Wyrmspire (Realm Keepers Book 2)

by Garrett Robinson

  Greystone glared at me, the pain returning to his face. “What? What are you talking about? What gifts?”

  “The eldest dragon kept saying this phrase over and over again,” I said. “‘The gifts of our alliance.’ I thought he was just old and senile, but it kept bothering me.”

  “I know nothing of this,” said Greystone. “Perhaps it was a diplomatic gift, one such as is given between kings who visit one another. Or perhaps something that the Six brought to help in the war against Chaos.”

  The world inside my mind imploded.

  The pictures in the temple.

  The runestones.

  Earthbound dragons.

  Everything.

  All of it.

  It made sense.

  “Oh my God,” I whispered. “Omigod omigod omigod!”

  “Lord Calvin, what is it?” cried Darren in alarm. He tried to support me again.

  I shook him off. “No! I get it! I understand what we were supposed to do! We had it all wrong! We never did it! Oh my God, I’m such an idiot!”

  “What are you babbling about?” said Greystone.

  I turned to Darren. “Darren, I have to go back to Wyrmspire.”

  “What?” cried Darren and Greystone at the same time.

  “Lord Calvin, you can’t!” said Darren. “The dragons told us, if we return they—”

  “I’m so sorry,” I said solemnly, and then I blasted into the sky. I barely heard him call my name one more time before his voice was lost in the rushing, snow-dusted air around me.

  I flew up until the fires of torches burning below me were like pinpricks, as small as the stars. In the moon’s light, I saw Wyrmspire on the horizon. With every ounce of speed I had, I flew for it.

  I flew fast, faster, faster than I’d ever gone before. I was a cannonball. No, cannonballs were slow. I was a cruise missile. I was a rocket heading for the sun. Snow pelted my face, getting in my eyes, so I encapsulated myself in a bubble of solid air to keep it off. Then I smoothed the bubble down, making it more aerodynamic. Every second counted.

  I heard the roar of rushing wings before I saw their source. I pulled up short as a dragon swooped by in front of me, giving a startled yelp.

  “Keeper of Air!” cried the dragon. “What are you doing?”

  The dragon swooped by again, and this time I recognized the scale pattern on his face. “Bonebreaker!” I said. “I need to speak to Blackscale, right now, like pronto!”

  “You must turn back, Keeper,” said Bonebreaker, sounding uneasy. “If another were to see you, they would kill you by the Council’s decree. Even Blackscale cannot protect you from that.”

  “We don’t need his protection, we need his help,” I said. “We all do. And I finally know how.”

  “What do you mean?” said Bonebreaker.

  “I don’t have time to explain! But come with me, and I’ll show you, I said. Plus, who knows?” I smiled. “There might be a fight in it for you.”

  Bonebreaker turned as he flew, looking back toward the mountain that was his home. Then he turned to look back at me. “Perhaps I could chance it,” he said thoughtfully.

  “Great!” I shouted. “Come on!”

  He wheeled, and together we blasted toward Wyrmspire as fast as we could. Both of us fell into a steep dive. It didn’t matter to me, but gravity helped Bonebreaker pour on some extra speed, easily keeping up with me.

  I heard more wings flapping, and then a roar. I’d been spotted, by at least a few others. But were they friend or foe? I didn’t have time to stop and find out. I’d see and hear any threat long before it reached me, and as fast as dragons were in the air, they weren’t nearly as nimble as I could be.

  The thunder above me signaled a swooping attack, and I spun out of the way. Bloodtooth blasted by me on the left side, his claws outstretched to snatch me in midair from where I’d been seconds ago. Bonebreaker tucked into a dive immediately, clawing at Bloodtooth in midair. The dragons circled and roared at each other, their teeth gnashing and looking for blood.

  “I will handle him!” cried Bonebreaker. “Go! And be fast!”

  I didn’t waste time with a reply. Less than a second later I was blasting toward Wyrmspire again. I flew up, up, up, close to its peak, where the elders’ nests sat. There was Blackscale’s nest. At full speed I blasted in through the front door. Blackscale lay upon his bed, but his head shot up immediately as soon as he saw me.

