Draconis' Bane

by David Temrick

  “Protection’s only on the walls.” Draconis chuckled.

  Tristan rolled his eyes, chuckling as he climbed up onto the building wall and looked down into it. A large black gem, roughly ten feet across and six feet in height glowed with an eerie grey hue. He called over his cousin and sister, who climbed up on the wall with him. As all four of them became lost in thought, Tristan began to wonder how he was to destroy something so big.

  “Grandpa could toss it off the cliff…” Euri suggested.

  William drew one of his daggers and threw it at the crystal. It ricocheted off of the giant gem and a low moan that made them all feel quite dirty and ill at ease echoed out of the crystal.

  “Don’t do that again.” Draconis instructed needlessly with a smirk.

  A thought must have occurred to Euri because she pulled out her staff and touched it to the surface of the crystal. Immediately it began to glow brighter, changing to a white glow, and then golden. The top of her staff glowed brighter than the rest and a pillar of light shot out of it into the heavens.

  Tristan drew his sword, reversed his grip on it and touched the tip of his sword to the gem. He felt a strange vibration travel up his arm and outward from him as a similar golden light shot from the hilt of his sword. Wave after wave of a euphoric joy filled him. The two of them stood there for hours, the gem getting smaller and smaller by the minute. Finally, Tristan leapt into the building and drove his sword into what was left of the crystal. It shattered into tiny pieces which smoked and sizzled as they vanished. William held out Euri’s staff and Tristan used it to get back out of the building.

  When Tristan was back on the wall he looked at Draconis. The great silver dragon was sparkling in the sunlight, almost too bright to look at. Gone were the dull plates Tristan had gotten used to seeing. Each plate on the dragons’ body gleamed as if they had just been polished by the sun itself.

  Draconis reared back and let loose a roar, it was a happy note, filled with possibilities and hope. On the distant horizon the three of them could hear roars from other dragons all over the world. Tristan sighed in relief, causing William and Eurydice to laugh with joy. Then the Prince’s eyes rolled up in his head and he fell backwards off of the building.

  Epilogue

  “How long has he been like this?” A familiar deep voice asked.

  If Tristan had the strength he would have rolled his eyes and groaned. Instead he forced his eyes open and then groaned anyway as the brilliance of the day assaulted his eyes. He squinted again, trying to open his eyes a little slower. He was again in his room in Metao, staring up at the ceiling above his four post bed.

  “Only a few hours.” Replied another familiar voice.

  Tristan recognized both voices as he forced the grogginess from his head; the first was his older brother and the second, his father. He sat up slowly, still in a great deal of pain and turned in bed. He slowly sat up on the edge of the bed, allowing his feet to rest on the floor. He rubbed his eyes, still trying to get his bearings as the air was knocked out of him as Eurydice collided with his stomach. Over the last year she had grown into a fine young woman, though Tristan was sure she was unaware of how much taller and stronger she was since the last time she’d hugged him so fiercely. Despite the pain his was in, her exuberance made him smile.

  “Euri!” His mother scolded from her chair at the side of his bed.

  Tristan laughed. “It’s fine.” He croaked. “That makes every part of me that hurts now.” He groaned dramatically to everyone’s amusement.

  “How are you feeling?” His father asked.

  “Ill-used.” Tristan replied.

  “You’ll live.” Kevin shot.

  Tristan stretched, pulling at sore muscles along his ribs. His shoulder was tight and just moving it backwards shot pain through his body. The last thing he could remember is falling off the side of the building after destroying the last of the Atacamite crystal.

  “What happened?” Tristan asked.

  “You passed out.” Lesa called from the doorway, laughing. “Again.”

  Tristan looked over at the door as the young woman in gold held her arm up playfully displaying the hole through her sleeve and the healed skin below. He was forced to laugh, which only served to add to the throbbing pain in his body and caused him to flinch and cough slightly.

  “Now Tristan, have we taught you nothing?” Otis said as he walked up behind Lesa and placed his hand on her shoulder.

  “Focus lad, pain is only a state of mind.” He said with a smirk and a wink.

  Everyone in the room laughed in reply, as Euri finally released her iron grip around Tristan’s waist. The two dragons in human form moved into the room followed by a man of middle years. The man was dressed head to toe in a silver robe with a high collar, from neck to waist, the robe was close fitting, though the lower half of the robe was loose and swept the floor as he moved into the room. His eyes shone violet in the sunlight and the Prince instantly knew who the stranger was.

  “Hello grandfather.” Tristan smiled crookedly.

  The man nodded his head in greeting. “You do us all proud young man.” He complimented.

  The King stepped forward and placed his hand on his wife’s shoulder.

  “That he has.” He turned his head to his eldest son and asked. “Think he’s ready?”

  Kevin chuckled, looking at his younger brother. “Oh definitely.” He replied.

  Tristan looked from his father to his brother, confusion clearly showing in his eyes.

  “Ready for what?” He asked uncertainly.

  Dion laughed, “Give it to him.” He instructed Kevin.

  Kevin stepped forward and handed Tristan a rolled up piece of parchment. The Prince unrolled it slowly, seeing his family crest at the top. He began to reading it to himself and after the first couple of lines he looked up at his father.

  “Are you crazy?” He blurted.

  “Hardly.” Dion answered with a smile.

