and unleashed a brutal swing of his blacksteel warhammer. The bones of one of the hydra feet cracked loudly, and he continued to the next one as the fat reptilian body poured blood from its many wounds.

  The hydra shot flame at Shinayne, and she dove to her right and rolled back up to her feet. Another head sprayed fire into the chasm, unable to see, both its eyes cut apart from elven blades. A third shot fire out its decapitated neck, and the fourth snapped for Saberrak, who was too fast to catch as he leapt for another snaking head to cleave.

  The beast tipped to its right side, three of its feet and claws smashed and broken from the dwarf. It reared back on its tail, to turn around from the perilous edge, then it tipped forward. Shinayne struck again, her right hand slicing through the tail, her left with arcing cuts that deepened the wound. On her third precise cut with Carice, the thrashing tail tore off, snapped from its own muscle as she severed the bones in the center. The hydra leaned forward, instead of turning, all its balance now toward the chasm.

  “Saberrak! Get down!” Zen raised his shield, heaved, and slammed himself into the rear leg. He grunted, lifted, and pushed with all he had as the claws scrambled and slipped on a bloody stone floor.

  Saberrak leapt from the forward end of the hydra, slid down its back over the severed tail, and rolled to his feet beside Shinayne. All three of them now pushedthis monstrous beast from the rear, well covered from its fires, yet it held its ground as its claws dug into the stone. It was weakening, trying to back up, and it stopped its gouts of flame. Inch by slow inch, it pushed the three back, its wounds slowly healing by mythical means, unbeknownst to anyone.

  “Push! Come on now, push this bastard off the edge!” Zen roared it loud.

  Crash, Carrooom, C-crash, Carrooom, Crash!

  Sparks of fire and lightning, a hail of deadly showering stone shrapnel, and three explosions of arcane power ripped into the ledge the hydra pushed away from. The still slithering decapitated head slid off, falling without a sound. The rock crumbled, chunk by massive weakened piece, and fell to the chasm without end.

  “Desmo de ruillas thrahas!” Gwenneth yelled, staff of Imoch in one hand, James wrapped tight in the other, as she hovered in the air above the darkness. His ancient shield was held out to the side, glowing faintly as he squinted his eyes from the blast.

  Three white pulsing orbs of ice slammed into the cracks in the stone plateau. A mere moment later, as the hydra pushed back against its foes, the rock ledge grew cold, then exploded. The hydra scrambled, but its claws found nothing to grip that was not tumbling down. Roaring hisses and screaming flame once more, the massive beast fell forward, followed by tons of broken stone. Zen, Shinayne, and Saberrak backed up a few steps, watching the hydra slide and fall into the black beyond. No one heard an impact, just a faint thunder from below and a small dot of fire that vanished quickly.

  Gwenneth, James holding on to her tight, levitated across the plateau and landed softly. Their feet touched the safe ground together, yet their embrace lasted a few moments longer. She looked to him, he looked back, eyes so close they could almost touch each other with their lashes.

  “Thank you, for…that…very brave, James Andellis.” She whispered.

  “I merely did what any knight would have, for a beautiful lady…Gwenneth. Thank you…for bringing us back up.” He whispered back, her breath was close, her lips moved an inch from his.

  “The shield, eh?” Saberrak interrupted with a pat on the knights’ shoulderplate.

  “Fell like a feather.” James laughed to the minotaur as Gwenneth backed up from their moment of closeness, yet kept his eyes on her. She smiled to him, keeping her eyes on his the same.

  “That was the craziest thing I done ever seen, James. I would expect it from Shinayne, even Saberrak, but you? Diving into an endless chasm, ye’ got spirit boy, no doubtin’ that. Glad to have ye’ back.” Zen smacked him on the back and smiled. “You as well, me black robed destroyer, you too.”

  “This coming from the dwarf that just tried to push ten tons of fire breathing hydra off a ledge?” Shinayne sheathed her blades and grinned, she took a deep breath now that everyone was safe.

  “Aye, that was a bit insane then too, I guess.” He chuckled, then looked behind them, to the giant double doors of gold. He walked slow, drawn to the holy hammer and moons symbols upon the battered and war scarred gold. Azenairk touched it, the green light hummed faintly, soft and sad, and he took out the keys from his belt.

  “Virnu vetar, means third born son…means Vundren, by God, tis the doors to his divine forge. I cannot believe it.
” He wiped a tear from his face, then another, and placed the key into the lock. The same strange flash, the same unseen force opened the doors enough to pass, and the key was in his hand without him removing it. “We made it, glory to God, all o’ yours too, we made it.”

  “Gathes morides tazhumul mastri hydra devoth ur mazu, Thalanaxe…”

  “No, she is dead, the demon is dead…why does she still speak? It’s not possible, we killed her.” Zen felt the air grow cold, saw more ghosts of dwarves on the other side of the open doors. They looked back with sad faces, as if they were waiting for something, something terrible to happen. “What did she say, minotaur?”

  “You have desecrated my hydra of ruin, I curse you, Thalanaxe…” Saberrak felt the words, his hide grew tingly with chills upon repeating them. He looked down to Zen. “I believe she is down there, this Arabashiel, we are not done yet, my friend.”

  “Ye’ be right as rain on that, horned one. I need to be sharin’ a few words with her in fact, and I don’t think she will like what I have to say.” Azenairk stalked ahead, into the dark corridors, deeper down into the holy forges of his God.

  Azenairk stopped, took a deep breath, and bellowed into the deep caverns of Kakisteele. “And quit talkin’ in that old decrepit language, will ye’! I speak dwarven and Agarian, just them two! So if ye’ wanna threaten me, ye’ better learn to do it so I can understand ye’!”

  “Enjoy your ability to speak, Thalanaxe, you will not have it for long, I promise you…” The voice rippled the air, cast chills along the walls as it echoed, and spoke in a seductive yet dark female tone.