  I heard the roar of wings and dragons behind me and whirled, putting up my hands to defend myself. But only familiar faces greeted me. Nightclaw. Thunderfoot. Skycutter and Wingstone. Perfect, perfect and perfect.

  “Keeper of Air,” rumbled Blackscale. “I am not displeased to see you again, but you must leave immediately. You are in great danger here, and my pledge would be broken if you came to harm.”

  I turned to him. “No, Blackscale,” I said. “Your pledge will be broken if I leave. We need your help.”

  SOMETHING NEW

  BLADE

  I RAN TO THE CENTER of the plateau where the others stood around the fizzling, smoking corpse of the first hellion. I’d seen it coming up the cliff, but I was already caught up in a fight of my own. I was just relieved that none of the others seemed to be hurt.

  But I could still hear the crashing footsteps of the others coming down the mountain cleft toward us. We didn’t have long.

  “Nice job on this one,” I said, nodding at the hellion’s body. “Hope you got enough left in you for at least three more.”

  “Har har,” said Sarah. “They’re stronger now. A whole lot smarter. We need to figure something else out.”

  “Well first of all, we should try to keep them from getting up the cliff in the first place,” I said. “Seems like priority number one.”

  “Good luck with that,” said Miles. He was kneeling on the ground, panting heavily. “They don’t stop coming, and they’re a whole heck of a lot faster than they used to be.”

  I looked around. “Where’d Calvin go? Wasn’t he just with you guys? And where’s Tess?”

  Sarah looked around uncomfortably. “Calvin took off.”

  I blinked. “What? What do you mean, ‘took off?’ Took off where? He had better things to do?”

  “He has had an idea,” said a voice behind me. I turned to see Greystone, his face twisted in pain as he leaned heavily on his staff. “And I hope, for all our sakes, that it is a better one than he usually—”

  He stopped with a cry of pain and fell to the ground, clutching at his staff so hard his knuckles turned white.

  I jumped to his side, trying to pull him up into a sitting position. Sarah dove down beside me. “Greystone!” she cried. “What’s wrong?”

  “Terrence,” he growled. “He is—”

  He stopped, giving another cry of pain and thrashing on the ground.

  “Sarah, I got him,” I said. “You and the others focus on stopping those hellions.”

  Sarah looked down at Greystone, face heavy with worry. After a moment she nodded and got to her feet. “They’ve split up. Miles, you head to the right side. I’ll take the left. Raven, you go back and forth and help out wherever you can.”

  “Sarah, we couldn’t stop one of them all together,” said Miles. “You really think splitting up is a good idea?”

  “I don’t know what else to do,” Sarah said grimly. “Plus, you and Raven can try that combo thing again.”

  “Yeah, but what about you?” said Miles, folding his arms.

  Sarah glanced at Cara. Both of their faces were grim. “I’ll think of something,” said Sarah.

  Before anyone could move, however, the ground rocked beneath our feet as we heard what sounded like a massive explosion in the distance. I shot to my feet, looking around wildly, and saw a blinding light in the distance.

  “What’s that?” I shouted, pointing.

  The others turned, staring. The column of light stretched from high in the sky down to a point that was hidden behind the wall of mountains t
o the south. It glowed whiter than any fire I’d ever summoned, and even though it had to be miles away, I could hear the rumbling crackle of its energy from here.

  “What is that?” said Miles in an awed voice.

  “Looks like an explosion,” I said.

  “No, it’s a column,” said Raven. “Like an energy…something. Calvin would know the word.”

  “You don’t think that’s him, do you?” said Miles.

  Sarah’s face had gone whiter than the snowflakes that fell around us. She swallowed hard and said, “Doubt it. That doesn’t exactly look like air to me.”

  I glanced down at Greystone, then did a double take. The old man was staring at the column of energy with an expression of pure wonder on his face.

  “What is it, old man?” I said. “Do you know what that is?”

  “I have seen it before, yes,” he muttered. “But…it could not be…”

  Suddenly I felt a tugging at my waist. I glanced at it to see the leather pouch on my belt jumping and jerking around like a small animal.

  “What the—” I began.