  Tristan looked back at the parchment and read aloud; “I, Dion Vallious, King of Vallius, and Steward of Terum hereby grant Stewardship of the Vallius province of Terum to Prince Tristan Vallious…”

  His voice faded out as the impact of the proclamation of his appointment sunk in. Slowly he looked up at his smiling family, completely lost for words. His father stepped forward and placed his hands on Tristan’s shoulders.

  “In a few years your mother and I will retire to our estates and leave the ruling of Vallius to your older brother.” He explained. “I can think of no better neighbor than his own brother.”

  The King stood and motioned for Kevin to walk over and join them as Tristan pushed himself up and off his mattress to stand with his brother in front of their father. Dion put his hand on both their shoulders and looked each of them in turn in the eyes.

  “It will start here my sons. We will drive out the remnants of the Bane; bring peace to the region and hopefully your children…” He looked meaningfully at both of his sons. “Will grow up in a peace we’ve not had since man came to this world.” The King pronounced finally.

  Kevin looked at his younger brother, smiling, but blushing slightly. Tristan noticed out of the corner of his eye that Alison held both arms over her stomach self-consciously. The young Prince returned his brothers grin.

  “Now.” The King said, looking hard at Tristan, suddenly serious. “When are you going to stop lying about and go home?”

  The 7 Kingdoms & The Isle of Deus

  Index

  Countries

  Vallius – a peaceful large kingdom, primary businesses include ship building, forestation and fine jewel crafters.

  Terum – a country with rich soil unused in recent years as the former King called all sons to service in the army.

  Guis – a kingdom of quiet introspective people, heavy into art of all kinds, music and literature.

  Malus – a kingdom with a vast mountain range to the north they mine heavily for arms and armor production, they also protec
t Guis who make magically endowed jewelry for them.

  Sutten – no King, just a loose alliance of farmers and peasants who live in a Clan structure, each clan takes its turn administering one of the four cities for three years.

  Oceana – the best navy on the continent, in an alliance with all of the countries south of the Great Expanse.

  The Great Expanse – East; nomadic tribes of savages who only band together to fight the west who have been trying for 200 years to bring the entire Expanse under their command.

  The Great Expanse – West; a kingdom of rich farmland and bountiful forests, largely a wild area with villages and cities built like Forts to keep the animals and Eastland Savages at bay.

  Deus – an island of sorcerers and a rather large school devoted to the magical arts, not much is known about the island or its inhabitants.

  Patron Dragons

  In olden times each country paid homage to their patron dragon. Not a King or a ruler, just a dragon benefactor of each nation. Each country reflected the splendor of their patron dragon and went to war as the dragons warred. For over 1,000 years there was peace between the mighty dragons, and thusly there was peace between their nations. These are the dragon patrons of each nation.

  Silver Dragon – Draconis (Drake) - patron of Vallius, oldest of the dragons and their King, lives in the mountainous region near Teris Pass.

  Bronze Dragon – Lesariu (Lesa) – patron of Guis, a large golden serpent-like dragon, lives in the great dunes to the south-east.

  Blue Dragon – Raithia (Ruth) – patron of Oceana, a large powerfully built dragon with a horn protruding from the center of its head, lives in the caves on the islands surrounding the Oceanic coast.

  Red Dragon – Kumanius – patron of Terum, second only in size to Draconis and similar in appearance, though possesses a shorter neck and smaller wings, used to live along the west coast in the cliffs looking out into the sea. – deceased.

  White Dragon – Socolis (Otis) – patron of Sutten, smallest of the great dragons but very quick and cunning in warfare, lives in the vast forests of Sutten.

  Green Dragon – Ryanite – patron of Malus, has long green snout like an alligator, large wings and able to fly vast distances, used to live in a vast cave beneath a waterfall that fed The Great River into the Careless Sea. – deceased.

  Black Dragon – Henjis (Ben) – patron of The Great Expanse, most knowledgeable of the dragons, often pilgrims would travel for years for the chance to learn from him. He used to live inside the cliffs to the south of the Eastern Expanse. – deceased.

  Cities and Villages

  Metao, Vallius –a harbor city of over 200,000 people, housing a large navy and construction facilities along the harbor. A large portion of the population serves in the military, work in the castle or tends the fields and ranches around the city.

  Kenting, Vallius – Kevins’ border keep town, 20,000 soldiers and 30,000 citizens.

  Irudin, Vallius – the “Crossroad of the Kingdom”, all main roads run through Irudin which is overseen by the brother of Kevin’s deceased mother, a very experienced patrician and leader. Over 100,000 citizens including the soldiers and nearby farmers, Irudin is the commercial capital of Vallius.

  Durshire, Vallius – eastern border town, large trade centre from Guis to Vallius.

  The Great River – a violent rapids that runs from the Great Sea out to the Careless Sea. A few sections along the river are calm enough for bridges to have been built, but the raging waters make it very dangerous to cross through it.

  Delhi, Guis – a majestic sprawling city, the palace is a huge affair with spiraling spires pointing up to various star formations. Large ponds, some filled with plants and fish, others kept immaculately clean. Large courtyards and flower gardens litter the middle of the palace.

  Heatherington, Sutten – defendable fortress town near the border with Terum & Oceana. Brisk trade with Oceana and a tumultuous relationship with Terum.

  Kumia, Terum – the capital of Terum and the seat of its power. Kumia is a fortress, built by elvish and dwarvish hands shortly after the construction of the Terious Wall. It rises high up on a lone mountain; the walls are carved stone from the mountain itself and rivers of elvish creation run from one end of the fortress to the other.