“Is that all you have Antonius?” She shot.
“I’ve waited a long time for this Danica.” Rossi admitted. “You’re about to die. Are you ready for the afterlife?” He provoked.
Both of them had barely visible protective barriers surrounding themselves. As they cast progressively more powerful spells at each other the domes of protection wavered slightly before the defender reasserted their spell. The room around them took the majority of the damage as a result. Each more powerful spell disturbed the others dome slightly until both of them were drenched in sweat from the effort of keeping their defenses in place. The walls around them sported numerous scorch marks from spells that missed their targets, or ricocheted off of their protective spells.
“Bastard!” Danica screamed as she unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning. It crossed the gap between their defenses and struck Rossi’s dome, crackling and hissing as it dissipated down the sides. Antonius dropped down to one knee under her power. The effort of keeping his defenses in place to her onslaught was beginning to take its toll.
“Whore!” He seethed unleashing a powerful gust of hurricane wind at her. Rhodes and her defensive dome slid backwards on the cobblestone floor until she focused her power and stopped her movement. Behind her the tome’s pages continued to rip out of the book from the power of the spell. Three windows, stained black to keep the sun out of this room, shattered as the wind tossed one of the candelabrums’ into them.
~
It had taken quite a bit on convincing on Tristan’s part to get the filthy little man to come out of his hiding spot. When he had, Ben had become a fountain of information about the town and what had happened to the citizens. Thirty years ago this town had been a major port for sailors who wanted a certain freedom that most civilized countries didn’t appreciate.
“A pirate’s cove.” The ship Captain had chuckled.
The little man nodded in response and took another greedy bite of the fish. The sailors had caught their dinner off the coast and cooked it in the ramshackle fireplace of the pub Tristan had discovered. The little man explained the pirate’s paid homage to Henjis, bringing him books, tomes and magical items of worth in exchange for his protection and advice.
“Henjis was the smartest o’ all of them dragons; his knowledge served thi’ town for hundreds o’ years.” The little man explained between mouthfuls of food and wine.
“So what happened then?” The first-mate prodded.
The little man swallowed and regarded the young man.
“Those damn fools at the top o’ the cliff scared ‘em off, eh?” He growled. “After Henjis lef’, them pirate’s were raided by ‘very tribe in th’ Expanse.” He said with disgust. “Them that survived fled fer safer ports.” He explained.
“Wait a minute.” William interrupted. “What damned fools?”
“Them Bane jokers.” He replied darkly. “Bunch of dofers if I ever seen ‘em. They made this big crystal ya see? The damned thing sucks all tha magic outta them dragons. Was nothin’ ol’ Henjis coul’ do. Had ta make a run fer it, ya know?” He explained.
“How do you know this old man?” Tristan accused.
“Everyone knows that!” The old man shouted, guzzling his wine down and spilling it all over his filthy beard and shirt.
Tristan looked up at William and Euri, seeing his shock registered in their faces as well. This filthy beggar knew more than anyone had thus far. Tristan thought to himself for a moment while the Captain and first-mate continued to interrogate the man as he stuffed his mouth full of fish and wine.
“How do I get up the cliff?” Tristan interrupted.
The old filthy man stopped chewing for a moment, looked the young man in the eyes and then swallowed. “There’s a cave a’ the edge o’ town. Yer gotta go in there, climb up the staircase.”
Tristan nodded to Euri and William as the three of them stood and walked towards the door. “Wait Prince Tristan!” The old man shouted.
Tristan’s eyes narrowed, he turned and stalked back to the table. He reached across the table and grabbed a hold of the front of his wine soaked tunic and pulled him unceremoniously over the table and lifted him easily with one hand so that they were eye to eye.
“Who are you old man?” Tristan shouted.
“I’m just a simple man who wants to see the end of the Bane as much as you do Tristan Vallious.” He replied evenly and without the usual stuttering or slurring of words.
Tristans’ eyes narrowed dangerously, pulling the man close enough to cause the gorge in his throat to rise at the smell of him.
“What are you leaving out?” He asked through clenched teeth.
The old man smiled, his teeth were black and rotting in his mouth and mixed with the smell of fish and wine, it was enough to make most men vomit right where they stood. Tristan was too angry to succumb to that at this point. His anger served to focus his attention on the old man’s words.
“Nothing.” He replied calmly. “But you must hurry young Prince. Time is of the essence!” He shouted at the last. A blinding flash and man had wriggled his way free of his tunic and disappeared from the room.
“I don’t like it.” William said quietly at his side.
“This is what we came here for.” Tristan explained. “Trap or no trap we need to find that cave and somehow get into their headquarters and finish this once and for all.”
“Oh don’t be so dramatic.” Euri chastised. “It sounds like fun!” Her youthful enthusiasm made the cousins laugh.
“Captain, wait here a three days.” Tristan instructed, turning to the sailor. “If we’re not back by then we’ll find another way home or we’ll be dead.” The Captain nodded gravely as he motioned for his sailors to follow him out of the pub, leaving the three adventurers alone to plan their next move.