  With a loud ripping sound, the leather pouch burst open. My runestone rocketed out of it into the night, vanishing without a trace. Around me I saw the others look at their belts as their stones flew off alongside mine.

  “What the heck was that?” shouted Miles.

  Raven pawed at the pouch, double-checking it was empty. “My runestone!” she shouted. “It’s gone!”

  “Oh, no no no,” cried Sarah. She fell to her knees and began searching the ground for something. “The ring! The ring fell out! Help me find it!”

  I stooped to grab her shoulders and pull her back to her feet. “Okay, boss, focus. The runestones aren’t going to get us out of this fight, so they can wait. As for the ring…” I smirked, thinking of Meridia. “If you ask me, good riddance.”

  Sarah glowered at me. “It’s not just her, Blade. Terrence can use that ring to make another lich, like he did with Reiko.”

  I scowled back at her. “Well, unless he’s going to do that right this very second, I think we’ve got bigger priorities.” Not far away, below the plateau’s edge, I heard massive roars as the hellions neared the cliff. “And there they are now.”

  Sarah gave me a dirty look, but she turned to the others. “Okay, he’s right,” she said. “Come on. Let’s keep these things away from the rest of the soldiers.”

  Miles ran off into the night, Sarah in the other direction. Raven leapt atop Ella again and took off into the sky, creating a miniature whirlwind of snowflakes in her wake.

  I turned to Samuel. “Come on,” I said. “Help me out.” Together we bent and scooped Greystone up, each of us throwing one of his arms over our shoulders. We walked slowly back toward the cliff wall behind the plateau. It was easier than I’d thought it would be. The old man was as light as a feather.

  “You need to put on some pounds, grandpa,” I said. “Build up that muscle mass.”

  Greystone groaned. “Blade. It’s Terrence. He’s….” His head shot up, and I saw terror in his eyes. “Oh no.”

  I heard the crack of stone behind me. Immediately I dropped Greystone’s arm and turned, my hands out and holding fire.

  There he was. The man himself. Terrence.

  He knelt on the stone, which was cracked in a spiderweb pattern around him. In his left hand he held a massive sword with a wavy blade. His right hand was planted on the stone, but it rose as he slowly got to his feet. His eyes were pure white, like Tess’ when she used her power.

  A sudden thought struck me. Where was Tess? I hadn’t even noticed she wasn’t with the others.

  Terrence stood at least six foot six. The curve of his mouth reminded me of my own smirk, except it was cruel and vicious. I saw one of his eyebrows spasming every few seconds, hinting at a rage that his expression tried to hide. Every part of his shirtless frame bulged with muscle.

  My whole body was tense, ready for an attack. But despite that, I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut.

  “You should lay off the steroids, bro,” I said. “They’re no bueno for your health.”

  Terrence’s smirk deepened. “It’s you,” he said. “The one who came into my camp at Morrowdust. The failed assassin.”

  “Right, about that,” I said. I kept my tone nonchalant, but I didn’t relax one iota. I had to be ready to draw him away from Samuel and Greystone if he decided to attack. “You’ll be happy to know that I’ve thought a lot about what I’ve done, and I’ve learned the error of my ways. Why don’t we all just let bygones be bygones?”

  Terrence’s mouth turned from smile to snarl in an instant as he hissed. “Impudent children. True Earth raises its whelps to be smart-mouthed little brats, incapable of respect for their elders and betters.” And then in a flash, the smile was back. “Of course, I could have said the same thing about myself at your age.”

  “See?” I said. “Haven’t you ever met someone and thought that the two of you could be the best of friends, if the other person wasn’t so much older? Like, five hundred years older?”

  Terrence threw back his head and laughed, a cruel sound that froze my blood in my veins. “Oh, simple boy,” he said. “Do you hope to distract me with your witty banter? To expose a crack in my armor to exploit? If so, I must warn you that it is a fool’s errand.”

  In my mind, I sighed. He was right and I knew it.

  I turned my head a fraction of an inch. “Samuel,” I said. “Get Greystone out of here. Get him to safety.”

  “I’m not leaving, my Lord,” Samuel said flatly.

