The Emperor's Shadow War (Tales of Alus Book 2)

by Donald Wigboldy

"I would like to make a deal with you Drakus. One not forced upon you, but of mutual consent."

  The dragon's eye narrowed and looked upon the man intently. "What kind of deal?"

  "The Visionaries have sent me here to take the ring in an effort to defeat the Dark Emperor, but I wish to be fair to you as well."

  "Go on," the dragon said cautiously.

  "Give me the ring and I promise that once we are finished with it, I or someone I send will bring it back to you. When the Emperor is destroyed, the ring returns to you."

  "Your words attempt to declare a fair deal, but how can the ring defeat the Emperor, human? I fear that you haven't the strength to destroy so powerful an enemy."

  The dragon and Dante’s conversation paused a moment as the great beast came to alight at the scar's entrance. The soldiers all were prepared for a fight and seemed ready to give up their lives in an attack on the dragon. "Your warriors are brave, but ill prepared, little one. I cannot in good faith give the ring into such hands.

  “Yet.” The dragon laughed and the echoes rumbled through the circle of mountains.

  Sudden movement from below caught them both by surprise. Valenia stumbled from the dragon and Dante watched from where he stood on the creature's back as the woman fought to remove her breastplate. It was crumpled unbelievably from the dragon's grip. Her soldiers ran to her aid and finally the golden armor was pulled off her gasping form.

  "Valenia?" he called down worriedly.

  "I'm all right," she called back, "the armor was just stifling me. It'll need to be hammered out before I can where it again though."

  Both their attentions shifted briefly to the mountain behind them where they expected the enemy to appear any moment now. Drakus watched Valenia's face bemused.

  "That is why I cannot give the ring to you as you are now, little one. Come follow me, all of you. Within I shall give you the means to protect yourselves against the Dark Emperor's minions." The dragon continued to laugh and began to waddle inside the scar.

  "What?" Dante asked confused. He could only stare at the retreating creature.

  "I shall risk the ring with you, little one. If you lose it to the Emperor, I shall retake it from him whether he wills me to or not. I find you amusing and would make a gift to you and your warriors with the stipulation that you return what is mine when you are done."

  The other soldiers followed the dragon worriedly inside as Dante gestured for them to enter. They retraced their steps to the treasure cavern and Dante dismounted as he removed the rope from the dragon's neck. Most of the soldiers gathered near the corridor entrance as Drakus stood on his hind legs and peered down at them all from his great height.

  "I have gleaned the greatest weapons and armor of many worlds," the dragon declared. "Take that which fits and show me the weapons that you gather, but take only the ones that call to you."

  Dante stood at the base of the dragon and looked up at the strange beast. Its attitude seemed to change constantly within a set of rules that only Drakus knew or understood. He brought the spear in front of him and held it out. "This is all I wish, great Drakus, if you please."

  "An interesting choice, little one. The Spear of Aleile is a good weapon, but would you take no armor to protect yourself or perhaps a sword? I've witnessed what you have and know that it is lacking." The dragon's tail suddenly shifted towards Dante displaying a sheathed sword. "Try this one, if you will. It's known as the Dark's Bane."

  Dante drew the blade from its sheath. A low whistle escaped his lips as the metal of the sword began to glow as he held it before him. He also noticed runes of an unreadable nature were engraved into the blade and pommel. The craftsmanship involved in its creation was completely unlike anything that the soldier had ever witnessed in all his days. "But Drakus I couldn't. This was hardly part of the deal," the soldier protested.

  The dragon chuckled. "Oh, but, lad, you will need such weapons for the battles ahead. If you went as you are, you would surely fail miserably, but now I can watch you as you take on the Emperor's armies. Fight well with these weapons and perhaps, if you are immortal as you say, then one day you will return my treasures so that I needn't pick them from your fallen corpses.

  "Trust me when I tell you that I risk nothing. If you fail, then I get the joy of trying to recapture these trinkets again. If you succeed, then I get the enjoyment of watching your battles. I have lived long as I said and perhaps your travels can add new luster to my days that has been missing for centuries.