~
Danica Rhodes gasped for breath. Across the hall Antonius Rossi was doing the same. For the last six hours they had slowly destroyed their surroundings. Four pillars lay on the ground, the roof they held up was groaning and flexing under the strain of the missing support. The last of the windows had been knocked out when Rhodes had hit Rossi with a blast of frost and ice. Even now the shards of ice were melting in the holes they cut into the main doorway.
Rossi took a deep breath, waved his arms around himself in an arc and sent a blast of red hot air at Rhodes. Her defenses held, but she could still feel the heat of the blast, it blistered her hands as she held them in front of her, adding her waning strength to the defensive dome. Around her any remaining ice evaporated with audible hisses. The cobblestones around began to glow an angry red color and several of them burst from the pressure.
Her eyes narrowed in anger; twirling in spot she shot her arm forward. Little missiles of freezing rain pelted Rossi’s defenses. A score of them cut their way through the dome and sliced at his robes and arms. He raised his arms, putting his palms out suffering cuts as he did so, but strengthening his defenses enough to stop the icy razors from penetrating. Both of them were panting with exhaustion as another pillar gave way brining half the roof down on top of them.
~
“This place is huge!” William exclaimed.
They’d searched for the entrance to the cave for hours before finding little more than a fissure in the cliff face when they had sat down to eat a light supper. Euri had noticed steam coming out of the top of the fissure and had walked over to investigate. The cave entrance was turned into the cliff-side slightly, looking straight at it the entrance looked like little more than a slit in the face of a never-ending rock. She walked a little to the left to find a hole in the side of the cliff that was large enough to admit a man on horseback.
A long winding tunnel rose and sank for at least a mile before it emptied out into an enormous chamber. A single ray of light poured into the cavern from above, the heavily jeweled walls of the chamber refracted the light a hundredfold until a reassuring light was created.
The light began to dim and falter, Tristan
assumed this meant that a storm was gathering and the clouds had rolled in. Still, there was enough light even now as his eyes adjusted to the gloom to make out some minor details. Off to their right a giant staircase rose, winding its way up the side of the chamber out of sight. Directly in front of them was a large circular pad cut into the floor of the chamber. Tristan guessed that it might be thirty feet in circumference, he couldn’t guess at its purpose though.
Along the southern wall large bookcases rose easily twenty feet high, loaded to the breaking point with books, trinkets and objects of the strangest sort. A study had more or less been setup where the southern and western walls connected, desks were laden with strange devices that made odd sounds and issued smoke every now and then. A plush chair sat behind one of the many desks, this one cleared and orderly.
Books were stacked on it as well, though most of them were written in a language Tristan couldn’t discern. Eurydice walked over and began thumbing through one of the larger books, her eyes darting along the page.
“You can read that?” Tristan blurted.
“Of course.” She replied without looking up. “It’s in draconic.”
“How come I can’t?” Tristan asked.
“Don’t worry.” She replied evenly, making eye contact with him. “You never could.”
She continued to read the book, sitting down in the chair while William and Tristan walked off to investigate the rest of the chamber. They nibbled at the smoked fish they had brought along as they observed with great interest the moving objects on one of the desks. Neither of them had much inclination to touch them. Every time one of them would reach out to grab an object, it would blast steam out at them.
Shaking their heads in irritation, the cousins continued to walk around the chamber. The dimmed light made it hard to fully appreciate the art drawn all over the northern wall. Though the color was vibrant, Tristan wasn’t quite sure what he was seeing.
“That’s the history of this world.” A voice called out from the shadows.
The little wretch walked out from under the staircase, a playful smile on his face. He’d clearly bathed and changed since their last encounter as his long black hair was pulled back into a tail, his beard was trimmed and short. His clothes were well serviced, given the age of them. He shook his staff, closing his eyes and contorting his mouth with the effort. The end of the staff lit up again and the area around them became just bright enough for them to see the vibrant painting on the wall.
Depicted on the wall were seven great dragons, the colors seemed un-faded by time. Tristan could clearly see silver, bronze, blue, red, white, green and finally black emerge from a circular vortex of lightning. In the next panel they settled into different parts of the main continent on a mainly sea covered globe. The next panel showed the landscape changing in those areas, deep green forests in the east, tan sands north of it, patches of green and blue where Vallius should be, volcanoes to the west, swamps and marshes south of that and vast amber fields of grain and tundra to the far north.
“Each one of the mighty seven found a home on this world; they formed the land to their will and created a utopia for themselves. They escaped madness and war for peace and tranquility.” Ben explained.
The next panel showed a great war as the next generation of dragons fought with humans and dwarves. A great silver dragon rose as the mightiest of the dragon force and forged a peace with a mortal king. The last panel showed peace as the dragon king and the mortal king stood overlooking the world shaking hands.
“Draconis rose as the most powerful. He alone was the voice of reason among the dragon host. He wanted peace, fearing the dragons would create another world of atrocities. He made a pact with a mortal king; the dragons would serve as patrons to the emerging kingdoms.” Ben went on.