  “Yeah, you are,” I said. “This is an order.”

  “My Lord, you cannot beat him.”

  I sighed. “Might be right. But you can still get Greystone out of here. And just so we’re clear, this is an order.”

  There was a long silence from Samuel. Then I heard the sound of Greystone’s feet dragging across the stone as Samuel hauled him away. The old man said something just before they went out of earshot, but I couldn’t hear the words.

  Terrence watched them go impartially. “There will be time enough for old Greybones later,” he said. “First, I wish to meet this new Keeper of the Mind.”

  The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I felt a jolt of adrenaline course through me. I tried to keep my face empty. “What, are you jealous that a sixteen-year-old girl is a better Realm Keeper than you were?”

  He snorted. “Do you expect me to be offended? Why would I wish to be a Realm Keeper, so limited in my power? Do you not realize that I am greater now than I have ever been in five hundred years? No. I struck the Keeper of the Mind down, and yet I sense that she still lives. I wish to finish the job.”

  The edges of my vision went red, and without even realizing it I summoned a fireball from thin air. With a wordless yell I flung it straight for Terrence’s face. But with a twist of his arms, Terrence diverted the flow of the flames, sending them to detonate harmlessly into the mountain above.

  Fire was my specialty. This guy didn’t get to toss my power aside like it was a softball. I fired again, and again. Each time he blocked it, but as I turned up the power, increased the heat, I saw sweat bead on his bald head.

  I dove deep, deep into my reserves of power and unleashed a torrent of fire, sending it gushing at his torso. Terrence held it in midair, pushing against me. But he didn’t have as much practice with it as I did. I inched it forward again and again, until I could almost feel it burning his skin.

  And then, I saw Terrence smile.

  “You’re certainly a capable Keeper of Fire, I’ll give you that,” he said through gritted teeth. “But of course, you are still limited. Unlike me.”

  Terrence spun to the side, letting my fire blast past him. Then, with a sweep of his hand, he sent a column of rock shooting out of the earth into my chest. I flew off my feet to land hard several yards away, gasping with pain. I felt a twinge as I sat up. That was probably a broken rib. Not good.

  Terrence cocke
d his head as he looked at me, registering the anger in my face. “My goodness. You care for this Keeper of Mind very much, don’t you? Why, you’re simply furious. I can only imagine how it must feel, being infatuated with someone so much more powerful than you. I saw the same look in Barius’ eyes as he dallied with the gods.”

  I forced myself to stand, but I couldn’t keep myself from putting a hand to my side to suppress the pain. “Yeah, I heard about that,” I said, each breath hissing through clenched teeth. “Of course, I heard Reiko chose Barius over you, because she couldn’t stand the smell of you. I can only imagine how that must feel.”

  As soon as the last word was out of my mouth I flung both arms forward, ignoring the stabbing pain in my side. An inferno erupted from all sides around Terrence, threatening to envelop him. The look of rage on his face twisted into one of fear as he seized the flames and twisted them around, forming them into a ball between us. I struggled to take back control, but the pain of my ribs kept breaking my concentration.

  With a flourish, Terrence sent the fireball rocketing right into my face. It couldn’t hurt me, of course, but the force of the blast kicked me off my feet again, to land even closer to the cliff wall behind me. I shouted as the agony in my side doubled.

  “As I said. Simply rude, you children of True Earth,” said Terrence. “Your world is so soft now. So afraid to discipline your inane little minds. Spare the rod and spoil the child, as they say. And I think I’ve devised the perfect punishment. How would you like to watch me kill the new Keeper of Mind?”

  I gritted my teeth and forced myself to raise my arms. Maybe I could set his clothes on fire.

  But nothing happened.

  I tried again, pushing even harder. But all of a sudden I realized that I wasn’t connected to my magic any more. It was still there. I could feel its presence somewhere inside of me. But my grasping mind could no longer grab hold of it.

  A long, slow laugh began to pour between Terrence’s lips. When it subsided he brushed at his eye, as though wiping away an imaginary tear. “Oh, I cannot tell you how much I enjoy that look upon your face. I have never tired of it as many times as I’ve seen it.”