  "Now go prepare yourselves, for your first task lies before you. Here is the ring. Guard it well. Also I would caution you to give the scepter to the seer." Drakus shifted his attention to the others then and offered suggestions to the other men and women who would battle that day as well.

  Dante watched as the ring shrunk in the air as it slowly moved to settle into his hand. Placing the golden band on his finger, he then removed the scepter from its place on his back and went outside to find Gannon, who had chosen to stay behind.

  "I don't understand this Drakus," he said upon finding the seer. "One moment the creature tries to kill us all and the next he is acting like a benevolent grandfather giving gifts to his heirs."

  Gannon smiled soberly and held out his hand for the scepter. "The dragon was but one test. Drakus knows that better than even you do. He has been called the father of all dragons, and that nearly fits one so old. The dragon is nearly a force of nature, but when you bested it, you gained Drakus' respect as I suspect no one has before. Then you treated him as an equal in your dealings. If nothing else, I think that you amuse the old fellow."

  Dante shook his head incredulously, "Yes, he said that I amused him, but still..."

  The Visionary sighed, "Boy, don't look the gift dragon in the mouth as one might say. Drakus has given you a means to keep your people alive and you will all need it. Look."

  He followed the man’s bony finger as it pointed towards the far mountain that they had crossed earlier. At its crest, a dark mass began to roll over the gray of the stone. A chill ran through him. The enemy had arrived in numbers that caused him to fear for the lives of his friends more than ever. He wondered how they could possibly defeat so many foes.

  Chapter 33- Darius

  The band traveled swiftly through the northern reaches of the Great Forest of Taltan. Darius had allowed his party to join with that of Jaran and Dorvin for the remainder of the trip, since the merchants were moving at almost the same pace as his had been anyway it just made sense for everyone’s safety. The wizard also continued to ask questions of the two leaders in an attempt to learn more of Darvus. Trying not to sound too conspicuous in his interest was not as easy as one might think, Darius found, but the wizard believed that he raised no questions about himself.

  It was on their second day of travel along the winding road that he almost slipped up and went too far. The travelers had left the first village on their path hours before and the groups had all decided to take a midday meal. As he sat with the various men and women, the elves still remaining somewhat apart from the whole, Darius had been speaking of Darvus when he suddenly asked Dorvin, "Have your historians ever spoken of a certain artifact known as the Armor of Norn, Dorvin?"

  The dwarf immediately tried to mask his surprise at the name, but failed miserably in the attempt. "Where have you learned that name?" he queried in his usual gruff tone.

  Darius gestured to the air feigning ignorance, which wasn't too far from the truth, was often his thought as he considered the seer's words back at the council chamber. "It was mentioned briefly by someone as being an important weapon of the dwarves of old," he said trying to cover his mistake.

  The dwarf wagged his finger admonishingly as he replied, "There you go again trying to make us sound like we're some strange race from the myths. Do I look like a god so much that you consider us so?" he chuckled, but again the wizard noticed a certain wary look in the man's eyes as he tried to laugh off the words spoken.

  "My apologies, I'm
sure, Dorvin," the wizard replied with a smile though inside he wondered at the words of the seer. The woman seemed to have implied as much of the dwarves of Tolmona, hadn't she?

  "You should be, bub," Dorvin fell back into his normal tone of voice and straight faced way of talking. "I don't know much of this armor that you speak of other than its name, wizard. It is a myth, I'm sure."

  Darius sensed the man lied about his true knowledge, but still he asked, "If it's a myth, surely there is a story to go along with it, sir. Would you happen to have a story for us? The day is warm and I would just as soon sit a little longer before riding that warm blooded beast again today."

  Dorvin nodded with a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Darius wondered if it was a smile of willingness to share or the thought of the wizard's discomfort that generated such a look, but the dwarf began to speak of the armor even so, "Well, I admit that the last time I heard the tale I was just a rugrat. I am not sure if I really recall the story well, but I'll try. After all, we wouldn't want to give the wizard undo torture now, would we?