Tristan and William looked at one another, then the old man. Neither one of them knew what to say or how to proceed. Ben saved them the trouble as he continued his history lesson.
“There was peace for six generations of man. Then, the sorcerers of Deus, jealous to be left out of such an arrangement, orchestrated the assassination of the great green dragon; Ryanite.” The old man explained, pointing to a small mural to the right.
“They could not kill the dragon with their magic, so they employed the aid of mercenaries. A force of men, orcs, trolls and sorcerers hunted down Ryanite and slew him. They quartered him like some low beast of burden.” He spat.
The Prince was awestruck, he always enjoyed learning, but this oratory of the history of this world had him captivated. He absentmindedly ripped off another chunk of smoked fish with his teeth as Ben continued recounting the tale.
“The great black dragon, Henjis, was disgusted by this action. He called for dragons to rise up and subjugate mankind. Preferring to keep his would be assassins under heel rather than allow another vile murder to happen. Draconis stopped him though, believing that between men and dragons they could come to a compromise that everyone could live with, man and beast alike.” Ben said.
“Then folly of follies happened. Henjis, envious of the Dragon King, formed the group that first used the name Draconis’ Bane.” He accounted quietly.
Tristan’s jaw dropped. “A dragon helped form the group that would slay dragons!?” He shouted.
Ben waved off the question. “You must understand, young Prince, Henjis only wanted the mantel of Dragon King so he could safeguard his brethren!” He explained.
“Instead he gave them the tools to hunt down and kill all of the dragons!” Tristan yelled.
“And he very likely paid for that mistake with his life.” Ben yelled. “His daughter now commands the Bane and it’s by her hand that you are here as you are.” He continued.
“We’re wasting time.” Tristan answered, his irritation rising inside him like a disturbed serpent ready to strike. He walked back over the study area calling Eurydice.
“Listen to this.” She answered him in rush, interrupting him. “Atacamite is the only gem, crystal or magical item known to be able to funnel energy from another life source. If used properly all of the targets energy can be funneled into the gem and focused to another.” She blurted out.
“Wait a second. All of the dragon power is being funneled out of all of the remaining dragons and into someone else?” William asked in surprise.
“Not exactly.” Ben replied as he walked over to them. “Danica Rhodes can’t tap into that power, only the creator of the gem can do that, and the irony is that it’s draining him of his power as well.”
“Henjis.” Tristan said gritting his teeth.
“Precisely.” Ben agreed. “So instead, the gem just keeps growing and growing as it draws away the last of the Dragon Magic on our world.” The old man explained. “Soon the land will start to revert back to its original state, the climate will change and I very much doubt mankind will survive.”
Tristan turned to Euri and asked. “How do we destroy this gem?”
Eurydice flipped the pages, panicking. “It….it doesn’t say.” She replied looking up at him in shock.
~
“Damned fool.” Rhodes cursed, picking her way through the rubble.
A short distance away Rossi’s arm twitched from underneath a pile of large stones. Danica smiled sadistically at the bloody arm. The hand grasped weakly at the stones around it as Antonius tried to pull himself out of the rubble of the collapsed ceiling. That last spell had brought down the rest of the ceiling. Rossi had been in the middle of casting another spell and couldn’t keep his defenses up as three pillars collapsed around him and a large chunk of ceiling came crashing down on him.
Using her arts, she pulled pieces of rock off of him so that she could finish the job. When she’d moved the third rock she heard mumbling and barely had her defenses gathered around her as a shock wave threw her backwards. Danica landed painfully twenty feet away as all the air exploded from her lungs.
She forced herself to draw in breath, bringing tears to her eyes from the e
ffort. Her robe was in tatters around her, the hood ripped off by a barely dodged spell and holes scattered haphazardly all over her robes from weaknesses in her defenses. Rhodes reflexes saved her as she summoned her defenses again as a ball of fire erupted around her. On one knee she focused her will and fought against the oppressive heat.
The spell lifted leaving her skin reddened and irritated and her robe was a smoldering ruin. She focused her will again and summoned all of her remaining power directing it at Antonius Rossi. An angry green fireball erupted from her hands and quickly crossed the rubble between them.
Rossi waved his arms in a circle focusing his power, when he shot his hands forward a weak barely coherent dome leaped up around him. The ball of green flame struck the barrier as he struggled to keep the defense up. Sweat began to pour down his forehead and angry red pustules formed along his arms and face.
He began to scream as he focused his rage and anger into strengthening the defense. The green flame vanished leaving his face black and scared, his arms and robes smoldered as he breathed deeply, gasping to draw in enough breath to fill his lungs. Then his eyes widened as his legs slackened with weakness underneath him.
Dropping to his knees he raised his hand slowly to his chest. A black jeweled dagger hilt jutted out from his torn robe. He looked up at Danica Rhodes, whose arm was at the end of her throw. Relief was clearly evident in her striking features. Rossi began to sway back and forth as he slowly pulled the dagger out of his chest with a grunt. It fell from his limp hand as he looked up at Rhodes.
“Bitch.” He muttered in scarcely a whisper as his eyes rolled up into his head and he fell backwards.
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