The Necromancer's Dragon

by C D Muller

  *****

  Ashur kept his head low as he paced about the training field with a cloaked companion. The full moon was bright that evening after the clouds finally disappeared.

  “I have been watching Liongod’s and Thor’s progress. I’ve been suspicious of them since they came to Alfheim,” Ashur muttered. “He was one of the worst soldiers I’ve ever trained but somehow after the Marcupo incident, he miraculously improved to become the best.”

  “That wasn’t exactly an incident, more like a staged accident,” his companion hissed.

  “That’s high treason to kill a soldier,” Ashur growled. “Someone is helping him and only him.”

  “Not a him, but a she. He’s none other than that girl that the Council was after in disguise.”

  “That’s a far-fetched suspicion,” Ashur said.

  “I have my reasons. She was supposedly killed the night after your visit to Helshire near the same time this random soldier appears. I’ve never heard of the surname ‘Liongod’ and I’ve traveled across the Empire and just about have connections with everyone. I want you to investigate Gromm and Beck’s mission report again to gather enough evidence. I think there is something that they may have left out.”

  Ashur immediately turned around and knelt before his unknown companion.

  “It shall be done, my Master.”

  *****

  The Pyre struck at three.

  Selena immediately opened her eyes out of habit, although it was still part of her weekend. Although she got back to the barracks late, she was wide awake.

  She glared up at the ceiling to count the paint splatters etched into the walls. The last three days felt strange. Was any of it for real, or not?

  Her eyes landed on the small bag of dragon bones that D — no, her father— gave her.

  “My father,” she whispered to herself and smiled. She never thought she would ever get the chance to say that.

  Out of reflex, she rolled out of bed and immediately started doing her regular morning stretches and exercises routine.

  After she finished, she quickly got dressed and tip-toed out. Azrael was still not back in his bunk. She assumed that he was tending to his wounds with Doragon.

  She hastily strode across the field when she heard Silver calling out to her.

  “Liongod! I have a message for you!”

  She quickly turned on her heels and gave him a bow.

  He returned the gesture and pulled out a stamped letter with her military name printed on it.

  “Who is it from?” she asked, gingerly grabbing it.

  “Vidar and the rest of the Council wish to have a meeting with you and your dragon at the Fire Temple,” he said promptly. “This is just an official letter stating it so you can be dismissed for the rest of the day just in case.”

  Selena’s knees almost gave out from this shocking news. Her happiness suddenly became colored with sorrow.

  “Is it just me, or do they wish to meet with all of the other dragon riders?” Selena asked.

  “It would be you and Thor, myself and the General, and I believe the Empress as well, aside from the rest of the Council. I don’t know about Ashur. I believe he had other matters to attend to,” he said with a grin.

  Selena forced herself to look him in the eyes.

  “I want to apologize for how I acted yesterday,” she whispered. “That was not fair of me to take my anger out on you the way I did.”

  Silver held up his hand to keep her from continuing.

  “All is forgiven. I understand. You’ve been through too much and honestly, it wasn’t fair of me to tell you everything all at once like that.” Silver chuckled. “I heard from D that you kind of pressured him to talk to you.”

  “That wasn’t exactly what happened. He could have stopped talking at any point in time if he wanted to. He seemed the kind of person who wouldn’t share anything easily,” Selena whispered as she looked off to the side.

  “I told you that what you said yesterday wasn’t true,” Silver said with a smile.

  She started to silently cry but she quickly wiped her tears away.

  “I know,” she said.

  “There’s no time like the present. You have one hour to meet the Council! I’ll be more than happy to escort you,” Silver said with excitement.

  They were greeted by the sun as they took their stroll towards the main city gate. Alfheim slowly started bristling with life and hope.

  Selena held her head up high and took a deep breath. She was finally going to be formally introduced to the leaders of the Council, aside from already meeting Vidar. Each step felt heavier than the last, as if her legs were made of lead.

  Her heart skipped a beat as she suddenly heard the soft flail of wings. A shadow of a large beast darted over her. Selena quickly turned around with tears of joy falling down her face as Thor landed right beside her dressed in his new dragon armor.

  His wings were fanned out and he stood proudly before her. His helmet was shaped perfectly for his head and gave him horn support. The body plates were custom made for his build. His large, leather saddle was securely strapped over the plating. Thor also wore some pieces of protective covering over parts of his tail that caressed the small spikes along his spine. The armor moved as he did.

  Long time no see, he said with a wisp of smoke from his nostrils.

  Selena walked over to him and placed her hand on Thor’s neck.

  You look like a mighty dragon.

  Thor lowered his head down to hers and gently rubbed his nose against her arm.

  You seem to be much happier, he noted.

  Selena nodded and looked back at Silver.

  “Vidar is waiting,” he said and pointed to the entrance.

  They walked up the marble steps marked by the lion statues to reach the giant stone doors. Columns supported the foundation of the temple with vines that wrapped themselves around them. Thor’s talons clacked with every step he took.