  "Anyway from what I remember, the Armor of Norn was said to be a suit of armor constructed for one of the first kings of Tolmona. It was said to have given its wearer great strength and an unusual resistance to magics of all kinds. I really don't remember why it was constructed, perhaps to lead his armies into battle to defend Tolmona or to stop one dark beast or another." The dwarf grunted in annoyance and shrugged, "Anyway, I guess that's about it, wizard. We'll be riding sooner than you thought, I guess." The dwarf grinned quickly with his remarkably white teeth standing out starkly from the dusky tan of his face.

  "I think that it was some blood sucking bat," one of the other dwarves offered from nearby.

  "No, you idiot. It was used to unite Tolmona as one. No chieftain or lord could stand up to it, I heard," another retorted and hit the fellow atop the head with his empty metal dinner plate.

  Darius could hardly hold in his laughter as the dwarves seemed about ready to come to blows over whose myth was correct.

  Suddenly a voice spoke softly yet clearly from behind him, "You are both wrong." Darius and the others turned to face Janus. The elf leaned against a nearby tree with half a dozen of the hunters congregated around him. He stood straight and stepped forward. The wizard noticed that the knight no longer bothered to wear his hat to mask his pointed ears. "Gentlemen, let me tell you why the Armor of Norn was actually made."

  "How can you tell us the true story, stranger? Are you a seer that you know such legends as truth?" Dorvin answered angrily. It was the dwarf's history and Darius found he was wondering the same questions as well.

  Janus just smiled grimly. "Believe what you wish, but I know. It was the dwarf King Alig of Norn, who had his most adept craftsmen make the armor. You are right in that it gave him great strength and incredible resistance to magic, but you forget that no armor will be of any use without the ability to defend against a breach as well. The Norn, as Alig was most often known, also had a sword and shield constructed by certain other men as well. The shield was made of metal in such a way that one could see through the plate from the wearer's side, but served as a mirror to the enemy. The maker of the shield named it Soul's Edge, since it made the attacker see himself for what he was inside on that surface. Many a foe would fall to the sight of evil and the hatred in his own face without the touch of a blade."

  "You're trying to tell me a mirror killed them, bub?" one of the dwarves asked scoffing from within the circle of gathering men.

  Janus turned to him coolly, "You would be surprised at how good a weapon it was. After all, isn't it said that the eyes are the gateway to the soul? If such is true, then how could a man not give pause at seeing his true self mirrored before him? The view of hate and evil is hard to stomach for most men. Remember though, the shield is as much a piece of armor as it is a weapon. A sword needed to be fashioned as the true reckoning in battle. It was the exact opposite of all that Norn wore. Another race, a magic one, had the honor of forging a sword unlike any other before or since.

  "Whereas the armor was made the exact opposite of magic, the properties of which I cannot even guess at, the sword was made to be wholly magic. This would be unthinkable normally, since dwarves tend to be made much like the armor and are either unwilling or unable to lay hands on such magical manifestations. The Norn was unlike his fellows in that way assuredly. Whether the king was immune to its affect or just so strong of will is unknown. All that is moot, however, since we know that he did carry the blade into battle. The king used the name of his sword as his battle cry in fact. Rhienbane, it was called, Evil's Death to put it into the common tongue.

  "The sword was given into the brave dwarf's hands by a people often at odds with his own because they were magic, and given for one reason only. King Alig was the last hope of his world, since a dark creature, much like a bat in his ways, had come to power. Cruelty was the creature's passion and complete obedience by all races his edict. He sucked the life from the world in his zest for conquest. Alig and his forces were the last true army left to that world of more than half a dozen races and it was his mission to slay the dark beast returning it to the hell that it came from."

  "I'm assuming that Alig won," Dorvin responded first. His tone was somewhat sarcastic, but the dwarf seemed taken aback by the tale that Janus had given despite his words.

  Janus gave a slight nod to the dwarf's words. "So we had thought at the time."

  Darius' eyes narrowed at the strange wording of the knight's answer, but listened as the elf continued lost in the thoughts brought to mind by the story, "Unfortunately, the act of slaying the beast served only to send it into hiding elsewhere. After millennia, a new dark lord appeared. His visage had changed, but not his heart or his tactics. Unfortunately, the dwarves' differences had come to separate them from their former allies fully once more. Now in that other world, the dark one strives to achieve what it once lost. New champions stood to try and stop him as they had tried once before, but alas things do not go well."

  "A story without an ending?" Jaran asked shaking his head. "Pardon me, Janus, but that seems a strange way to leave off. How does it end really? Does a descendant of Alig arise to throw down the creature once and for all? I like that ending much better."

  "I like that one too," the elf said with a sigh, "if you'll excuse me gentlemen. I need to have the men prepare for the afternoon's riding."

  "An odd fellow that one, bub," Dorvin grumbled. "Not a bad story up to that point, but odd. It almost sounded like he had been there."

  "How close was he?" Darius asked as his vision seemed to stare into the blue nothingness of a cloudless sky. Bending a piece of grass in his fingers, he considered the tale and the thoughts of Jaran as well. No answer was given by the dwarves, but perhaps those with them did not know the answer.

  The afternoon ride began quietly. Everyone seemed consumed with the meaning behind the story especially the people following Darius and Dorvin. The wizard caught guarded looks from the dwarves even as Janus and the elves seemed to painstakingly ignore them. The riders remounted with many lost in thought.

  Another day and a half led the men and women to the end of the woods. There Darius and his band let the merchants continue ahead of them. They had to take the time to part with a pair of friends this day. Darius rode near to Steis and extended a hand in friendship.

  "Are you sure that it is all right to go our own way, Wizard Darius?" the man questioned in a formal manner. "If you wish it, Celaria and I will remain to help you as we gave our oaths to do."

  Darius shook his head with a smile, "My friends, and go with my blessings. You have done more with giving your presence to our ride than I ever asked of you. In fact, more to the point, I freed you that you might lead your own lives. In that respect, I hope that you will allow me to present you with this," the wizard said as he pulled forth a small leather pouch tied with a draw string. It jiggled as it came free from its place on his belt. Darius had p
ut the pouch together days ago as a present that he honestly wished to give to his new friends.

  Steis and Celaria looked at each other worriedly. The man answered for both as he put his hands up defensively and said, "But, sir, we could not do such a thing. That is your money and our freedom is more than we could ever expect to be granted. Your generosity has already been more than enough really. Anymore and we would never have the ability to even partially repay you."

  Darius had expected the protest, but returned the dismissal with one of his own, "No, I insist, Steis. Take the money. I don't need it. Wizards are unique in that we rarely need money and even more rarely desire to have it. Besides, this money comes from the man who ruined your lives by taking you into slavery. It belongs to you as much as anyone."

  Steis took the pouch reverently, but suddenly he slid down from his mount quickly followed by Celaria. Both bowed low to him and held the position a long moment before rising again. Darius dismounted in embarrassment to approach the couple. Steis spoke as if he spoke to a king as he said, "We thank you, Darius. Forever will we be pledged to you. Celaria and I will try to make a new start in the plains just to the north of the Gen River. If you ever pass that way, our house and our lives are open to you."

  Celaria came forward after the speech that her soon to be husband had made. Blushing slightly, the woman curtsied before him. "If you would take nothing from us and give us so much, m' lord, please let me give you one gift in exchange."

  He nodded warily and the woman smiled shyly. Stepping nearer to him, Celaria pulled his head down slightly and stepped up onto her tiptoes. The woman kissed his cheek lightly and stepped back. She was blushing darker now and seemed unwilling to turn back to Steis just yet. "We will name our firstborn son after you as well to honor your memory. As Steis said, our home will always be open to you and please come often, m' lord. We are forever your servants and friends."

  Celaria turned away and Steis gave her a hand to help the woman back onto her mount. Steis turned back to Darius, who had not moved. Again Steis bowed, and said, "Thank you, Darius for everything that you have done for us."