  An altar stood in the very back with three sculptures of the Divines behind it, with the Fire Lion in the middle, the Angel of Death to its left and the Emerald Dragon to its right. The eyes of the lion were made of ruby stones, while the eyes of the seven-headed were made of sapphire, and those of the serpent were made of emeralds. Painted above the ceiling was the depiction of the three beasts in a cosmic battle with one another. Torches hung in their holders along the walls, while lit candles surrounded the edges of the long, crimson carpet that stretched from one side to the other.

  Vidar stood before the altar with his arms behind his back. Six others stood behind him, three on each side. Two she recognized as General Araneus and the Empress. Her stomach felt knotted when she saw her mother. She did all she could to keep herself from running over and telling her that she knew.

  Silver nudged her arm when they made their way to them. The knelt before the expecting party.

  “Welcome, Liongod,” Vidar announced. In his right hand was a staff while his left was stuffed inside his pocket.

  “Thank you for coming on such short notice. We received troubling news that the Lich and his army are already a day’s journey from here.”

  “Our scouts reported seeing dragons carrying vessels towards Alfheim;” General Araneus said in a dark tone, “there were about ten, but I reckon there could be more. They only traveled by night, making it harder to track them down. They were planning a surprise attack.”

  “By our estimates, the Lich could have as many as a thousand men per vessel,” the Empress said.

  “Not to say, we will be facing those unspeakable abominations called Orcs and Ogres. They recently made an alliance with the Lich,” the General Araneus added.

  Selena’s legs suddenly felt like lead and a knot tightened in her stomach; they were going to war.

  “Later today, we will require all our soldiers to assemble to make the war preparations,” Vidar said again. He looked at General Araneus and nodded.

  “I know that you are still in the middle
of basic training, but I’ve been keeping up with your progress from Captain Altessa’s report. According to him, you bested some of my other experienced soldiers. I could use yours and Thor’s assistance in this battle,” the General stated.

  Selena was a bit speechless at what he said, but she smiled and gave him a firm nod in response along with a salute.

  “We do not have that much time left,” Vidar began again, “please see to it that your dragon is ready for aerial combat. In three days, we will fight against the evil that has landed on our doorstep. Will you assist General Araneus by fighting in this battle against the Lich?”

  Selena was completely taken back by his request, but she nodded.

  “It would be an honor,” she said and bowed.

  “Excellent!” Vidar clapped his hands together. “We go to war!”

  Selena swallowed hard and looked up at Silver.

  “I want to forge my blade. Will I have enough time?” she asked.

  Silver scratched his chin.

  “I don’t know, we still need to find the material to make it out of, as the dwarves have been going through steel like it’s candy,” he said.

  “I have my own that I think would be better than steel,” she announced.

  “Ah! You will have to show me! I’m intrigued!” Silver exclaimed.

  Selena nodded and turned to her dragon. She placed a hand on his hide, a silent communion between rider and dragon.

  Thor closed his eyes and lowered his head before saying: We will go to war, but we will receive the tribulations, sorrow, and the triumphs from the aftermath.

  Chapter 24:

  They flew back towards the barracks so Selena could get the dragon bones to show Silver. All the while, Silver was explaining that the military’s blacksmith forge was near where the dragons were stationed. They had a large surplus of materials available stored safely in large warehouses right next to it, despite the fact that usually most weapons and armor were imported from the dwarves in the Earth Kingdom.

  “That’s where yours and Thor’s armor came from!” he said excitedly. “We have our own stock of supplies as well but the military’s forge is more for training purposes. The dwarves are faster and better blacksmiths than elves and humans. That’s why the Council has no qualms about spending money for the supplies rather than making it ourselves.

  “Let me see what you were talking about earlier,” Silver said again as Selena gave him the bag. “Where did you get this from?”

  “My father,” she said with a smile. “He said that they’re much better than steel.”

  “Of course, that’s brilliant! And...” he pulled out a large metallic looking bar. “It’s already been smelted nicely! Dragon bones mixed with steel!”

  Thor gave a gruff.

  Where did your father get them?

  Selena’s expression quickly changed.

  I don’t think he would have killed a dragon without a good reason, or the dragon was already dead.

  It seemed as though Silver knew what Thor was thinking.

  “That’s why you never really see any weapons or armor made from a dragon. Your kind are very highly revered, even those gone rogue,” he said positively.

  Thor closed his eyes and sighed.

  Better than steel? Then with it, I pray that you’ll rip that Lich into shreds, he growled.

  “There’s the forge,” Silver pointed, “we will have to work fast. It helps to already have a bar to work with, but it will take a while to hammer it into shape. I will help you.”

  The forge was a large hearth constructed of stone built with the bellows that were used to force air into the tuyere, or pipe, which then blew air into the fire. A large pile of charcoal was supplied next to it, along with an anvil. On the other side was a large tub filled with water, used to rapidly cool the metal.

  Thor lay off to the side as Silver and Selena immediately went to work. He instructed her that the next step was to hammer the bar into the shape of a sword, which could take a long time. Through his teaching, she transported it to and from the forge and the anvil and started working on it with a hammer, sections at a time. She repeated this many times, along with heating and allowing it to cool without hammering.

  The day wore on as she made slow progress with her craft. Sweat dripped from her brow and her muscles ached, but she was excited. She took small breaks after cooling off the metal before continuing again, even working on it throughout the evening.

  Thor, on the other hand, only left a handful of times to hunt, but would then return to watch her continue.

  As daybreak approached, Selena was just about done shaping her work piece. Once she finally finished, Silver inspected it to check her handiwork.

  “Very nicely done, but it’s still very brittle. I’ll show you what needs to be done next to give it more flexibility,” he said. “The next stop is called annealing, which will soften the sword and it will make it easy to grind into shape.”

  They wrapped it in an insulating material to slow this process down, which could take up to a day.

  In between, Selena and Thor practiced some combat maneuvers with Silver and with the other experienced soldiers while waiting for the new shaped blade to cool. They drilled, flew in arranged aerial battle formations, practiced their weapon skills and even magic. Many of the dragon riders were not casters, but Selena got to train with a few. With what she had already learned from Silver, she was able to easily overpower the others.

  Silver then became her opponent and the others were able to watch their magic match. He did not go easy, as he used all of the other elements to his advantage.

  Selena’s eyes widened when he shot a blast of fire in her direction. Instead of fighting back, she immediately propelled herself to the side by summoning flames from her palms.

  “You’re keeping an open mind!” he said excitedly.

  Selena wanted to see how far she could go; she instinctively imagined herself being hard-headed and stable, like the earth. She slowly lifted up her hands and the ground below rumbled before shooting up and forming itself into a wall.

  “How are you doing that, Liongod?” one of the soldiers asked in awe.

  Silver smirked and ran over to try to punch it down, but as soon as the rocks crumbled, Selena slid to his side and lifted her hand in the air. She imagined that everything and everyone around her were separate energies that could be manipulated, including Silver and the soldiers.

  His eyes widened when he realized what she was about to do and teleported out of her way. However, just as he did, Selena immediately spun around and knocked him out of his stance by tripping him with her leg.

  Silver quickly caught himself and regained his posture.

  “Very impressive,” he said with a smirk. “You predicted what I was going to do and you knew where I would attack next. How did you do that?”

  It took her a few moments to snap back into reality.

  “I don’t know. I imagined that all around me were different forces, kind of similar to the elements. Like spirit energy. I saw you move from here to behind me, even though you teleported,” she explained.

  “That’s completely mental!” one of the soldiers shouted but Silver’s smile turned into a huge grin.

  “That’s amazing!” he shouted, “I even still have trouble doing that but you… you just did it!” He ran over and lifted up one of her arms to examine. “With you being the way you are, it may help our other soldiers!” he said excitedly while being careful to not say too much.

  “You mean, with me being made of magic?” she asked quietly.

  “Precisely!”

  Later that evening, she sat in her room in solitude as she re-read Silver’s journal. She wanted to ask if he really was Genesis, just to hear his confirmation, but deep down, she knew. To think that she was proof of his greatest achievement! Selena still felt conflicted about where she came from. It was a dream of a madman to be able to control life and death.

  She eventually fell asl
eep with the journal in her lap but woke again as the clock struck three and stumbled back towards the forge to check her blade.

  Silver was already waiting for her as he examined the metal.

  “It’s ready for grinding,” he said with a smile and nodded towards a large, wooden table with a stone wheel built into it. There was a wooden lever on the bottom right with a metal rod attached to it. It held onto another that went through the stone wheel, so that when the lever was pressed down, it forced it to spin.

  Silver showed her how to use it and together, they worked out the edge into a leaf-shaped blade and point. He also helped her carve a little bit into the middle down towards the tip. Their work took up most of their day.

  When she finished, she had to heat it to a very high temperature and immediately place it into the tank of water nearby. Afterward, Silver showed her how to temper the blade and to heat it slowly. Selena repeatedly heated and quenched the metal.

  In the meantime, Silver was preparing the rest of the parts of the sword using magic: the pommel, which was a metal dragon talon holding a red ruby, a slender steel guard carved with intricate designs, and a metal hilt covered in thick leather.

  He inspected the strong but flexible blade that Selena finished and gave a nod in approval.

  “This will be a very nice sword,” he said with a smile and, with a wave of his hand, all the pieces assembled together to complete the sword and it laid itself on top of the anvil.

  Very nice, Thor commented.

  Selena picked it up, and swung it in the air with ease. It felt light as a feather.

  Silver took a step forward and summoned a large boulder in front of her.

  “Cut it down!” he said excitedly.

  Doubtful, she held up her sword and slashed it across. The giant rock was cleaved in two.

  “Beautiful! Take care of that sword!” Silver said again. “I think it deserves a name! All good weapons have a name.”